"Song Lan, is Doctor Sheng in?" Qin Junyao asked the young apprentice she saw at the door of the Qubing Hall.
"Ah, it's Miss Qin! Hello, Miss Qin. The elder is out buying grain with Uncle-Master and the others. They haven't returned yet."
"Oh, then I'd like to visit your Ancestral Grandmother in the backyard. Could you help me inform her?"
Song Lan nodded in agreement and walked ahead of Qin Junyao.
After visiting Madam Sheng, the elder in the backyard, and the pregnant Madam Sheng, Qin Junyao waited in the front hall for the Sheng family elders to return.
Half an hour later, Qin Junyao heard Sheng Yining's voice, "Grandpa, the grain prices are rising too quickly. The second trip was so much more expensive than the first."
"It's better to be able to buy it than not," Sheng Daifu's slightly tired voice followed.
Qin Junyao stood up to greet them and met Sheng Yining head-on.
"Sister Jun, you're finally here! If you hadn't come soon, I would have come to find you. Sister Jun, why have you become so thin? And why are you still wearing a single layer of clothing?" Sheng Yining asked Qin Junyao worriedly, a grain sack in each hand.
"We'll talk later. I'll help you take these to the backyard."
"No need, they're light. I can manage myself," Sheng Yining said, walking past Qin Junyao towards the backyard.
Sheng Huaijin followed his sister, nodded at Qin Junyao, and also carried a grain sack to the backyard.
Qin Junyao left the front hall and went to the carriage. She saw Sheng Daifu directing the apprentices to unload the cart quickly.
"Doctor Sheng, why aren't you stopping at the backyard?" Qin Junyao thought it would be more convenient to go directly to the backyard.
"Junyao is here. It's a detour to the backyard, and the carriage still needs to make another trip for grain. This way is faster."
After the grain was unloaded, Sheng Huaijin got back in the carriage and left again. Sheng Yining brought Qin Junyao one of her own cotton-padded jackets and then, with the apprentices, carried the grain from the entrance to the backyard in batches. Sheng Daifu stayed to entertain Qin Junyao.
"Let me see your hand. I'll take your pulse," Sheng Daifu pushed the pulse pillow towards Qin Junyao.
Qin Junyao sat up straight and smiled at Sheng Daifu, saying, "No need, Doctor Sheng. I'm in good health."
"I'm a doctor, listen to me. I've noticed your complexion hasn't been good. I thought it would improve after you resumed eating regularly, but it seems to have worsened."
Seeing Sheng Daifu's persistence, Qin Junyao had no choice but to extend her hand.
A moment later, Sheng Daifu withdrew his hand. He called Song Lan over to grind ink. Dipping his brush in the ink, he wrote on the paper and said to Qin Junyao, "I don't know why you've gone without eating for such a long time again, but you are now severely deficient in both qi and blood."
"Because of your previous starvation, your menstruation has stopped. Now your hands and feet are constantly cold. If this continues, there will be serious problems."
"Song Lan, when your Aunt-Master Ning is done, ask her to prepare the medicine."
Qin Junyao watched Song Lan take the prescription to the medicine cabinet and suddenly thought of something that frightened her.
Her voice was a little hesitant as she asked, "Doctor Sheng, will taking this medicine bring back my period?"
Sheng Daifu was writing the second sheet of paper. He looked up at Qin Junyao and then asked, "Are you afraid of abdominal pain?"
Qin Junyao nodded vigorously.
After a pause, Sheng Daifu handed the paper in his hand to Qin Junyao. "These are the cold and cooling foods you must not eat, and you must not drink cold water."
"Your abdominal pain will definitely be cured, but you must take the medicine on time. Take the prescription from today for ten days at home. Come back in ten days, and we'll first replenish your energy and then treat other issues."
"Alright, you're here after such a long absence. What happened?"
Qin Junyao did not mention that she had been in a coma for seven days due to her spatial expansion. She only said that the matter had been resolved and told Sheng Daifu about the actions of the Northwest Grand Camp yesterday.
"Heh, the people from the Northwest Grand Camp didn't come to the county yesterday. The government officials came to collect taxes. Our medical hall had to pay with medicine, and the grain store had to pay with grain."
"After paying taxes, all the grain stores closed. They reopened this morning and all raised their prices. I was wondering why there were so many people coming to the county to buy grain so early. It turns out the autumn harvest grain of the common people was forcibly requisitioned."
"Sigh," Sheng Daifu sighed. It seemed the grain they bought this time was still not enough.
Qin Junyao learned that the shops in the county were being taxed by the government, indicating the situation was not simple. She recalled the soldiers who collected grain yesterday shouting that the grain was to support the imperial court in eliminating rebels. Could there be a war?
She shared her suspicions with Sheng Daifu, and he also took it seriously.
Although Northwest City was not a thoroughfare like Anshun Prefecture City, it was a necessary passage for salt transportation. Controlling this city meant controlling half of the salt.
Sheng Daifu tapped his finger on the table. "Junyao, did you come with your family this time?"
"Yes."
"I'll send someone to look for them. Take some grain back to the village when you leave, Yining."
Qin Junyao stood up and refused. "Doctor Sheng, we have grain stored. Besides, the village should be able to buy some grain. It's harder to buy grain in the county."
She was deeply moved by Sheng Daifu's actions. At this time, even with money, one might not be able to buy grain.
There were over a dozen people at Qubing Hall, and the apprentices were all young boys, still in their growing years. She couldn't possibly take their food.
"Grandpa, Sister Jun brought millet!" Sheng Yining came from the backyard upon hearing her grandfather's call, carrying a bag of millet in her hand.
"Doctor Sheng, Yining, look. We really have food to eat."
Qin Junyao persuaded Sheng Daifu a few more times before he finally gave up on the idea of her taking grain back.
After all these matters were discussed, Qin Junyao finally remembered the real reason for her visit.
She took out a cloth roll from her怀 and placed it on the table. "Doctor Sheng, will you buy this?"
Sheng Daifu took the cloth roll and slowly unrolled it. As soon as he saw the first ginseng, he gasped. He felt the texture through the cloth. He asked Song Lan to guard the shop entrance and report if anyone came.
The other apprentices went to the backyard to organize the grain that had just been moved in.
The cloth roll was completely unrolled. Seven ginseng roots lay side by side. The crown was intact, and the roots were clean. Only one had a slight trace of a broken root, but it was not significant. All were of excellent quality.
They had been dried well. The only regret was that if they had waited another ten years, they would have been century-old ginseng.
"Junyao, are you selling all of them?" Sheng Daifu looked at the ginseng on the table, his liking for them growing. If he had obtained them, he would definitely have kept them for collection.
Ginseng roots of similar age and shape, unearthed in the same year, seven of them – it was too rare.
Qin Junyao thought of the five-hundred-tael IOU and said to Sheng Daifu with certainty that she would sell all of them. Besides, she had over ten more in her spatial dimension, along with seeds she hadn't planted yet.
Sheng Daifu stroked his beard and pondered. "Junyao, the age of these ginseng roots ranges from seventy to eighty years. The price of ginseng varies every ten years."
"How about this, seven hundred taels per root."
Sheng Yining, who was preparing medicine for Qin Junyao, overheard the entire conversation. She pouted and called out to Sheng Daifu, "Grandpa, just five hundred taels directly. It must have been difficult for Sister Jun to obtain these ginseng roots. Look how thin she is."
"Besides, you're not short of ten taels."
Sheng Daifu stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "Alright, I'll listen to my granddaughter. Five hundred taels it is."