Chapter 188: Ten Years Apart

It was already the twelfth lunar month, and the weather grew colder by the day. The people in the county town had long put on thick cotton coats, and the three maids in the back courtyard of the county government office were no exception—each wearing moon-white silk coats. Since this was Zhang Yue’s first New Year spent away from home, Lingxi sent people to prepare New Year’s goods, keeping her extremely busy. Autumn Trace and Amber took care of everything inside the house. That day, as Zhang Yue left with his entourage, Amber opened her sewing kit, ready to mend the dress that had developed a small hole from a spark a few days earlier. Yet before she could stitch even a few stitches, she heard Autumn Trace shouting outside.

“Amber, it’s bad! It’s snowing!”

Seeing Autumn Trace rush in like the wind, Amber was stunned. Her sewing kit and the dress were snatched from her hands, and soon she found herself pulled outside against her will. Coming from the warm room to this chilly outside, she sneezed several times before seeing snowflakes drifting down from the sky, covering the ground with a thin layer.

“Don’t they say good snow predicts a good harvest? What’s so bad about it?”

Seeing Amber’s puzzled expression, Autumn Trace grew impatient and rushed on, “With this snow, the roads will be difficult to navigate, not to mention the young master still hasn’t returned. He left in such a hurry this morning—just wearing a bright red fox-fur cloak. He didn’t put on the newly made indigo wool robe he had before leaving, nor did he wear a snow hat! I heard it takes two hours to get to Qingzhou by carriage. If it’s a carriage, it’s fine, but if he rides a horse…”

“Sis, do you still think the young master is a child? He knows how to take care of himself in cold or heat. He wouldn’t risk his health for no reason!” Amber thought it funny at first, but when she saw Autumn Trace’s worried demeanor, she felt envious of her devotion to Zhang Yue. She quickly reassured her, “Don’t worry, sis. The young master said it’s possible he won’t return the same day after visiting the imperial envoy. He might stay in Qingzhou Prefecture for a few more days. Uncle Peng is sensible—he won’t let him travel in the snow.”

Autumn Trace’s face darkened as she sighed heavily, thinking it would be better if Zhang Yue returned through the snow right now. But she quickly dismissed that silly thought. Looking up at the still overcast sky, she silently prayed that the weather would clear soon, as if that way Zhang Yue could return earlier.

A gust of cold wind blew, causing Amber, who was already wearing only a thin jacket, to shiver again. Seeing that Qiu Hen was still staring blankly at the sky, she had no choice but to return inside, put on a thick coat herself, and fetch another one to wrap around Qiu Hen before dragging her inside at all costs. Before she could even get the teapot from the stove to make tea for Qiu Hen, a woman’s voice was heard outside.

“Is Miss Amber here?”

Amber quickly pulled back the curtain and went outside. It was Cui’s wife, dressed in a sapphire-blue coat with a gray apron. Smiling, Amber stepped forward and asked, “Is Sister Cui here for something?”

Cui’s wife still had water droplets on her hands; she wiped them on her apron before handing Amber a piece of paper and saying with a smile, “I just remembered that Miss Lingxi told me to have the Xiao Nan Shan Pharmacy in the east of the city prepare a medicinal paste for the young master. She also bought genuine Dong’e Ejiao for all of us, saying I should go pick it up later. It’s cloudy and snowy today, and my legs aren’t very steady. But early this morning, Miss Lingxi took a few people out to buy supplies from several southern goods stores. Even Sister Li went with them. The rest went to restaurants to reserve meals or to get more firewood, silk, and other necessities. How about Miss Amber sending a servant there to pick up the medicine?”

In the large mansion, the maids rarely left the premises, but since Lingxi had broken this rule first, others felt no constraint. After asking, Amber learned that all her reliable people had indeed been sent out. Sending just a servant might lead to mistakes, so she agreed right away. She went back to her room to change clothes, then sent Cui’s wife out to give instructions. Soon, a carriage and drivers were arranged.

Xiao Nan Shan Pharmacy was a fairly well-known pharmacy in the east of the city. The Dong’e Ejiao was shipped directly from Dong’e, and it was highly favored by wealthy families whose women needed to replenish blood and energy or who had weak constitutions. During cold weather, many wealthy locals came here to have medicinal pastes prepared. In the evening, as it grew dark and the shopkeeper planned to close, two customers arrived to pick up their medicine. Both of them were dressed in old, gray-brown cotton jackets. The shopkeeper wanted to refuse, but they paid not with paper money but with silver. Although the government officially prohibited gold and silver transactions, people still valued gold and silver the most. So, the shopkeeper’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took the prescription, ordering his staff to prepare the medicine according to it.

“Shopkeeper, we’re from Anqiu County Hall. We’re here to pick up the medicinal paste and Dong’e Ejiao prepared a few days ago!”

Hearing the loud voices outside, the busy shopkeeper hurriedly turned in that direction. At the front was a government official in official robes, followed by a young woman wearing a hooded cloak. He became immediately curious. As he stepped forward to greet them, he took a closer look and saw that the woman was dressed in a moon-white silk jacket with a light blue water-silk skirt, and she wore a braided bracelet with crabapple patterns. He couldn’t help but gasp. Wearing a gold bracelet and coming from the county government office—could she be a family member of the new county magistrate?

Thinking this, he quickly put on a friendly smile and said, “Please wait a moment, miss and official. The medicinal paste has already been prepared, and the donkey-hide gelatin just arrived this afternoon. I’ll have someone fetch it right away! A Sheng, A Qiang, put down what you’re doing and go get the donkey-hide gelatin inside, along with those two jars I asked you to prepare a few days ago—bring them all here!”

The two assistants also heard the mention of the county government office and didn’t dare neglect it. With an agreement, they put down half-finished medicine and rushed inside. But the two customers became impatient. One of them slammed the counter and shouted angrily, “How do you run a business like this? There must be a order—first come, first served. The government office wants tonics, while we’re here to get medicine to treat injuries. Don’t you understand the rules?”

Hearing this, the official accompanying them became furious. These days, he had been kept in check by the new county magistrate and didn’t dare be too domineering outside. But this time, he was accompanying the county magistrate’s personal maid, who might very well become the official concubine in the future. How could he allow some poorly dressed commoner to insult her?

Without hesitation, he stepped forward, sized them up, and sneered, “Medicine for injuries? Who in your family is injured, and how? Was it a fight, troublemaking, or even murder? And you dare speak rudely to people from the county government office? How bold of you…”

“Brother Xu, let’s not make a fuss over such a trivial matter!” Amber interjected helplessly as the official grew more aggressive. “We’re just here to get something. It’s not urgent to wait until evening. Since they want medicine for injuries, please give way! Shopkeeper, prepare the medicine for those two gentlemen first; we’ll wait.”

She wore her hood low, so the shopkeeper could only see the colors and decorations of her clothes, not her face. Hearing her voice, he secretly concluded she must be a beauty and couldn’t help but marvel at how understanding the county magistrate’s household was. Since she had spoken, he smiled at the still-angry official and quickly sent two assistants to fetch the herbs, then personally brought a chair for Amber to sit on.

Although Amber defused the situation, one of the customers who came for herbs wanted to say more, but the other grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to shut up in frustration. His fierce gaze remained fixed on the official, with occasional glances at Amber. When he saw the shopkeeper eagerly offering tea to Amber, he muttered under his breath, “They only know how to curry favor with the authorities!”

By now, the snow was falling heavier, and the roads grew even quieter due to the darkness. Just as things seemed calm on both sides, one of the assistants suddenly exclaimed in surprise, then looked up and asked in astonishment, “Sirs, the dosage in this prescription seems incorrect. It looks like a wound medicine, but several ingredients seem to be in excessive amounts. If handled carelessly, it could be fatal!”

Hearing about a possible death, the shopkeeper was shocked as well. He rushed forward, snatched the prescription from the assistant’s hands, glanced at it, and read aloud, “Angelica sinensis, 2 qian; Salvia miltiorrhiza, 3 qian; Carthamus tinctorius, 3 qian; Olibanum, 2 qian…”

Amber noticed the two customers’ faces turning pale and felt puzzled. Since it was a wound medicine, any mistake could have serious consequences, so it was normal for the shopkeeper to check the prescription carefully. But as she listened to each ingredient and its dosage, her expression grew increasingly serious. By the time the official finished reading the entire page, she suddenly stood up.

“Is this prescription called the ‘Qian Ding Fang’?”

The owner of Xiao Nan Shan Pharmacy thought he had seen nearly ten thousand prescriptions in his lifetime, but he had never heard of the term “Qian Ding Fang” before, so he became suspicious. Turning around, he saw that one of the bearded customers, who had previously had a hostile expression, now had a completely different look—staring intently at the woman who had spoken. This made him even more puzzled.

The bearded man quickly regained his usual expression and then asked in a deep voice, “This Qian Ding Fang is a family secret recipe of mine. How did you know about it?”

“Family tradition…” At this moment, Amber clutched the silk handkerchief in her hand tightly, feeling as though her heart was about to leap out of her throat, and she could hardly breathe. After a long while, she finally regained her composure from such extreme shock and barely managed to explain, “I had only heard of this prescription before; I never expected to hear about it again after so many years. Shopkeeper, this prescription is correct—it’s meant for treating external injuries. Just prepare it for him.”
The shopkeeper glanced at the dumbfounded man and grew even more puzzled. Yet, having lived most of his life, he knew better than to speak or remain silent at the wrong time, so he quickly instructed his assistant to prepare the medicine, neatly wrapped it up and handed it over, then weighed out a few pieces of silver as change. He urged the two strange visitors to leave before turning back to attend to the ointments and donkey-hide gelatin.
Once everything was ready, he personally escorted Amber to the carriage by the door. As he turned to return to the shop, he noticed that the two men who had hurriedly picked up the medicine were actually hiding in the shadows of the opposite shop. As soon as the carriage set off, they followed. Seeing this, he was instantly terrified. He wanted to send an assistant to report the situation to the county office, but when the men suddenly turned to look at him, he was so frightened that he rushed back inside, praying silently.
Heaven, could they be criminals? If they had their eyes set on the family members of the county magistrate, his small pharmacy might suffer as well!