The errand boys who came back were all old servants who had served their parents. Some of them were live-in companions from their mother's natal family, so they were more loyal and reliable.
Lutang's mother, Cui, is the daughter of a merchant. Her maternal grandfather's family is a wealthy family in Youzhou. The Yaowang Valley that she runs controls the raw and cooked medicinal materials of six northern states.
His father, Wen Duan, guarded Beiguan and relied on the help of Yaowanggu to raise military supplies, so that he could pacify the border troops.
When he married his mother, he transported hundreds of carts of dowry from Youzhou to the capital. The dowry was literally covered with red flowers, which was called a grand scene for a while.
Shortly after the death of his parents, his maternal grandfather and uncle died one after another in Youzhou. The Cui family was not prosperous, and the Yaowang Valley, which had been passed down for more than ten generations, fell.
After the death of Wen Duan and his wife, the family property was controlled by Wen Hou. Sisters Lutang Ziqian and Zhang Xiaoniang were forced to move out of Wen's West Mansion where they originally lived, and took up residence in a small courtyard at the corner of the Hou Mansion.
All the property left behind by her mother was sealed, except for two boxes of medical books and pharmacopeias, which Lutang took with her.
In her previous life, she lived secretly in Prince Jin's Mansion and was seriously ill several times. She treated herself and managed to survive for many years until she died tragically.
She once heard from her parents that her grandfather's medical skills were quite famous in Youzhou.
The people once called him "King Cui of Hell" and praised him for his ability to make the difference between life and death. Some children even sang about him:
"When the true King of Hell comes, he will not necessarily die, but when the Cui King of Hell comes, he will definitely live!"
My mother was deeply influenced by her parents' family and learned the true biography of Medicine King Valley. When she was not married, she was a well-known medical girl in Youzhou.
It's a pity that she married into a noble family and gave up all her medical skills.
Lutang and her mother were proficient in medicine, and few people in Manhou Mansion knew about it. The only person who knew the inside story was the old servant of the Cui family.
After her mother's death, Zhang Xiaoniang dismissed a group of Cui family's old servants in order to control her dowry. Those who can remain to this day are all loyal people.
Lutang took the roster and sorted through the people in the courtyard, and arranged errands according to each person's strengths.
"Everyone who has been with my parents must know that 'loyalty' is the most important thing. There are many people in the Hou family who talk a lot, but our small courtyard must not speak inside or outside, like an iron wall. From today on, we will work together to achieve happiness. We all share in the misfortune. If anyone betrays the Lord, God will definitely punish him!"
After Lutang spoke sternly, he ordered Susu to take two hundred taels of silver and distribute it to everyone. Everyone bowed down to accept the order and performed their duties.
Zhang Xiaoniang and Zi Yuan originally thought that the maid Caiping could not be trusted, so Lu Tang chose another maid named "Ling'er" to spy on them.
"How is Xiaoniang's illness?" Lutang sent Ling'er over to check on Zhang Xiaoniang and Zijian again.
Only two days later, Zhang Xiaoniang no longer had the energy to bang the bed and the stool. She leaned against the bed and sobbed weakly:
"After all, I served your parents and gave birth to your sister. Now that your wings have become stiff, you want to leave me?"
Lutang leaned over to help her arrange the quilt, and asked with a smile: "You have manipulated me after my parents died. I have made enough in the past few years, what else do you want?"
"Spitting blood!" Zhang Xiaoniang spat at Lutang twice.
Lutang smiled and asked softly: "My mother died only three years ago, and you made a lot of dowry. Do you think I am blind and can't see? I have recalled some of the old servants who guarded the warehouse. Do you want to confront me?"
"Purple coriander! Purple coriander!" Zhang Xiaoniang called her daughter hoarsely with fear on her face, her voice broke, "Hurry up and serve tea to your second sister!"
Zi Daan came in with a tea cup in a panic, forgetting to take the tea tray, and her fingers were so hot that they hurt.
Lutang took it and sniffed it and sneered.
The tea was drugged and the taste was extremely strong due to the excessive amount.
These are the flesh and blood relatives she swore to protect to the death in her previous life, and they have no mercy at all when they harm others!
Lutang held the tea cup, lowered her eyes, and spoke in a gentle and gentle tone.
"Zi Yuan is young and did something wrong. My sister can't bear to blame you."
"I didn't do anything wrong." Ziyuan held her neck in defense and forced a smile on her face, "Second sister, I saved my monthly money to buy the tea. You drink more!"
Lutang pretended to drink the tea and secretly spit it on the handkerchief.
Ziyuan breathed a sigh of relief and happily asked if she wanted another drink.
Lutang put down her tea cup and mentioned her mother's illness with an indifferent expression.
"My mother is sick again, and her cough is very severe. The weather is not good in spring, so if you want to avoid getting sick, it's best to go out less often."
Before Zi Yuan realized it, her mother had gone from pretending to be sick to actually being sick.
"My little mother just has a cough. Please ask a good doctor to see a doctor and take more medicine. She will be fine. The doctor sent by my eldest sister today is very smart and will definitely cure my little mother's disease!"
Lutang's face was full of gentleness, and her words contained a pun: "Some diseases cannot be cured by doctors, nor can they be cured by soups and medicines. Only by staying away from the source of the disease can they be cured."
Zi Yan didn't understand at all, but still argued: "Eldest sister has a noble status, and we can't hire the doctor she sent even if we have money. Second sister, don't say weird things, we must listen to eldest sister, then she will be happy!"
"So what if she's happy?"
"If the eldest sister is happy, she will not bully us. She is the eldest daughter, her father is a marquis, her mother is the prime minister's sister, and her younger brother is the heir apparent. She is much nobler than us. If she is happy, our life will be easier."
Lutang smiled helplessly: "We are both Wen's daughters, why should we look at her face?"
Zi Qian was anxious, her face full of sincerity: "Stop provoking eldest sister, okay? If she just takes care of us, there will be a lot of benefits. Second sister, please give her more permission!"
Zhang Xiaoniang was weak, and after a while she gritted her teeth and said:
"Second girl, do you think you can be a princess? Bah! The eldest lady is more valuable than you, so you can only be a concubine! Your sister is suppressed by you, when will she be able to stand out?"
Zi Qian was still helping: "Second sister, the eldest lady pinching you to death is like killing an ant. Look at Sister Miaoyun in her room. She beat her to death as soon as she said she would. The Marquis and his wife didn't say a word "no". !”
In her previous life, she loved her concubine and sister with all her heart, while Wen Hongyao always beat and scolded them. But they prefer to fawn over Wen Hongyao and never take Lutang seriously.
This mother and daughter admire power. They don't understand reason, they only know sticks!
Lutang knew that they were hopeless. Before going out, he arranged for the woman in the kitchen to say:
"Give me another pair of cough drops for my little lady. The doctor sent me the prescription that the eldest lady sent me, so I can't ruin her good intentions!"
The maid Ling'er sent Lu Tang out. Seeing no one around, she whispered, "The doctor gave me some medicinal powder and put it under the third lady's mattress. The medicine package has the words 'Wenji Tang' written on it."
Lutang said without squinting: "Take good care of Miss Zhang and Third Miss."
"This slave knows."
The medicated powder in the tea is very common and is specially used for contraceptive use by women after menopause. If taken continuously for several days, it will change the pulse condition and make a non-pregnant woman also have a happy pulse.
In the previous life, Lutang was upset at a banquet and they were drugged without even realizing it.
In this life, she was unscathed, but Zhang Xiaoniang and her daughter were in disarray, and their crude methods were easily discovered.
According to Wen Hongyao's script, after Lutang lost her virginity at the banquet, the servants found abortifacients and a bloody fetus in her room.
Marquis Wen was quite tolerant and immediately invited the King of Jin to come over and ask him to take his niece as his concubine.
However, the King of Jin took the imperial physician to check the pulse in person, and also examined the stillborn fetus, and found that the fetus was three months old.
This means that Lutang has been pregnant for a long time and wants to deceive her fiancé and conceal her royal bloodline. Xiao Yuanhui immediately walked away.
Marquis Wen confined Lutang to the ancestral hall and wrote a letter overnight, falsely claiming that his niece had died of illness, and instead married his eldest daughter to the King of Jin as his concubine.
The King of Jin did not want the scandal to be publicized, so he quickly agreed to the marriage.
Now that I think about it, this was all Wen Hong Yao's fault, but she didn't come forward and relied on Zhang Xiaoniang and Zi Daan to do things secretly.
It was only when Lutang was forced to work as a domestic prostitute that she saw Wen Hongyao's cruel methods.
The doctor of Wenhongyao Sect was a stranger, but the words "Wenjitang" left a deep impression on Lutang's memory.
In the previous life, Qi King Xiao Yuanmu's Xuanjia Army stationed in the northern suburbs lost six battalions of soldiers due to an epidemic and had to withdraw from the capital.
This incident was a huge blow to King Qi who had just returned to Beijing. He had to go out to Beijing to take care of the matter and missed the opportunity to control the Forbidden Army.
Wenjitang controlled the medicine in the capital and was secretly produced by Marquis Wen. The epidemic of epidemic diseases in Xuanjia Army was caused by Wenjitang deceiving the garrison with fake medicine.
This is what Lutang was told as a story by the courtiers when she was serving as a prostitute in the Jin Palace.
Lutang immediately went back to his room and called Susu to prepare the carriage and go out.
"Go to Wenji Hall and find the doctor who treated my wife in the morning." Lutang ordered the coachman.
Wenjitang is the largest pharmacy in the capital, with busy traffic at the door.
Lutang didn't get out of the car, so Susu volunteered to check and quickly found the person.
"Second Miss, I have seen this man before. He is the cousin of the eldest lady's personal maid, Miao Tong." The coachman followed Su Su's instructions and whispered back:
"He was originally a traveling doctor, and it was Miao Tong who recommended him to Wenji Hall after being asked by the eldest lady. He has been to the inner house several times this month, and Miao Tong picked him up at the second door."
If the master of Wenhou Mansion falls ill, the imperial doctor from Imperial Hospital will be invited. If a servant was sick, he would go to the medical clinic affiliated with Taiyuan Hospital, and he would never go to Wenji Hall to see a doctor.
It was fake to ask him to diagnose Zhang Xiaoniang, but it was real to ask him to prepare harmful medicine.
"Did you see clearly?" Lutang asked softly through the car curtain.
The coachman was very sure: "I was working the night shift at the second gate, so I could see very clearly."
It's best to control this person and interrogate him to find out the reason.
But the only person Lutang could trust was the old servant at home, and arresting him for interrogation was still far away.
At this moment, there was sudden chaos in the market, and everyone fled.
"Miss, King Qi's honor guard is here." The coachman suddenly said.
Qi King Xiao Yuanmu had just returned to the city after going out to inspect the Xuanjia Army's garrison.
The ceremonial guard was not complicated. Twenty-eight cavalry and armored guards opened the way. Xiao Yuanmu's black horse in black robes was among them. The flag officer behind him held up two big flags of "Qi Wang Mu" and "Xiong Qi General Xiao", and the dust from the horse's hooves whizzed past.
"Let's get out of the way." Lutang asked Susu to get in the car.
The driver drove the car slowly to a remote back alley.
It would be nice if someone could help at this time. Lutang heard Xiao Yuanmu's honor guard go away, and felt that he was more than willing but not strong enough.
"Miss, do you want to arrest this person?" Su Su asked.
"Forget it, we don't have the ability to arrest people for the time being. If we make a noise, it will only alert others." Lutang had no choice but to knock on the car window and said: "Go back home."
No one outside the car answered. Susu thought the driver didn't hear, so when he raised the curtain, he couldn't help but remain silent.
The coachman was tied up and squatting in the corner. Six guards in black were holding knives and tightly surrounding the carriage.
Xiao Yuanmu sat on the edge of the car, his long legs blocking the door.
"His Royal Highness King Qi?" Lutang called out in surprise and joy, without any feeling of being frightened.
Xiao Yuanmu was not polite, he grabbed Su Su from the car, picked up the little maid with his backhand, and threw her to the chief historian Wei Chifeng under the car.
"Miss!" Susu exclaimed.
"Your Highness, please don't hurt the maid!" Lu Tang knelt down in the car, dragged Xiao Yuanmu's sleeves, and said anxiously: "She is ignorant."
"The maid is not sensible. It seems that the second young lady is very sensible?" Xiao Yuanmu smiled evilly and got into the carriage without any scruples.
