CMWKSD -Chapter 108 Widow’s Bedside Ash

What happened today was simply too shocking for the three of them—father and sons alike. Their minds were reeling, so forgetting something for the moment was understandable.

General Shen hurriedly said, “Go quickly. Bring the person over as soon as possible.”

Speaking of which, General Shen decided to make a trip to the palace. He would not take part in the subsequent interrogation, but the matter of the gu on his body having been removed still needed to be reported to Emperor Fengyuan.

He feared that he might not be the only one who had been controlled by a gu.

Shen Zongnian could only go back to the Ji residence again, his face still bruised and swollen.

Jiu Yue got into the carriage, pulled out a thick stack of banknotes, fanned them out like a hand fan, and used them to fan herself. That smug little expression on her face—

She was just short of blatantly telling Ji Yiqing: Praise me. Hurry up and praise me.

Ji Yiqing couldn’t help laughing. He sat beside Jiu Yue, raised his hand, and pressed down the hand she was recklessly fanning herself with cool air. In such cold weather, she really didn’t care about the cold at all.

“Jiu Yue is amazing. You earned so many banknotes again.”

Jiu Yue happily stuffed the banknotes into her clothes. “Of course.”

But Jiu Yue now had a problem.

The weather was too cold—it wasn’t suitable to perform surgery on Shen Zongsheng.

Even if surgery had to be done, it would have to wait until after the New Year. Too cold wouldn’t work, and too hot wouldn’t work either, otherwise the wound wouldn’t heal well.

Most importantly, Jiu Yue didn’t have penicillin or similar medicines on hand.

This type of medicine was the key to fighting inflammation. The reason why all kinds of bleeding injuries had such a high mortality rate in this era was mainly because of the lack of anti-inflammatory drugs.

Without such medicine, wounds would fester and fail to heal.

Fortunately, Jiu Yue knew how to make this kind of medicine herself. If it were something else—like recipes or tailoring clothes—then if she didn’t know how, she simply didn’t know.

But when it came to medicine and poisons, Jiu Yue had an innate talent.

It was just that the weather was too cold, which extended the shelf life of food.

Jiu Yue could only do her best to look for suitable materials.

She also had Shao Qing collect some “widow’s bedside ash.”

Although the name sounded a bit outrageous, it really did contain penicillin, and it was genuinely useful for treating external injuries and reducing inflammation.

So when Shao Qing received Jiu Yue’s task, he cast her a subtle glance.

Jiu Yue clicked her tongue. “What’s with that look?”

After spending a long time with Jiu Yue, Shao Qing could occasionally exchange a few words with her.

Especially now that his younger sister and mother were both working at the Ji residence, receiving monthly wages, eating well, and dressing well. Jiu Yue was not a harsh master.

His own monthly pay had also risen to eight taels of silver. He lived and ate at the Ji residence, and when the Ji family made clothes, he had a share as well. He was never treated unfairly.

This was special treatment Jiu Yue gave to him alone.

It was also recognition of his abilities.

But this…

He was a thirteen-year-old boy, going to a widow’s house and saying, “I want to collect some dust from beside your bed.”

Shao Qing felt he might get beaten with a stick.

But his job was gathering intelligence. In less than two months since arriving, he had more or less familiarized himself with the entire capital.

So he really did know which households belonged to widows.

Jiu Yue could tell at a glance that Shao Qing had misunderstood, but she didn’t know how to explain it properly. She could only give him a simple explanation.

“‘Widow’s bedside ash’ is a medicinal ingredient. It grows in dark, damp environments and is very effective for treating external wounds and inflammation.”

Another reason—though she didn’t say it aloud—was that the dust by a widow’s bedside wasn’t disturbed by constant movement. It grew naturally and wasn’t destroyed.

Seeing how seriously Jiu Yue explained it, Shao Qing responded with an “Oh.” “Alright.”

Jiu Yue hummed in acknowledgment, then had Shao Qing bring back some steamed buns or the like.

In truth, oranges were the easiest place for penicillium to form.

But oranges were too expensive!

And not everyone could even buy oranges.

In this season, oranges were tribute items—tribute items!

Fortunately, Jiu Yue didn’t need much penicillin. As long as there was enough for Shen Zongsheng, it would suffice.

Shao Qing nodded and quickly went to handle it.

Jiu Yue finally managed to be idle before the New Year.

Of course, aside from going to the General’s residence once every three days, there wasn’t much else to do.

When Jiu Yue went to the General’s residence again, she found that the atmosphere there had improved considerably.

As a physician and a female guest, the Shen family finally had a proper matron to receive her as an honored guest.

Madam Shen and the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family both came out to receive her.

That was fine—at least Jiu Yue no longer had to face three identical-looking faces every time, which she found quite uncomfortable.

As for where Xiao Yue, whom Shen Zongnian had taken away, eventually ended up, Jiu Yue didn’t care and didn’t inquire in the slightest.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye it was the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Thinking that the scholars in the family had been shut up studying for several months, Jiu Yue kindly gave the Ji brothers one day off to go out and relax.

Ji Yiqing and Ji Chaomian refused. After all, the spring examination would begin after the New Year—it was the time to seize every second.

To thank Jiu Yue for treating the Shen family, General Shen specially invited one of his close friends to give guidance on Ji Yiqing’s and Ji Chaomian’s essays.

Ji Yiqing and Ji Chaomian treated it as a priceless opportunity. Over the past two days, even without supervision, they studied and wrote diligently.

Of course, they were diligent people to begin with.

As for Ji Zhouye, Ji Wanqiao, and Ji Weizhou—the three young boys—being locked at home to study by Jiu Yue had nearly driven them into a daze.

Now, once permission was granted, and Jiu Yue even generously gave each of them twenty taels of silver—

The three of them were almost moved to tears. That was twenty taels!

When they reached the gate of the residence, Jiu Yue happened to be entering.

The moment the three saw her, they instinctively stood up straight and said in unison, “Second Sister-in-law!”

They couldn’t have looked more obedient if they tried.

Jiu Yue gave a slight nod. “Come back early. Don’t stay out overnight.”

Ji Zhouye had thought Jiu Yue didn’t want them to go out at all. He didn’t expect that she only told them not to stay out overnight.

The three of them were so grateful they were nearly in tears.

They had completely forgotten that once upon a time, they could wander outside for a whole month and no one dared say a word.

Now they were thankful just for being allowed not to stay out overnight. Kids—how they had fallen!

The three clasped their hands and bowed to Jiu Yue, then hurried off at full speed.

They had been in the capital for so long and still hadn’t truly explored it.

They had heard that the capital was far more prosperous than the prefectural city, many times over, and that there were night markets at night.

There were so many things to see and play with on the streets.

Once you stepped onto the streets, it was impossible to want to leave.

The three wandered around, eating and drinking.

They watched cockfights and went to teahouses to listen to storytellers, lingering unwillingly.

As evening fell, colorful lanterns were hung in front of every shop. They were so beautiful it was almost overwhelming.

The three of them were transfixed.

The prefectural city had tall buildings, but only a few.

The capital’s buildings, however, were tall and luxurious.

Standing in front of one such building, they saw many girls dressed quite lightly, leaning by the windows.

Their beautiful eyes shimmered, every movement brimming with charm. One smile alone was enough to make a person’s legs go weak.

The three stood dumbly below, staring at the girls in the windows.

One girl lifted her fan to cover her face, revealing a pair of round, lively eyes. When they curved into a smile, they looked like twin crescent moons.

She was truly stunning.

Her lips parted gently, and she said softly, “Idiot…”