Chu Qingze saw Chen Xing and couldn't help but sigh, "What did this person eat to grow so tall?"
Soon, Rong Zhi brought out paper and brush. Seeing that Xia Yunting was gone, she asked, "Why is someone missing?"
"A tall person came earlier, said something, and then he left."
"There must be news," Rong Zhi murmured to herself.
"What news?"
"The one who escaped." Rong Zhi suddenly remembered that Chu Qingze didn't know that one of the patients had escaped. She then explained the situation from that day.
Chu Qingze's expression became solemn. "That makes sense. The one watching at the mass grave, I clearly saw a blade enter his neck. At that angle, he couldn't have possibly survived, but when I looked again, his shadow was gone. If someone else rescued him, it would be understandable."
"That patient left mysteriously, we cannot let our guard down."
Chu Qingze agreed and then, pen in hand, wrote down each person's symptoms and solutions.
"Here, follow this to detoxify, it should be fine. As for other minor issues, your medical skills should be more than enough to handle them."
Rong Zhi took it, glanced at him, and couldn't help but say, "I could have handled all of this, but I wanted to save time."
"Childish." Arguing over such a small matter.
"If you need anything else, find me. I need to go back and look after Zhang Yajing."
"Wait a moment." Seeing Chu Qingze about to leave, Rong Zhi stopped him.
"Your condition... have you thought of a solution?"
Mentioning this, Chu Qingze's eyes darkened, a trace of annoyance appearing. "There is a medicine that can cause amnesia. If one forgets that period of time, the impact can be eliminated, but..."
"What? Is that memory that important?" Rong Zhi guessed immediately.
"Yes." Chu Qingze nodded. "My medical skills and techniques were learned during that time. If I were to forcibly induce amnesia, I fear I... would no longer be able to treat illnesses."
For a doctor, especially one dedicated to healing the world and saving lives, this would be worse than death.
However...
"Will you forget medical skills?"
"Of course." Chu Qingze said with a serious expression. "Do you know how long it took me to memorize those pharmacologies, those herbs, and those strange ailments?"
Thinking of that time, Chu Qingze felt a throbbing headache.
Rong Zhi, however, fell into thought. Was it that difficult? She remembered it wasn't that hard.
"Perhaps you could try..."
"Forget it, I have my own way of handling this, you don't need to worry."
He stopped Rong Zhi from speaking: "Goodbye."
This child, why doesn't she listen to advice?
Suddenly, she felt eyes on her. Turning her head, she saw that all the patients were staring at her with curiosity.
"Are you... hungry?"
They all nodded in unison.
"Wait a moment, I'll go make food."
Rong Zhi tucked the prescription into her clothes and bustled off to cook. Although the kitchen was small, she quickly made a large pot of rice and some simple vegetarian dishes. There was no lavish meat, but it was enough to fill their stomachs.
She distributed the food to everyone. After they finished eating, she collected the bowls and began to ponder how to treat them.
The ailments were not complicated, but each person had slight variations. Rong Zhi first carefully examined Chu Qingze's notes, categorized patients with similar symptoms, calculated the approximate amount of herbs needed, and then pondered the simmering time and heat in her mind before deciding to get started.
However, she discovered a problem: she didn't have enough medicine pots.
She was considering whether to borrow some from the villagers when a sound suddenly came from outside.
"Miss..." a mournful tone.
Gu Zhou stood at the door, peeking inside.
"Oh, you're here so quickly? Is the house situation sorted?"
"Done, done! The Zhang family has a spacious residence in the neighboring Lianhua Village. These patients will be very comfortable there, with maids and servants attending to them."
Indeed, they were a prominent family. Rong Zhi couldn't help but marvel at his efficiency.
"Maids and servants are not necessary. I need to treat illnesses and brew medicine, and I don't want others to disturb us. Just take us there, provide food, and I'll also need 20 medicine pots."
"We have everything. That was where the Zhang family stored their medicinal materials. It's now abandoned, and besides pots, there are still a lot of unprocessed herbs inside."
The Zhang family was a supplier of medicinal materials, so it wasn't strange for them to have herbs and medicine pots. This was like a pillow arriving just when one was sleepy. Rong Zhi nodded with satisfaction.
"Then... can my poison be..."
"Don't worry, once we get there, I will naturally detoxify you."
"Then let's set off now, I've already prepared the carriages."
Gu Zhou waved to the four burly men behind him who drove the carriages over.
Quite thoughtful.
"Then let's go!"
Rong Zhi informed the patients about changing locations for their recovery. Most of them didn't react. They simply stood up one by one and began to board the carriages. It was evident that despite their poisoning, their bodies were not in critical condition, they were just too lazy to speak.
The carriages didn't travel for long before reaching Lianhua Village, a sparsely populated hamlet. Gu Zhou had his four assistants stop the carriages at the entrance of a large courtyard. Rong Zhi glanced at it and couldn't help but exclaim, "Magnificent."
This courtyard, by estimation, could contain over a dozen smaller ones. Compared to other houses, it was undoubtedly a mansion.
Rong Zhi helped the patients disembark and inspected the courtyard herself. She found that apart from being empty, the environment was quite good. She then let the patients choose their rooms. At this moment, Gu Zhou approached again.
"Miss Lin..."
"Here, this is the antidote."
Rong Zhi tossed him a pill. Gu Zhou sniffed it, finding it slightly astringent and bitter. Just as he hesitated whether to take it, he suddenly heard Rong Zhi say, "If you don't want to eat it, give it back to me."
Gu Zhou's mouth widened, and he quickly swallowed the pill.
"Miss, I'm truly afraid of you," he said, bowing. He finally waved to the four men driving the carriages, "Go, go, go, hurry up."
Rong Zhi made a face at his retreating back.
After Gu Zhou left, Rong Zhi discovered a whole room full of medicine pots in the warehouse, just as Gu Zhou had said.
"Treasures!" Rong Zhi's eyes lit up. With a few leaps, she reached the center of the room. Her fingers skillfully hooked several medicine pots, then with a flick of her wrist, all the medicine pots flew to the center of the courtyard as if they had wings, neatly arranged in a row. Rong Zhi then rummaged through the medicine room and found a large quantity of commonly used herbs, well-preserved. Rong Zhi packed the needed herbs into bags according to her memory, then distributed them into different pots according to their proportions. By the time the last pot was filled, the herbs in Rong Zhi's hands were also empty, to the exact measure.
"Now it's time to brew the medicine."
Rong Zhi started a fire on the spot in the courtyard and set up twenty medicine pots. It looked quite spectacular. As the flames under the pots burned brighter and hotter, a rich medicinal aroma filled the courtyard.
Rong Zhi moved between different pots, controlling the heat for each, handling it with ease. Soon, she took out large bowls from the kitchen, ladled out several already brewed medicinal soups, and distributed them to the patients, reminding them that these were medicines, not food to be shared.
She continued to be busy like this until it was late into the night. Rong Zhi did not sleep soundly, sitting by the door, resting her head and dozing.
A gust of wind stirred in the distance. Rong Zhi twitched her ears and finally yawned.
"It's too late, go back to sleep."
She pushed open the door to the main house, the largest and most fully furnished room. As soon as she entered, a rustling sound, as if of clothes being taken off, came from inside.
Following this sound, a person suddenly appeared in the courtyard, looking around vigilantly. Suddenly, he saw the side rooms on the left and right and was about to investigate when his movements froze, as if he had been struck by a paralyzing spell.
"You're still too young to fight with me..."
Rong Zhi came out of the room, her words cut short as she froze: "It's you?"
The person before her was dressed in black, with a black veil covering his face. Although his features were unclear, his unusually tall stature indicated he was one of Xia Yunting's men.
Rong Zhi, surprised, stepped forward and pulled the silver needles from him. "What are you doing here? Are you chasing the assassin?"
Jiang Shi nodded. "It's strange. I just caught up to here, and the scent disappeared."
"I didn't sense any scent either," Rong Zhi's tone also became serious.
No wonder she could immediately detect someone approaching. It turned out that Xia Yunting's subordinate was chasing an assassin, so there was no need to hide. As for the assassin, to be able to disappear without a trace and so effectively, he must be a master. She just didn't know if it was the person from the mass grave or the one from the sick ward.
"Madam, why are you here?" Jiang Shi was also surprised. He remembered he hadn't made a mistake, and this wasn't Yunshui Village.
"I asked someone to arrange for me to move here. The place is large, allowing for ample space, and there are medicinal materials, making it more suitable for treating illnesses."
"I see." A hint of admiration appeared on Jiang Shi's face.
"Since that's the case, I won't disturb you further."
"Are you going to continue pursuing the assassin?" Rong Zhi asked.
Jiang Shi nodded. He had finally found the assassin's whereabouts; he couldn't give up halfway. If he captured the assassin, the General could return to the capital sooner.
"Do you know where he is?"
"...Your subordinate doesn't know." It was precisely because he didn't know that he had to search.
Rong Zhi sighed. "A person's whereabouts cannot just disappear. Where did you find his trace?"
"Near the mass grave."
"Did you find it suddenly?"
"Yes, suddenly..." Jiang Shi paused mid-sentence again.
"Are you suggesting that he deliberately exposed his tracks to lure me here?"
Rong Zhi nodded. It was just a guess.
"Then what should your subordinate do?"
In fact, Jiang Shi was not inexperienced. According to his past habits, even if he knew there was a trap, he would still test the waters. After all, one cannot catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den. However, with the young lady in front of him now, and the General seemingly valuing her highly, Jiang Shi instinctively sought her opinion.
"In my opinion, you should stay here and wait, remaining motionless."
"Understood." Jiang Shi clasped his hands. "If you have anything you need done, feel free to assign it to me."
"Mm..." Rong Zhi thought for a moment and pointed to a pile of medicine pots in the corner. "Then you can go and wash those things first."