My domineering ex-husband is living off his wife in ancient times.

Chapter 13 Stockpiling Medicinal Herbs

"This is a formula we just developed. We were planning to mass-produce it after autumn, but who would have thought..." Cheng Ruoan said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away non-existent tears.

It's all made up the moment they open and close their eyes.

"Alas, our family has suffered a disaster. Our house is destroyed and the ground has collapsed. There are family members who are seriously injured and need money for life-saving treatment. My mother asked me to come to the county town today to see a doctor for my leg. If I happen to meet a doctor or clinic, I will sell this prepared prescription to tide me over..."

Cheng Ruoan learned how to make Chinese medicine granules from short videos she watched online in her previous life.

The simple traditional method involves four steps: dissolving, extracting and concentrating, drying, and granulating. It's easy to do with modern machines and equipment, and it wasn't impossible in ancient times, just a bit more complicated.

Although Cheng Ruoan had never done it herself, she remembered the operating method.

Cheng Ruoan believed in the wisdom of the ancients.

If you hand the method over to professionals like senior doctors, even if they can't do it right away, they can do it after studying it for a while.

The old doctor put a few small granules into his mouth. The granules melted in his mouth and had a strong medicinal taste, so the medicine must be effective!

Doctors who deal with medicinal herbs year-round are well aware of the benefits of this processing method.

His previously cloudy old eyes immediately lit up: "Young lady, what price do you want for this recipe?"

Cheng Ruo'an remembered how kind this eldest lady was, that she hadn't tried to extort money from her, a mere village woman, nor had she made any unreasonable demands.

I just had a little scheme.

She said, "Doctor, we have many injured people in our family. If we sell it at a high price, you will lose money; if we sell it at a low price, it may not even cover our medicine costs. Can you exchange other medicinal herbs for the prescription with me?"

"Oh? What kind of medicinal herbs does the young lady want?"

"Forsythia, honeysuckle, processed ephedra, stir-fried bitter almond, rhubarb, licorice..."

The old doctor had taken out a piece of paper to write down the ingredients so he could help her prepare the medicine, but the more he wrote, the more wrong it seemed. These were all the medicines needed in the prescription for treating the plague.

"Young lady, these medicinal herbs aren't for treating bruises and sprains; they're for preventing plagues," the old doctor said seriously, looking at Cheng Ruo'an.

She subtly changed the subject: "Sir, let me first prepare the formula for the granule medicine for you."

Cheng Ruoan knew nothing about ancient prescriptions for treating plagues. These were just the ingredients she remembered from the Lianhua Qingwen medicine boxes she had seen when she stockpiled them during the mask era in her previous life.

I didn't remember everything, but that's about it.

It must have some effect in preventing infectious diseases, right?

Then let's stock up on it for now!

Cheng Ruoan borrowed paper and pen and wrote down the ancient method of making granules that she had seen online in her previous life.

The original owner knew some characters from the Great Xia Dynasty, but not many.

Cheng Ruoan felt that the difference from modern traditional Chinese characters was not too great, so he wrote it according to the traditional characters he remembered.

Whether it's well-written or not is another matter, but she guarantees that the old doctor will be able to understand it.

For those words she didn't understand, such as distillation and purification, she explained them to her in a language that people in Daxia could understand.

Finally, Cheng Ruoan handed over the prescription and the oil paper package with both hands: "Please keep this preparation method, sir. And please prepare the medicinal materials I just mentioned, in a total amount of one hundred taels."

The old doctor frowned as he looked at her scrawled handwriting, but he roughly understood it.

He summoned the young medicine boy, whispered a few words in his ear, and then sent him to fetch the medicine.

"Young lady, you haven't answered this old man's question about the plague yet..."

The old doctor also wanted to ask if the herb gatherers who came from the disaster area knew anything that the people in their county didn't.

Cheng Ruoan couldn't explain the modern medical knowledge about corpses and bacteria to him, so she could only sigh and say, "I heard it from my ancestors. They say that a major disaster is always followed by a major epidemic. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's always good to be prepared."

The old doctor frowned even more deeply; it was unclear whether he had taken it all in.

In short, Cheng Ruoan is not some great philanthropist who has to save the world.

She just had a spur-of-the-moment idea and used a method for making granules that she had never practiced before to exchange for a bunch of medicinal herbs.

She didn't plan to put these medicinal herbs into her spatial storage.

The main reason was to let her family know that she had gotten a lot of medicine from the clinic, so that when she needed to take medicine out of her space for emergencies, the medicine would have a source.

Soon, Cheng Ruoan received the medicinal herbs.

"so much?"

Cheng Ruoan stared wide-eyed at the two sacks of medicinal herbs in front of her.

Isn't it said that medicinal herbs are very precious?

The old doctor stroked his beard and said, "The medicinal herbs you requested are not rare or expensive; they are all herbs that are abundant in our Bachuan Prefecture."

"I'm giving it to you at the purchase price, so this is naturally the amount of medicinal herbs worth one hundred taels."

Cheng Ruoan estimated that each of the herbs here, such as forsythia, honeysuckle, rhubarb, and licorice, weighed about 40 to 50 jin, while ephedra and bitter almonds were slightly less, each weighing about 20 to 30 jin.

Don't think this is a small amount; it's all been processed.

Fortunately, Xinglintang has a large stock of medicinal herbs; otherwise, the old doctor wouldn't have been able to gather that much cheap herb, worth one hundred taels, in such a short time.

"Thank you, sir."

Gradually, the other doctors from the clinic returned, and the number of patients in the clinic increased. Cheng Ruo'an, leaning on her cane and carrying the medicine she had obtained, was placed by the medicine boy by the door, waiting for either Si Silang or Si Shaoheng to return first and who would come to pick her up.

Cheng Ruoan was surprised to find that Si Shaoheng was the first to return.

"How many books did you ask your fourth brother to buy for you? How come you've kept me away for so long?" Cheng Ruoan teased.

"Not much, just four books and four bookstores to go to." Si Shaoheng took out a silver pouch and returned it to Cheng Ruoan. "Here's the money back. I'll keep the travel permit. Did you pay the doctor?"

As he spoke, Si Shaoheng glanced inside Xinglin Hall.

Many people come to the hospital, but none of them have come from the village with external injuries like these. The magistrate of Qingshan County really didn't let anyone know how serious the disaster was in several of the villages with the nickname "Huaming Village".

Cheng Ruoan weighed the money bag in her hand and could clearly feel that much less money was left.

But she didn't ask.

Si Shaoheng didn't bring it up himself, so he probably just paid to keep things peaceful.

For people like them who come from wealthy families in modern times, bowing and scraping to the ruling class in ancient times was somewhat humiliating.

“I gave it to you, I didn’t expect to use your Si family’s public funds.” Cheng Ruoan pulled him to look at the burlap sack at his feet, “I also bought these medicinal herbs for backup.”

Si Shaoheng raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get so much money?"

Cheng Ruoan: "Mind your own business when it comes to pretty girls."

"Correction, beautiful young woman." Si Shaoheng stepped forward and carried her on his back. "She's already a mother of two."

Cheng Ruoan didn't have time to argue with him. She climbed onto his back and told him about the change of herbs in the prescription. Si Shaoheng praised her for her insight.

Judging from the way the magistrate of Qingshan County behaved, Cheng Ruoan and Si Shaoheng could almost see how fierce the epidemic would become in the future.

Although transportation was inconvenient in ancient times, there were many merchants traveling between counties and prefectures.

At this point, entering and leaving various cities only requires paying money, and there is no travel code to check. The epidemic will spread extremely quickly. If there is a severe shortage of medicines, what they get today will not be something that can be bought for a hundred taels.