Chapter 63 – Robbery

Robbery

Feng Jin Yuan also knew that once Chen shi entered the palace, the Feng family would need to make its position clear.

Imperial concubine Yun was not by the Emperor, but if the Emperor did not have her in his heart, how could he dote on the child she bore him to this degree.

“Forget it!” He waved his hand as though he were trying to swat away all the endless troubles, “If that vile woman can escape the palace alive, then she will be sent to Bright Moon nunnery outside the city.”

Feng Chen Yu closed her eyes in despair. The sound of a glorious fall sounded in her mind.

Was the Feng family going to give up on her?

Inside Tong Sheng pavilion, Feng Yu Heng arranged for Qing Yu to audit the accounts together with eunuch Zhang then sent the two along to Wonderful Treasure House. The current shopkeeper definitely could not be used any longer, and the things in the shop had been swapped out by Chen shi, so there wasn’t anything of much value remaining. She decided to simply close up Wonderful Treasure House like she had Hundred Herb Hall for a few days, while she properly took care of cleaning up the shop.

As for herself, she left the manor with Huang Quan. Her destination was a village in the suburbs of the capital.

Earlier she had promised the old man who had purchased fake ginseng that she would go pay a visit. The things that were said had to be fulfilled.

The address had been taken down by Huang Quan. When they arrived, they just happened to witness a family’s daughter getting married. A small donkey carried a girl wearing a red bridal veil, with a granny who took care of the bride at her side. The bride herself carried a cloth bundle on her shoulders, likely containing some clothes for her to wear. Desolate and cold, there was not an atmosphere of celebration. There were some villagers that went along and sent her to the entrance to the village, but they also simply shook their heads sighing.

Feng Yu Heng had her horse-drawn carriage pull over to allow the donkey to pass. The surrounding villagers dialogue drifted over: “Such a good young girl is going to marry an idiot. What a pity.”

“Old Chen’s family has no choice. Jiao’er’s mother is sick to such a degree that the family owes a great deal of debt. If she didn’t go marry that idiot, where would the money come from for her mother to see a doctor.”

“Wasn’t the ginseng brought to save her life? Why was there no improvement?”

“Ginseng was merely to keep her alive. The prescription wasn’t just ginseng. Unable to afford the other medicines and without money to invite a doctor, I think that Jiao’s mother is on her last breath with the ginseng running out.”

Feng Yu Heng figured that old Chen’s family was the one she was looking for, so she had the driver continue onward.

As the carriage entered the village, it took numerous turns before finally stopping in a remote corner.

Huang Quan helped Feng Yu Heng off the carriage and saw that the so-called family home was just a thatched tent. There were very noticeable holes on all sides. A cloth curtain hung in the entrance in the place of a door.

This scene could not help but make her remember Xi Ping village where the body’s original owner had lived for three years. She could not help but heave a sigh.

Huang Quan took the lead and entered through the curtain. Inside the small space was an elderly couple, one sitting and one lying down. The one sitting was the old man who had come to Hundred Herb Hall.

The old man, seeing that people had come, was stunned at first. Then noticing that it was Feng Yu Heng, instantly became so surprised he did not know what to say.

The elderly woman’s illness was not light. Even after struggling for a long time, she could not sit up, but she continued to ask: “Is it Jiao’er that has returned?”

Old man Chen wrinkled his nose and turned around to wipe his face. Only then did he face Feng Yu Heng and say: “Young miss, why have you come.”

“Previously, I have promised to personally come take a look at aunty. I never go back on my word.” She lightly laughed and walked over to the bed of grass, sitting next to the elderly woman: “Aunty, place your hand here and let me take a look.”

Old man Chen saw Feng Yu Heng sit on the dirty grass bed in her clean dress, making him feel embarrassed and touched. He never placed any hope in Feng Yu Heng personally coming. She had already given him free ginseng, which he saw as an enormous favor. How could such a young miss come to their inferior residence.

But Feng Yu Heng really came.

He quickly said to his old partner: “This is the great and generous person that gave us the ginseng! She is the owner of Hundred Herb Hall in the capital!”

The elderly woman, hearing this, wanted to get up and kowtow to the generous person, but was stopped by Feng Yu Heng, “Aunty, treating your illness is most important.”

She checked her pulse seriously. This elderly woman’s illness was roughly what she had expected. Falling ill from overwork in addition to old age allowed for all age-related illnesses to appear. For the modern times, this illness would not be considered severe, but in this sort of era where medical knowledge was not well understood, this was a life-threatening sickness.

“Aunty, I will ask you, do you normally feel a twisting pain in the pit of your stomach, feel tired or have a hard time breathing?” She put down the elderly lady’s wrist and began asking for symptoms.

The elderly lady was very surprised that such a young girl was able to consult as a doctor. Furthermore, she was able to list her symptoms correctly. She could not help but nod, “The great person is completely right.”

“Un.” Feng Yu Heng continued to ask: “The twisting pain, did it start at the pit of your stomach and slowly progress up to your shoulder, wrist and even your fingers? Also, the pain is becoming more and more severe as well as the duration the pain lingers?”

“How did you know?” The elderly woman was completely captured by Feng Yu Heng, “The doctors that have come before could not even say it as clearly as this great person has.”

Old man Chen, hearing these words, quickly said: “The owner of Hundred Herb Hall is naturally an impressive person!”

Feng Yu Heng smiled but did not explain. She understood that this old lady had heart disease, but in this era where medical supplies were lacking, relying solely on medications would not allow her to survive much longer. Moreover, this Chen family’s circumstances, no matter how she looked at it, it was not a place that would allow a sick person to recover.

“There is a medicine box in my carriage. I will go fetch it myself. Uncle Chen, go fetch a bowl of clean water. Aunty will be taken care of by my servant.” Feng Yu Heng did not allow Huang Quan to follow and returned to the carriage alone.

As soon as she entered the carriage, she lowered the curtain. She opened the small medicine box while searching her pharmacy for a long time before finding some medications that could treat heart disease. After picking and choosing for a while, she tore off the packaging and placed the medicine in small porcelain bottles that she had prepared.

When she returned to the small room, old man Chen had brought back some clean water. She fed the elderly woman the medicine and handed the bottle to old man Chen, advising him on when to take the medicine and what to look out for. Only then, did she relax and depart.

Old man Chen did not know how he could thank her properly. He thought he could only kowtow to give thanks for her grace.

Feng Yu Heng pondered for a while before telling him: “If your daughter did not marry well, if you go chase her now, you can still bring her back.” As she said this, she pulled out a bank note worth fifty taels of silver, “No matter how you say it, uncle is a benefactor of Hundred Herb Hall. If it were not for uncle, then I don’t think I would have found the culprit so quickly. This is a thank you gift to uncle. Go call Jiao’er back. If she wants, tell her to come find me at Hundred Herb Hall in three days.”

Having finished what she came to say and do, Feng Yu Heng did not linger. Together with Huang Quan, she returned to the carriage. The driver shouted and the carriage left the village.

Huang Quan seemed to have some understanding of why Feng Yu Heng invited the Chen family’s daughter to Hundred Herb Hall. Unable to help herself, she asked: “Does the young miss wish to find some more people?”

Feng Yu Heng did not hide it from her and seriously nodded: “That’s right. When I left the capital, I was still young and did not understand anything. This large capital, in my eyes, is a completely unfamiliar place. If I don’t have some people that I trust at my side, who knows when I will be sold out by someone.”

Huang Quan agreed with her words, “That’s right. Feng family has managed to change three shops in to that sort of place. If there were our own people in those shops, how could we be bullied by the Feng family like that.”

Feng Yu Heng did not speak any further. Raising her own strength was one component. She still had an idea for Hundred Herb Hall that she had been continuously pondering these past few days.

Because of her previous life’s career, her hand would itch whenever she saw a patient. If Hundred Herb Hall could expand in to something similar to a hospital, and she then focused on developing some professionals in this area, would this not be considered an benefit for this era?

Feng Yu Heng had been worried about the injuries on Xuan Tian Ming’s body. The conclusion of a short analysis: The medical situation does not allow it. She had the ability, but no convenient instruments to support. If Da Shun dynasty could slowly improve medical conditions, wouldn’t more and more people join along.

Of course, these were all afterthoughts. She knew that before everything stabilized, everything was an idle thought.

Slightly closing her eyes, she leaned against the carriage and rested. Huang Quan copied her appearance and also leaned to the side.

But before they could rest for long, Feng Yu Heng’s sensitive ears picked up a vibration.

Hearing some sort of sound, something came through the air with a whistling sound. It flew towards them with a heavy murderous intent.

She and Huang Quan opened their eyes at the same time and reacted at the same time. Feng Yu Heng leaned back, heading straight for the window. Huang Quan took out a sword from her waist area and cut across the curtain and called out a warning to the driver: “Be careful!”

Just as Feng Yu Heng went out the window, the blade of Huang Quan’s sword was struck by a sharp sword. The force was extremely large, such that even the area between her thumb and forefinger felt number.

But thankfully, she had dodged this attack. If she had not noticed it early on, this sword had been aimed directly at Feng Yu Heng’s heart.

Huang Quan sucked in a breath of cold air. Without saying a word, she also jumped out the carriage’s window.

The two people were not far apart and immediately met up after landing. Feng Yu Heng asked Huang Quan with worry: “You are ok, right?”

Huang Quan’s heart warmed and quickly said: “I’m fine. Young miss, have you been injured?”

“I haven’t.”

Clearly understanding the other’s circumstances, the two did not speak any further. Back to back, they stood on guard. One held a sword and the other held needles between her fingers, which she had pulled out at some unknown point in time.

Very quickly, countless people dressed all in black with black masks appeared from all directions, completely surrounding the two girls.

These people garbed in black did not waste any words. Holding long sabers, they came up and slashed away. This made Feng Yu Heng frown, damn it, were a few exchanges of words not the proper start to this sequence of events? She would have to ask who the other side was, then they would reply “There’s nothing worth saying to a dead person.” That’s the correct way to do it! 1

A twelve year old girl successfully held silver needles between her fingers. On one hand, she was depressed that her first time being robbed in an ancient era did not go according to script, and on the other, she considered whether they could actually break through.

Huang Quan’s martial skill was exceedingly high, her skill with a sword had reached the pinnacle of perfection. Although she was clear about her family’s young miss was not an expert, she still remained protecting her side, causing her to worry that she might get even slightly injured.

Feng Yu Heng actually really wanted for Huang Quan to run away first. So long as Huang Quan was not around, she could vanish in to thin air at any time and any place. No matter how many enemies there were, they would have no way to pull her out. But now was no good. She could not be too brazen. She still did not want to be seen as a monster by others.

Sadly, this small body was truly disappointing. After just a few rounds, her calf began to cramp up. Feng Yu Heng felt that if they continued to fight, even if they were not killed by this hoard of enemies, she would die of exhaustion. Moreover, her strengths were close quarters combat and fire arms combat. In this flash of swords, she couldn’t even get close to the enemy, let alone the combat part.

1: This isn’t a movie A-Heng! Also, what sort of priorities do you have!?