After a lively New Year celebration, on the third day of the New Year, Xiaocao and his friends said goodbye to their host family and continued on their journey.
Just now, we arrived at the designated place on the fifteenth day. This place belongs to a county town of a prefecture under the Nanzhong Provincial Administration. Although half of the Nanzhong Provincial Administration is located in the mountains, it is rich in various herbs. There are countless precious ones, and the common ones are even more numerous. Here, Xiaocao can basically get the herbs he wants at the first time.
Considering Wei Tingyu's physical condition, they did not go to the high ground.
Although this is a small county town, there is a certain scale of medicinal material cultivation in the entire county town. Therefore, it can be said to be a medicinal material trading market. Many medicinal material merchants from all over the country gather here. People have various needs, and there is always someone to make them appear. Therefore, although this place is not big, it is really prosperous.
Correspondingly, places such as restaurants and inns are almost always full. Even though many ordinary people have found business opportunities in them and built "residential houses", they are still in short supply.
The people under Wei Tingyu have always been talented, however, at this moment, they are struggling to find a place to stay, especially with so many of them. Even if someone wealthy enough wants to pay to buy it, others simply won't sell it.
Did Xiaocao choose this place without knowing its situation? Of course not. This place has been developed for more than one or two years. In total, it has been about 30 years. Xiaocao once stayed here for half a year with Dr. Lin.
When Xiaocao was slowly pushing Wei Tingyu and introducing the situation here, the people below finally came back dejected. You know, they arrived a day earlier, but... they said that they did not do their job well and asked the master to punish them.
-Wei Tingyu had previously instructed not to disturb the government, otherwise his identity as a son of a marquisate could still be useful in such a place, and the effect would probably be quite good, but correspondingly, there would also be a lot of trouble.
Xiao Cao found it funny. She didn't know whether to say they were responsible or servile. "Since I chose the place, why didn't you ask me first? Do you really think I know nothing and barged in blindly?"
After hearing what Xiaocao said, they knew that she had already made up her mind. No matter how embarrassed they were, it was ultimately their fault for treating their wife as a woman who was ignorant of the world and obsessed with medicine, oblivious to the world outside.
"Has Xuan'er been here with Divine Doctor Lin?"
"Yes." Xiao Cao nodded. "The Zhao family, the largest medicinal herb planting family here, has a good relationship with my adoptive father, especially the old man. He has known my adoptive father for decades and they are close friends. We inquired about it a few days ago. Now the old man Zhao is still in good health. Although he no longer manages the family business, his deterrent power remains.
The current head of the Zhao family, Master Zhao, was able to be given the position of head of the family by the old master instead of his son, which shows his ability. However, twelve or thirteen years ago, he was still a sickly person. He lived here with his adoptive father for half a year. On the one hand, there were many medicinal herbs here, which made it convenient for my adoptive father to teach me, and on the other hand, he was treating this master's illness. "
Xiao Cao seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help laughing, "Because of the seniority, the old man of the Zhao family, who was in his twenties at the time, called my aunt, who was only a few years old, and his children all called me great aunt.
Love the house and love the dog. The Zhao family also likes me very much. They thought it was hard for my adoptive father to raise me alone, so they wanted to adopt me. However, neither my adoptive father nor I agreed. "
"I'm afraid Doctor Lin will be reluctant to part with your extremely talented disciple." Wei Tingyu said with a smile.
"In fact, I also like medicine very much."
Normally speaking, it is not nice to bring so many people to bother someone, but Xiaocao feels sorry for Wei Tingyu, and wants to give him a comfortable place to recuperate, so she has to be shameless for once.
However, there must be a certain level of friendship. If you don't enter the door, it would be impolite.
Over the past ten years, this small county town has expanded a lot, but it was all expanded towards the periphery. The inside is not much different from before, so Xiaocao is naturally very familiar with it. The Zhao family is very wealthy. In addition to the mansion itself, the herbal medicine shop alone occupies an entire street. As the head of the family, usually, he will be on that street for at least an hour at noon. The rules should not have changed, so Xiaocao plans to go there directly. Of course, it doesn't matter if he can't find anyone, he can just go to the Zhao family mansion.
This street of Zhao's is bustling with people, and medicinal materials are constantly being carried out of the warehouse. There are also some people who are obviously new to this business and look unfamiliar with it.
When it comes to business, Xiaocao definitely doesn't understand anything, but when it comes to medicinal materials, there are few people in the world who are better than her.
In this environment, what others would smell would probably be a mixed smell of medicine, but Xiaocao was different. She only needed to know what the medicinal herbs were by that extremely faint smell, even if they were packaged.
As she identified the scents one by one, she would smile unconsciously.
However, in such an environment, most people probably would not be able to help but cover their noses. Of course, nowadays, these people are usually accustomed to this smell, and they will find it very pleasant after getting used to it.
In front of a store, there was a man who looked to be in his thirties, who was seeing off another group of people with his men. He was clearly a businessman, but he had a somewhat elegant air about him.
This person is obviously the reason why Xiaocao and the others came here, the current head of the Zhao family.
After the guests left, Xiaocao and her group stepped forward—of course, there were only about ten people accompanying them, and Xiaocao's maids only brought two—Xiaocao spoke directly, "Master Zhao."
Wei Tingyu also nodded.
If a businessman wants to do business well, he naturally has to develop a sharp eye. What's more, the demeanor of their group of people is obvious. Anyone who is not blind should know that they are not from ordinary backgrounds. In fact, there are many people who have been looking at them along the way.
The head of the Zhao family smiled and bowed, "Mr. Zhao is polite. I wonder if you guys need anything." Although he doesn't look like a businessman at all, there are only a few situations when people come to us. Businessmen value harmony.
Xiao Cao suddenly smiled and waved her hand, "Nephew, do you still remember me, Xiao Cao?"
The other party was obviously startled, with a look of disbelief in his eyes. He looked at Xiaocao carefully and asked, "Aunt?"
"Hey, my dear nephew, you look pretty good now. You have taken over the Zhao family, and you seem to be full of energy and vitality." Xiaocao said with a hint of sarcasm.
The graceful woman in front of him finally resembled the little girl from more than ten years ago. That little girl liked to look up and call him nephew with a smile. Although he was still a little unsure, it seemed that no one needed to pretend to be that little girl and come to their Zhao family.
Patriarch Zhao couldn't help but smile, but his eyes were filled with kindness, as if he was looking at her from behind, just as doting as he had been more than a decade ago, "It's been more than a decade, I hope you are doing well, auntie."
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
Patriarch Zhao pulled over a young man behind him and said, "This is Jingming. Do you remember me? Jingming, hurry up and call for help."
Xiao Cao saw the young man's face flushed. Perhaps he remembered something. He was originally quite steady, but now his eyes widened and his face flushed. I didn't notice it when I didn't look closely, but now I look closely, he is the same person as I remembered. His eyebrows and eyes have hardly changed, but his face shape has become longer. Xiao Cao also thought of something, "Is he the one who is one year older than me, refused to call me great aunt, waved his fist at me, snatched food from me, and was beaten by me, and then cried miserably in front of my father to complain? Oh, he has changed a lot."
The young man's face became even uglier, because of his dark history as a child! "Lin Xiaocao—"
"Tsk, that's rude. Call me great aunt." Xiaocao said with a smile.
This made the other party even more angry, but the head of the Zhao family next to him couldn't help laughing. This kind of trivial matter, if it wasn't for the person himself, usually he wouldn't know, "Aunt, don't bully him, because because of aunt, he stays away from the girls in the family."
"Oh, really, but it's okay, it's okay, as long as you don't shy away from your wife, then it's fine."
The head of the Zhao family smiled and shook his head. "This medicine shop is not a place to talk. Why don't you come back to the Zhao family with me?"
"To be honest with you, nephew, I may need to stay in Zhao County for a while. Everyone knows the situation in Zhao County, so I have no choice but to visit you." Xiaocao said frankly.
"In that case, that couldn't be better. Let's go, let's go back and talk." The head of the Zhao family said, and was about to leave.
"Just leave like this, this side..."
"It's okay. We have already dealt with everything that needed to be dealt with today. As for the rest, the people below can handle it."
On the way, the head of the Zhao family talked about Divine Doctor Lin again, "You know, two years ago, when Divine Doctor Lin came to Zhao County, my grandfather didn't see my aunt, and he kept complaining for a while, saying that he only had such a good niece, and he didn't know if he would see her again."
"Did Dad come to Zhao County two years ago? He didn't tell me, but I didn't have much time to meet him. He was always busy discussing medical matters. You know him. Apart from medicine, he has no interest in other things."
"This is indeed the style of Divine Doctor Lin. I just wonder where Divine Doctor Lin is now?"
"He is now in the Imperial City. After all, he is already old. I don't want him to continue to travel outside."
"Imperial City?" The head of the Zhao family's eyes narrowed, and then he looked at Xiaocao, with a strange look on his face.
Xiaocao turned her head and looked over, but didn't react for a moment.
Wei Tingyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, "Does Patriarch Zhao also know about the old case of the Lin family?"
Wei Tingyu had deliberately lowered his presence before, but after she spoke, it was impossible to ignore him. Patriarch Zhao turned his head to look at him, with a serious look in his eyes that he had never shown to Xiaocao. "I forgot to ask about your identity, sir."
"My last name is Wei, and I am Xuan'er's husband. Of course, my current identity should be her fiancé. Doctor Lin had returned to Zhao County before, so he should have asked about Xuan'er's situation. Xuan'er married me when she was eight years old, and then some things happened. However, Doctor Lin has been away all the time, so he is not clear about these things. You should know that Xuan'er is Doctor Lin's adopted daughter. Now Xuan'er has found her biological parents. Her father is now the Minister of Rites. For various reasons, the past between Xuan'er and me was concealed, and we got engaged again.
This time we came out because I was not feeling well and came out to look for medicine.
Originally, Divine Doctor Lin had been away, but it was because of me that we were able to find him last year. Because Lin refused to enter the Imperial City, we learned about the old story of the Lin family. However, the Lin family has been vindicated, and Divine Doctor Lin is in the Imperial City, so he naturally has nothing to worry about. "
"So that's how it is." Patriarch Zhao nodded, and this time he believed it completely.
Xiao Cao finally understood, "So my nephew is doubting me."
The head of the Zhao family laughed calmly, without any embarrassment, and even sighed deliberately, "The Zhao family is also a big family with great wealth, and my aunt should understand my feelings. After all, I haven't seen my aunt for so many years. At that time, I was just a skinny little girl."
Xiao Cao nodded in agreement, "That's right. You are the head of the family now after all. You are responsible for the whole family and even the entire clan. You should be cautious."
The matter was naturally revealed.
Then he talked about Divine Doctor Lin, "It's good that Divine Doctor Lin can finally settle down. When he came to Zhao County two years ago, my grandfather wanted him to stay in the Zhao family, but Divine Doctor Lin didn't agree. Now that he is settled in the Imperial City, it's naturally reassuring."
When they returned to the Zhao family, the old man of the Zhao family came out first after hearing the news. Xiaocao is a junior, which shows how much he values her. Of course, his smiling face also shows that he is sincerely happy about Xiaocao's arrival.
It is said that this old man Zhao only retired a few years ago. When he was in charge of the Zhao family's business, he was very calculating and had many means. Now that those things have retreated, he has become a bit of an old naughty boy.
This opening allowed Xiaocao to stay for a few more days.
Xiaocao stated the purpose of his visit and said that he would indeed need to disturb him for a while.
Old Master Zhao was more than happy to do so. He waved his hand and asked someone to clean up the yard.
Xiao Cao hurriedly stopped him, "Uncle, there are too many of us. If we live in the Zhao family's main house, I'm afraid there will be a lot of changes."
"It's okay, you and your nephew-in-law can live here, and the people you brought can go to the other courtyard." He looked at those who were determined to keep Xiaocao in the main house.
Xiaocao couldn't persuade him and had to agree, but Wei Tingyu didn't care.
After reminiscing about the past, Xiaocao took people to settle down, leaving Wei Tingyu to talk to the Zhao family's grandparents and grandchildren.
Without Xiaocao by his side, Wei Tingyu's aura changed invisibly, and he clearly exuded the air of a superior. Even though he was sitting in a wheelchair, his bearing and majesty were not diminished in the slightest.
Old Master Zhao looked at him with a smile, "What does your nephew's husband do at home?"