Rebirth of the Exclusive Herbalist

The residence of Su, the governor of Jiangnan, has deep courtyards, shaded by green trees and lush flowers.

There is a small courtyard in the east wing of the Su Mansion. The courtyard is clean and tidy, and the flowers and plants are beautifully trimmed, but there is no one in sight. It is so quiet that it is a little scary.

There is a beautiful small building in the yard, which has the flavor of the Jiangnan water town. The interior is clean and tidy, and the layout is simple and generous.

In the small kitchen on the right side of the small building, a pretty girl of about fifteen years old – Su Qingqi, the third daughter of Jiangnan Governor Su Yuanhong, was staring intently at the earthenware jar on the stove, stirring it with a spoon from time to time. A trickle of sweat oozed from the tip of her nose, but her movements were smooth and seemed to have some kind of rhythm. As a trace of medicinal aroma emanated from the jar, the medicinal soup in the jar gradually changed color until it turned red. Su Qingqi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

“Minglan put out the fire, the medicine soup is ready!”

“Okay, young lady!” Minglan, the maid responsible for adding firewood to the fire, quickly put out the fire, stood up, took a clean white porcelain cup, and looked at the earthenware jar with sparkling eyes, “Young lady, is this the last medicinal soup?”

Su Qingqi hummed lightly and poured the medicine soup from the earthenware jar into the white porcelain cup with skillful movements. Looking at the translucent red soup without impurities in the white porcelain cup, her beautiful fair face could not hide her excitement.

“Hey, girl, why is the medicine soup red this time?” Minglan blinked and couldn’t help but ask curiously. The ingredients needed to make the medicine soup were the same as every month before, so why did the color change?

Su Qingqi smiled without saying a word, picked up the white porcelain cup, blew on it gently, and drank the medicine in small sips. She felt a slight heat in her body, and traces of heat slowly flowed to her internal organs. Her whole body felt comfortable, and the last trace of blockage in her body finally disappeared.

The illness she had acquired from the womb was finally cured.

After drinking the medicine soup, Su Qingqi asked Minglan to clean up the small kitchen and went back to her room to wash up. She had to pay her respects to her mother in a while and could not miss the time.

Over the past three years, every month when she paid her respects to the old lady, Su Qingqi would secretly make a bowl of medicinal soup for herself to regulate her body. Su Qingqi couldn’t help but sigh.

How nice it would be if she were still in the small village where she lived when she first came here. How free she would be, without having to live cautiously in this large compound.

Although she lives a comfortable life as a top-notch herbalist, she still feels a little regretful. She wonders when she will have the opportunity to put her family’s inherited “Food Classics” to use.

It is enough to have a second sister with good medical skills in the mansion. There is no need for another one. She just needs to be an ordinary person.

What’s more, what she is good at is preparing food with the auxiliary exercises in the “Food Sutra” and making medicinal food, pills, medicinal wine, etc. She really can’t treat patients.

There was no room for her to display her talents in the Su Mansion.

Not to mention cooking. As a daughter of an official family, it is okay to cook occasionally once or twice, but if it happens too often, it will have a bad impact.

Around 9 a.m., Su Qingqi took Minglan out of the small courtyard and walked along the path in the backyard to Mingyan Hall where her biological mother Han lived.

On the way, they met Su Qinghan, the second daughter of a concubine, who came out of the old lady’s courtyard and went to Mingyan Hall to pay her respects. Compared to Su Qingqi, who was only served by a maid, Su Qinghan was followed by a string of maids and old women. People who didn’t know the truth might think she was the eldest daughter of a legitimate family.

“Second sister!” Su Qingqi paused, greeted Su Qinghan, and prepared to move forward.

Su Qinghan smiled and walked forward to hold her hand: “Third sister, let’s go together!”

Su Qingqi was silent for a while and did not object.

She was a transparent person in the Su family. Even though she was not liked by her stepmother Han and the old lady Li, especially the old lady, who even exempted her from paying her respects and did not even give her the opportunity to go to the old lady’s yard for formalities, Su Qingqi was happy to have some free time.

Anyway, her biological father was a shrewd, capable and far-sighted person, the harem was stable, and her stepmother did not impose the grudges of the previous generation on her. She just ignored her. She received every treatment that a concubine’s daughter should receive, her situation was neither good nor bad, and she lived a happy life.

The only exception is the second sister, Su Qinghan, who was also born out of wedlock.

Ever since she returned to the Su Mansion from her small village, her second sister, Su Qinghan, would come to her house from time to time to give her warmth and care.

If she was really a twelve-year-old girl who had never been taught by anyone, she would have been open-hearted to her a long time ago, but her intuition was very accurate.

She has always been wary of this kind second sister.

At this moment, the second sister was in a very good mood. She just caught a flash of excitement in her eyes, as if something was about to happen.

“Third sister, I heard from grandmother that our eldest sister who married far away in Kyoto is sick.” Su Qinghan didn’t care much about Su Qingqi’s silence. She spoke in a low voice, and her slightly trembling hands clenched involuntarily. Over the past three years, she had long been accustomed to her third sister’s timid and cautious behavior.

After all, they are not the same kind of people. She no longer just acts in front of Su Qingqi, and sometimes reveals her true thoughts.

Su Qingqi was silent for a moment. Her hand was a little painful from being held. She wanted to pull her hand back, but she didn’t know how, so she had to give up.

“Sister is a lucky person, everything will be fine.”

“Yes, my eldest brother-in-law is the prince of Wuchang Marquis, and my eldest sister is the prince’s wife.” What a blessing! Su Qinghan murmured with a twinkle in his eyes.

Su Qingqi: “…” What’s with this slight disdain?

They were silent all the way after that. Su Qinghan never tried to find a topic to talk about again. No one knew what she was thinking. Su Qingqi was happy to be left alone.

Soon they arrived at her stepmother Han’s courtyard. The maids and servants guarding the outside were very well-behaved and quiet. When they saw her and Su Qinghan, they called out in a very polite manner: “Second Miss, Third Miss.”

Su Qingqi was a little surprised. Every time she came to pay her respects, the maids and servants only called her the Second Young Lady, and she, the third young lady of the Su Mansion, was ignored.

Surprise? Excitement?

No, Su Qingqi remained calm.

Su Qinghan raised the corners of her lips, nodded at them with a smile, and then led people into the courtyard. Only her slightly trembling hands under her sleeves revealed her excitement.

“…” Su Qingqi wondered if her second sister was too excited.

Several maids were standing in front of Mingyan Hall, and next to them were five guards with protruding temples. It went without saying that these five guards were the personal guards of the owner of the Su Mansion, Su Yuanhong, the Governor-General of Jiangnan.

Glancing at Minglan, who was standing next to her and not daring to breathe, Su Qingqi’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed like she was paying her respects at a bad time.

“Rucui, is mother busy?” Su Qinghan walked up to a beautiful maid in a lake green dress and asked in a low voice.

“The master is talking to the mistress. Second Miss, please wait a moment. I will inform the master and the mistress first.” Ru Cui, the maid of the stepmother Han, bowed slightly, then turned and went in.

Su Qingqi, who was ignored again: “…”

Fortunately, she has a good attitude, otherwise she would have turned evil sooner or later.

Su Qingqi complained silently in her heart.

After a while, Rucui came out and gave Su Qingqi a rare smile: “Second Miss, Third Miss, the master and his wife want you to come in.”

Su Qinghan smiled slightly and said, “Third sister, let’s go in.” Then she pulled Su Qingqi into the house.

In Mingyan Hall, Governor-General Su Yuanhong sat high on the main seat, sipping tea from a teacup. Beside him was their stepmother Han, who was making tea for the Governor-General. The two of them treated each other with respect, but the atmosphere was a little solemn.

“Father, how are you? Mother, how are you?” Su Qingqi and her second sister Su Qinghan bowed and greeted them.

“Sit down!” Su Yuanhong said in a light voice. He looked up at his two illegitimate daughters, his eyes full of scrutiny and evaluation.

However, his attention was focused on Su Qinghan, and Su Qingqi was ignored again.

Su Qingqi was very obedient and chose the last seat and sat quietly with a very standard posture. Su Qinghan was in the seat in front of her. Han looked indifferently and waved her hand, and two maids brought tea over.

“News has come from the Wuchang Marquis’ Mansion. Your eldest sister might be in trouble.” After a moment of silence, Han sighed.

“Sister is a very lucky person, mother, don’t worry.” Su Qinghan hurriedly comforted her.

“Sister will be fine.” Su Qingqi said, but her tone was dry, giving people a dull feeling.

Han didn’t even glance at Su Qingqi, and turned directly to Su Yuanhong, “Master, Sister Han’s medical skills are good, and mother’s health has been well taken care of by her. Why don’t we let Sister Han go to Beijing to visit Sister Wan this time?”

Su Qinghan’s breathing suddenly became heavy, and Su Qingqi lowered his head.

Su Yuanhong raised his eyelids and tapped the table with his fingers. He was silent, and it was unknown what he was thinking. After a long while, his eyes suddenly shot toward Su Qingqi and asked calmly, “Qingqi is fifteen this year, right?”

Han was startled, and glanced at Su Qingqi, who lowered her eyebrows and looked obedient, and replied indifferently: “Well, she will be fifteen in another month, it’s time to find a marriage!”

Su Qingqi’s body froze. What kind of weird development was this? She would rather be ignored like they did in the past… Now that her stepmother was looking for a marriage for her, could she object?

cannot!

Having lived in this era for more than three years, she has become more in awe of the ancients and dares not have the slightest sense of superiority as a time-traveling woman. If she were to rebel against social rules and change her fate like the time-traveling women in novels, she would rather die early and be reborn.

As for freedom, she dared not even think about it now.

Can she survive if she leaves the Su Mansion?

The answer is negative.

In her opinion, the various ways of making wealth used by the time-traveling women in novels were not reliable at all. Without a strong backer, they could only be a help to others, or even bring disaster upon themselves.

What’s even more outrageous is that the time-traveling woman can save anyone who is a prince or a grandson of an emperor, and can plagiarize a poem or lyrics by herself, which can attract the attention of noble and talented people, and even get their protection.

Su Qingqi could only laugh.

It seems fishy no matter how you look at it when a person without any experience writes poems that even great scholars look upon with a different eye.

She tried hard to integrate into this dynasty and did not do anything out of the ordinary, she was afraid that there was another time traveler in this world.

She will never forget that when she traveled through time, there was another outsider in this body who was competing for the original owner’s body, but unfortunately, she got the upper hand in the end.

After obtaining a few fragments of the outsider’s memory, Su Qingqi was terrified. The outsider turned out to be a wood-type mutant from the end of the world. She was able to get the upper hand thanks to her continuous use of the auxiliary exercises of the family heirloom “Food Sutra” since she was a child. Her mental strength was trained to be extremely strong, and she finally defeated the outsider.

When Su Qingqi lowered her head and recalled the past, Su Yuanhong made the decision.

“Qingqi, Qinghan, go together.”

Su Yuanhong is a shrewd, capable and extremely ambitious person. In one year, he will need to report to Beijing on his work. Whether he will be promoted, demoted or retain his original position will depend on his means and connections.

Jiangnan is the richest place in the entire Daqing Dynasty, and countless officials are eyeing this position.

He was able to rise step by step from being the son of a wealthy merchant and passing the imperial examination to the position of Governor-General of Jiangnan. He had the means but what he lacked was connections.

The largest network of contacts in the Wuchang Marquis’ Mansion must be in hand. Su Yuanhong and Han had made many plans so that the eldest daughter, Su Qingwan, could become the Crown Prince’s wife.

Now Su Qingwan has no offspring and is seriously ill. If the situation is not handled properly, the Wuchang Marquisate’s network of connections may be cut off.

Therefore, once Su Qingwan could not survive, one of the two concubines’ daughters must become the successor of the Wuchang Marquis’s son. This was the consensus between the Su family and the Wuchang Marquis’s family.