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Chapter 52: The Small Tree Wouldnt Straighten Up Without Being Hit

  The old lady didn't accept it, and directly let Zhao Ayi hand the thing to Feng Yuexiang: "Ah Xiang, you take a look yourself, is there anything improper?"

  "What's wrong with that? The deal is done, what else do you want?"

  The old lady slapped the table: "You're going against me!" Her voice was so loud that it scared everyone in the house to shrink their necks.

  Feng Yu reminded her in a timely manner: "Grandmother must not get angry, take care of your body."

  The old lady nodded and urged: "You take a look at these things quickly."

  Feng Yu Huan took the three deeds in her hand and walked back to Yao Shi's side, "Auntie, take a look at these few rooms?"

  Yao took a look and saw that one was from Baicao Hall, another was a jewelry store, and the other was an antique shop.

  These things were personally selected by Old Lady Yao to be given to her as part of her dowry when she got married, thinking that the three shops would all be profitable and could supplement her daughter's livelihood. But unexpectedly, from the day she married into the Feng family, she never saw these shops again.

  "It's all these." Yao sighed with emotion.

  Feng Yu Huan flipped through several account books again, and although she couldn't understand the specific details, the final total was clearly marked: the three shops were heavily in debt, not only did they not make money, but they also lost everything.

  Shen saw her raise an eyebrow, let out a cold snort, and the warning words rose up: "Take a good look, how much silver has the Feng family invested in your shop over the years. Every single transaction is written clearly, now that you want to take back the shop, you must also calculate these invested silvers clearly."

  As soon as she said this, most of the people in the house were stunned for a moment.

  They are all old people in the Phoenix House, and they know what kind of shops the Yao family gave them back then. Chinese medicine shop, jewelry shop, antique shop, which one is not a profitable business, why would they still lose money?

  The old lady naturally knew what Shen's idea was, but the shop had been managed by Shen for several years, and she couldn't say anything.

  Feng Yu Huan didn't seem to have any doubts about this, and only said: "Mother, don't worry, I will personally oversee the audit. If we really owe money, then repaying it is a matter of course. However, those who managed the estate over the years should also take responsibility for their poor management. Moreover," she gazed coldly at Shen Shi, "if an investigation reveals that the actual financial situation differs from what's recorded in the account books, I hope Mother will give me and the Feng family a clear explanation."

  Shen said in confusion: "What am I supposed to tell the Feng family? Isn't this shop yours?"

  "Does he know now that the shop belongs to me? Who was it that said when a woman marries over, everything belongs to her mother-in-law?"

  Shen knew she was in the wrong, and with a flicker of her white eyes, she didn't want to continue this conversation. However, she felt uneasy about Feng Yu's intention to investigate the accounts, so she said awkwardly: "I am the mistress of the Feng family, and you are just a concubine-born younger generation, how dare you question me now? What kind of rules have you learned?"

  Feng Yu Huan said: "In the deep mountains of the northwest, the Feng family really hasn't found a suitable husband for Ah Huan."

  The old lady also reminded Shen Shi: "You are still a good mistress of the Feng family, but you can't be the hostess of this house anymore!"

  The Shen family was so angry that they were panting and pointing at the crowd, shouting: "You are all in cahoots! This is all intentional!"

  Feng Yu didn't bother to say more and just saluted the old lady: "Grandmother, I'll take my leave first. Today, I'll take back these shops and go out of the mansion to check on them. It's a good opportunity to ask for your approval."

  The old lady nodded: "Go! Bring your maid and come back early."

  Ah Huang bowed and retreated, taking Yao Shi and Zi Rui with him as he left.

  The old lady glared at Shen Shi, coldly warning: "Don't let your own virtue hinder Chen Yu's future. If you don't change, the Feng family can consider sending you to a temple."

  Feng Yu Heng left Shu Ya Garden with Huang Quan and Qing Yu, exiting the manor gates. This was her first time leaving the manor since returning to the capital, and she suddenly felt that once she left the Feng family's territory, even her breathing became smoother.

  Huang Quan glared at Feng Fu with a fierce gaze, and said indignantly: "Second Miss will endure for a few more years. Later, we won't come back anymore! What kind of people are you all in this family!"

  Even Qingyu couldn't stand the sight of Feng's family, "Isn't Master a prime minister? Who would have thought that such a dignified prime minister would actually keep such a mistress in his own home."

  "Feng Yu Huang shrugged: 'If you want to see a show, these years have been quite something. In this mansion, every single person can sing their own opera, and they'll even do it with great flair.'"

  Huang Quan regained his smiling expression and said, "Well, it's better this way. It's more interesting. Let's just tease them a bit, and from time to time, give them a whip and knock them around."

  Qing Yu pouted and said: "Huang Quan sister, don't always talk about hitting people."

  Huang Quan hooked her shoulder and teased: "Little tree won't be straight if it isn't beaten."

  Several people chatted and laughed along the way, and soon they arrived at Baicao Hall.

  Feng Yu Huan didn't bring anyone directly inside, but instead stood at the entrance of the shop pretending to look at some items.

  The bustling herbal medicine shop was filled with people coming and going, many of whom were purchasing medicine. The young shop assistants were busy running around, while a middle-aged man who appeared to be the owner stood at the counter, holding something in his hand and chatting incessantly with an elderly man as they compared and discussed it.

  The three people, including Feng Yu, walked closer and heard the man say: "This is a 500-year-old ginseng. I'm telling you, old sir, if it weren't for your wife's serious illness and her urgent need for ginseng to sustain her life, I wouldn't have taken out such a good thing."

  That old man looked at the thing in the shopkeeper's hand with a bewildered expression, shaking his head repeatedly: "Don't want such good ones, how much money can 500-year-old ginseng be? I won't be able to afford it even if I sell my house!"

  "Ah?!" The shopkeeper patted his shoulder: "Old man, I just figured out that you're not a wealthy person, so I didn't bring out the ones over a thousand years old. But why are you buying ginseng? Is it to prolong your life?! Those tens or hundreds of years old, what if they don't work?! Your money will be wasted! Wealth is external, as long as you preserve your life, that's the most important thing!"

  "But... but I don't have any money!" The old man became anxious and started searching his own pockets.

  The shopkeeper's eyes stared straight at the old man's small cloth bag, which was full of scattered silver coins, totaling no more than twenty taels.

  "This is what I've managed to scrape together after borrowing from every household in the village, but it's still not enough to buy ginseng for 500 years!"

  The shopkeeper waved his hand, "It's a bit less." Immediately, he said, "Never mind, the Baicao Hall is based on treating illnesses and saving lives. We can't refuse to treat patients just because they don't have money!" While speaking, he took all the silver from the old man's hands. The old man was reluctant to let go and tried to grab it back but couldn't get it from the shopkeeper. "Here, take this ginseng!" The shopkeeper stuffed the so-called 500-year-old ginseng into the old man's hand, "Hurry back and save your wife's life!"

  The old man saw that the ginseng was already in his hand, and he was so grateful that he didn't know what to say. He simply knelt down and kowtowed to the shopkeeper: "Great benefactor! I'm kowtowing to you! Thank you for saving my life!"

  The shopkeeper hastily helped him up, "Don't mention it, don't mention it! This is what Baicao Medicine should do, hurry back to treat the illness and save people, that's the priority."

  The old man left with gratitude, holding the ginseng and walking unsteadily. Huang Quan twitched the corner of his mouth: "Is that thing really ginseng?"

  Qing Yu was also skeptical: "Another five hundred years?"

  Feng Yu snorted coldly: "Just a broken tree root." He immediately ordered Huang Quan: "Go and bring that old man back."

  "The young lady?" Huang Quan nodded: "Where is she?"

  Feng Yu Huan lifted her foot and walked towards the Baicao Hall: "It seems that there are many good things here, since someone has already bought ginseng, I'll buy something else."

  Huang Quan smiled and chased after that old man, Qing Yu followed Feng Yu Huan into the Baicao Hall.

  As soon as the shopkeeper saw a well-dressed young lady come in, followed by a maid, he knew she was an important customer. He hastily invited her inside and busied himself with seating and serving tea. After all this fuss, he finally asked Feng Yu Heng: "Miss, are you here to buy medicine or would you like the doctor to make a house call?"

  "Feng Yu Huan asked: 'Besides selling medicinal herbs, do you also provide medical consultations here?'"

  "The shopkeeper said with a smile: 'Of course! Our Baicao Medicine has two doctors, who take turns to see patients every day, while the other is responsible for making house calls.'"

  Feng Yu Huan nodded, then looked around the medicine hall again before saying: "Yesterday my mother fell ill and the doctor prescribed a formula with one ingredient being Lingzhi, which is said to be better the older it gets. I heard that Baicao Hall has the best medicinal materials, so I came to take a look. As a young girl from a good family, I don't know much about these things and was originally afraid of being cheated when buying expensive medicine, but seeing that old gentleman's gratitude towards Baicao Hall earlier made me think that such a large medicine hall wouldn't cheat people."

  The shopkeeper didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed upon hearing this, and instead quickly accepted Feng Yuexiang's message of "not understanding anything". With a smile on his face, he ordered the young servant: "Go! Take out the thousand-year-old lingzhi from the third row of drawers in the northern cabinet in the inner room."

  The young shop assistant responded with a helpless expression, then anxiously glanced at Feng Yuexiang again. The shopkeeper scolded, "Hurry up! What are you dawdling for?"

  Before long, a wooden box was brought out by the young servant. The young servant, twenty-five or six years old, lowered his head, held up the wooden box, and made eyes at Feng Yuhe with half of his face blocked by the box.

  Feng Yu Huan saw Xiao Er's mouth shape and said: "Don't buy."

  She smiled and nodded, remembering this little thing in her heart.

  The shopkeeper took the wooden box, kicked the little second one away with one foot, and then fawned on Phoenix Feather with a flattering expression: "Miss, please take a look." As he spoke, he opened the wooden box, revealing a large, so-called lingzhi mushroom in front of Phoenix Feather. The shopkeeper continued: "A thousand-year-old lingzhi, hard to find in the world!"

  "Oh?" Feng Yu Heng raised an eyebrow, carefully examining the lingzhi mushroom, "Is it rare in this world? It seems that this Baicao Hall is indeed a treasure trove."

  The shopkeeper's mind was all on how to swindle the money, and he didn't catch the sarcastic meaning in Feng Yuexiang's words: "Miss is absolutely right, you also saw that old gentleman who came to buy ginseng earlier. In this Baicao Hall, whether it's 500-year-old ginseng or thousands-of-years-old lingzhi, as long as you report your name, any medicinal material can be taken out!"

  "What does this ginseng shop owner plan to charge?" She narrowed her eyes at the shop owner, with a sly and cunning look, clearly not a good person.

  "How much are you willing to pay, miss?" The shopkeeper asked back, "You also know that the Millennium Ginseng is a rare find, and this price I'm asking for may seem like daylight robbery. But since you're buying it to save a life, I'll ask, how much are you prepared to offer? You name a price, and if it's reasonable, I'll wrap up this ginseng for you. After all, saving a life is urgent, I couldn't possibly delay your wife's treatment over a bit of money."

  If you don't know the truth, you'd really be moved by this shopkeeper's words.

  But he couldn't move Feng Yuexian, because Feng Yuexian clearly recognized that the Lingzhi in the box was actually a piece of tree bark polished into the shape of Lingzhi.

  The tree roots are used as ginseng, and the bark is used as lingzhi, they don't waste anything.

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