Chapter 2705: Gathering Medicine

The soldiers knocked for quite a while before a voice came from inside.

Manbao halted the soldier’s actions.

The person inside timidly opened the door, only half of it, and upon seeing a group of soldiers with swords and spears outside, immediately opened it fully, bowing so low his waist was almost to the ground, “My lords, forgive us, we live in the back and did not hear…”

He slightly raised his head, his eyes scanning over the group, recognizing Zhou Man as their leader, although he was puzzled why there was a woman in civilian clothes among them, her aura was different, and the soldiers were all gathered behind her, so he dared not be careless.

Thinking for a moment, he pulled out a heavy money pouch from his bosom and respectfully handed it to Zhou Man, smiling ingratiatingly, “My lord, this is a token of respect from us, we are poor and can only offer this much, please do not mind.”

Manbao glanced at the money pouch in his hand but did not take it. Instead, she looked inside and said, “I am here to buy medicine.”

The shopkeeper’s expression changed, forcing a smile, “May I know what kind of medicine the lord wishes to buy, do you have a prescription?”

Manbao glanced at him, trying to soften her aura, and smiled gently, “We are here to buy some medicinal herbs, please open the door fully first.”

The shopkeeper’s face turned bitter, but he dared not refuse, so he opened the other half of the door and invited them in.

He trembled as he said, “The shop is small, and there aren’t many herbs at home, I don’t know what kind of herbs the lord wants, I can help collect them.”

Manbao stood in front of the counter, her gaze sweeping over the names of the herbs, and said, “I want angelica, ginseng, saposhnikovia, arisaema…”

As Manbao recited each name, his face grew progressively bitter. Seeing her recite a long list of medicinal names without stopping, tears almost welled up, and his waist was nearly touching the ground.

Manbao stopped speaking, smiled at him, and said, “Rest assured, I will pay.”

Manbao opened a bag containing pearls, took out two pearls, and placed them on the table. To the shopkeeper, who was almost dumbfounded, she said, “Do you want pearls or gold?”

Manbao tugged at her money pouch and took out a small piece of gold, placing it on the table.

The shopkeeper swallowed, glancing between the gold and the pearls, then cautiously looked at Zhou Man.

Zhou Man calmly looked at him, waiting for his decision.

The shopkeeper felt that this young lady didn’t seem fierce, mainly because her eyes were clear, not like a bad person.

Operating a pharmacy requires some medical skills, akin to being a doctor, and for doctors, reading expressions is fundamental. Although they can’t discern every good or bad person in the world, their judgment is generally better than that of ordinary people.

At this moment, the shopkeeper felt that Zhou Man didn’t seem like a bad person, but he dared not relax, so he forced a smile and said, “How dare I take the lord’s possessions, the lord is free to take whatever they like, feel free to take everything…”

“Very well,” Manbao said without politeness, pointing to Su Mu and Suye, “Go and get the medicine.”

Su Mu and Suye clasped their hands in salute, “Yes, teacher.”

The two entered the counter, took paper, and prepared a scale, looking at Zhou Man.

Manbao said, “First find scorpions, bombyx batryticatus, centipedes, and cicada moltings, take as many as you find, and weigh them to report the quantities to me.”

“Yes.”

The two turned around to look for them. There is a certain order in the arrangement of medicines, generally these rarely used poisonous insects are placed in the corners.

The shopkeeper’s mouth dropped open. He said they could take whatever they liked, but did they really have to take everything? And these things…

The shopkeeper opened his mouth, wanting to stop them, but seeing the soldiers standing fiercely behind, he dared not say a word.

Manbao wandered in the pharmacy, pulled out a piece of paper, and took ink and an inkstone, casually took a teacup from the table, opened it to find clean boiled water, and poured some into the inkstone to start grinding ink.

Su Mu and Suye found these items, and directly took the drawers out, carefully placing them on a tray for weighing.

Su Mu reported, “Teacher, there are six qian and seven fen of scorpions, only three qian of cicada moltings…”

Very little.

Though little, they were still medicine, and Manbao lowered her eyes to make a note.

Once they had finished, she said, “Take eight qian of angelica. Is there any ginseng?”

This is expensive. Su Mu and Suye looked for it but didn’t find any, so they looked at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper wanted to say no, but the soldiers partially withdrew their swords and angrily demanded, “Do you have it or not?”

He dared not say no, quickly heading to the backyard, shortly returning with a box, opening it to reveal two ginseng roots inside, one very intact, the other partially used.

He was almost crying as he said, “My lord, this is all we have, we truly have no more in the shop.”

Manbao looked at him, smiled, and accepted it. She didn’t believe he really had none left.

Although Jishi Hall is far from Goguryeo, Shopkeeper Zheng would always hide these precious herbs separately, two sets in the pharmacy, stored separately, and another crucial set at home.

However, she couldn’t buy too much anyway.

Manbao noted its grade, then handed the box to the soldier, instructing Su Mu and Suye to continue collecting the herbs.

Once everything was collected, and there was a huge bundle of medicine, the soldiers directly stepped forward to hold it.

The shopkeeper had already gone limp to one side, barely holding himself up by the counter.

Manbao began calculating the price with a pen.

She didn’t know the price of medicines here, and asking the other party would surely not yield a truthful answer, either inflated or deflated, so she calculated the price according to the Jishi Hall prices she knew.

But then Manbao was troubled, she had no idea of the value of pearls.

Manbao held a pearl and asked the soldier, “What’s the value of a pearl like this?”

This soldier knew of such things, they’re most knowledgeable about luxury goods, as they eventually convert war spoils into money, and everyone needs to have an idea.

He looked at the pearl in Zhou Man’s hand, grinning widely, “The lord’s pearl is of fine quality, such a good pearl is worth at least three strings of cash.”

The shopkeeper, leaning against the counter, cursed inwardly, thinking that the unsophisticated soldier didn’t recognize its value. Such a pearl, when offered to a wealthy household, wouldn’t sell for less than five thousand cash. This was a marine pearl from the south, not easy to acquire, large and lustrous.

Manbao pondered, recalling how her fourth brother sold a peck of pearls in the past? It had been too long, and she couldn’t remember clearly, and those were freshwater pearls, different from these, so she hesitated, “Really?”

“Yes, truly, all the pearls we obtained were given to our centurion for exchanging money, exactly like this.”

Manbao got a rough idea. These should be worth at least four strings of cash.

Manbao first took out two pearls, then took out ten more, handing them to the shopkeeper, “For the medicines, do you prefer pearls or gold?”

She said, “If you want gold, I only have this piece left, and the rest can only be patched up with pearls.”

No choice, Heli only gave her pearls.

The shopkeeper was dazed, looking at Zhou Man’s face and asked, “You really mean to pay?”