This homecoming meal was not satisfactory.

Liu Zhijing also wanted to take the opportunity to defend himself in front of Shen Shu again, but as soon as he opened his mouth and raised his head slightly, the expression on Shen Shu's face that seemed to be smiling but not smiling turned cold. Although he was young, he was also a person who had seen blood on the battlefield, and as soon as his face sank, a faint sharpness was revealed.

If Liu Zhijing was really bold, he would not have been frightened by smallpox in the northwest at the beginning, but at this moment, Shen Shu's face sank, and his words suddenly choked in his throat. Looking at Jiang Xi next to him, he also showed displeasure, obviously he also knew the inside story, and he was afraid that he wouldn't believe it if he said it.

Liu Zhijing's mind turned quickly in the end, and when he saw that it was obviously impossible to turn the tables on the shocking horse, he immediately swallowed all the prepared words back into his stomach, and turned to talk about the preparation of pox in the capital now.

It should be said that since he got this errand from Jiang Xi, he is still impeccable in his work - he was born in a poor family, he is not incapable of hardship, he is also a shrewd person, and all the errands handed over to him are done very properly. Especially because of his poor background, he knows a lot about the prices in the market, and he will not be deceived casually. And he guards integrity, and indeed he has not accepted a penny or tael of silver from the leader, and he is upright, so he naturally has some confidence in doing things. In terms of what he did when he was preparing for the pox, he was indeed a capable official.

Even Shen Shu and Jiang Xi listened to him carefully one by one, and they could only secretly say that they had done a good job, and they couldn't find any major faults. Jiang Xi said kindly, looking at Liu Zhijing's vision changed slightly, and felt that although this person couldn't bear any heavy burden, he was also diligent and cautious on weekdays, and there was something desirable.

Shen Shu's idea was the opposite. Liu Zhijing and others, if they are peaceful, with his shrewdness and integrity, they will definitely be able to climb up step by step. However, he retreated in the face of danger, and obviously did not bear much responsibility. If such a temperament is a small official, if it is really a high-ranking official, once something is pressed on his head, he will retreat, and it will cause a big disaster. Such people should not be reused!

Therefore, Liu Zhijing Balabala talked hard for a long time, not only did not reverse Shen Shu's perception, but made a note for him. Liu Zhijing is also a person who can observe his face, although it is impossible to get into Shen Shu's stomach to see what he is thinking, but seeing that Shen Shu has always been indifferent, he also knows that he is afraid that his efforts are in vain today.

He is like this, and so is Chen Yan's side. Jiang Xi and the others at least said a few words at this table, and the atmosphere in the inner courtyard was even colder. Cao Shi still wanted to ask his daughter a lot of things, but he always thought about Jiang Xi going to travel, and Chen Yan asked her to accompany him. She didn't want to accompany her, but she was afraid that if she didn't listen to Chen Yan, Jiang Xi would come back and be separated from her. With such a hot and cold thought, there is no heart to speak.

Chen Yan didn't have the heart to chat with the Cao family. Obviously, the Cao family can't help her with the Liu family's affairs, and what she said just makes people feel more irritated. What she was thinking about now was how to talk to Taohua, but Taohua didn't want to pay attention to her at all, so she only took Jiang Bohua with her and asked him how he had been going to school in the past six months.

Jiang Bohua can be regarded as Taohua's single-handed, and he didn't feel that he was born after not seeing this sister for half a year, but he was closer. And he is still a child, if there is anything new in school, or if he is rewarded by his husband, he also wants to come back and talk about it at home.

Helplessly, when Cao saw him, he only knew the call of his heart, liver, and flesh, either asking him to add more clothes or rest early, and saying something about reading should not exhaust his body, which was really not speculation. Jiang Xi is a father again, and nowadays he pays attention to holding his grandson rather than his son, Jiang Xi's temperament is mild, but it is impossible to listen to his son talk about some gossip in school.

Therefore, Jiang Bohua's children have been in school for half a year, but there is no one to say about the things they encountered in school - the maid and the little maid are very willing to listen, but the next person only has flattering words in his mouth, and sometimes the flattery is not on the point, Jiang Bohua lost interest after saying it a few times - today he finally caught his big sister, and immediately turned into a bamboo tube and poured beans, and he couldn't wait to say everything for half a year in one breath.

Taohua not only listened to everything he said, but also put forward his own opinions from time to time, not all of them agreed, and sometimes criticized them, but Jiang Bohua felt that his sister was the most serious and respected him, and he also accepted Taohua's criticism happily.

The two sisters and brothers muttered about a meal, and Cao Shi wanted to tell Jiang Bohua not to speak when he was eating several times, but Taohua lightly diverted him.

Jiang Bohua was told by Jiang Xi a few days ago that his father was going to go far away, because he was afraid that he would delay his studies, so he asked him to live with his sister. He also asked about Cao's family, Jiang Xi only said that Cao's family was at home, and Taohua would take him home to visit Cao's when he was in school.

Although he was born by the Cao family, Jiang Bohua was picked up by Taohua in his yard when he was three years old, and he spent far less time with his mother than with his sister. What's more, the older he gets, the more Cao has no topic to talk to him about after reading and reading, although he knows in his heart that he is his biological mother, but after all, he is filial piety and has little attachment and closeness. Therefore, when I heard that I was going to move to my sister's house, I was not reluctant or unwilling at all, but I was looking forward to it.

Cao's eyes were hot on the side, but he couldn't do anything about it. Jiang Bohua said that she can still understand the things in her studies if they are related to idle things, and if she talks about the books she reads, she is like a duck listening to thunder, whether she understands it or not.

So the meal was eaten dryly. There is also a rule for returning to the door, the newlyweds should get up in the afternoon and go home, and they must arrive home before dark. Jiang Xi naturally didn't mean to stay, and urged Chen Yan to leave after dinner: "Don't go back too late, you lose the rules." ”

Cao Shi watched his daughter leave with a disappointed face, and couldn't help but have red eyes, but when he turned his head, he saw that Taohua took Jiang Bohua's hand and was about to leave, tears came down in a hurry, and he cried at Jiang Xi: "Master, just let Brother Bai stay at home!" I, I'm his mother after all! ”

Jiang Xi frowned, and Taohua had already said lightly: "Don't worry, madam, Brother Bai lives with me, and it is convenient for him to go to school every day, and I can also ask him about his homework." When the school is resting, I will naturally send him back to see his wife. Otherwise, when Daddy goes out, if Brother Bai is a little puzzled about reading and writing, who will he ask to ask? ”

These words choked Cao's knots. If she didn't ask Jiang Bohua to live in the county king's mansion, could she be able to guide Jiang Bohua to do his homework? If you know that you can't, but you don't allow it, then it's vexatious.

Although Jiang Bohua was not very close to his mother, he felt a little sad to see Cao's like this, so he stepped forward and pulled Cao's shirt and said: "Mother, don't be sad, there is a break every ten days in school, and I will come back to talk to my mother at that time." ”

Cao Shi hugged him and cried heartily, crying while saying how reluctant he was. It's just that she takes care of Chen Yan more on weekdays, but goes to Jiang Bohua's side less, and if she says anything reluctant at this time, it sounds like a lot of credibility, but it is like a show, which makes Jiang Baihua not very comfortable, and patiently let her hug her for a while, in the end, she struggled out and went to Taohua's side again.

Tao Hua straightened out his crumpled clothes by the Cao family, and Shen Shu had already picked him up and sent him to the carriage, and said with a smile: "Come in!" When you are free, your brother-in-law will teach you how to ride a horse. ”

Jiang Bohua wanted to learn to ride a horse for a day, but he only had two horses pulling carts at home, and he didn't dare to let him ride, so he could only think about it. At this time, when he heard Shen Shu's promise, he immediately climbed into the car with a cheer, forgetting about Cao's family.

Taohua looked at Jiang Xi's eyes and Jiang Baihua in the carriage, and her heart suddenly became sour: "Dad, I'll see you off tomorrow." ”

"Send something." Jiang Xi retracted his gaze and waved his hand, "You have a good life, teach Brother Bai well, and your father can rest assured that he is outside." Don't worry, Dad will be back in a few days. ”

The way to the northeast is not close, and there are a lot of medicinal materials in the northeast, if you drill in the deep mountains and old forests, you can't come back without a year and a half, where is it so easy to "live a few days". It's just that this is not only Jiang Xi's long-cherished wish, but also a way for him to escape from his family now, Taohua is reluctant to give up, so he can only nod and say: "Daddy, take care." ”

As soon as the carriage of the county king's mansion left, the Jiang family quieted down again. At this time, even Jiang Bohua left, but it was really quiet. Jiang Xi naturally went to the study again, and Cao Shi returned to his room in a daze, only to feel that the surroundings were frighteningly quiet. She couldn't help but sit down and think about Chen Yan's words—otherwise, really follow Jiang Xi?

Olive and Ginkgo waited beside them, and they also felt that the room was a little frighteningly quiet. Because of the name, the olive is more liked by the Cao family on weekdays, so he picked up a few words and said to the Cao family, intending to relieve her boredom: "The slave maid heard from the sisters around the princess today that the northwest place is really bitter cold, much colder than the capital." The princess worked hard over there, and she lost a lot of weight by looking at Hei. ”

Taohua didn't have a few days of peace in the northwest for half a year, and she was indeed obviously thin, and the Cao family could naturally see it, and suddenly felt a sigh in her heart - there is Dingbei Houfu in the northwest, and Taohua is the princess again, and she is still emaciated, which shows that life is hard. If she followed Jiang Xi to the northeast, I heard that the place was colder in winter, and the heavy snow covered the mountains, and it was difficult to melt in spring. And Jiang Xi is going to trek through mountains and rivers, can she endure this hardship? If you can't stand it halfway, how can you come back?

After thinking about it like this all night, the Cao family never made up his mind. It was dark before she fell asleep, and she felt that she was woken up by Olive not long after closing her eyes: "Madam, the master is about to leave." ”

Cao's eyes were sleepy at this time, and he couldn't even comb his head, so he hurriedly put on a dress and ran out, Jiang Xi had already loaded all the things into the carriage, and when he saw her running out like this, he didn't know whether he was disappointed or clear on his face, he only nodded to her, and got into the carriage directly. The little angelica jumped on the wheel, but the coachman was sent by Shen Shu with the carriage, but it was a guard, he waved his whip and flicked it gently, the two healthy horses took steps, and the carriage went out along the alley.

At this point, Cao regretted not following Jiang Xi, but she didn't comb her head and face and wash it, her clothes were all worn indiscriminately, and she still had sleeping shoes on her feet.

Although Taohua said that she was not going to send Jiang Xi, in fact, how could she really not go? I got up early in the morning and took a carriage to the east city gate to wait, and sure enough, it was just dawn, Jiang Xi's carriage arrived at the city gate, and when the city gate was opened, he drove out of the city to the northeast.

Momoka watched from afar. Although it was early in the morning, there was no shortage of cars and horses on this road, and suddenly a small donkey cart also came out of the city gate, and at the door sat a woman, dressed in coarse cloth, and wrapped in a headscarf on her head, covering half of her face.

If it weren't for this donkey cart, it would have passed by Taohua's carriage, and Taohua happened to see half of the woman's exposed face, and I was afraid that she really wouldn't recognize that this was Baiguo.

Bai Guo carried a burden in his arms, wearing only pants without a skirt on his head, and a pair of black cloth shoes with thick soles on his feet. At this time, not everyone can afford to wear leather boots, and if ordinary people go far away, they wear this kind of shoes with a thick bottom of twine, which is stronger and more durable than the shoes with cotton bottom that they usually wear at home.

"Princess, look at it, it's also going to the northeast." Mint also recognized the ginkgo seed, looked at it on the window for a while, and whispered, "It seems to be on the ......back of the old man's car."

Taohua sighed softly: "She has a heart...... Bai Guo may have used some scheming and means, but when it comes to her heart for Jiang Xi, she is much stronger than the Cao family.

"Let her go, it's fate......" Taohua whispered, asking the coachman to turn the carriage, "Go to the pox plant." ”

In order to promote pox, the emperor set up a pox department in Huimin Pharmacy, where Taohua is currently working. At present, it can be said that everything is ready, just waiting for Taohua to come back to make pox vaccines. It has been decided to plant pox in the capital first, then around the capital, and then gradually expand outward.

Of course, there is also a sequence here, Shen Shu has already told Taohua that in order to compete for this political achievement, all kinds of people have tried their best to fight in secret. Liu Zhijing has people giving money there, and Jiang Jun, who is in charge of this matter, naturally can't help but send these things, but Liu Zhijing sent the money back in a clear place, but Jiang Jun didn't move, obviously, if he either received the money, he sold favors.

This kind of thing is actually common in officialdom, if it doesn't involve anything important, in fact, everyone knows it, even the emperor also turns a blind eye. Therefore, Taohua didn't plan to care about anything, but just asked someone to go to Jiang's house to give Mrs. Jiang a breath - she came to promote pox, naturally she had to follow the steps, if Jiang Jun's promise was unreasonable, then she wouldn't listen, and Jiang Jun would have to deal with it herself.

Huimin Pharmacy is not a small place, but the people who raise them are some idlers, the doctors with good skills do not come here, and those who can be here are some people who are waiting to die, and some people are still planning to get some oil and water, so it has always been a mess, what herbs are not stored properly and moldy, shoddy and the like are not uncommon, and no one has the heart to care.

But this time, when Taohua came over, the situation was different. Last time, the two counties of Lantian and Luonan were treated with the epidemic, and the official of Huimin Pharmacy who wanted to take the opportunity to make oil and water was served in one pot along with a few people who were in the same stream, and although the rest of the people did not have the heart to work hard, they did not dare to do this kind of thing for a while. In addition, the emperor sent an upright imperial doctor to take charge of it, which made the atmosphere in the pharmacy clear.

However, this is not as shocking as the promotion of pox. The emperor gave this matter to the Huimin Pharmacy, which was a place where no one wanted to come at all, suddenly became a fragrant dumpling, and I don't know how many people squeezed their heads to come in, and the imperial doctor in charge, if it wasn't sent by the emperor, was almost squeezed to the point where he couldn't stand, and the atmosphere suddenly changed again.

However, Taohua didn't plan to use these mixed people like this, some people didn't even know how to do medical skills at all, and only inquired about the news from the northwest, saying that it was very simple to plant pox, so she thought about coming in to learn the art of planting pox. This kind of role is simply speculation, and Taohua is ready to kick them all out.

Of course, there is a reason for not using it, Taohua's method is: exam, merit-based admission!

The exam starts today and is divided into three sessions. The first was the identification of commonly used herbs, which should have been the strength of ancient healers. Unlike modern medicine, the division of labor is clear, and many doctors who can prescribe prescriptions may not be able to distinguish medicines, but Lang Zhong in ancient times had to study carefully. Taohua estimated that this scene alone was enough to wipe down those indiscriminate fillers.

Sure enough, when Taohua entered the pharmacy, dozens of people had gathered in the open space in the courtyard, and there was a bamboo plaque in front of each person, which was mixed with slices of various herbs, and each person had a note in hand, and they had to pick out five different herbs from it according to what was written on the note.

This scene is really good. Some people sweat profusely and try to squint to peek at what others have picked. It's a pity that Taohua has already thought of this, the content of the note at hand is different for everyone, and if you learn from others, you can only learn zero points.

Imperial Physician Zhong presided over the exam, and the corners of his mouth twitched when he stood in the courtyard, and finally couldn't help but snatch the medicine from one of them: "Ask you to pick He Shou Wu, you actually picked out Cao Wu, it's just nonsense!" Get me out immediately, if you are used to practice medicine, won't it be a waste of human life! ”

Similar medicinal materials are easy to confuse, but there is still a bit of a difference between He Shou Wu and Cao Wu, this person can be so wrong, and even pick out a blind □□, which really makes Zhong Taiyi unbearable.

The man's face turned red, and he wanted to say something, but Taohua entered from outside and said lightly: "Imperial Doctor Zhong is right, such people shouldn't have entered the pharmacy at all." Those who took the exam today and made mistakes, write down their names, and wait for me to report to the emperor——"

Before she finished speaking, several people quietly put down the herbs in their hands and slipped out of the courtyard. Taohua just didn't see it, and continued: "The same is true for the next two exams, and the results of each exam must be reported to the emperor. "Actually, of course this is impossible, the emperor has a lot of opportunities, if he even has to look at the exam of Huimin Pharmacy, then he can't do it every day.

However, no one dared to take Taohua's words lightly. It is true that the emperor usually does not care about such trivial matters, but if someone can hand this thing to the emperor, it will be a different matter. And can the princess of the county go straight to heaven? The person who asked this should first inquire who asked the princess of the county to come back to preside over the pox seeding matter.

So the first exam was over, and less than half of the people who remained in the courtyard were left. Who will weigh the pros and cons, it is a pity that you can't get oil and water in this big event, but it's better than registering in front of the emperor and making the emperor angry.

Imperial Physician Zhong looked at the empty courtyard and shook his head, feeling a little ashamed of Taohua: "Old and incompetent...... "It is really his dereliction of duty to let so many people in Huimin Pharmacy come in."

Taohua smiled: "You focus on medical skills, where can you intrigue with these people." "Scholars can't do speculators, they have mental calculations and no intentions, and Imperial Doctor Zhong doesn't have much real power, so it's good that he hasn't been squeezed out.

"It's just that you have to worry about the next two exams, medical skills are still secondary, and when it comes to pox, the first thing is to be cautious and meticulous, and be responsible." Just think about the benefits of the people get out of the way, in case the pox vaccine goes wrong, it will kill people.

Imperial Physician Zhong nodded again and again, and introduced the preparations made by Huimin Pharmacy to Taohua recently: "Jiang Langzhong is in charge of this matter, and there is also a Liu Hanlin, who is extremely diligent. "These two are relatives of the princess of the county, and Imperial Doctor Zhong is not exempt from vulgarity, so he has to say a few good words. But he's not lying, the hard work of these two is in everyone's eyes, and he really can't say anything wrong.

Taohua smiled and listened, walked around the pharmacy again, and saw that it was not early, so she said goodbye to Imperial Doctor Zhong and got into the carriage to go back to the county king's mansion. Now there is Jiang Bohua at home, and the child has just changed to a new residence, although it is her sister's house, she is inevitably a little uncomfortable, and she has to go back early.

The carriage was not far from the Huimin Pharmacy, and I heard the sound of the horse's hooves and the drums rushing in front of me, and the Sanqi who was driving the car was startled, and hurriedly called the horse, and saw a gallop, and the whirlwind rolled over from the front of the car. If Sanqi didn't stop the carriage, although he didn't say that he hit it, he was afraid that he would startle the horse.

"Who is this?" Mint was a little annoyed. In such a prosperous place in the capital, it is not allowed to gallop like this.

Sanqi was outside, but he saw the clothes on the rider clearly: "It looks like a military newspaper." "The eight-hundred-mile urgent military report can run like this even in front of the palace.

Mint was suddenly taken aback: "Military newspaper? Where is the war going on again? It's not our Northwest, right? "If you want to fight this battle with the Northern Barbarians this year, Dingbei Hou doesn't seem to have used any eight-hundred-mile expedited way to report to the capital, and now this messenger is running like this, something must have happened.

"Go back to the house, maybe there is news from the prince."

Sanqi hurriedly drove the carriage, but couldn't go far before it stopped again: "Princess, it seems that a carriage has overturned in front of you." "The road is so blocked that you can't get through it at all.

Mint opened the curtain and looked forward: "I'm afraid I was startled just now, ah, it seems that someone was injured." ”

Taohua sighed: "Let's go, let's go down and have a look." ”