The consort was forced to move from her luxurious bedchamber to a concubine's quadrangle, where several people lived together.
Even the servants in the palace, who had been by her side, were all replaced.
It was said that the former consort, who now became Concubine Shu, smashed everything in the house that day.
The imperial court was in turmoil, and the undercurrents covering the calm surface churned once more.
The harem was even more turbulent, and everyone was cautious with their words and deeds.
Due to the Emperor's moves, countless people temporarily restrained their thoughts, withdrew their tentacles, and waited for an opportunity with the changes.
The stormy clouds of the imperial palace in the capital were too far away from the remote tiny village.
Those storms didn't affect the tranquility of the place.
After fainting suddenly on Qingming day, Axiu woke up and said that he had a long dream. But when he tried to recall it, he couldn't remember the images in his dream.
Life hadn't changed much.
Liu Yusheng brought up the idea of growing medicinal herbs in Xinghua Village, which won unanimous support from her family.
Unsurprisingly, it also received unanimous support from the villagers.
The winery was in operation, and only one person was hired from each family, so the rest of the villagers had no other busy work to do on normal days other than tending to the fields.
Hearing that they were going to grow medicinal herbs in the village, they naturally supported it.
They weren't proficient in other crafts, but when it came to farming, none of the village folks were novices.
Furthermore, the herbs that Liu Yusheng wanted to cultivate were commonly seen and easy to raise. They only needed to be taught once to get started.
It was not difficult.
What was more, Nannan has medical skills. The medicinal herbs grown through her hands would be of great use.
Despite the winery producing only a few kinds of medicinal wines, its reputation has always dominated the industry, right?
With a new prospect, the entire Xinghua Village was once again in a buzz.
Making the eyes of the surrounding villagers turn red with jealousy.
Compared to the current momentum of Xinghua Village, Xiapo Village across the river was deteriorating.
A few years ago, several people died and disappeared in the village, casting a dark shadow over the village.
Since then, the condition of the village never got better.
Their field crops were tepid. They obviously were using the same water, planting on the same land, yet every year, their harvest was at least 30% less than that of Xinghua Village.
After Xinghua Village recovered, there were people who were jealous and still thought of blocking the source of water in Xinghua Village at the Qinghe river.
Consequently, the government, which used to be indifferent to the matter, sent people to suppress the situation, and the people who caused the trouble all went for a trip to the government office.
Afterwards, no one dared to cause trouble on it again.
Xinghua Village wasn't what it used to be. Not to mention never missing a beat on taxes every year, the grains they handed over was of excellent quality. Secondly, the wine that Xinghua Village Winery produced, while bringing in generous tax revenue to the government, also allowed the government official to garner a considerable amount of achievements. Thus, they received strong government support and attention.
Whoever wanted to trouble Xinghua Village, the first to come forward was definitely the government.
Who would still dare?
"Nannan, Nannan!" Village Chief, Liu Jinfu, rushed into the Liu courtyard, saw a circle of people sitting around Liu Yusheng, and was stunned.
Then he consciously squashed his voice and sat down to wait.
Ever since Liu Yusheng rescued Shuanzi, the tale that the blessed child of the Liu family in Xinghua Village had medical skills that brought the dead back to life spread like wildfire.
People were doubtful at first. After all, the child was too young and was no more than six or seven years old. More people thought that it was an exaggerated fact that was circulated erroneously.
Later, a child from a neighboring village contracted a fever. Because the two villages were close to each other and it was already late at night and inconvenient to go to town, the family hesitantly brought the child over and asked Liu Yusheng for diagnosis and treatment. Two small bottles of medicine was all it took and it was over; and the consultation fee was much cheaper than the town's medical center. She only charged for the medicine.
After this, the number of people seeking the door began to increase, and the Liu family courtyard has become half a small private medical center.
"During this period of time, the temperature difference between day and night is greater. Little kids are prone to catching a cold, so you have to pay more attention at night." After treating the last one, Liu Yusheng took out two small bottles of medicine and handed them to the woman across from her. "40 Wen for your patronage."
"40 Wen?" The woman was a little surprised.
"Hmm?"
"No, no, no, I didn't mean anything by it. When I came here, I heard that the consultation fee is cheap, and that the young doctor takes care of the poor family. It's actually true. I'll pay now." The woman hurriedly took out her purse, counted 40 Wen, and uttered a few words of thanks before leaving.
She came with anxiety in her heart. Her family's money was really not much, and every penny was saved through gritted teeth. If she were to go to town, even if she didn't buy the medicine, the medical fee alone would have been at least a hundred Wen. She had no choice but to come here.
But she just watched the young doctor decently take the pulse. Besides, the same patients in the courtyard seemed to be repeat customers, so the doubts in her heart dropped a lot.
If these two bottles of potion could cure her child, she would recognize the young doctor of the Liu family from now on!
Once this wave of patients was gone, Liu Jinfu just wanted to move forward to discuss something, when a small figure scuffled past him towards the girl who was rubbing her neck rub, holding a cup of water in his hand. "Sister Nannan, drink water!"
It was Shuanzi of Aunt Guihua's family. He used to be naughty and mischievous when confined by adults, but he was now completely reduced to the little girl's attendant.
He has even learned how to serve tea and ingratiate himself.
Hey, the kid was amazing.
"Thank you, Shuanzi." Liu Yusheng received the cup of water to moisten her throat, then pinched the baby's cheeks. "Go play."
Shuanzi blushed and he shyly wiggled his little butt. "I'm going there to learn how to read!"
After speaking, he ran to the other corner of the yard with his short legs.
Axiu was surrounded there by a bunch of little kids, blocked in front of the sandbox that the old man had specially designed a month ago. His face was dark from beginning to end, stuck there without escape. Otherwise, he would have been the one who gave Shengsheng water!
"Brother Axiu, this is the word Sister Nannan taught us to read yesterday. It's pronounced tǔ, right?"
"Pronounced, shì."
"Ow! I remembered wrong again!"
"Brother Axiu, look what I wrote! It's water, right?"
"Less of the hook."
Even when his face was black, he answered every question the children asked.
His teaching surprised Liu Yusheng, but she was also happy to see the results.
It meant that he was slowly starting to blend in with the crowd again.
"These little babies aren't afraid of Axiu at all now." Liu Jinfu smiled.
"Not only are they unafraid, sometimes they even deliberately tease Brother Axiu to see his black face." Thinking of this, Liu Yusheng couldn't laugh or cry.
Fortunately, Axiu was able to control his temper more and more. Even though he was grumpy as hell, he restrained himself from ever hurting these kids.
This was also the reason the kids were getting bolder with him.
Get an inch, reach out for yard – said the Xinghua Village kids.
"What does the Grandpa chief want with me?"
"Oh!" Liu Jinfu slapped his head and took out two documents from his bosom. "You said before that you wanted to buy the Xinghua Ridge. I've already processed everything. This is the certificate issued by the government. Because it's a wasteland, the government offered a discount. For 500 acres of land, it would only cost a total amount of 1,000 taels of silver. Sign and thumb print it, and I'll take it back to the government office later for the seal."