Chapter 387: More people bought loquat syrup (1)

“Alive, no person; dead, no corpse.” Wei Mingting’s brows furrowed deeply.

“Then what do we do now?” Yun Shi asked worriedly, extremely afraid that her husband would be implicated.

“The imperial court is already aware of this matter, and has already sent officials here—on one hand to search for the Seventh Prince’s whereabouts, and on the other to investigate the killer’s information,” Wei Mingting replied.

“If they still can’t find…” Yun Shi didn’t dare to continue thinking.

“Wife, don’t think about it. At this point, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate. If we really get implicated, I’ll have nothing to say.”

Though tired, Wei Mingting accepted it with calmness.

“I understand.” Yun Shi still couldn’t feel at ease, but in front of her husband, she suppressed her worry and acted caring and understanding, so as not to make him worry more.

“You’ve also worked hard during this time. The end of the year is near, and there are many matters to handle. The children also need your attention,” said Wei Mingting.

“Husband, don’t worry. Everything in the residence is fine. Please rest early tonight,” Yun Shi replied.

Knowing that Wei Mingting would have matters to attend to early the next morning, Yun Shi accompanied him to his room to rest.

Early the next morning, Wei Mingting left in a hurry.

In the following days, the Colonel’s Residence remained fairly calm.

Wei Ruo and Yun Shi’s relationship stayed cold. Wei Ruo ignored Yun Shi’s discontent completely.

During dinner, Yun Shi kept a cold face, while Wei Ruo said nothing at all, just keeping her head down and eating.

Moreover, with the living examples of Old Master Xu and the third branch’s Old Madam Yuan, many people now knew about Wei Ruo’s loquat syrup.

In the recent bitter cold weather, many people caught chills, and there were quite a few who suffered from coughing, especially the elderly.

Thus, they also came to Wei Ruo to buy loquat syrup, and Wei Ruo still sold it at ten taels of silver per jar.

-loquat syrup

She had sold it to Old Madam Xu for ten taels per jar, and Old Madam Xu could not sell it at a different price to others. Either she wouldn’t sell, or if she did, it could only be ten taels per jar.

This matter was also known to Yun Shi. Those people came specifically to buy loquat syrup from Wei Ruo. They would usually see Yun Shi first, then meet with Wei Ruo.

Yun Shi was furious but helpless. When the visitors came with smiling faces, she couldn’t very well drive them out. She could only watch as her eldest legitimate daughter conducted business like a common merchant.

But Yun Shi was overthinking it. The people in the city, whether they had bought Wei Ruo’s loquat syrup or not, held no contempt for her.

First of all, Wei Ruo had initially given it as gifts. Old Madam of the Yuan family’s third branch and Old Master Xu both received it as presents at first. Later, Old Madam Xu insisted on paying silver because she wanted a steady supply. Old Madam Xu had even openly spoken about this.

Second, what Wei Ruo was selling was medicine. Merchants might be looked down upon, but doctors were not. A good prescription and effective medicine were never considered ordinary goods.

However, Yun Shi did not know this. Even when those who came to buy medicine from Wei Ruo smiled warmly and praised her for being capable, Yun Shi still felt in her heart that her eldest daughter’s behavior was inappropriate.

Wei Ruo didn’t care. Not only did she continue selling her loquat syrup, but she also continued making regular trips to the manor.

Steward Yu settled the medical fees with Zhu Zongyu, charging him twenty taels.

*A tael (两, liǎng) was a unit of weight used for silver or gold in ancient and imperial China. It was also treated as a currency unit since silver ingots were weighed in taels.

• • 1 tael ≈ 37 grams of silver (varies by dynasty and region).

  • 20 taels would be roughly 740 grams of silver, considered a large sum of money for ordinary people in that era.