Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 448 - 446: The Ducks’ Unexpected Deaths

"Mother, mother, my Little White and Big Gray are not going to make it, please save them!" Little Qingyu cried as he rushed into the Great Tang’s main hall, his small face full of anxiety and worry.

Little White and Big Gray are the names for the White Feathered Chicken and Campbell Duck in Little Qingyu’s animal troop; in Little Qingyu’s mouth, all these animals have names.

Lin Wanwan had long anticipated this and came downstairs to meet him. In Little Qingyu’s perception, his mother was a Divine Doctor; whenever anyone in the clan fell ill, they would seek his mother’s care. Naturally, now that his Little White and Big Gray were sick, he had to ask his mother for help.

The Great Tang has specialized veterinarians because livestock like cattle and horses are quite precious, more so than the ordinary common folk. Consequently, there are specialized veterinarians to serve them.

However, there are no veterinarians near the Lin Family Manor; there were no cattle here before last year, so where would they have veterinary resources? Thus, Little Qingyu couldn’t distinguish between doctors for humans and those for animals.

Lin Wanwan, always indulgent towards Little Qingyu because of emotional attachment and transference, would naturally not refuse her son when he was so worried he was almost crying.

Immediately, she disregarded the dirtiness and took the White Feathered Chicken from his hands to check its condition, and the newly arrived Song Sulan following behind Little Qingyu quickly and smartly held up the Big Gray Campbell Duck.

As soon as Lin Wanwan held the White Feathered Chicken, she realized something was wrong. This wasn’t a simple illness; it was clearly already stiff.

She looked at Little Qingyu and said, "You’re too dirty, go wash your hands. Mother has told you that illnesses enter from the mouth, so washing your hands is the first thing you do when you get home."

Little Qingyu was in no mood to wash his hands, but he couldn’t defy Lin Wanwan’s teachings. After repeated urging from her, he reluctantly went to wash his hands, looking back with every step.

Once Little Qingyu was gone, Lin Wanwan’s face turned serious as she asked Ah Jing, "Can I switch two chickens and ducks for the little one without her noticing?"

Ah Jing silently shook her head, indicating it wasn’t possible.

Lin Wanwan wasn’t surprised by the response; she was only asking idly. How could someone like Little Qingyu, who personally feeds and takes care of his animal troop every day, possibly not recognize his chickens and ducks?

There aren’t even two identical leaves in this world, let alone chickens and ducks.

Lin Wanwan handed the White Feathered Chicken to Ah Jing and said, "Take me to see where the chickens and ducks got into trouble."

Ah Jing bowed silently and led the way; Lin Wanwan washed her hands with the basin of water that the very perceptive Hong Yan hurriedly brought over, dried them, and left the gate promptly.

Hong Yan placed the basin at the gatehouse and followed Lin Wanwan closely, knowing someone would take care of the basin.

Before they even reached the beach where Little Qingyu was playing earlier, they had already seen many Campbell Ducks lying on the sand. Many children ran around, shouting to relay the bad news to their parents.

The task of tending ducks is typically given to children, as the adults are busy with their feet barely touching the ground all day, having no time to manage such things.

This part of the beach is where the clansmen most often let their ducks roam freely. Until now, no incidents had occurred, but suddenly, there was a mass death of duck flocks, and Lin Wanwan’s first thought was poisoning.

Such things are quite common even in modern times. In rural areas, cases of poisoning due to flaunting wealth, quarrels, or sheer jealousy, targeting fish ponds or duck and chicken pens, are plentiful.

There have been entire ponds of crabs poisoned, as well as batches of chickens and ducks.

When such things happen, even if the victim calls the police, the lack of surveillance cameras and the minor nature of the case make it unlikely for significant resources to be invested in investigating, making such cases difficult to solve.

If this is the case in modern times, the investigative conditions during the Great Tang were even more challenging.

Due to Lin Wanwan’s high standards for cleanliness, all clansmen understood this well, so the beach for free-ranging chickens, ducks, and geese was quite remote, lest the droppings offend Lin Wanwan and displease her.

In other words, people rarely paid special attention to this beach, and when children took out the poultry, they did so and then played on their own, trusting the older ducks to lead the younger ones home when the time came.

The White Feathered Divine Chicken, a heavenly-given treasure, was always fed with marine goods collected from the beach by the clansmen and wasn’t often released to forage freely. So today’s victims were primarily the Campbell Ducks.

In just a moment, the clansmen of the Lin Family received the news and hurried over, kneeling and grabbing their heads at the scene, with many muttering about facing divine punishment.

Ducks like the Campbell Ducks, which have such high egg production, are already unusual, so encountering such an unusual incident naturally leads the ignorant and information-deprived clansmen to suspect divine retribution.

In the rural areas of the Great Tang, they might never have known of such poisonings. After all, poisoning still requires a cost, and this place is so poor, who would harm others without benefiting themselves to this extent?

Lin Wanwan even had a momentary suspicion that it might be Xiao Yixun’s doing again, testing her medicine on ducks. She had poisoned several of Lin Wanwan’s family chickens and ducks before.

But after being severely warned by Lin Wanwan last time, Lin Wanwan thought Yixun had taken it to heart.

"Go call Lady Xiao over; she’s most skilled in such matters. Let’s hear what she has to say," Lin Wanwan instructed Hong Yan.

"Understood!"

If Xiao Yixun was responsible, then the losses would have to be compensated by her, and her family just sent over funds for her expenses recently.

Given Xiao Yixun’s character, if she did it, she would surely admit it; if not, with her expressive nature, Lin Wanwan could quickly tell.

Therefore, whether or not Xiao Yixun committed the mischief, Lin Wanwan didn’t need to guess. She could simply ask directly.

It’s best if Xiao Yixun did it; that way, Lin Wanwan could rest at ease and simply keep a closer watch on her in the future. If it wasn’t Xiao Yixun, then it would be troublesome, as the enemy would be in the dark while she was in the open, and investigating would require significant time and effort.

Xiao Yixun quickly arrived from doing accounts, and because her work was interrupted (Lin Wanwan would praise and reward her for keeping the accounts), she was visibly displeased, her chubby baby face pouty as she approached Lin Wanwan.

Regardless of whether it was her secondary personality or her main personality, she was still an immature little girl, naturally not too mature in disposition.

Before meeting Lin Wanwan, Xiao Yixun lived as if in an artificially crafted Ivory Tower, rarely leaving her courtyard or the Daoist Temple, always bearing a distant demeanor, showing little interest in anything. After meeting Lin Wanwan and experiencing many things, her emotions became more apparent.

Xiao Yixun had saved both Lin Wanwan and Little Qingyu, so even if she was responsible, since it was just a matter of some poultry, Lin Wanwan wouldn’t react too harshly, perhaps imposing house arrest and stern criticism at most.

For the sensitive and proud Xiao Yixun, Lin Wanwan’s stern chastisement was enough to make her angry enough to skip meals for two days. If she was seriously criticized, she might run away from home or even start ignoring Lin Wanwan out of spite.