The Fallen Medicine Woman: The Daily Life of Chun Nuan-Chapter 363 - 211

The situation outside is dire, and the wealthy families of Changzhou are huddled inside their houses, afraid to move.

The shops on the street have closed their doors, except for the Hundred Herbs Hall of the Zhao family, which still opens daily, with Doctor Zhao still consulting.

Owners of other pharmacies complained: The Zhao family must be mad for money, willing to risk their lives.

When someone informed them that there was a large notice in front of the Hundred Herbs Hall, explaining this and that, they mocked again: Trying to win the sympathy of the rebels?

Truly too naive!

In the county office, a self-proclaimed General Ma was listening to his subordinate’s report.

"In such a large Changzhou, only one shop is open?"

"Yes, General, that pharmacy named Hundred Herbs Hall has a notice posted at the door."

General Ma nodded after listening.

"Send out an order: No one is to cause trouble at the Hundred Herbs Hall, violators will be executed!"

"Yes, General." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

To be honest, when they saw the notice, their hearts trembled as well: People eat grain and fall sick, everyone has parents and children, and it’s intolerable when someone falls ill. Allowing this pharmacy to operate normally is a blessing.

Sure enough, General Ma thought the same. This decree invisibly provided a protective shield for Hundred Herbs Hall, ensuring no trouble during its consultations.

"Also, order all merchants to open their doors and resume business within three days, especially the grain shops, as it concerns the livelihood of the people. If they don’t open, their stocks will be confiscated and nationalized."

"Yes, General."

General Ma was not a brute; he understood both governance and mundane affairs.

He knew deeply that occupying Changzhou was only the first step; it could only be considered occupied if the people of Changzhou submitted.

The large and small shopkeepers felt the sky was falling upon hearing the order to open their business!

How could those selling food and essentials operate with doors open?

Those bandits... those soldiers took greedily without paying, how could the shops survive?

Open till the end and they’ll lose everything, even their underwear.

The four grain shopkeepers might have been rivals on ordinary days, but now they were as close as brothers.

They hid in the Wan family’s small hall to discuss: How to open the shops? How to set the grain prices?

They finally agreed that grain prices would continue to rise, and selling now would miss huge profits.

After negotiation, they decided: Limit sales, and double the prices compared to before the unrest.

Every day once the sales reached the limit, they would close.

General Ma couldn’t say they hadn’t opened, we did it for everyone’s good, selling a fixed quantity daily to prevent wealthy families from buying excessively, leaving nothing for those with less money.

No matter who, rich or poor, high-ranking or low, with a household registration, each household could only buy two catties.

When General Ma learned of this, he cursed silently: thieves!

The people flocked to the grain shops when the prices opened; they accepted the rule of buying only two catties per household each day as their families couldn’t even make porridge anymore, they bought some to sustain their lives.

Consequently, long queues formed daily outside the four major grain shops in Changzhou, with those successfully buying grain rejoicing and those who couldn’t wailing in despair: meaning another day of starvation.

Some simply did not leave, camping in front of the grain shops day and night, causing obstructions for pedestrians on the streets.

General Ma saw this and found it out of his control.

Similarly, the situation was no better for other shops than for grain shops.

As indeed there were soldiers eating and taking without compensation, causing great distress, they opened for an hour in the morning and closed in the afternoon on the pretense of being sold out.

Truly, the only shop that fully opened for business daily was still Hundred Herbs Hall.

In this regard, the shop owners found it understandable: Who the heck would rob medicine? They weren’t fearful of theft or robbery, so naturally, they dared to open for business.

Of course, Hundred Herbs Hall took the risk of opening during such tumultuous times and still charged regular medical fees.

This made many patients’ families grateful, praying the Bodhisattva to bless the owners of Hundred Herbs Hall with longevity, family happiness, and ten or eight sons.

It was unknown if the prayers of the patient’s family worked, but amid the ongoing chaos outside, Chun Nuan felt lazy and lacking any vigor.

At first, it was thought she was too worn out from messing around at night with Zhao Minghua.

Therefore, there were several nights with no messing around, yet she still felt unwell.

Zhao Minghua was considerate of his wife; knowing she was unwell, he naturally restrained himself.

Seeing his wife’s discomfort, he specially told Qingsheng to have Mrs. Zhou prepare some fish soup to nourish her.

"Young mistress, this is the fish soup specially prepared by Mrs. Zhou per the young master’s request." Bai He brought in the soup: "Mrs. Zhou advises you to drink it while hot, otherwise it will have a fishy smell if cooled."