After Marrying The Paranoid God of War (Rebirth) - Chapter 1.2
Ruan An couldn’t help but anxiously ask the clerk in the yamen, “Why is it still not done? I’ve been here several times.”
The clerk, wearing a long robe, was the county magistrate’s most trusted Steward, surnamed Liu.
Steward Liu raised his eyes, glanced at Ruan An, and impatiently said, “Why the hurry? It isn’t just you wanting to register in this entire town.”
Ruan An dared not offend him, thinking that he probably wanted to extort more money from her.
Just as she was about to discreetly hand him the money pouch she had prepared early in the morning, Steward Liu waved his hand like shooing away a fly, and said irritably, “You, go back to the village first. Come down the mountain here after three days. We are busy with the county exam and don’t have time to register you now.”
Ruan An hesitated to speak but decided against it. Seeing the unfriendly faces of the soldiers around, she held back her words.
After she left, Steward Liu put down his wolf-hair brush, rubbed his beard thoughtfully, and said, “Trying to bribe with just this amount of silver? Does this village girl think so little of me?”
In the afternoon, Steward Liu left the yamen, boarded a carriage, and headed straight for Baohe Tower.
“Bang—”
The storyteller slapped the wooden board, cleared his throat, and began vividly recounting the extraordinary stories of Ruan, the reclusive medicine woman from Mei Mountain, and her adventures as a wandering doctor.
-“In the previous talk, it was mentioned that after Ruan Gu arrived in Shannan Road, she identified the reasons for the infertility among the women in Guizhou. When the women in Guizhou followed Ruan Gu’s prescriptions to nurture their bodies, within just half a year, the number of newborns in this area increased by several thousand!!”
-“The wealthy merchants of Guizhou were deeply grateful to her. They collectively petitioned the governor, hoping that he would permit them to build a temple for Ruan as a medicine woman. After a hundred years, future generations could worship her.”
-“In the year of turmoil in Linnan Road, malaria was rampant. Local doctors had expensive remedies, but they couldn’t cure the disease. Ruan’s concoction, on the other hand, could heal with just one dose…”
Steward Liu and Madam Zhu took their seats in a private room at Baohe Tower.
After pouring tea for Madam Zhu, Steward Liu asked, “Have you informed Miss Ruan about that matter?”
Madam Zhu, the widow of Doctor Sun and Ruan An’s second mentor, looked at Steward Liu and spat, “I’m not that foolish. Why would I startle the snake in the grass?”
Her late husband, Doctor Sun, had a favored disciple, a lonely girl burdened with a face that attracted trouble. Being young, she found it challenging to gain trust in her medical practice. Therefore, she often disguised herself as an old woman.
Two years ago, when she traveled south as a wandering healer, she gained some fame in various supervisory districts of Dali. Otherwise, these storytellers wouldn’t repeatedly tell her tales.
Steward Liu nodded in approval, saying, “Indeed, the marriage we arranged for her is with the legitimate eldest son of the County Lord’s mansion. Though she’ll be a concubine, it’s a significant elevation for Miss Ruan.”
As Ruan An’s mentor, Madam Zhu had the authority to arrange her marriage. Moreover, Steward Liu held Ruan An’s weakness in his hands. If she dared to resist, he could easily accuse her of falsely reporting her household registration and threaten her with imprisonment.
Despite Ruan An’s exceptional medical skills, her status was that of an orphan from a village, leaving her with no grounds for argument.
While Steward Liu spoke of Ruan An’s elevation as a concubine, he was well aware that the young master’s courtyard was a den of wolves and tigers.
Not only is the main wife assertive, but also none of the concubines and maidservants are easy to deal with. Although Ruan An is knowledgeable in medicine, her temperament makes it difficult for her to survive in the inner chambers.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Thinking of this, Steward Liu couldn’t help but sigh.
But if she were to blame, she could only blame herself for not disguising herself as an old woman when she descended the mountain that day. Instead, she was seen by the young master in her true appearance.
In three days, he would send people to carry the bridal sedan chair up the mountain, directly bringing the beautiful young medical girl to the young master’s courtyard for his enjoyment.
–
Leaving the town, Ruan An found a clear stream, washing away the aged makeup from this morning.
On her way up the mountain, she picked some dandelions and collected some dodder seeds in the bean field. Halfway up the mountain, she saw a cliff that was rarely exposed to sunlight.
Looking closely, she could faintly see a lot of fresh Anemarrhena growing on top.
As the saying goes, on the sunny slope, gather Anemarrhena; on the shady slope, dig Asarum.
Spring is also the best season for harvesting Polygonatum.
Ruan An put down the sickle in her hand and skillfully took out a rope and a three-toothed claw from the medicine basket, contemplating the route for picking herbs.
Thinking that by the Dragon Boat Festival, she would be able to sell the Atractylodes and Polygonatum Odorifera she had recently found to supplement the household expenses.
On the other side.
The young man in the mountains lazily lay on a bamboo sled, holding a grass ring in his mouth and crossing his legs, helplessly saying, “These days, people from the town are bringing loads when they come up the mountain. Brother Ah Shun, are you sure you don’t want to go to the foot of the mountain to pick up customers?”
The person called Brother Ah Shun is a porter in the mountain, and villagers call him Ah Shun.
Ah Shun shook his head, his gaze never leaving the petite girl climbing the cliff.
She was dozens of feet above the ground, and with even a slight mistake, she could end up severely injured or worse if she fell to the ground.
Ah Shun watched with a pounding heart.
In contrast to Ah Shun’s tension, Ruan An, who was climbing the cliff, remained calm. Her clear apricot eyes, free from the usual youthful restlessness, exhibited tranquility as she gathered herbs.
As a bell healer, Ruan An hadn’t received formal training from a mainstream medical school, often looked down upon by conventional physicians.
Yet, conventional physicians valued theory, and not all of them had the practical skills and diverse medical knowledge that Ruan An possessed.
Ruan An cherishes the scarce medicinal fields and lands on Mei Mountain, handling the herb-gathering process with great care.
Upon her return to Jiazhou, the region was plagued by banditry. Local officials were powerless, allowing the bandit leader Qi Yixiong to act with impunity. Qi Yixiong had seized the majority of the medicinal fields, disrupting the livelihoods of many herb gatherers.
Under the scorching sun, the girl’s delicate face had taken on a faint rosy hue, as if adorned with a layer of rouge, adding to her charm and innocence.
Ruan An was petite and graceful, yet remarkably agile. Clutching the rope tightly, as she moved along the cliff, she resembled a nimble mountain hare.
“Ah Xu! Be careful!” Ah Shun called out to Ruan An using her nickname.
Ruan An pursed her lips, throwing the last Anemarrhena she had gathered into the basket behind her. She replied in a clear voice, “I’m coming down now!”
After a while, Ruan An landed safely.
Ah Shun finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at the fresh Anemarrhena in the medicine basket, Ruan An felt satisfied. She loudly said to Ah Shun, “While the weather is clear, you and your younger brother quickly go down the mountain to find some work. I also need to return to Xinghua Village.”
Ah Shun scratched his head, but suddenly, the anxious and alarmed shout of his younger brother came from behind him:
“Bad news! Brother!”
“There… a person is lying there! He… he’s bleeding a lot!!!”
“Boom—”
Xinghua Village was suddenly struck by spring thunder, and instantly, torrential rain poured down.
The villagers abandoned their tea-picking and farming activities, seeking shelter in their homes.
After helping Ruan An carry the injured person into the thatched hut, Ah Shun and his younger brother were called away by their younger sister to help their parents gather vegetables.
Ruan An loudly called the names of a few disciples, “Sun Ye? Where did you all run off to?”
No one responded.
It turned out that her disciples, dissatisfied with her discipline, had secretly gone down the mountain to the town fair.
A displeased expression appeared on Ruan An’s fair little face.
In her heart, she decided that when they returned, she would punish them by making them transcribe the “Qian Jin Fang” three times and the “Ling Shu Jing” three times. Additionally, she would forbid them from eating meat for ten days!
Despite her annoyance, Ruan An did not forget the important task of treating the injured.
She had just given him some ginseng soup, and now the person’s pulse was gradually stabilizing, but there was still no sign of him waking up.
In contemplation, Ruan An looked towards the low couch—
The man’s figure was tall and imposing, dressed in a subdued yet refined military attire. He wore a waistband gracefully, and his two legs in black boots appeared exceptionally long. Stains of blood soaked through the dark patterns on his clothing, creating a grim image of ferocious beasts.
Leaning diagonally against a mottled wall, his head slightly tilted, he seemed to have fainted, but his temperament couldn’t conceal his arrogance.
The taste of bitter medicine, the chilling scent of blood, and the dampness carried by the spring rain diffused in the inner chamber, disturbing people’s emotions.
Ruan An repeatedly identified his face, still finding it hard to believe.
The rain intensified, showing no sign of weakening.
The scar on the man’s neck finally confirmed for Ruan An that he was the warrior who had saved her life in the Lingnan region—Huo Pingxiao.
Me translating these herbs’ names:
Translated by: All Things Fluff