Fields of Gold

The next day, Yu Hai sent the injured Royal Prince Yang back to town on the horse carriage. Yu Xiaocao followed behind on the donkey cart, which was full of yesterday’s game. The donkey, Little Gray, had become so fat and strong that normal horses couldn’t compare to it. Once, someone offered a high price to buy Little Gray, but the offer was firmly rejected by Xiaocao.

When they got to town, Yu Hai went to send the game to Zhenxiu Restaurant. The large black bear on the donkey cart attracted the attention of the people in town. Before the cart even stopped in front of Zhenxiu Restaurant, many people came to make reservations for a game banquet. In particular, there was an endless stream of people inquiring about the price of the bear paw. Although Tanggu Town wasn’t big, there were quite a lot of rich people.

When they heard that Royal Prince Yang had kept the bear paws, they had no choice but to take the next best thing, make reservations for the bear meat. Bear meat was good for supplementing deficiencies, strengthening muscles and bones, and treating disorders like rheumatism, disjointed limbs, and muscle spasms. It also tasted very good. Most importantly, bear meat wasn’t something that one could eat whenever one wanted. The last time someone caught a bear was one and a half years ago. They naturally didn’t have to worry about not being able to sell this kind of rare food.

More than three hundred catties of bear meat were completely reserved in less than two days. The rest like deer, mountain sheep, roe deer were stored in the ice house. With these game, Zhenxiu Restaurant’s sales reached a new peak, which caused the other restaurants in town to be extremely envious. The manager of the old brand Fulin Restaurant, in particular, regretted his past actions. Had he not been greedy for small advantages and forced the price down, it would have been Fulin Restaurant flourishing with business right now… There was no such thing as a medicine for regret in this world. Everyone had to be responsible for their own decisions.

Yu Xiaocao and her father went different ways to complete their tasks. Yu Hai went to Zhenxiu Restaurant, while she drove the horse carriage to take Royal Prince Yang back to the estate that Princess Consort Jing stayed at.

When Princess Consort Jing heard that her youngest son was hurt, she nearly fell ill from the fright. She quickly called for the imperial physician to treat Zhu Junyang, and received the conclusion that he could no longer exert force with both his arms. Her youngest son had worked hard to practice martial arts since he was a child. If he couldn’t use strength in his hands, wouldn’t he be considered a cripple? The disbelieving Princess Consort Jing called over Doctor Sun of Tongren Medicine Hall and received similar results. When Princess Consort Jing heard this, she immediately clenched her chest and fainted.

Doctor Sun rushed to save Princess Consort Jing. Fortunately, Princess Consort Jing’s health had been nourished very well in the past two years. She had just fainted due to excessive grief. Doctor Sun pricked a needle in her philtrum point, and Princess Consort Jing woke up.

The thought of her youngest son being a disabled person because of hunting made Princess Consort Jing extremely sad, and she appeared very pitiful as she wept. Both of Zhu Junyang’s arms were injured, but he still comforted his lady mother, “Lady Mother, I have just strained the muscles and bones in my arms. It’s not as serious as they’re making it. I’ll be fine after resting for a while.”

“The imperial physician and Doctor Sun both said you can’t even lift a bucket of water in the future. What are you going to do? Wahhh… Why did you suddenly go hunting? Fortunately, only your arms are hurt. If the wild beast… How is Lady Mother supposed to continue living ah!” Princess Consort Jing gasped for breath as she cried. In her heart, she couldn’t help but blame the Yu Family for taking her Yang’er to such a dangerous place.

Princess Consort Jing couldn’t stop her tears from flowing down her cheeks, and no one was able to comfort her.

Doctor Sun hesitated for a while and finally said, “Your Highness, in fact, it’s not that there aren’t any cases of recovery from injuring muscles and bones…”

“Can my son’s arms recover?” With tears on her face, Princess Consort Jing quickly asked. Her eyes, which were filled with tears, were full of expectation.

“There was a villager in Dongshan Village whose leg was injured by a bear. The damage to his tendons and muscles was much more serious than that of Royal Prince Yang’s arms. However, he has recovered very well now. He can walk, run, and jump just like normal people, and he can also carry heavy loads and do heavy labor…” Each time Doctor Sun recalled Yu Hai’s injury, he always thought it was a miracle.

As if she had grasped on a life-saving straw, Princess Consort Jing repeatedly asked, “Who is it? Does his family have some secret medicine? Quick, quickly find him. Let’s buy his secret medicine. No matter how much it cost, we’re willing to pay for it, as long as it can cure my son’s arms…”

Zhu Junyang could clearly feel the abundance of care and motherly love from his lady mother. It was this great, selfless maternal love that left a sense of warmth in the corner of his cold, gloomy heart, and thus he didn’t get lost in the negative emotions.

With his injured arms, he gently took his lady mother into his embrace. There was a lot of pain in his arms, but it couldn’t cover the warmth in his heart. He softly said, “I know the person who Doctor Sun mentions. Lady Mother also knows him.”

“Quickly let go. Be careful of your arm…” Princess Consort Jing, who was embraced by her son, was stiff and didn’t dare to move at all, for fear that she would hurt him, “You said I also know that person? Who??”

Zhu Junyang retracted his arms and smiled a bit more tenderly, “It’s Yu Xiaocao, who Lady Mother is at angry at and being punished to stand outside. Her father’s leg was once bitten by a bear. Isn’t it in a perfectly fine now?”

At the mention of this matter, Princess Consort Jing couldn’t help but feel angry, “What’s wrong with that father of Yu Xiaocao? He had been bitten by a bear before, yet he still took you hunting in the West Mountain? What are his intentions? Had it not been for the fact that he’s Xiaocao’s father, I would have definitely punished him!!”

“Lady Mother, I have already said that I was the one who insisted on hunting in the mountains. He was kindhearted and afraid that your son would get lost in the mountain forest, and thus suggested to guide me! Without his rich hunting experience, perhaps your son would still be wandering in the mountains right now!” Zhu Junyang kindly put in a good word for Yu Hai.  

Upon hearing him mention this, Princess Consort Jing began crying again, “Yang’er, you’re not allowed to scare Lady Mother again! If something really happened to you, Lady Mother doesn’t want to continue living either…”

“Aren’t I fine now?” When faced with Princess Consort Jing’s tears, Zhu Junyang felt helpless.

“You call this fine? With your arms like this, you still think it’s fine? Will you only consider it a problem when your whole body is covered in wounds after being bitten by a bear?” Princess Consort Jing really wanted to beat up her worrisome son of hers, but she was also worried about his swollen arms.

Zhu Junyang quickly said, “Lady Mother, why don’t you call Yu Xiaocao in and ask how her father’s leg was cured?”

Hearing this, Princess Consort Jing wiped her tears and hastily nodded and said, “Yes, that’s right! Quickly tell Xiaocao to come in. I need to ask if her family has some good medicine to cure muscle and tendon injuries.”

Meixiang complied and quickly walked out the door. She said to Yu Xiaocao, who was bored to death as she stood in the corridor and kicked at the brick under her feet, “Miss Yu, the princess consort asked you to come in!”

Holding the herbal paste that she had just heated this morning, Xiaocao followed Meixiang through the door and bowed a greeting at Princess Consort Jing, whose eyes were red.

Princess Consort Jing, who was still somewhat angry, expressionlessly said, “Stand up!”

Yu Xiaocao knew that Princess Consort Jing was angry with her. The young royal prince got hurt because of her father. She would even be willing to take a beating, let alone getting the cold shoulder. Seeing that the princess consort didn’t intend to speak, she summoned up her courage and whispered, “Your Highness, the young royal prince’s arms… it’s time to change the medicine…”

As soon as she finished speaking, Princess Consort Jing asked anxiously, “You applied the medicine on Yang’er’s arms? Is this the medicine that healed the injury on your father’s leg?”

Yu Xiaocao quickly nodded and said, “In reply to Your Highness, my father’s leg was cured after consuming the medication prescribed by Doctor Sun and applying this herbal paste. It got better with the combination of external application and internal treatment!”

Doctor Sun and the imperial physician seemed very interested in the herbal paste in jar in her hands. Doctor Sun tried to restrain himself, but in the end, he couldn’t help but ask, “Miss Yu, can you let this old man look at the herbal paste in your hands?” 

Yu Xiaocao wasn’t afraid of being found out by him because the ointment she brewed was really made for muscle and bone injuries. But, without the most critical component, the mystic-stone water, it became the most common muscles and bones ointment on the market.

Doctor Sun and the imperial physician took the jar of medicine and studied the properties of the herbal paste together. After a discussion, they realized that it was made of very common ingredients.

However, Doctor Sun noticed that there was an ingredient in it that could activate the properties of the medicine and make the medicine work to its fullest. Perhaps, it was this ingredient that caused an originally common medicine to become effective enough to cure Yu Hai’s leg.

Doctor Sun wanted to ask what this ingredient was, but on second thought, this was their secret medicine. It was already pretty good of them to let him look at the medicine. If he asked them how the herbal paste was made, wouldn’t that make things difficult for them?

Seeing that the imperial physician and Doctor Sun had studied the medicine for a long time, Princess Consort Jing anxiously asked, “How is it? Will this medicine work? Will it be able to cure Yang’er’s injury?”

Doctor Sun gave the herbal paste back to Yu Xiaocao and nodded, “This herbal paste is good for Royal Prince Yang’s injury. If used together with the medication for relieving acupuncture points, there is an eighty percent chance that Royal Prince Yang’s injuries will be completely healed.”

Eighty percent chance? Although Princess Consort Jing wasn’t completely satisfied, it was already considered pretty good compared to the death sentence that the imperial physician and Doctor Sun imposed on her son’s arms!

“Xiaocao, quickly apply it for Yang’er!” Princess Consort Jing’s tone had softened a lot. She wasn’t an unreasonable person, but concern caused her to be in a confused state of mind. It was inevitable that she would vent her anger on others upon hearing that her youngest son’s arms were going to be crippled. It was understandable since this was due to a mother’s love for her son.

Yu Xiaocao asked Meixiang to bring over a basin of warm water. With her back facing everyone, she placed the multicolored stone into the warm water. The little divine stone cooperated and emitted some spiritual power into the water, which turned the warm water into mystic-stone water.

Yu Xiaocao carried the water to the table next to Royal Prince Yang and said in a soft voice, “Take off your clothes!”

When Head Steward Liu took off his outer garment, there was a casual sleeveless garment inside. The two maidservants, Meixiang and Lanxiang, blushed slightly and turned around. As a citizen of the twenty-first century, Yu Xiaocao was used to men wearing nothing but a pair of shorts in the summer, let alone he was wearing a ‘large tank-top’!

With a straight face, Yu Xiaocao calmly washed off the herbal paste on the young prince’s arms with gauze, and then she applied a thick layer of the herbal paste on his arms.

“Does it need to be wrapped in gauze? Wouldn’t the medicine lose its effect if it accidentally got rubbed off?” Princess Consort Jing asked with concern.  

‘Sure, it can also be wrapped up ah!’ Since the patient’s family requested it, Yu Xiaocao naturally wouldn’t disagree. With the gauze, she wrapped the young royal prince’s arms up like a mummy, and even his elbows couldn’t be bent. Yu Xiaocao looked at Zhu Junyang, whose two arms were hanging straight to his sides, and nearly rolled on the floor laughing in her heart.