Chapter 338

“Nonsense, that bracken root powder is black, but kudzu root is white. Kudzu root must be much tastier than bracken root,” Wang Qiuyue retorted.

“Exactly! Plus, dried kudzu root sells for eighteen wen per jin.”

Talking about the price made everyone a bit hesitant. Wasn’t it a waste to just eat it themselves?

After thinking for a while, Wang Qiuyue couldn’t help but say, “Madam, why don’t we dry these and sell them to the medicine shop? We can get eighteen wen per jin. With that money, we could buy several jin of coarse grain or even black flour. Isn’t that more worthwhile?”

The families in the village who grew kudzu root were all selling it. Everyone knew how profitable it was—it was even more lucrative than selling grains!

Actually, the master’s family grew the most kudzu root. They already had over a hundred jin of kudzu root powder. If they sold dried kudzu root, the weight would multiply several times over. Making kudzu root powder was labor-intensive; Madam surely knew that. Why weren’t they making the most of such a profitable venture?

Wang Qiuyue voiced what everyone else was thinking.

Especially the four men, Feng Da, Feng Er, Manku, and Mancang, who had previously gone to sell medicinal herbs with the villagers. They knew exactly how valuable kudzu root was. Li Wen’s family in the village sold the most, earning over a tael of silver!

Their master had many helpers, and if she wanted, she could easily make three or five taels of silver in one go.

They were confused, but as servants, they couldn’t meddle in their master’s affairs. Hearing Wang Qiuyue ask, they eagerly nodded. “Yes, now during the idle farming season, we don’t have much work, so it won’t delay anything.”

But then they realized, weren’t they already making kudzu root powder? It was easy to store and convenient to eat, though more laborious to produce than dried kudzu root. There must be another reason!

Shuiqing understood their eagerness to earn money. When they first moved in, she provided them with supplies, even if it was mostly coarse grains like cornmeal. They were overjoyed and deeply grateful, worried that they hadn’t done enough for their master.

No matter what, they always prioritized their master’s interests.

So it was natural for them to think about selling dried kudzu root. However, Shuiqing explained, “I did think about selling it, but then I realized our family has the herb shop as our main income source, and the medicine shop only buys a fixed amount of kudzu root.”

“You all know how much kudzu root we have on the mountain and how many people we have. If we wanted to sell dried kudzu root to make money, digging, washing, cutting, drying, and selling, we could easily outcompete everyone else. If we sell it, the villagers might sell less or not at all. After discussing it, we decided it’s better to keep it as food for ourselves since it’s nutritious and good for the body.”

“Besides, coarse grains are now more expensive, nine wen per jin, and they have to be transported from the city. By making our own kudzu root powder, we have convenient reserves. If times get tough, we won’t have to worry about food. And if the villagers sell kudzu root to make some money, they can stock up on other supplies. It’s better for everyone.”

Shuiqing knew she wasn’t a particularly noble person. If she had just arrived, was struggling to get by without a marketplace, and found kudzu root selling for eighteen wen per jin, she would have worked through the night to make it and sell it before anyone else.

Ensuring her family had enough to eat and wear was of utmost importance.

But now, with enough food, a big house, and substantial savings, plus the herb shop bringing in over nine hundred taels a month, competing with the villagers for an eighteen wen per jin business seemed, well, rather meaningless.

A family that uses ice doesn’t keep cows and sheep.

The wealthy who can afford ice blocks shouldn’t engage in small trades that commoners rely on. Though not an aristocratic family, with hundreds of wen in her business, she shouldn’t monopolize the villagers’ eighteen wen per jin trade.

She had always been a businessperson, but not a penny-pinching one, and she intended to stay that way.

Hearing Shuiqing, Wang Qiuyue and the others felt their eyes well up.

Sniffling, Wang Qiuyue choked back tears and nodded with a thick voice.

She was a servant, and their master treated them exceptionally well, so she always thought about helping her master earn more money. But when she thought of the villagers, who lived only slightly freer than they did on the estate, with similar living conditions, she realized that without their master, the villagers would be living miserably like they used to.

The villagers of Shanshui Village were very fortunate. They were even luckier to have come here with their master. Otherwise, otherwise…

The men fell silent. Their master had considered so much. She truly was their master, always thinking ahead for them!

“Madam is right. If the villagers are doing well, then everyone benefits,” Feng Da said thoughtfully.

“It’s true. Just look at what happened last time. If the villagers hadn’t been well-fed, strong, and united, our lives would have been at risk. We wouldn’t have been able to bring back any money from selling the medicinal herbs,” he added, reflecting on their previous experiences.

Hong Mancang was thinking ahead, “If the villagers can sell kudzu root and buy supplies, they’ll need people to transport the goods. More people pulling carts means safer travels for us when we go out to sell medicinal herbs.” Shuiqing nodded in agreement with their thoughts.

Hong Daniu, the oldest among them, felt uneasy hearing about potential chaos and nervously asked, “Will things get worse than they are now?”

It’s been nearly half a year since the flood, and things were already bad. But Man Ku and Mancang had mentioned that the bandits from the last time had been caught and taken away by the authorities. Even if it remained chaotic, it shouldn’t get worse, right?

Shuiqing knew that it would indeed get worse, possibly for many years, but she couldn’t say that. Instead, she gave a faint smile and said, “Let’s hope for peace in the world.”

“Of course, it will be!” everyone said confidently.

After all, the empire had been established for only a little over thirty years, and the new emperor had been on the throne for just over a year. The flood affected only their area; how could it influence the entire nation?

However, they did wonder why the new emperor hadn’t managed to provide proper relief for their small area affected by the flood. If the emperor had settled the disaster victims properly, the current chaos wouldn’t exist.

The people didn’t understand the decisions and thoughts of the distant emperor, nor whether the local officials were complying with the central government’s orders. What they knew for sure was that the affected people hadn’t received any tangible help.

“Let’s wait a bit longer. Maybe the local officials aren’t doing their job properly,” someone suggested. “The emperor is far away and might not be aware.”

“Mother! Something terrible has happened!”

“Brother Changlin is back! And he’s injured!” Fan Jiang rushed in, not even wiping the sweat from his brow, and quickly led Shuiqing toward the village elder’s house.

Shuiqing immediately asked, “Has anyone gone to get Uncle Ding and Aunt Ding?”

She wasn’t a healer and didn’t know how to clean wounds or apply medicine. Informing the Ding family was crucial.

“Uncle Wu has gone to get them. Mother, Brother Changlin said that Prince Yan rebelled a few days ago, and the whole country is in chaos!”