Chapter 91: Authentic Medicinal Herbs

Both the host and the guest returned to the living room.

Upon sitting down, Tian Qinglai immediately apologized to Madam Jiang, saying that his daughter was not sensible. With so much happening in the Lu family, she did not come back to help and even wanted to keep her husband at her parents’ home. He then expressed his gratitude, thanking his in-laws for their kindness and understanding, allowing his son-in-law to stay at the Tian family for so long.

Tian Qinglai and his eldest son had brought back the medicinal herbs from out of town last night. Upon arriving home, they were delighted to see their daughter and son-in-law there. It was only later that they found out their daughter and son-in-law had not returned to the Lu family for such a long time after they left.

Upon further inquiry, they learned that both the Tian and Lu families had experienced many things while they were away, and their daughter and son-in-law chose to stay and help at the Tian family instead of returning to the Lu family.

Although he was relieved that his son-in-law had lent a helping hand to the in-laws in times of difficulty, he felt that their actions were inappropriate. As the eldest son of the Lu family, no matter what, when the Lu family encountered such major troubles, his daughter and son-in-law should have returned. At the very least, his daughter could have gone back with the children to show some care, and the couple could have switched roles.

However, since the situation had already occurred, what could be done? He could only bring his son along, load up a car with good medicinal herbs and local specialties, and personally escort his daughter and son-in-law back home, while also apologizing and expressing gratitude to his in-laws.

On the side, Lu Zhiyuan looked embarrassed. He had already been approached by his father-in-law last night to discuss the matter, and he truly realized his mistake.

Initially, he never imagined that things would escalate to this extent. It all started with a simple incident of saving the wrong person from drowning, and then there were some minor complications with his sister’s marriage to the Xie family. He thought that the engagement between the Lu and Xie families was decided by the Xie family’s patriarch, and with his sister owing a debt of gratitude, he didn’t take it seriously. Later, when the Empress Dowager arranged marriages for his sister with the Qin family and the Xie-Zhao families, he realized the seriousness of the situation. At that moment, he wanted to rush back immediately, but coincidentally, his sister arrived in Ping’an Town and told him that their family matters had been resolved, asking him to stay at the Tian family to continue helping.

As the situation escalated, with Zhao Bin having his leg broken by his sister, his father losing the position of Chief Minister in the Xie family, and even obtaining a pardon… These series of major events, spreading from Chang’an City to Ping’an Town, left everyone stunned.

Feeling lost, he was now faced with the return of his father-in-law and uncle. He admitted that he lacked strong convictions. Then… he could only say, being a person is difficult, being the eldest son is even more challenging. Especially after returning home this time, he realized that his son was more favored by his parents and sister than he was. Lu Zhiyuan silently prayed in his heart, “Son, grow up quickly, as the future position of this family will rely on you.”

Facing Tian Qinglai’s sincere apologies and gratitude, Madam Jiang felt that he was being too serious. If anyone was to blame, it should be on their son, not the Tian family. Nevertheless, she found his actions very comforting.

Lu Songli noticed that the in-laws chosen by her parents were all very good. Today’s incident showed that Tian Qinglai was a very reasonable person, and the Xu family was the same.

If Lu Desheng knew her thoughts, he would surely be pleased. They had abandoned the requirement of matching social status and focused on this instead.

“In-law, since we are relatives by marriage, we should support each other. There’s no need for formalities. Given the situation at the Tian family at that time, Zhiyuan, as the son-in-law of the Tian family, indeed should have stayed to help. If one day, our Lu family also faces the same difficulties as the Tian family did, would your Tian family stand by and do nothing?”

“Of course not.”

“That’s right. So, when you leave, take the medicinal herbs with you, but leave the local specialties.” Madam Jiang said. Her confidante had just informed her that many of the medicinal herbs brought by the Tian family were of high value, and the overall cost was quite high.

Tian Qinglai waved his hand, “Madam, as you said earlier, there’s no need for such formalities between relatives. The medicinal herbs we brought this time are needed by his younger sister-in-law, so let them stay.”

After returning home, Tian Qinglai heard from his daughter and son-in-law that his younger sister-in-law wanted to buy a batch of good medicinal herbs and had been asking his son-in-law to keep an eye out. He took the initiative to bring these medicinal herbs and even replaced the slightly inferior ones his son-in-law had with better quality ones.

These medicinal herbs were carefully selected high-quality herbs, and only the best-looking ones were chosen to be sent over. It could be said that the profit from this trip out of town for father and son was in this half-carriage of medicinal herbs.

Upon hearing this, Lu Songli couldn’t sit still. Since her mother was entertaining here, she felt unnecessary and decided to go and see the medicinal herbs brought by the Tian family.

Early this morning, when she learned that her father was ill, Lu Songli regretted not preparing some tonic pills for him earlier. These tonic pills were formulated based on the ancestral recipe of the Lu family from later generations, which were very suitable for the elderly or those with weak constitutions. Lu Songli felt that if she had the tonic pills on hand, perhaps her father wouldn’t have suffered this time.

The reason she had not started preparing them earlier was twofold. Firstly, she was busy, with little time to spare. Secondly, she had high standards and only used authentic medicinal herbs.

In later years, leveraging the convenience of the law firm, Lu Songli provided her grandfather with only authentic medicinal herbs. This was also the reason why the Lu family’s medical business thrived; her grandfather and two cousins were skilled in medicine, and with good quality herbs, the patients naturally recovered.

Why do people always criticize traditional Chinese medicine and herbs, saying that the prescriptions passed down by their ancestors are ineffective when the herbs obtained from pharmacies based on those prescriptions don’t have much healing effect? In fact, it’s not that the ancestral prescriptions are ineffective, but rather the herbs are subpar.

Authentic medicinal materials and ordinary ones have significant differences in effectiveness. Unfortunately, the quantity of authentic medicinal materials is limited, and many high-quality medicinal materials, particularly wild authentic ones, have been purchased by the Japanese. Most of what circulates on the market are substitutes with the same name but different sources.

For various reasons, she is quite particular about her choice of medicinal materials.

The combination of medicinal materials is based on the principle of “monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy.” She is still missing two herbs according to the prescription she’s collecting. Although these two herbs are not “monarch” herbs, they are extremely important as “minister” herbs, and she does not want to settle for less.

Now, the Tian family has sent them a batch of medicinal materials. It’s a case of “a pillow arriving just when one is feeling sleepy,” so she needs to take a look.

When Lu Songli arrived at the warehouse, she immediately recognized that among the medicinal materials sent by the Tian father and son were Angelica from Gansu, Aconite from Sichuan, Astragalus from Shanxi, Cowherb and Rehmannia from Huaiqing, and Panax notoginseng from Yunnan, among others. Although some place names in the current era have changed, these medicinal materials are indeed authentic from those regions. Moreover, the two herbs she needed were also included, and their quality was particularly good.

Lu Songli admired the Tian family’s reliability and their expertise in selecting medicinal materials.