Chapter 363 (1/2)
Princess Consort Jing felt very gratified when she thought of how her youngest son seemed to be showing a wider variety of expressions and feelings now. In the past, it was as if he had been crafted of the ice from a ten thousand year old glacier and molded from cold steel. He didn't seem to have any humanity. Sometimes, even she felt a bit scared and frightened whenever she had to interact with him. Perhaps it was because of her own feelings that her youngest son became more and more distanced from her and never went back to the closeness they had when he was young.
However, ever since he came back from his seafaring journey to the western hemisphere, he gradually warmed up. He started to smile more and other expressions gradually became apparent on his face. His att.i.tude when he interacted with his father was no longer as cold and detached as before. He even learned how to tease other people——No, it had to be said, only when her youngest son was interacting with the Yu Family's youngest daughter did he actually seem like a seventeen to eighteen year old youth.
”Son, during that episode, who did you think of?” Princess Consort Jing was in a good mood after remembering the recent changes in her son. Thus, her desire for gossip had risen again.
Zhu Junyang had a warm smile on his face yet he stayed silent. His phoenix eyes s.h.i.+fted a bit as he thought, 'I wonder what that little la.s.s is doing right now. Is she joking around with her mother as they water the vegetables in the courtyard? Or is she at the piggery asking her twin sister how things are going? Or is she helping her older brother calculating the price of seafood...such an industrious little girl, and she always seems to have plenty of energy. It doesn't seem like she ever stops working, doesn't she feel tired sometimes?'
In actuality, Yu Xiaocao was doing the exact opposite of what he was thinking. She was currently reclining on a rocking chair underneath the grape trellis. She amused herself by rocking back and forth in a half-drowsy state. Suddenly, a flurry of knocks at the front gate interrupted her leisurely time. Liu Huifang burst in frantically. The weather in late autumn was cool and relaxing, yet she had a head full of sweat.
”Xiaocao, come to my house quickly and take a look! Our chickens are sick!!” Liu Huifang was so frazzled that tears almost streamed down her face. People raising chickens were always worried about poultry diseases. There weren't any veterinarians in this era, so if an illness came up, it was possible that a whole half years of work could go down the drain!
Yu Xiaocao opened her eyes and sat up straight before she asked, ”Don't panic. Tell me exactly what's going and don't leave out any details.”
”On the evening of the day before yesterday, my mother and I brought back the chickens from the woods in cages. When we were giving them water to drink, we noticed that there were a few chickens that looked a bit listless. My mother and I didn't take it to heart. However, who would have known that yesterday night, when we did the same thing, an additional dozen were also listless. My mother said the chickens probably had gotten an infectious disease, so she put the sick chickens away in their own cage away from the others. But today, half of our chickens are laying on the ground looking sick…”
After getting Yu Xiaocao's advice, the Liu Family decided to raise their chickens free-range. In the morning, they used cages to bring the chickens into a nearby thicket and had them forage for bugs and seeds to eat. At night, they brought them back to their residence. This method not only conserved the amount of grain they had to feed them but also improved the quality of the meat on the chickens. Half a year had pa.s.sed and the Liu Family's two hundred and so chickens were all doing well. Who would have thought that after the chickens got to a weight of two catties each, over half had gotten suddenly sick! It was no wonder that the usually calm and steady Liu Huifang was panicking.
”Don't panic! I'll go with you and take a look at them!” Yu Xiaocao was very clear that people who raised a lot of chickens were always fearful of poultry disease spreading. Luckily, she had mystic-stone water on hand. Even if the chickens did have an infectious disease, it wouldn't be a problem.
When she saw Xiaocao seemed calm and confident, Liu Huifang gradually felt her heart relax. She nodded her head and said, ”I almost forgot that you know some medicinal arts Xiaocao!”
Yu Xiaocao smiled bitterly inside, 'I learned medicine to treat humans not poultry, okay? Ah forget about it, the Liu Family only started raising chickens for my braised food shop. A hundred or so chickens can be sold for at least a dozen or so days. Right now Uncle and my older cousin are out traveling to buy more chickens and they work from dawn to dusk. It's not easy for them either...it's fine to let the Liu Family believe that I can treat their chickens!'
The two girls quickly arrived at Huifang's home. Shuanzhu's wife was currently sighing and lamenting over the chickens that were currently dying.
”Don't panic Auntie, let me take a look at them!” Yu Xiaocao inspected one of the chickens that was almost at the brink of death. Its crest was dull and dim, and its eyes were weak and watery. Secretions were coming out of its beak, and it was obvious that it was hard for the animal to breathe. Its crop was obviously swollen as if it acc.u.mulated a lot of liquid. She then looked at the p.o.o.p of the sick chickens. The p.o.o.p was yellow and green in color and was accompanied by a lot of water...this was the perfect example of a viral illness that struck the chickens.
After she finished inspecting the sick chickens, Yu Xiaocao had an idea on how to proceed next. She first spoke to the mother and daughter pair who were besides themselves with worry, ”Don't worry, I am able to treat this disease! I need to go to the mountain side to dig up some medicinal plants but I'll be back very soon.”
When Shuanzhu's wife heard that her family's chickens could be treated, she silently let out a sigh of relief before she said, ”It's already evening right now. Going up into the mountains isn't safe. How about you wait until tomorrow?”
Yu Xiaocao smiled and shook her head, ”If we wait until tomorrow, I'm afraid that the whole flock of chickens will be sick then! Don't worry, the herbs I need aren't up the mountain. I can find them at the foot of the mountain too.”
”Then have Huifang go with you too ah…” Shuanzhu's wife still wasn't completely convinced.
Yu Xiaocao thought for a bit and then said to Liu Huifang, ”Older Sister Huifang, go dig up some common purslane and bring it back. It needs to be washed before it's used too.”