A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

The barbarian prisoner, Yang Hu, was tied up and killed by Liu Da. He was locked in the woodshed and kept under house arrest three times a day. He was no longer interrogated.

Qin Ying tried several times to pry out a confession, but he stopped her each time.

"What's the rush?" Yang Hu lingered. "We've got the suspect in our hands, where can he run to? That mole doesn't even know his men are in the trap. Perfect. We can't alert him now; we need to get a feel for the situation before we act!"

Qin Ying glared at him for a long time, and finally managed to calm down.

She has been leading troops for so many years, and her motto is to strike with lightning speed.

But he's a slowpoke, so slow it's infuriating, yet he takes things one step at a time and you can't find fault with him.

"Fine," she snorted. "Whatever you say!"

The matter of the traitor remains unresolved; life goes on.

The battle to protect the village, coupled with the rare medicinal herbs gathered from the deep mountains, completely solidified Yang Hu's position.

Within a radius of ten miles, anyone with a ailment or pain would rush to Maocao Village.

Manager Sun of Jirentang would come here every few days to urge them to buy more medicine, as it was selling out in the city.

People seeking medical treatment, medicine, and prescriptions never stopped at the hospital entrance from morning till night.

The herbs picked from the herb garden need to be dried, chopped, and pounded, and it's even more important to sort them into different categories before storing them.

Lu Yan recognized the medicine and was keeping a close eye on it, working like a busy monkey.

Lu Rou was in charge of accounts and personnel. While keeping track of who came in and out, she was also busy cooking. Often, she would be called over to take medicine while she was cooking.

Liu Ye has just returned from collecting medicinal herbs and is now going down to plant seedlings in those few acres of land.

Qin Ying's injuries had mostly healed, and she sat on a stool by the herb garden, helping to dry the herbs.

But she was ultimately a knife-wielder, unable to handle those tiny medicinal herbs.

Fortunately, the good medicines collected from such a deep mountain were still piled up on the ground.

The plants were left un-dried and moldy, almost ruining the Paris polyphylla plants in the basket, which made Lu Yan's eyes red with pain.

How can just a few couples handle it?

"This isn't working," Yang Hu said that afternoon, wiping his sweat and calling everyone together.

"There are more and more survivors, and we can't keep up with just a few people."

Lu Yan raised her head.

"We'll hire people," Yang Hu had already planned. "We'll recruit the women and teenagers in this village who are unemployed to help with drying herbs, pounding herbs, and tending the garden. The work isn't too strenuous; we can teach them. We'll give them two meals a day and some extra money."

The girls were stunned when they heard the words.

Lu Rou's first thought was: "My husband is talking about hiring villagers?"

"Um"

"That's great." Lu Rou picked up the abacus and started clicking away. "The finished medicines have come in, and we're doing well. The villagers have work to do and income to earn, so we can relax too."

The news caused an uproar throughout half the village.

Providing two meals and a little money? What kind of deal is that?

In less than half a day, the area outside Yang Hu's courtyard was completely packed with women.

"It's me, Dr. Yang! I'm quick and nimble; I can do everything from drying herbs to tending the garden."

"Dr. Yang, my husband has bad legs, he can only rely on me. Please give me some work to do!"

They all shouted at once, vying to be the first to respond.

Yang Hu didn't rush to agree. His eyes scanned the crowd and spotted the timid woman in the corner.

The woman's surname is Liu; the man died on the border last year.

She was left alone with a seven or eight-year-old child, living a miserable life, the worst in the village.

She didn't dare approach, standing at a distance, rubbing the clothes in her hands, both hoping and afraid.

"Sister-in-law Liu," Yang Hu said, choosing her name first, "you come here!"

The woman was stunned for a moment, then suddenly looked up and asked herself in disbelief.

"Can...can I?"

"You can take care of the garden and dry the herbs," Yang Hu said. "Bring the child along too, so he can wander around the garden for a bit and won't go hungry."

Widow Liu's eyes immediately reddened, and she kept saying thank you, but her words were indistinct.

In other cases, the widows and orphans left behind by soldiers who died on the border, and those whose families were destitute, were the first to be chosen by Yang Hu.

Everyone watched, their voices sinking in silence, before they whispered among themselves, "Dr. Yang is so kind... he was the first to think of the families who are suffering the most."

This is more reassuring than anything else.

Lu Yan watched from the side, her eyes softening. "Young Master always says that you can't lose out if you get a good deal, but he never considers these things."

"How can it not count!" Yang Hu laughed. "Everyone in the village remembers this favor. If I ever need anything in the future, they'll definitely help me! This deal is too good to pass up."

While he said it was a good deal, Lu Yan saw right through him.

The arrival of people immediately brought the medicinal herb garden to life.

Those drying herbs place them on bamboo baskets and turn them over and over.

A group of women were pounding medicine around a stone mortar, pounding it vigorously, one stroke at a time.

Widow Liu's son was chasing chickens around in the garden, laughing heartily.

Lu Yan was responsible for identifying various herbs and sorting them out into those that needed to be sun-dried and those that needed to be air-dried.

Lu Rou was in charge of the accounts and the payroll, keeping the group of helpers completely under her thumb.

Liu Ye found two quick-witted young men and taught them to recognize the herbs in the mountains and to identify their quality.

Although Qin Ying couldn't help, his imposing aura sitting on the side deterred anyone from slacking off.

She wasn't idle either; she accompanied Lu Yan to identify the herbs, memorizing their names and properties one by one.

Remember to frown and do it again if you make a mistake once; it's very stubborn.

"A general is better at recognizing medicines than a soldier," Yang Hu joked, teasing her.

"You're bound to learn something from staying in this shabby courtyard." Qin Ying ignored her, but her ears involuntarily started to burn.

Even Liu Da had something to do, pulling his newly bought donkey cart to deliver the prepared medicine.

They came back and talked about how the village lacked salt and needles and thread, which had become the two legs that allowed Yao Yuanzi to go out.

When it was time to eat, Lu Rou and Lu Yan cooked two large pots of mixed grain rice, along with vegetable soup, and fed the helpers bowl by bowl.

These people usually go hungry, so how can they get enough to eat?

They ate with their faces to the ground and their backs to the sky, not daring to even lift their heads.

Widow Liu quietly transferred two pieces of meat from her own bowl into her child's bowl, while she ate white rice with the vegetable soup.

Yang Hu saw it but didn't expose it. He said to Lu Rou, "Why don't you add some to this kid's bowl?"

The child, holding the bowl, looked up at Yang Hu somewhat timidly, revealing two white teeth like a little rabbit.

Widow Liu burst into tears. She grabbed the baby and prepared to kowtow to her, but Lu Yan laughed and said, "Get up quickly. Doctor Yang can't stand this."

Within a few days, Yang Hu's small medicinal herb garden became the most bustling place in Maocao Village.

The sounds of pounding medicine, people's laughter, and children running around playing filled the air day and night.

Some of the poorest people in the village were overjoyed to receive two meals from Yang Hu and his team, plus a wage.

When people mention Yang Hu, besides calling him a miracle doctor or a living bodhisattva, there's now another title:

A good person with a conscience.

Looking at the joyful atmosphere in the courtyard, Yang Hu's confidence in establishing himself on the border became even stronger.

They are famous, rich, well-mannered, and have a kind heart.

He managed to turn what was once a terrible place into something quite presentable.

Despite the poverty and chaos, he was here on the frontier, creating a place where he and the women around him could make a living for the rest of their lives.

While they were reconciling the accounts, Manager Sun arrived again.

This time, his complexion was better than before, and he spoke in a very low voice.

Dr. Yang, the matter of your prepared medicine is easy to handle, but the old man in the city is seriously ill, and his family is very anxious. They want to ask you if you should go there.

The price for the old man's illness this time was a bit higher.