Did the eldest daughter ascend the throne today?

Chapter 178 Sneaking into the city

At the city gate, there was a crowd of people. People entering and leaving the city formed two long queues, and the soldiers checked them carefully one by one.

When it was Ning Zhiwei's carriage's turn, the soldier looked over and saw an honest groom and a dozen guards guarding an ordinary carriage. "Who are you? Where are you going?"

The groom took out a pass and a sign and said, "I am a worker at Renxintang, accompanying my boss to buy medicinal herbs."

Renxintang? Everyone looked over. They all knew this.

This is a new pharmacy that opened in the neighboring Heishi County half a year ago. It is not big, but it holds a free clinic every month and boils ginger soup every two days in winter, allowing the people nearby to survive the coldest season.

An old man suddenly bowed deeply, "Thank you very much, Master Renxintang, for saving my life."

A group of ragged men and women knelt down, weeping with gratitude, "Thank you for saving our lives."

The car door opened, and a man in black walked down. He had dark skin, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looked very energetic. "Everyone, please stand up quickly. It's really annoying."

"Are you the owner of Renxin Hall?"

Ning Zhiwei put on makeup, painted her face black, and adjusted her facial features accordingly, so that people who were not familiar with her could not recognize her. "Yes, everyone, please get up quickly. I just did my best and I don't deserve such a generous reward."

Along the way, she saw how difficult people's lives were, how harsh the policies were, and how numerous and complicated the taxes and hard labor were, making the common people miserable. They could only make a living after a year of hard work, and when they encountered cruel officials, their families would be broken up and they would become homeless.

Many people freeze to death every winter.

However, Renxintang was a fallback she left for the Ning family and herself. The medicine shop was located in Heishi County in Gansu and Shaanxi, only a hundred miles away from Baiyun County and could be reached in one day by horseback riding.

The two places are not far from each other, and many people are relatives. When they heard that there was free medical consultation and ginger soup available at Renxin Hall in Heishi County, they all ran over. At least they saw a glimmer of hope.

A haggard-looking woman suddenly asked cautiously, "Boss, can you open a Renxintang in Baiyun County?"

Others also looked over eagerly. The doctors at Renxin Hall were kind and their medicine prices were fair, better than those at other hospitals in the city.

Ning Zhiwei sighed silently in her heart, "This is a bit difficult. We are a small business and it is not easy to expand."

Everyone was very disappointed, alas, it was their bad luck.

Ning Zhiwei changed the subject and said, "However, if there is a suitable store, I can still consider it."

Everyone was overjoyed and offered to help find a store, mobilizing everyone they knew to take action.

An ordinary-looking man rushed out from the crowd and said, "Stores? Yes, yes, I'm a broker. I know all the stores in the county. How about I introduce a few to you?"

Ning Zhiwei readily agreed, "Okay."

The soldiers looked at each other and exchanged glances. Should they let them in? They should not be the men and women that their superiors had asked them to guard closely, and it was even less likely to be the Princess of Jingning County.

They even opened the curtain of the carriage and saw a medicine boy inside.

But it seems that this man brought too many guards, which is unreasonable.

Ning Zhiwei immediately smiled and said, "These are all brothers from the same clan who have come out to see the world."

Suddenly a soldier looked at Ning Zhiwei and asked loudly, "What are the effects of purple grass?"

Ning Zhiwei said nonchalantly, "It clears away heat and cools the blood, activates blood circulation, detoxifies and clears rashes. This brother must have learned it before."

The man continued to ask, "What is the formula for the Rebi Drink?"

The Northwest is bitterly cold and there are few entertainment activities. Ning Zhiwei's biggest hobby is reading, and he reads all kinds of books.

When Shaoyao was learning medical skills, Ning Zhiwei also watched from the side.

“当归 12 克、黄芩 9 克、连翘 12 克、忍冬藤 12 克、海桐皮 12克、生甘草……”注（1）

She spoke fluently, knowing everything about it and making sense. This was not a difficult problem for her.

The soldiers didn't understand and looked at their companions, "Is she right?"

"Yes." The soldier made a gesture of invitation. "Please, two cents."

It cost two cents per person to enter the city. There were twenty people in total. They paid forty cents and entered the city in a swagger.

The broker enthusiastically introduced an affordable inn not far from the city gate. Ning Zhiwei went there and asked for a few rooms on the upper floor to store his luggage.

After a short rest, the broker took them to see the store. Along the way, Ning Zhiwei looked at the environment calmly. It looked quite relaxed. In fact, there were many patrolling soldiers on the road. When the broker saw these people, he immediately stepped aside and kept silent.

Something must have happened, but no one dared to say anything.

The county town is in a state of depression, with many shops closed and those that are open struggling to survive. Only restaurants and gambling houses are doing good business.

After visiting several stores, Ning Zhiwei was not satisfied with any of them. They were either too remote or too small.

In fact, buying a store is fake, but finding a reasonable excuse to walk on the street and observe the surrounding environment is real.

The broker hesitated for a moment, "There is a shop across from the county government office. It used to be a restaurant, but the owner died a few days ago, and his family was in a hurry to sell it and return home. If you don't mind, go and take a look?"

"Go." Ning Zhiwei's lips curled up slightly. Many people died at her hands, and she had no taboos about anything.

When they walked over, they saw the shop door was closed. The brothel owner went forward and knocked on the door for a long time. Finally, someone came to open it, but he still had a bitter face.

As soon as I walked in, I felt a sense of oppression. Both the waiters and the boss's family had sad faces and were wearing white mourning clothes.

Only when they saw potential buyers coming did they start smiling, gathered around enthusiastically, and started introducing the products to the market.

It is a store in front and yard in the back model. The front is a two-story restaurant with nice decoration. The lower floor is the lobby and the upper floors have four private rooms.

At the back was a courtyard house, with the boss's family living in the five main rooms, the three east wing rooms as warehouses, and the three west wing rooms where the waiters lived. The yard was neither too big nor too small, with a jujube tree. But since they were holding a funeral, everything was a mess.

Ning Zhiwei stood on the second floor and looked towards the county government office. He could see everything going on inside. The outside of the county government office was no different from before, but it was heavily guarded inside. An old man with a mountain beard was gesticulating and shouting something.

She recognized at a glance that the bearded man was one of Su Mingjin's staff. As expected, they had quietly taken control of Baiyun County. They were planning to use Baiyun County as their base and stay there for a long time.

That is, I don’t know whether Su Mingjin is in the county government office.

The boss's brother came over and asked eagerly, "Mr. Su, what do you think of this house?"

"Not bad." This location is perfect for monitoring the movements of the county government at any time.

The boss's brother was delighted. "This house is worth a lot of money. It cost more than five thousand taels of silver. I'll give you a discount. Five thousand will do."

Ning Zhiwei looked at him with a half-smile, "But I dare not sell it. You are not honest."

The boss's brother's face changed when he heard this. "What do you mean?"