Gong Xiaotang came back, bringing many people with her.
Those people rushed to carry Gong Qing out.
Zhao Shuning first let him lie in bed for an hour or two. Then she had people prepare a warm medicinal bath and let Gong Qing soak in it.
During the process, they constantly added hot water.
After about an hour, Gong Qing's face finally regained a hint of color.
Gong Xiaotang was at a loss. Knowing nothing, she could only stamp her feet anxiously on one side. Meanwhile, Zhao Shuning was arranging for people to constantly change the water and clothes.
After a while of bustling around,
Gong Qing was lying quietly in bed, his breathing much more even.
Zhao Shuning let out a sigh of relief. Then she took out a Purple Spirit Pill from her Qiankun Bag, ground it into powder, and mixed it with Yimi Flowers. She made Gong Qing take it with hot water.
After that, she changed Gong Qing's clothes and applied medicine to him every hour.
After repeating this for a whole night, Gong Qing's face finally returned to normal.
Looking at Gong Qing sleeping soundly in bed, Zhao Shuning finally collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.
She wondered to herself, who on earth had she offended? Every time she wanted to do her own thing, a series of troubles would always crop up. But somehow, she just couldn't turn a blind eye. Whenever she came across such things, she just had to get involved.
"Thank you, Zhao Shuning."
"No need for thanks. Find me a room. I'm tired and need to take a nap."
Gong Xiaotang quickly led Zhao Shuning to the main room to rest. Most of the servants in the Gong family were loyal. Refusing to yield, they had been locked in the firewood shed in the backyard by Ji Wei.
When Gong Xiaotang went to look for people, she passed by there. She smashed the lock with a stone and released everyone.
Zhao Shuning was lying in bed. One moment she was still talking to Gong Xiaotang, and the next moment, she was fast asleep.
It was not until the next morning that Zhao Shuning woke up.
These two days had been really exhausting.
Actually, Zhao Shuning was woken up by the aroma of food. She stretched lazily, sat up, and saw that there was a table full of steaming hot dishes in her room. She didn't know when they had been brought in.
Seeing Zhao Shuning wake up, the maids immediately stepped forward to wipe her hands, feed her mouthwash, and help her get dressed.
The voices of the maids could be heard from outside.
"Miss, the benefactor is awake."
"Master, the benefactor is washing up."
Not long after these two shouts, just as Zhao Shuning sat down at the table, Gong Xiaotang rushed in immediately, followed by Gong Qing with a smiling face.
Looking at these people looking so solemn and the sumptuous food in front of her,
Zhao Shuning felt a bit embarrassed.
"What are you doing?"
Don't think that by currying favor with her like this, she would forget about the gold.
As if seeing through Zhao Shuning's thoughts, Master Gong clapped his hands, and a servant came in carrying a tray.
"Miss, thank you for saving our Gong family. This is the reward my daughter promised you. Please take a look. Is it enough?"
Zhao Shuning stood up and lifted the red cloth on the tray. Inside were shiny gold ingots. Counting them one by one, Zhao Shuning felt her heart stop for a moment.
A thousand gold ingots?
There were actually a thousand gold ingots!
That tiny pill was actually worth a thousand gold ingots!
"Miss, is this amount of money enough?"
"Enough."
Recalling that when Zhao Shuning was dealing with the Nan family in Qingning, in the end, she only got five hundred gold ingots. Master Gong, as a wealthy merchant in the capital, was really generous.
"Shuning, you came to the capital Chang'an for something, right? If you don't have a place to stay, just stay at my place."
Zhao Shuning glanced at Gong Qing and then at the enthusiastic Gong Xiaotang, and then nodded.
"Great! Daddy! Did you hear that? Shuning has agreed to stay."
Gong Qing also nodded kindly.
Zhao Shuning was not polite. She poured the gold into her Qiankun Bag, picked up her chopsticks, and started to eat.
The Gong family was a wealthy family. After this incident, Master Gong had thought a lot.
While Zhao Shuning was eating, he stood by waiting.
It was not until Zhao Shuning had finished eating and was satisfied that Master Gong led all the people behind him and knelt down.
This kneeling not only startled Zhao Shuning but also surprised Gong Xiaotang.
"Master Gong, what are you doing?"
She had just had a meal. Why did Master Gong perform such a grand kneeling ceremony?
"Miss, our Gong family would like to invite you to be our family's honored guest. Every year, we will provide you with food, clothing, housing, and transportation. In addition, we will pay you a monthly fee of a hundred gold ingots. Please agree, miss."
An honored guest?
Right. Now they should know that she was an alchemist.
"Master Gong, you are a wealthy family. Why didn't you look for an honored guest before, but suddenly thought of this now?"
"Miss, our Gong family was just a small merchant family before. If it weren't for the food shortage in the lower cities this year, our Gong family wouldn't have risen so quickly. But since we are from a merchant background and there is no spiritual herbalist in our family, few people were willing to become our family's honored guest."
Zhao Shuning asked, "Did you offer them such a high salary before?"
"No, miss. You are the first one."
"Master Gong, please get up first."
"If miss doesn't agree, I will kneel here and won't get up."
What was this? Moral coercion? She, Zhao Shuning, didn't buy it.
"Then just keep kneeling. Anyway, I will never become your family's honored guest."
"Why? Is it because the conditions of our Gong family are not good enough?"
"No. If I become your family's honored guest, I would have to stay in the capital Chang'an for at least half a year. I don't have that much time." Besides, Zhao Shuning still had many things to do.
Moreover, the Gong family was looking for an alchemist as an honored guest, not a family - wide honored guest. This had nothing to do with the Zhao family.
"This—"
"Shuning?"
"Don't cry in front of me. It won't work."
Gong Xiaotang pouted, and the tears finally didn't fall.
"However, just because I can't take this job doesn't mean others can't."
"Does miss have a good candidate?"
"Of course."
"Who?"
"Yan Xun."
It was the alchemist she met in the black market that night.
Although he had really tricked her that night, in the final analysis, it was because she had been too careless. Didn't that Yan Xun also save her when she almost bumped into a carriage earlier?
So, on the whole, Yan Xun was not a bad person.
Anyway, Zhao Shuning had pointed out the person to them. It was up to the Gong family to figure out how to find him.