Chapter 191: Miss Ji’s Name Spreads Through the Northern Frontier
Before meeting Gu Changxiao, even though she had escaped to the Northern Frontier, Jin Sui still felt worried. The rest time on the road was very short, so she tried to travel as much as possible.
It was different after meeting Gu Changxiao. Jin Sui completely adopted a mindset of on-site investigation. The journey there was too rushed, and it was during the coldest time, with ice and snow, and a hazy sky.
The tribes migrated, and they didn’t encounter many herding tribes along the way. This return journey was different. Near the south, the ice and snow began to melt, and the sheep could nibble on grass roots by lightly pawing with their hooves.
The smaller tribes without fertile pastures had migrated back, and the number of tribes waiting to trade with this Xia envoy delegation had clearly increased.
Gu Changxiao said they couldn’t return to the border city so quickly because he was waiting for news from the Northern Frontier envoy delegation. He had sent a detachment of the Northwest Army to follow them secretly all the way to Chang’an.
He was worried that Prince Yu would get the news in advance and send people to stop the Northern Frontier envoy delegation from reaching Chang’an, so he wouldn’t feel at ease returning to the border city until the delegation had passed the Northwest Pass.
This meant Jin Sui had more time to stay in the Northern Frontier. Although her ‘Female Immortal’ grand plan couldn’t be carried out in the Royal Court, it could be carried out on the road!
While trading with various tribes, she would take Hei Hu to visit the smaller tribes. Haha, Jin Sui even dug out the young Taoist robes that Grandpa Ling had prepared for her earlier.
Paired with a purple cloak, her hair tied up in a Taoist bun, and holding a whisk, she stood there with a cool and detached air, truly possessing an immortal-like demeanor.
She visited tribes as a guest, and was very generous. She gave candy to children, tea to the elderly, and a handkerchief, sachet, or glazed glass ring to women. The recipients were so happy that they immediately wanted to slaughter a sheep to entertain her.
Giving gifts was not the main point, of course. The main goal was to establish trade posts and see if there were any farmlands nearby, and to promote the cash crops that we were buying at a high price.
The matter of buying rabbit wool and sheep wool also needed to be heavily promoted. Of course, if anyone fell ill and sought medicine, she would not hesitate to give it.
Xie Maolin and the other Northwest Army soldiers were stunned and whispered to Hei Hu, “What exactly does Miss Ji do?”
Hei Hu replied with words Jin Sui had once said, “When you’re out and about, your identity is what you give yourself!
Our Leader Ji has a hundred faces; she can be whoever she needs to be!”
Xie Maolin felt something was off, “Isn’t that deceiving people?”
Hei Hu was displeased, “If that’s not deceiving people, then you go and trade with the small tribes of the Northern Frontier!”
Xie Maolin could only give a dry laugh. What Miss Ji accomplished by pretending to be a Taoist was more effective than how many envoy delegations the Great Xia had sent.
When the Great Xia envoy delegation passed by, the small tribes would only hear about it and retreat, how could they possibly slaughter sheep and prepare wine to invite you!
The reputation of Miss Ji, the Female Immortal, began to spread when Jin Sui encountered a group of herdsmen abandoning a few sheep that had fallen to the ground.
She curiously asked, “Aren’t you taking these sheep with you?”
The herdsman couldn’t speak Han Chinese, so a Northwest Army soldier named Zhang Tongfang, who understood Northern Frontier languages, translated. The translation was concise, just like Han Xing’s translation of Dave’s words back then.
“They are sick. If we take them back, they will infect the flock, so we can only let them die here.”
Hei Hu didn’t understand, “If they’re sick, can’t we slaughter them and eat them?”
“The people of the Northern Frontier do not eat sick sheep.”
“Then you just leave them here?”
“Yes, they believe that dead livestock will nourish the pasture and give back to the earth. Next year, the grass in this area will be even more lush.”
This was completely unacceptable in our Xia culture. Let alone sheep that were sick but not yet dead, even livestock that truly died of illness were still meat! How could they possibly throw it away!
“No wonder we always see complete livestock skeletons along the way. So they really throw away sick cattle and sheep!”
Hei Hu bared his teeth, “That’s strange! They don’t eat their own sick cattle and sheep, but they go and steal other people’s food!”
Jin Sui saw Zhang Tongfang open his mouth and quickly said, “You don’t need to translate this sentence!”
The veins on the other man’s temples twitched, “Miss Ji, I know what I’m doing.”
It was as if he was saying, I’m not like Hei Hu, I’m not stupid!
Putting aside the discussion of other ethnic groups’ customs for now, Jin Sui was examining these sick sheep that had been abandoned. She confidently said to Zhang Tongfang:
“Ask the herdsman, if I can save these sheep, can I take them away?”
The herdsman was stunned, as if he hadn’t understood. Zhang Tongfang gestured and repeated it twice. Finally, the other party understood that this Han Saintess could cure livestock plagues!
The herdsman’s first reaction was not to answer, but to gallop back to the tribe.
Watching his fleeing back, the few people were dumbfounded, “What is this? Do they agree or disagree?”
Jin Sui chuckled, “Who cares! Let’s treat them first.”
She didn’t use the antibiotics made in her space; they were too precious and scarce, and she was afraid there wouldn’t be enough even for human use.
Instead, she used penicillin solution made by the border military doctor. She had Hei Hu and the others wear gloves and masks to bring the sick sheep over. She administered the medicine to each sheep based on its condition and weight.
For some sheep with inflamed and festering hooves or external injuries, she cleaned them with diluted salt water. She also brewed herbal decoctions like Banlangen and mixed them with fodder for the sheep to eat.
Of course, it couldn’t be cured in one day. But by the time the fleeing herdsman returned with people from the tribe and the clan leader, he personally saw that among the fallen sheep, two with milder symptoms had already stood up.
He immediately cried out “Miracle!” and knelt on the ground, kowtowing in the direction of the sacred mountain.
Jin Sui was speechless. Shouldn’t you be thanking me? Why are you thanking the gods?
Uh, in their understanding, it was the gods who sent Jin Sui to the Northern Frontier, and it was the gods who guided Jin Sui to cure their sheep, so they still had to thank the gods first.
The clan leader was very excited. He had already received word that a Xia envoy delegation was returning to Great Xia from the Royal Court and would pass through their tribe.
However, his tribe had suffered from a livestock plague, and too many cattle and sheep had died. He didn’t have any extra sheep to exchange for supplies, so he hadn’t sent anyone to wait here.
Unexpectedly, this Xia envoy was so capable! She could cure sick sheep that even the shamans couldn’t cure!
The clan leader immediately invited Jin Sui to be a guest in the tribe. This time, Jin Sui refused, but instead gave them medicine to treat the sick sheep themselves.
Because of this incident, the group camped near the tribe for five days. As the news spread, clan leaders from many tribes galloped over to ask for medicine during those five days.
Of course, the medicine couldn’t be given for free. Besides exchanging for warhorses, they had to sign an agreement to establish trade relations with the border city and allow the border city to build a trade zone there.
As long as they agreed, the border city would provide them with medicine for treating livestock every year. Of course, there was also medicine for treating people.
Our Miss Ji, the Female Immortal, had her medical skills imparted by the gods, and was extremely skilled in treating both people and livestock!
Jin Sui thought they would argue about building the trade zone, being unwilling for the trade zone to encroach on their tribal territory.
To her surprise, they argued about which tribe the trade zone would be built in! They almost drew swords over this, and Jin Sui had to agree that the trade zone would be mobile.
Besides fixed post stations, the monthly markets would rotate among the major tribes.
In order to compete for the number of times markets were held in their own tribes, they were willing to give concessions to the border city and argued incessantly.
Amusingly, Jin Sui said that if other tribes were willing to join, the trade zone could extend to them as well.
The clan leaders immediately united and stated that the markets would only be held within their few tribes. New tribes could join the trade, but the markets could not be extended to their tribes.
Since contracts couldn’t be signed, they used the most traditional method of toasting to form an alliance. This wine would have to be drunk by Gu Changxiao.
Jin Sui ceremoniously made several tokens engraved with ‘Limitless Wrath’ and ‘Trade’ on the back.
She had originally intended to make glazed glass tokens, as the Northern Frontier people loved shiny glazed glass so much! But she was afraid they would break too easily, so she used refined iron.
She also gifted each of the six clan leaders who came to negotiate that day a glazed glass eagle. Oh, they were so happy!
They slaughtered sheep, brought out wine, and lit bonfires. It was as lively as our Han Chinese New Year.
The trade items agreed upon by both sides were: Northern Frontier wool, sheepskin, rabbit wool, rabbit fur, dried meat, cheese, pig iron, various metals, herbs, cash crops, and most importantly, warhorses.
Jin Sui added petroleum, stating that if oil deposits were found, the border city could send helpers to mine it.
In return, the Northern Frontier wanted salt, sugar, tea, silk, cotton and linen cloth, various utensils, glazed glass artifacts, medicines, rouge, perfume, fodder, and so on.
Gu Changxiao specifically explained that the border city’s grain supply was insufficient even for itself, so it could not be used for trade. However, it could be exchanged for cash crops.
At the same time, they agreed to a hundred-year non-aggression treaty. If either side broke the peace, trade would be immediately terminated, and friends would become enemies.
While Gu Changxiao was negotiating trade, Jin Sui’s divine doctor banner remained unfurled. This time, a group of people lined up seeking medical treatment.
She cured a young boy’s eye disease. His eye corner was severely inflamed and infected. In an era without antibiotics, relying solely on herbs to treat eye infections could easily lead to blindness.
The boy’s mother knelt before her, begging for a protective charm. Jin Sui had no choice but to personally write a piece of paper with ‘Peace’ on it and put it with a glazed bead into a sachet, giving it to the boy as a protective charm.
The mother gave a cow as a thank-you gift!
It was an uncastrated bull, extremely strong. Hei Hu almost couldn’t hold it. This definitely couldn’t be brought back to the border city, so they had no choice but to slaughter it on the spot and eat the beef.
Xie Maolin had been shocked too many times along the way and had grown accustomed to it. He finally understood Hei Hu’s words, “Following Leader Ji, you’ll eat well and drink sweet.”
The value of that sentence was still increasing!
Before following Miss Ji, they ate dry biscuits and drank snow water. Now, not only did they eat plenty of mutton, but they were even eating beef!
It’s important to know that in Great Xia, no one could slaughter a cow without reason; it was a serious crime.
Next, Jin Sui cured a clan leader’s son’s abdominal pain. It was actually kidney stones. Fortunately, the stones were not large. She used acupuncture stimulation and medical equipment from her space to assist.
After drinking a large amount of water, she successfully cured his chronic abdominal pain.
Most of the women came seeking treatment for gynecological issues. After all, it was difficult for women to find shamans to treat them, and there were very few female doctors in the Northern Frontier. Even if there were, they would be in major prefecture cities like Wuting, not in remote border tribes.
This Great Xia Female Immortal was a woman with extremely high medical skills, so of course, they wouldn’t miss this opportunity. A long line formed in front of Jin Sui’s felt tent, and there were even fights over positions.
Jin Sui had no choice but to arrange for number plates, implementing an ancient system of registration for consultations.
Regardless of the severity of their illnesses, the thank-you gifts these people gave were generous, with at least one lamb. For example, the clan leader’s son who was treated for abdominal pain directly gave two warhorses.
It made Jin Sui not want to leave. Being a traveling doctor in the Northern Frontier was too profitable!
Five days later, after the trade negotiations were concluded, five more tribes came to collect their refined iron trade tokens. Gu Changxiao also received news from the Northern Frontier envoy delegation that they had successfully passed the Northwest Pass.
Prince Yu’s arrangements were too late, or rather, the delegation’s movements were too fast. By the time they passed the pass, his people arrived, and it was impossible to dissuade them at that point. The officials had already rapidly reported to the Imperial Court.
The dissuasion team turned into a reception party. Gu Changxiao’s men changed to protecting Eunuch Zhou, as Eunuch Zhou had urinated himself several times in fear, constantly muttering that Prince Yu would surely skin him alive.
In short, the progress of events was smooth, and they could safely return to the border city.
However, according to Jin Sui’s observation, staying a few more days wouldn’t have been a problem. The other reason Gu Changxiao didn’t want to stay was that Yan Jiu’s group was about to arrive.
He didn’t want to travel with Yan Jiu, or rather, he didn’t want Jin Sui to travel with Yan Jiu.
Amusingly, the reputation of Miss Ji, the Female Immortal, once again spread back to the Royal Court. The powerful people heard that Jin Sui had cured someone’s stubborn illness and cured a sheep plague.
They immediately regretted it deeply, realizing that what Miss Ji had said was true! She really had the ability to cure plagues!
It was a great pity. If they had known earlier, they should have agreed to build a Taoist temple for her and kept her in the Royal Court.
The one who regretted it the most was Batel. He didn’t regret locking Jin Sui in the Divine Palace back then, but regretted not using more drastic measures to keep Jin Sui.
He even blamed Tuoya, “If Sister were willing to help and quietly take Miss Ji away, she would be ours now!”
Tuoya was speechless, “Why don’t you understand the old Chinese saying, ‘A melon twisted by force is not sweet.’
If you forcibly keep Miss Jin like this, she won’t willingly help you.”
Batel felt there was a problem with that old saying, “Even if the melon isn’t sweet, it can still be eaten and quench thirst! Now we don’t even have a melon!”
Hearing that Prince Li’s group had stayed in a small tribe for several days, he had the idea of sending someone to abduct Jin Sui again, “I’m not breaking my promise. It’s Prince Li who is dragging his feet and hasn’t left the Northern Frontier for so long.
I said, as long as Miss Jin is in the Northern Frontier, I will snatch her away!”
Fortunately, Tuoya had been on guard. This time, Batel sent Tuolei. Tuoya asked Liu Yun to quietly persuade Tuolei not to follow Batel’s reckless intentions.
That’s right, Liu Yun had been left behind in the Royal Court.
Liu Yun initially dismissed Tuoya’s instructions, “Senior Sister left me here to spread our Taoist temple’s teachings, not to run errands for Princess Tuoya!”
But as soon as he heard it concerned his own Senior Sister, he was willing to run errands! If he couldn’t persuade Tuolei with words, he would have to stop him with the sword in his hand.
Fortunately, Tuolei was somewhat sensible and quickly understood the whole story. Even he felt that Batel’s actions were too disgraceful. The dignified King of the Northern Frontier had committed the act of imprisoning a Han envoy.
However, he didn’t want to openly refuse the King of the Northern Frontier and was in a dilemma when Liu Yun gave him an idea:
“Just take your men out for a run, and then come back and tell Batel that my Senior Sister and her group have already left the Northern Frontier, and you couldn’t catch up.”
Tuolei’s eyes lit up instantly. He patted Liu Yun on the shoulder and laughed, “As expected of Miss Ji’s Junior Brother! Master Liu Yun is indeed intelligent!”
Liu Yun proudly raised his eyebrows, “Hmph, in the Northern Frontier, I can also be a military strategist!”
Tuolei asked gossipingly, “Do you think His Majesty wants to keep Miss Jin just for her medical skills? Could it be that His Majesty has taken a liking to her?”
After all, his own sister was the future Princess Consort. As her brother, he had to pay attention to other women around Batel for his sister’s sake.
Liu Yun glared at him disdainfully, “My Senior Sister is a Taoist nun! She has severed emotions and desires, how could she possibly get married! No matter how His Majesty views her, she will not stay in the Northern Frontier.”
This put both Tuolei and Ayue, who was eavesdropping outside the door, at ease.
