The next day, Young Master Mu’s servant came to pick up the medicinal materials, but to Yang Chuxia’s surprise, he brought her a delightful gift.
He gave Yang Chuxia 5,000 taels of silver.
The servant said that the 5,000 taels of silver were to express gratitude for Yang Chuxia’s prescription. This slightly improved her opinion of Young Master Mu, thinking to herself that while he seemed rather annoying and had been especially rude to Brother An, he did still have some semblance of conscience.
So, Yang Chuxia happily accepted the 5,000 taels of silver.
Initially, she had thought of not taking the silver and instead making Divine Doctor Mu owe her a favor, but upon further consideration, the benefits this prescription would bring Divine Doctor Mu were far greater than the value of 5,000 taels.
Based on her understanding of this world, it could at least elevate the reputation of Divine Doctor Mu, and possibly even that of the entire Mu Family. Furthermore, such a favor would be illusory; who could guarantee they would actually help you when the time came?
It was better to have solid silver and slowly accumulate family wealth, gradually expanding one’s influence to protect oneself. This was the principle of relying on oneself rather than others.
So, when Young Master Mu heard that Yang Chuxia had accepted the 5,000 taels, he wasn’t surprised, thinking it only made sense given her personality.
In this way, it was good for her to accept it, and he didn’t want to owe her a favor. The thing he disliked the most was owing people favors.
However, after accepting the silver, Yang Chuxia felt a little troubled. Should she tell Yang Dachuan and Ms. Wang the truth about this silver?
According to Ye Zi’an, she should just say it was the money from selling the prescription.
After some thought, Yang Chuxia ultimately still told the truth to Yang Dachuan and Ms. Wang, that it was the money from selling her prescription. As soon as Ms. Wang heard this, she was astonished since she had never seen so much money in her entire life.
"My girl, you take this silver note. It’s burning a hole in my heart just seeing it." This was too tempting.
Yang Dachuan also waved his hand, "You hold on to it. I’ve never seen that much money in my life. If I were to keep it, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at night."
Ms. Wang nodded repeatedly, "Absolutely true. I can’t keep this money either. If I were to hold onto it, I’d probably check on it eight times a day to make sure it hasn’t been lost."
"Well, then I’ll keep it." With that, Yang Chuxia took the silver note back.
"But, my girl, is it right to take money for this prescription after they’ve helped Brother An with his leg?" Yang Dachuan suddenly asked.
Yang Chuxia replied, "What’s wrong with that? I’ve already given them the pearl."
Yang Dachuan agreed, realizing it wouldn’t make sense to give everything away for free. Expressing gratitude wasn’t done in such a manner.
Two days later, the agreed-upon day with Young Master Mu arrived. Yang Chuxia and Ye Zi’an set off for the county town, accompanied by the young servant Fugui and Yang Dachuan.
Fugui was going along to take care of Ye Zi’an, while Yang Dachuan was asked by Yang Chuxia to tag along.
She wanted to ask if Young Master Mu could also help treat Yang Dachuan’s arm. She actually thought about mentioning it that day at Jubilee Tower but didn’t. After she had money at home, she had accompanied Yang Dachuan to see several doctors, but most of them said that it was impossible for his arm to recover since it had been injured for over twenty years. It wasn’t out of disrespect or favoritism that she hadn’t mentioned it earlier, but simply because one was said to be treatable while the other wasn’t. Since that was the case, she prioritized the one that could be treated.
However, after further consideration, she still decided to let the divine doctor examine him once more. If even the divine doctor said it was untreatable, then she could give up, right? She’d even prepared consultation fees and bargaining chips for Yang Dachuan’s treatment. If Young Master Mu refused to accept her money this time, she planned to use the technique for making sleeve darts as barter.