in2ebook Chapter 369 Robbery from the Rich and Giving to the Poor
Chapter 369 Robbery from the Rich and Giving to the Poor
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, November has arrived. During this time, Huiyang City has experienced several heavy snowfalls, covering the entire city with a thick layer of snow, resembling a fairytale world draped in silver. However, with the arrival of the snow, the weather has become increasingly cold, as if it could freeze one's bones.
That day, sunlight shone through the clouds, casting a warm glow on the earth. Seeing this, Jinse thought it was a rare and beautiful day, so she walked over to Su Nuannuan, who was reading a book, and said softly, "Your Majesty, the weather is really nice today. Why don't we go for a walk?"
Upon hearing Jinse's words, Su Nuannuan didn't even raise her head, directly refusing, "No, it's too cold outside." She didn't want to go out in this freezing weather; it would be torture.
Actually, Su Nuannuan felt a little regretful. If she had known that winters in Huiyang City would be so cold, she would have waited until next spring to come here. Or, she should have immediately arranged Jianping and Qujing's wedding upon arriving in Huiyang City and then headed straight home instead of gathering people to sew those so-called down jackets.
After all, down jackets can be made in Beijing. But now, no matter how much she regrets it, it's too late.
Seeing that Su Nuannuan remained unmoved, Jinse continued to persuade her, "Your Majesty, there is no north wind blowing outside today, so it's not actually that cold." She felt that as long as there was no north wind, the outside temperature should be bearable.
However, Su Nuannuan only glanced at Jinse, her expression practically saying, "Do you think I believe you?"
Jinse looked at the expressive face on her mistress's face and couldn't help but smile wryly as she explained, "Your Majesty, there was indeed no north wind when we went out last time. It's just that the weather suddenly changed halfway through."
Upon hearing Jinse's words, Su Nuannuan's lips twitched slightly, and she muttered, "The weather changes so fast, faster than turning the pages of a book. I don't want to go out and freeze again. It's much more comfortable to stay indoors by the fire and read a book." After saying that, she turned her gaze back to the book in her hands, seemingly not intending to pay any more attention to Jinse.
Seeing this, Jinse sighed inwardly. She knew that once her mistress made up her mind, nothing could change it. However, she still couldn't help but add, "Your Majesty, why don't you go out for a walk? Staying indoors all the time isn't good for your health."
However, Su Nuannuan didn't even raise her head, and simply replied, "No need, I'm afraid of the cold, I'm not going anywhere."
Jinse shook her head helplessly, thinking to herself that this empress was truly stubborn. Just then, Su Nuannuan suddenly seemed to remember something, abruptly raising her head and asking, "By the way, where's Tingxue? I haven't seen her."
Jinse quickly replied, "Tingxue and Eunuch Li went to Jiyaotang together. The princess said they were a bit overwhelmed there."
After listening, Su Nuannuan nodded thoughtfully and muttered to herself, "Oh, I see." She remembered that Tingxue used to be a rather introverted person, even a bit socially anxious, and didn't like interacting with others. She didn't know when it started, but Tingxue had actually overcome this social anxiety and could now even take the initiative to help others, which was truly unexpected.
Tingxue: She didn't want to change, but she had no choice but to. Yaoqin, who served the Empress, left with the Princess, and Zhixiang was mainly responsible for the Empress's meals, occasionally coming to help out. This left only Sister Jinse to serve the Empress. Clearly, there weren't enough people to take good care of the Empress.
Tingxue knew she could no longer hide behind her sisters as she had in the past. She had once been a secret guard in the "Ting" Battalion of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. Now that the Empress was short of manpower, she had to overcome her shortcomings and bravely take on the responsibility.
Su Nuannuan couldn't help but sigh, "In winter, life becomes even more difficult for ordinary people. They can barely endure the lack of food and clothing, but if they fall ill, it becomes a matter of life and death."
Her words revealed a deep concern and sympathy for the lives of ordinary people. For those families with a little savings, there might be an opportunity to seek medical treatment and medicine; however, for those who are destitute, illness is a devastating disaster. They have no money for medical care and medicine, and can only rely on their own resistance to tough it out. If they can survive, they are lucky; but if they cannot, they will eventually turn into a pile of dust.
"So the princess organized a free clinic at the Jiyao Pharmacy, specifically for poor people who can't afford medical care. These past two days, there have been so many people seeking medical advice and medicine that the staff at Jiyao Pharmacy are extremely busy. When Tingxue and Eunuch Li learned of this, they informed me and rushed over to help," Jinse explained in detail. "The reason I agreed to help was because Your Highness doesn't have anything particularly important to attend to right now, and I can handle it myself."
"I really have no idea whether this Jiyaotang can make money. But if things continue like this, I'm afraid it will lose money!" Su Nuannuan said thoughtfully.
"Your Highness, you're mistaken!" Jinse quickly explained with a smile, "The princess's pharmacy not only doesn't lose money, but it actually makes a profit every month!"
"Oh? Is that so? Tell me quickly, what's the reason behind this?" Su Nuannuan immediately became interested and eagerly asked.
“That’s right, Your Highness.” Jinse lowered her voice and leaned closer to Su Nuannuan, “Granny Song told me that the princess charges for medical treatment based on the patient’s status.”
Upon hearing this, Su Nuannuan immediately understood. This was simply a case of treating people differently based on their status!
"Granny Song said that at first, the princess treated every patient equally, whether they were high-ranking officials or ordinary people. She would treat them with care, prescribe appropriate medicine, and charge the same price for the medicine. However, one day, a wealthy merchant came and was dissatisfied with the fact that the medicine he was given was the same as that given to ordinary people. He felt that the medicine the princess prescribed for him was not effective."
The wealthy merchant not only complained but also caused a scene at the clinic, creating quite a commotion. Although the princess felt helpless, she knew this couldn't continue. Therefore, she decided to change her strategy.
From then on, the princess would charge wealthy patients ten times or more for their medicine, depending on their financial status. For ordinary people, however, the princess would lower the price of medicine to ease their burden.
In this way, the princess's income did not decrease; on the contrary, because different fees were charged to patients of different social classes, the clinic's income and expenses were balanced, and there was even a surplus.