Chapter 103: Traveling to ancient times and opening a clinic 17: Imprisoned in prison? ...

Yao Huaide gave Xu Jingyong a look, and Xu Jingyong immediately knew that if he continued to entangle with this woman, it would never end. He was the county magistrate and didn't need to care what she said at all.

"Someone, come and take this vicious woman to jail!" Xu Jingyong shouted loudly.

Shen Qian didn't expect that County Magistrate Xu would suddenly attack. She originally thought that there was a spare medicine box in her carriage, and she also brought the treasure bag with her today. As long as the county magistrate could find a patient, no matter it was a cold or some other difficult disease, she would not be afraid at all with the silver needles in hand.

However, they didn't give her any chance at all and just locked her up.

Shen Qian guessed that no matter how the trial was conducted today, the result would be the same. The county magistrate didn't care at all whether she was innocent or not and was determined to punish her.

Soon several yamen runners came in, and two of them stepped forward to take Shen Qian out.

Shen Qian shouted loudly: "Master Xu, what crime have I committed? Just because I am a woman, can't I practice medicine and open a clinic to save people? Go out and ask the people in the city, how many people have been cured of colds by taking the medicine from our Jimin Hall!?"

One of the bailiffs who came forward to escort her was Liang Wu, who had just brought her in. When he heard this, he subconsciously stopped.

At this time, more and more people gathered at the gate of the county government office. Just now, there were people specially arranged by Qing Yu Tang to spread rumors, but many of the people gathered at the gate were cured by Jimin Tang. When they heard Shen Qian's call, they all knelt at the gate.

"Master Xu, please don't wrongly accuse a good person!"

"My Lord County Magistrate, Doctor Shen saved my daughter's life. She is a good doctor! You can't listen to the slander of villains and lock her up!"

"Your Excellency, County Magistrate, my mother, who was over seventy years old, was almost dead, but was saved by Doctor Shen's silver needles!"

"Yes, Lord Xu, Doctor Shen has saved many lives. No other pharmacy had medicine before, and Qing Yu Tang's medicine was too expensive. Only Jimin Tang was willing to provide treatment. All the people in our city remember Jimin Tang's kindness!"

At first, only a few people knelt down. Later, as more and more people arrived, more and more people knelt down at the gate of the county government office.

Xu Jingyong panicked a little and quickly asked someone to take Shen Qian away first.

The bailiffs locked Shen Qian in the county jail and locked the cell.

Chen Qian was mentally prepared when she saw Xu Jingyong's attitude just now. When she went out today, she felt that it might not be easy to come back this time. Unexpectedly, her guess was right. The county magistrate threw her into jail without letting her say a few words. It seemed that Ling Yuan would not be able to wait for her to come back outside today.

Shen Qian looked around. The environment here was damp, cold and dark, but fortunately, the yamen runners did not lock her up with others and gave her a single room.

Just when Shen Qian was about to find a place to sit down, the yamen runner came back with a quilt in his hands.

"It's cold today, Doctor Shen, you must not catch a cold." Liang Wu spoke quickly in a low voice.

Shen Qian was slightly startled, then nodded.

Liang Wu added: "Doctor Shen, you saved my wife's life before. I remember your kindness. Don't worry, I will find a chance to speak for you in front of the county magistrate."

After hearing this, Shen Qian said, "You don't have to speak for me. If he really believed that I was innocent, he would not have given me a chance to defend myself."

Liang Wu was also a smart man. He had worked in the county government for many years and had seen a lot of the world. After hearing what Chen Qian said, he understood that his influence was not important and if he spoke up for her, it would not only be ineffective but would also get himself involved.

"Doctor Shen, take care of yourself. Tell me if you need anything. I'll come back to see you during my shift."

Shen Qian nodded.

At this time, although Xu Jingyong sent Shen Qian to jail, he did not solve the problem. He sent yamen runners out to drive away the people kneeling at the gate of the county government office, but those people could not be dispersed at all. It was a cold spring day and it was snowing outside in the past two days, but more and more people came to the gate of the county government office to plead for mercy, and they were willing to brave the wind and snow to plead for the female doctor of Jimin Hall.

Xu Jingyong was extremely annoyed and regretted listening to the instigation of Yao Huaide and the others and insisting on picking a fight with Chen Qian.

At this time, the other shopkeepers had already gone to the outer room, leaving only Yao Huaide to accompany them.

"You said this matter has become a big deal. What if the higher-ups blame us..." Xu Jingyong said a little nervously.

Yao Huaide snorted, "You are the county magistrate after all, why are you so timid? Our Anrong has always been a remote place. No one came to help us because of the severe cold and epidemic. Now that the epidemic is under control, who will care about Anrong? Just deal with Shen Qian with peace of mind."

They had discussed the solution that Yao Huaide mentioned before. The best way was to make her disappear and make Jimin Tang disappear. In this way, after a long time, no one would remember that someone had bought medicine from a foreign country to cure the cold. In the future, Qing Yu Tang would still be the only dominant one in Anrong.

Although Xu Jingyong is a county magistrate, he has nothing to rely on in the officialdom. His brother-in-law has connections with the Zhou family, and his future career may depend on him.

But no matter how brave Xu Jingyong was, he didn't dare to kill the person at the request of the people.

He had no choice but to say, "Then lock her up for a while."

Yao Huaide was about to speak when someone knocked on the door.

Xu Jingyong shouted impatiently, "Why are you knocking? Don't you know I'm discussing something important?"

The servant outside was yelled at, but still said, "Master Xu, the prefect has sent the judge, and the carriage is parked outside the county government office. Master, please come out quickly."

At this time, Xu Jingyong and Yao Huaide in the room were dumbfounded. Yao Huaide had just said that the emperor was far away and the mountains were high here, so who could care about An Rong's affairs? As a result, the servants came immediately to report that the Tongpan had arrived.

Xu Jingyong quickly tidied his clothes and went out to greet him.

Although the Tongpan was not the prefect himself, he was of the sixth rank, while the county magistrate was only of the seventh rank. As the saying goes, a higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking one. Besides, Sheng Zhongqian, who was the Tongpan of Liangzhou at the time, was forty-five years old this year. He came from a prominent family in Jiangnan. He passed the imperial examination when he was young and was selected as the third place in the imperial examination by Emperor Yongtai. He was appointed as a reviewer in the Hanlin Academy. Later, due to his outstanding political achievements, he was transferred to the local area. It was because of his upright character and his refusal to curry favor with the powerful that he offended many people, that he was repeatedly constrained by powerful officials. His official career has remained at the position of Tongpan of Liangzhou.

When such a person comes to Anrong, Xu Jingyong has to be very careful and serve him well.

As soon as he reached the gate of the county government office, he was surrounded by the people kneeling at the gate: "County Magistrate, you can't lock up Doctor Shen! She is our savior!"

An old lady knelt down and came forward in a state of agitation, grabbed Xu Jingyong's clothes, and cried loudly.

Xu Jingyong was extremely annoyed, but the magistrate's carriage was not far away, so he could only make perfunctory explanations to the people kneeling at the door.

"Everyone, rest assured. I kept Doctor Shen here to investigate the truth of the matter, not to convict him directly. I have heard your voices and will take public opinion into consideration. You can go back first."

Xu Jingyong is not usually in such a good mood. If Lord Sheng was not right in front of him, he would have wanted to call the yamen runners to drag all these people away and beat them with a stick.

At this time, he had to pretend to be friendly and persuade them with soft words.

It took Xu Jingyong a lot of effort to persuade some of the people kneeling at the gate of the county government office to leave. Although the rest had not left yet, they finally stood up from the snow and made way for him.

Xu Jingyong wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked over quickly. He saw a carriage parked outside the county government office. The carriage had no fancy decorations and looked quite low-key.

"Your Excellency, I did not know you were coming. I apologize for not welcoming you. I hope you will forgive me."

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a middle-aged man in official uniform slowly walked down from the carriage.

He was Sheng Zhongqian, the magistrate of Liangzhou. He had a square face and distinct eyes. His gaze swept across Xu Jingyong's face with majesty.

After he got off the carriage, he said, "No need to be polite."

"Mr. Tongpan, please come into the inner room to talk." Xu Jingyong said, and was about to lead the way.

"Wait a minute." Sheng Zhongqian stopped him and looked at the people who had not yet dispersed at the gate of the county government office. He frowned slightly and asked, "Why is this happening?"

Xu Jingyong's back was covered in sweat. He originally wanted to fool the judge, but it was obvious that the judge was not so easy to fool. He could only say, "Your Excellency, these are just some unruly people who gathered and made noise because of private matters. There is no problem."

Anrong is located in a remote area and close to foreign borders, so it is possible that unruly people would gather together to cause trouble. However, although Sheng Zhongqian did not ask any further questions, his expression became more gloomy.

Xu Jingyong lowered his head and led Sheng Zhongqian inside, leading him to the inner room of the county government office. Unlike the inner hall just now, the inner room was decorated more luxuriously and comfortably. It was obvious that it was prepared by County Magistrate Xu to receive higher-level visitors.

He was about to have someone serve tea when Xu Jingyong interrupted him: "Liangzhou and the surrounding areas are currently ravaged by a cold epidemic. How is the situation in Anrong?"

If it were anything else, Xu Jingyong might have been hard to answer, but when it came to the epidemic, his back straightened instantly: "Your Excellency, Anrong also experienced the cold epidemic, but the situation is currently under control, and the patients are receiving proper treatment."

"It's under control?" Sheng Zhongqian was a little surprised. "The epidemic in Liangzhou City has just shown signs of being under control, and Anrong has already brought it under control so quickly?"

Xu Jingyong keenly sensed this opportunity to claim credit, so he leaned in and said, "Your Excellency, as soon as I noticed the spread of the epidemic, I immediately organized the city's traditional Chinese medicine clinic to diagnose and treat the patients, which is how we were able to control the cold epidemic."

Sheng Zhongqian pondered for a moment. "At that time, cold medicines were in short supply throughout Liangzhou. Where did you get the medicine to treat the patients?"

"Ah, this..." Xu Jingyong didn't expect the judge to ask for details. What would he say? Could it be that Shen Qian, a woman from Jimin Hall, bought exotic medicinal herbs to control the cold epidemic?

Of course he couldn't say that, because that would be slapping himself in the face!

He said quickly: "There is a medicine shop in our city called Qingyutang. They have a small amount of medicinal materials. With the superb medical skills of Jinrentang's doctor, Doctor Li Wenbin, and everyone working together, the epidemic has been alleviated."

"Oh? So that's how it is." Sheng Zhongqian flicked his sleeves and after some thought asked, "I heard that there's a female doctor named Shen Qian in your county who runs a Jimintang and treats countless patients. Is that true? Did she contribute significantly to this cold epidemic?"

Xu Jingyong's face paled slightly, and he quickly denied it. "Why would you say that, Your Excellency? Shen Qian is just a humble female doctor, and she even bought herbs from a foreign land without permission. Her behavior is truly suspicious, so I've brought her in for questioning. She hasn't confessed yet and is currently in the jail at my county yamen. I don't know who the Your Excellency has listened to so distort the facts, saying that our Anrong's ability to contain the epidemic is related to her!"

Sheng Zhongqian stood up suddenly: "What did you say? You locked her up in...prison?"