Chapter 50, Note

Xiao Yunzhan didn't look at Shen Yizhi on the ground, but only glanced at the guards waiting outside the door and gave them a look, "Go and bring Wang Huai'an here."

The guard responded with a "Yes," then turned and disappeared through the door.

Pei Lin walked up to Shen Yizhi, bent down and stared at him, his tone softer than before: "Go on, what exactly did Wang Huai'an tell you?"

Shen Yizhi raised his arm and rubbed his face haphazardly a few times, but he was still sobbing.

"He took the initiative to contact me. The first time he contacted me was at a tea stall in the west of the city, where I was drinking tea."

He said he wanted to buy Suhetang at a high price, but my father was stubborn and refused to budge.

He wanted me to help persuade my father, and said that if it worked out, he would give me five hundred taels of silver.

"That's enough to pay off my gambling debts, and I can even go to the casino for a few more rounds."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "I was immediately smitten."

After all, I owed the gambling den more than three hundred taels of silver. Those people would find all sorts of ways to harass me every day, and they would beat me half to death at the drop of a hat. Later, they even threatened to cripple me if I didn't pay back the money.

I went back and told my dad that Wang Xingshou was willing to pay three times the price to buy Suhetang. We can take the money and open another pharmacy. It's not like we can't open one.

But my father scolded me back, insisting that Suhetang was the Shen family's ancestral business, and even if it failed in his hands, it couldn't be sold to outsiders.

"And then?" Pei Lin's eyes never left Shen Yizhi's face, constantly observing the subtle changes in his expression.

"He came to see me twice more after that." Shen Yizhi lowered his voice even further.

"The first time was a month ago. When he saw that I hadn't convinced my father, he said the price could go up again."

If I can persuade my father, he will give me a thousand taels.

I went to talk to my dad again, and this time he didn't scold me. He just stared at me.

He said, 'Yizhi, if you're really short of money, I can give you some silver to pay off your gambling debts, but Suhetang cannot be sold.'

I argued with him, saying that he didn't care about me at all.

They'd rather I live in a run-down pharmacy than have a comfortable life.

At this point, Shen Yizhi suddenly became excited and tried to get up from the ground.

The bailiff was used to this kind of scene; he had only gotten halfway up when he was forced back down, leaving him only able to sit on the ground and roar:

"He doesn't treat me like a son at all! I find it strange, so strange!"

Isn't this name just a reminder that I'm not his biological child, that I'm an outsider in the Shen family?

He treated the shop assistants better than he treated me, and he would even buy medicine on credit for strangers who were sick.

I owe gambling debts, and people are trying to ruin me, but he's not giving me a single penny!

He didn't treat me like a son, so why should I acknowledge him as my father?

"Enough!" Xiao Yunzhan grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it, his eyes full of impatience.

"I have no patience to listen to your nonsense."

Tell me straight, how did you poison him?

On what grounds do you say that Wang Huai'an instigated it?

"If you dare to go in circles again, I'll cripple you right now."

A shard of teacup splashed onto Shen Yizhi's face, cutting a small gash.

He shuddered, the excitement he had felt earlier vanished instantly, replaced by a deep sense of panic.

"Then... ten days ago, Wang Huai'an came to me again and asked me if I had managed to persuade my father."

When I said I couldn't persuade him, he frowned and didn't say anything for a long time.

Later, he suddenly asked me if I knew about the tonic wines that Suhetang had recently stocked.

I said I knew, it's for treating male insufficiency.

He laughed and told me, "That wine has a strong flavor; even if something else was mixed in, you wouldn't be able to taste it."

He paused for a moment, then said, “I didn’t understand what he meant at the time. He continued, ‘If someone drinks this medicinal wine and something goes wrong, like someone goes crazy, then Suhetang’s reputation will be completely ruined.’”

Even if your father doesn't want to sell, he'll have to by then.

He added, "If someone were to mix in the Cold Food Powder, regardless of whether it's your father or someone else who ends up drinking it, Suhetang will be the one who suffers."

"So you went and bought Cold Food Powder?"

"Yes... I thought what he said made sense at the time. If Suhetang's reputation were ruined, my father might be willing to sell it."

I went to Yihonglou and found the madam, and bought Hanshi San (a traditional Chinese medicine).

While the shop assistants weren't looking, I sneaked in and poured some of the tonic wine on the medicinal wine shelf.

Only three bottles were poured... I really don't know why he picked that one of them.

He started crying again as he spoke, “I just wanted him to sell the pharmacy, I never wanted him to die!”

It was Wang Huai'an; he instigated me!

If he hadn't said those things to me, I would never have thought of administering the Cold Food Powder!

Just then, the guard led in a man dressed in a dark crimson brocade robe.

The man was around fifty years old, with his hair neatly combed and tied with a jade hairpin. He had a somewhat arrogant air about him and even straightened his clothes before entering.

It was Wang Huai'an, the head of the Suzhou pharmacy.

He immediately noticed Shen Yizhi kneeling on the ground, frowned, and then turned to Xiao Yunzhan and Pei Lin, bowing respectfully.

"This humble subject, Wang Huai'an, greets His Highness Prince Rui and Lord Pei."

"Your Highness, why have you summoned me in such a hurry? What are your orders?"

Pei Lin pushed the confession on the table directly in front of him, "Shen Yi said that you instructed him to poison Shen Chengzhang with Hanshi San and promised him benefits."

Wang Huai'an picked up the confession with a puzzled look and quickly scanned it.

He suddenly burst out laughing after reading it, as if he hadn't read a confession but some funny storybook. He casually tossed the confession back onto the table.

"Your Highness, Lord Pei, don't be fooled by this kid!"

Who in the Suzhou pharmacy doesn't know what kind of person Shen Yizhi is?

Every time he lost at gambling, he would steal valuable medicinal herbs from his home to pay off his debts. Old Shen treated him like his own son and never scolded him much, but he just kept pushing his luck.

If you could believe what he says, pigs could climb trees!

He then turned his head and squinted at Shen Yizhi, "Shen Yizhi, you committed the crime of patricide and you want to drag me down with you."

"Let me tell you, no way! I, Wang Huai'an, have been working in the Suzhou pharmacy business for decades, and no one has ever been able to frame me like this!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Shen Yizhi suddenly sprang up from the ground. If the yamen runners hadn't held his arm down, he would have pounced on Wang Huai'an.

His voice was hoarse from shouting, and his face was flushed red. "It was you! You were the one who hinted at it! You were afraid my father wouldn't sell the pharmacy, so you instigated me to poison him and ruin Suhetang! Now you want to deny it? No way!"

Wang Huai'an sneered: "I hinted at you? When did I ever hint at you? Do you have any evidence? Anyone can make empty promises."

"I have evidence!" Shen Yizhi suddenly shouted, his eyes shining brightly.

"I knew you'd renege on your promise!"

When you said those things to me, I knew you weren't a good person!

So I forced you to write me a note!

Everyone in the hall was stunned when he said that.

Wang Huai'an's face changed instantly, staring intently at Shen Yizhi, "You... what nonsense are you talking about? When did I write you a note?"

"Of course you won't admit it!" Shen Yizhi grinned, tears still on his face, looking both crazy and smug.

Do you really think I'm stupid?

You're just trying to provoke me into doing something, so that if anything goes wrong, it won't be your problem.

I told you right then and there, if you don't write me a note, I won't help you persuade my dad.

You had no other choice, so you wrote it!

Pei Lin: "Where's the note? What did it say?"

"In my house! Inside the third brick behind my bed!"

I wrapped it in oil paper and hid it there!

The note read, "If Suhetang is ruined by Hanshisan, you will give me three thousand taels of silver, and this three thousand taels will not be included in the money spent on buying Suhetang!"

You even signed it!

The color drained from Wang Huai'an's face instantly. He staggered back a step, crashing into the chair behind him with a thud. The chair leg scraped across the floor with a screeching sound.

His lips trembled: "Impossible...this is impossible! I clearly..."

"What do you mean, 'clearly'? You clearly destroyed it, didn't you? Hahahaha... What you found is fake!" Shen Yizhi laughed even more triumphantly.

"I knew you would send someone to steal it!"

I specially had someone make a fake note and hid it in the cabinet, but I hid the real one behind a brick!

You didn't expect that, did you? You destroyed the fake one, the real one is still here! Hahahaha…

Xiao Yunzhan gestured with his chin toward the guards: "Go to Shen Yi's house and retrieve the note."

The guard responded and turned to run out quickly.

The side hall fell silent again, with only Wang Huai'an's heavy breathing remaining.

He stood frozen in place, his eyes darting around in a panic, glancing at Shen Yizhi one moment, then at Xiao Yunzhan and Pei Lin the next.

Zhou Wenbin stood to the side, barely daring to breathe, and could only secretly wipe his sweat with his sleeve.

He originally thought that the people from the pharmacy just wanted to take over Suhetang, and that the poisoning was done by Shen Yi.

Unexpectedly, he directly instigated Shen Yizhi to poison Shen Yizhi.

Pei Lin walked up to Wang Huai'an and said, "Wang Huai'an, I advise you to just confess. Why would you rather take the blame for someone's death than not take over Suhetang?"

Wang Huai'an's face grew paler and paler. He leaned back in his chair, his body trembling slightly, his eyes filled with despair.

He never expected that Shen Yizhi had such a trick up his sleeve.

About half an hour later, footsteps were heard outside, and the guards hurriedly returned.

He held a small roll wrapped in oil paper, with some wall dust still stuck to the outside of the paper.

It was obviously just dug out from between the bricks.

"Your Highness, we've found it. It's right where Shen Yizhi mentioned."

Xiao Yunzhan unfolded the oiled paper, inside which was a neatly folded piece of white paper with neat handwriting, the content of which was exactly the same as what Shen Yi had said:

"We have now agreed with Shen Yizhi that if Suhetang fails due to the Cold Food Powder incident, we are willing to pay Shen Yizhi three thousand taels of silver in cash. This silver will not be included in Suhetang's acquisition payment."

This is hereby established as evidence, by Wang Huai'an.

The signature also bears Wang Huai'an's personal seal.

Xiao Yunzhan handed the note to Pei Lin, who read it and then threw it in front of Wang Huai'an, saying, "Read it yourself."

Wang Huai'an seemed to struggle internally for a long time before finally accepting the note.

He stared intently at the handwriting and personal seal, trying to find evidence that he hadn't written it himself.

The more he looked, the more his mouth twitched, and he kept muttering, "This is impossible, this is impossible..."

After a long while, he seemed to finally accept reality, and his whole body went limp as he slid down the chair and collapsed to the ground.

His eyes were vacant, and he muttered, "It's over...it's all over..."