Chapter 227 The Secret Passage Collapsed

The assessment consists of three parts: drug identification, syndrome differentiation, and practical operation.

The herb identification section required participants to identify twenty medicinal herbs from hundreds or even thousands, and to describe their medicinal properties and uses. The apprentices at the heritage center and many traditional female doctors passed this test.

In the diagnostic section, the examiners presented a hypothetical case and asked candidates to identify the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease and prescribe medication. Many candidates demonstrated a high level of expertise in prescribing medication.

Ye Wanning did not interfere with the judging, and the examiners all gave her fair and high scores.

The practical session involved treating real patients. A female folk doctor treated an elderly woman who had suffered from rheumatism for many years. She used the acupuncture and dietary therapy methods taught by Ye Wanning, performing acupuncture and prescribing a dietary therapy prescription on the spot.

The old lady immediately felt her joint pain lessen considerably. The officials, observing this, all nodded in approval.

After the assessment, the Empress Dowager stated: "Everyone has seen that women can also treat illnesses and even cure them! Relaxing the assessment system for female doctors is beneficial to the country and its people, and should be promoted nationwide!"

"Girls who want to practice medicine must pass an examination and obtain a certificate before they can legally treat patients!"

Upon seeing this, the emperor immediately issued an edict: "Granted! The examination system for female doctors shall be promoted nationwide, and local governments must actively cooperate!"

The conservative officials were stunned and no longer had the strength to object.

Seeing this, Ye Wanning felt particularly relieved—her efforts hadn't been in vain, and the path for women practicing medicine was finally becoming wider.

All of this was inseparable from Pei Zhi. He fully cooperated with Ye Wanning in court and even took the initiative to suggest, "Let the expenses for this assessment ceremony be covered by the Ministry of Revenue."

With his words, Ye Wanning finally felt relieved.

After the assessment ceremony, Ye Wanning brewed a box of calming ointment and had Chuntao deliver it to the Pei residence: "This box of calming ointment was specially brewed by me and can relieve Lord Pei's old shoulder and neck injuries."

After the Wei family suffered repeated setbacks, the mountain bandit king became desperate and came up with the trick of forging a letter of treason in order to completely destroy Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi!

They forged a letter signed by Ye Wanning, which read: "We are willing to exchange the core secret formula of the 'Qing Nang Secret Essentials' for the support of the remnants of the previous dynasty to help Pei Zhi seize the throne!" The letter was also stamped with a forged seal of the Heritage Hall.

Subsequently, they found several censors from the Censorate whom they had already bribed, and presented them with a forged letter to the court to impeach them: "Your Majesty! Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi are wolves in sheep's clothing, colluding with the enemy and betraying the country!"

"This is their letter of treason. We implore Your Majesty to uphold justice for the people and severely punish these two treacherous officials!"

The emperor's face turned green as he read the letter. He didn't want to believe that Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi would collude with the enemy, but the contents of the letter were too realistic. Coupled with the joint impeachment by the Censorate, he had no choice but to issue an edict under pressure from the court.

"Temporarily seal off the Heritage Hall and place Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi under house arrest! Pei Zhi will be in charge of investigating this matter and must get to the bottom of it!"

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!" Ye Wanning cried out anxiously, "That letter is fake! I have never conspired with Lord Pei!"

"Your Majesty, I am also innocent!" Pei Zhiye stepped forward. "Please, Your Majesty, give me a chance to find out the truth and clear my and Madam Ye's name!"

"I'm giving you a chance, but you must be placed under house arrest until the truth is revealed!" the emperor sneered.

Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi were placed under house arrest in their respective residences and were not allowed to leave at will. After the Heritage Hall was shut down, the apprentices were all somewhat uneasy.

Although Ye Wanning was under house arrest, she did not panic. She believed that Pei Zhi could find out the truth.

Not long after, Pei Zhi arrived at Ye Wanning's residence. He held the forged letter in his hand: "This letter is extremely well-made; the handwriting and seal are indistinguishable from the real thing. I will investigate as soon as possible and clear your name!"

Ye Wanning looked at him, her heart sinking: "Pei Zhi, what do you mean by that?"

“What I mean is, this matter needs to be settled peacefully, and the temporary closure of the Heritage Center is necessary,” Pei Zhi said. “I will investigate as soon as possible and clear your name!”

"So, you believe this letter too? You also suspect me of treason?" Ye Wanning's voice trembled, her eyes filled with despair.

“I don’t doubt you,” Pei Zhi hurriedly explained, “but I must investigate according to procedure to convince the public!”

"Follow the procedure?" Ye Wanning laughed self-deprecatingly. "Pei Zhi, if I really haven't done anything to treason, if you truly believe me, you should know that there's no need to go through these procedures at all!"

"You're doing this simply because you're afraid the Emperor will become suspicious and you'll be implicated!"

"Wan Ning, you're wrong," Pei Zhi said hurriedly. "I'm doing this to protect you! If I don't investigate according to proper procedures, the Emperor will directly issue an order to arrest people, and then I won't be able to protect you!"

"Protect me?" Ye Wanning shook her head. "Pei Zhi, I never imagined that in your heart, I would be this kind of person."

The two argued and parted on bad terms.

Ye Wanning returned to her room, feeling both wronged and disappointed. She had thought that after everything that had happened, Pei Zhi would trust her unconditionally, but at the crucial moment, he still chose to "investigate according to procedure."

From that day on, Ye Wanning stopped cooperating with Pei Zhi's investigation and refused to see him again. The relationship that the two had finally managed to improve fell into a stalemate again, and the momentum that had been building completely came to a halt.

Ye Wanning had no intention of being depressed. She thought that no matter how realistic the forged letter was, there would definitely be flaws.

When she was in Jiangnan, she found the Wei family's account books at the old Wei family residence. Perhaps she can find clues from those account books.

Pei Zhi had previously mentioned that the local ruffians confessed that the Wei family had another villa in the capital, which might contain evidence of collusion with the enemy and forged letters.

Pei Zhi was unaware that Ye Wanning planned to sneak into the Wei family's villa in the capital under cover of darkness tonight.

The villa had been abandoned for a long time. Ye Wanning found a secret passage based on her memory and went inside.

The secret passage was dark and damp, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. She felt her way along the wall and slowly moved forward. Before long, she heard a sound coming from ahead.

Ye Wanning quickly hid, only to see several men in black burning waste paper and letters.

"Hurry up! Burn all of this completely, don't leave a single trace!" a man in black urged.

Ye Wanning's heart tightened—this must be evidence of the Wei family's collusion with the enemy and forgery of letters!

Taking advantage of the men in black's inattention, she rushed out to try and grab the papers, but they outnumbered her and she was no match for them.

Just then, a loud crash came from behind as the secret passage collapsed, with stones rolling down continuously.

"Oh no! The secret passage has collapsed!" the men in black exclaimed, and they all ran towards the exit.

Ye Wanning was trapped by the falling rocks and could not move.

In her despair, a familiar figure rushed over—it was Pei Zhi! He grabbed Ye Wanning and shielded her with his body, using his own body to block the falling stones.

"Wan Ning, are you alright?" Pei Zhi asked, panting heavily.

"Pei Zhi? What brings you here?" Ye Wanning asked, both surprised and suspicious.

"I was worried about you, so I followed you." Pei Zhi gritted his teeth and pulled her towards the exit.

The secret passage was collapsing more and more violently, and stones kept hitting Pei Zhi's back. He groaned, his old wound aggravated.

The two finally managed to escape the secret passage and hide in a nearby cave.

The cave was dark, cold, and lacked oxygen.

Pei Zhi's back wound started bleeding again, and he trembled with pain.

Ye Wanning quickly took out the herbs she carried with her and bandaged his wound.

"Bear with it." Ye Wanning pressed on his wound, her fingertips gently brushing it over, her heart aching terribly.