Chapter 82 The First Signs of the Golden Calamity (Part 2) I apologize for offending you, sir.

Deng Jie finished packing the cloth and was about to leave the embroidery workshop with Guo Jia when they suddenly heard a commotion coming from the inner room.

"Ah Qiao! Ah Qiao, what's wrong?!" Liu Lanzhi's exclamation broke the rhythm of the looms in the embroidery room, and all the embroiderers got up and surrounded her.

Guo Jia paused, and before he could turn around, Deng Jie beside him had already lifted the curtain and rushed back into the inner room.

A young embroiderer lay curled up beside her loom, her face deathly pale, her hands convulsively clutching her clothes, and painful gagging sounds coming from her throat.

Liu Lanzhi knelt beside her, supporting her back with one hand and patting her back urgently with the other: "If you want to vomit, then vomit!"

The other embroiderers were in complete disarray, giving conflicting and incoherent instructions.

Liu Lanzhi took charge in a deep voice, assigning people to carry copper basins, instructing others to sprinkle water on the ground, and having anxious embroiderers rush out as if to call for a doctor.

Deng Jie didn't have time to think. He took a few steps forward, squatted down, and pressed on A Qiao's pulse.

His pulse was rapid and erratic, his skin was burning hot, and there was still some white foam on his lips.

"It's an emergency!" Deng Jie quickly pulled open A Qiao's shirt to help her breathe more easily, then turned to Liu Lanzhi and said, "Quickly go and get some cool water, and find a clean cloth!"

Liu Lanzhi nodded in realization and hurriedly got up to look for them. In an instant, the embroidery room was empty except for the three of them.

Guo Jia stood aside, his gaze sweeping over A Qiao's disheveled clothes. A golden object slipped from her bosom and rolled softly under the loom.

He bent down to pick it up, his fingers tracing the four characters "Wu's Rice Shop" on the back of the gold certificate. His brows furrowed slightly. He turned around and quietly took out the hemp cloth he had taken when he accompanied Deng Jieyi to the clinic the day before. He placed the certificate on it and scraped off some powder.

Deng Jie was focused on pinching A Qiao's acupoints on her back to help her vomit, and did not notice Guo Jia's actions.

It wasn't until Liu Lanzhi returned with water that Aqiao had finished vomiting. Deng Jie saw that her complexion had eased a little, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He took the damp cloth and wiped Aqiao's forehead, gently comforting her.

"She's been complaining of dizziness and nausea for the past few days, and she vomited this morning..." Liu Lanzhi said to Deng Jie. "I thought it was just a cold, and she said she was fine, but I didn't expect it to happen again..."

Deng Jie shook her head: "It doesn't seem like a common cold, it's more like..." She swallowed, not daring to speak.

Because she couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of her illness, but the symptoms seemed to be the same as those she had seen at the free clinic in the past two days.

Guo Jia put away the hemp cloth and approached Liu Lanzhi, asking, "Miss Qiao, have you come into contact with anything unusual these past two days?"

“They’re all working on their embroidery in the workshop.” Liu Lanzhi was taken aback. Her gaze fell on the gold voucher in his hand, and her expression changed slightly. “Wu has been using this to pay wages recently. Aqiao keeps it close to her body, saying that it can be exchanged for grain. But she didn’t just start keeping it these past two days; it’s been at least two months.”

Guo Jia didn't say anything, but simply handed the gold voucher back to Liu Lanzhi.

Liu Lanzhi took it, looked down at it, and then looked up at Deng Jie: "Miss Deng, can you cure Aqiao's illness?"

Deng Jie pursed her lips, her fingertips clenching the damp cloth tightly.

She has encountered difficult illnesses before, but recently she has seen similar symptoms one after another, yet she still cannot find the root cause, which makes her feel a little uneasy.

"I... I can only prescribe the most recent prescription for her to stabilize her condition for now."

Her voice lowered a few decibels, "It would be best to have a doctor examine me more carefully. I'm afraid my medical knowledge is insufficient and I might delay treatment."

Liu Lanzhi nodded and was about to speak when Jiao Zhongqing suddenly interjected, "Miss Deng's medical skills are excellent. Last time my mother had a headache, she took her medicine and got better."

Deng Jie smiled wryly, thinking to himself that a headache was nothing compared to this acute illness.

Seeing that A-Qiao's breathing was gradually stabilizing, she felt a little relieved. She picked up a bamboo slip on the table, wrote down a prescription, and handed it to Liu Lanzhi: "Go get the medicine according to this. If you are not better by tomorrow, be sure to ask a doctor to come and see you."

Liu Lanzhi took the prescription and solemnly put it into her sleeve: "Thank you, Miss Deng."

After leaving the embroidery workshop, it grew dark and the pedestrians in the East Market gradually dispersed.

Deng Jie walked silently, still thinking about A Qiao's illness. He had encountered several cases with similar symptoms since the beginning of the month, and this was only at his free clinic, which he set up every few days. If it were a clinic, there would probably be a backlog of cases by now.

Seeing that she remained silent, Guo Jia couldn't help but ask her, "What are you thinking about, Miss Deng?"

Deng Jie's steps slowed, and his voice grew heavy with his thoughts: "When I visited the free clinic the other day, most of the patients had similar symptoms, and today Miss Qiao is the same."

I checked their drinking water and food, and there wasn't much overlap, so it shouldn't be food poisoning..."

Guo Jia was quite surprised that he hadn't seen her at the residence for the past two days; it seemed she had gone out to investigate on her own. She was quite perceptive. "Why is the young lady so concerned? Is it truly the compassion of a physician?"

Deng Jie glanced at him, a bitter smile playing on his lips that Deng Jie couldn't decipher: "What 'benevolent doctor'? I'm not that noble. Sir, have you forgotten? My free clinics are just a way for me to gain experience."

She gently shook her head and turned her gaze into the distance. "Every time I succeed, I feel a sense of joy, like solving a problem. If I fail, I want to find the answer. So this sudden emergence of so many similar cases is like encountering an unsolvable problem."

She wrinkled her nose, revealing a hint of childish defiance, "I won't be satisfied until I get to the bottom of this."

Guo Jia's heart skipped a beat, and at that moment, a subtle resonance caused a surge of heat to rise in his heart.

This frank and straightforward statement seemed to be the voice of his own heart. He recalled his original intention in studying strategy when he was young, which was nothing more than to understand the workings of the world and people's hearts. He would be unwilling to give up until he understood it.

Over the years, he had always felt that he had achieved some success and dealt with all sorts of people, which inevitably made him a little proud. But the sincerity of the girl in front of him was something he couldn't handle.

Just as he was thinking this, his gaze was drawn to a familiar figure in the sparse crowd. The person was looking around as he walked into Wu's Rice Shop.

He was startled. Wasn't this Xu Hong? Why was Yuan Shu's lackey here? He had thought Xu Hong was here specifically for the imperial seal, but did he have some other scheme?

It just so happens that he's here at this time. I had met him once before on Sun Ben's ship with Deng Zhao. If I were to make a rash attack now, it might be inconvenient if I were discovered...

Guo Jia narrowed his eyes slightly, recalling Deng Jie's words: "But what merchant would do a losing business for no reason?"

“Miss Deng,” Guo Jia whispered, pulling on Deng Jie’s sleeve and whispering in her ear, “I need your help with something…”

Deng Jie straightened his clothes and stepped into Wu's Rice Shop.

The rice shop assistant was busy packing up to close when a young woman in a coarse linen shirt suddenly walked in. He stood up and looked her over: "Young lady, are you here to exchange for grain?"

Deng Jie glanced into the inner room of the rice shop, then, remembering that he came to the market every month to set up his stall, worried that the shop assistants would recognize him. He then switched to his Shucheng accent and replied in a loud voice, "This humble servant has come to buy a gold voucher. May I ask how much the voucher costs today?"

The shopkeeper tapped the wooden plaque in his hand, "Madam, take a look. Today you'll get three thousand coins."

Deng Jie frowned, took out the money pouch from his sleeve and weighed it in his hand: "Wasn't it two thousand five hundred coins a few days ago? How come the price has gone up again?"

The shopkeeper chuckled, "Today a bushel of millet costs 1,200 coins. If you buy today and exchange it tomorrow, you'll still make a profit of 600 coins!"

Deng Jie deliberately acted like a rogue, begging the waiter to lower the price, which indeed caused Xu Hong to lift the curtain and come out, impatiently shouting, "What's all the noise about!"

Upon seeing Deng Jie's face clearly, his expression immediately changed. He pushed the shop assistant aside and said, "So, it's you, Madam, who wants to buy coupons? You're also from Shucheng, Madam?"

Deng Jie's heart tightened. She had only used the Shucheng accent to avoid being recognized, but she hadn't expected to run into a real Shucheng native. She could only bite the bullet and reply, "Yes...yes..."

"Oh? My lady knows about medicine too?" Xu Hong suddenly leaned closer and sniffed lightly on her neck, making Deng Jie feel uncomfortable. "Angelica, Ligusticum... this is the prescription used by the Zhang family of Shucheng to treat headaches."

Deng Jie froze at this action.

This was indeed a prescription she had learned at Zhang's Medical Clinic, but she hadn't touched these herbs today; he was just trying to get close to her.

Deng Jie then replied, "Sir, you jest. These are just common medicinal herbs..."

Xu Hong laughed loudly: "Since my wife is from the same hometown, then it's easy to agree. Two thousand five hundred it is."

He then grabbed her chin, saying, "I'm returning to Shucheng the day after tomorrow. Why don't you come with me, my wife? Next year, the Yuan family and the Zhou family will merge, and I'll make a name for myself in Shucheng. Then you won't have to worry about these five hundred coins anymore..."

"My husband is right outside the door!" Deng Jiecang retreated, then turned and rushed out the door.

As soon as they stepped outside, he grabbed Guo Jia's hand tightly and pulled him away quickly.

Guo Jia was startled and noticed that her hands were trembling. He was about to turn around when Deng Jie growled in a low voice, "Don't look!"

Guo Jia understood and naturally put his arm around her shoulder.

Xu Hong indeed chased after them out the door, only to see the backs of the two beautiful people walking away, arm in arm.

Only after leaving the East Market did Deng Jie release his grip, beads of sweat already forming on his temples: "I've offended you, sir..."

"It was Jia who offended me." Guo Jia quickly bowed, and seeing her dazed expression, he said with remorse, "I shouldn't have put you in danger."

Deng Jie wiped his temples with lingering fear: "No, no."

Trying hard to recall what Xu Hong had just said, she realized that she hadn't actually run away just because she was scared.

She took a breath and suddenly looked up. "Mr. Fengxiao, he just said that 'the Yuan family and the Zhou family will merge next year.' Is that any use?"

While in Shucheng, she had heard that the Zhou family was the largest aristocratic family in Shucheng. Although the family had declined, the influence of the aristocratic family was still far-reaching. If this matter was still related to the Zhou family, it was probably not something that a merchant family like hers could shake.

Guo Jia was taken aback, not expecting that she would still remember the important matter even in her panic. His eyes immediately sharpened: "This is extremely useful!" He bowed solemnly, "Tonight, I would like to ask for your help, young lady, to discuss this matter with your brother and sister-in-law."