Chapter 63
"Those people, are they coming for you?"
Fu Wei's face was gloomy, and even his eyes were filled with turbulence.
Under Fu Wei's gaze, Yu Ying nodded: "You guessed right, they're targeting me, saying I'm blocking someone else's path to wealth."
After saying that, Yu Ying closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
After a breath, he opened his eyes and gave Fu Wei a helpless smile: "A powerful dragon can hardly suppress a local snake. No matter what I do, as long as it's just a small fight, no one will take me seriously. But if I threaten their interests in the slightest, no matter what industry or profession I am in, they will suppress me. I just didn't expect that a doctor would use such shady means."
He also didn't expect that even though he had previously used Huo Yachai to build some relationships with the yamen, it was still useless.
Yu Ying told Fu Wei that the thieves wanted her to leave with them and then threatened her that she would never be able to trade in medicinal herbs in the future.
Ever since Fu Wei learned that she was intercepted and nearly in danger, her heart has been surging like a raging wave. Perhaps she knew that her current emotions would affect her judgment, so she tried to calm herself down a bit.
Fu Wei secretly took a breath, then lowered his eyes and pondered.
After a while, he speculated, "I think they not only want to teach you a lesson, but also to make an example of you."
Yu Ying was a little surprised when she heard this, and then she started thinking about the details of today.
After a few breaths, Fu Wei narrowed his eyes and analyzed, "They could have just robbed you and taken you away. But they asked you to go with them on your own initiative, and then threatened you in front of others to stop trading medicinal herbs. It sounds like they took you away and locked you up for a few days before releasing you. It's like they wanted to make a scene to intimidate someone."
After pondering for a moment, Yu Ying seemed to have figured something out and raised her eyes to meet Fu Wei's.
Fu Wei said, "Someone must have learned your method to trade in medicinal herbs."
Obviously, they were thinking the same thing.
After the news of Yu Ying's business spread, there were always people who thought that if an ordinary peasant woman could do the medicinal herb business, they could definitely do it too, and they would definitely not be worse than a peasant woman.
With this kind of self-confidence, he became more and more courageous and began to arbitrarily lower the prices of medicinal materials to attract customers.
Over time, the price of medicinal materials in Yu County will definitely fall. How can the people in the clinic not be anxious?
Yu Ying thought about this, as if talking to herself, and said: "If that's true, their purpose is to use me to intimidate these people. This makes sense for what I felt was strange today..."
Fu Wei once lived a life of luxury, but he also secretly knew the dangers of the world, so he had the idea of changing the world.
Just as his ambitions were revealed, before he could start to change, he fell from being a favored son of heaven to the son of a traitor.
If you can't even protect yourself, how can you expect to change the world?
To those people, what Liu Niang was experiencing was nothing more than that of an insignificant peasant woman. As for her reputation or life, they didn't care; they only cared about their own interests.
When Fu Wei thought of this, he clenched the letter in his hand tightly, and the letter immediately became crumpled.
"Until this matter is resolved, the sale of medicinal herbs will no longer be possible in Yu County."
Yu Ying lowered her eyes and noticed the movement of his hands. Then she looked up and saw his dark eyes, and she knew that he was angry about her.
Fu Wei raised his dark eyes and looked at her with a calm expression: "I'll take care of this matter."
Yu Ying thought for a moment, glanced at the things behind him and the letter in his hand, and finally looked up at him: "Have you made up your mind yet?"
Fu Wei did not rush to answer, but opened the envelope and took out the four pieces of letter paper inside.
He glanced through it briefly, and when he reached the end, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
He retracted his gaze, looked at her, and raised the letter in his hand: "Since they are bullying us by taking advantage of their power, we will give them a taste of their own medicine."
Under Yu Ying's puzzled gaze, he continued to explain: "Only in this way can we make them stop these despicable means and listen to us."
Yu Ying glanced at the letter in his hand, and curiously asked, "Is it someone you knew before?"
Fu Weiqing hummed, "He's a good friend of mine who once risked his life for me. It's just that he couldn't show up, so he asked me to meet him in Yu County."
When Yu Ying heard Fu Wei say that the man was not available to show up, she did not specifically ask about his identity. Instead, she looked at the object and asked, "Then what is this?"
Fu Weiying said, "I asked him to have someone make a plain carriage."
After that, he picked up the scissors on the table and walked forward slowly.
After standing for a while, his legs were a little tired. When he reached the sedan chair, he placed his hands on it, supported himself for a moment, and then cut the ropes on it.
After the cloth was completely cut, Fu Wei pulled the cloth away, and a wheelchair fell into Yu Ying's sight.
Yu Ying was stunned.
This plain carriage resembled the wheelchairs of later times. It had no carvings and was very plain, made of a plain wooden board with pedals and two large and two small wheels.
Yu Ying once thought that Fu Wei had difficulty walking, so a wheelchair would be best.
But before, even buying a bamboo bed took a long time, let alone a wheelchair for which there were no blueprints. Not to mention the money, even whether the carpenters in Yu County could make it was a question.
Su Yu was not common, and Fu Wei had only seen it in books.
But he didn't see any surprise or curiosity in her expression, as if she had seen this thing before.
Yu Ying looked at him and said, "Are you planning to sit on this carriage from now on..." After a pause, she recalled what he had just said and changed her words, "On this carriage?"
Fu Wei nodded and said, "Let's keep the fact that I can walk a secret for now, and then we can act accordingly."
Fu Wei is not just to guard against Huo Minzhi.
Also to protect himself from his adoptive father.
In the past twenty-one years, his adoptive father has attached great importance to him, which can be regarded as a loving father and a filial son.
Even if he is not his biological son, with the father-son relationship they have had for many years, how could he watch him get his legs broken and remain indifferent?
He really couldn't understand why his adoptive father was so cruel to him, so Fu Wei decided to continue pretending to be disabled, biding his time and wait until he had the ability to investigate further.
Fu Wei slowly sat down on the sedan chair, placed his hands on the armrests, and looked up at her: "At least it won't affect our trip."
Yes, having a wheelchair is much better than having to sit in the house before.
Yu Ying nodded and then asked him: "Did your friend arrange a meeting with you?"
Fu Wei: "Let's meet at the inn tomorrow and reserve a room. He will come to find me."
After thinking for a moment, Fu Wei explained, "He works under my adoptive father, so it's inconvenient for him to meet me directly."
Seeing that he had taken the initiative to ask, Yu Ying asked casually, "Is Huo Mingming the name of your friend?"
After all, Fu Wei's surname was also Huo before, so he couldn't be a relative, right?
Fu Wei shook his head slightly and explained, "This was the name I used when I was traveling. Not many people knew it, but when he heard it, he knew it was me."
Yu Ying sensed Fu Wei's caution.
She was not too curious about this pseudonym, but just thought that Uncle Chen was frightened today. Before resolving today's matter, Yu Ying could not bother Uncle Chen again for the time being.
"Tomorrow, we might have to walk to Yu County."
Fu Wei said: "No problem, I'll let my elder brother go with me."
Yu Ying nodded and could only advise: "Be careful."
The conversation between the two ended after Luo also brought ginger soup to Yu Ying.
Yu Ying was a little frightened today, so after drinking some ginger soup, she went to rest.
The one who was most frightened today was Wen Xing.
After the couple returned to the house, Wen Xing asked her husband to sit down and look at the place where he was hit by the stick.
Fu Zhen said: "I'm fine, don't be nervous."
Wen Xing glared at him, her eyes red as she said, "That stick hit him so hard, how could he be alright!"
As he said this, he pulled his arm to stop him from leaving and ripped open his shirt.
Fu Zhen had no choice but to show her his back.
The clothes fell from his arms, revealing his strong back.
After years of hard labor in the quarry, Fu Zhen's shoulders and back were covered with rough calluses. But even with the calluses, a hit with a stick would turn the affected areas purple.
Wen Xing's fingertips gently caressed it, then she slowly moved closer and hugged her husband from behind. With her cheek against his back, she said in a trembling voice, "Da Lang, I'm so scared."
She was afraid of encountering a thief, but she was even more afraid of what might happen to her husband when he confronted the thief.
Fu Zhen's heart softened. He held his wife's hand and whispered, "I'm fine."
Thinking back to today's fight with the thieves, Fu Zhen now feels a little uneasy.
When he practiced spearmanship before, he didn't actually have high hopes, nor did he think about how many people he could defeat. But today, Fu Zhen realized the huge difference between martial arts and just brute force.
Before, when he was in the quarry, Fu Zhen had fought five or six people alone, but in the end he was covered in wounds.
But today he faced seven people, and he was only hit by two sticks. The injuries were much lighter than before.
If it's still so powerful after just two months, wouldn't it be even more powerful if he becomes more proficient in the future?
Fu Zhen felt an unprecedented interest in this spearmanship.
He no longer learned it because his second brother asked him to, but because he wanted to learn it.
*
After dinner in the evening, Fu Wei and Fu Zhen talked alone. One talked about the trip to Yu County tomorrow, and the other talked about other things.
"Those thieves suffered a loss at your hands today, Big Brother. It's inevitable that they will have other evil intentions. Besides, their target was Liu Niang. Since they failed today, they will surely have a backup plan."
Fu Zhen's face was solemn: "Then tomorrow you and I will go to Yu County, what will happen to our family?"
Fu Wei spoke slowly and calmly, "No matter how brave the medical clinics in the city are, they wouldn't dare to collude with such vicious thieves. I guess they are just some local hooligans."
"These hooligans don't even dare to come to Lingshui Village in broad daylight, but what worries me is not their chaos during the day, but their chaos at night."
Fu Zhen said, "The road from Yu County to Lingshui Village is dangerous at night. Even with ox carts and horse carriages, they wouldn't dare to take the risk. Even if they are evil people, they probably wouldn't dare to cause trouble in Lingshui Village at night."
Fu Wei sneered and asked, "If you don't dare come at night, why not come during the day and wait in Lingshui Village until nightfall before taking any action?"
Fu Zhen reacted and heard his second brother say, "I suffered a loss today and am feeling humiliated. I can't just give up like this."
Fu Wei thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that these people were most likely hired by the clinic to teach Liu Niang a lesson and to make an example of her.
If you can't attack people, then you might have to attack objects.
Those medicinal fields of Liu Niang!
Fu Wei, who had reacted, immediately said to his eldest brother, "Brother, go find Song Sanlang and the He brothers now. The rest of you will stay at the medicinal field tonight."
Upon hearing this, Fu Zhen asked, "Do you think they will destroy your brother-in-law's medicinal fields?"
Fu Wei nodded: "It's a 70% chance, so it's better to be cautious."
Hearing this, Fu Zhen became serious: "I will go find them now."
Fu Zhen simply made a lantern and went out.
Yu Ying had just returned from the shower and saw her elder brother leaving the yard. She turned to look at Fu Wei in the room and asked, "Where did you go, elder brother?"
Fu Wei told Yu Ying his guess.
Upon hearing this, Yu Ying realized that she had put a lot of thought into her few acres of medicinal fields, and there couldn't be any mistakes.
Thinking of this, his expression became serious.
Because of this, Yu Ying couldn't sleep at night. Any movement outside would make her nervous.
It was not until midnight that the sound of a door opening was heard outside the yard, and Yu Ying suddenly sat up.
Fu Wei also stood up.
He lifted the quilt, got out of bed and lit the oil lamp. After the room was lit up, he looked at Yu Ying who was lying on the bed.
Fu Ning opened her eyes a little at the slight noise they made when they sat up. Yu Ying patted her gently and soothed her gently, "It's okay, Auntie is just going to the toilet. You can continue to sleep."
Fu Ning was sleeping in a daze. After hearing what his aunt said, he closed his eyes and continued to sleep.
Seeing that Fu Ning gradually fell asleep, Yu Ying also gently lifted the quilt and carefully got out of bed.
He took his coat and put it on.
At this time, the sound of water could be heard faintly outside.
Fu Wei waited until she was dressed, then went out with her carrying an oil lamp.
After leaving the house, I saw that the kitchen was lit.
Fu Wei walked over with an oil lamp in hand and called out in a low voice, "Brother?"
Fu Zhen, who was washing his hands in the bathroom, replied, "It's me."
After waiting for a while, Fu Zhen came out of the kitchen holding a lantern. After glancing at his second brother and his wife, he said, "Erlang was right. Someone really came to our medicinal fields at night and wanted to destroy the seedlings."
Upon hearing this, Yu Ying hurriedly asked in a low voice, "Where is the person?"
Fu Zhen: "Song Jun, He Dalang, He Erlang and I have captured the people. We don't want to disturb A Niang and the others, so we have tied them up at Song Jun's house. I roughly compared them and found that they are one of the seven thieves today."
Fu Wei pondered for a moment, then said, "I'll go meet them."
As he said that, he went back to the house and came out in a wheelchair.
Although Fu Zhen had seen this wheelchair in his second brother's room after dinner, this was the first time he saw it being used, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
At this time, the door of the eldest brother's room also opened, and it was the eldest sister-in-law.
Seeing his wife, Fu Zhen walked over and whispered to her, "Nothing, go back to the house first, we will be back soon."
Wen Xing nodded lightly.
When Yu Ying saw her elder sister-in-law, she asked her to go in and see Fu Ning for a while, and then went to Song Sanlang's house with Fu Wei and her elder brother.
Fortunately, Song Sanlang and the Fu family are neighbors and live on the edge of the village, so there is no need to worry about the villagers seeing them gathering together to Song Sanlang's house.
When we arrived at Song Sanlang's home, Song Sanlang and the He brothers were all there.
When He Erlang saw Yu Ying, his eyes lit up and he called out, "Sister-in-law."
Yu Ying nodded slightly at him.
Fu Wei also glanced at him, then looked at Song Sanlang and asked, "Where is the person being held?"
Song Sanlang's family had only two thatched huts, one for living and the other for storing sundries. The man was tied up in the sundries hut.
The three men were beaten black and blue, and were all tied together with hemp ropes. Even their mouths were blocked with hemp cloth.
But the linen cloth, Yu Ying looked like it was torn from their bodies...
When these three people saw Yu Ying and Fu Wei walking in, they didn't react much. But when they saw Fu Zhen approaching, their eyes widened with fear, and they kept squirming towards the corner.
This fearful reaction clearly showed that he was frightened by Fu Zhen's beating.
Fu Wei glanced at them and asked, "Who sent you here?"
Fu Zhen stepped forward and, as he took the sackcloth out of their mouths, threatened them, "If you dare to shout, I'll hit you with my fists."
Several people nodded repeatedly in fear.
After the sackcloth was removed, several people cried out, "We know we are wrong. Please forgive us this time!"
Fu Zhen's eyes narrowed, and he said in a deep voice: "Didn't you hear what I asked you?!"
Several people shuddered, and one of them replied tremblingly, "We don't know who is trying to cause trouble for Madam Yu. We are just following the boss's orders. We do whatever the boss tells us to do. We have no say."
These people obviously didn't tell the truth.
Fu Wei glanced at the three of them coldly, then said to his elder brother without changing his expression, "Since they refuse to tell the truth, break their hands and throw them at the village entrance."
Fu Zhen met his second brother's gaze, understood what he meant, walked forward, and scared everyone's face pale.
Fu Zhen stuffed the sackcloth back into one of the men's mouth, then grabbed his arm and exerted force secretly.
The man whose arm was pinched kept making painful "Mmmmm" sounds, which frightened the other two so much that they broke out in cold sweats. One of them couldn't stand it anymore and quickly confessed, "It's Director Luo from the Luo Family Pharmacy!"
They just want to pay back the money, there is no need to cripple themselves for the money!
After hearing what he wanted to know, Fu Wei withdrew his gaze and looked at his eldest brother, asking, "Did they damage the medicinal seedlings?"
Fu Zhen said, "They damaged a small piece, but it should still be alive after we plant it back tomorrow."
Fu Wei glanced at the few people coldly. After being looked at by him, the few people felt a chill on their necks.
I have a feeling that the person sitting on the chair is not someone to be trifled with.
Sure enough, the next moment, the man said slowly, "Take them back to the damaged fields. The He brothers will help beat the gongs and drums to call the villagers to the medicinal fields. We will send these people to the government office tomorrow morning."
When arresting someone, we must catch him red-handed. The whole village will be a witness, and he will not be able to deny it even if he tries.
The government office...it's best not to cover up.
Several people heard this and their eyes widened: "We have already given the person away, how could you do this!?"
To prevent them from shouting, Fu Zhen immediately stuffed the sackcloth ball into their mouths again.
Fu Wei chuckled and said slowly, "When did I ever say I'd let you go if you gave up the person who instigated you?"
After a few people thought about it, they really didn't come up with a single word!
Fu Zhen showed his fist to the men and threatened, "Get up and leave on your own. Don't force me to do anything."
After hearing this, several people panicked for a while before standing up.
They suddenly remembered that Director Luo had a relative who worked as a censor in the government office. As long as they insisted in court tomorrow that they didn't know who had instructed them to do so, the most they would get would be a few beatings with a stick and imprisonment for ten days to half a month.
By then, with the help of Director Luo’s relatives, maybe I can get out early.
Thinking of this, in comparison, going to the yamen is better than being beaten to death here!
Several people suddenly became quiet. Fu Wei glanced at them. Although he didn't know what they were thinking, he could probably guess what they were planning.
Fu Wei withdrew his gaze. Unfamiliar with the wheelchair, he said to Yu Ying behind him, "Sixth Mother, please push me out."
Yu Ying pushed the wheelchair, and knowing that the wheels had no axles, she pulled it backwards and left the room.
Fu Wei was stunned again.
She had originally thought she had seen Su Yu before, so she wasn't surprised. But tonight, she hadn't studied Su Yu at all, and now he was pulling her out very skillfully, obviously not only having seen her before, but also knowing her very well.
Fu Wei suddenly realized that what she had seen was far more extensive than what he had seen.
Thinking of this, Fu Wei felt a little depressed.
In front of her, he seemed to have no advantages to show off...
The two returned to the Fu family and waited for a while before hearing the He brothers shouting, "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!"
The sound echoed from one end of the village to the other. Soon, someone lit firewood and hurried out of the house.
The He brothers shouted, "The thief was caught in the Fu family's medicine field!"
Those who had already gotten up quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed to the Fu family's medicinal fields.
Luo and Fu An and Funing were also awakened by the noise. They rushed out of the house in a panic and saw their two daughters-in-law and second son in the yard. They hurriedly asked, "What happened?!"
Yu Ying said, "Don't worry, mother. Nothing serious has happened. My eldest brother and the third brother of the Song family have gone, and my eldest sister-in-law and I will also go to take a look. Mother, you stay at home and take care of her."
After all, it is her own medicinal field, so Yu Ying has no choice but to go.
Luo Ma hurriedly warned, "Be careful. If anything goes wrong, come back immediately."
Yu Ying responded and went out of the house with her sister-in-law, carrying an oil lamp.
But before we got far, the oil lamp went out. However, because some families carried simple lanterns, there was still some light to guide the way.
Because the land that Yu Ying rented was good land and close to the river, it only took half a minute to arrive.
In front of the villagers, Fu Zhen and Song Sanlang tied up the men again.
The villagers cursed the thieves loudly and shouted that they would break their legs to see if they dared to do such sneaky things again.
Yu Ying vaguely saw that the medicinal seedlings in the medicine field were trampled and wilted, and her heart suddenly sank.
Now that they have been caught red-handed, those people can’t deny it even if they want to.
However, if the magistrate wanted to protect these people, Yu Ying would be helpless against them, so she could only hope that Fu Wei would bring back good news after meeting his friend tomorrow.
The few people who were tied up again saw the villagers holding weapons and shouting that they would beat them to a pulp, and they were so upset that they could not even cry.
When their boss agreed to the task assigned to Director Luo, they all thought it was just a matter of dealing with an ordinary peasant woman and it wouldn't be difficult.
That's what they thought at the time.
But now they feel that it is not just difficult, it is extremely difficult!
If they had known it would turn out like this, they would never have listened to the boss and come to Lingshui Village at night!
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