Chapter 26
Yu's mother was pale and cried out her daughter's nickname in a heart-wrenching voice.
"A-Wan! A-Wan! Please, please don't hurt her!"
"Sister! You bunch of bad people, I'll fight you to the death!" Yu Cheng tried to rush in, but was stopped by the kind-hearted people.
"Little brat, are you out of your mind? You'll get your sister into trouble!"
No one expected things to develop to this point. Everyone was terrified, but the girl who was being held hostage remained the most composed.
Tang Yezhou held the soft sword against Yu Wan's fair and slender neck, scanning the entire room warily before finally returning his gaze to Lord Zhu's face.
“Lord Zhu, I have served you for so many years. I may not have made any great contributions, but I have certainly put in a lot of hard work. Today, I ask for nothing else but that you spare the lives of the three of us brothers.”
Qian Jindai and Zhao Gu seized the opportunity to run behind him, and the three of them formed a united front, appearing to be advancing and retreating together.
Qian Jindai whispered to Tang Yezhou, "This woman must not be killed. Taking her away will be of great use to us in our future comeback."
Yu Wan heard everything. These three people clearly treated her like she was dead, not caring whether she knew or not.
Lord Zhu hurriedly stepped down from the presiding judge's seat and urged, "Brother Tang, what are you doing? Do you want to add another charge to the case? Release him at once!"
Tang Yezhou's expression was resolute. "Sir, I know you have always upheld justice. Today, our crimes have been exposed, and you will certainly not let us off easily. If it were just petty theft, that would be one thing, but we have committed murder. We are not willing to go to jail, so we can only apologize."
He coldly surveyed the constables around him: "You know I am highly skilled in martial arts. Even if you all come at me together, you can't beat me. Rather than throwing your lives away in vain, you'd better stand still. Considering that we've worked together for many years, I will absolutely not harm you."
The constables knew they were no match for him, but they couldn't just let the criminal go; the people were watching.
"Brother Tang, what's wrong with you... sigh..."
Jin Yifei said urgently, "Uncle Tang, let's talk this out. Just name your terms, can you release them first?"
Tang Yezhou's expression was complicated. He glanced at Lord Zhu and said coldly:
"Second brother, give the antidote to Lord Zhu."
Zhao Gu was stunned upon hearing this, then looked troubled.
"Third brother, I...I..."
Tang Yezhou seemed to realize something and looked at him in surprise.
Zhao Gu looked embarrassed: "I don't have any antidote. My master said that the poison is easy to prepare, but the antidote is difficult to find."
Tang Yezhou panicked and said reproachfully, "Didn't you say the antidote was on you?"
Qian Jindai urged, "Don't worry about that now. The best we can do is escape from here. Third brother, go easy on her. Don't kill her. She's our cash cow."
Yu Wan appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly she was thinking about how to save herself.
The person holding me hostage is highly skilled in martial arts, so a direct confrontation is definitely not an option; I can only outsmart them.
Tang Yezhou felt a mix of emotions and looked at Lord Zhu with guilt.
"My lord, I'm sorry. I didn't know my second brother didn't have the antidote. I've harmed Miss Zhu this time, and I owe you my life. But today I must take my eldest and second brothers with me."
He held Yu Wan's shoulder with one hand and held his sword against her neck with the other, the blade pressing slightly against her fair and delicate skin.
"Madam Yu, if you come with us obediently, I won't make things difficult for you. Otherwise, I might not be so sure!"
Yu Wan pursed her lips. It would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid, but after being surrounded by wolves, she was still relatively calm.
After all, she knew that her life was not in immediate danger.
I don't know if He Suzhi can beat this person, but even if he could, it wouldn't matter, since he's not here now.
Moreover, he is injured, and it would be difficult for him to protect himself if he encountered a strong enemy.
We can only take it one step at a time now; as long as we're alive, we'll find a solution.
In the blink of an eye, a pebble flew out of nowhere and struck Tang Yezhou's hand holding the sword in the tiger's mouth with lightning speed.
The impact of the stone was so strong that Tang Yezhou felt a sharp pain and lost his grip on the soft sword.
The soft sword hit the ground, and he staggered back several steps before finally regaining his balance.
At the same time, Yu Wan saw a figure suddenly rush towards her, and then felt herself being pulled into a broad and strong embrace.
After a moment of dizziness, she realized she had broken free of Tang Yezhou's control. Looking closely at the person holding her captive in his arms, her expression brightened with joy.
"You're back!"
The boy's face was pale, his dark eyes had lost most of their light, and blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth.
"I'm back."
He had barely uttered that one sentence when he became disoriented and nearly fell over.
Yu Wan quickly helped him up, knowing that he must have aggravated his old injury again. Without thinking about anything else, she quickly helped him find a place to sit down.
Tang Yezhou gripped his right hand with his left, only to find that his right hand was trembling with pain, and blood was flowing freely from the tiger's mouth. He looked at the boy who had ambushed him in disbelief.
He was about to ask the boy who he was and how his skill was so profound when, unexpectedly, the boy... fainted.
The constables, who had been doing nothing for years, didn't just stand by this time. With a hint from Lord Zhu, they seized the opportunity while He Jing was rescuing Yu Wan to subdue all three of them.
Lord Zhu looked at Tang Yezhou with a pained expression, "Sigh... I never imagined that one day we would be on opposite sides. Why did you do this?"
Tang Yezhou endured the pain and said in a deep voice, "Since I have lost, I will obey your orders."
Lord Zhu didn't know what to say and just shook his head repeatedly.
He then looked at Zhao Gu, a glimmer of hope in his eyes, and asked, "Could you tell me who your master is?"
Zhao Gu smiled bitterly: "You want to ask my master to cure your daughter's poison? No way. He has been living in seclusion for many years, and ordinary people can't persuade him to come out of seclusion. Even if you could persuade him to come out of seclusion, I'm afraid he still can't concoct the antidote."
Lord Zhu looked utterly desperate. Was there really no one who could save his precious daughter?
An old man's voice came from afar, growing louder as it approached.
"Zhao Gu! How dare you steal my medicine and harm people!"
An elderly man with a ruddy complexion and white hair walked in. He first angrily pointed at Zhao Gu with his finger, then came to He Jing's side, took his pulse, and shook his head and sighed.
Yu Wan asked tentatively, "Old man, is he going to die?"
The old man chuckled twice, "No, he's still hanging on by a thread."
Yu Wan breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."
Before he could finish speaking, He Jing suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
The old man quickly took out a white pill and put it in his mouth, while also comforting Yu Wan.
"Don't worry, although the injuries are severe, you won't die for now."
The old man approached Lord Zhu, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, “My lord, I know about your daughter’s situation, but I may be powerless to help. The antidote requires a rare medicinal herb. I was fortunate enough to find one many years ago, but unfortunately, I used it to save someone, and I haven’t been able to find it again since. This is my fault; if I hadn’t kept the poison, intending to research an antidote, it wouldn’t have been stolen. Zhao Gu was a disciple I once took on, but he was expelled from the sect many years ago for his misconduct. But rest assured, I will do my best to treat your daughter.”
Zhao Gu shrank back and begged for mercy with a pitiful look on his face: "Master, I was wrong. Please, for the sake of our past master-disciple relationship, find a way to save me."
The old man sneered, "You brought this on yourself, I don't care about you! And don't call me master anymore, our master-disciple relationship ended a long time ago!"
Lord Zhu hadn't expected the court hearing to drag on for so long. Now that the facts were clear, he threw the three men into jail and adjourned the court.
Yu's mother and Yu Cheng rushed over and hugged Yu Wan, both of them crying their eyes out.
Yu Wan smiled and comforted her, "It's alright. What did I say before I left home? I'll definitely be fine. Okay, stop crying."
Tears streamed down Yu's mother's face as she stroked her cheeks, wanting to say something but ultimately remaining silent, biting her lip and wiping away her tears.
Yu Cheng looked at the unconscious He Jing and asked, "Sister, when will Brother Su wake up?"
Yu Wan shook her head: "I don't know either."
Now that He Jing is in a coma and needs the old man's help to treat him, and the old man also needs to treat Zhu Zhifeng, Lord Zhu has let them stay at the Zhu residence temporarily.
Yu's mother felt she couldn't accept such a great favor, so she gave Yu Wan a few words of advice and then took Yu Cheng home.
After settling He Jing in, Yu Wan suggested that they go visit Zhu Zhifeng together.
After talking with the old man, Yu Wan learned that his name was Rong Xun.
Rong Xun chuckled and said, "The He family lad is lucky. I happened to be traveling in a county town a thousand miles away, otherwise we really might not have made it here. Despite his injuries, he carried me day and night, almost shaking this old man to pieces along the way. He's only managed to hold on this long because he's young and has a strong constitution; anyone else would have died halfway there."
Yu Wan pursed her lips, surprised that the person was quite considerate, probably to repay the favor of being taken in.
Since that's the case, let's not argue about the medical expenses. We'll just let him go once he wakes up.
After taking Zhu Zhifeng's pulse, Rong Xun shook his head and sighed.
"I had been hoping that if she had been poisoned by something else, I could have cured her, but it is precisely the kind of poison I least wanted to encounter. I am powerless to help."
The magistrate and his wife were in despair and wept bitterly in each other's arms.
Yu Wan was very curious: what kind of medicinal herb was so hard to find?
Zhu Zhifeng is so young, no one could bear to watch her fall into a deep sleep like this.
The county magistrate and his wife only had one daughter. How much pain must they be in?
Undeterred, she asked, "Elder Rong, what is that medicinal herb you mentioned?"
Rong Xun replied, "This thing resembles ginseng, but it is not a common variety. There are also some differences in its appearance, such as the leaves."
Yu Wan pondered for a moment: "American ginseng?"
She had read popular science articles in her previous life, and learned that American ginseng was a variety introduced from overseas later, and probably had not yet appeared in ancient times during this period.
etc!
Her food system always rewards her with ingredients, and American ginseng is one of them.
So, she has it!
Rong Xun stroked his beard and asked, "What is American ginseng? Is it the name of the medicinal herb I just mentioned? Young lady, do you recognize it? Have you seen it somewhere before? Tell me quickly, where did you see it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
