Heart-to-heart talk under the moon
Duan Wenjin's complaint, along with the evidence he had secretly collected over the years, exposed Duan Qitian's unscrupulous methods of suppressing small clinics since taking over Renjitang.
This approach is extremely risky; one wrong move and it could lead Renjitang to its doom.
Duan Qitian had been taken to Mingdu Prefecture for several days, and Duan Wenjin naturally took over Renjitang.
Some praised him for his strong sense of justice, while others condemned him for his wolfish ambition. Regardless of external opinions, Duan Wenjin acted swiftly and decisively, quickly reorganizing Renjitang and now holding absolute power.
However, this incident ultimately damaged Renjitang's foundation, and its business never recovered its previous booming state.
On the bright side, since Duan Wenjin was able to bring down Duan Qitian, he naturally wouldn't follow in his footsteps, and Renjitang would eventually move towards a brighter future.
The sun shone warmly and peacefully, and Mingzhou City was serene and tranquil. Beneath this tranquility, however, many people were anxiously awaiting the first execution of the year, hoping to add a touch of excitement and suspense to the otherwise ordinary days.
Lin Yi was also waiting for that moment, but unlike the others who were curious, her heart was heavy. It wasn't just a trial for Liu Yuanwai, but also for her, and perhaps, for Duan Wenjin as well.
On the day of the Autumn Equinox, many people gathered inside and outside the East Market, but the prisoner and the executioner were nowhere to be seen.
Later, Lin heard that on the last day of this bustling summer, the day before Liu Yuanwai was to be executed, Duan Wenjin had visited him, and the two sat facing each other in prison for half the night.
What the two discussed is unknown, but Liu Yuanwai shouted at Duan Wenjin several times, "I misjudged you."
After Duan Wenjin left, Liu Yuanwai sat alone for half the night, and finally died by hitting his head against the wall before dawn.
If a prisoner dies unexpectedly before his execution, the last person who came into contact with him should be interrogated.
But for some reason, Yue Mingzhang didn't summon Duan Wenjin, and the matter was simply swept under the rug.
Lin Yi heard these things from Feng Zhengxian. Given his relationship with Yue Mingzhang, they should be true and reliable.
On the same day, the investigation into Duan Qitian yielded results. It was only after the investigation that it was discovered that his illegal profiteering and market manipulation had affected most of the pharmacies inside and outside Mingzhou City, and it was no exaggeration to call it a monopoly.
However, he never cheated patients out of their money in his own business, but only suppressed emerging clinics. Therefore, he could not be considered to be making exorbitant profits. For the crime of "monopolizing the market", he was sentenced to fifty strokes of the cane and fined one thousand taels of silver.
Yue Mingzhang considered that Duan Qitian was old and might not be able to withstand the torture, so he specially carried out the punishment in two parts.
Even so, by the time he recovered, Renjitang no longer had a place for him.
Renjitang's reputation plummeted, and it was burdened with a debt of a thousand taels of silver. But for this century-old brand, hitting rock bottom meant rebirth.
On the third day after Liu Yuanwai's death, Duan Wenjin took complete control of Renjitang and became the new head of the hall.
On the day of his inauguration, Renjitang specially sent an invitation to Miss Qiu.
Xueya accepted the invitation, while Lin only glanced at it hastily before casually placing it on the table. She hadn't intended to go. However, a question lingered in her mind, like a fishbone stuck in her throat, and she couldn't let it go without asking in person. So, at midday, she still stood at the entrance of Renji Hall, at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, until the ceremony ended and the guests had all left.
"Miss Qiu, I thought you weren't coming." Duan Wenjin was pleasantly surprised to see that she had come.
"Congratulations," Lin Yi said calmly.
The polite words sounded too distant, and Duan Wenjin didn't know how to respond for a moment.
"..."
"Whether I come or not is of no concern to you, but I have a question I want to ask you."
"Miss Qiu, please ask."
Lin Yi asked, "Did you plan for this day all along?"
"..."
"That evidence has been accumulated over many years. If it hadn't been collected long ago, how could it be so easily produced now? It's as if you knew all along, or rather, you planned it all out, that it would come in handy one day. Was all of this something you did in the moment, or something you had planned all along?" Lin Yi laid bare his words, presenting them clearly to the two of them.
Duan Wenjin felt bitter after hearing this, but did not answer her directly. "If you have already made up your mind, then anything I say is superfluous."
"Miss Qiu and I regret not meeting sooner. If the timing is not right, we should consider each other as bosom friends."
Lin Yi simply shook her head. "A true friend is someone who understands and supports you. I don't understand you. It's as if all your actions are under your control. I used to think you were like a gentle breeze and a clear moon, kind and humble. I praised you a few times for that, and Xie Chengnan even got jealous." Mentioning Xie Chengnan, her stiff expression relaxed slightly.
Duan Wenjin smiled bitterly: "So now you've discovered that I, Duan, am nothing but a fraud and a charlatan?"
Lin Yi's lips parted slightly, but some words were on the tip of her tongue and she swallowed them back. She shook her head: "It's not important anymore. Please, sir, uphold the medical ethics and do not betray this hard-won position of head of the hall."
"……certainly."
Lin Yi didn't get the answer she wanted, but he reassured her a lot because of his attitude. But as she had just said, since she didn't want to face him anymore, and since the two of them were destined not to be on the same path, then what kind of person he was was no longer important.
During dinner, Lin Yi drank some alcohol, which was unusual for him.
She doesn't drink alcohol often. At previous classmate reunions, she would only take a few sips of beer before declining to drink any more, so she didn't know her alcohol tolerance.
So after drinking two cups of sweet wine as if it were water, Lin Yi realized that his alcohol tolerance might not be bad. He could see no double shadows in the candlelight, he walked steadily, and his mind was still clear.
She wasn't drunk, but some people were even more worried.
Looking at her calm and ordinary appearance, Xueya felt her heart tighten, a dull ache spreading through her.
"Young master, why don't you go see Miss? She's unhappy; she hasn't smiled in a long time." The young girl who said this had droopy lips and eyebrows, making it impossible to tell who was unhappy.
Xie Chengnan naturally noticed that Qiu Qingye was acting strangely, but hesitated, thinking that it might be better to let her process her emotions on her own.
Why don't you go see her?
Xueya looked down at the ground, where the shadows of trees were cast by moonlight and lamplight, hazy and dim like the past she had almost forgotten, but it had clearly been less than half a year.
“When Miss used to be unhappy, she would always scold people, and then she would be fine. Now Miss neither hits nor scolds, and doesn’t even say a harsh word. She just endures it all by herself, and I don’t know what to do. Seeing Miss brooding alone is worse than her beating me up.”
Xie Chengnan laughed, "Someone's practically begging to be beaten. Did she used to beat you a lot?"
Realizing that her words might have implied that her mistress had treated her badly in the past, Xueya quickly retorted, "No, my mistress is very good to me. Even if I do something wrong, she will punish me, but it's just a small punishment. I know that my mistress has always been very kind to me."
"You're quite protective of her."
"The young lady is good to me, so naturally I will protect her."
Qiu Qing's kindness towards the little girl was evident to everyone in the Xie family, but Xie Chengnan remained silent.
Xueya pressed on, "So, young master, are you going to see Miss or not?"
"Of course I'll go." Xie Chengnan sighed softly, but Qiu Qing was in the same state, and he wasn't confident he could appease her. "I'll go see her."
When Xie Chengnan found Qiu Qingye, she was reading a book in the pavilion.
It was early autumn, and the weather hadn't turned cool yet. Staying indoors always felt stuffy, so Lin Yi turned on the lamp and used the dim light to read the medical books he had just bought.
She was always very engrossed in her studies and didn't like to be disturbed. To avoid being bitten by mosquitoes outside, she carried two homemade mosquito repellent sachets. One was hung on her waist, and the other was placed on the stone table.
As Xie Chengnan approached, he smelled a faint medicinal fragrance.
The moonlight, soft and lustrous, shone on her light blue silk dress, making her face appear even more radiant and gentle.
He simply couldn't reconcile the serene woman before him with the domineering young lady who frequently beat and scolded her servants.
That feeling of being out of control is back.
Xie Chengnan chose to break the silence and reached out to pull the book from her wrist.
Even though she was disturbed, she didn't show any displeasure; her emotions seemed a little too calm.
Xie Chengnan leaned against a pavilion pillar and casually pinched the corner of a book: "I'm feeling really bored today and can't sleep. Keep me company and let's chat."
Lin Yi looked intently into his eyes. "What do you want to talk about?"
Xie Chengnan looked away, avoiding her gaze. In the silence, the sound of the wind was exceptionally clear. In that instant, Xie Chengnan had a sudden inspiration, and he said, "Before we talk, let's enjoy the breeze together."
After saying that, he suddenly moved closer, his hand gripping her waist. Lin felt a lightness beneath her as she was lifted off the stone bench. The dark ground and shadows of the trees flashed by in her vision, just like the night wind blowing through her hair and skirt. When Xie Chengnan's clothes fell, they brushed against the back of her hand, causing a slight itch.
With a soft clatter, Xie Chengnan led her to leap onto the roof of the nearest room, and the entire Yong'an Marquis's mansion was now beneath their feet.
Xie Chengnan lowered his hand, still looking absent-minded and lazy, but his words gently touched Lin Yi's heart.
"Bathed in moonlight, basking in silvery glow, drinking in the wind and brushing against the dew. How about it, isn't this place nice?" He said this with his eyes lightly closed, as if he wanted to melt into the moonlight.
Lin Yi followed his example and closed her eyes. The crisp night wind blew into her collar, along her skin, and made her clothes flutter. Lin Yi felt as if she were enveloped in the flowing air, or as if the wind filled her body. The heavy, thick emotions that were originally there gradually dissipated in the wind, carried away by the sound of the wind.
Lin Yifang opened her eyes only when the wind made her shiver. She saw Xie Chengnan staring intently at her, his moonlit eyes meeting hers without warning.
"I--"
"you--"
Xie Chengnan seemed afraid that she would be blown off the roof by the wind, so he stood on a lower corner of the eaves, with a smiling face and a gentle tone that could melt your heart, "You go first."
Previously, my thoughts were chaotic and heavy, as if I had a lot to say but couldn't find the words. But now, the wind has blown them away, and I don't know what to say anymore. "Didn't you want to talk to me? Why don't you go first?"
Xie Chengnan nodded: "Are you still bothered by not telling Yue Mingzhang the truth?"
Seeing that the man remained silent, Xie Chengnan knew he had hit the nail on the head. "You think he really doesn't know just because you don't say anything?"
Lin Yi, unusually, didn't quite grasp the meaning. "What do you mean?"
Xie Chengnan smiled, but his voice was gentle, as if coaxing a child: "With such a commotion in the prison that day, and Duan Wenjin's recent actions, did he really not guess what was going on? He just turned a blind eye; he simply made the same choice as you. Not investigating thoroughly is both an explanation to the higher-ups and a way of respecting the wishes of Liu and Duan."
However, in my opinion, the key to this matter isn't you, but Duan Wenjin. If he hadn't exposed Duan Qitian's actions after you chose to keep it a secret, Yue Mingzhang might have actually brought him to justice.
“If he hadn’t spoken up, what Renjitang did wouldn’t have become widely known, at least not so soon. Many more small clinics would have been unable to survive then. Although it wasn’t murder or arson, it was still real evil,” Lin Yi said.
"Have you figured it out?"
"It's hard to say. I'm just somewhat glad that I didn't say it outright back then," Lin Yi said.
"That's right. There are many things that don't need to be thought about too clearly."
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