Human life is of paramount importance
After the renovations were completed, Xinglin Medical Clinic reopened, but the number of patients was much lower than before.
Closing the store itself would result in a loss of customers, and the previous incidents made people even more worried, leading to a sharp decline in business for a time.
Lin thought that the person had already achieved their goal and might stop there.
However, the clinic cannot stand still; business will eventually return to its previous booming state. Therefore, we must remain vigilant until the person behind the scenes is identified.
However, their opponents clearly had no intention of giving them a chance to catch their breath, and instead chose to strike while the iron was hot.
Two days later, Xinglin Medical Clinic, which had reopened, ran into trouble again.
A richly dressed butler-like figure stormed in angrily, followed by three or five burly men, each carrying a wooden stick.
Lin Yi stood up nervously, his eyes fixed on the people holding weapons.
Xueya hurriedly ran behind her, her voice trembling as she called out softly, "Miss!"
Lin Yi squeezed Xueya's fingers to comfort her. She had already hired people from the martial arts troupe to pose as ordinary customers around the clinic, providing covert protection.
At this moment, everyone gathered around the clinic, waiting for the burly men to make a move before pinning them to the ground.
However, the butler-like figure clearly retained some composure and rationality. Although his men were each armed with sticks, they did not immediately injure people or destroy property.
The butler, his face grim, met Lin's gaze and loudly demanded, "Who was the doctor yesterday?"
Wang Chunsheng raised one hand, "I saw it." He then tried to come out from behind the examination table, but Lin Yi stopped him.
The steward raised his hand and said, "Take him away." Three servants behind him responded and moved forward to take him away.
"Wait a minute." Lin Yi stood in front of the three of them. "He's just a doctor who treats patients. I'm the one in charge of this clinic. If you have any problems, come at me."
The three servants looked at each other, unsure whether they should really attack the woman.
The butler pushed the people aside, stood in front of Lin Yi, and sneered, "Miss Qiu, even if you are the daughter of Chief Qiu, you cannot take a life, can you?"
Lin Yi put one hand behind his back and said coldly, "Please explain clearly what happened. How did I take someone's life?"
No one noticed that Xueya had already moved slowly behind the crowd, and once her figure disappeared behind the curtain leading to the backyard, she vanished in a flash.
"What happened? My third wife came to see you yesterday, and she passed away this morning, along with her unborn child!"
!!
Everyone present was shocked when they heard this.
In the blink of an eye, two lives were lost!
Lin Yi never imagined that her opponent had become so ruthless. Did they really want to fight to the death, until both were severely injured? If that were the case, could she still win...?
No, she has to win. She will protect the infirmary and all the people behind her.
To determine the true situation, we cannot rely solely on this person's one-sided account.
"May I ask which family you are, and when you came for your consultation?" Lin Yi tried to calm herself, but her voice trembled involuntarily. She was afraid.
At that moment, a pair of strong hands firmly pressed down on her shoulders.
Lin Yi turned around blankly and saw Wang Chunsheng. He had come after all.
Xueya slipped out the back door and ran all the way to Mingdu Prefecture. Before the opening, the young lady had told her that the clinic had become a thorn in the side of others, and there would be no shortage of trouble in the future.
If something really happens, follow Miss's instructions and find outside help immediately.
They had agreed on several hand signals beforehand. The gesture of raising her left hand behind her back was a signal for her to seize an opportunity to leave and find the government officials to take charge.
Lin Yi had her reasons for choosing the government over other matters: Firstly, the Yong'an Marquis's family had long been detached from court affairs, and being a fallen family, they were too preoccupied with their own problems to care about Xie Chengnan. Secondly, she did not want to involve Qiu Qingye's family. Although Qiu Baiji was a third-rank official, he was still different from a powerful minister. Over the years, he had devoted himself to medicine and had reached the highest position in the medical field. Lin Yi did not want to implicate Qiu Baiji because of herself.
Secondly, based on Lin Yi's deduction, this matter was most likely just ordinary industry competition and didn't need to escalate to the level of family power. She acted uprightly, reported it to the authorities, and handled it impartially, letting those who wanted to use any means necessary see that there is justice in the world, thus preventing future troubles.
Xueya was unaware of Lin Yi's considerations; she only knew that she should follow whatever her mistress instructed.
She ran quickly, her cheeks flushed. The situation at the clinic was unclear, and she dared not waste a moment. She ran until her heart was about to jump out of her throat, and finally saw the three big characters of Mingdu Prefecture.
Throughout the Great An Kingdom, government offices were established to handle judicial affairs, maintain order, and resolve cases. Mingzhou, as the imperial capital, was no exception; however, in addition to handling ordinary cases, it also had the ability to investigate officials.
Xueya slipped some silver to the guards on duty at the gate and mentioned the name of the Qiu family, and was finally allowed to enter.
Following the script Lin Yi had taught her, she preemptively brought up the two previous disturbances at the clinic and then mentioned that someone was causing trouble.
However, the government office's reaction was quite different from what was expected. The man looked troubled and said, "A life has been lost. This is no longer a dispute between ordinary businesses. The person involved, Master Liu, has already reported the case, and the yamen runners are on their way. Please go back, young lady."
Xueya wanted to argue, but two yamen runners directly "invited" her out of Mingdu Prefecture.
"You can't do this! Send more people! Someone is trying to harm my young lady—" Xueya stepped forward to continue arguing, but someone grabbed her wrist from behind.
"Who—Guard Cang! It's you? Don't stop me, Miss is in trouble!"
"Miss Qiu asked me to keep an eye on you secretly. What happened?" Cang Xie asked.
Xueya recounted to him everything that had just happened at the clinic and what the government office had said.
"If it is indeed a murder case... this matter is difficult to handle. I will go and report to the Marquis."
"Then I'll go back and find Miss!"
Cang Xie reached out and grabbed the person: "I promised Miss that I would protect you. The medical ward is too dangerous now, you can't go back."
With an apologetic expression, he said in a low voice, "I've offended Miss Xueya." Then he put his arm around Xueya's waist, took two steps onto the roof, and hurried towards the Xie residence.
...
The situation at the Xinglin Medical Clinic was tense. Both sides attacked simultaneously, and the strong servants were subdued and pinned to the ground by thugs hired by Lin Yi from the martial arts world.
The steward was so angry he was practically fuming. Pointing at Lin Yi, he said, "Miss Qiu, what are you doing! Are you trying to protect the murderer? My master has no intention of being enemies with the Imperial Academy Master. As long as the murderer confesses and is executed, he will pay with his life, and no one else will be implicated."
Lin Yi retorted sharply: "The body hasn't been found yet, and the details haven't been investigated. It would be too hasty to identify the murderer at this point."
"Hasty? My third wife's departure was truly hasty!"
Just as the two were at an impasse, Lin Yi faintly heard the sound of people walking in an orderly fashion on the street, and a thought struck him.
But then her heart sank. If it was someone from Mingdu Prefecture, they had arrived far too quickly. Even if Xueya had taken a shortcut, they would have only just arrived. So who was it?
The visitor was indeed from Mingdu Prefecture, but he was not invited by Xueya; he was the steward of Master Liu's household.
A line of yamen runners dressed in plain blue robes stood neatly outside the Xinglin Medical Clinic, attracting passersby to stop and watch.
The head of the troop stepped out of the ranks, looked around at everyone in the clinic, and then said, "This morning we received a report from the Liu family that Xinglin Clinic is suspected of poisoning Madam Liu. Miss Qiu, please bring your people and come with us."
At this time, at the Yong'an Marquis's residence.
Xie Chengnan lay in the rocking chair, but couldn't concentrate on reading a single word of the storybook in his hand. For some reason, he felt inexplicably anxious.
He looked up at the dazzling sunlight on the courtyard wall and thought to himself, "Cang Xie has been gone for too long."
He knew that Qiu Qingye's clinic hadn't been very peaceful lately, and he also knew that the person had encountered trouble but hadn't asked him for help. Instead, she had sought help from Cang Xie. He wondered if it was because he had treated her too badly before.
That might be a bit too much.
On his wedding night, he left his bride alone in her room and even threatened to force a pampered young lady who never lifted a finger to do chores in his household... Thinking about it this way, I seem to be a really bad person.
Xie Chengnan shook his head, but he couldn't shake off the jumbled thoughts or the inexplicable anxiety.
So he got up and walked towards the gate of the mansion.
They happened to run into Cang Xie, who was carrying Xueya into the room.
"Lord Marquis"
"Young Master—!"
Before Cang Xie could finish speaking, Xue Ya interrupted him.
The little girl had barely touched the ground when she lunged at Xie Chengnan, grabbing his sleeve tightly. "Young Master, something's happened at the clinic! Someone's died! Quick, save Miss! She's surrounded! The Mingdu Prefecture has sent men to arrest her!"
Xueya was anxious, and her words were incoherent, but she didn't miss a single crucial piece of information. Xie Chengnan listened and pieced together about 80-90% of what she said.
"I'll go take a look. Cang Xie, come with me," Xie Chengnan said, turning around.
"Young master! Take me with you, I want to come too!"
Xie Chengnan turned back and looked into her eyes seriously, saying, "Your young lady won't want you to go. Staying at home is helping her. Be good."
"..." Xueya lowered her head and sniffed hard. "Xueya understands."
Seeing that she agreed, Xie Chengnan didn't linger any longer and turned to leave in a hurry.
Xueya suddenly remembered that Qiu Qingye had also told her something else, but she had forgotten it in her haste.
"Young Master—Miss said she needs to go get something from Young Master Feng!" she shouted at Xie Chengnan.
Xie Chengnan didn't even pause as he left, only saying "I understand" before striding out of the Xie residence and disappearing from sight in no time.
Xueya remained alone at the Xie residence, secretly anxious. What did he know? Even she herself didn't know what her young mistress wanted to retrieve.
Although she was anxious, she did not leave the Xie residence this time. She knew that if she couldn't help, being obedient would at least prevent her from causing trouble.
She had come to believe, without realizing it, that her son-in-law was the second most trustworthy person after her daughter.
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