003
The apprentice doctor's face turned red with anger, and he retorted, "Stop talking nonsense! Our master's medical skills are the best; he would never kill anyone..."
Tang Zian patted the boy's head, and the boy shut up defiantly, shrinking to the side, almost bursting into tears.
The servant continued to block the young man from entering, but turned to look hesitantly at the young master of the clinic: "...This..."
Tang Zi'an had already walked from inside the hall to the door and calmly asked, "Where do you live? Can you take me there? If you've kept any dregs of the medicine, I can take a look at them too..."
The young man waved his hand to interrupt him: "What are you looking at! There's no need to look anymore. My mother only took your medicine after she got sick. It's because your medical skills are incompetent and you treated her haphazardly, otherwise my mother could have lived for another twenty years! You...you still dare to open a clinic and harm people!!"
As soon as the young man finished speaking, he broke free from the servants' obstruction and rushed into the clinic, smashing everything in his path. The Chinese medicine that had just been sorted and placed on the table for packaging was spilled all over the floor, and the flying dregs affected almost everyone in the hall. Qin Sang and Xie Suian were not spared either.
Fortunately, Jinyun was quick-witted and shielded his young master with his body. Although he remained calm on the surface, he couldn't help but mutter, "The security in this godforsaken place is terrible. The clinic is going to kill people. Young master, let's go back quickly."
Xie Suian thought to himself that if the security was bad, then it was his grandfather, the prime minister, who had failed in his duty. This time, he could take his grandfather on a private patrol.
But he was too tired to talk to Jinyun about these things at the moment. His stomach was still churning. He tremblingly reached out a hand and grabbed Qin Sang's hanging sleeve.
Qin Sang was watching the man's tantrum with a helpless expression when she noticed someone pulling her. Turning around, she heard the pale-faced young man say weakly, "Excuse me, please brew my medicine first..."
Qin Sang then realized that saving the person was the priority. Seeing that the boy was weak and dehydrated, she knew that acute gastroenteritis could be fatal in severe cases. So she instructed Jinyun to help the boy to the back room, where there were beds for seriously ill patients to rest briefly.
She dismissed the people and, amidst the chaos, personally gathered the medicinal herbs to hand over to the maid who was preparing the medicine. However, she caught a glimpse of a familiar round face among the crowd of onlookers outside the clinic.
Who is that but Manager Li, who made three visits to Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage to buy his family's tea plantation?
Manager Li stood in the crowd, waving at her with a simple smile.
Qin Sang immediately understood what was happening, and her blood rushed to her head, preparing to chase after it. However, she had only taken two steps when a weight flew through the air and headed straight for her face... She closed her eyes.
Fortunately, Tang Zian appeared in time and reached out to block it for her, but the weight slammed heavily onto the back of Tang Zian's hand with a dull thud.
Just hearing about it made Tang Zi'an's heart ache, and he blushed instantly, clutching his arms.
"Let me see..." Qin Sang quickly took his hand and saw that the back of his hand was swollen. She said, "Come on, let's go to the backyard and put a cold compress on it..."
At this moment, Jinyun ran out from the back room, stamping her feet with a wronged expression: "Young lady, you're such a bodhisattva! When are you finally going to brew the medicine for my young master?! He's almost dying!!!"
For a moment, Qin Sang felt her head buzzing.
She took a deep breath to calm herself, first handing the medicine she had just prepared to the maid in the backyard who was brewing it, then having Ying'er apply the medicine to Tang Zi'an, before she herself escaped the noise in the hall and chased after him into the street.
After going out into the street, he bumped into Xiao Gou Dan, who was selling fruit with a basket. He told him to hurry up and report to the county government. Only then did he shout at the top of his lungs, "Master Li, please wait!"
Qin Sang jogged a few steps to Li Zhupang's side. Although Li Zhupang was fat, he was not short. He looked down at Qin Sang with a smile and greeted her: "Miss Qin Sang, have you come to a decision?"
Qin Sang put her hands on her hips, raised her head, and shouted aggressively, "What do you mean by this?"
The vendors on both sides of the street were all acquaintances, and upon hearing this, they immediately turned their attention to her. Qin Sang was usually amiable and generous when buying things; no one had ever seen her argue with anyone, let alone in public.
Li, the person in charge, glanced at the crowd of onlookers but still pretended to be clueless: "What do you mean?"
"You hired that guy who caused trouble at the clinic, didn't you? Aren't you going too far? We're not selling the land, so you come up with these underhanded tricks to disgust us? Let me tell you," Qin Sang shouted, "the tea garden is something I, this young lady, worked so hard to build. I said I wouldn't sell it, and I mean it. If you try to bully us and seize our land and property, I'll go to the capital and sue you!"
Her fair face flushed with anger, but despite her fierce expression, Manager Li still smiled and said, "Miss Qin Sang, don't be anxious. Poor thing, don't get sick from worrying. I'm very sincere, and my offer isn't low. Please think it over again, ah, think it over again." With that, he slowly walked away.
Qin Sang stood there with her hands on her hips, but a sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart. She had a feeling that this man was very difficult to deal with, and he definitely had more tricks up his sleeve... She rubbed her temples with a headache.
A concerned bystander immediately asked, "What's wrong, Miss Qin? Who was that person just now? I heard you say you wanted to sell your land, what's going on?"
Qin Sang was speechless: "Grandma Li, I meant I'm not selling the land!"
Then she vividly and pitifully recounted how a manager from a large teahouse in Quzhou had tried to force her to sell her family's tea plantation, which filled everyone with righteous indignation and uncontrollable anger.
"I'll beat that bastard to a pulp! If he ever comes to my noodle stall again, I'm not selling him any noodles!"
"Exactly, we won't even sell him water!"
"He won't even get a bite of the best steamed buns in Lixian County!"
"Bullshit! Your flatbread is awful and you dare call it the best? My wife's homemade flatbread is better than your cornmeal-mixed dry bread!"
Everyone started joking around, while the owner of a candy shop, cracking melon seeds and leaning against the door, said, "Keep bragging, you lot. When they see money, their eyes will widen like gongs. Girl, take my advice, hurry up and ask someone to help you find connections. Now that you mention it, I know they must have powerful backers. Just us ordinary folks... how can we possibly fight against them? Don't you think so?"
A powerful backer? Qin Sang thought to herself that she herself was a powerful backer, but a fallen phoenix was no better than a chicken.
"Alright, let's think about it further." She pursed her lips, turned around, and headed back to the clinic.
The young man, now dead, had stopped smashing things. He sat in the center of the clinic's main hall, banging on the ground and yelling like a shrew: "Oh, my poor mother... You're only forty, still so young! I haven't even married you yet, how could you bear to leave me like this... Ahhh... It's all that quack doctor Tang Yu's fault! He even claimed to have miraculous healing powers, bah! It was his medicine that killed you... Ahhh..."
A crowd of two or three layers had gathered outside the hall. Qin Sang pushed her way through the crowd and returned to the hall. The rogue on the ground secretly glanced at her and howled even louder.
Qin Sang ignored the man and went straight to the back hall. Tang Zi'an was standing at the entrance to the back hall, helplessly watching the man throw a tantrum. When he saw Qin Sang return, he said softly, "This man must be trying to extort some compensation."
Qin Sang knew that this matter couldn't be settled with a small amount of compensation. She hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this. By the way, Zi'an, Grandpa Shi often travels to practice medicine and see patients. He's been to Quzhou too. Do you know if he knows any important figures in Quzhou?"
Tang Zian was taken aback.
Before he could speak, Qin Sang sighed again: "Forget it, there's no reason to let the old man go through all that trouble. I'll think of a way... Alright, don't worry about that person outside. I've already sent someone to report to the authorities. We'll see if it's a problem with your medicine. We'll wait for the officials to investigate at his house!" With that, she lifted the curtain and went into the back room.
Xie Sui'an curled up on the couch, clutching his stomach. Jin Yun held up a basin to prevent him from vomiting, and he looked truly pitiful.
Qin Sang finally had a chance to get a good look at the young master's appearance and suddenly felt that... he did look somewhat familiar.
She walked over and reached out to touch his forehead, saying, "Are you...?"
"Yes," Xie Sui'an said weakly, "I am the handsome young master who rescued you from injustice that day."
Qin Sang: "Are you running a fever?"
“Girl, he may not know if he’s hot or not, but you certainly do,” Jinyun was already anxious, and hearing her speak so casually only made her more anxious. “I told you you had to hurry, or I’ll tell you what might happen…”
"Jinyun," Young Master Xie continued weakly, "Shut up."
"What time is it and you're still telling me to shut up? I won't shut up. If I do, they'll stop caring about you. When will you be able to brew the medicine, ladies? Do you have any painkillers for the young master? Look at him, his lips are all white!"
Qin Sang turned around: "Then come with me."
Qin Sang took out a small packet of Chinese medicine powder, dissolved it in warm water, and handed it to Jinyun: "Give it to him; it will relieve some of the pain."
Jinyun hurriedly grabbed the small bowl and ran off.
A moment later, the county constables arrived. They were all Qin Baoyun's men. With a single glance from Qin Sang, they arrested the man sitting on the ground. Upon seeing this, the young man immediately stopped crying and stammered, "Why are you arresting me...why are you arresting me! You're arresting them! It was their medicine that killed my mother!..."
The constable, his face grim, explained to him, "If you have something to report, go to the authorities. Why did you smash up someone's pharmacy? If everyone acted like you, venting their anger without asking questions, what would be the point of having us constables?"
The young man, his neck bulging, shouted, "Is there no law anymore! Help! Come and see! They're protecting each other! They're bullying people with their power! You...you quack doctors! You corrupt officials, you've lost all conscience! You'll all die a horrible death! Ah...my mother...you died such a terrible death..."
Qin Sang felt her heart pounding as she listened, wondering how much money this person had received from Fatty Li to be acting so conscientiously.
Just then, the maid who was brewing the medicine came to inform us that Young Master Lu's medicine was ready.
She then wiped her hands and went to the back room.
Perhaps because he had taken painkillers, the young master's expression softened slightly, and his complexion looked a bit better.
Qin Sang took the bowl of medicine from the tray brought by the maid, and while stirring it, casually asked, "Judging from your accents, you don't sound like locals. Are you from out of town?"
Jinyun, supporting his young master, nodded vigorously: "Yes, we only arrived a couple of days ago. Last night, we ate some roasted meat from a roadside stall here, and that's how our young master got like this. Is your roasted meat stall not doing very well? The meat has been sitting for several days and you're still selling it? People are getting sick from eating it!"
Qin Sang raised an eyebrow curiously: "Which restaurant did you go to eat at?"
"Which one? Let me think... There's a bridge by the river, a small dock next to the bridge, and a big, crooked willow tree next to the dock! Yes, that's it."
Qin Sang said, "The Tieguai Li family? No way, their roasted meat stall has been operating for many years. They don't cheat customers or sell expired meat. You must have eaten something else randomly or ate too much and your stomach is full. Look, you're fine."
Jinyun said irritably, "My body, which has survived almost any poison since childhood by eating only coarse food, is not suitable for my young master..."
"Alright," Qin Sang handed over the medicine. "Let this medicine cool down a bit before drinking it. Take small sips. Once you feel less nauseous, continue taking small sips. Get some rest. Call me if you need anything."
In the front hall, Tang Zian was squatting on the ground sweeping up a pile of medicinal dregs, his face full of heartache: "These medicinal herbs are such a pity."
Qin Sang felt guilty but was helpless. She could only squat down and sort the medicinal herbs with him, asking, "When will Grandmaster be back? Where did he go to see patients? He's been gone for many days now, hasn't he?"
"They say that an old acquaintance in Quzhou has a grandson who has fallen seriously ill," Tang Zian said, packing up the usable medicines in paper. "Grandpa is going to help him, and he probably won't be able to return until the person is out of danger."
Qin Sang: "Oh."
Seeing that she seemed preoccupied, Tang Zian keenly sensed something amiss and asked, "You just said that this matter started because of you... what matter started because of you?"
Qin Sang shook her head: "It's nothing. Don't eat dinner tonight. I'll treat you to roasted pork skin at Tieguai Li's house. How about that?"
Tang Zian said, "Roasted meat is spicy and can cause internal heat, so it's not advisable to eat too much... Alright, go ahead."
Qin Sang patted his head with satisfaction: "Good boy."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
