Chapter 222 Huimin Medical Clinic is a Scam
“Some people’s condition worsened after drinking it and they wanted to seek help from our heritage center, but the Wei family blocked them from leaving their fiefdom.”
Ye Wanning took the paper and saw that the handwriting was crooked and the paper was full of despair: "Madam Ye, please save my mother! She has a persistent cough, and the medicine from Huimin Medical Hall made her cough up blood instead."
"The Wei family won't let us leave our fiefdom. If this drags on any longer, my mother won't make it!"
"The evidence is sufficient." Ye Wanning put away the letter, her aura chilling. "Prepare the carriage, we're going to the palace!"
She wanted to show the emperor what a real free medical consultation was, and what it meant to lie through one's teeth.
When they entered the palace, Prime Minister Wei was still giving a passionate speech in court, and Consort Xian was also specially summoned, kneeling to one side and weeping bitterly.
"Your Majesty, I only want to do something practical for the people. I don't ask for any reward, I only ask that Your Majesty understand my good intentions."
"Painstaking efforts?" Ye Wanning's clear voice came from outside the palace. "Is the Consort Xian's painstaking effort to deceive the people with spoiled medicine?"
"Fabricating fake medical records and even giving 'patients' the same names?"
As everyone looked up, Ye Wanning, dressed in white, followed by two apprentices and several heavy boxes, slowly walked into the main hall.
"Ye Wanning! How dare you slander me!" Consort Xian's face changed, and she shouted angrily.
"Slander?" Ye Wanning instructed her apprentice to open the box. "These are the archives of the Heritage Center's three years of free medical consultations, 128 volumes in total. Each volume has the patient's signature, medication records, and the official seal, all verifiable!"
She then took out a letter from the people seeking help: "This was written by the people of your fiefdom, saying that the medicinal herbs in your clinic are moldy and harmful."
"Your Highness, do you dare to compare your so-called 'saving a thousand people' records? Do you dare to send your 'patients' to the capital to confront me?"
Consort Xian's face turned deathly pale, and she stammered, unable to speak. Prime Minister Wei quickly intervened, "Madam Ye, you can't slander Consort Xian based on just a few letters!"
"Her clinic has only been open for a short time, so the records may not be perfect, but she has indeed cured many people!"
"Incomplete?" Ye Wanning sneered, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. "This is a 'patient list' copied from the Wei family clinic. Li San, Wang Er, Zhang Wu... the names are repeated more than twenty times!"
"Your Highness, did you cure a thousand people, or just one?"
Whispers filled the hall, and the officials' gazes toward Consort Xian and Prime Minister Wei changed.
"Your Majesty, I have witnesses." Just as Ye Wanning finished speaking, the voices of several farmers came from outside the hall:
"Your Majesty, we bear witness! Consort Xian's Huimin Medical Clinic is a big fraud! My husband had a cough, and after drinking their medicine, his cough got worse. He only got better after secretly going to the branch of the Traditional Medicine Clinic in the neighboring county!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, the medicine at the Huimin Medical Clinic is fake! The free clinic is just a show for outsiders!"
"They cheat ordinary people; the medicine they give them is terrible!"
The leading old farmer kowtowed with a thud: "Your Majesty, we swear on our lives that Consort Xian's Huimin Medical Clinic is a scam!"
Several people knelt down, kowtowing and weeping.
The evidence was irrefutable and left no room for argument. The Consort Xian collapsed to the ground, bursting into tears: "Your Majesty, I was wrong! I was confused for a moment, please spare my life!"
Prime Minister Wei's face turned ashen: "Your Majesty, I have failed in my duty of educating you. I beg Your Majesty to be lenient with me!"
The Emperor's face darkened with anger, and he roared, "Nonsense! Utter nonsense! The Virtuous Consort has fabricated lies and deceived the Emperor; her confinement period is extended by another year!"
"Prime Minister Wei, as the head of all officials, you have allowed your daughter to deceive me. You are hereby fined one year's salary and ordered to reflect on your actions in seclusion! The matter of bestowing the title of Imperial Concubine upon you shall never be mentioned again!"
The two kneeling men repeatedly expressed their gratitude: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for sparing our lives..."
Consort Xian and Prime Minister Wei kowtowed repeatedly, looking utterly disheveled.
Ye Wanning stood aside, watching the two men's miserable state, her heart unmoved. Good deeds are rewarded, and evil deeds are punished; they had only brought this trouble upon themselves.
After leaving the main hall, Chief Steward Li, who was by the Empress Dowager's side, caught up with her: "Madam Ye, the Empress Dowager asked this old servant to tell you that Lord Pei secretly submitted the petition from the people of the Wei family's fiefdom in court, which helped you a lot."
Ye Wanning stopped in her tracks, a warm feeling welling up inside her. She had thought that those commoners were able to successfully enter the palace to testify because someone must have helped them; it turned out to be Pei Zhi.
She turned her head and looked in the direction where Pei Zhi was. Pei Zhi, dressed in court robes, stood sideways, talking to the official beside him, not looking at her. Ye Wanning pursed her lips, ultimately not going over.
She was grateful, but couldn't bear to reconcile with him, so she could only keep this feeling in her heart.
Pei Zhi seemed to sense her gaze and turned his head to look at her. Their eyes met in mid-air and then quickly separated, leaving only a subtle understanding between them.
After the Wei family fell from power, undercurrents surged in the court. Pei Zhi's colleague, Vice Minister Liu, was a distant relative of the Wei family and had always coveted Pei Zhi's position as prime minister. Seeing Pei Zhi's good relationship with Ye Wanning, he began to harbor evil intentions.
After court that day, Vice Minister Liu stopped Pei Zhi and said with a double meaning, "Lord Pei, congratulations. Now Madam Ye's heritage halls are all over the country, and the people support her and the Empress Dowager trusts her. The two of you working together will be unmatched in power."
Pei Zhi frowned, sensing the provocation in his words: "Minister Liu is joking. Wan Ning is devoted to practicing medicine, while I am merely fulfilling my duty to the country. How could there be any talk of colluding with powerful figures?"
“Lord Pei, there’s no need for such modesty.” Vice Minister Liu changed the subject. “It’s just that the lady’s clinic is too large. The people respect her even more than the local officials. I’m afraid she will become too powerful to control in the future and arouse the Emperor’s suspicion.”
"Lord Pei, you must be careful not to be implicated by your spouse."
Pei Zhi's face darkened, and he said coldly, "Minister Liu, you should mind your own business. My family affairs are none of your concern."
After saying that, he turned and left. Vice Minister Liu watched his retreating figure, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.
When one plan failed, another was devised. A few days later, Minister Liu took the opportunity of visiting the Heritage Hall to meet Ye Wanning.
"Madam Ye, I have long admired your name." Vice Minister Liu feigned politeness. "I have come today for two reasons: first, to ask you some questions about medical principles, and second, to have a few words from the heart with you, Madam Ye."
Ye Wanning invited him to sit down and poured him a cup of tea: "Please speak, Minister Liu."
“You and Lord Pei are a perfect match, a match made in heaven,” said Vice Minister Liu slowly, taking a sip of tea. “But recently I’ve heard that Lord Pei has been getting very close to Prime Minister Wei, and they often meet in private. I’m afraid he’s trying to build a relationship and pave the way for his own future.”
"Madam Ye, you must be careful not to become a pawn in Lord Pei's power struggle at court, or you might be sacrificed without even knowing it."
Ye Wanning tightened her grip on the teacup, her heart skipping a beat. A few days ago, someone had indeed seen Pei Zhi and Prime Minister Wei talking outside the Imperial Study. At the time, she had comforted herself, thinking that Pei Zhi must have his reasons.
But after hearing what Vice Minister Liu said, doubts began to surface in her mind. Pei Zhi had been investigating the Wei family's secrets, so why would he be in private contact with Prime Minister Wei? Could it really be, as Vice Minister Liu said, that he wanted to build a relationship and sacrifice her?
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