Chapter 237 Biting Back
"Mmm," Ye Wanning responded softly, not daring to look at him.
It was already midnight when they returned to the Heritage Hall. Chun Tao brought in a food box from the door, saying it was sent by Lord Pei: "Miss, Lord Pei said this is a whole box of osmanthus cakes that he made himself, and he wants you to enjoy them slowly."
Ye Wanning opened the food box, and the rich, sweet fragrance of osmanthus instantly filled her nostrils.
Before the warmth of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet had even faded, the Heritage Museum discovered an internal traitor.
After the epidemic in Jiangzhou was quelled, the disease prevention prescriptions from the Heritage Museum became highly sought after, with many pharmacies bidding high prices for them.
Ye Wanning only gave the basic prescription to the government, and never revealed the core ingredients.
However, just a few days later, Renjitang, the biggest competitor in Beijing, also launched the same anti-epidemic decoction and even lowered the price to seize the market, causing the sales of the decoction at the Heritage Hall to plummet.
They've gone too far! Renjitang has turned around and accused the Heritage Center of "stealing their prescriptions," pushing the Heritage Center into a fire pit!
Upon investigation, Ye Wanning discovered that it was indeed a case of collusion from within and without—the prescription had been leaked from within the Heritage Hall.
Ye Wanning gathered all the apprentices together, placed the prescription for Renjitang's herbal medicine on the table, and said coldly, "This prescription is exactly the same as our basic epidemic prevention prescription. Even the auxiliary medicine I added hasn't been changed!"
"The rules of the Heritage Center are that prescriptions are not to be passed on to outsiders. Whoever leaked them knows who it is, so don't push your luck!"
The apprentices looked at each other, but no one spoke.
Suddenly, an apprentice named Lian Qiao burst into tears: "Master! It's Senior Sister Bai Zhi! A few days ago, she stole my prescription and gave it to the people at Renjitang. She even framed me, saying that I was the one who delivered the prescription!"
Bai Zhi is Ye Wanning's most prized apprentice. She has excellent medical skills, but she is always jealous of Ye Wanning and feels that she is wasting her talents.
Upon hearing Lian Qiao's words, Bai Zhi's face changed color instantly, but she still stubbornly argued, "You're talking nonsense! You're just jealous of me, that's why you're slandering me!"
"Don't you know whether I'm lying or not?" Lian Qiao took out a jade pendant. "This is a token from Renjitang to you. I saw you accept it with my own eyes!"
Ye Wanning looked at Bai Zhi, a cold glint in her eyes: "Bai Zhi, is what Lian Qiao said true?"
Bai Zhi tried to argue, but Ye Wanning produced another piece of evidence—given to her by Pei Zhi in advance, it contained communications between Bai Zhi and the Second Prince's subordinates.
The letter read: "Leak the prescription, ruin the heritage center, and I'll guarantee you a position as a resident doctor at Renjitang."
"Also, do you think your prescription is flawless?" Ye Wanning held up the prescription. "I added a secret mark to the basic prescription, writing 'three qian of licorice' as 'three li of licorice'."
"Outsiders can't tell, only the people at the Heritage Center know it's a secret mark. Renjitang's prescriptions also say 'three fen of licorice root,' do you still dare to say someone stole your prescription?"
With all the evidence laid bare before her, Bai Zhi's face changed completely. She collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted and unable to refute anything further.
Ye Wanning looked at her, her tone icy and full of disappointment: "The Inheritance Hall accepts disciples based on virtue before talent. You stole and sold medicinal formulas and framed your fellow disciples for personal gain. You are not worthy of staying in the Inheritance Hall at all!"
She immediately ordered that Bai Zhi be expelled from the Heritage Hall and forbidden from using the hall's name again. She also publicly announced to all medical clinics and pharmacies in the capital that they would not be allowed to hire Bai Zhi in the future.
From then on, Bai Zhi's reputation was ruined, and she had no choice but to leave the capital in disgrace.
After dealing with the traitor, Pei Zhi went to the courtyard of the Inheritance Hall to help Ye Wanning appease the remaining apprentices.
Seeing that the apprentices were gradually calming down, Pei Zhi finally felt relieved.
"With me here, no one will dare to hurt you again, and no one will dare to touch your heritage hall," Pei Zhi suddenly said, his tone exceptionally resolute.
Ye Wanning looked up at him. The bright moonlight shone on him, and he looked serious, without a trace of joking.
Ye Wanning felt a sudden warmth in her heart. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything. She just nodded gently and said, "Thank you."
As autumn deepens, the morning dew grows heavy. Ye Wanning is bent over her desk, refining a book, her brush of paste as fine as a hair.
She dipped her fingers into the bowl, rubbed them, and meticulously repaired the old pages of "Qing Nang Mi Yao".
That book was the culmination of half a lifetime of hard work by her mother, Lin Yuewei. The pages were yellowed and darkened, and the corners still bore the scorch marks from the palace upheavals of that year.
The mother spent half a month searching for the scattered pages of the book. At this moment, Ye Wanning was repairing the four characters "Medical Classic Inheritance" on the last page when she suddenly felt a hard object embedded in the page.
With a sudden jolt, she held her breath, pinched the book page, and gently twisted it. A tightly folded piece of hemp paper fell from the interlayer and landed on the desk with a "plop".
The hemp paper was old, its edges already browned. Ye Wanning's hands trembled as she tore it open. It was her mother's delicate calligraphy, and the opening sentence froze her blood: "My dear Wanning, if you could see this letter, your mother would have already met a cruel end with the Wei family..."
The letter clearly states that in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, Prime Minister Wei visited the thatched cottage three times to purchase the core secret formula of the medical classic, ostensibly to "find a good way to prolong the life of the late emperor."
Knowing that the Wei family wanted to monopolize medicinal herbs for profit, the mother resolutely refused. Not long after, a slow-acting cold poison was added to her mother's medicine.
At first, she was just feeling cold and weak. Although her mother had some suspicions, she did not expect that the Wei family would dare to sneak into the palace to poison her.
When the poison reached her lungs and internal organs, her mother took the opportunity of delivering medicine to Su, a palace maid in the cold palace, to write this secret letter and hide it in the medical book, entrusting Su to protect the medical book.
The letter also mentioned something she had never known: when her mother entered the palace, she made an agreement with the late emperor to use the Lin family's medical manual to restrain the Wei family's military power. The late emperor guaranteed that the Lin family would be safe and sound, and even wrote a handwritten edict which was hidden in the Empress Dowager's palace.
However, the late emperor suddenly passed away, and the Wei family held immense power in the court. In order to appease the new emperor, the Empress Dowager turned a blind eye to her mother's plight, and the imperial edict could not be retrieved.
In the last few lines of the letter, the mother's handwriting trembled: "I will not regret keeping my promise, but I cannot be there to watch you grow up. The medical classic is the lifeblood of the Lin family and the root of all doctors in the world. You must protect it."
Ye Wanning clutched the secret letter, her knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, tears falling onto the paper and soaking the ink.
The pent-up grievances, longing, and anger finally erupted, and she slumped over the table, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
"Wan Ning." Pei Zhi's voice came from behind, carrying a familiar calmness.
He came to deliver the windbreaks he had just dug in the morning. Seeing that the door to the clinic was not closed, he knocked on the door and entered to see her like this.
Ye Wanning turned around abruptly, her eyes still wet with tears, and handed him the secret letter: "Pei Zhi, look... my mother..."
Pei Zhi took the secret letter, his expression growing increasingly grim as he read. After finishing, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently patting her back: "I know, it's all in the past. From now on, I'll help you seek justice for your mother-in-law."
"Mother-in-law?" Ye Wanning paused for a moment, then looked up at him.
His eyes were earnest, his expression serious, without a trace of jest. Ye Wanning's nose stung, she felt incredibly wronged, wiped her face, and couldn't help but bury herself in his arms, crying her heart out.
Chun Tao waited at the door without stopping them, giving the two some space.
Morning light peeked through the crack in the doorway, falling on the two people embracing, carrying a faint warmth, the atmosphere restrained yet heavy.
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