Chapter 249 Business is booming
"Do you want to see it for yourself?"
Sun Chengzong's face changed drastically, and he trembled with fear: "Your Majesty, this...this can't be true!"
"It's a forgery! Ye Wanning deliberately framed me!"
"Whether it's true or false, we can find out with a simple investigation!" Pei Zhi stepped forward and said to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to take charge of investigating this matter. I will definitely get to the bottom of it and bring justice to the people!"
The Emperor nodded: "Very well, then Prime Minister Pei will lead the investigation!"
"The princes of Jiangnan who collude with pharmaceutical guilds and monopolize medicinal materials will be severely punished once verified!"
“Sun Chengzong colluded with the princes to obstruct the revision of the National Medical Classic. He should be imprisoned and await further punishment!”
As Ye Wanning had predicted, things turned out exactly as Pei Zhizheng had done. He was efficient and quickly uncovered the whole truth.
The princes of Jiangnan were stripped of their military power and ordered to rectify their actions within a specified period.
The Jiangnan Medicine Gang was disbanded, its leader was sentenced to beheading, and the drug dealers involved in adulteration and monopolistic practices were also punished.
Before his death, the leader of the Medicine Gang sent people to the Heritage Hall to apologize to Ye Wanning and compensate her with a large amount of money and medicinal materials.
Ye Wanning and Shen Qingwan's joint venture, an affordable pharmacy, has also successfully opened.
The pharmacy had good quality medicinal herbs and fair prices, and soon it became popular with the people, and its business was booming.
With the supply of medicinal herbs at the Heritage Center finally stabilized, the apprentices in the female physician training program began to get busy again.
Looking at the bustling pharmacy, Shen Qingwan smiled and said to Ye Wanning, "Dr. Ye, we succeeded!"
"I'll never have to worry about the Jiangnan Pharmacy Gang unilaterally raising prices again!"
Ye Wanning nodded slightly, but couldn't help thinking of Pei Zhi.
She knew that Pei Zhi deserved much credit for resolving this matter so smoothly this time.
If it weren't for his anonymous delivery of medicine and secret provision of evidence, she wouldn't have survived until now.
The Hall of Supreme Harmony was so quiet that you could hear the sound of gold leaf falling to the ground.
Ye Wanning held Sun Chengzong's antidote prescription, her fingertips tracing the yellowed Xuan paper.
The calligraphy above was vigorous yet menacing: "Lord Sun, this antidote."
"The same prescription used by the Imperial Medical Academy ten years ago to misdiagnose the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong!"
"The prince has been poisoned by a mixture of poisons, including the poisonous herb 'heartbreak grass'. The physician has prepared an antidote decoction with aconite according to your treatment today."
"However, the toxicity of aconite and the poison of the poisonous herb Gelsemium elegans clashed, and the prince died within half a day!"
Her words were clear and unambiguous, and the officials were immediately in an uproar.
Sun Chengzong's face turned deathly pale, and he pointed a trembling finger at Ye Wanning: "You! You're talking nonsense!"
"That's ancient history, how could a folk healer like you know about it..."
"The principles of medicine are the same across the world, and we should always remember the lessons of the past." Ye Wanning took out a booklet that she had "accidentally" obtained from her sleeve.
It was a compilation of misdiagnosis cases from the Imperial Medical Academy over the past twenty years. She turned to a page and said, "It's all recorded here clearly."
"Has Lord Sun, as a senior member of the Imperial Medical Academy, forgotten the lessons of the past, or is he deliberately committing a wrong?"
"Are you trying to use this competition to prove your medical skills are superior, so that even if someone dies, you can blame it on the dangerous poison?"
The emperor ordered a palace servant to take the booklet and read it through, his face gradually darkening: "Sun Chengzong, is this really true?"
Sun Chengzong's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground: "This old minister...this old minister was negligent and forgot about this case..."
“Negligence?” Ye Wanning pressed on, “The combination of poisons from the Heartbreak Grass is already rare, and the antidote should avoid toxic interactions.”
"But Lord Sun insists on using aconite. This is not negligence, but deliberate!"
"You're spouting nonsense!" Sun Chengzong trembled with anger, but couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.
At this moment, the dog that had taken Ye Wanning's antidote had already recovered and was wagging its tail outside the hall, begging for food.
Sun Chengzong's prescription killed another dog, a fact that is irrefutable.
The emperor looked at Sun Chengzong, who was slumped on the ground, and then at Ye Wanning, who was calmly standing below the steps: "Ye Wanning won two out of the three matches."
"Sun Chengzong, you've lost!"
Sun Chengzong was ashen-faced and could not utter a single word.
The emperor stood up and glanced at the officials in the hall: "Ye Wanning is a skilled physician with a meticulous mind and a heart for saving the world."
"I hereby appoint you as the deputy chief editor of the revision of the National Medical Classic, to assist in the overall planning and revision of the work, and to enjoy the salary of a fifth-rank official!"
“Sun Chengzong broke his promise and deliberately misdiagnosed the patient, and should be severely punished.”
"Considering your advanced age and the fact that you served in the Imperial Medical Academy for many years, you are hereby granted permission to resign from your post and retire into seclusion, but you are forbidden from ever entering the medical field again!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty..." Sun Chengzong's voice was hoarse as he was helped out of the main hall.
His back was so hunched that he was almost bent to the ground, looking utterly disheveled.
Ye Wanning knelt down to express her gratitude: "Your Majesty, I thank you for your trust and will certainly not fail in my mission."
After descending from the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the sun was already setting. The setting sun cast long shadows on the palace walls.
Ye Wanning breathed a sigh of relief; her nerves, which had been tense for three days, could finally relax.
Her stomach suddenly rumbled – she hadn't eaten lunch at all because of the competition.
Just as he was about to leave the palace and return to the Heritage Hall, Pei Zhi's voice came from behind: "Doctor Ye, please wait."
Ye Wanning turned around, and Pei Zhi was standing not far from the entrance of the Imperial Garden.
He wore a dark blue official robe with a jade belt around his waist, and the setting sun shone on his profile.
His usually deep eyes revealed a hint of warmth, and he held a small oil paper package in his hand.
He walked up slowly and said, "I know you were so nervous today that you didn't eat lunch."
"This is osmanthus cake that I just got from the imperial kitchen. It's still warm. Try it."
His fingertips brushed against the back of her hand unintentionally, carrying a slight coolness that instantly made Ye Wanning's cheeks burn.
Upon opening the oil paper package, the sweet fragrance of osmanthus blossoms wafted out.
The small, off-white pastries are adorned with scattered osmanthus blossoms, making them look incredibly appetizing.
Ye Wanning took the oil paper package, and her fingertips touched the warm paper, which warmed her heart as well.
She pinched a piece and put it in her mouth. The sweet but not cloying taste melted on her tongue, mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus.
It soothed the discomfort of an empty stomach: "Thank you, Prime Minister Pei."
She ate in small bites, keeping her head down and not daring to look at him, nor did she get up to see him off.
Pei Zhi didn't leave; he stood beside her, leaning down to look at her profile.
With a slight twitch of her delicate chin and a gentle tremor of her eyelashes like butterfly antennae, he felt a tenderness well up inside him: "You were very composed during the competition."
"I'm just doing my best." Ye Wanning looked up and met his eyes.
His eyes were deep, like a night sky filled with stars, so gentle that they could make you fall in love with them.
In that instant of eye contact, it was as if time itself stood still.
Ye Wanning could clearly hear her own heartbeat, thumping loudly, and her face flushed even faster.
She hurriedly turned to look at the chrysanthemums in the Imperial Garden: "Prime Minister Pei is busy with official duties, so I will take my leave now."
After saying that, she seemed to flee in panic, the osmanthus cake in her hand still warm.
Just like the touch of his fingertips and the soft look in his eyes, it lingers in my heart for a long time.
The fragrance of osmanthus flowers gradually faded, but an imperial edict from the palace arrived.
Consort Li was punished for plotting to frame court officials and possessing forbidden drugs; she was confined to Jingren Palace for half a month to reflect on her actions.
The news caused a great stir both inside and outside the palace, and no one dared to underestimate this young female doctor anymore.
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