Chapter 252 Angry but Unable to Speak Out
The shop was a complete mess, with medicine cabinets broken and herbs scattered all over the floor. Some of the fellow apprentices sat on the ground groaning in pain, while others were bandaging their own or their companions' wounds, their faces pale with fright.
"Dr. Ye is here!" "Make way, give Dr. Ye some space!" The villagers who were watching quickly moved aside.
Ye Wanning strode into the store and saw her senior brother lying on the ground, his left leg twisted at an eerie angle, his face pale, and his forehead covered in cold sweat.
She crouched down and gently rolled up her senior brother's pants. The moment her fingers touched the broken bone, her senior brother let out a muffled groan.
"Does it hurt a lot? Bear with it, I'll set your bones first." Ye Wanning took the strong liquor handed to her and wiped it on her hands to disinfect them.
"You two junior sisters, hold him down firmly!" she said to the apprentice beside her. "Su Ning, give me the elderberry and bandages!"
Her movements were quick and steady. She pressed her fingers on the broken bone, gently twisted it, and with a "crack," the bone was put back in place.
The eldest brother trembled all over in pain, but gritted his teeth and endured it without uttering a sound.
Ye Wanning quickly used elderberry to stabilize the broken bone, wrapped it with bandages, and handed him a painkiller. Afterward, she went to check on the injuries of her other fellow disciples.
The wound on her second senior brother's forehead wasn't deep. She applied wound medicine and bandaged it. Then she had all the other disciples take off their outer garments and carefully examined them to make sure there were no other hidden injuries.
"Sir, Zhou Hu also said that if we don't pay fifty taels of silver in protection fees within three days, he will drive us all out of the neighboring city." The second senior brother covered his forehead, his voice trembling.
Ye Wanning stood up, looking at the mess on the ground, her anger burning even brighter. She walked to the door and clasped her hands in a fist and palm salute to the villagers who had gathered to watch:
"Fellow villagers, I, Ye Wanning, opened this branch to make it easier for everyone to see a doctor. We don't charge consultation fees, and the medicines are all at reasonable prices. We have never offended anyone, but Zhou Hu has been bullying us and has been picking fights with us repeatedly."
"He hurt my people and destroyed my shop today, and I will remember it all!"
The villagers immediately erupted in anger, shouting, "Dr. Ye, that tyrant Zhou Hu should have been dealt with long ago! He seized our land and forced us to pay exorbitant rents; we dared not speak out against him!"
"Dr. Ye, we stand with you! We'll fight him to the death!"
Seeing the indignant expressions of the villagers, Ye Wanning felt a warmth in her heart and suddenly realized that she was not alone.
"Thank you all for your support," she said loudly. "I promise you here today that I will definitely settle accounts with Zhou Hu and restore peace to the neighboring city."
"Dr. Ye, we're not afraid of losing the branch. You can come to the dilapidated temple outside the city to treat us!" a villager shouted.
Ye Wanning nodded: "Okay, then let's set up a free clinic at the dilapidated temple first."
After saying that, she turned and went back to the shop, instructing her apprentices to organize the remaining medicinal herbs and to send two more people to find out the location of the dilapidated temple.
At night, after the apprentices had rested, Ye Wanning, though exhausted, still personally sorted the medicinal herbs, classifying and storing the intact ones and trying her best to repair the ones that were not seriously damaged.
The next morning, she began her free clinic at the dilapidated temple and had the mess at the branch store cleaned up and covered up. Before long, the neighboring town temporarily returned to peace.
That night, Ye Wanning was sleeping when she suddenly heard a knock on the door. She got up and opened the door, where a man dressed in coarse cloth stood.
The man handed her a package wrapped in oil paper: "Dr. Ye, someone asked me to give this to you. You'll understand once you see it." With that, he turned and disappeared into the night.
Ye Wanning took the oil paper package and opened it. Inside were several slips of paper with evidence of Zhou Hu's collusion with local official Lord Wang, as well as the time and place of their division of spoils.
She had long suspected Zhou Hu of colluding with officials, but had never found evidence. Now that the evidence had been delivered to her door, she quickly put away the note and made up her mind.
Wu Weimin, the magistrate of the neighboring county, was over forty years old. He was an upright and honest man, but he had been suppressed by Lord Wang. He harbored anger in his heart but dared not vent it.
Ye Wanning placed the note in front of Magistrate Wu: "This is irrefutable evidence of collusion between Zhou Hu and Lord Wang. I hope you can uphold justice for the people."
Wu Weimin picked up the note and his expression changed drastically. He had long been dissatisfied with Zhou Hu's actions, but had been hampered by a lack of evidence. Now, he finally had a breakthrough.
"Dr. Ye, rest assured, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly!" He suddenly stood up. "That treacherous Zhou Hu has been harming the people. I've wanted to deal with him for a long time, but I just haven't found the opportunity!"
"With this evidence, I will report it to the prefect immediately."
Ye Wanning nodded: "Thank you, Magistrate Wu. Also, my apprentice was injured by Zhou Hu, and our branch store was also destroyed. Please inform the Prefect of this as well."
"No problem!" Wu Weimin said. "I'll send someone to summon Zhou Hu right away and ask him for his opinion first!"
Not long after, Zhou Hu was brought over. He remained arrogant, completely disregarding Wu Weimin.
But when he saw the evidence of collusion, his face changed instantly: "Magistrate Wu, don't listen to this woman's nonsense! She forged all of this!"
"Whether it's a forgery or not, an investigation will tell!" Wu Weimin's face darkened, and he shouted, "Men, take Zhou Hu away and imprison him to await the Prefect's decision!"
Zhou Hu didn't expect Wu Weimin to actually dare to touch him this time. He cursed and made a scene, but was eventually dragged away by the yamen runners.
Upon learning the news, Lord Wang was both nervous and frightened, fearing that the matter would be exposed and that he would never dare to cause trouble for the Heritage Center again.
He also sent someone to give Ye Wanning some silver, hoping to resolve the matter privately.
Ye Wanning directly refused: "If Lord Wang is truly sincere, he should take the initiative to admit his mistake to the court, instead of trying to bribe me with money."
The messenger was rebuffed and had no choice but to slink back home.
The apprentices at the branch store breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Zhou Hu had been arrested, and their admiration for Ye Wanning's abilities grew even stronger. The villagers also cheered, feeling that Ye Wanning was now their support.
Seeing the branch gradually return to normal, Ye Wanning finally breathed a sigh of relief. She was unaware that the person who delivered the evidence was sent by Li Dequan at Pei Zhi's behest.
Upon returning to the capital, Pei Zhiyi heard about Zhou Hu injuring Ye Wanning's apprentice. He immediately wanted to arrest Zhou Hu himself, but was stopped by his subordinates.
Knowing that Ye Wanning was proud, he didn't want her to feel that she was relying on others, so he had someone investigate Zhou Hu's weaknesses and then had Li Dequan secretly hand over the evidence to Ye Wanning.
A few days later, Ye Wanning was treating patients at the branch when she suddenly heard a commotion. Looking up, she saw Pei Zhi walking in.
He was dressed in plain clothes, looking like an official on an incognito inspection. Ye Wanning's heart tightened; she wanted to dodge, but it was too late.
Pei Zhi walked up to her, glanced at her, then turned to the apprentices in the shop and asked, "I heard that your apprentice was injured by Zhou Hu. How is he now?"
"Thanks to Lord Pei, everything is fine now," Ye Wanning said in a cold tone. "Is Lord Pei here to inspect government affairs?"
Pei Zhi felt a chill run down his spine when he saw that she was still deliberately keeping her distance. He nodded and mumbled, "Yes, I came to check on the governance of the neighboring city."
He wanted to say that he lived nearby, but he suddenly heard his subordinates shouting behind him, so he had to give up.
Before leaving, he looked at Ye Wanning with deep affection and instructed her, "Be careful and send someone to deliver a message if there is any emergency."
Ye Wanning didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly, watching his departing figure, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
When Ye Wanning returned to her residence that evening, she found a wooden box at the door, exactly the same as the box Pei Zhi had given her for the heart-protecting pills.
She opened the box, and inside was a tube of mosquito repellent cream, exactly the same as the one Pei Zhi had given her last time.
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