Chapter 257 Like a Sleeping Child
She raised all those apprentices herself, and she wouldn't betray them. Even if it was Li Juan, she was willing to give her another chance.
Pei Zhi's reminder made her very uncomfortable, and she felt that she had been so blind to people all these years.
"Sir, please don't be angry..." Su Ning noticed her pale face and quickly comforted her, "Prime Minister Pei was just worried about you, he didn't mean anything by it."
"He may have overheard something, which is why he sent Steward Li to remind you..."
“I know…” Ye Wanning extinguished the flame in her heart, her gaze becoming firm, “but I believe in my disciple.”
"I will investigate this matter thoroughly and give everyone an explanation."
"I know it's my fault for not managing the heritage center well, and that's why you've suffered," Ye Wanning said to the patients. "Trust me, I will find out the truth as soon as possible and give you a satisfactory answer."
After saying that, she saw the patient off, returned to the pharmacy, and asked Su Ning to call all the apprentices over.
The apprentices stood together, both nervous and uneasy.
"These past few days, Li Juan has been the one organizing the medicine shop, right?" Ye Wanning glanced at everyone and asked.
"Yes," the apprentices answered in unison.
Ye Wanning looked at Li Juan with icy eyes: "Li Juan, think again, did you deliberately put those defective products in there?"
"I'll give you another chance. To be honest, I can be lenient with you."
Li Juan's face turned extremely pale, her lips trembled, and tears streamed down her face again: "Sir, I really didn't! I didn't do that kind of thing!"
"Did you start to doubt me because of what others have said?"
“I didn’t listen to anyone else; I only believe in evidence.” Ye Wanning took out the substandard medicinal herbs that bore the marks of her processing. “The knife marks on these herbs are your unique technique. How do you explain that?”
Li Juan's face turned deathly pale instantly, her eyes filled with panic, and she couldn't utter a single word.
"Speak up! Why aren't you saying anything?" Su Ning said angrily. "Did the master guess right?"
"The master has treated you well, why did you do this?"
Li Juan completely broke down, kneeling down with a thud, sobbing, "It was...it was me. Sun Chengzong made me do it."
"He said that as long as I ruin the reputation of the Heritage Hall and cause you to lose all your honor, he would give me one hundred taels of silver and let me become a physician in the Imperial Hospital."
"I was confused for a moment and agreed to it... Dr. Ye, I know I was wrong, please give me another chance! I will never dare to do it again!"
Sun Chengzong! Ye Wanning's heart tightened. It was indeed the person she had expected.
Sun Chengzong was also involved in Zhou Hu's case last time, but because of insufficient evidence, the emperor only scolded him and did not really punish him.
Unexpectedly, he harbored resentment and sent someone to frame her.
"How did Sun Chengzong find you?" Ye Wanning asked.
“I came to the capital looking for an apprenticeship and happened to run into him,” Li Juan said, crying. “He said he was a physician in the Imperial Medical Academy and knew that I had studied medicine under a senior doctor, so he started talking to me.”
He said your medical skills are not very good, that you're just bragging, and that you're mean and stingy and won't sincerely teach me medicine.
“He made me an apprentice at the heritage center, and then used the opportunity to adulterate the medicinal herbs with inferior ones to ruin your reputation. I was blinded by greed and agreed.”
"Dr. Ye, I really know I was wrong, please forgive me!"
Ye Wanning felt a chill run through her as she watched her cry uncontrollably.
She never expected that her sincere act of taking on a disciple would lead to such a terrible mistake. What was even more disappointing was that Li Juan would do something so unethical and harmful to doctors for money and fame.
Such a person is not fit to be a doctor.
"Opportunity?" Ye Wanning sneered, "When you were poisoning patients, did you never think of giving them a chance?"
"When you were taking lives, did you never think this day would come? A person like you doesn't deserve to be a doctor, much less stay in my heritage center!"
She turned and walked out of the house, instructing her apprentice to tie up Li Juan and send her to the county government, where the officials would punish her according to her crimes.
After dealing with Li Juan's matter, Ye Wanning returned to her study, still feeling quite unhappy.
She recalled Pei Zhi's warning and felt a pang of regret: "If I had listened to him and been more cautious earlier, perhaps this wouldn't have happened, and the patient wouldn't have been harmed..."
Pei Zhi's hint also made her feel somewhat wronged. It seemed he already knew something would go wrong, but instead of directly warning her, he was being so subtle. Did he think she couldn't handle it, or did he not trust her?
The inner turmoil made Ye Wanning a little irritable. She took out the mosquito repellent cream that Pei Zhi had given her from the drawer and unscrewed the cap.
A faint fragrance wafted over, and the anger in my heart seemed to subside considerably.
This was sent by Pei Zhi when she was bitten badly by mosquitoes during her free clinic in the neighboring city. He's always like this, remembering even the smallest things about her.
Perhaps she had misunderstood him. He was simply worried about her.
Just then, there was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in!" Ye Wanning said.
The door opened, and Pei Zhi walked in.
"Why are you here?" Ye Wanning was a little surprised, not expecting him to come in person.
Pei Zhi didn't say much, only asking, "Is Li Juan's matter settled?"
"Yes, it's already been handed over to the authorities." Ye Wanning nodded.
The two remained silent for a moment before Pei Zhicai spoke: "Sun Chengzong is malicious; you must be more careful in the future."
"Don't stay up late tonight organizing materials, get some rest first."
Just as Ye Wanning was about to refuse, Pei Zhi turned around, poured a cup of calming tea, and handed it to her, saying, "Drink this before you get busy."
Ye Wanning took the teacup, feeling the warmth travel through her fingertips, and said softly, "Thank you."
Pei Zhi didn't insist anymore, only saying, "Then go to sleep early and don't stay up late anymore. I'll keep watch outside the study; call me if you need anything."
Ye Wanning was stunned: "You don't need to stay here. I'll be fine. There are apprentices in the Heritage Hall, nothing will happen."
“I’m worried.” Pei Zhi’s tone was firm and left no room for refusal. “If Sun Chengzong could send Li Juan to frame you, he would dare to send someone else.”
"Only when I'm here can you feel at ease."
Ye Wanning looked at him, feeling a warmth in her heart. Unable to refuse, she nodded and said, "Okay, thank you."
Pei Zhi turned around and walked out of the study, sitting down on a chair by the door.
He didn't enter the study to disturb them, but simply stood quietly outside the door, like a mountain, solid and reliable.
Ye Wanning slowly sipped the calming tea, feeling the warmth slide down her throat comfortably.
She sat at the table, organizing Li Juan's confession and the substandard medicinal herbs, preparing to go to the Imperial Hospital tomorrow to expose Sun Chengzong.
She was so tired from working late into the night that she fell asleep on the table.
The candlelight on the table was still burning, illuminating her tired face, her long eyelashes drooping, like a sleeping child.
Pei Zhi heard that there was no sound from the study, so he gently pushed open the door and went in.
Seeing Ye Wanning asleep on the table, he frowned, took a cloak from the wardrobe next to him, and gently covered her with it—it was something he had brought, in case she caught a cold at night.
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