Chapter 149 This medicine is poisonous
He fed her spoonful after spoonful, his movements gentle, occasionally wiping the lotus seed soup from the corners of her mouth. The moonlight shone on the two of them, casting long shadows that were close together, like a warm and tender painting.
“Look at that one,” Pei Zhi suddenly said, pointing to the center of the pond, “a twin lotus, very rare.”
Ye Wanning looked in the direction he pointed and sure enough, there was a twin lotus flower, the two buds close together, swaying gently in the breeze among the lotus leaves. "So beautiful," she murmured softly, "like a pair of people who depend on each other for companionship."
...
In the morning, Ye Wanning was arranging medicinal herbs at her desk when she suddenly heard a series of chaotic footsteps outside the door.
"Doctor! Doctor, please save me!" A man dressed in coarse cloth rushed in, clutching his stomach. His face was pale and his forehead was covered in cold sweat. He collapsed to the ground as soon as he entered the room.
"My stomach hurts so much, please take a look!" Ye Wanning hurriedly put down the medicine, helped the man up and made him sit on the examination stool, and placed her fingers on his pulse.
Her pulse was steady, so it wasn't an emergency. She asked a few more questions about his symptoms, but the man stammered and couldn't explain clearly, only repeatedly complaining of pain.
"This bloating is caused by your irregular eating habits, it's not serious." Ye Wanning got up and wrote out a prescription. "Take the medicine home, decoct it, and drink it. Two doses should be enough."
The man took the prescription, his eyes flickered, but he didn't immediately get the medicine. He sat on the stool and lingered. It wasn't until noon, when more people arrived, that he suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.
Dark red liquid splattered on the ground, a horrifying sight. "Your medicine is poisonous!" the man slammed his fist on the table, pointing at Ye Wanning and shouting, "I vomited blood after drinking your medicine! You're treating human life like dirt!"
Suddenly, a crowd gathered at the entrance. Several men dressed in coarse cloth, just like the men, squeezed in and started jeering, "This female clinic is really unreliable! She probably hasn't even mastered her medical skills before daring to open a clinic!"
"Pay up! Otherwise we'll smash up your clinic!" Ye Wanning frowned, staring intently at the "blood" at her feet—it was dark in color, with a hint of brown, unlike human blood.
She was about to squat down to look when the man suddenly pounced on her and dragged her to the ground: "Don't try to renege! You're not opening the door until you give me an explanation!"
"Stop!" A familiar, cold shout came from the doorway. Pei Zhi, dressed in a dark-colored casual robe and followed by two guards, strode in.
He glanced at the "blood" on the ground, then at the man causing a scene, his eyes turning cold: "How dare you stage an accident and cause trouble in a clinic in broad daylight?"
Pei Zhi raised his hand, and a guard immediately stepped forward, grabbing the man who was still trying to retaliate. "This is the secret letter you and your accomplices discussed last night about how to vomit blood and how to extort money. Do you want me to read it aloud?"
He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and threw it in front of the man. Upon seeing the secret letter, the man turned deathly pale and collapsed to the ground.
Those around suddenly realized what was happening and began to criticize, "So it was a staged accident! How shameless!" "Thank goodness General Pei came, otherwise Madam Pei would have been wrongly accused!"
Just then, Li Yanran, lifting her skirt, slowly walked in. Seeing this scene, her fake smile froze for a moment, but she still feigned concern, saying, "Oh dear, what's wrong?"
“Madam Pei, I think if your medical skills are not up to par, you should close your clinic to avoid harming people…” “Miss Li, you are wrong to say that.” Ye Wanning raised her head, her eyes clear.
"I've opened my clinic and saved many lives. But Miss Li, every time something happens at my clinic, you just happen to be passing by. Isn't that a bit too much of a coincidence?"
Li Yanran's face flushed red, and she was so angry that she couldn't speak. She glared at the man on the ground and turned to leave.
Seeing that all was lost, the man scrambled to his feet and knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly: "Madam Pei, spare my life! I was momentarily bewitched, I will never dare to do it again!"
Ye Wanning didn't look at him, but said to the onlookers, "Don't worry, everyone. When I open my clinic, I will only treat patients based on my medical skills. I will never play with people's lives!"
"If anyone dares to act like this again, I will not tolerate it!" The people nodded in agreement and quickly dispersed. The guards dragged the man out, and the clinic was finally quiet.
It was rare for General Pei to invite a few old friends to his residence for a short visit, so Ye Wanning had been keeping an eye on things in the kitchen early on, instructing the maids to prepare tea and snacks properly—these old friends were all Pei Zhi's elders, and they couldn't be neglected.
"Sister-in-law, these things can be done by the maids, why do you have to come all the way?" Liu Yue's voice came from outside the door. She was wearing a pink dress and holding a handkerchief in her hand, walking over in affected manner.
"My uncle asked me to help entertain the guests. If you're tired, Cousin-in-law, go and rest for a while!" Ye Wanning sneered inwardly—Liu Yue was Liu's niece.
Ever since she brought Liu to the family temple, she had been using the guise of "helping" to wander around the mansion and cause trouble quite a bit. But Ye Wanning still smiled and said, "Thank you for your kindness, cousin, I'm not tired."
"These teas and snacks must be prepared carefully, so as not to neglect the guests!" Liu Yue did not say anything more, but took advantage of the moment when Ye Wanning turned around to instruct the maid to move closer to the tea table.
She poured the freshly brewed hot tea into the bucket of cold water beside her, then poured the cooled tea back into the teapot. The guests arrived soon after, and General Pei sat in the hall with several elders.
Ye Wanning stepped forward with the teapot, about to pour tea, when her fingers touched the teapot and she suddenly realized something was wrong—the tea was cold! Ye Wanning's heart sank, and she looked up to see Liu Yue not far away, a smug smile on her lips.
She remained calm and smiled, saying, "Elders, I'm sorry, the tea is freshly brewed and not hot enough yet. I'll go get a hotter pot." With that, she turned and went into the kitchen, brewed a pot of hot tea, and came out.
Liu Yue's expression stiffened for a moment, but she didn't intend to give up. When the maidservant beside her brought over the soup bowl, she deliberately walked over and "bumped" the maidservant.
The soup bowl crashed to the ground, splashing scalding soup all over Ye Wanning. "Oh dear! Sister-in-law, I'm so sorry!" Liu Yue apologized insincerely, reaching out to help her wipe herself clean.
"I didn't mean to, it's all my fault for being so careless!" Ye Wanning took a step back, dodging her hand. Pei Zhi returned from outside and, seeing this scene, quickly walked over.
He took out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Ye Wanning. Then he turned to look at Liu Yue, his tone calm but cold: "I saw Cousin Liu fiddling with teacups in the kitchen yesterday. So you can brew tea too?"
"I just didn't know that hot tea should be served to guests." Liu Yue's face turned pale, and she hurriedly waved her hands: "I...I just looked at it yesterday, I didn't touch the tea!"
“Really?” Pei Zhi raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the bucket of cold water beside him. “I passed by the kitchen just now and saw some used tea leaves in the bucket of cold water, exactly the same as those in the teapot on the table.”
Everyone understood and quickly smoothed things over: "Children inevitably make mistakes, Madam Pei, please don't take it to heart." "We're old, we can still drink herbal tea, Madam Pei, please go and change your clothes."
Liu Yue wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground; she couldn't smooth things over no matter what she did. Ye Wanning took the handkerchief and smiled at everyone, "I'm sorry for making you all laugh. I'll go change my clothes."
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