Chapter 104 is clearly a scheme to harm the people.
The onlookers started discussing among themselves:
"Yeah, what shop doesn't rip people off when the woman runs it? Maybe she really is just trying to scam people."
"I heard that she was an abandoned baby of the Ye family, and now she only dares to open a clinic and sell medicine because of General Pei."
Ye Wanning's face turned extremely ugly. Just as she was about to explain, she suddenly heard footsteps. Pei Zhi walked in. He was dressed very plainly. He stood at the door and glanced around, and the chaos in the front hall instantly stopped. His gaze finally landed on Master Li.
"What's wrong?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unyielding air, and the front hall immediately fell silent.
When Master Li saw that it was Pei Zhi, his arrogance subsided somewhat, but he still argued stubbornly: "General Pei, you've come at the right time! Look at the clinic your wife runs, charging such high prices for medicine and selling fake medicine, she's clearly ripping off the people!"
Pei Zhi ignored him, strode to the counter, picked up the ledger from the shopkeeper's hand, flipped through it a few times, then threw it back on the counter, pointing at Master Li and saying, "Look for yourself! This is our purchase order for medicinal herbs last month. Licorice was 200 coins per pound, which works out to less than 2 coins per qian (a unit of weight). We charged you 5 coins, which includes the labor costs for cleaning and processing. The ledger also shows the prices from the Imperial Medical Academy. We are 30% more expensive than them. How are we more expensive?"
He paused, a chilling glint in his eyes: "As for the fake medicine, you can take it to the Imperial Hospital for testing. If it's fake, I'll compensate you ten times the cost of the medicine; if it's real, you've slandered a court lady and disrupted the order of the medical clinic, and according to the law, you should be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and fined fifty taels of silver."
Master Li was so angry his face turned green. He hadn't expected General Pei to protect Ye Wanning like this. But looking at the clear records in the ledger and meeting Pei Zhi's cold gaze, his face instantly turned pale.
"I...I just heard that female doctors' clinics make a lot of money, and I wanted to extort some money..." Old Master Li's voice trembled as he timidly explained, "I didn't expect General Pei to actually come, and with evidence...I...I didn't mean to..."
"A misunderstanding?" Pei Zhi raised an eyebrow. "Your earlier accusations that my wife was heartless and sycophantic were also a misunderstanding?"
Master Li was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly: "It was my fault for talking nonsense! I was lying! Please, General Pei, forgive me this time!"
The onlookers, having seen the contents of the account book, began to criticize Master Li:
"So he really was trying to scam money, how shameless!"
"Miss Ye's clinic isn't expensive. I only spent three coins on my last visit!"
Pei Zhi was too lazy to argue with him and coldly said, "Get lost. If you dare to cause trouble again, kowtowing won't solve the problem."
Master Li felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran away as fast as he could.
The shopkeeper quickly stepped forward to express his gratitude: "Thank you so much, General, for saving us. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to handle the situation."
Pei Zhi nodded, then turned to look at Ye Wanning. The coldness in his eyes instantly faded, replaced by gentleness: "Did I scare you?"
"No." Ye Wanning shook her head, looking at the dregs of medicine on the ground with some helplessness. "I just feel wronged. We really didn't do anything."
"Don't argue with idiots." Pei Zhi smoothed her messy hair, his tone full of affection. "Next time someone comes to cause trouble, don't waste your breath on them. Just have the guards throw them out. With me here, no one will dare to bully you."
Ye Wanning laughed: "How could we really throw it out? It would sound terrible if word got out."
"It wouldn't sound good if word got out, and I can't let you suffer like this." Pei Zhi held her hand. "Come on, let's go eat some red bean buns to calm your nerves."
As soon as the two left the clinic, the people surrounded them, praising them profusely.
"Miss Ye, please don't take it to heart. Everyone knows you're a good person!"
"General Pei is so protective of his wife, it's truly enviable!"
Looking into everyone's sincere eyes, Ye Wanning's grievances instantly dissipated. She leaned against Pei Zhi and smiled, "See, everyone understands."
...
The West Market was exceptionally lively on Qixi Festival. Red lanterns hung all over the streets, vendors hawked all kinds of Qixi ornaments, and the air was filled with the sweet aroma of osmanthus cakes. Ye Wanning held Pei Zhi's hand as they strolled through the crowd, their eyes full of smiles as they looked at the dazzling array of goods on the shelves.
"What do you want? I'll buy it for you." Pei Zhi leaned down to look at her. "Today is Qixi Festival, I'll buy you whatever you want."
"No need, just look." Ye Wanning smiled and shook her head, pointing to a spot not far away, "I want to eat that tiger sugar painting."
Pei Zhi smiled and nodded, then pulled her over to buy one and held it to her lips: "Try it, is it sweet?"
Ye Wanning opened her mouth and took a bite, the sweetness warming her from the tip of her tongue to the bottom of her heart. She smiled and walked forward, but after taking a few steps, Pei Zhi suddenly stopped and took out a small brocade pouch from his pocket: "A gift for you."
"What is this?" Ye Wanning curiously took the brocade pouch, opened it, and found a small bronze tiger pendant inside. The pendant was only about the size of a thumb, and the tiger looked very cute, with pointed ears and a coiled tail—the very mark they had drawn in the letter. The pendant had a slightly rough edge, clearly hand-polished.
"This...you made this?" she asked in surprise, her fingertips gently tracing the rough texture.
“Hmm.” Pei Zhi nodded, his ear tips slightly red. “There weren’t any good materials in the military camp, so we used bullet casings to grind it. We ground it for several days, and our hands were all blistered, but luckily it took shape.”
Ye Wanning's eyes suddenly reddened. She looked up at his fingertips and saw faint scratches. Pei Zhi was a military general, skilled in wielding swords and spears; it must have taken him a lot of effort to do such delicate work.
“Look at the back,” Pei Zhi reminded him.
Ye Wanning turned the pendant over, revealing two small characters engraved on the back: "Zhi Ning." The handwriting was somewhat clumsy, but the characters were deeply engraved, clearly showing care. Tears streamed down her face, yet she smiled with extraordinary joy: "I love it, I love it so much."
"I'm glad you like it." Pei Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to help her put the pendant around her neck. The pendant was warm against her chest, carrying Pei Zhi's body heat. "I was thinking that I should give you something special for Qixi Festival. Gold and silver jewelry are too ordinary. This is something I made myself, and only you have it."
Ye Wanning stroked the pendant on her chest and nestled in Pei Zhi's arms: "I like anything you make, no matter what it is, even if it's just a stone."
Pei Zhi held her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head, and smiled indulgently: "I'll make one for you every Qixi Festival from now on. When we're old, we'll collect a whole box of them."
The two continued walking and passed a jewelry shop. Upon seeing the bronze pendant on Ye Wanning's chest, the shop owner smiled and said, "Young lady, this pendant is truly beautiful! Who made it for you? I'll buy it for one hundred taels of silver!"
Ye Wanning smiled and shook her head: "Not for sale. This was made by my husband, and I won't sell it for any amount of money."
The shopkeeper sighed, "What a pity," but Pei Zhi raised an eyebrow smugly and took her hand, saying, "Did you hear that? My pendant is more valuable than the master's!"
Ye Wanning was amused by him and tiptoed to kiss him on the cheek: "Yes, my husband is the best."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com