Chapter 23: Identification "I think the adults have also heard about the bet between me and Jiang Yi...
The porcelain bottle flew out, and no one paid attention to it among the crowd of swords and knives, until it fell to the ground and broke into several pieces, and the medicine quickly dispersed in the air.
The county magistrate, who had made the harsh remarks, fell backwards suddenly before he could finish his words, followed by the constables and legal advisors who were nearby.
From near to far, people around fell down one after another, even the chirping birds in the yard were not spared.
In just a few breaths, the originally noisy place fell into an eerie silence, and Pei Yixue was the only living creature left in this large area.
His ears were finally quiet. Pei Yixue just glanced at the people lying on the ground, picked up a needle, and stabbed it towards Governor Fang.
After the poison was removed, Governor Fang's eyelids trembled slightly, as if bearing a thousand pounds of weight, and slowly opened. His vision was a little blurry, and when he saw Pei Yixue's gentle face clearly, he couldn't help but cough violently.
When Governor Fang saw the people lying on the ground out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly had an ominous premonition.
"What's going on?" Governor Fang's voice was a little hoarse, with a bit of anxiety and confusion.
Pei Yixue did not answer directly. He slowly glanced at the people on the ground and asked, "Does the Governor trust me now?"
Governor Fang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Recalling his contempt and disbelief towards Pei Yixue at that time, he resolutely drank the bowl of medicine, feeling a little embarrassed.
He took a deep breath and said, "The divine doctor is very generous. This time, I was indeed blind. The divine doctor saved me without any grudges. I am very grateful to him."
Pei Yixue gently waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency is too kind. Practicing medicine and saving lives is my duty. However, if Your Excellency can trust me a little more, then this matter will not be a bad thing."
He paused and continued, "I think you have heard about the bet between me and Jiang Yi. Right now, I am the one who wants you to live well the most. If you recover from your illness, I can win the bet and gain a good reputation. If you cannot recover, I will lose the bet and Liming Pharmacy will have to close down."
Governor Fang's eyes sparkled, and he grasped his hand tightly, his voice filled with excitement and anticipation: "Does the miracle doctor really have a way to cure my chronic illness?"
Pei Yixue smiled, her voice firm and powerful: "Of course."
"Okay, okay." Governor Fang's eyes were moist, and his gratitude was beyond words: "If the miracle doctor can cure my stubborn illness, from now on, the affairs of the Liming Pharmacy will be mine, and I will never let any villain take advantage of it!"
Pei Yixue couldn't count how many people had said this to him. Most of the promises were fleeting. He smiled knowingly, appeased the governor, took out the antidote and woke up the guards and the pharmacy servants.
After learning what happened from his guards, Governor Fang's eyes were burning with anger: "How can this be! They plotted to murder me and even tried to frame an innocent person. They deserve to die!"
He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force, as if he was trying to squeeze out all the anger and hatred in his heart.
He then ordered the unconscious county magistrate and constable to be tied up and taken to the court for interrogation.
The atmosphere in the court was tense and solemn.
The pharmacy attendant took the antidote given by Pei Yixue, woke up the sleeping county magistrate and the constable, and stepped aside.
Everyone who woke up in the hall looked around, still somewhat confused about the situation. They were dazed and didn't understand how they ended up here in the blink of an eye.
"Bang!" The gavel hit the table, bringing them back to their senses.
The county magistrate looked in the direction of the voice and saw Governor Fang in the hall, his eyes widening as if he had seen a ghost.
Governor Fang questioned him sternly: "Li Liangcai, how did you plot to murder me, and how did you try to pin the blame on Doctor Xu? Tell the truth now!"
"Sir, there must be a misunderstanding." Magistrate Li calmed down. "When I saw Xu Yi poisoning you, I called for someone to arrest him, but your guards intervened. We didn't catch Xu Yi before I passed out and woke up here."
Magistrate Li thought for a moment, then said, "I remember now. It was Xu Yi who threw the porcelain bottle and caused us to fall asleep. This must be Xu Yi's evil plan to retaliate against me."
Magistrate Li spoke with great confidence, as if he were really an innocent person who had been wronged.
Governor Fang in the hall was so angry at his hypocritical face that his chest heaved violently.
"How dare you quibble and confuse right and wrong! My guards tried to stop you, but you even ignored the governor's order. Xu Yi was clearly trying his best to save me, but you wanted to kill him before I could come back to life, right?!"
"I have no such intention. I am worried about your safety. I saw Xu Yi was doing something unkind to you, so I resorted to this desperate measure to subdue him."
Governor Fang sneered and turned his gaze to the detectives: "What about you? Do you also feel that you are wronged? As detectives, you should uphold the law, but you aided and abetted the evil. What crime should you be charged with?"
"Sir, we are innocent. We just wanted to rescue you from Xu Yi." The detectives all protested their injustice, and their testimony was consistent with that of Magistrate Li.
Governor Fang slammed the gavel in his hand and said, "Humph, it's unfair? Do you know what kind of crime it is to murder an official appointed by the imperial court? The worst crime is to punish the entire clan, and the worst is death!"
As soon as these words came out, the detectives were shocked. They all knew that today's incident could not be resolved peacefully. They were betting that the county magistrate had a way to get away with it, and that they could escape this disaster.
Governor Fang narrowed his eyes and continued to put pressure on him: "The law is long and there is no loophole. If you don't want others to know, then don't do it. Considering that you haven't caused a big disaster and you were instigated to do the wrong thing, if you are willing to testify against Li Liangcai's crimes, I can deal with you at my discretion and give you a chance to reform. But you must think it through first."
The detectives looked at each other. After another period of silence, one of the older detectives stood up first with a trembling voice. He took a deep breath and said sadly, "Sir, I am willing to testify against Magistrate Li's crimes. In order to murder you, Magistrate Li threatened us with our families and forced us to participate in this vicious plot."
Another constable immediately echoed, "Yes, sir. Magistrate Li talked to us in private and asked us to find an opportunity to poison your medicine. He even specially selected a strong poison that is not easy to detect, and then put the blame on Doctor Xu."
As this constable spoke, other constables also stood up and testified against Magistrate Li's crimes.
"He said that as long as we obey his orders, he will give us a generous reward and guarantee the safety of our families." Another detective added, with endless regret in his voice.
"We were originally law-abiding people, and most of us have elderly parents and young children to support. It was Magistrate Li's coercion and inducement that led us to this path of no return."
"We are insignificant and have little influence. We have no choice but to commit this crime of murdering you! Please understand our situation, Governor." The detectives said one after another, their voices filled with anger and dissatisfaction towards Magistrate Li.
The detectives not only uncovered the plot to murder Governor Fang, they also dug up all the old stories of Magistrate Li's corruption and bribery.
Governor Fang sat in the hall, listening to the testimonies with a solemn expression. The detectives watched with bated breath, trying their best to recall all the bad deeds that Magistrate Li had done since he took office. They knew that these testimonies would be the key to their redemption.
A constable scanned the crowd, and finally fixed his gaze on Pei Yixue, with a gleam in his eyes: "Sir, there is one more thing! Not long ago, our yamen's accusation against Liming Pharmacy for selling fake medicine was completely groundless. This was actually a personal vendetta by County Magistrate Li, who made up an excuse to target Doctor Xu. The reason is that Doctor Xu once refuted County Magistrate Li in public."
Another constable quickly took over the conversation, his voice firm: "Yes, Zhang Laoliu had no symptoms at the time, and Dr. Xu's diagnosis was accurate. But Magistrate Li colluded with Dr. Jiang to falsify the diagnosis in an attempt to frame Dr. Xu!"
The onlookers sighed when they heard these revelations. They talked a lot and were shocked and angry at what Magistrate Li had done.
"I never thought that the great Dr. Jiang would cheat for others! This reclusive doctor is really unworthy of his reputation!"
"Yes, Doctor Ma, I remember that you also went to treat Zhang Laoliu. Didn't you also say that he had a chronic illness?" A middle-aged man in the crowd suddenly turned to a man a few years older and asked with a bit of joking.
The older man's face suddenly turned red, and he stammered in defense, "This, this... I wasn't the only one who went to see the doctor. Didn't Dong Laogou and Liu Mazi also say that Zhang Laoliu had a chronic illness?"
Although they did not diagnose that Zhang Laoliu had a chronic illness at the beginning, they had Jiang Yi's words in mind. They could not diagnose it and could only suspect that their medical skills were not good enough. However, they did not want to admit that their medical skills were not good enough, so they followed Jiang Yi's words and said that Zhang Laoliu had a chronic illness.
Who could have thought that Jiang would lie and trick them?
The middle-aged man sneered and said sarcastically, "Come on! If you can't even diagnose this, whether it's you, Dong Laogou, or Liu Mazi, don't call yourselves doctors anymore. Xu Yi said categorically that Zhang Laoliu is not sick. If I were to go up there, I would definitely be able to tell at a glance that Zhang Laoliu is lying."
"Who said I didn't diagnose it? I diagnosed it right at the beginning!" the older man argued unconvinced.
"Yes, the diagnosis was made. It was found that Zhang Laoliu had a chronic disease."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
