Chapter 5 Search
The officers searched the house one by one. The shopkeeper suddenly remembered the two injured people yesterday. Could it be that they got into trouble?
He quickly stepped forward and said, "Sir, if you have anything to say, just talk it over. How can you search the house without telling anyone?"
"Get out of here! The imperial court is arresting the criminals. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed without mercy!"
Song Daming's heart skipped a beat. Were those two people wanted criminals? If he caught one of them for harboring a wanted criminal, he would definitely be charged with the crime. He would never be able to open his pharmacy again!
"Is there any misunderstanding?" Song Daming took out a purse from his arms and quietly put it into the leader's hand.
Unexpectedly, the officer refused to take the call and pushed Shopkeeper Song away, ordering his men to search quickly.
"Bang!" The door of the last compartment opened, and several officers and soldiers rushed in. There was no one inside...
Song Daming just breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart immediately rose to his throat again. Where is Master Zhu? ! He had clearly come to the backyard just now, but he was gone! Cold sweat flowed down his forehead. If Master Zhu had any accident, his job as the shopkeeper would be over.
On the beam, Song Yuzhu was being held in the arms of the injured man. Due to the narrow space, the two were very close to each other. Zhao Xiao could even smell the faint scent of herbs on the young doctor, which was slightly bitter but also somewhat sweet.
Zhao Xiao was afraid that Song Yuzhu would make a sound, so he covered his mouth with one hand. The warm and soft touch of his palm made his ears hot. They were both men, but how could this boy be so handsome? He was prettier than the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
After searching for a long time and not finding the person they were looking for, the officer asked, "Did your clinic encounter two injured men these days?"
"No, no!" Song Daming denied it flatly. Who would be willing to take responsibility for such a thing?
"Those two are serious criminals of the imperial court. If you see them, notify the county government immediately. If you conceal it and do not report it, you will be guilty of the same crime as them!" After saying that, he waved his hand and hurriedly left with his men.
After they all left, Song Daming shouted anxiously: "Master Zhu, Master Zhu——"
"Bang!" Zhao Xiao jumped down from the beam holding Song Yuzhu. Because he used too much force, the wound was torn. The pain made his face pale and a layer of fine sweat beads appeared on the tip of his nose.
"I apologize for the offense just now, little doctor."
Song Daming quickly pulled Song Yuzhu over to block behind him: "Don't hurt our young master!"
Zhao Xiao endured the pain and said, "The young doctor is my savior, how could I hurt him?"
Song Yuzhu: "Those people just now came to arrest you, right?"
The man nodded honestly.
"Who are you?"
"Although they are right to arrest me, we are not the wanted criminals of the imperial court as they claim. My name is Zhao Xiao, and I am the bodyguard of King Jing of Jinzhou." He was afraid that Song Yuzhu would not believe him, so he took out a token from his waist and handed it to her: "This is my badge, and I am not lying at all."
Song Yuzhu: "Uncle Ming, please go out and do your work first. Don't mention this to anyone else."
"Eh." Although Song Daming didn't know why Song Yuzhu wanted to protect this man, he thought it was better to have less trouble than more, so he decided to send someone to inform the Third Master first.
Only Zhao Xiao and Song Yuzhu were left in the room.
Song Yuzhu said: "You said you were King Jing's guard, and the man who died of serious injuries yesterday..."
"Don't ask. Sometimes knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing."
Song Yuzhu raised her eyebrows, having already guessed most of the answers in her mind. How could a person who could wear a jade pendant with dragon pattern be an ordinary person?
Zhao Xiao: "This matter was caused by me. In order to avoid implicating you, I'd better leave early."
Song Yuzhu pondered for a moment and said, "Go lie down on the bed first. Your wound has split open and needs to be sutured again."
Zhao Xiao looked at him with a playful look on his face. What on earth was this kid up to? He knew he was being hunted, yet he still dared to treat him.
Song Yuzhu fetched the medicine box, cleaned her hands, picked up the medicine thread and sewed up his wound again. While sewing, she wondered who was so bold as to rob and kill the prince so brazenly? Thinking of what her uncle said about the emperor's poor health, it seemed that someone was preparing to strike first.
"Click." Song Yuzhu cut the catgut. "Okay, you can go now."
Zhao Xiao closed his shirt with a pale face.
Song Yuzhu wiped the blood off his hands and said, "The man who died yesterday was sent to the charity cemetery in the western suburbs by his servants. If we go too late, he might be buried in a mass grave."
"Thank you, see you later." Zhao Xiao looked at Song Yuzhu deeply, turned around and jumped out of the back window.
As soon as Zhao Xiao left, Song Bai hurried over. He received news that soldiers and officers came to search the medical officer. Thinking of the two people he had treated yesterday, he couldn't help feeling uneasy.
When he arrived at the clinic, he saw his son sitting in the front hall, checking someone's pulse, as if nothing had happened. Song Bai did not disturb him, but moved a chair and sat beside him, waiting.
"Doctor, I have been feeling chest tightness and discomfort these days. I feel sleepy during the day but cannot fall asleep at night. It feels like ants are crawling on my body and my whole body is itchy." The patient was a man in his forties. He looked haggard and his eyes were dark. It seemed that he had not had a full night's sleep for several days.
Song Yuzhu felt the pulse and said, "Stick out your tongue so I can see it."
The man opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue. A sticky, sour smell wafted out. Song Yuzhu said without changing his expression, "Have you lost your appetite these days? Your mouth is sour and bitter, and you feel hot in your hands and feet, and you are thirsty."
"Yes, yes, you are absolutely right!"
"It's due to excessive fire in the heart due to weak heart. You should nourish the heart meridian." Song Yuzhu picked up the pen and wrote the medicine, taking one qian of Salvia miltiorrhiza, two qian of Poria cocos, and half a qian each of Angelica sinensis, Rehmannia glutinosa, and Torreya grandis seeds.
"Boil three bowls of water into one bowl, drink it after meals every day, and try it for three days."
"Oh, thank you, little doctor!" The patient took the prescription and went to get the medicine.
Song Bai took the time to ask his son: "Zhu'er, why did those officials come just now?"
Song Yuzhu said, "Let's talk about it when we get home. This is not the place to talk."
*
On the other side, Zhao Xiao had just come out of the Song family's clinic when he ran into a group of soldiers searching. He was so scared that he immediately hid in the cowshed next to him. He waited until the soldiers walked away before he quietly came out and walked out of the city.
There were many soldiers at the city gate, searching for people coming in and out. Zhao Xiao found a carriage leaving the city, quietly climbed under the carriage, and slipped out in a blink of an eye. However, the wound on his chest was torn a little more, and he trembled slightly in pain.
Zhao Xiao pressed his wound and thought of the young doctor. He was young, but brave and skilled in medicine. Now that he had saved his life, he owed him a favor. If he were to meet him again...
Forget it, we'll talk about it later. Right now, I can't protect myself, King Jing is dead, and I don't know what the situation is like in Jinzhou.
After walking for half an hour, Zhao Xiao found the charity cemetery that Song Yuzhu mentioned. King Jing's body had not yet been sent for burial.
It was inconvenient to carry a dead body on the road. After thinking for a while, Zhao Xiao decided to find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers to bury the body directly, so that the body could rest in peace.
*
After returning home from the clinic in the evening, Song Yuzhu and Song Qiao went directly to the study room to talk about what happened during the day. Coincidentally, Song Qiao and his second son Song Yufeng also came over.
Song Qiao asked, "I heard that officials went to your place during the day. What happened?"
Song Yuzhu did not hide anything and told them what happened in the clinic during the day.
Song Qiao didn't say anything after hearing this, but Song Yufeng said in horror: "You actually let him run away?!"
Song Yuzhu said helplessly: "He is very skilled in martial arts, what can I do if I don't let him leave?"
"This, this is a capital crime! If he is lying, wouldn't we be considered harboring a fugitive?"
Song Yuzhu was speechless about her stupid cousin and simply kept quiet.
"Dad! Let's report to the police right away! We can do this before that person gets too far away. If we catch him, we can make up for our mistakes..."
Song Qiao looked a little unhappy, and pinched him quietly from below: "If you can't speak, you can shut up!"
"Ah! Dad, why are you pinching me!" Song Yufeng screamed in pain. Song Qiao's face turned red with embarrassment and he regretted bringing him out.
Song Bai came to the rescue, saying, "Since the clinic treated him, we cannot escape responsibility. If we are bitten back, we will be guilty of an even greater crime. Now we can only pretend that nothing happened to avoid disaster."
Song Yuzhu nodded. His father was much clearer.
Song Qiao frowned. He didn't care whether the man ran away or not. What he cared about was whether there would be chaos. King Jing's death was not simple. He suspected that the four kings did it. After all, Jiangcheng County was located in Xuzhou, and the fiefdoms of the four kings were here.
"Yuzhu, did that man say anything else?"
Song Yuzhu shook her head: "Just tell him your identity, and I'll let him go."
Song Qiao warned: "Don't tell anyone about this. Just pretend nothing happened. Did you hear that, Feng'er?"
"Oh..." Song Yufeng hummed. He didn't care about the affairs of the clinic.
Song Qiao changed the subject: "By the way, your second sister-in-law plans to take Yumin over to take care of him. What do you and your sister-in-law think?"
Song Bai said: "That couldn't be better. Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law."
Song Qiao coughed lightly and said, "As she should. She has nothing to do anyway."
Song Yufeng was not happy when he heard this: "Where will Song Yumin live when he comes? Is he going to live in the same yard with me? No way, no way. I have no place for him to live."
Song Qiao wanted to retrain this unfortunate son. He raised his hand and punched him, gritting his teeth and said, "Say less!"
After returning to his yard, Song Qiao could no longer suppress his anger. He took off his shoes and hit Song Yufeng.
"Ah! Dad, what are you doing?" Song Yufeng was beaten and ran towards Qin's room with his head in his hands.
"You dare to run? I'm going to beat you to death today, you little bastard!"
Qin had just changed her clothes and was about to lie down to sleep when she was startled to see her son running in crying. She quickly ordered the maid to light a lamp.
"What's going on?"
Song Yufeng was already seventeen years old, half an inch taller than his father. He nestled in Qin's arms and wiped his tears: "I said I didn't want to go, but my father insisted that I go. He either twisted me or hit me after saying a few words, and even beat me with his shoes when he came back."
Song Qiao pointed at him and was so angry that he couldn't speak.
"Why do you beat your son for no reason?" Qin touched Song Yufeng's face with heartache.
"This idiot, I asked him to go with me to the Third Brother to listen to what happened, but he kept talking nonsense, which was not enough to embarrass me!"
Song Yufeng felt very aggrieved. He didn't think that anything he said was wrong, but he felt that his father looked down on him.
When Qin heard that Song Yuzhu was mentioned again, she said with a bad face, "No matter how good the third elder's child is, he is still someone else's child. No matter how bad Yufeng is, he is still your child. Master, please don't confuse the difference between inside and outside."
Song Qiao laughed angrily: "Ha, why don't you ask what he said? Didn't you want to take Yumin in to raise him? I mentioned it to the third brother."
Qin's eyes lit up and she became more alert: "What did he say?"
"The third brother didn't say anything, but your good son refused outright, saying that our place is too small for Yumin to stay, and asked him not to come."
"Idiot!" Qin was so angry that she slapped her son.
Song Yufeng covered his face with his hands, wanting to cry but without tears. He wondered who he had offended.
(End of this chapter)
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