Several yamen runners carried Ruan Zhenggang away quickly, and soon they arrived at the county yamen. Ruan Zhenggang had already woken up when the wind blew on him on the way.
When he opened his eyes, he saw pairs of concerned eyes around him, and to his disbelief, his daughter Ruan Fang was there too.
His daughter had just gotten married, so why was she in the county government office? What was going on? At that moment, he felt completely weak and didn't even have the strength to speak.
At this moment, a doctor came over and said, "Manager Ruan, don't move. Let me examine you."
Ruan Zhenggang closed his eyes, pondering what was going on. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong, and there must be another reason why he had been brought to the county government office.
"Manager Ruan is very weak and his face is dark, which is probably due to long-term ingestion of poisonous substances. It seems that someone is indeed trying to harm Manager Ruan."
At this moment, a yamen runner immediately handed over a bowl of medicine and said:
“When we arrived, a doctor was about to feed Manager Ruan his medicine, but I stopped him and brought the bowl of medicine back with me. It will be good to test whether it is poisonous.”
The doctor took the medicine, smelled it, and his expression changed drastically.
"I have practiced medicine for many years and have studied various herbs. If I am not mistaken, this bowl of medicine contains methamphetamine."
Although this poison cannot kill a person immediately, once it accumulates to a certain level in the body, death is inevitable. Manager Ruan is currently severely poisoned; without immediate antidote, his life is in grave danger.
Upon hearing this, Ruan Fang was so frightened that she immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the doctor.
"Please, divine healer, save my father."
The doctor quickly helped Ruan Fang up and comforted her, saying:
“Miss Ruan, there is no need to worry. Although Manager Ruan is severely poisoned, it is not beyond cure. I will write a prescription now and get the medicine ready immediately to detoxify Manager Ruan.”
"Thank you so much, doctor!" Ruan Fang smiled through her tears when she saw that her father was out of danger.
Although Ruan Zhenggang was unable to move or speak, he could hear the people around him clearly. He was not stupid and quickly realized why he had fallen ill, why the people around him wanted to harm him, and why he had not noticed.
This time, it must be that my daughter met a benefactor who came to save her. Who is this benefactor? I will definitely repay this benefactor after I recover.
Ruan Zhenggang was in a daze, his whole body was throbbing with pain, it was a feeling that was worse than death.
He didn't know how much time had passed when he suddenly heard a familiar voice in his ear.
“Father, the divine doctor has prepared the medicine. I will feed it to you.”
Ruan Zhenggang opened his eyes and saw Ruan Fang holding a medicine bowl with a spoon full of medicine in her hand, preparing to feed him. Seeing his daughter's concerned eyes, Ruan Zhenggang burst into tears.
The herbal medicine was very bitter, but Ruan Zhenggang found it very sweet when he drank it.
After drinking a bowl of herbal soup, Ruan Zhenggang felt very tired and soon fell into a deep sleep.
It wasn't until the next morning that Ruan Zheng slowly woke up. He felt much better and was very hungry.
Seeing this, the doctor nodded and said:
"The fact that Manager Ruan feels hungry means that the toxins in his body have begun to be eliminated. It won't be long before Manager Ruan recovers."
Manager Ruan is currently in poor health and should not take any strong tonics; he should have some thin porridge first.
Soon someone brought over a bowl of thin porridge, which Ruan Fang slowly fed to Ruan Zhenggang.
After finishing a bowl of porridge, Ruan Zhenggang felt much warmer and had regained some strength.
He was helped to sit up in bed, looked around at the people around him, and felt very grateful.
"I am deeply grateful for everyone's help. I am currently unable to get out of bed to perform the proper greetings. Please forgive me."
"Manager Ruan, you don't need to be so polite. As the county magistrate, I bear responsibility for such a shocking incident."
"Please rest assured, Manager Ruan, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and get to the bottom of it, and give you justice."
"Thank you, Magistrate. I finally understand why you brought me to the county office. It was not only to save me, but also to thoroughly investigate this case."
"Manager Ruan is indeed clever. We must not alert the enemy yet. You should focus on recovering from your illness and cooperate with the authorities in their investigation."
Seeing her father in such a state, Ruan Fang was very happy and said:
"Father, let me introduce you. This is Lord Zhao, the registrar of the Imperial Armory, who is my savior."
Ruan Fang's words surprised everyone present. Magistrate Gao stared at Zhao Xian, seemingly not recognizing him. Wasn't he just a scholar? How did he become a clerk in the Armory?
Zhao Xian smiled and said:
"Yesterday I received an imperial edict appointing me as a ninth-rank clerk in the Ministry of Works' Weaponry Bureau. It's a minor official position with no real power, so don't take it seriously."
“Young Master Zhao is too modest. Although you are a ninth-rank official, you were appointed by the Emperor, which is different from us local officials. I congratulate you, Registrar,” said Magistrate Gao.
Ruan Zhenggang understood what was going on, and he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zhao Xian, saying:
"Greetings, Your Excellency. Thank you for saving my family."
Ruan Zhenggang suddenly remembered something, and he looked at Ruan Fang and asked:
"Fang'er, didn't you marry Young Master Ma? If I remember correctly, today should be the third day after your wedding. Why are you back?"
Upon hearing this, Ruan Fang's expression changed drastically. She stood there dumbfounded, tears streaming down her face.
Ruan Zhenggang was taken aback, wondering why Ruan Fang reacted this way.
Zhao Xian sighed and said:
"Manager Ruan, this is all the work of your cousin Ruan Jin. Young Master Ma has been dead for many days, and you may not know about this, but Ruan Jin knows perfectly well why he did this. You should understand."
"Ah!" Ruan Zhenggang was shocked and almost jumped out of bed. Ruan Fang quickly stepped forward and held him down.
“Father, don’t worry. After I entered the Ma residence, I sensed something was wrong. After learning the truth, I bribed an old woman in the Ma residence, and with her help, I escaped…”
Then Ruan Fang recounted what happened next in detail, which made Ruan Zhenggang tremble with fear.
After hearing Ruan Fang's story, Ruan Zhenggang shed tears.
"Fang'er, I am an incompetent father. I have caused you so much suffering and almost harmed many villagers in Shuixian Village. This is my fault."
"Alright, it's all in the past, let's not bring it up again. The matter is clear, but the evidence is insufficient, so we need to continue our investigation," Magistrate Gao said.
At this moment, Ruan Zhenggang lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked at Magistrate Gao, hesitating to speak.
"Manager Ruan, please speak frankly and without any reservations."
"Two months ago, my son's horse was startled and the vehicle went out of control, resulting in the deaths and injuries of three pedestrians. As a result, Nguyen Kim Quy was imprisoned."
Later, the authorities discovered that the incident was a premeditated murder, but they have not yet found the culprit. I would like to request that the authorities conduct a thorough investigation into this matter to see if Ruan Jin is involved.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
