"That's right, go and call her out... Never mind, I'll go in myself. I'll help her carry the baby, and it'll save her energy to walk. Which room is she in? Third brother, lead the way!"
Tian Zhu shook his head: "I'm not going back. My wife isn't well. The doctor said she can't move around and needs to rest."
"Raise her? Who hasn't had a baby? Everyone's back in the field the day after giving birth! Why is she the only one who's precious..."
"Second sister-in-law! My wife gave birth to twins and is now weak. She really can't..."
The woman addressed as "Second Sister-in-law" suddenly turned pale, her voice rising sharply: "Twins? A son and a daughter?"
Tian Zhu said, "One son and one daughter."
Hearing this, the second sister-in-law seemed relieved: "That's good, that's good. I thought she had two sons. It seems she wasn't so lucky! Since she didn't have two sons, let her come out quickly so we can go back soon. The crops in the fields need to be weeded a second time..."
Her voice suddenly stopped because she saw an old woman, disheveled and limping, come out of the door.
"Mother? What's wrong?"
"Oh my god, how dare this Jishetang kidnap people in broad daylight!"
"Good heavens, Your Honor, you must stand up for us! This time it's not our fault, is it?"
"Look at my old mother, she's so old and they still have to torment her, she's so pitiful..."
Ning Yao took some time to have Zhilan bring out Tian Wangshi's mother-in-law.
The old woman, who had been tied up for a day, was still furious. When she saw her family members arrive, she immediately shouted, "Murder! The doctor here has murdered someone!"
The onlookers were in an uproar.
"Murder? Isn't Jishetang a pharmacy and clinic? How could they commit murder?"
"She's acting crazy, is she just talking nonsense?"
"What? Look at her, she's all disheveled. Did she really see something?"
"Are you alright? If Jishetang really caused a death, would they just let her cause such a scene? Would they just ignore it? Besides, didn't you see the officials and Lord Zhou and his son have arrived?"
"Tch, who knows? It might just be a case of collusion between officials and businessmen! Yesterday, that girl even pointed a sword at us; it was terrifying!"
"Stop arguing! Do you want to watch the show or not?!"
Her second sister-in-law rushed forward to support her: "Mother, what happened? Why did you kill someone?"
The mother-in-law muttered for a while, then suddenly spotted Ning Yao and started yelling again: "Her! It's her! She killed my third daughter-in-law and my grandson!"
A cold glint flashed in Ning Yao's eyes: "Put your fingers away. If you don't want them anymore, I can chop them off for you!"
The mother-in-law abruptly withdrew her hand, and Ning Yao sneered, "So you can still understand what I'm saying, which proves you're not crazy yet."
The mother-in-law stopped pretending to be crazy. She was indignant and tearfully accused, "Yesterday my third daughter-in-law was about to give birth, and she was the one who delivered the baby. She looks like a pampered young lady who has never lifted a finger. How could she know how to do these kinds of chores?"
"The female doctor at Jishetang said that the third daughter-in-law was pregnant with twins. Later, she said that the mother and children were all safe and sound, and that she gave birth to a son and a daughter. Then I heard them say that they cut open the third daughter-in-law's stomach to take out the children."
"Fellow villagers, listen to this! If you cut open a pregnant woman's belly, what chance do you think the mother will have, let alone the child?"
"My two grandsons and my poor daughter-in-law were ruined by them. Not only did they ruin them, but they also lied to me, saying that they only gave birth to one son and the other was a girl!"
"This Jishetang is not a clinic or pharmacy that saves lives, but a heartless shop that takes lives!"
The old woman spoke tearfully, yet her words were clear, logical, and well-reasoned, which angered many onlookers.
"The woman was hit by a carriage yesterday. Logically speaking, Jishetang did the right thing by saving her, but isn't it too cruel to cut open her abdomen to remove her child? How could that woman survive after her abdomen was cut open yesterday?"
"My God! A cesarean section? I've never heard of this method before. It's a bit shocking, but at least the baby was saved, right?"
"Exactly! I was there yesterday too. In that situation, it would be strange if the birth wasn't difficult. Only one of the mother and the child could be saved. Although saving the child was the right thing to do, the method they used was really terrifying!"
Zhilan moved a chair over and placed it under the shed where free medicine was being distributed at the entrance.
In the past, we would harvest the medicinal herbs early and then start applying the medicine for free.
But today, due to this matter, the space under the shed has been left empty.
Ning Yao crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, instructing the waiter, "Bring a chair over for Young Master Zhou as well."
The waiter brought over a chair, and Zhou Yan sat down. He asked Ning Yao in a complicated tone, "They're saying this, and you're not worried at all? The reputation that Jishetang has worked so hard to build may be ruined."
Ning Yao smiled and said, "What's the rush?"
She pointed at the old woman, then at the onlookers: "The straight man and the funny man, singing and responding, performing a comedy routine for us, don't you think it's more interesting than reading a storybook?"
Zhou Yan looked confused: "What is crosstalk?"
Ning Yao slapped her forehead: "Oh no, I forgot to add crosstalk to Pinglanlou. Nobody knows about crosstalk yet."
"It's alright, it's alright, let's just have a performance, understand?"
Zhou Yan suddenly realized: "Then this is indeed more interesting and more realistic than a play."
Those who were mocked all looked very unhappy, especially the old woman.
"See? Isn't this collusion between officials and businessmen? They've done wrong, but they're not afraid at all!"
Ning Yao picked at her ear and said, "Tian Zhu, you tell us."
Tian Zhu was furious. His wife was perfectly fine, so why was his mother cursing her to die?
"Mother, your wife and children are both fine, lying in the side room in the backyard. How could you curse them to die?"
Tian Zhu's silence only made his mother angrier: "You unfilial son, how dare you criticize your own mother? You came last night, didn't you? Why didn't you take care of me? Why have I been tied up like this until now?"
Tian Zhu murmured, "Nobody told me you were here too..."
"My mother came to the city with her. If my mother isn't here, where else could she be?"
Tian Zhu said, "You always come home first in the past, never caring about your wife. Our son thought yesterday was the same as before..."
The old woman was choked up, unable to speak.
"You say your wife is still alive? Then let her out so we can see her. I don't believe a baby can survive a C-section unless you prove it to us!"
"That's right, let her out!"
Tian Zhu honestly explained, "It was a cesarean section, but my wife and child are both fine. I took care of them all night, but because it was a cesarean section, my wife has a wound on her abdomen, so she can only lie in bed now and can't come out."
"Tch, all you can prove is by talking!"
Negative rumors about Jishetang started circulating among the crowd again.
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