Chapter 23

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Leng’er draped a cloak over her shoulders, and Zhu’er placed a cup of hot tea in front of her. They both seemed to have something to say to comfort her, but neither of them spoke first.

Yin Chujin smiled. “Do I look like a sad, abandoned wife? I’m fine. Don’t think too much.”

“Princess, every time we go to buy medicine, Yang Chengji and his grandson from Benevolence Hall will mention you. Do you want to go out?” Leng’er suddenly suggested.

In order to comfort her, Leng’er had said a long sentence. In the past, if she could speak one word, there was no way she would speak more than that.

Yin Chujin tilted her head and thought for a moment before nodding. “Alright, let’s go out and buy more medicine.”

“That’s great, Princess. Let’s walk around the streets…”

“Zhu’er, I’ll go with Leng’er. You stay behind. If there’s anything, you can deal with it. I’ll go out with you next time!” Today was Xiao Yelei’s big day to marry Ye Xin. Logically speaking, she shouldn’t have anything to do with it, but it was hard to guarantee that there wouldn’t be any accidents. Someone had to stay in Wuyuan. “Besides, Leng’er and I won’t leave through the main entrance of the mansion. We’ll climb the wall.”

“Princess…” Zhu’er shouted, but she knew that the princess’s decision could not be changed. If she wanted to leave the residence, she could only wait for the next time.

The two of them returned to their room and changed into light clothes. They put on their veils and carried their silver. Leng’er brought Yin Chujin to the alley outside the residence in the blink of an eye. They walked along the lively street towards the Benevolence Hall and saw a group of people surrounding it from afar.

Yin Chujin and Leng’er walked forward and pushed through the crowd. They saw dozens of fierce-looking men surrounding Yang Chengji from the Benevolence Hall, shouting that they wanted to report to the officials. A young man in a green robe stood at the side with his arms crossed. He looked refined and handsome, but there was a malicious smile on his face. When they shifted their gaze slightly, they realized that there was a stretcher at the entrance of the Benevolence Hall. On the stretcher lay a young man with a dark face. It was unknown if he was dead or alive.

The owner of Benevolence Hall, Yang Chengji, was forced to seek help everywhere, but to no avail. He felt even more despair. He bent down and cupped his fists as he bowed to the people around him. “Sirs, I really didn’t poison the medicine. Benevolence Hall has been open for decades. I won’t go against my conscience and do such a thing.”

“Grandpa…” The little boy trembled as he tugged at Yang Chengji’s sleeve, his eyes filled with fear.

“Old man, then why was my servant poisoned? He was fine before noon, and just as he finished eating the medicine concocted by your Benevolence Hall, he foamed at the mouth and fell to the ground unconscious. Explain clearly to me, if it wasn’t you who poisoned the medicine, what was it?” The green-robed man’s words rendered Yang Chengji speechless.

The surrounding onlookers also criticized Yang Chengji. “How dare he do such a despicable thing to open a medical center? He’s earning black-hearted money. Report it to the officials!”

“Yes, we should report it to the authorities!”

“No, I really didn’t…” Yang Chengji was so anxious that he was about to cry.

Dozens of men went forward to drag him out. “Let’s go and see the officials!”

Yin Chujin had a rough idea of what had happened. The young man’s face was dark, and it was true that he had been poisoned. However, from the green-robed man’s expression, it was not as simple as it seemed.

“Wait!” Yin Chujin stood up and coldly stopped those people from taking Yang Chengji away. Then, she slowly walked in front of the green-robed man and pointed at the youth on the stretcher. “You’re the young master of that servant’s family? You only know that he was poisoned, but you haven’t tested it yet. How can you say that he was poisoned because he drank the medicine prescribed by Benevolence Hall?”

“Where did you come from? Don’t be a busybody!” The man in green looked at Yin Chujin unhappily as she walked out of the crowd. Although she was wearing a veil, the cold aura she exuded made him want to retreat. “What test? I and all the servants can prove that he fell down after drinking the medicine. Is there anything wrong with that?!”

“That might not be the case. These are all unilateral evidence from you. I can’t rule out the possibility that you have ulterior motives!” Yin Chujin glanced at him and walked towards the poisoned youth. She squatted down and reached out to check his breathing. When she realized that he was still breathing, she took his pulse. After taking his pulse carefully, she pinched his mouth open and looked left and right. Then, she stood up and faced the crowd. She said slowly, “He wasn’t poisoned by medicine. It was food poisoning!”

“Woman… Stop spouting nonsense! What food poisoning? I only know that he was poisoned after drinking the medicine prescribed by Benevolence Hall.” The green-robed man rushed forward to pull her away, but Leng’er blocked him with her sword and stopped him.

Yin Chujin ignored him. She walked into Benevolence Hall and looked at the rows of medicine cabinets. Even though there were many ancient words on them that she did not understand, the order of the Chinese medicine cabinets was almost the same. She quickly found the medicine cabinet where the melon stems were placed. She grabbed some, then placed them on the mortar and crushed them into fine powder. Then, she waved at the little boy who was still hiding behind Yang Chengji in fear. “Little boy, pour a glass of water out.”

“Okay.” The little boy ran into the hall and quickly poured a glass of water for Yin Chujin.

Yin Chujin poured the powder into the water and dragged the poisoned young man to the corner by his collar. Then, she grabbed him by the collar and opened his mouth. She poured the entire glass of water into his mouth and grabbed his throat.

“Urgh…” The unconscious youth vomited.

Everyone in the crowd covered their noses and retreated with disgust on their faces. Yin Chujin didn’t even frown as she stared at the residue he spat out.

“Hmm? Dog meat and eel?” Yin Chujin nodded as she studied them. “A rich man would give such good food to a servant.” Dog meat and eel could not be eaten together. It had been known since ancient times that this young master actually “treated” the servant with these two things.

After he was done vomiting, she turned around and saw that the little boy had already placed a basin of water behind her.

“Sister, here’s some water to your hands.”

Under the veil, Yin Chujin’s lips curled up slightly. After washing her hands, she said to Yang Chengji, who was wiping his cold sweat, “Please lend me silver needles.”

“Uh, okay…” Yang Chengji took out a medical kit from the clinic and handed it to her.

Yin Chujin took out a few silver needles from her medicine box and pricked several acupuncture points on the poisoned youth’s body. Then, she took out a pill from her pocket and stuffed it into his mouth. She raised his chin and forced him to swallow.

After waiting for a moment, everyone miraculously saw the young man’s hand move slightly and slowly wake up.

“He’s awake, he’s awake!” The crowd whispered.

Yin Chujin walked to the medicine cabinet again and easily took out some bitter ginseng, black plums and chicken testes. She wrapped them into two portions and placed them in the young man’s hands.

“Go back and boil it in bitter wine.”

After that, she stood up and walked towards the man in green. “What else do you have to say now?”

“If I said he was poisoned by the medicine, then he was poisoned by the medicine. What food poisoning? Little Gua was clearly fine after eating. He was poisoned after drinking the medicine prescribed by Benevolence Hall. Don’t even think about covering up for him. In short, we’ll go to the authorities!” The green-robed man shouted unreasonably with a straight face. He insisted on his own explanation, but he could not produce any evidence and was only acting shamelessly.