Chapter 276: Collusion

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ah Wei pointed at a few local ruffians who were looking at Zhao Cai. “Brother Zhao Cai, these local ruffians were hired by the Holy Hand Hall to cause trouble. The manager of the Holy Hand Hall said that Old Master is disrupting their means to gain their wealth by practicing here.”

The ruffian leader counted on the strength of the majority to threaten Zhao

Cai. “If you know what’s good for you, get lost. Otherwise, I’ll beat you up too.”

Zhao Cai sneered and stepped forward to grab the hand of the ruffian pointing at him. He pinched his finger and exerted force. With a crack, the ruffian’s finger that was pointing at Zhao Cai was broken. The other ruffians rushed up to help and were beaten to the ground by Zhao Cai. More and more people surrounded them, blocking the street.

At this moment, Zhou Jia squeezed in with a few constables. Zhou Jia saw that Mr. Wen’s clothes were undone, his hair was messy, and he looked disheveled. He frowned and strode forward to support Mr. Wen. He turned to the constables behind him and said, “Capture them all.”

The constables bowed and said, “Yes, sir.” The constables rushed towards the ruffians. Ah Wei and Zhao Cai ran over to help. The young man retreated into the crowd.

Mr. Wen adjusted his clothes and looked at Zhou Jia happily. “Xiao Xi, why are you here?”

Zhou Jia smoothed Mr. Wen’s white hair and complained with lingering fear, “Why did you come all the way here for a volunteer medical consultation? What if something happens?”

Mr. Wen chuckled and said, “Heaven helps the good. Look, something just happened and you’re here!”

Zhou Jia saw that Mr. Wen’s volunteer medical consultation items were scattered all over the ground. He helped Mr. Wen tidy up the pulse pillow, medicine box, and small tables and stools and placed them in his backpack. “Sir, why did they come to cause trouble? What’s the Holy Hand Hall that Ah

Wei mentioned?”

Mr. Wen patted Zhou Jia and said, “Let’s talk when we get back.”

The constables and Zhao Cai quickly arrested the hooligans and tied them up before bringing them to Zhou Jia. They reported, “Sir, what should we do with these people?”

“Send them to the government office first and then we’ll find something to eat. I’ll follow Sir back to his place. We’ll meet at the county office at noon,” Zhou Jia said after thinking for a moment.

“Yes, sir.” The constables led the ruffians in the direction of the county office.

Zhou Jia helped Mr. Wen into the car. Ah Wei ran to Tie Zhu’s side and pointed the way. The group walked towards the small courtyard that Mr. Wen rented.

Seeing Zhou Jia and the constables leave with the ruffians, someone laughed gloatingly. “So he’s the master of an official. The Holy Hand Hall has kicked an iron plate this time!”

Someone sighed and said, “It’s time for someone to take care of it. The pharmacy in the county has been bullied to the point of no return by the Holy Hand Hall. We can’t even afford to treat illnesses.”

The man who had protected Mr. Wen and Ah Wei sneered. “What’s the use? In the end, the officials will protect their own. Hmph! They’re all birds of a feather.” With that, he flicked his sleeve and left.

One of them asked curiously, “Wasn’t this person helping that doctor just now? Why isn’t he on the same side as them?”

A middle-aged man standing at the side replied with some pity, “His name is Qi Zhanpeng. He was the young master of the Qi family’s medicine hall, which was the predecessor to the Holy Hand Hall. The third generation of the Qi family relied on the medicine shop passed down by their ancestors and dozens of acres of farmland. Doctor Qi did his best to treat people. The family lived quite comfortably. Qi Zhanpeng was extremely smart when he was young, so Doctor Qi didn’t teach him the medical skills passed down from his ancestors. He asked a teacher to teach him at home and wanted him to change his career path. He also passed the local examination by the age of 12, but for some reason, he didn’t pass the county-level examination a few times. However, he was young! His family had spare money to support him, so it didn’t matter even if he took the examination a few more times.”

“Sigh! If this had continued, the Qi family might really have been able to change pathways. A few months after Qi Zhanpeng was admitted to the academy, Doctor Qi was sued by someone in the government office. They said that he caused someones death and Doctor Qi was arrested and sent to the government office. I heard that he used a lot of money and finally died in prison. Until now, no one has been able to ascertain culpability. Not long after Doctor Qi left,his family’s medicine shop was taken over by the Holy Hand Hall for some reason. Qi Zhanpeng was even disqualified from the academy and lived with the widow in a straw shed outside the city. Now, he lives by writing things for others.”

The man sighed again. “No good deed goes unpunished! Doctor Qi is really a good person. I don’t know why he encountered such a disaster.”

An old man sighed. “Alas! As the saying goes, the people don’t fight with officials, and the poor don’t fight with the rich. Sometimes, it is better to take a step back. Doctor Qi was too direct! ”

“That’s right! Since the show is over, we should disperse.” Everyone sighed and left.

Mr. Wen led the few of them through the main street and into an alley. When they arrived at the rented small courtyard, Mr. Wen smiled and said to Zhou Jia, “When we came out of Yunzhou, we met two merchants on the way. They were talking about how difficult it was to see a doctor in Ling County. We followed them all the way to Ling County. We originally planned to stay in Ling County for a few days before returning to the city. After staying for a few days, we felt that it was too difficult for the people here to see a doctor. In a county city, other than traveling doctors, there is only one medicine shop called the Holy Hand Hall. The traveling doctors are not well-matched, and misdiagnoses happen from time to time, so we were delayed until now.”

“No wonder I couldn’t find any traces of you along the way. I even planned to bring a letter to Yu’er to ask if you had returned to Yunzhou.”

Ah Wei ran in happily and brought out a few bamboo chairs. He then went to serve water and pour tea. Seeing that everyone had sat down, he complained angrily, “Master, it’s fortunate that you’re here. Otherwise, Old Master would have been captured by those dogs and had his hands chopped off. Sigh! You don’t know! Old Master’s heart softened when he saw that those commoners couldn’t treat their illnesses. He used the money he earned from treating those rich families to buy medicine for them. When the Holy Hand Hall saw that those people were queuing up for Old Master’s treatment, they claimed that Old Master was insensible Furthermore, Old Master prescribed cheap herbs so there was no one in that shop. So the owner hired those hooligans to cause trouble and even threatened to chop Old Master’s hands off to feed the dogs.”

Zhou Jia saw Ah Wei’s angry look and thought about how those hooligans had brought people to cause trouble and blocked the streets. However, the government office did not send any bailiffs to ask about it. It seemed that the Holy Hand Medicine Hall and the magistrate of Ling County were really connected.

Zhao Cai patted Ah Wei’s shoulder and smiled. “Ah Wei, how did you learn martial arts? You can’t even protect Mister. Did Brother Ruyi not teach you well?”

Ah Wei scratched his head. “It’s not Brother Ruyi’s fault. It’s my fault for slacking halfway and ending up like this without putting in any effort.” Ah Wei suddenly thought of Qi Zhanpeng. “Oh! Old Master, Brother Qi helped us just now, but those hooligans smashed his letter-writing stall and even kicked him twice. I’ll go see him and send him two ointments.”

Mr. Wen remembered when he heard Ah Wei’s words. He said to Ah Wei, “Aiya! I was so excited that I forgot about him. Ah Wei, bring a few ointments from the lower level of the medicine box to him. Also, bring the cough medicine in the house to his mother.”

“Tiezhu, accompany Ah Wei after dinner. Zhao Cai, go to the street and order a table of food to be sent over.”

Tiezhu and Zhao Cai stood up and bowed. “Yes, Master.”

Ah Wei pulled the two of them out happily..

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