Chapter 314: Who Goes to the Yamen to Report a Case?

When the Old Emperor and his retinue left, Yuan Jiaqi stared at Qiao Mai.

"Wife, did you do it on purpose?"

"Which one?"

"What exactly is the matter?"

"Yes, I was drenched in cold sweat from the fright just now; luckily the emperor is a wise ruler, and there's never been anyone like you who would bargain with him."

"You must trust me; I dare not say anything else. In the Ming Imperial Court, no one can bully our family, not even the emperor. When I negotiate with him, I do so out of respect."

Yuan Jiaqi embraced her, feeling a surge of pride inside.

"I, as husband, don't want my wife to sacrifice anything for me."

"It's just a prescription; the Old Emperor is fairly decent, and I'm willing to make the Ming Imperial Court stronger. After all, wars are constant, the people are suffering, the common folk have no money—who would still patronize my business?"

After much effort, the two promising sons left the Qiao Family, and now the youngest son has actually married a princess.

The elder cannot be sent off, and the younger is even less possible; after all, the other's legitimate wife is a princess.

"Sir, rest assured; I'll go over tomorrow to take a look."

The person hadn't even reached Qiao Mai when he suddenly collapsed; the townsfolk hurriedly lifted him up with many hands.

"No matter; kill as many as come, do it in front of those hypocritical people, and see whether they ever learn."

Unexpectedly, the assassin on him moved with superhuman speed, and Qiao Mai instantly recognized that the man was an assassin.

"Let me tell you, find a capable assassin; that wandering physician's skill is decent."

"First, send a few people to deal with the stallholder opposite the shop."

"Weren't you the one who said to teach the Qiao Family a lesson? How come now their family not only has no trouble but is becoming more jubilant?"

They didn't linger in Tianshui Town; first, they were ashamed, second, they didn't want anyone to know they were returning to their ancestral clan, fearing the Tian clan of Tianshui would scold them.

Yet she dared not utter any of those words, fearing ridicule, fearing her in‑laws would learn and scold her.

"Understood."

They still didn't know about Chuan'er and the princess's marriage, but could Jiang Yunsheng in Jingcheng be unaware?

Back home, he and his wife exchanged wry smiles; now Yuan Jiaqi's career is soaring, the Qiao Family is affluent, their household thriving, yet it no longer concerns them.

Qiao Mai called out to them, "Who went to the Yamen to report a case? Everyone needs to give me testimony; I never touched him."

This made several medical halls panic; is the Divine Physician a deity? How can he be killed and not die?

Not only can't they kill him, they can't even get a foothold on her; they're truly hopeless—why can't they finish him off?

But his own son, though married to a daughter of a prestigious family, still lacks the splendor of a princess, and his official rank may never be promoted; it's infuriating, infuriating.

When he returned, he escorted a hundred elite soldiers, completing the ceremonial display, and finally Yang Mei could breathe a sigh of relief.

"No pulse pattern; the person is already dead."

"Ha ha, makes sense."

Everyone wants to curry favor with the emperor's prized fire, and the thought of sending a beauty to his door resurfaced.

The emperor's youngest, most favored daughter—who would dare trouble the emperor at this moment, not wanting to live?

He found a guesthouse in Tianhe Town to stay in; his family's original residence had long been uninhabitable.

"Women, truly—always clueless about outside affairs, then a business raider shows up and has been stealing his shop's customers lately."

It's not just the Liu family; several medical halls in Jingcheng want to hire assassins for Qiao Mai, but each time they try to stalk, they lose track.

He now counts as returning home in splendor, yet in this poor remote region his office is on par with the Prefect, and even the Prefect can't tolerate him.

What's the matter? Naturally, Qiao Mai killed him with mental force.

Especially the Liu family; Liu Yuyi found his wife.

Damn, when the time came he gave her an ugly situation; the chef had no ingredients at all, making her embarrassed to the point of going home.

That day, Qiao Mai just opened her stall when a shadow flew toward her; the movement was lightning fast, Qiao's eyes widened—killing in broad daylight, was that impatience?

At that moment, many pedestrians were on the road; many were waiting for Qiao Mai to open her stall. They saw the scene and paid no mind, assuming the common folk were scrambling to be the first to have their pulse taken.

The scouts from several medical halls reported the news back, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Qiao Mai was about to go north to collect debts; after finishing a diagnosis, she rose to tidy her stall, telling each patient that she would no longer open the stall after the new year.

Besides, Zihan's grand wedding is still far off; she came to the Qiao Family to remind Qiao Mai not to forget to send a chef to Bichun Garden later, and not to forget the ingredients either.

"What should we do?"

She had only endured twenty days of hardship, encountered over a dozen assassins, and dealt with them all unnoticed.

Don't think great skill lets one ignore everything; even the mighty have helpless moments.

When she wasn't operating the stall, those medical halls puffed up; the moment she opened, they wilted instantly.

But after seeing Yuan Jiaqi's deep eyes, they all backed off; they wouldn't dare attack him. They feared Yuan Jiaqi's sharp tongue—so damn ruthless, showing no mercy, making you want to jump into a river or hang yourself.

And Madam Wang, in Bichun Garden, rolled her eyes in fury; Yuan Jiaqi had only been an official for a short time yet rose to a First Rank Grand Officer, and even their children, once nothing, now surpass everyone in his family.

"Indeed, perhaps he was ill himself, and ran away too hastily just now, which is why…"

"Huh? That death was way too quick, wasn't it?"

He is only a Sixth Rank official; how could the emperor let his daughter marry such a low‑ranking officer? He will surely look for ways to promote his rank later.

This time he returned only to tend his parents' graves, fill the soil; as for returning to his ancestral clan, he hasn't thought about it yet. Since he and his brother have suffered so many grievances, he still needs the clan to petition—one petition isn't enough, it takes three before he'll consider.

Truly a remembered grudge—sending people to assassinate oneself, failing to stalk, how shameless is that?

She stared at Mingshi Yiguan, her eyes flashing with an inexplicable light, seeming to think they truly lack any tolerance.

Since the emperor issued the marriage decree, the Qiao Family became the talk of Jingcheng; typically royal princesses choose princes as consorts, yet Jia Mei married down, showing how much the emperor valued Yuan Sir's family.

Out of respect for the old master and the old lady, she endured!

In the blink of an eye, the twelfth month arrived, the weather grew colder, yet there were still many patients.

This year, since opening the stall, not much time has passed, and those who come for pulse diagnosis are common folk; their medical halls are mostly sustained by wealthy families, never lacking consultation fees.

Setting up a stall?

Qiao Mai didn't care what they said; seeing that the weather had turned cold and that the season change brought more sick people, she simplified her appearance and, just as before, set up a daily free‑clinic stall.

Divine Physician, Divine Physician, quickly examine him—what's wrong?

I know, I know.

In no time, imperial officials arrived, conducted routine questioning of the common people, and then left taking the person away.

The whole of Jingcheng heard it; now Yuan Jiaqi, when attending court, draws envious looks from all civil and military officials.

This time it was Qiao Mai's turn to be angry; the grand wedding was still more than six months away, and she reminded herself—was this because she knew the Princess would be married into the Qiao family, just to cause her trouble?

She hurriedly ordered someone to place him on the table, took his pulse, and then, regrettably, shook her head.

"It won't be long; my Niang Jia has recently had some trouble, and I believe the Qiao Family will soon have misfortune."

At that time, Jiang Yunpeng was with Mu Junzhu in Tianhe Town.

To their surprise, that night every Yiguan in Jingcheng, any shop on an adjacent street, collapsed halfway.

The reason Qiao Mai didn't take harsher measures was out of concern for the common people; she smashed them all, leaving the populace with nowhere to seek treatment, which they would blame on her benevolence gone awry, and none of these Yiguan escaped the fate of being smashed.

Just as she had just left Jingcheng, Lady Liu's Niang Jia finally dispatched someone.

In the deep of night, in Liu's Keren, Lady Liu warmly hosted her Niang Jia relatives and also the family of the former Deputy Alliance Leader.

(End of chapter)