Chapter 101: The Meticulous Preparations

Shen Sanhe suffered a sudden accident when he "broke" his leg, and the news reached the inner quarters, interrupting the conversation between Wang Yan and Miss Zeng.

Wang Yan apologized, rose, and took her leave of Miss Zeng.

"My apologies, we shall have to meet another day."

Miss Zeng nodded, "I will see you to the door."

She and Wang Yan walked side-by-side out of the inner quarters, passing through the hall to reach the front hall.

Two Apprentices had already splinted the broken leg and were carrying the unconscious Shen Sanhe out; their expressions were not very good.

"How could you be so careless, having an accident at someone else's home?"

Wang Yan's temper flared, and she loudly questioned the two Apprentices.

The two Apprentices glanced at Zhou You, then lowered their heads and remained silent.

"Yan'er, say no more; it is better to send him to the medical hall for treatment early."

Miss Zeng's voice came, as soft as silk.

Zhou You subconsciously looked toward the direction of the voice, and after seeing her, he was momentarily dazed.

The Eldest Miss's taste in choosing a best friend is truly not great! She is usually a little beauty herself and has the capital to be proud, but standing beside Miss Zeng, she was instantly set off as a village flower.

Miss Zeng's temperament and appearance were the most beautiful Zhou You had ever seen in his life.

Neither Wang Yan nor Hua Youxing could compare to her.

Especially since Miss Zeng came from a scholarly family, her temperament was extraordinary; every movement, every word, and every smile carried a certain charm.

She could be called a "white moonlight" that captivates all age groups.

Miss Zeng was not yet married, and due to strict family upbringing, she had always lived in the inner quarters.

Scholarly families value virtue and modesty, so few outsiders knew of Miss Zeng's peerless beauty.

Zhou You frowned; if he were a flower-plucking thief and knew of Miss Zeng's existence, he certainly would not let go of such a top-tier prey.

"What are you still standing there for? You two, carry him away, and don't dirty the floor."

Wang Yan pointed at Zhou You, "You, see me home."

Zhou You withdrew his gaze, his state of mind returning to a calm, unrippled well.

Although he was stunned by Miss Zeng's peerless beauty, he knew that he and she were not meant to be.

The paths of the scholar and the warrior are different, and the gap in their status is vast; even meeting once was a matter of coincidence.

What he thought about in his heart was, if the flower-plucking thief were to attack, how would this family respond? The Vajra Fist of Panjin Mountain is characterized by its heaviness and cannot handle the flower-plucking thief's high-leaping skills! "Dujuan, give this little master some snacks to eat on the road."

Miss Zeng had spoken; she was a kind-hearted person and knew that Zhou You and the others had been waiting outside for a long time and were suffering from Hunger.

The maid Dujuan wrapped many snacks in oil paper and stuffed them into Zhou You's hands.

After leaving the Zeng family, Zhou You opened the snack package and ate while walking.

After seeing Wang Yan back to the martial arts hall, he turned and left; when others asked him what he was doing, he replied.

"Going to check on Shen Sanhe."

On the way, he bought a bag of sour wild fruits; after all, one cannot visit a patient empty-handed.

The place where Shen Sanhe was taken to have his broken bone set was Xingren Tang.

After all, it was an old, established shop; the resident doctor had superb skills and was very experienced in handling similar cases.

"Du He, let me ask, the one with the broken leg sent from our martial arts hall today..."

Zhou You found Du He and asked.

Du He pointed to the back hall, "The Miss is setting his bone; it will be finished soon."

A moment later, Hua Youxing finished washing her hands and came to the front hall; she nodded after seeing Zhou You.

"The injured is still unconscious, the effect of the medicine has not yet worn off; you should come back to see him tomorrow."

Zhou You handed the wild fruits directly to Du He, "I came here this time to replenish some medicinal materials."

"So many?"

Hua Youxing was a bit surprised, "At least 400 or 500 taels; can you pay the cash?"

"I can still manage." Zhou You squeezed these words out from between his teeth; he had not expected that refining medicine would be so expensive.

All in all, he had invested nearly a thousand taels of real gold and silver, and the Heart-Protecting Pill was finally almost ready.

Seeing that success was imminent, the closer it got to the end, the more one had to be willing to invest.

Hua Youxing told Du He to prepare the medicine and chatted with Zhou You for a few moments; in their conversation, she expressed growing concern over the turmoil caused by the flower-plucking thief.

"Pharmacist Zhao in our hall is a Qi and blood expert and is also responsible for the security of the medicine hall."

"He participated in the gathering of guards from various families in the city, agreeing to use fireworks as a signal; once the flower-plucking thief's tracks are discovered, they will immediately alert all directions."

"Now the city is covered in a vast net, just waiting for the flower-plucking thief to appear."

So, there were also Qi and blood experts stationed in the medicine hall.

During the chat, Hua Youxing mentioned the Yiyao Hanghui in the city, which also attached great importance to this matter.

The various forces in Gongliang City, besides martial arts halls and gangs, also included guilds.

Guilds were organizations where craftsmen from all walks of life huddled together for warmth, such as tanners, carpenters, Blacksmiths, physicians, pharmacists, and so on.

The guild system was strict and had a stable income to provide funding, taking root at the bottom of society.

Some ancient guilds had even existed for thousands of years, with a history predating Gongliang City itself.

These guilds also had experts within them, acting as guardians of their heritage.

The appearance of the flower-plucking thief affected the prosperity of the market, and all industries were hit hard; business was bad, and it was difficult to make a living.

Therefore, the Qi and blood experts of Xingren Tang also actively participated in it.

Zhou You suddenly realized that the flower-plucking thief was too arrogant, forcing all parties in the city to form a united front.

No matter how powerful this guy is, he cannot withstand the concerted efforts of an entire city; his death is not far off.

"Doctor Hua, you should also be careful at home; the flower-plucking thief is insane and capable of anything."

In all fairness, Hua Youxing was willing to concede profits when doing business, and buying medicine from her was very pleasant; the quality was good and she did not raise prices.

Zhou You valued this business partner very much and thought about continuing to cooperate with her in the future.

With Hua Youxing's appearance, it was also easy to attract the covetous gaze of the flower-plucking thief, and the danger was great.

"Thank you, I am fine."

Hua Youxing smiled, her expression very confident.

After the new batch of medicinal materials arrived, Zhou You prepared and refined them intensively, busy all day long.

Fortunately, the young lady Wang Yan did not go out every day, so as a guard, he did not need to stand watch at all times.

During this period, he allocated most of his time to refining medicine, and was only one step away from the end.

In the meantime, he also heard rumors coming from the Outer Courtyard.

After Shen Sanhe woke up, he never mentioned the reason for his broken leg, but he secretly begged Zhong Shaoying to take revenge for him.

Zhong Shaoying was an Inner Court Disciple with the strength of Qi and Blood 3rd Stage, and his ultimate move, 'Tiger Tail Kick', could easily kick and snap an iron rod like a blade of grass.

If he were to take action against Zhou You, the situation would be quite troublesome.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Shen Sijing heard about this and stepped forward to stop Zhong Shaoying, with both sides agreeing that disputes in the Outer Courtyard should be resolved in the Outer Courtyard, and Inner Court Disciples should not interfere.

The implication was that if Shen Sanhe wanted to seek revenge, he could invite anyone, but no one at the Qi and Blood level could be involved.

Zhong Shaoying was extremely annoyed, but since his strength was on par with Shen Sijing's, he had no choice but to agree to this condition.

After the fight that day, Zhou You's strength crushed Shen Sanhe, causing a small stir in the Outer Courtyard.

It turned out that he had quietly improved to the level of skilled force, and with the Triple-Layer Technique taught by the master of the hall, he rarely had any rivals in the Outer Courtyard.

No wonder Shen Sijing favored Zhou You so much, going so far as to clash with Zhong Shaoying to protect him.

Zhou You remained unmoved amidst the undercurrents, focusing on refining medicine, and before he knew it, success came naturally.

On this day, a cry of surprise came from the smoke-filled room.

"It's done, it's done."

(End of this chapter)