Chapter 371

By the time the two returned to the county inn, it was already deep into the night.

Seeing the couple's clothes all wrinkled, their hair a mess, and Du Ruo having been carried back, the innkeeper was startled, thinking they had run into bandits.

He hurriedly told the staff to send up more hot water so they could wash up.

Du Ruo was exhausted and sleepy.

Today too many things happened—first she pacified several hundred patients who came seeking treatment, then she fought a life‑and‑death struggle with vicious assassins.

Afterwards, she even engaged in two fierce bouts of combat with Jiang Li in the wilderness.

She simply could not hold on any longer.

"Husband, let me sleep first; I'll wash tomorrow morning..." Du Ruo muttered, eyes closed, slumped over the table, weak and breathless.

Jiang Li gently stroked her face, saying with concern, "It's fine, sleep as you like; I'll wash you."

Knowing his wife always had a slight cleanliness obsession, Jiang Li understood that, were she not utterly exhausted, she would never rest without washing up.

After all, they were now truly husband and wife—what's wrong with a husband helping his wife wash?

This washing took nearly half an hour.

Afraid she would catch cold, Jiang Li changed the hot water several times, then gently dried her, even using inner force to dry her damp hair before carrying her to the bed.

Watching the little beauty snoring soundly in bed, Jiang Li smiled, feeling a contentment he had never known before.

Only then did he begin to tidy himself up.

Half a quarter‑hour later, Jiang Li blew out the candle, lay down beside Du Ruo, and reached out to hold her in his arms.

They passed a fragrant, sweet night.

Wen Shiyuan, however, slept poorly.

Early that morning, before his eyes were even open, a crowd had gathered at the gate shouting insults.

The abuse was vile—accusations of tearing down bridges after crossing, killing the donkey after grinding, being heartless and unjust, almost as if they wanted to drag him out and whip his corpse.

Those blocking the door were none other than the precious son of Doctor Hua, Hua Tongtian, and his five plump, big‑buttocked concubines.

Hua Tongtian had the loudest voice.

"On what grounds did you strip my father of his elder position? What did he do wrong? You, the Xinglin Association, to promote that Du woman, bullied my elderly, frail father who couldn't resist, forcing him to retire—are you even human?"

Those concubines were no pushovers either, each with hands on hips, waving handkerchiefs and shouting.

"Exactly, my grandfather served the Xinglin Association diligently for years—though he may have no merit, he certainly put in the effort, and you just cast him out like trash; your conscience must have been eaten by dogs."

"Don't think the Hua family is easy to bully; if you don't compensate us with five thousand taels of silver today, you'll never get us to leave!"

"Right, we'll never give up without a fight!"

The noisy quarrel quickly attracted a large crowd of onlookers, who pointed and whispered among themselves.

Wen Shiyuan was so angry he nearly fell over backward.

Seeing that reasoning with this bunch of ruffians was pointless, he also couldn't be bothered to explain, and turned to order his little disciple to go to the prefecture office.

Report to the officials!

Since old Mr. Hua refuses to tell his family the truth and lets them come here to extort and cause a ruckus, let the law tell them instead.

Soon people came from the Ya Men—not only a dozen or so constables but also Prefect Su Qingyao.

Prefect Su Qingyao had no patience for Hua Tongtian's nonsense; he immediately produced evidence and had them arrested.

Hua Tongtian and those five big‑buttocked women were locked up in the prison office for causing a disturbance, with no hope of release for ten days or half a month; Doctor Hua, for substituting inferior goods and taking bribes, committed grave crimes, but considering his past contributions to the Xinglin Association, part of his penalty was offset, and he was ultimately sentenced to two years in prison with all his property confiscated.

As expected, once the judge acted, it was clear—this handling was incredibly efficient.

After the matter was settled, Prefect Su Qingyao did not leave right away but followed Wen Shiyuan into the residence.

Wen Shiyuan walked along, puzzled, asking, "For such a trivial matter, why did you, sir, come in person?"

"It's not that I've missed you, Uncle Wen, so I stopped by on the way to see you." Su Qingyao laughed heartily.

The two families have been old friends; Su Qingyao is practically someone Wen Shiyuan watched grow up, so their conversation is very casual.

The two entered the hall, sat down, and a servant brought tea.

Wen Shiyuan asked with concern, "How has the old lady been lately?"

Speaking of this, Su Qingyao couldn't help but sigh, "Otherwise things are fine, but my eyesight is getting worse—I can barely tell whether my own son is round or flat."

He set down his teacup, turned serious, and said, "I heard that at this Xinglin Assembly, the Du Clan cured a patient with double pupils?"

Wen Shiyuan immediately understood his true purpose.

"You want to ask me about the Du Clan's medical arts?"

Su Qingyao nodded, "To be frank, yesterday Jiang Li came to bid me farewell, and I did ask him—he is the Du Clan's husband, so naturally he spoke well of her. But since it concerns my mother's eyes, I still feel uneasy, so I wanted to hear what you, Uncle Wen, have to say."

Wen Shiyuan smiled, "If you're asking my opinion, I have only one sentence: if even the Du Clan can't cure it, then probably no one in this world can—why not give it a try?"

Hearing this, Su Qingyao felt a stir in his heart.

"From your tone, Uncle Wen, is the Du Clan's medical skill really that formidable?"

Wen Shiyuan spoke firmly, "At least it's far superior to mine."

Su Qingyao was overjoyed, quickly rising to leave, "That's wonderful—I'll go back right now and have someone invite her to the manor!"

After taking a few steps he suddenly thought of something and turned back, "By the way, I also heard that the woman the little divine doctor Mu rescued from the mass graves was also cured by the Du Clan?"

More than twenty days ago, the day after Mu Shanyue brought the person back, Wen Shiyuan reported it to the officials.

At that time, Prefect Su Qingyao was busy with the imperial examinations and couldn't spare himself, so he sent a master's aide over.

But since the person remained in a coma, the case made no progress and had to be temporarily shelved.

Now that the person has awakened and I happen to be here, I naturally ought to go see if I can elicit any useful clues and find out who harmed her.

"The person is indeed awake, but suffered a severe head injury and can't remember anything."

Wen Shiyuan summoned his little disciple, gave him instructions, the disciple nodded and hurried out.

Not long after, someone came in holding a box.

Wen Shiyuan opened that box, "At that time she had nothing on her person that could prove her identity, only this handkerchief, embroidered with a 'Lou' character, so we guessed it was her surname."

Su Qingyao picked up the handkerchief, smoothed it out, and placed it on the table.

Sure enough, it was a very neatly embroidered "Lou" character, and in the lower right corner a beautiful camellia flower had been stitched with red silk thread.

Huh?

This style, this embroidery…… Why does it look somewhat familiar to me?

Su Qingyao frowned, pondered for a moment, then suddenly widened her eyes, "Dong'er?"