Chapter 218: Threat

Jiang saw this and couldn't help but widen her eyes.

This... is truly astonishing.

"In less than ten days, the scab will fall off, and then Miss Meng will become even more beautiful than before."

Jiang's eyes brightened at the words, and the earlier helplessness and concern were swept away by great joy.

"Really?"

"It really is," Chi Nan Yi said, looking at the porcelain bottle in her hand. This contains Spirit Spring Water; a wound like this is nothing.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you, Divine Doctor!" she said, reaching out to take the porcelain bottle from Chi Nan Yi, but Chi Nan Yi stepped aside.

"Madam Meng, this remedy contains the essence of hundreds of precious herbs; you can't just take it for free, can you?"

Jiang withdrew her hand and smiled, "May I ask the Divine Doctor, how many silver pieces for this remedy? I'll buy it."

"Twenty thousand taels, per bottle."

"Twenty... twenty thousand taels? Per bottle?"

"Indeed. I gave Madam Meng the lowest price out of consideration for that Zhuangzi. If you think it's expensive, you may decline, but I can't guarantee how well your daughter's face will recover."

"This..."

"Moreover, to leave no scar at all, you need two bottles."

Two bottles make forty thousand taels!

That's no small sum; she cannot decide on her own.

Jiang was just about to send someone to summon the Lord when Meng Hui's figure appeared from afar, quickening his pace as he entered.

"Lord," Jiang hurried forward, but before she could speak, Meng Hui brushed past her and stopped directly in front of Chi Nan Yi.

Chi Nan Yi observed the scene, her brows slightly furrowed.

Meng Hui rushed toward her—could he have learned her identity?

Meng Hui raised his hand, performed a proper bow to Chi Nan Yi, and smiled, "You must be the Southern First Young Master, then!"

Chi Nan Yi nodded, "I've met Lord Meng."

"I dare not accept such praise. Southern First Young Master, your medical skill is superb; even the Emperor has praised you. This time the Liangzhou epidemic was resolved quickly thanks to the Divine Doctor's intervention. The Emperor said he will grant you a title and rank!"

It seems the court's reward has arrived.

"Just a trivial effort,"

To outsiders it sounds like modesty, but for Chi Nan Yi, it probably isn't even a lift of a finger.

Meng Hui glanced toward the bed and said, "Please have the Divine Doctor examine them."

"That is no problem, and Madam Meng has already paid the consultation fee."

Jiang smiled, "Yes, Lord, the consultation fee is paid, but the medicine cost remains unpaid."

"Then why are you hesitating? Hand the silver to the Divine Doctor at once!"

A hint of hesitation flashed across Jiang's face.

Forty thousand taels.

Where can the Jiang family now find forty thousand taels?

Chi Nan Yi could naturally see her embarrassment.

Forty thousand taels, even the former Minister's Residence couldn't easily produce, and she stared coldly at Jiang's pale face, saying nothing and offering no rescue.

Meng Hui, seeing Jiang still standing there, grew irritated, "Madam, won't you give the Divine Doctor the medicine money?"

Jiang could do nothing but answer truthfully, "Lord, these two bottles require forty thousand taels."

"What? Forty thousand taels?" Meng Hui's heart raced, his expression turning pale.

Forty thousand taels... even if the Minister's Residence were turned upside down, they couldn't produce it!

Meng Hui's complexion turned sour; how could he have thought such a trivial thing would be worth forty thousand taels?

"Divine Doctor, isn't this price a bit too steep?"

"Expensive?" Chi Nan Yi smiled faintly, "Lord Meng, do you think the forty thousand taels are expensive, or your daughter's face?"

"But... but..." Meng Hui's face flushed, stammering, "To be frank, I've lived a modest life; my entire estate can't produce that much silver!"

Pah!

Modest?

So the treasures I previously found in the storeroom were all gifts from heaven?

"Even the court must pay silver for my remedy; Lord Meng, do you think your face is more important than the Emperor's?"

Meng Hui heard this and broke into cold sweat.

"Divine Doctor, you truly have a sense of humor; how could I compare myself to the Emperor?" Meng Hui wiped the sweat from his forehead. "How about this: I own several estates and a few shops; together they're worth a fortune, not less than forty thousand taels. May I use them as payment?"

"What would I do with so many estates and shops? I'd still need people to manage them later—so troublesome."

"Then Divine Doctor, what do you want?"

Chi Nan Yi stepped forward, her voice extremely low, audible only to the two of them, "If you wish to offset the forty thousand taels, hand over the half of the border feng shui map you hide in the study's secret compartment!"

Meng Hui's face stiffened, his pupils suddenly contracting, "You... how did you..."

Chi Nan Yi's lips curled slightly; the original owner's memory was indeed correct.

In her past life, she had accidentally witnessed Meng Hui hurriedly slip a drawing into the study's hidden compartment; the drawing bore the character for feng shui. She hadn't thought much at the time, but seeing his furtive behavior, she knew he didn't want anyone to know, so she kept silent. Now she realized it must have been a border feng shui map.

A high-ranking court official secretly possessing a feng shui map is a crime punishable by extermination of nine families.

Her casual test exposed Meng Hui's slip.

"What are you saying? I don't understand."

Realizing he had blurted out, Meng Hui simply refused to admit it.

Chi Nan Yi observed without anger, and said calmly, "If Lord Meng refuses to hand over that item, that's fine; your daughter's face will never heal, and besides, Lord Meng, how long do you think it will take for the secret possession of the feng shui map to spread throughout Jingcheng?"

Meng Hui's face turned ashen, the hand he bore behind him trembling uncontrollably. He knew clearly that if they handed her the Feng Shui Map, they would have committed the crime; if they wanted to keep their life, they could only let her manipulate them; if they refused to hand it over, she would spread rumors outside, and if they reached the Emperor's ears, the Meng Family would be unable to escape.

This is clearly a dead end.

Whether advancing or retreating, it easily becomes an irretrievable abyss.

"You…"

"I don't have any patience to give you a few days to consider, so I still ask Minister Meng to think it through clearly."

Meng Hui thought for a moment, and a hint of murderous intent suddenly flashed in their eyes.

If she dies, no one will ever know about this matter.

Just as the thought flashed through his mind, Chi Nan Yi said lightly, "Relying on the Meng Family's guards to try to kill me, you still lack the qualification."

When she finished speaking, a flash of silver gleamed from her hand, several Silver Needles shot out, and a few figures hidden in the shadows collapsed to the ground.

Meng Hui watched, their heart pounding with fear.

"So, Minister Meng, have you decided?"

Meng Hui swallowed, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Fine, I'll give it to you."

The Jiang Clan still didn't know what had happened; Chi Nan Yi followed Meng Hui into the study, watching with their own eyes as Meng Hui retrieved the Feng Shui Map from the secret compartment. She took out two ceramic bottles, placed them on the table, and laughed, "Minister Meng really raised a fine daughter; for the sake of her face, you actually involved the entire Minister's Residence."

Most importantly, she had added extra ingredients to these two potions.