Chapter 23: Still a Contingency Plan

Ye Chutang watched her quietly, thinking to herself that this was her true motive all along.

The previous claim that the prescription had been lost was likely a calculated move to prevent verification, allowing her to direct the blame straight at the Ye Family Clinic.

However, she hadn't expected Ye Chutang to have kept a second copy of the prescription, which caught her completely off guard.

But that didn't matter; if one tactic failed, there was always another.

The medicine she had received that day clearly hadn't come from the Ye Family Clinic, yet she dared to say such things now—it was evident this had been planned long in advance.

Seeing that Ye Chutang remained silent, the woman assumed she was intimidated and pressed her with a triumphant air, "What? Are you afraid?"

Yang Zhen also turned his gaze toward Ye Chutang.

Since things had reached this point, an investigation of the clinic was inevitable. If Ye Chutang refused, it would only prove her guilt.

A moment later, he heard Ye Chutang speak in a calm tone, "My Ye Family Clinic is clean and honest; naturally, I have nothing to fear."

Her back was straight and her eyes were clear, exuding absolute confidence.

Anyone watching would feel that she was indeed open and without shame.

However, seeing this reaction, a flash of triumphant joy flickered in the woman's eyes.

Of course Ye Chutang dared to say that now, but once the clinic was searched, she wouldn't be so bold!

Yang Zhen immediately ordered, "Search!"

Ye Chutang's gaze swept imperceptibly across the woman's face as she raised her voice and asked, "Wait a moment. If my Ye Family Clinic finds nothing during the search, it will prove you are making false accusations, correct? When that time comes, what will your excuse be?"

"How could your clinic possibly yield nothing—" The woman paused, then sneered, "If nothing is found, I will submit to whatever punishment you deem fit!"

The corners of Ye Chutang's lips curled slightly.

"In that case, it is settled. You are all witnesses here; do not try to back out when the time comes."

Under the gaze of those dark, clear eyes, the woman felt an inexplicable surge of panic.

She proactively averted her eyes and spoke harshly, "We'll see if you still have the courage to say that after the clinic has been searched!"

...

At the Ye Family Clinic.

Ye Jingyan, Ye Yunfeng, and Xiao Wu were all waiting inside the house.

Ye Jingyan had taken out the book left by their elder sister. Ye Yunfeng was anxious, pacing back and forth, while Xiao Wu held an abacus and stared at the closed doors with a melancholy expression.

—*Sigh, the doors are closed. We won't be able to earn any silver today.*

As if guessing her thoughts, Ye Jingyan turned a page in his book and handed her a small pouch.

"This is a new one we received."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. She took the pouch, her two small, tender, and chubby hands squeezing it several times.

Feeling its heavy weight, the smile on her face grew even brighter.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked toward the neighboring house.

—*If only they lived here all the time! That way, Sister could collect money forever!*

Ye Jingyan followed her gaze and suddenly remembered something. "Right, Sister said they would be covering our food and lodging for the next period of time. Ah Feng, you'll be cooking later; make enough for two extra people."

Ye Yunfeng scratched his head. "Third Brother! Look at the timing! You're still thinking about food! Sister is at the yamen; we don't even know what the situation is!"

Ye Jingyan wasn't entirely without worry, but he believed in his sister.

"Don't worry. Sister said we should just wait at home, so we will wait."

Ye Yunfeng plopped down into a chair.

However, at that very moment, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.

Ye Yunfeng jumped up instantly and exchanged a look with Ye Jingyan. "Is Sister back!?"

"Watch Xiao Wu. I'll go check."

As he spoke, Ye Jingyan put the book away and stood up to head outside.

...

Ye Jingyan hadn't expected his sister to return so quickly, nor did he expect so many people to accompany her.

In particular—the County Magistrate himself had actually come!

Yang Zhen could have easily stayed away, but several homicide cases had occurred in Jiangling recently, and he had to put on a show to let people know he wasn't idle.

Furthermore, Liu Yiyi had specifically pleaded with him this morning to pay close attention to Ye Chutang's case. He had readily agreed, so naturally, he had come along to investigate.

The Ye Family Clinic was not large; there was only one front room for consultations, followed by a square courtyard, several bedrooms, and a pharmacy.

Yang Zhen raised his hand, and the yamen bailiffs quickly dispersed to search.

Seeing this, Ye Jingyan frowned. He walked quickly to Ye Chutang's side and whispered, "Sister, what is going on?"

Ye Chutang shook her head slightly. "It can't be explained in a few words. Let them search first."

Ye Jingyan had no choice but to swallow the rest of his words.

Over in the other area, Ye Yunfeng, who had been waiting in the room, could not sit still seeing the constant movement of people in the courtyard. He grabbed Xiao Wu and came out.

Upon seeing Ye Chutang, Xiao Wu let go of Ye Yunfeng's hand and ran toward her on her short little legs, throwing herself directly into her arms.

Ye Chutang rubbed her hair and took her small hand. "Don't be afraid, Xiao Wu. They are just looking for something."

Xiao Wu looked somewhat bewildered.

She didn't know any of these people; why were they coming to their house to look for things?

Ye Yunfeng scanned the area and saw the bailiffs searching quite roughly. In a short amount of time, they had turned the once clean and tidy courtyard into a mess, causing anger to flare in his heart.

He had just finished cleaning this!

Did they have any idea how much effort it would take to tidy this all up again!

He wanted to speak several times but forced himself to hold back.

Forget it! There was no time for this right now!

Only...

"Sister, what exactly are they looking for?" Ye Yunfeng could no longer restrain himself and asked with a frown.

Ye Chutang replied, "They are looking for what they want to find, of course."

Ye Yunfeng: "..."

Wasn't what Sister said just stating the obvious? What on earth—

"Found it!"

A bailiff suddenly shouted in excitement. Everyone's gaze followed his, seeing him pull a handful of *Chuanwu* (caudex) from a compartment in the medicine cabinet.

The *Chuanwu* was an irregular cone shape, swollen on one side, looking somewhat like yellow ginger at first glance.

He held the pieces of *Chuanwu* under his nose and sniffed. "This stuff seems to have been soaked in wine!"

*Chuanwu* can be used in medicine, but it possesses a certain level of toxicity, which becomes even stronger after being soaked in alcohol.

The woman nearly jumped on the spot. "That's it! That was in the medicine she prepared for me that day!"

She immediately turned to Ye Chutang, her voice stern and severe, "Ye Chutang! This was found right out of your clinic in public! What else do you have to say!"

A deathly silence fell over the courtyard.

This could truly be considered ironclad evidence; how could she possibly argue against it?

However, at that moment, Ye Chutang suddenly spoke, "Aren't you going to keep looking?"

Everyone was stunned, even the bailiff who had found the *Chuanwu* failed to react immediately.

Ye Chutang tilted her chin and said, "Although our courtyard is not large, many people live here, and there are many miscellaneous items. Why don't you all keep looking to see if you can find anything else?"

The woman mocked her, "This one alone is enough! Do you intend to deny it!"

"Oh?" Ye Chutang blinked. "Are you saying that based solely on these few pieces of soiled *Chuanwu*, you can convict me?"

The woman's voice rose higher. "Of course! You—wait, what do you mean?!"

Ye Chutang turned her head toward the bailiff who had found the *Chuanwu* and said, "Smell it more carefully. What other scent is on it?"

The man was startled and instinctively leaned in to sniff again. His expression changed instantly.

Yang Zhen found it strange and asked with a frown, "What is it exactly!"

Ye Chutang gave a gentle smile. "It's nothing. It's just that there should also be the scent of tung oil on them."

She tilted her head slightly and explained in a light, cheerful tone, "Oh, I forgot to mention. Because I haven't been able to buy medicinal herbs for several days, there was very little left in the medicine cabinet. So, I simply had A-Yan and A-Feng clean it out and applied a new layer of tung oil to refurbish the cabinet. The only downside is that tung oil dries slowly and takes a full three hours. Anything placed inside during that time will be stained with tung oil."

She seemed to ask with a hint of curiosity, smiling slightly, "I wonder, are there traces of it on these pieces of *Chuanwu*?"