Chapter 18: Ostracism

The affairs of the Cao family were the talk of the town throughout Jiangling, and as Ye Chutang walked down the street, she could hear people discussing it everywhere.

Listening as she walked, she managed to piece together most of the story.

Cao Chengwen had been taken away by the yamen officials early on and was likely being interrogated now. The entire Cao residence had been sealed off by officers, and no one was allowed to enter or leave at will.

Three lives lost—it was definitely a major case, and no one dared to be negligent.

Ye Chutang circled through two streets and finally stopped in front of a pharmacy.

Seeing her arrive, the shop assistant hurried forward enthusiastically: "Dr. Ye! You're here! Please, come inside!"

The clinic Ye Chutang ran was small, and the three children at home were still young. Aside from the very few herbs she dug up herself on the mountain, most of her stock was purchased from large pharmacies.

It was mainly for convenience.

Ye Chutang went inside, greeted Manager Zhao, and handed over a purchase list as she always did.

"Just these for now."

Recently, she had been treating Shen Yanchuan and had used up quite a lot of supplies, so she figured it was time to restock.

However, after looking at the list, Manager Zhao’s expression turned troubled.

"Dr. Ye, this... we don't actually have several of the medicinal herbs on this list."

Ye Chutang was stunned: "What?"

Manager Zhao pointed to the list and said, "You know it rained the past two days, making the roads difficult to travel, so the shipment of herbs was delayed! We don't have angelica, white poria, or taiwu grass!"

Ye Chutang felt a faint sense of something being wrong, though she didn't show it on her face.

She said calmly, "Then just give me whatever is left."

Manager Zhao gave the assistant a look.

After a while, the assistant returned with the herbs, and Ye Chutang only had to glance at them to smile.

"Manager Zhao, I haven't been coming to your shop for just one day. You know full well I wouldn't accept herbs of this age and quality."

Not only were they missing what she needed, but the items brought out were also substandard; it was clear they were deliberately trying to annoy her.

Manager Zhao opened his mouth, then could only say, "Dr. Ye, this is truly all we have left. If you aren't satisfied, why not... try somewhere else?"

Ye Chutang lifted her gaze slightly and looked at him quietly.

Manager Zhao shifted his eyes away, feeling guilty, and shouted at the assistant: "What are you standing there for! There's a layer of dust on the medicine cabinet! You don't even know how to wipe it clean! What does it look like for people to see this!"

Ye Chutang simply took her leave.

She went to another pharmacy on the same street, and as expected, she received a very similar response.

—The stock was incomplete; they couldn't sell to her.

After walking out of the third pharmacy empty-handed, Ye Chutang stopped wasting time and went straight home.

In the evening, the brothers Ye Jingyan and Ye Yunfeng returned from their lessons. As soon as he got home, Ye Jingyan headed straight for the pharmacy room.

But soon, he walked out with a look of surprise and asked Ye Chutang, who was in the courtyard tidying up the drying herbs: "Big Sister, did you not buy any new herbs today?"

Big Sister had clearly mentioned it that morning, so he had been ready to help organize things as soon as he returned. Who would have thought nothing had been added?

Ye Chutang repeated what had happened earlier in simple terms.

Ye Jingyan’s brows gradually furrowed: "So, they are deliberately refusing to sell to us? But why would they do that?"

Ye Chutang didn't even look up: "Why else? Naturally, because we’ve offended someone."

"Offended someone? But we—" Ye Jingyan suddenly thought of something, his expression shifting, "Could it be... the Cao family?"

But the Cao family should be in a complete mess right now; how would they have the energy to make things difficult for them?

"I heard Boss Cao has returned to Jiangling," Ye Chutang said.

Cao Deping had been away, and upon receiving news of Cao Chengwu’s death, he had rushed back without stopping. Unexpectedly, just as he arrived home, Cao Chengwen was taken in on suspicion of murder.

It was quite a coincidence.

As for why he targeted Ye Chutang the moment he returned... Cao Chengwen’s instigation surely played a part in that.

Calculating the time, Cao Chengwen must have colluded with these pharmacies to target her long ago. It was only because she had been busy the past few days and hadn't gotten around to buying herbs that she had only just discovered something was wrong.

The Cao family was a prominent household in Jiangling with deep connections. Dealing with an outsider family like Ye Chutang’s was as easy as could be.

If it weren't for the fact that Ye Chutang’s medical skills were outstanding and she was well-respected by many, the situation today might have been even worse.

She might not have even been able to step through the doors of the pharmacies.

Ye Jingyan grew worried: "Then what do we do?"

Running a clinic without medicine—wasn't that ridiculous?

Ye Chutang didn't seem to think the matter was that serious: "It's simple. At worst, we won't sell the herbs; we'll just write prescriptions and let them go get the medicine elsewhere. It’s the same thing."

Ye Jingyan pressed his lips together.

Although his sister’s tone was light, he knew very well that this trouble was definitely not small.

If these pharmacies really joined forces to target them, then what awaited them later would surely be even harder to resolve!

"Big Sister! Dinner is ready!"

Ye Yunfeng had been busy in the kitchen and hadn't heard their conversation.

Ye Chutang put away the last of the herbs.

"Let's eat first. We'll talk about other things later. Go bring Xiao Wu over to eat."

Ye Jingyan was still worried, but since his sister had said so, he could only comply.

However, just as he turned to leave, Ye Chutang’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Wait. A-Yan, what happened to the injury on your hand?"

Ye Jingyan was startled and instinctively tried to hide his hand, but meeting Ye Chutang’s eyes, he stopped his movement.

At that moment, Ye Yunfeng happened to walk over. Hearing this, he immediately said indignantly: "It’s all because of the teacher!"

Ye Chutang could see for herself that the two crimson marks on A-Yan’s palm were left by a ruler.

In the past, this had always happened to A-Feng, but A-Yan was always intelligent and reserved, never causing trouble. How could this happen?

Ye Jingyan explained: "It’s nothing. During class, the teacher tested me on a question, and I didn't answer it, so I was punished."

What question could he not answer?

It was clearly the teacher deliberately making things difficult!

Ye Chutang was silent for a moment and didn't ask further.

"Alright, let's eat first."

Ye Jingyan nodded gently.

...

Ye Chutang did not enjoy this meal.

It was obvious that someone was deliberately targeting them.

And as for who was driving all of this, Ye Chutang didn't need to think to guess—it had to be the Cao family.

But that wasn't the point; the point was how to solve it.

A pharmacy manager could sell herbs to whomever they pleased, and a school teacher could discipline whomever they wanted. No matter how much one complained, it would just be dismissed as a personal grievance.

If they made things difficult for you to the maximum extent within their power, what could you do?

However, not long after, something even more unexpected happened to Ye Chutang.

—Three days after Cao Chengwen was taken to the yamen for interrogation, he was released without charge.