Chapter 17: Tit for Tat

When Lian Zhou arrived, he saw his master standing in place, with several men in black lying not far before him.

“Master, these people…”

Separated by only a wall, he had already heard Ye Chutang’s voice and knew his master had agreed to help handle the aftermath.

He was not without surprise; after all, his master was someone who deeply disliked trouble. If he hadn’t wanted to intervene, even if Ye Chutang had seen everything that happened tonight, she would have been unable to pose any real threat to him.

Shen Yanchuan recalled the back of Ye Chutang as she had walked away so gracefully while carrying Xiao Wu, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

That woman had been full of wariness toward him from the very first moment they met, yet at a time like this, she had chosen to place such a significant piece of leverage into his hands, appearing to trust him completely.

Quite interesting.

He lifted his chin slightly, his voice light and detached: “It was no trouble at all. Just help her dispose of them.”

Lian Zhou still carried the heavy scent of blood; one look told you he had just experienced a fierce battle, yet there wasn’t a single speck of blood on his person.

Hearing this, he immediately cupped his hands: “Yes!”

……

The Cao residence.

Cao Chengwen was still waiting in his room.

As time passed, he grew increasingly anxious, constantly looking toward the backyard.

But the few men he expected were nowhere to be seen.

Cao Chengwen frowned, his anxiety mounting.

Logically, they should have returned long ago, so why was there still no movement?

Could something have gone wrong?

But that was impossible!

Ye Chutang was just a weak woman with no strength to truss a chicken; how could she possibly be a match for those three?

Cao Chengwen clenched his fists, his heart hanging high, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.

Drowsiness overcame him, and his eyelids began to fight.

He had been running back and forth for the past few days, constantly restless and unable to sleep well, and by now, his body simply couldn’t hold out any longer.

After a while, Cao Chengwen finally succumbed to the sleepiness, his head lolling to the side as he drifted off.

The next day, he was jolted awake by the screams of the servants.

Cao Chengwen hadn’t rested well and was already irritable; being woken up so abruptly made his mood even worse.

“What is it! Making such a racket early in the morning!”

However, the next moment, he discovered with shock that his bedroom door was half-open, and a crowd of servants stood outside, looking in with panicked expressions.

Cao Chengwen’s gaze shifted downward, and he stood up from his chair with a jolt!

A corpse! It was lying right at the threshold of his room!

Cao Chengwen recognized the man’s identity almost instantly, and at the same time, a chill shot up his spine, leaving him cold all over, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

*Clatter—*

The window was blown open. He seemed to sense something, and as he turned his head stiffly, he saw two more corpses lying in the backyard.

Their feet were pointed toward him, their heads facing outward, in a bizarre posture.

Cao Chengwen felt his hands were somewhat sticky. He slowly looked down and saw that the blood on his hands had already dried, and a blood-stained dagger lay at his feet.

To anyone looking, it would appear that these three had clashed with him and were killed by his hand while trying to escape!

Someone shouted: “The Young Master has committed murder!”

Cao Chengwen’s mind went completely blank.

……

The Ye Medical Clinic reopened today.

A-Feng’s suspicions had been cleared, so everything naturally returned to normal.

Ye Chutang saw a few patients, wrote out prescriptions, and went to the pharmacy to gather the herbs herself.

A-Yan and A-Feng had both gone to the academy for classes today, leaving only her and Xiao Wu in the clinic.

Xiao Wu was so small she couldn’t reach the upper herb drawers, so she curled up in a chair to the side, one hand supporting her chin while the other fiddled with an abacus.

With so few transactions, she could calculate the earnings clearly without even needing the abacus.

It was while seeing patients that Ye Chutang heard about the major event that had occurred at the Cao residence today.

—Cao Chengwen had committed murder!

“Is that for real?” Ye Chutang’s hand paused as she wrapped the medicine, appearing startled. “Young Master Cao was perfectly fine; why would he kill anyone?”

“Of course it’s true! I heard he didn’t just kill one, but three! Two ran into the courtyard, and one didn’t even make it out of the bedroom before being stabbed to death!”

Mentioning this, everyone clicked their tongues in wonder, gossiping while feeling fearful.

“I heard that when he was discovered, the knife was still in his hand! They say those men owed Young Master Cao a lot of gambling debts; I wonder if their deaths had something to do with that—”

Street rumors always managed to turn one thing into another; such confident claims, as if they had seen it with their own eyes, were only worth believing a third of the way.

However, it wasn’t hard to imagine the situation at the Cao residence.

Cao Chengwu’s death had already caused quite a stir, and now that three had died at once, the ripples were clearly even larger.

Especially since the Cao family was already in the spotlight, and now…

It wasn’t until those people left the clinic with their medicine that Ye Chutang turned back and glanced toward a certain direction in the courtyard through the curtain.

This Young Master Shen really was a fastidious person.

Seeing out of the corner of her eye that Xiao Wu was eating candied fruit again, Ye Chutang called out to her: “Which one is this?”

Xiao Wu guiltily held up two fingers.

Ye Chutang pinched her little cheek: “You can’t eat too much sugar. No more for the rest of the day.”

Xiao Wu reluctantly handed over the candied fruit, placing it on the plate to the side.

Remembering something, Ye Chutang picked up the plate: “Right, the medicine is almost ready. Xiao Wu, you watch the shop; I’ll go deliver the medicine.”

……

Inside the room, Shen Yanchuan checked his wound; it had completely healed and scabbed over, and it should be fully recovered before long.

Such medical skill was no less impressive than that of the imperial physicians in the capital.

Lian Zhou walked in carrying the brewed medicine, a look of joy on his face: “Master, Dr. Ye didn’t change the prescription today. She said your condition has improved enough that you don’t need to change the prescription every day! You just need to rest in bed for a few more days!”

Shen Yanchuan felt that the phrase “rest in bed” carried a strong sense of implication and intent.

“Is that so?”

“Yes! And because she didn’t change the prescription, she didn’t even charge an extra consultation fee today!”

Lian Zhou was very happy.

When he first met Ye Chutang, he hadn’t felt there was much hope, but who knew she would actually cure his master!

Shen Yanchuan took the bowl of medicine, looking at the dark brown liquid; the intense bitterness was almost overwhelming.

One hundred taels a day for medicine, and today it was finally free.

Was this her way of showing gratitude?

Shen Yanchuan picked up the bowl and saw that there was actually a small piece of candied fruit placed beside it.

His expression remained unchanged as he downed the medicine in one gulp, then picked up the candied fruit.

In truth, he never ate such things; he had consumed medicine far more bitter than this and was long since accustomed to it.

However, since it was a gesture of kindness from the other party, it wouldn’t be right to refuse.

Shen Yanchuan popped the candied fruit into his mouth, and the sweet, cloying flavor instantly spread across his lips and teeth.

His sword-like eyebrows lifted slightly.

—This is more like it.

Shen Yanchuan: She loves me so much.

Ye Chutang: …???

(End of chapter)