Chapter Six Mutual Assistance

  What's wrong?

  "What do you want to do?" shouted Ban Qin, although terrified but still firmly blocking the door.

  "What are you doing? Saving lives!" the man bellowed, glaring at her fiercely. "Didn't you say that only those who are not destined to die will be cured? Now this person is on the verge of death, and you still won't treat him? Do you want to take his life?"

  His words had barely fallen when someone burst out laughing.

  "Since he's almost dead, let's go report it to the authorities quickly." a male voice said.

  This is the ancestral home of the Zhang family, a member of the Tongjiang clan. The surrounding area is basically uninhabited by others, and the few empty houses are due to the damp terrain that has been uninhabitable for a long time. When things get lively here, it won't attract onlookers, and since the Zhang family is holding a funeral, outsiders will be even less likely to approach. So how did people suddenly appear to gawk and even make mocking comments?

  "Who's blind...". The two men turned around fiercely to look for the source of the sound.

  Suddenly, three people on horseback appeared by the riverbank. On the horse was a young man wearing a long-sleeved summer robe and a bamboo hat, looking dusty and travel-worn as if he had come in a hurry, and at this moment he reined in his horse to look over.

  "How dare you be so presumptuous and disrespect my husband!" The two men's shouts were immediately met with a stern rebuke from the two attendants in green robes standing beside the young lord.

  Young master? Looking at this young man's attire again, he is not an ordinary citizen. The two men's faces showed some fear.

  "This young master doesn't know the whole story, don't talk nonsense," one of them said.

  "I've been watching all along." The young man said, while lifting his bamboo hat. "In this vast and clear world, there are actually people who deceive others like this. Xiao Liu, take my letter and ask County Magistrate Qin of Tongjiang if he can handle it?"

  When they heard that Lang Jun had been watching them all along, the two men became somewhat apprehensive. When they heard that Lang Jun mentioned the county magistrate, they panicked. Looking at the direction in which the young Lang Jun was heading, it was precisely the Zhang family who were handling the funeral. The Zhang family's relatives and friends were all influential people, so it seemed that this Lang Jun's identity was not ordinary either.

  "Alright, since this young master wants to find the county magistrate, let's go report it first!" One of them reacted quickly, seemingly furious, and shouted as he turned around and ran off in big strides.

  "You just wait!" Another man reacted a bit slower, but also threw out a vicious remark as he ran off.

  Before long, only the woman lying on the ground was left in front of the door.

  Ban Jin came back to her senses and looked at the woman with some unease.

  "Daughter, there's a woman..." She gritted her teeth and turned around to shout inside, just as she was about to describe the specific injuries of this woman, that young man laughed again.

  "Xiao Liu, someone has been killed! Quickly carry him to see the official and let the coroner..." he said loudly.

  Before he finished speaking, the woman lying on the ground suddenly got up and ran away, with a clatter of something falling to the ground, which she didn't even bother to pick up. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

  The young gentleman and his two attendants burst out laughing, while Ban Jin was taken aback for a moment before also bursting into laughter, and involuntarily took a few steps forward to curiously look at the thing on the ground.

  "That's an iron plate, and what the woman spat out must be chicken blood," said the young gentleman.

  Half of the celery looked at the young gentleman, hurriedly lowering his head to pay respects.

  "Thank you for your help, sir," she said.

  "No need for courtesy, this is my aunt's house, and we can't let these riffraff ruin our reputation. Let's go!" The young man said, not looking at her again, urging his horse to move forward.

  Celery

  The voice of Cheng Jiaoniang came from inside the house.

  Half of the celery was busy turning back, without waiting for the body to turn around, the next sentence also came out.

  "Ask him his name, kindness will be repaid someday."

  Ban Jin immediately stopped turning around and rushed towards Lang Jun who was already urging his horse to go.

  Jiang Niang's voice was about as loud as it had ever been, so loud that even Lang Jun heard it and smiled as he watched Ban Qing rush over.

  "It's just a small effort, anyone can do it, and it doesn't count as a great kindness." He smiled and said, then urged the horse to move forward without stopping.

  The attendants followed closely behind, and Ban Jin hurried a few steps forward, watching as the young master entered the Zhang family's gate.

  Half of the celery remembers the busy wife's return.

  Jiang Yao still sat behind the screen, her expression wooden, and slightly panting.

  "Good girl!" Half of the celery was shocked and knelt down.

  Jiang Yao looked at her, her eyes expressing that everything was fine, and Ban Cui's heart slightly calmed down, relieved that the mistress hadn't become a fool again.

  After a moment, Cheng Jiaoniang slowly opened her mouth.

  "Just now, shouting out that sentence, I'm exhausted," she said.

  This is an explanation of what happened just now, and Half Qing was both happy and sad.

  "My daughter is frightened." She said with her head bowed and wiping away tears.

  "It's nothing out of the ordinary," said Cheng Jiaoniang. "It's all within reason."

  How can there be reason and justice when evil people come to your door? Half of the fern does not understand.

  Jiang Nang didn't say anything else; she had originally wanted to explain, but it was really too difficult to speak, so she simply didn't say anything.

  Ban Jin soon let go and didn't think about it anymore, as long as his wife was fine, he was at ease.

  "That young man entered the Zhang family gate and also called this his aunt's home. He was 17 or 18 years old." she said.

  Jiang Yao nodded slightly, but this nod was imperceptible to outsiders unless they looked closely.

  "Madam Zhang's age wouldn't have such a young nephew, he should be the younger Madam Han's natal family's nephew." She said, looking at Ban Jin. "There are many things in this world that require little effort, but not everyone is willing to do them, Ban Jin, I have a bad memory, help me remember."

  Ban Jin responded, and knelt down to a low table on one side, where there was a simple pen, ink, paper and inkstone. She picked up the pen and seriously wrote a few words on a silk book.

  "Daughter, shall we go now?" She thought of something and asked again.

  "It's all right," said Jingniang.

  Since Niangzi said don't rush, Ban Jin didn't rush either. She turned her head and continued writing with difficulty.

  At the same time, in a mansion in the eastern part of the city, two big men and that woman all knelt down on the ground with their heads bowed.

  "It's no wonder, really." A man in a green robe sitting on the couch in the house said with a gloomy face.

  As soon as this was said, the three people kneeling in front of the door all let out a sigh of relief and knocked their heads to thank him.

  "Father." A man rushed in, "That young master is from the Han family of Su Prefecture. He came to mourn today and has no relationship with Miss Cheng."

  He nodded and also let out a sigh of relief when he heard him say so.

  As long as it's not backed by the Zhang family or the Han family, it's fine.

  "It was I who acted rashly. The Zhang family's funeral will surely have many people coming and going, and I shouldn't have rushed in at this time." He said, "Since that's the case, let's take it slowly then."

  The three of them responded in unison and retreated out.

  "Father, is the daughter of the Cheng family really a skilled doctor? If so, she must have a mentor. If we force her to reveal the prescription... " The man said with some unease.

  "She is not a skilled doctor, from the few cases that have been cured, the symptoms are not similar at all, but they all got better soon after being lifted in, and even the subsequent decoctions were not prescribed. This is not in line with common medical reasoning, so it must be that her hands have a special technique, able to bring people back from the dead." The man in green robes said, his expression burning with intensity.

  The man listened thoughtfully and nodded.

  "If our Cao family can get this Fang Shi, it would be a great blessing." He said, his expression excited, as if Fang Shi was already in hand.

  "Is it just these two master and servant in the house?" The man in green robe asked again.

  The man nodded.

  "There were only two people, the master and servant, who saw that the patient, Madame Cheng, was unconscious at the time and did not know what was happening. Those who were allowed to enter were all kept in the hospital, and Madame Cheng herself hardly spoke a word, so it was impossible to tell what she looked like or how old she was. Judging from her shadow, she seemed to be a woman of twenty or thirty years old."

  "It doesn't matter, in a few more days we can meet in person." The man in the green robe said with a hint of a smile.

  The man took off his wooden clogs and wore socks made of cloth, walking into the house and sitting on a tatami mat.

  "Father, what if the Zhang or Han family intervenes again at that time?" he suddenly asked.

  The Zhangs or the Hans are not people that a small businessman like him can afford to offend.

  "Stranger, with no relation or reason, why block my way?" The man in the green robe frowned and said, "However, it was indeed in front of the Zhang family gate. The Zhang family has always been proud of their identity and avoided the world, so be more careful next time."

  The man is worry-free, and joyful voices respond.

  The long journey has officially begun, with two updates a day.