Chapter 25: The Mediocre Doctor

  Zhao Kuang's anger was unrelenting, and Gao Cheng loudly interrogated the old doctor: "What nonsense are you spouting, you quack?! Our young master just fell down, how could he be paralyzed?!"

  The old doctor was taken aback, and his temper flared up. He had clearly said that if the treatment wasn't proper, the Duke of Jianan might not be able to get back on his feet, but he hadn't said that the other party was paralyzed now! Indeed, this master was not a good person, and the servant was also a wicked slave!

  He didn't bother to respond to Gao Cheng, and directly told Zhao: "I'll write a prescription, decoct it and give it to the injured person to drink. Later, I'll send another kind of secret ointment, let someone carefully apply it to the wound, and see how effective it is before saying anything else. The only thing is that the injured person can't move again, if they move again, they will really become paralyzed."

  Zhao was a local, so he naturally knew that the old doctor was the real deal. Since he said so, he must have been confident, and hastily respectfully asked him to write a prescription in the outer room, and also sent someone with him to go back and grab the medicine.

  But the medicine was brought, and the ointment was also taken, as soon as it was applied to Zhao Jiong, he felt an unbearable pain all over his body, cold sweat dripping down, and hurriedly called out: "Quickly take off the ointment! I'd rather die from the pain——" Gao Cheng hastily instructed the servants to quickly wipe away the ointment, then asked Zhao Jiong: "Is Your Excellency feeling any better?"

  The girl's movement of applying the ointment was a bit heavy, which intensified the pain on Zhao Jiong's wound. He panted heavily, closed his eyes and endured for a moment before nodding: "It's better now, what kind of damn ointment is this? Why does it hurt so much?"

  Gao Chengyin, the old doctor, didn't put himself in his eyes, and had long been resentful. Hearing this, he scolded: "That old man is just a mediocre doctor, I don't know why Master Zong invited him to come, causing His Excellency to suffer so much. It's better to invite another skilled one."

  Zhao Jiong was also afraid of experiencing that pain again, and because the old doctor said he would be paralyzed, he felt very uncomfortable in his heart, so he agreed with Gao Cheng's suggestion: "Why not go quickly?!"

  Zhao? rushed over to dissuade him: "It can't be done! Uncle, that old doctor is the best in the field of orthopedics and traumatology. People from all over the prefecture come to seek his treatment, and his medicinal paste is extremely effective. It's just that at first it hurts a bit, but the pain means it's taking effect. You just have to bear with it for a while, and once the pain passes, you'll be cured!"

  Gao Cheng angrily said to Zhao: "You can say that so lightly, but you're not the one suffering, of course you don't care!" He then turned to Zhao Kuang and said: "Let alone that mediocre doctor having a good reputation, it's only in Fengxian County, what's the big deal? I'll immediately send someone to Suzhou to invite a better doctor for you."

  Zhao Kuai nodded painfully: "Go quickly, go quickly!" But he didn't listen to Zhao's words anymore. Zhao sighed inwardly and could only return home to report the matter to his father one by one. After listening, Zhao Yu was silent for a while before saying: "Forget it, since he won't listen, let him go as he pleases. We know the skills of the old doctor in our hearts, but he doesn't believe us. If he can't be cured, he'll still blame us. Let Gao Cheng ask the doctor himself, whether he's cured or not, it has nothing to do with us."

  Zhao was shocked, his father had always been close to the Duke of Jianan, this was not something he would normally say. Zhao Yu explained to his son: "I have no choice, the duke has done such a shameful thing, everyone knows about it, if I still associate with him, what will our relatives think? What will your uncle's mother think? Do you know that I just heard that today at the city gate, the guards standing behind her were all personal bodyguards of the King of Guangping! The King of Guangping is now in Shanghai Prefecture, he is supporting your uncle's mother, they have reason on their side, how long can the duke still be arrogant? It won't be long before the imperial edict stripping him of his title comes down, and he becomes a cripple again!"

  Zhao ? actually understood in her heart, but felt that her father's approach was too self-serving and heartless. In the past, the Zong house had benefited from Zhao Jiong's care, but now they turned against him when his fortunes fell...

  Zhao Yu scolded his son: "Fool! Can't you see I'm not happy about this? He didn't do a good job and brought destruction upon himself, can't we just let him take the fall alone? This is all unavoidable!" He kicked his son again: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go pay your respects to your uncle's mother, see if there's anything you can help with! The Hou family has been injured and things are in disarray, I don't know if anyone has informed your uncle's mother, just mention it casually!"

  Zhao Jiong and Gao Cheng never thought that their efforts to keep Zhang's affair a secret would be so easily revealed to Zhang by Zhao Jiong's cousin and clansman, Zhao Yu.

  Zhang heard that Zhao Kuang fell off his horse and was likely to be paralyzed, but he only felt a great sense of relief in his heart, and somewhat regretted that he had preserved his life. However, regarding this result, she became more convinced that it was the old Duke's spirit, and also told the commander of the guards sent by the King of Guangping: "The Duke still couldn't bear to part with his son, and was angry that he was too rebellious, so he made him suffer for the rest of his life, but also preserved his life. Since this is the Duke's intention, I will not pursue it further, now we just need to wait for the emperor's decree to come down and settle this matter."

  The guardian nodded in agreement with a smile, knowing what was on his mind.

  Zhang didn't want to go and ask about Zhao Kuang's injury, she just felt extremely tired. But her granddaughter was still with the Guangping King couple, her son and daughter-in-law's funeral had yet to be arranged, her husband's coffin needed to be buried, all these matters were urgent and needed to be dealt with, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

  Zhao Wei quietly followed her, not making a sound. Seeing her grandmother was tired, she jumped down from the chair and ran to her grandmother's back with her short legs, raised her hands into fists and massaged her shoulders. She also called out to Qiuye: "Sister, pour a cup of tea for grandma." Qiuye smiled and went to get it. Zhang Shi softened her expression and pulled Zhao Wei in front of her: "Good child, you have filial piety, Grandma is very happy."

  Zhao Wei said: "My sister said, we are young and can't help adults with big things, we can only do some small things that we can handle. Grandma is tired, I couldn't help grandma share her worries, giving you a back massage is also good."

  Mrs. Zhang's eyes turned red, and she hugged her grandson, choking: "You two siblings are good kids, good kids..." But thinking that such good kids lost their parents at a young age, she couldn't help but become sad again.

  Zhaowei patted her lightly with his small hand, as if comforting a grandmother, and quickly warmed Zhangshi's heart. She wiped away her tears and smiled again, stroking Zhaowei's small face affectionately: "You've been making a fuss all day, you must be tired too? Good child, your illness isn't fully recovered yet, don't exhaust yourself, hurry up and rest now. The people downstairs have probably made up your bed, just follow me and stay with me."

  Qiu Ye ended the tea and brought Zhao Wei to the inner room to rest. Although he had exposed Zhao Jiong's true face in public and was injured, Zhang Shi still did not dare to be careless. She must keep the two children by her side to take care of them and absolutely cannot give people with ulterior motives the opportunity to harm them!

  Zhang drank a mouthful of tea, lifted his spirits, and looked up at the commander of the Guangping Wangfu guards: "Sir, let's discuss the arrangements for later. You can't stay here all the time, the prince needs you to guard him too."

  The Guardian Commander nodded solemnly.

  Qiu Ye arranged for Zhao Wei to rest, and then came out from the inner room. Seeing that the master was discussing important matters with people from the Guangping Wang Fu, she didn't dare disturb them, so she quietly slipped out of the house unnoticed.

  The luggage that the three members of the Zhang family had brought with them sank to the bottom of the water along with the sunken ship. For these days, they have been using borrowed clothes and utensils from the Guangping King's mansion, some of which were hastily made by the maidservants in the king's mansion overnight, or temporarily purchased from the market. However, this was only a temporary solution. Now that they are back at the Zhao family home, not only do they need to hold a funeral, but also meet with relatives and friends from various families. If they continue to use those ordinary goods, people will gossip about them. She remembered that among the several ships that accompanied the Duke of Jian Nan back to his hometown, there was one that carried some supplies for their small second house, including some clothes. She needs to find these things, and then find a few seamstresses to make new sets of spare clothes for the Zhang family's ancestors. Additionally, the maidservants serving in the main house also need to be re-examined and screened to prevent any unscrupulous people from sneaking in.

  The Zhang family now has only one servant left by her side, all of these are her responsibilities, she can't let the master worry.

  She walked through the courtyard and was about to go outside the gate to call someone when she suddenly saw a palace guard sitting under the corridor by the side of the gate, and her footsteps paused for a moment.

  She thought he was just someone ordered to guard the entrance, but when she took a glance and found it was someone she knew, she felt embarrassed and couldn't move her feet.

  The guard heard the noise, turned his head and looked over, smiled: "Miss, are you going out?"

  Akira nodded slightly, her face turning faintly red.

  The young guard looked like he was only in his early twenties, tall and sturdy, although not handsome, with dark skin, but with regular features that made him look reliable. On the day when Autumn Leaf fainted on the riverbank and almost got washed away by the rising tide, it was this guard who discovered her and rescued her in time. At that time, she was soaked all over, and he didn't think much of it as he hastily carried her to a place where the waves couldn't reach, and later carried her back to the campsite, during which there were some close contacts. She was dizzy at the time, but afterwards, when she thought about it, she had a vague impression that made her feel somewhat shy.

  That guard was a straightforward person, smiling and saying to her: "The mansion is in disarray now, it's hard to tell who can be trusted and who cannot. Our master said that no matter what, it's best to take care of things within the courtyard itself, Miss, where are you going?"

  Qiu Ye lowered his head and said: "I want to find someone to ask for some things, the few boats that returned south together on that day, one of which carried our Xiao Er Fang's belongings. I think I'll find those things and give them to Old Madame and my siblings."

  The guard nodded: "This is easy to handle, I'll have someone go ask that steward Wang about it, and someone will bring it over. Miss, please stay in this courtyard."

  Qiu Ye nodded, still with her head down, silent for a moment, then looked around.

  The guard curiously asked her: "But what else is there?"

  Qiu Ye hesitated and took two steps closer to him, lowering his voice even further: "At the city gate, the person carrying Qian Lao's coffin suddenly fell over, and... those two white flags suddenly broke off... was it you who did it? I saw... you shoot a pebble in that direction."

  The guard was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face. He raised his index finger to his lips and whispered: "Shh..."