General Wang asked in a low voice, “Miss Chunhua, have you found anything?”

Chunhua suppressed her crying and said, “No…”

She turned around and looked at She Dengke with red, disbelieving eyes. She Dengke’s eyes held some doubt, and also some relief.

General Wang glanced at Chunhua, then at She Dengke. His voice gradually turned cold, “I hope next time Miss Chunhua has solid evidence before calling us. We, the Qiannian Army, are the Prince’s guards, not petty constables who search for lost chickens and dogs. Let’s go.”

The guards were about to leave, but Old Head Yao blocked their path, saying lightly, “Apologies.”

General Wang was silent for a moment, then turned his head to look at Chen Ji, “Sorry, I have offended you greatly!”

Chen Ji said slowly, “Please trouble General Wang to clarify a bit at the door for me, otherwise the neighbors will not associate with me in the future.”

General Wang shook his head, “This I cannot do. Let’s go!”

The Wang Manor guards came quickly and left quickly. Chunhua looked at She Dengke, wanting to speak but stopping. Finally, with red eyes, she turned and left, “You almost killed me!”

“Wait!” Chen Ji said.

Chunhua stopped and turned to look at Chen Ji. She said with some fear, “What do you want to do? I didn’t want to either, but I had no choice.”

“Let’s talk aside.”

Chen Ji led Chunhua to the door and said softly, “Please tell Jing Fei when you go back that she and I didn’t need to be enemies. Liu Shiyu was not killed by me, nor by the Michisi. He was silenced by the Liu family. Since I was able to help her find the lead barium glass cup last time, I can also help her get revenge this time. Go back and deliver this message. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

Chunhua was startled for a moment, then turned and left.

Chen Ji stood in front of the medical hall door, listening to the surrounding discussions and watching Chunhua’s departing figure.

The sun set in the west, and the orange-red light on his body gradually faded until it was covered by night.

Michisi, Junjisi, Jing Fei, Yun Fei, these people were all giants in this world. It seemed like they could crush him to death with a wave of their hand.

Chen Ji’s fate was not under his control. At first, he could only survive in the cracks.

But now there was also a chessboard in front of him. He lightly placed a piece at the “Spring Corner” on the edge. Perhaps it wouldn’t decide victory or defeat, but he always played chess with a surprising move, never following common plays.

He returned to the medical hall and saw Old Head Yao staring at She Dengke. “Are your wings hard? Kneel down!”

She Dengke knelt on the ground honestly, crying and sniffling. “Master, I didn’t want this either. Chunhua said it was Jing Fei who made her do this, otherwise she would have been killed tonight. Chunhua told me she only needed to hide a pearl in Chen Ji’s clothes to get him expelled from the Taiyi Yuan. She would take out all her savings of several years, saying it was to compensate Chen Ji, so that Chen Ji could also do a small business after leaving the medical hall.”

Saying this, She Dengke took out three silver ingots, two silver hairpins, two silver bracelets, and thirty-six copper coins from his chest.

Old Head Yao turned his head to look at Chen Ji. “This is your matter, what do you say?”

Chen Ji stood in silence.

Chunhua could have given ten taels of silver, fifty taels of silver, or five hundred taels of silver, but she gave exactly thirty taels of silver and thirty-six copper coins, because that’s all she had.

But could he forgive? No, he could not forgive.

He knew that in this era, a girl like Chunhua had no other choice. If she didn’t do it, Jing Fei really would kill her.

But if he was really framed, would the outcome be as simple as being expelled from the Taiyi Yuan? No, he would certainly be beaten to death by the strong servants brought by Chunrong.

He originally thought he could take the medical hall as his home and the master and brothers could become his family, but reality never happened according to what you thought.

The most damnable thing about this world was that it didn’t let you go just because you were a good person.

Chen Ji was not a good person either.

He picked up the silver, bracelets, hairpins, and copper coins on the ground. “I will accept these things, but Senior Brother She, you and Chunhua each owe me a life. When I tell you to repay it, you must repay it. Can you?”

She Dengke nodded frantically, “Yes! Yes!”

Chen Ji turned around and returned to the main hall of the medical hall. Liu Quxing looked at his back, wanting to speak but stopping. He felt that whatever he said now seemed useless.

Old Head Yao lowered his head and looked at the kneeling She Dengke. “Go into the room and kneel for being confused by a woman. Don’t be an eyesore here. Although Chen Ji won’t pursue it, if this happens again, this medical hall cannot accommodate you.”

…

…

At night, Taiping Medical Hall quieted down, as if nothing had happened during the day.

Chen Ji leaned his chin on the counter behind him.

Hei Yun walked out of the shadows and lightly jumped onto the counter, sitting down. It spit a round pearl into Chen Ji’s palm.

It meowed, “Don’t be sad, don’t be angry.”

Chen Ji hid the pearl in his sleeve. “I’m not sad, and I’m not angry. Sadness and anger are useless emotions for the weak… Let’s talk about something happy, let’s settle the accounts!”

“I have now lit sixteen lamp furnaces. I feel I can beat a Michisi without a problem. Today, when the Wang Manor guards chained me, I felt I could completely break free from them. I don’t know how many lamp furnaces I need to light to beat Sizhou, Lin Chaoqing, Yun Yang, Jiao Tu…”

“The pearl can’t be sold now. I’ll sell it in another city later. Earlier, I bought six ginseng branches at Bailu Pavilion. One branch was given to Old Head Yao, and the remaining five branches cost a total of one hundred ninety-five taels of silver… Counting the fifty taels under the bed and Chunhua’s compensation money, we still have eighty-five taels of silver and one hundred twenty-one copper coins.”

Hei Yun asked doubtfully, “How many roast chickens can you buy?”

Chen Ji calculated for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. “…In short, a lot! When I bought ginseng, that Sizhou really didn’t give any discount, ah. Do you think I should find a way to join the Junjisi as a Haitongying in Lu Cheng and become a shopkeeper at Bailu Pavilion? It just so happens that I learned traditional Chinese medicine, and my profession matches…”

If he could manage Bailu Pavilion, even if he didn’t embezzle wealth, he could at least buy ginseng at wholesale price, right?!

At this moment, Hei Yun pricked up its ears. It heard faint but disorderly footsteps outside the door. Several people were coming towards the medical hall.

“Chen Ji, someone’s coming, quite a few!”

“Hoo,” Chen Ji blew out the oil lamp and quietly went behind the door panel to listen.

Who could it be?

The Ning Dynasty Michisi or the Jing Dynasty Junjisi? Or was Jing Fei still not giving up and sending people to kill him again?

This was the situation of multiple identities. When someone came to attack and kill him, Chen Ji couldn’t even judge who was taking action.

However, before he could figure it out, he heard a sound from the backyard, “Quickly, be lighter!”

Chen Ji suddenly turned back and looked through the corridor between the main hall and the backyard. He saw a tall figure flipping into the yard!

He was surrounded!

He made a hand signal to Hei Yun, telling it to hide in the dark, and then he drew out a short medicine knife from behind the counter and quietly moved towards the back.

Sweat seeped slightly into Chen Ji’s palms. He was surrounded by more than ten people in front and back. Such a grand encirclement was definitely something he couldn’t handle.

But before he could walk to the backyard, he saw a small monk climbing up the wall separating the medical hall from the Wang Manor!

The small monk’s head was smooth and bright in the moonlight. He was panting as he climbed over the courtyard wall. As for the one who had already climbed over, Chen Ji looked closely and it was precisely the heir of the Jing Wang Manor in fresh clothes and angry horse from the daytime!

In his surprise, he heard a sound from Anxi Street outside the medical hall door, “Everyone calm down, don’t be anxious, the heir will be out immediately!”

Chen Ji turned back to look at the front door, then at the heir and the small monk in the courtyard, and… Zhu Baiyu who was climbing over the wall.

Chen Ji: Ah?

In the middle of the night, he still thought Jing Fei had sent ten more people to assassinate him, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Chen Ji slapped the small monk’s bald head and said angrily, “Hey, what are you all doing?”

As soon as these words came out, the small monk and the heir were startled. Zhu Baiyu, who was clinging to the wall, quickly shrank her head back. After a moment, she stealthily peeked out her head again and looked towards the medical hall’s backyard.

Under the moonlight, Chen Ji held a knife, the slender girl was clinging to the wall, and the heir and the small monk were acting guilty like thieves. No one expected them to meet like this.

Just like the beginning of all stories, people meeting is sometimes sudden.

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow and asked, “Heir, in the middle of the night, climbing over someone’s courtyard wall like this isn’t too good, right?”

The heir doubted, “You know me?”

Chen Ji sneered, “Yes, I even held you when you were little.”

Heir: “…”

Zhu Baiyu, who was clinging to the wall, laughed, “Brother, he’s teasing you.”

“Lower your voice,” the heir said softly, “Don’t attract the guards!”

The heir looked at the medical hall apprentice in front of him and wasn’t angry. He smiled happily and wanted to put his arm around him, but after seeing the short knife in Chen Ji’s hand, he disappointedly retreated. “It’s like this, little brother. You also know who we are. Wang Manor has a curfew in the evening, and free entry and exit are not allowed, so we’ll just borrow a path from your medical hall. Rest assured, we absolutely won’t damage any property!”

Wang Manor had a curfew? Chen Ji hadn’t heard of it, but he combined what the heir said during the day, “Old Master is strict,” perhaps this curfew was specifically aimed at the heir and the county lord.

So the other side didn’t walk through the front door of Wang Manor, but instead climbed over the medical hall wall.

While thinking, the small monk sized up Chen Ji by the moonlight. His eyes suddenly lit up. “So it’s you, are you in this medical hall?”

The heir was doubtful and asked softly, “You know each other?”

The small monk smiled and said, “Yes, I saw you during the day. You’re a very powerful person. I originally wanted to ask for guidance, but you disappeared into the crowd.”