Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The aroma of wine was blown away by the cold wind sweeping into the warm pavilion.

Zhou Fuqing shot a displeased look at the servant kneeling on the ground, while keeping an eye on the expressions of the two Eastern Depot officers beside him.

For a medical hall, a major incident usually meant a patient dying and the family raising hell.

For any other medical hall, panic would indeed ensue, but to Zhou Fuqing, it was just a minor ripple.

With important guests here, why hadn't the doorman and the steward stopped this clueless idiot?

Not wanting to step out to talk in front of the two soldiers who were acting like his brothers, Zhou Fuqing asked, "What is it?"

The servant had figured he'd be called outside for a private chat, but since the big boss asked right there, he didn't dare stall and said in a shaky voice: "The manager of the Changping Yuegu Street branch got hauled off to the Shuntian Prefecture office, with a cart full of goods trailing the prison wagon. A fast rider from Changping rode hard to Manager Liang's house to report that they cleaned out all the notoginseng from all three Changping branches—didn't touch any of the other pricey herbs!"

Zhou Fuqing's calm facade shattered in an instant, his eyes going blank like his soul had just left his body.

It was that shipment from the Su family!

How was this possible? The case had been closed for months—why the hell were they searching again?!

The two Eastern Depot agents were so shocked the booze sobered them right up. They exchanged glances and simultaneously looked at Zhou Fuqing.

Months back, in the Su family prescription case, Zhou Fuqing had bribed the keeper of the raw medicine warehouse, but the night patrol during the switch had been set up by the Eastern Depot, so these two knew all about it.

The case had been wrapped up for months—why would the Tengxiang Guard suddenly stick their noses in?

Seeing Master Zhou's face turn gray, it was pretty clear the stolen goods had been caught red-handed, and the authorities could come knocking any minute.

Xu Xishan shot to his feet and clasped his fists in farewell: "Since the master's got urgent business at home, we won't intrude. We'll catch up another day."

"Wait!" Running on pure survival instinct, Zhou Fuqing forced himself up and blocked the two men who were his only lifelines. "Gentlemen, I figured Shen Lian would make a move. I thought he just wanted to take down Dehui and steal the business, but now I get it—this fire he's lit is aimed straight at the top!"

The two soldiers frowned, thinking Zhou Fuqing was trying to drag Eunuch Li down with him now that he was cornered.

Xu Xishan asked, his tone turning hostile: "We know a thing or two about that shipment. It's just the usual business rivalry of your Zhou family. The case only got flagged to the higher-ups after it was closed, and we were sent specifically to warn you not to pull that stunt again. How the hell does this reach the top?"

Zhou Fuqing, his face a sickly gray, waved everyone out and glared at Xu Xishan: "The other day we poked the hornet's nest but didn't follow through—we blew our chance. Shen Lian caught his breath and came back swinging! He's just a measly 8th-rank imperial doctor—where the hell would he get the pull to mobilize the Tengxiang Guard? It's obvious Shen Lian is some big shot's pawn. My little Dehui dying is nothing, but if they dig up everything, can the Old Ancestor really stay clean?"

Zhao Du, who'd been quiet the whole time, slammed the table and stood up: "What are you getting at, Master? We were nice enough to agree to handle your dirty work. Whether he's a nobody 8th or 9th-rank official, he's still a court official—you think offing him is as easy as squashing a bug? Shen Lian works for the Imperial Medical Academy. If he dies, a bunch of imperial physicians would do the autopsy themselves, and even the coroner couldn't fake it. Wouldn't that drag us in too? We can't use poison, we can't use force—we were playing it safe, and now you're calling that a missed chance?"

Zhou Fuqing steadied himself and plastered on a smile: "Master Zhao, you've got it wrong. I meant my own wishy-washiness left me with no way out but to beg for your help—I blew my own chance. This is no time for us to be fighting each other. If the Su family case gets reopened, the guy guarding the raw medicine warehouse is also a sworn son under the Old Ancestor. We're all working for the Old Ancestor. Please, gentlemen, don't leave me hanging."

Xu and Zhao traded looks, then turned back to him: "So what do we do now?"

Zhou Fuqing bowed his head, thinking hard: "Gentlemen, I honestly never figured Shen Lian had anyone else backing him besides the Director of the Imperial Medical Academy. The Dali Temple already closed this case. If the Shuntian Prefecture dares to take a retrial petition, I'm guessing... his backer might be Eunuch Feng. He's been eyeing the Old Ancestor's position for a while now. If Shen Lian is his man, how can our little medical hall smash a rock with an egg? The only move now is to have the Old Ancestor personally lean on the authorities."

Silence hung in the air.

Xu Xishan paced a few steps, then turned back to him: "Master, you sure about this? If we really take this up the chain, even if the Old Ancestor personally fixes this for you, he won't go easy on you. When that happens, don't you dare drag anyone else into it."

Zhou Fuqing dropped to his knees right away to thank him and swore he'd take the fall alone.

Three days later, right at the start of the Chen hour (7-9 AM).

The main hall of the Shuntian Prefecture was bright outside but dim inside. All six lattice doors were thrown open, but the heavy eaves blocked the light, barely lighting up the blue-brick floor in front of the hall.

"WEI—WU—"

As the two rows of yamen runners pounded the ground with their rods, the crack of wood on stone rattled everyone's chests.

Shen Lian stood in the witness spot on the right side of the hall, in the blue official robe of an 8th-rank imperial physician. Since he was there on official duty to assist with the case, he didn't have to kneel.

In the middle of the hall, two people knelt on the blue bricks.

On the left knelt a scrawny man in rough clothes—the plaintiff who'd filed the retrial petition, Su Ziling, the Su family's eldest legitimate grandson.

Two days earlier, Shen Lian and Lu Huaizhi had gone to see him in person to ask him to step up again. After all, if an outsider filed the appeal for the Su family, people would question their motives.

It had to be a Su family member themselves to make it believable.

Su Ziling had just turned eighteen last month. He'd been the spoiled eldest grandson of an imperial merchant, and overnight, he didn't even have a roof over his head.

Lu Huaizhi had tracked down where he was staying.

Su Ziling was holed up in a tiny room in a side courtyard at his maternal grandfather's place, lying on the bed, nothing but skin and bones.

His relatives weren't mistreating him—he'd just taken a massive hit, with nowhere to turn for justice. In just three months, the kid was practically at death's door.

But when he heard Shen Lian and Lu Huaizhi wanted to reopen the Su family's case, this pale-faced kid scrambled out of bed and dropped to his knees in front of them.

The two of them tried to comfort him for a long time, but couldn't settle the poor kid down.

Su Ziling made weird, garbled sounds that eventually broke down into gut-wrenching sobs.

Shen Lian practically hauled him back onto the bed, sat him down, and told him to stop crying—that he was ninety percent sure about this case.

He'd even tested the notoginseng's makeup, and it matched the imperial court's Yunnan notoginseng supply one hundred percent.

Su Ziling's bony hands clamped onto Shen Lian's right hand, bobbing his head in kowtow after kowtow.

When the sobbing died down a bit, Shen Lian could finally make out what he was saying.

What Su Ziling was most desperate about wasn't even the retrial—it was that his beloved grandmother was still locked up.

She had a bad case of consumptive thirst (diabetes), and without her regular herbal baths, she definitely wouldn't make it through the spring.

Consumptive thirst was basically diabetes. If it had gotten as bad as he said, with severe complications and at her age, being stuck in a cell for months would be brutal.

That hit Shen Lian hard. He thought about how awful his own dad's gout flare-ups were. This kid, wronged this badly, wasn't even asking for the retrial—he was just begging the court to go easy on his old grandma. He was truly at the end of his rope.

Damn that Dehui Pharmacy!

Shen Lian shot a death glare at Zhou Fuqing, who was kneeling on the right.

This was his first time seeing the big boss of Dehui face to face.

He'd expected some fat old geezer, but instead found a middle-aged guy with a scholarly vibe.

He was actually decent-looking, in plain robes with his hair neatly tied up in a wooden hairpin, trying hard to look modest.

The magistrate on the bench knew both the plaintiff and the defendant, but he still read out the case according to procedure.

Then the prefect banged the gavel and grilled Zhou Fuqing about the new evidence: "The Tengxiang Guard found two hundred thirty-eight jin and six liang of Yunnan high-mountain spring notoginseng in your Dehui branch's medicine storehouse—less than two jin off from the batch that got swapped out of the raw medicine warehouse. Where'd you stockpile that much aged notoginseng?"

Zhou Fuqing gave a little shudder and looked up to read the magistrate's face, trying to figure out if Eunuch Li had put in a good word for him.

But the second he looked up, the prefect slammed the gavel hard: "Tell the truth!" Zhou Fuqing quickly pressed his forehead to the ground and answered loud and clear: "Your Honor, please see clearly! I'm an honest merchant. The Dehui name's been around for a hundred years—what's so strange about stocking quality notoginseng in our storehouse? The imperial court's Yunnan notoginseng is exclusively supplied by the Su family, but that doesn't mean other pharmacies can't buy it!"

The prefect glanced sidelong at Shen Lian.

The young man was frantically gesturing the shape of a box with both hands, mouthing words at him from a distance, urging him to bring up the evidence.

The prefect took a deep breath.

He must not lose his temper—this was the 8th-rank imperial doctor whom Prince Qi had sent word to keep out of this. Whatever improper behavior he displayed, he would just pretend not to see it.

"Bring the box up." Lord Prefect was brave enough to bow to Prince Qi's overbearing influence.

Glancing at the complaint personally written by Shen Lian, Lord Prefect recited it by rote, rebuking Zhou Fuqing: "Still trying to deny it? This tin lining inside and camphor wood outside are exactly the packaging used by Su Ji for their annual tribute of notoginseng. The alum used for moisture-proofing inside hasn't even been swapped out—you really had the nerve to take the easy way out, huh?"

Zhou Fuqing retorted: "This precious aged spring notoginseng ought to be sealed this way. Dehui's got no shortage of talent—surely we know how to store notoginseng. The upstart Su Ji just copied Dehui's packaging method."

"Shameless!" Su Ziling, unable to contain himself, was grinding his teeth in rage, shaking as he pointed at Zhou Fuqing: "Our family's artisans made these boxes with custom molds, all exactly the same! No matter how you spin it, they can't be identical in size and material! Can you find any other boxes like these in your warehouse other than ours?"

Zhou Fuqing sneered: "Ignorant kid, making a mountain out of a molehill. Notoginseng is prone to moisture—after years of research, we found that boxes this size with these materials keep it best. What's so strange about having the same design? The herbs are different anyway. Our batch has been stored in the warehouse for a year and a half, far longer than yours. That's like saying the grandfather looks like the grandson—makes no sense."

"You!" Su Ziling moved to get up and hit him, but he was too weak and a nearby constable immediately shoved him back down.

Lord Prefect was about to speak when he caught sight of the young imperial doctor named Shen Lian out of the corner of his eye, impatiently jabbing at his own chest with both hands.

Helpless, he had no choice but to skip ahead to the examination phase.

"Let the imperial doctor helping with the case give his findings."

Shen Lian immediately hopped to the center of the hall.

Finally, it was his turn to personally smash Zhou Fuqing's dog head!

Commander Lu, standing across the way collecting evidence, couldn't help pursing his lips and holding his breath to keep from cracking up.

Imperial Physician Shen really was a hilarious guy.

Rarely did anyone in officialdom act so... human.

Vivid.

Unpredictable.

From the first time Shen Lian took the blame to protect his brother, claiming he'd fought off a bunch of Dehui servants, Lu Huaizhi had wanted to be friends with him.

He'd figured this goofy young imperial doctor didn't know squat about investigating cases, but three days before the hearing, Shen Lian had dug up every piece of evidence that could nail Dehui.

Not by grilling the guards at the herbal storehouse, and not by questioning whether Dehui's clerks had been in on the switch.

But by finding ironclad proof right in the evidence itself.

Now that he had his chance, Shen Lian had a tray of evidence brought out.

On it were notoginseng samples bought from Su Ji's suppliers, ranging from one month to two years old.

Shen Lian pulled a piece of notoginseng from Dehui's seized goods, cut it open right there, showing the color, texture, and moisture of the cross-section.

At a glance, it was obvious the seized goods had been dug up no more than six months ago—night and day compared to the year-and-a-half-old stock.

Then, Shen Lian roasted the seized piece on an iron plate over fire, while simultaneously roasting a piece over a year old on another plate.

Naturally, one oozed juice while the other burned to a crisp.

After the comparison, Shen Lian spun around eagerly, looking down at the kneeling Zhou Fuqing: "So, Dehui boss, why'd you deliberately hide the quality of your goods? Worried about another 'coincidence' matching the batch that got swapped from Su Ji?"

Zhou Fuqing clenched his fists, glaring up at this thorn he hadn't managed to pull out.

He hadn't expected the bastard to be this young.

At his age, Zhou Fuqing had seen plenty of courtesans and male entertainers in brothels, but never a guy this good-looking.

Hah. No wonder.

It was said that once eunuchs lost their junk, they gradually went weird and started preferring men.

This 8th-rank imperial doctor, fresh into the Imperial Medical Academy with such deep connections, was probably just Eunuch Feng's plaything.

What a shameless piece of work.

"These goods you brought are just casually stored stuff from herb farmers," Zhou Fuqing continued his sophistry. "They obviously can't compare to the precious herbs Dehui keeps in our cellar. What a joke."

"Is that so? Then I've got another question—where did this alum you used for moisture-proofing come from? Besides what's in these notoginseng boxes, can you produce alum that matches? Or—"

Shen Lian pulled a bundle wrapped in cloth from his sleeve: "This is the alum from your shop. What's the difference between this alum and the alum in these notoginseng boxes? You should be able to explain that, right? Otherwise, why'd you use different alum?"