The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Refusing to Leave

Ye Chutang closed the copy of the *Six Kingdoms Theory* she had just finished writing and put it in a drawer. She then told Xiao Wu to stay in the room and not run around, before finally getting up and walking out.

”What’s going on?”

Ye Yunfeng pointed frantically toward the main gate. ”The government office! People from the government office are here! They’re carrying sealing strips!”

They had been in Jiangling for three years, always keeping to themselves and following the rules. While they’d run into minor trouble now and then, they had never faced anything like this.

Ye Chutang walked outside and soon saw Wu Xu blocking the entrance with several other government officers.

”Mr. Wu, what is all this? Why are you suddenly sealing our clinic?” Ye Chutang asked.

Wu Xu looked conflicted. He glanced around before helplessly lowering his voice. ”Doctor Ye, someone filed a complaint against you at the government office. They said there’s a problem with your clinic’s medicine!”

Ye Chutang’s eyes narrowed slightly. ”Oh? And who was it?”

Wu Xu gave a bitter smile. ”More than one. Four people came just today alone. Their circumstances were all different, but they all claim their conditions worsened because they took medicine you prescribed! We’re just following orders. I hope you can understand.”

Ye Chutang almost laughed.

Four people.

She had practiced medicine for many years and had never once made a mistake. It was quite a marvel for so many cases of incorrect prescriptions to pop up in a single day.

If it were just an isolated case and no one had died, the government office likely wouldn’t have bothered. But now there were four, so the office had to be seen taking action.

”How many days will it be sealed?”

Wu Xu quickly said, ”Don’t worry. As soon as we confirm that you’re not involved, we’ll unseal it immediately! Generally, it should take about three to five days.”

In her heart, however, Ye Chutang was not so optimistic.

First, she was unable to buy medicinal herbs, and now this series of patient complaints. It was obvious someone had orchestrated all of this, just waiting for her to walk into the trap.

Once it was sealed, there was no telling when they could open for business again.

Ye Chutang said, ”Mr. Wu, I have a patient staying at my clinic temporarily. He has nothing to do with any of this, and I would feel guilty if he were to be implicated. I hope you can bend the rules and allow him to leave.”

Wu Xu already owed Ye Chutang a favor, and since her request was reasonable, he agreed immediately. ”No problem.”

Ye Chutang politely thanked him.

...

Xiao Wu rested his arms on the low table, peering out the window. He saw his older sister cross the courtyard and stop before the door to the room opposite theirs.

A moment later, Lian Zhou walked out.

He glanced toward the main gate, having already pieced together most of what was happening.

Ye Chutang briefly explained her purpose. ”...I’ve already made it clear to them that you have no connection to me or this clinic, and that you aren’t involved in this matter. I don’t know how long this place will be sealed, so it’s best for you to leave as soon as possible.”

As if to put them at ease, Ye Chutang continued, ”Your master’s injuries are mostly healed. For the next three days, brew his medicine according to the prescription I gave you. After that, apply the ointment for two weeks, and he will make a full recovery.”

Lian Zhou glanced at her and finally nodded.

”I will go report to the Master.”

After entering the inner room, Lian Zhou repeated what Ye Chutang had just said. ”Master, I will go find a suitable inn at once—”

Shen Yanchuan raised an eyebrow.

”Who said I’m leaving?”

Lian Zhou froze, not comprehending for a moment. ”Master, do you mean to say you’re going to stay here?”

But the clinic being sealed really had nothing to do with them. And as Ye Chutang had said, once it was closed, no one could be sure when it would reopen—it might even be shut down permanently.

Anyone could see that they had stumbled into major trouble this time.

”Didn’t you say before that you only planned to stay here for a short while before leaving?”

The people they were waiting for had already arrived. According to the Master’s original plan, they should have already been preparing to depart from Jiangling.

Shen Yanchuan recalled the elegant handwriting he had seen earlier and said slowly, ”Xu Fengchi has a rigid and stubborn personality. In all his years as an official, he has never participated in factional conflicts, and he keeps his distance from everyone. But it is precisely because of this temperament that His Majesty holds him in high regard, making his position very secure. Aren’t you curious how a man like that would be corresponding with a woman in Jiangling, a thousand miles away?”

Lian Zhou’s eyes widened slightly. ”So you intend to stay here to investigate her relationship with Xu Fengchi?”

Shen Yanchuan looked out into the courtyard, just in time to see Ye Chutang walking toward her room.

As she arrived under the eaves, the Little Milk Group inside the room, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, had already poked his head out to look.

The Little Milk Group stared at her with wide, hopeful eyes. She chuckled softly and reached out to gently pinch his chubby little face.

Shen Yanchuan gestured with his chin, his interest piqued. ”What kind of person can still smile while her own home is being sealed by the authorities? And not only that—”

And do it with such a carefree and casual air.

Even as the men from the government office blocked her doorway and slapped seals on the gate, her clean, clear face showed no trace of panic. Her brow was smooth, her posture light and easy.

As if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Shen Yanchuan chuckled softly.

”A good show like this is rare. Of course, I must stay to appreciate it properly.”

...

Ye Chutang instructed Yan and A Feng, ”Yan, you can take a look at that book when you have free time. A Feng, look after Xiao Wu.”

As the doctor of the clinic, Ye Chutang had to go to the government office for questioning.

The clinic, meanwhile, was left under the temporary guard of the government officers.

If not for Wu Xu’s presence, they probably would have already barged into the courtyard and started tearing the place apart looking for ”clues and evidence.”

Ye Chutang understood this, so she did not delay for long.

’But—why hasn’t Shen Yanchuan left yet?’

Ye Chutang had no choice but to go over and ask again, ”Haven’t you finished packing? If you wait any longer, they won’t let you go.”

Lian Zhou looked somewhat embarrassed. He coughed into his fist and said, ”My master is suddenly feeling a bit unwell. He really can’t leave right now.”

Ye Chutang was speechless.

’As if I wouldn’t know the condition of my own patient.’

’That Shen Yanchuan has an excellent constitution and is recovering remarkably fast. Besides being unable to ride a horse and hunt, he should be able to do pretty much anything else.’

’So why is he still shamelessly hanging around?’

...

「The Cao Residence.」

Inside the study, Cao Chengwen knelt on the floor, his face desperate. ”Father, I really didn’t kill Chengwu! You have to believe me!”

The man standing before him was in his forties—the owner of Cao’s Restaurant, Cao Deping.

He stared down at Cao Chengwen, his face grim.

”You know perfectly well whether you had anything to do with Chengwu’s death!”

Cao Chengwen’s face paled, and a cold sweat broke out on his palms.

He was cunning, but his father was older and wiser. How could Cao Deping not see through the scheming involved?

But... Chengwu was already dead, and he had to protect his only remaining son. That was why he had personally stepped in to clean up this mess, even going so far as to use his connection with his cousin.

He gritted his teeth, pointed at Cao Chengwen, and spat, ”You just wait! Once I’m done dealing with Ye Chutang, we’ll settle your matter!”

Hearing this, Cao Chengwen knew he was safe, and his spirits instantly lifted.

”Father, now that she’s been hauled into the government office, there’s no way she can turn this around, right?!”