Zhang Yajing and Li Hao were both sent back from Swallow Mountain at the same time. Although Zhang Yajing was still conscious when she came out of the courtyard, her condition was much more complicated than Li Hao's. She had an old illness, which was not apparent at first but worsened after she returned home. Cui Xi went to the mass grave and then to Yunshui Village, but found no one. This was because Chu Qingze and Rong Zhi were at the Zhang mansion at that time.
Cui Xi searched the streets like a headless fly, and unexpectedly stumbled upon the two of them together. She was overjoyed and burst into tears after saying a word.
"I'll go right away!"
Seeing the situation, Chu Qingze knew it was serious and rushed to Zhang Yajing's house without asking further questions. Rong Zhi followed closely behind.
Cui Xi wiped away her tears.
"Great, both divine doctors are here, my young lady will surely be fine this time."
The two hurried and soon saw Zhang Yajing lying on the bed. She had external injuries all over her body, and her chest heaved violently, her breathing sounding like a bellows with a harsh rasp. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her face was pale, and large beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.
"Give her this medicine. She has a lung ailment. After taking the medicine, give her two acupuncture needles at the acupoints. Her qi and blood will circulate, and she'll be fine."
Chu Qingze took out a pill but did not administer it himself. Instead, he directed Rong Zhi. Rong Zhi immediately followed his instructions. After the treatment, Zhang Yajing's condition indeed improved significantly. Her breathing became steady, and her face regained some color.
Cui Xi, who had followed them, breathed a sigh of relief.
"Glad we made it in time."
"Her illness is not incurable, Chu Qingze..."
Rong Zhi was about to discuss the patient's condition with Chu Qingze but saw his complicated expression, his eyes filled with guilt.
She suddenly stopped speaking.
"Cui Xi, go get a basin of water."
"Yes."
Cui Xi obediently went out. Rong Zhi then pointed to Zhang Yajing and said, "This is also related to you?"
Chu Qingze did not deny it.
"You've done so much for them, what have you found out?"
Chu Qingze looked ashamed. Indeed, although he had done many things for Swallow Mountain, they had never let down their guard against him.
"Swallow Mountain wants to control Zhang Chu to work for them, so they used Zhang Yajing as a threat. Oh, and there's a strategist in the yamen named Tang Yuanjiang, who also seems to be from Swallow Mountain. He pretends to be a strategist, but is actually there to monitor Zhang Chu."
Strategist?
Rong Zhi thought for a moment, and a hunchbacked, rat-faced man suddenly appeared in her mind. It was the man she and Xia Yunting had encountered that night when they went to check the case files, the one who almost burned down the room.
At that time, Zhang Chu had not blamed this strategist and had even let him return to his room as if he were a pampered guest. It turned out there was this connection.
"They are truly omnipotent. The magistrate is under their control, and such a large medicinal materials merchant is also falling into their hands. If this continues, the entire Changping County will be theirs."
"There might be a bigger conspiracy behind this," Chu Qingze mused. "The news I heard says that Swallow Mountain's master is Xia Yunting. This is quite reasonable. Xia Yunting is a great general of the imperial court, holding military power, so it's not surprising that he can control the underworld assassin organization, Yin Xue Ge. Moreover, he has a bad reputation. Perhaps we can investigate along this line."
Rong Zhi shook her head without thinking.
"I don't think so. If it were him, would he let his bad reputation spread everywhere? Perhaps someone is deliberately using his name to do these bad things, splashing dirty water on him, and deliberately misleading us."
"That makes sense. In that case, this matter becomes complicated."
"Divine doctor, the water is here."
At this moment, Cui Xi walked in, and the two stopped talking. Rong Zhi asked Cui Xi to go out and told Chu Qingze to turn around. She then wet a towel and wiped Zhang Yajing's face and body before tidying her clothes.
Zhang Yajing slowly opened her eyes, her unfocused gaze gradually sharpened, finally reflecting Rong Zhi's face.
"Divine doctor? Divine doctor, why are you here? Am I not dead yet?"
She seemed to want to sit up but coughed violently, forcing her to lie back down.
"You are at home now, but you are injured and need to rest well. Don't move around."
Rong Zhi soothed her and deliberately asked, "What happened to you? What happened?"
Zhang Yajing recalled the terrifying events, and her face, which had regained some color, turned even paler.
"Last night, a man in black broke into my house and took my father away..."
She described what happened last night in detail, but omitted the speculation that her father might have colluded with those people. She only said that she had taken the wrong path and accidentally stumbled into a courtyard in the mountains.
"Did you see clearly what the courtyard was like? What did they do to you?"
"When I was outside, I met several people wearing red clothes. They looked like monsters. I couldn't beat them, so they took me into the courtyard. The courtyard was full of iron cages, as were some of the side rooms. As soon as I entered, they beat me and tried to stab me with silver needles. But later, the manager came, and they let me go."
Although there were some discrepancies from what actually happened, the overall picture was not wrong. Rong Zhi knew that Zhang Yajing did not want to tarnish her father's reputation, and thankfully, she had not lied.
"What was in the cages?"
"People, all people..."
At this point, Zhang Yajing's voice was filled with terror, and her body trembled slightly.
"No, they weren't people. They were kept like monkeys in cages, with no room to even stand up. Their hands and feet were bound with iron chains, and their bodies were dirty and tattered, with a strong medicinal smell."
Rong Zhi and Chu Qingze exchanged a glance. It seemed these were the people they used for drug testing.
Her movement attracted Zhang Yajing's attention. The moment Zhang Yajing saw Chu Qingze, her eyes widened in alarm.
"Divine Doctor Chu, why are you here?"
"I'm here to treat your illness."
Chu Qingze stood at a moderate distance, ignoring Zhang Yajing's fear.
"You are injured. Don't have extreme emotional fluctuations, as it is not conducive to recovery."
Just now, tears had welled up in Zhang Yajing's eyes. Hearing Chu Qingze's words, she forcibly held them back.
"I understand."
"What else did you see inside? Who was inside? Tell us in detail."
Zhang Yajing's eyes darted around as she began to recall with effort.
"There were three people who caught me. One seemed to be the manager, and the other two were very strong, probably thugs. In addition to the five ugly monsters in red clothes outside, I didn't see anyone else. But looking at the size of the room, it could only accommodate about 20 people at most."
Less than thirty people in total?
Rong Zhi had also seen the people drinking and eating meat in the open space earlier, about a hundred people. Ma San was dead, was this the full strength of Swallow Mountain?
No, there was also Li Hao from Mr. Zhang's household, and the strategist from the county yamen. It was still unknown if there was someone behind them. A conclusion could not be drawn yet.
"Miss, it's time to drink your medicine."
Outside, Cui Xi knocked on the door.
Rong Zhi opened the door and brought in the bowl of medicine.
Chu Qingze asked, "Was this medicine interrupted once?"
"Yes, the master was suddenly abducted last night, and the young lady was anxious to save him, so she didn't have time to take her medicine. Today, her condition has worsened."
"Cough, cough, cough..." As soon as Cui Xi finished speaking, the person on the bed coughed violently. Zhang Yajing clutched her chest, looking like Xi Shi holding her chest, evoking pity.
Rong Zhi's lips twitched.
She was so ill, yet she still remembered to put on a show for her admirer.
"Chu Qingze, you feed her."
Since that was the case, Rong Zhi decided to help Zhang Yajing.
"Me?"
Chu Qingze pointed to his nose. "You haven't examined my condition yet, have you? Do you want me to throw up here?"
Zhang Yajing's face also looked a little embarrassed. She knew that divine doctor Chu couldn't get close to women, and it wasn't that she thought she was ugly. But him saying it in front of her made her feel a little awkward.
"Divine Doctor Lin, I can drink it myself. My body is not that weak."
Zhang Yajing said as she took the bowl of medicine and drank it down in gulps. After drinking, she handed the bowl back.
Rong Zhi felt as if she had done more harm than good.
"Rest well at home for now. I'll come to see you tomorrow."
Rong Zhi said something to ease the awkwardness and then left the room with Chu Qingze. Before leaving, Rong Zhi borrowed paper and a brush from Cui Xi and wrote down the method for making the antidote pill for the Seven-Day Sha Poison, giving it to Chu Qingze to research.
Even when walking on the street, Chu Qingze deliberately maintained a distance from Rong Zhi, looking like a pervert stalking a young woman.
When they reached a less crowded place, Rong Zhi could no longer stand it. She pulled Chu Qingze into an alley and grabbed his hand.
"What are you doing? I'm accusing you of molestation!"
"Don't move, let me take a look."
Rong Zhi held Chu Qingze's hand tightly and quickly felt a dampness in her palm. Just by holding it, he began to sweat.
His face also changed rapidly, showing that exaggerated sickly appearance. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, even more exaggerated than Zhang Yajing's earlier.
From the pulse, his heart rate accelerated, and his heart rhythm was irregular, as if he had experienced a great shock.
"Have you seen anything terrifying before, related to women?"
Chu Qingze snatched his hand back and leaned against the wall, starting to retch. It took him a while to recover.
"Alright, don't ask. I know what's wrong with my illness. I just don't want to be treated."
"Oh? Don't you want to get married and have children?"
"What's so good about getting married and having children? I'm dedicated to medical practice and have no interest in relationships. This illness is of no consequence to me, whether it's treated or not."
"Even if you don't plan to get married and have children, what if you encounter a female patient in the future, and you're on the verge of death just by getting close to her? How will you treat her? If your illness delays someone else's treatment, won't you feel guilty?"
Chu Qingze froze, as if he were seriously considering the question.
Indeed, when he treated Zhang Yajing, he didn't go near her because he already knew the cause of Zhang Yajing's illness. But what about others?
"To treat others, you must first ensure your own health. Moreover, a divine doctor with such a difficult-to-treat hidden ailment, what if others don't believe your medical skills?"
"Then... then I'll try going back. I know how to treat it. If it doesn't work, I'll come back to you."
"Okay."
Rong Zhi suddenly remembered something and added, "Even if it's a difficult-to-speak-of illness, don't be embarrassed because of the gender difference. In my eyes, a patient is a patient. I won't have any inappropriate thoughts about you."
Besides, Xia Yunting was much more handsome than him.
"You..."
Chu Qingze's face turned red, and he left angrily.
Rong Zhi touched her nose. Did she guess wrong? Was it not a problem of that nature?