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Chapter 278 - 278: Cause
Chapter 278 - 278: Cause
Chapter 278: Cause
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhou Jia brought Mr. Qian and two clerks to the county office to check the files of the taxes and various cases in Ling County. When Mr. Qian flipped through a case file called Qi Shilian, he found that a man named Zhao Cheng had sued Qi Shilian of the Qi family’s medical center for misdiagnosing and causing the death of his mother. Qi Shilian refused to admit it and was imprisoned. Before the case was investigated, Qi Shilian died in prison and the case was left unsettled.
There was also a dossier noting that after Qi Shilian died in prison, his son, Qi Zhanpeng, sued Zhao Cheng for false accusation. In the end, for some reason, the case was left unsettled and the two cases were not closed.
Mr. Qian felt a little suspicious and brought the dossier to Zhou Jia. “Sir, look, these two cases involved the same person, but both cases are not closed. I remember that the young man who wrote for a living today was also called Qi Zhanpeng. Could it be the same person?”
After Zhou Jia took it and looked at it, he thought to himself, “Qi Shilian died from illness not long after he was imprisoned. Qi Zhanpeng sued Zhao Cheng but the case was left unsettled. Then, the Qi Medicine Hall became the business of the Holy Hand Hall. The Holy Hand Hall is now the largest in Ling County.
Could there be something fishy?”
Zhou Jia said to Zhao Cai, “Bring a few people to investigate in secret. Find out what happened when Zhao Cheng told Qi Shilian that he had misdiagnosed someone.”
After Zhao Cai left with his men, Zhou Jia, Mr. Qian, and the others looked around for a while. County Magistrate Yang smiled and bowed. “Sir, I’ve already prepared food and drinks for you.”
Zhou Jia smiled politely and said, “Thank you, Lord Yang. Everyone, let’s go!”
County Magistrate Yang led Zhou Jia and the others to the back office. All the officials in Ling County came forward to greet them. After eating and drinking, County Magistrate Yang smiled and said to Zhou Jia, “Sir, I’ve invited the dancers of Lianhua Garden to do a few dances to relieve everyone’s boredom.”
Zhou Jia held his teacup and nodded in agreement. County Magistrate Yang clapped his hands and the sound of wind instruments sounded. Two enchanting dancers who looked exactly the same appeared in front of the hall and danced gracefully. Their light dance was gentle and moving. County
Magistrate Yang was in no mood to admire such a moving dance. He used his teacup to block his vision and stole a glance at Lord Zhou, who was sitting at the head of the table. Seeing that he was also admiring the dance of the two ladies, he turned around and smiled proudly.
Zhou Jia glanced at Yang Xian and thought to himself, How good would it be to put his thoughts on the right path so he could do his part well? It seemed that it was really difficult to get Yang Xian to keep his principles. No wonder Yu’er liked to use people who knew their place. Although they didn’t have much knowledge, they wouldn’t cause trouble. Sigh! He didn’t know how Yu’er and his son were at home. When he left, he said that he would go back in half a month. It had been almost a month since he arrived in Ling County. He had to speed up the investigation of Ling County and go back to his wife and son.
Zhou Jia no longer had the patience to watch the two dancers flirt. He stood up and cupped his hands at Yang Xian. “Master Yang, please continue. I still have some dossiers to read, so I’ll take my leave first.”
County Magistrate Yang was dumbfounded when he heard this. He wondered how there could be such a person who was so gentle and beautiful, but so straightforward. How did he get to the position of the magistrate?
After Zhou Jia finished speaking, he left the officials of Ling County and strode away. Mr. Qian and the two scholars also cupped their hands at County Magistrate Yang and followed Zhou Jia to read the dossiers.
Qi Zhanpeng arrived at Mr. Wen’s rented courtyard and knocked on the door.
When Tiezhu 0Dened the door and saw Oi ZhanDenz, he was stunned for a
moment and said angrily, “Why are you still here? I thought you don’t interact with officials?”
Qi Zhanpeng bowed in shame. “I’m sorry, I was too narrow-minded.”
Seeing that he was apologizing, Tiezhu didn’t say anything else. He turned to the side and looked at him. “Come in!”
Qi Zhanpeng cupped his hands at Tiezhu and entered the courtyard. When Mr.
Wen saw him, he asked gently, “Xiao Qi, is your mother better?”
“Thank you, Doctor Wen. My mother fell asleep after drinking the medicine.” Qi Zhanpeng bowed.
Mr. Wen pointed at a chair in the courtyard and smiled at him. “Sit and rest for a while. Let me dry these medicine.”
“Doctor Wen, let me help you.” Qi Zhanpeng walked over and took the dustpan from Mr. Wen’s hand to help him dry the herbs. Qi Zhanpeng looked at the herbs in his hand and thought of the scene of his father drying the herbs when he was alive. His eyes turned red and tears almost fell.
Seeing that he was sad, Mr. Wen thought that he was worried about his mother’s condition and comforted him. “Xiao Qi, don’t worry too much about your mother. When your mother finishes the three patches of medicine, she will be able to stop coughing and sleep peacefully. At that time, I will prescribe two more patches of medicine for her to recuperate.”
When Qi Zhanpeng heard the sincere concern in Mr. Wen’s voice, his heart warmed. He felt that it was not that difficult to say what was in his heart. “Doctor Wen, I want to ask why Lord Zhou came to Ling County?
Mr. Wen smiled and said, “He’s probably doing his duty to check on the grain, and the taxes under his jurisdiction, and investigate the traitors.”
“To investigate traitors.” Qi Zhanpeng’s eyes lit up with hope. He knelt down in front of Mr. Wen and kowtowed. “Doctor Wen, I want to see Lord Zhou and complain to him about the injustice my family suffered.”
No wonder the child looked depressed. Mr. Wen went forward and helped him up. “Xiao Qi, get up quickly. He went to the county office and might not be back until later. Sit down with me and wait for a while.”
Qi Zhanpeng followed Mr. Wen to sit on the bamboo chair. Looking at Doctor Wen’s benevolent smile, he recalled, “Doctor Wen, my father was also a doctor when he was alive. He practiced the medical skills passed down from our ancestors in the Qi family. I was the only son of three generations in my family. My family had a medicine hall, a courtyard, and dozens of acres of fertile land passed down from generation to generation. My parents and I lived happily together. My father felt that practicing medicine was hard and wanted me to study and take the scholarly examination. When I was young, I passed the local examination by the age of 12, but I kept failing in the county-level examination. Some people laughed at me in private when I was young. After I found out, I kept it in my heart. When my parents saw that I was depressed, they persuaded me that there was no need to be anxious. It was not too late to take the examination when I was older. Mr. Wen also said that a sixteen-year-old student was nothing. Some people were still children in their forties or fifties, but they were still taking the examination. After hearing this, I calmed down and studied hard, preparing to take the exam the next year.”
“In the next year, a calamity fell from the sky during the spring equinox. A person called Zhao Cheng sued my father at the government office, saying that my father’s misdiagnosis killed his mother. My father argued that when Zhao Cheng’s mother came to see him, she was already on her last breath. Zhao Cheng knelt on the ground and begged bitterly to save his mother. At that time, he explained to Zhao Cheng that her mother was already at the end of her rope and that he was just doing her best to treat her and leave it to fate.”
“However, Zhao Cheng said that her mother had suffered her entire life and that he had to try his luck. My father gave him some medicine and explained to him repeatedly that his mother was already terminally ill. This medicine was not helpful to his mother’s condition. It was only to fulfill Zhao Cheng’s wish. Zhao Cheng also said that he understood. After taking the medicine, my father sent the mother and son away.”
“However, a few days later, he sued my father in court and the government arrested him. My mother spent a lot of money to help the case, but it was useless. My father refused to admit that he had misdiagnosed Zhao Cheng’s mother. After my father was arrested, my mother and I didn’t even see my father before he died of illness in prison.”
When Mr. Wen heard this, he was furious. If this was true, Zhao Cheng was clearly trying to blackmail the Qi family.. What was the county magistrate doing? How could such a clear-cut case drag someone to death in prison?