Before Ye Wanmian could react, the man burst into a tirade. "You're talking nonsense!"
"I came here seeking medical treatment. Which eye of yours saw me molesting the doctor?"
Seeing that the man refused to admit his guilt, Xiao Jingcheng grew even angrier. He ground his foot down hard. "Fine. Since you claim you're here for treatment, I'll take your pulse myself."
He bent down, grabbed the man's wrist, and gave it a sharp twist. With a crack, the man's arm was dislocated.
Pressing his fingers against the man's pulse, Xiao Jingcheng said, "This is the pulse of someone who has indulged in excessive lust, suffering from kidney deficiency and shortness of breath. If you continue to indulge in debauchery without restraint, it's truly a sign of a short life. You might not even make it through tomorrow."
After Qi Wen understood what had happened, he immediately sided with Xiao Jingcheng and kicked the man.
"Good heavens! How dare you show disrespect to the doctor of our Huichuntang Medical Hall? I'll teach you a good lesson!"
"Ah—!" The man curled up in pain. Instead of pleading for mercy, he howled like a pig about to be slaughtered. "Help! The doctors of Huichuntang Medical Hall refused to treat me and beat me up—!"
Huichuntang Medical Hall was located at the intersection of two streets, with a large banyan tree across the way. Pedestrians often sat under the tree to rest, and there were plenty of people coming and going. The commotion quickly attracted onlookers, who pointed and whispered.
"What's going on? Why is there a man being beaten in Huichuntang?"
"I don't know. I just suddenly heard someone shouting from inside, and then saw the man being beaten."
"I listened carefully. They said the man molested the doctor of Huichuntang, so the apprentice couldn't stand it and taught him a lesson."
"Yes, I heard that there's a female doctor seeing patients in Huichuntang recently. She's said to be Doctor Wang's apprentice."
"Humph. In my opinion, women shouldn't show themselves in public as doctors. Men and women should keep a proper distance. She should stay at home and take care of her husband and children."
"You don't know this, do you? This female doctor is a widow!"
There was an uproar at the scene. Everyone was talking animatedly about the fact that "the female doctor of Huichuntang is a widow."
"A widow? A widow should be even more discreet! I think the man inside was wrongly accused. Maybe this female doctor is sitting here not to treat patients at all, but to seduce men to relieve her loneliness without a man's love!"
"That's right. She's so shameless!"
The whispers outside gradually took a malicious turn. The looks cast in Ye Wanmian's direction became strange, and some people even pointed at the signboard of Huichuntang.
Xiao Jingcheng looked up, his gaze thoughtful as he stared out the door.
His hearing had become much sharper than before, and he didn't miss a single word of the onlookers' comments.
A widow? Were they talking about Jiang Mian behind him?
Were they slandering her?
Li Zhao also noticed something amiss outside. His expression changed, and he immediately sensed that something was wrong.
At this moment, the man endured the pain and crawled out of the medical hall, crying bitterly. "Kind souls, please save me. Hurry and report this to the authorities. The doctors of Huichuntang are trying to kill me!"
One of the onlookers outside said, "I'll go and report this to the authorities. Let the magistrate judge this case fairly!"
Xiao Jingcheng naturally heard this and his eyes darkened.
"It's a trap," Li Zhao said seriously to Xiao Jingcheng. "It's aimed at Mujin. We need to quell this matter as soon as possible. We can't let it escalate."
Signaling Qi Wen to stop the person who proposed to report to the authorities and instructing Xiao Jingcheng not to show himself, Li Zhao limped out of Huichuntang and said to the onlookers outside:
"Since everyone is here watching the commotion, let Huichuntang ask you all to judge this case today."
The crowd, which had been chattering away just now, immediately fell silent and looked at Li Zhao.
"Everyone should know that Doctor Wang of our Huichuntang, because of his excellent medical skills, was invited by His Highness the Prince of Mu to recuperate his health some time ago and returned to the capital with His Highness. Now, only Doctor Jiang, Doctor Wang's apprentice, is seeing patients in Huichuntang."
As Li Zhao spoke, he coughed from time to time.
"Although Doctor Jiang has not been practicing medicine for long, in order to ensure that the people in the town can get medical treatment and get through the scorching summer comfortably, she has been working hard day and night recently. She is even willing to charge only half of the consultation fee first and collect the other half after the patient recovers. Thanks to her, many patients have been cured."
Instead of complaining and pleading for Ye Wanmian at first, Li Zhao first mentioned her achievements in recent days to restore some of her reputation.
Among the onlookers, there were those who had come to seek medical treatment. Due to their financial difficulties, they had赊ed the consultation fee at Huichuntang and received her kindness. One of them immediately said:
"Doctor Jiang is truly kind-hearted. She knew that many things had happened in our family recently and specially allowed us to pay only half of the consultation fee. Moreover, Doctor Jiang's medical skills are no worse than Doctor Wang's. My mother felt much better after taking the medicine for only two days."
"My husband is the same. He felt much better after taking the medicine for only one day. It shows that Doctor Jiang is really capable."
Mrs. Li was also in the crowd.
She had come for a follow - up consultation today. When she arrived, there were already three layers of onlookers outside Huichuntang. With great difficulty, she squeezed to the front and learned the whole story. She immediately pushed through the crowd and stood out.
"I can also testify!"
"Half a month ago, I suddenly fell seriously ill. I had a severe abdominal pain and felt like I was about to die. My husband brought me here to seek medical treatment. At first, when he saw that Doctor Jiang was a woman and looked unfamiliar, he didn't trust her medical skills. But my condition was very critical, so Doctor Jiang stepped in to treat me. In less than half an hour, my condition stabilized."
Mrs. Li faced the crowd with her fists clenched and said, "Doctor Jiang is an excellent doctor. There must be some misunderstanding here!"
Seeing that the atmosphere was about right, Li Zhao spoke up again. "In this world, how many doctors know medicine and are so generous in thinking about the common people? Even if she is a woman, so what?"
"Are all the people seeking medical treatment in the world men and no women?"
"If a woman wants to seek medical treatment and there are only male doctors in the medical hall and no female doctors, should she just give up on her treatment? When Doctor Wang was still in the medical hall, weren't there often women coming to seek medical treatment? Does it mean that all the women who come to seek medical treatment want to seduce the doctors?"
Li Zhao didn't speak quickly, and his voice was loud enough for everyone present to hear. As he spoke, he slowly scanned the people present with his eyes.
Meeting his gaze, those who had shouted the loudest just now subconsciously dodged and lowered their heads, not daring to say anything more.
Although Xiao Jingcheng was not convenient to show himself, he had been standing in front of Ye Wanmian, preventing her from being directly exposed to the outside rumors.
This trap was extremely dangerous. Its intention was to slander Ye Wanmian and the reputation of Huichuntang through the mouths of the common people.
When rumors start, the most important thing is not to be led by them and rush to defend oneself. Doing so will lead to a self - proving trap and make the situation even more confusing.
Li Zhao's strategy of turning the tables on the enemy, by relying on the good reputation Ye Wanmian had accumulated through her careful consultations in the previous days and with Mrs. Li's testimony, elevated their side and instantly occupied the moral high ground, turning the passive situation into an active one.
Xiao Jingcheng glanced at Li Zhao outside. He was becoming increasingly curious about Li Zhao's background.
Mrs. Li was inspired by Li Zhao's words. Hands on her hips, she said, "That's right. What's wrong with a woman practicing medicine? She's also saving lives. Is a man practicing medicine more noble?"
At this moment, a clear and gentle voice suddenly sounded from the crowd. "This lady is absolutely right."
The voice came out of nowhere and was quite pleasant. Everyone was stunned for a moment and then turned to look in the direction of the sound.
The crowd automatically parted to make way. A figure in cyan, leading a donkey with a bell around its neck, slowly walked out.