The punishment of the female imperial court

Chapter 239 Lively
After a night of wind and rain, the dead leaves and branches add to the gloom of winter.

Yu Qiansi opened the window of the inn, letting the cold wind wake her up. When she looked down, she saw a few little beggars huddled under the eaves of the inn.

As soon as she went downstairs, the beggars turned the corner and disappeared. She quickly followed them and followed them into a dirty dark alley.

"Sister, sister!" The little beggars rushed up and surrounded her chattering.

"Don't worry, everyone has a share, take your time." Yu Qiansi smiled wantonly, holding a full purse, pointed at one of them, and said, "Let's start with you."

"I was guarding the gate of the government office last night. No one came in or out after curfew. Until this morning -"

"——I, I, I! This morning, Xiao Guozi and I followed Master Zhang all the way——"

"——More than that! There are several local senior officials in the government office who have a good relationship with Lord Zhang. Xiao Shitou and I followed one of them."

Yu Qiansi stood there with a smile, listening to them talk about their gains in the past half day. Then he gave them ten copper coins each and told them: "These five copper coins are yours, and the other five are for the companions who are still following. Let your companions report next time. If you swallowed the silver money——"

The group of people looked up at Yu Qiansi and nodded repeatedly, fearing that Yu Qiansi would take back the copper coins.

After sending away the little beggars, Yu Qiansi slowly left the dark alley and headed towards the street.

According to the information collected by the little beggars, Zhang Yu was just like usual from last night to this morning, nothing unusual. However, two old clerks who were familiar with him went to Yujing Hall and Yuyin Hall respectively this morning. The owners of these two pharmacies were both surnamed Qi, and they were originally brothers from the same clan. Later, some unknown problems occurred in the clan, so they were divided into two. However, the person in charge was well-behaved and steadily expanded the two pharmacies.

Originally, the two medicine halls had some conflicts, but Wanyaotang came from behind and forced Yujingtang and Yuyintang to make peace. But even if the two medicine halls joined forces, they could only barely tie with Wanyaotang.

Yu Qiansi looked at the imposing signboard of Wanyaotang with some curiosity.

Although the art of medicine is somewhat related to the art of medicine, which is treacherous and changeable, medicine is, in the final analysis, just medicine.

She really couldn't figure it out. Longyuan City, which was located on the road that the Jiangnan Dao Medicine Gang had to pass through, naturally had no shortage of good medicinal materials. What methods did Wanyaotang have to ensure that it could remain invincible?
Standing there, Yu Qiansi silently reviewed the words he had said yesterday and added some details. Only then did he step onto the wooden steps in front of Wanyao Hall with confidence.

The buildings in Longyuan City are mainly made of wood, and the steps in front of the shops are no exception. In fact, wealthy families would show off the wood used for the steps in their front halls to show off their wealth and arrogance. Even if they are stepped on all year round and cleaned every day, they will not be rotten by insects.

Yu Qiansi couldn't understand the wood, but he could smell the faint scent of camphor. Looking at the wooden steps again, although they were old and creaked constantly, they were clean and spacious, without a single wormhole. I guess they were doing as the locals do and taking care of them from time to time. But if outsiders want to do business well, it's not enough to just do as the locals do.

Judging from the behavior of the two old officials, Zhang Yu must have made some moves, but why did he bypass Wanyaotang? Was he planning to ignore it, or was he planning to take action himself? Or was he connected with the government, so he could sit firmly in the top position of Longyuan City's pharmacy?
"Get out of here!"

Just as Yu Qiansi was about to step into the door, she was pushed out by someone. She staggered and almost fell.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Seeing someone outside the door, the person shouting panicked and apologized repeatedly: "I'm sorry, I just wanted to drive this old woman away, but I didn't expect to bump into you. Who are you?"

There is no difference between a pharmacy and a medical clinic. Dealing with illnesses, they naturally don't set up shop assistants at the door like other businesses. When seeing a customer, they are not allowed to call him "guest" and take the initiative to greet him inside the store. The man looked like a manager, and he didn't know how to address Yu Qiansi, and was at a loss for a moment.

Yu Qiansi still had a smile on her face, but she ignored him and looked at the person who had just been pushed out and bumped into her.

It was Mo Niang. She had tripped over the threshold and was lying on the ground, stroking her bamboo stick.

Several other guys were leaning against the door, laughing at Mo Niang's embarrassment, and one of them was holding Mo Niang's bamboo stick in his hand.

Yu Qiansi lowered his eyes and stared at the bamboo stick, seeming to find it interesting. He asked with a smile, "I heard that Wanyaotang is the number one pharmacy in Longyuan. How could you humiliate an old man in front of the pharmacy? Do you always treat guests like this?"

Mo Niang's hand that was touching the bamboo stick paused, as if she recognized Yu Qiansi's voice.

Yu Qiansi was born beautiful, and she dressed up specially today. After coming out of the dark alley, she took off her plain hood, revealing a pink skirt, which looked even brighter on this bleak winter street.

In addition, her sweet voice attracted a lot of people's attention.

The manager saw some people gathered around and apologized repeatedly: "You misunderstood, this old woman is not a guest of Wanyaotang. She is a servant. She was sneaking around today, and we caught her red-handed, so we drove her away. If it weren't for her blindness, she should be arrested and brought to justice!"

Hearing the words "see the official", Mo Niang didn't care about the bamboo stick, she knelt on the ground, not knowing which direction to face, and waved her hands repeatedly: "I didn't steal anything, no!"

Yu Qiansi stepped forward and helped her up, then supported her to the stairs. Just as he was about to quietly ask Mo Niang what to do, the crowd parted ways.

"What are you all arguing about so early in the morning?"

Two men in black uniforms pushed and shoved their way in, cleared their throats and sang: "The county lieutenant has arrived!"

Yu Qiansi raised her eyebrows and laughed. These people looked a bit like the palace maids in Daming Palace.

Zhang Yu seemed helpless about their actions, so he walked in with a smile and a bow, but saw Yu Qiansi was also here with a slightly stiff expression.

Yu Qiansi looked at him leisurely, so Zhang Yu had to turn around, ask about the whole story, and persuade him gently.

"I just passed by and saw everyone gathered here, occupying most of the road. This is really not right. You all should know that the Holy Chariot is not far from Longyuan now. Although today's incident is small, if it falls into the eyes of someone with ulterior motives, it is hard to guarantee that there will not be many troubles. You should all take a step back and disperse."

Mo Niang followed the sound and grabbed Zhang Yu's sleeve fiercely: "But I didn't steal anything. They slandered me. My Lord, you have to help me!"

As he was about to kneel down, he said, "Sir, they not only mistreat me, but also beat and scold me. Look, look."

As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves. The onlookers stretched their heads to take a look and gasped. His skinny, old arms were covered in bruises.

The manager got anxious and yelled, "You old bastard, what nonsense are you talking about in front of the official? We never touched you. It was obviously you who stole the things!"

Zhang Yu felt a headache when he saw this.

Unexpectedly, the blind woman's words made the scene even more lively.