The disciples in Qianjin Hall who had been huddled together in resignation, awaiting their inevitable beating, also looked up.

The woman entering the door was petite in stature, holding a stick in her hand that looked somewhat out of place, but none of the disciples found it amusing. Instead, their eyes lit up with hope—were they saved?

But would the young mistress of a marquis’s household truly disregard her status to protect them?

These people were completely unreasonable…

The injured man’s family members also saw Qi Yue, then noticed the group of guards following her in.

“Who… who are you people?” one of them loudly questioned.

They naturally recognized from Qi Yue and the others’ clothing and bearing that they were either wealthy or noble.

Were they here to see a doctor?

“This family are quacks…” someone immediately proclaimed loudly.

Qi Yue didn’t listen to their words. As she stepped through the door, she immediately saw the main hall that had been smashed to pieces, then saw Liu Pucheng lying on the ground, being protected by Zhang Tong.

Because several disciples were blocking the view, she could only see Liu Pucheng’s legs and feet exposed outside, not knowing if he was…

The thought of death flashed through Qi Yue’s mind, and she immediately snuffed it out. She wouldn’t allow herself to think of that word in connection with Liu Pucheng.

“How dare you hit people…”

The man who had recovered from the sudden attack shouted loudly.

Rather than helping, these words only made Qi Yue slam her stick on the ground.

“Hit people, you say? Hit people, you say?” she shouted. “Who doesn’t know how to hit people! You enjoyed beating them, didn’t you? I’ll also enjoy myself!”

As she said this, she slammed the stick down again.

“Close the doors! Beat them for me!” Qi Yue shouted.

Are they also here for revenge? It seems this quack doctor has harmed many people…

The hunters thought in a daze, not yet having time to express their shared hatred when they saw the guards raise their clubs and charge at them.

“You’re hitting the wrong people…”

“…Why are you hitting us…”

“…Help…”

“…You’re beating people to death…”

At the same time, the four doors slammed shut with loud bangs, isolating the flying clubs inside from everyone’s view.

People watching the excitement on the street only heard the sounds of beating and screams from inside, each one turning pale with fright, biting their hands and sticking out their tongues.

“This is terrible. Qianjin Hall has even provoked the Marquis Dingxi’s household…”

“This is disastrous…”

“…Could this Dr. Liu really be a quack…”

There was much discussion outside the door.

“No, no,” Wu Shan shouted loudly. “It’s the people from Marquis Dingxi’s household beating those hunters…”

Everyone was immediately in an uproar.

“This… is this Qianjin Hall… owned by the Marquis Dingxi’s household…”

The onlookers had complex expressions.

“…So even if they kill people through treatment, they can act with impunity?” Wu Shan murmured in a low voice among the crowd. “What can we common people do… we must accept it…”

“There’s no justice in this world…”

The pessimistic mood quickly spread and gathered together. Someone threw the first stone at the door panel, followed by a succession of stones pelting the door.

“We’ll help the hunters go to the officials!”

“We’ll serve as witnesses!”

“Even with the Marquis Dingxi’s household, that quack doctor must be held accountable…”

Seeing the crowd’s emotions being stirred up, Wu Shan quietly disappeared to the back, preparing to leave. Before he could take a step, however, someone blocked his way.

“The play isn’t over yet, and you want to leave?” the person said with a smile.

Wu Shan was startled to see a man in his forties facing him. Wearing a plain azure cotton robe with ear protectors, he looked at him with a calm expression.

He had actually spoken his innermost thoughts aloud, making Wu Shan’s heart race.

“Mind your own business, outsider!” he growled in a low voice.

This person had a thick accent that clearly didn’t belong to the local area, making him easy to identify.

The newcomer smiled and grabbed Wu Shan, who was trying to squeeze past him.

“Did you examine that hunter’s injury?” he asked in a low voice.

Wu Shan anxiously tried to shake him off.

“Are you certain it was beyond saving?” the man wasn’t in a hurry either, continuing to speak while watching Wu Shan. “If that’s truly the case, we should report it to the authorities.”

“What’s it to me? If you want to report it, go ahead,” Wu Shan said irritably.

“To report to the authorities, we’d need a witness. Since you treated this patient, you’d naturally be the most suitable witness,” the man continued with a smile. “Without someone to prove that this person could originally be cured, but Liu Pucheng failed to cure him, how can we prove he’s a quack who deliberately killed someone?”

Wu Shan was stunned, stopping his struggles to look at this person.

“Who… who are you?” he asked.

The person just smiled.

“A passerby who can’t stand injustice,” he said.

Bah! In this world, there are still such busybodies with nothing better to do? Wu Shan thought to himself.

He must be Liu Pucheng’s enemy…

“Then you’ll have to get used to tolerating it…” Wu Shan shook his arm free from the man’s grip but didn’t leave, glancing toward Qianjin Hall. “They have backing…”

The man looked at Qianjin Hall, where the main door remained tightly closed. Although scattered stones were being thrown at it, ultimately no one dared to storm the door.

The marquis’s household emblem hanging on the carriage parked at the entrance was enough to intimidate these common people.

“The Marquis Dingxi’s household?” he said calmly. “The Marquis Dingxi’s household has received imperial favor—how could they possibly do such arrogant and tyrannical things? As long as we determine that the doctor is indeed a quack who killed someone, I believe the Marquis Dingxi’s household will surely discern right from wrong.”

Wu Shan looked at this person again in surprise.

“Besides, the people are outraged and the facts are clear. I think the Marquis Dingxi’s household wouldn’t be foolish enough to lose public support over a small trauma doctor, would they?” the man said with a smile. “If they really did that, I think the censors and court officials in the capital would be quite pleased.”

Wu Shan looked at the newcomer with a face full of shock.

“Who… who exactly are you?” he asked stammering.

The man just smiled slightly but didn’t answer his question.

“Don’t worry about who I am. I want to make a deal with you,” he said, placing his hand on Wu Shan’s shoulder and leaning in closer, speaking in a low voice. “I wonder if you’d be interested, young man?”

“How do I know you…” Wu Shan began stammering, but before he could finish, he felt something being pressed into his hand. Looking down, he saw it was a palm-sized cloth pouch.

Money?

“I’m not doing this for…” he swallowed.

The man shook his hand, withdrew the pouch, and revealed a waist token.

What is this? Wu Shan couldn’t help but lean in to look.

Great Xia Imperial Medical Academy clerk.

“This should be enough to give you courage, shouldn’t it?” the man put away the waist token and said calmly.

The onlookers’ anger gradually subsided after throwing stones at the door for a while.

“Report to the authorities! Report to the authorities!”

“Quack doctors kill people—heaven won’t tolerate it!”

A loud voice suddenly rang out, and along with this shout, the crowd’s emotions were stirred up again.

With Wu Shan leading the way toward the government office, the crowd surged after him like a tide.

Along the way, seeing this scene, onlookers inquired about what was happening, and some people spread the story from here. Gradually, more people joined in—some genuinely outraged, others just watching the excitement, and still others wanting to fish in troubled waters. By the time they gathered in front of the county office, their numbers were sufficient to frighten the runners into turning around and running inside.

Hearing the runners’ report, the county magistrate was startled. He had heard of civil unrest but never imagined he would encounter it himself. If this were reported to the court, regardless of whether he was at fault, he would be doomed.

The court would certainly appease the people’s anger and investigate his unclear governance.

Although Yongqing Prefecture was a prefectural city, it was divided into two parts. Qianjin Hall’s area belonged to Yongqing County, so the crowd angered by the Qianjin Hall incident came directly to the nearby Yongqing County office to file complaints.

“Quack doctors kill people…”

“Quack doctors abuse their power…”

Coming to the front hall with trepidation, the county magistrate finally breathed a sigh of relief hearing this.

As long as it wasn’t civil unrest…

So it was just a quack doctor killing someone—how big a deal could that be? The county magistrate relaxed.

“Is there evidence?” he asked.

“Sir, I’m from Huichun Hall. This hunter was first treated at our place. I can testify that his illness wasn’t fatal. If that hunter hadn’t insisted on finding Liu Pucheng at Qianjin Hall for treatment, he would probably be well by now…” Wu Shan knelt in the hall, his face full of righteous indignation. “Originally, the patient made his own choice of doctor, so whether he lived or died had nothing to do with our Huichun Hall. But with a doctor’s compassionate heart, I really couldn’t stand by and watch, so I wanted to persuade the hunter’s family to take the injured person out so we could continue treatment. But that Qianjin Hall actually detained the patient and even drove the family members out, not allowing them to visit. Now they’re saying the person died without explanation, and not only won’t they give an explanation, they’ve closed their doors and are beating the family members…”

The county magistrate’s eyes widened in shock. There was such a thing? There was actually such a medical hall!

What difference was there between this and bandits!

The county magistrate was about to issue an order to arrest them when his advisor coughed timely, and the county magistrate, understanding the hint, stopped his hand.

“Sir, this Qianjin Hall is no ordinary medical hall,” the advisor said quietly from behind.

They have backing? The county magistrate’s face showed alarm—no wonder they were so arrogant.

“The prefect’s son was seriously injured and nearly died some time ago. I heard it was Qianjin Hall that cured him,” the advisor said in a low voice.

The county magistrate smiled.

“You heard wrong. It wasn’t Qianjin Hall—it was the Marquis Dingxi’s household. Their young mistress had divine medicine that brought the dead back to life,” the county magistrate said quietly.

The advisor waved his folding fan.

“But it seems Qianjin Hall was also involved… In any case, this Qianjin Hall has some connection to both of them, right?” he said in a low voice.

Watching the two men talking quietly on the platform, the county magistrate’s expression hesitant, Wu Shan understood in his heart.

“Sir, this Qianjin Hall abuses its power, quack doctors kill people, and they harm the common people. Sir, heaven won’t tolerate this! Just magistrate, please do justice for the people!” he shouted loudly, kowtowing to the ground and not stopping.

This shout, combined with his kowtowing, stirred up the onlookers’ anger again.

“Heaven won’t tolerate it!”

“Do justice for the people!”

The front of the hall immediately became tumultuous.

“What should we do?” The county magistrate panicked, looking at his advisor.

“The people are outraged—we can’t ignore it now, or else your reputation will be ruined,” the advisor said quietly. “As for whether the Marquis Dingxi’s household intervenes later, or whether the prefect speaks up for them, that’s their business and has nothing to do with us.”

The county magistrate nodded. At this point, there was no other choice. If this Qianjin Hall was indeed guilty of quack doctoring and murder, then it wouldn’t be his headache but the headache of their backing. If Qianjin Hall had no backing, then it would be even simpler.

“Bring everyone from Qianjin Hall here,” the county magistrate ordered.

And at this time, Qianjin Hall had also finished its chaotic battle.