Jinyi Spring

Chapter 97 The People Behind the Medical Disputes
Aunt Wang took out the record and read it aloud, "This is what happened when we came to our clinic. If we had asked a midwife to come to your house to deliver the baby, neither the mother nor the baby would have survived. We did our best to save the baby."

"Not only do you not remember the good things the clinic did for you, but you also lie through your teeth. Go ahead and sue us in court. We've done nothing wrong, we're not afraid."

The family members dared not cause any more trouble and slunk away.

At the beginning of the Si hour, Feng Chuchen dragged her tired body to the Ming Mansion.

Madam Ming's eyes were filled with light. "I went to Fu Rong Tang for dinner yesterday and sat there for more than an hour without feeling uncomfortable. It's the first time in fifteen years that I've sat so comfortably."

Granny Li laughed and said, "Perhaps Madam's illness can really be cured within six months. Oh my, this is something I never dared to imagine before. Doctor Feng has excellent medical skills."

Feng Chuchen thought to himself, at this rate, he would be fully recovered in another month.

When she left, Madam Ming rewarded her with three jade hairpins, one long and two short, adorned with lotus blossoms, which were quite exquisite.

He also gifted Banxia a red gold hairpin.

Back in Beianfang, before the mule cart even reached the alley entrance, they heard crying and commotion ahead, and could also faintly hear the loud voices of Peony and Aunt Wu.

Uncle Wu exclaimed in surprise, "Miss, something might have happened at the clinic. There are quite a few people gathered at the entrance of the alley."

Feng Chuchen's heart sank. She had encountered a medical dispute. This was the first time since the clinic opened that someone had come to cause trouble.

When Mu Jin, who had been waiting under the tree, saw her family's carriage, she quickly ran over and said, "Miss, the Shen family, whose daughter-in-law has died, has come back to cause trouble again. They say that the young lady caused the woman to bleed to death during childbirth by randomly inserting acupuncture needles, and they want the clinic to compensate them with five hundred taels of silver."

"Aunt Wang told the young lady not to go home for the time being, and the young master has also been left at the private school. Don't worry, young lady, someone has already gone to ask Master Guo and Lord Hu for help."

How could Feng Chuchen hide? She said urgently, "Uncle Wu, hurry to the clinic."

Wu San said, "Miss, Aunt Wang and we are at the clinic, so you don't need to go..."

Feng Chuchen insisted, "Let's go to the clinic."

The Shen family ran an oil mill in the outer city, but business wasn't great. They had already left, but now they've come back to cause trouble; they're probably being instigated by someone...

The mule cart arrived at the alley entrance, and the clinic was surrounded by people on both sides. Some people spoke up for the clinic, while others stirred up trouble.

"Everyone knows that childbirth is dangerous for women; how can you blame the doctor if a woman dies?"

"That's right. Doctor Feng's medical skills are superb; he even saved a prince. It's already remarkable that only one mother died during childbirth after delivering so many babies at the clinic."

"This family said that Dr. Feng deliberately caused people to die."

"Dr. Feng is so young, and his skills aren't that great."

……

Feng Chuchen got out of the car, and the onlookers made way for him.

Upon entering the clinic, I saw several elderly women sitting on the ground, patting their legs and crying loudly.

"My dear daughter, you died unjustly."

“Daughter-in-law, you are so filial and capable, how could you die after just one visit to the clinic?”

"Niece-in-law, you were such a good person, how could you just leave like this?"

"If I had known this place was so deadly, I shouldn't have come."

"The mother of the children is gone, what will happen to the three children?"

……

Several elderly men and middle-aged women were pulling at the people in the clinic, while several young men took things out of the clinic and smashed them on the ground.

The yard was a complete mess.

"Pay us five hundred taels of silver, or we're not done."

"If she doesn't pay compensation, we'll arrest Feng Chuchen and take her to the yamen to accuse her of murder."

……

Aunt Wang and several other elderly midwives were shouting at each other, while Sister Hao and Sister Song were trying to defend themselves. Aunt Wu and Jinzi were dealing with the young men who were smashing things, and Shaoyao was fighting with two big men.

A woman was giving birth. Midwife Zhang and midwife Li were delivering the baby behind closed doors. The family members were so frightened that they stood guard outside the delivery room, afraid of startling the woman.

Several other pregnant women staying at the hotel locked their doors and hid inside, too afraid to come out.

Upon seeing Feng Chuchen arrive, Granny Shen rushed over to grab him, crying, "You quack doctor, you dead whore, you'll pay for my daughter-in-law's life..."

Feng Chuchen was furious. He shoved the old woman, making her stumble, and said with a stern face, "Watch your mouth."

Several women and men rushed over and pulled at Feng Chuchen, with two of them hitting her head and body with sticks.

Peony and the others rushed over to protect her. One of them hit Feng Chuchen on the shoulder with a stick, and another hit Jinzi on the head with a stick, causing blood to gush from Jinzi's head.

Feng Chuchen realized that they wanted to injure or even kill her.

This is more than just a medical dispute.

Peony snatched a stick from one of the men and started hitting them, shouting, "How dare you hit my girl! I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death!"

She fought desperately, swinging the big stick, and both of them immediately suffered head injuries and bled profusely.

Feng Chuchen took the stick from Aunt Wang and beat the men so they couldn't get close.

Just then, the yamen runners came running over.

Only then did everyone stop.

The old woman from the Shen family cried, "Officer, Dr. Feng is a descendant of the wicked Fan family. He deliberately killed my daughter-in-law..."

These yamen runners had all received bribes from the clinic, and they cursed, "Nonsense! Doctor Feng's medical skills are superb, and he has no grudge against your family. Why would he deliberately kill your daughter-in-law?"

Another bailiff said, "Doctor Feng has even saved a prince, how could he be a quack?"

The woman cried again, "My daughter-in-law once cursed Dr. Feng, saying he was shameless for delivering babies, even though she was a young woman. She's been holding a grudge ever since and is deliberately seeking revenge..."

Feng Chuchen remained silent with a sullen face, while Aunt Wang and the others argued with the Shen family.

Just then, Guo Jialing arrived with ten guards from the Princess's residence, and Hu's advisor arrived with six constables from the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Since the matter had escalated to such a great extent, the yamen runners were to take all the troublemakers, along with Feng Chuchen, Aunt Wang, Shaoyao, and others, to the Changping County Yamen for trial.

Guo Jialing said, "Dr. Feng is a skilled physician with a kind heart. He would never kill someone just because of those words."

Banxia said, "The Shen family's daughter-in-law not only never scolded my daughter, but also praised her cooking skills. They were just looking for trouble and said those things on purpose."

Aunt Wang showed them the admission record. "That pregnant woman was old and had excessive yang energy. At first, my daughter didn't want to admit her, saying she was a high-risk pregnancy woman who was prone to massive bleeding, putting both mother and child at risk."

"It was this old woman and her son who begged the girl, saying they couldn't save the adults but had to save the children, that's why my girl took them in..."

Feng Chuchen pulled Guo Jialing and Zhao Shiye aside and whispered, "I think someone bribed this family to cause trouble and even want to kill me. If it weren't for my servants' skill, I would have been 'accidentally' beaten to death."

"Look, that woman in the blue top and gray skirt, the one with the most patches on her clothes, that's the one who wants me dead. We must interrogate her thoroughly and find out who's behind this..."

Guo Jialing asked, "Do you know which enemy you have?"

Feng Chuchen shook his head.

So far, Feng Chuchen has offended four groups of people.

In the first wave, news spread that she had saved Lord Xiao or Wen Qian. Those who had grudges against the Xiao family dared not do anything to Ming Shanyue and Shangguan Ruyu, so they vented their anger on her.

The second group consisted of people who didn't want Madam Ming to recover and wanted her dead. The third group was Zhao Wei's family, who knew that she had tricked Zhao Wei and prevented her from participating in the imperial examination, and they were seeking revenge.

The fourth possibility is that she bribed someone to cripple Feng Qi, which was discovered by the Feng family. This is the least likely, as the Feng family doesn't have the money to bribe so many people.

The fifth group was sent by Dr. Fan. This is also unlikely; Dr. Fan hates her, but wouldn't go to such lengths to deal with her.

The first three are the most likely.

Of course, there were other possibilities she hadn't considered.

Master Zhao said loudly, "Arrest these people and bring them back to the yamen to find out who is behind it. I will go to the county yamen myself and watch Lord Li preside over the trial."

These local disputes were handled by the county government and did not reach the prefectural government in the capital.

The troublemakers, not expecting the clinic to have such powerful backing, dared not cause any more trouble. Several people tried to slip away but were stopped.

Guo Jialing added, "Doctor Feng is busy, so he won't go to the yamen. You can send Doctor Wang and the others instead."

The yamen runners dared not disobey Guo Jialing's orders and took the troublemakers to the Changping County yamen, along with Aunt Wang, Shaoyao, and Midwife He from the clinic.

Banxia and the others tidied up the clinic. After treating the wounds of Jinzi and the other injured people, Feng Chuchen comforted the frightened pregnant woman before returning to the house with a sullen face.

Feng Buji was unaware of the incident at the clinic. His teacher said that he had not completed his homework well that day and kept him after school to copy his assignments.

I just found out that something happened at the clinic.

He ran home frantically, shouting, "Sis, are you hurt?"

He examined Feng Chuchen from head to toe; Feng Chuchen's hands were bruised and her hair was disheveled.

There was more he didn't see: his shoulder and arm were hit hard.

Feng Buji was both heartbroken and angry, and cried, "I am the strong man of the family, but I hid and let my sister get hurt."

Feng Chuchen said, "I'm fine. You study hard and support me when you become successful in the future."

Feng Buji went out and grabbed some snow, wrapped it in a cloth, and applied it to his sister as a cooling compress.

Besides studying textbooks, the young boy also learns some simple medical skills, and he does them quite well.

"Is it cool?"

"It's not cold."

"Does it hurt?"

"No pain."

"It really doesn't hurt?"

Feng Chuchen had no choice but to feign weakness, saying, "It hurts a little bit."

Feng Buji coaxed, "Sister, don't be afraid. You're the bravest little lady. Tomorrow I'll buy you a gold hairpin as a reward for your bravery..."

I heard that Jinzi took the blow for her sister, and her head was bleeding from the blow. So Mujin went to Jinzi's house to deliver two taels of silver.

“Tell him that I know he’s a good guy, and that he should do his job well. I won’t treat him unfairly.”

The next morning, Feng Chuchen used the excuse of being injured to avoid going to the Ming Mansion, leaving Banxia to go alone.

Around noon, Aunt Wang, Peony, and others returned.

Aunt Wang said, "The interrogation revealed that it was a distant relative of the Shen family. He said he had a grudge against the girl and offered ten strings of cash to have those people cause trouble. He also said he would give ten taels of silver to ruin the reputation of the clinic and twenty taels of silver to injure the girl."

"The woman who wanted the girl dead only told the truth after being tortured. The man said that if she 'accidentally' killed the girl, and she insisted that it was an accident, he would give her family one hundred taels of silver."

"The woman's son is seriously ill and she has no money for treatment. If her family had one hundred taels of silver, they could afford to treat her son and the whole family could survive..."

"When the constables went to arrest the relative, the man had already escaped. The magistrate sentenced the troublemaker, Granny Shen, and her son to twenty lashes and a year in prison."

"Those who caused the trouble will be given fifty lashes for injuring someone, and ten lashes for each of the others. The Shen family will also be ordered to compensate the clinic with thirty taels of silver, plus a fine of ten taels of silver."

He gritted his teeth and cursed, "That family deserves to be torn to pieces. A few dollars made them so heartless as to frame the girl and even try to kill her..."

You really want your own life!
Unfortunately, the person escaped, the trail went cold, and it's unknown who instructed them.

Based on the testimonies, the most likely culprits are the three groups she identified. Feng Qi's family is completely ruled out; they couldn't possibly come up with that much money.

Feng Chuchen took out more than twenty strings of cash. "Give one string to each of the medical staff and servants here. Give an extra string to those who perform well. Aunt Wang, you decide."

Feng Buji heard that Shaoyao was the fiercest fighter and had even taken several blows for her sister, so he rewarded her with a string of cash.

After distributing the gifts, Aunt Wang and several maids relayed the results of the county court's trial.

The neighbors then learned that the Shen family had been bribed to cause trouble.

At 1-3 PM, Banxia returned from the Ming family, accompanied by Granny Li.

Granny Li presented fifty taels of silver and a packet of tonics, saying, "My mistress sent me to check if Doctor Feng has been mistreated. If there's anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask, Doctor Feng..."

They were extremely anxious, fearing that something might have happened to Feng Chuchen that would delay the lady's treatment.

Feng Chuchen thanked him, "The county magistrate has thoroughly investigated the case. Someone wanted me dead, and he even drew a portrait to apprehend the suspect..."

Tell her to relay this message back to the Ming court.

At the beginning of the Xu hour, Shangguan Ruyu arrived, just after the Feng family had finished dinner.

He didn't return home yesterday, but when he heard about this today, he rushed over.

He first looked at Feng Chuchen carefully, "Are you injured? My mother and father are very worried about you."

Feng Chuchen said, "No, it's Princess Xie and her husband who are thinking of it."

Feng Buji glared and roared, "How come you're not injured?" He held out his sister's hand to Shangguan Ruyu, "Look, the back of her hand is bruised like this. I treated her, otherwise the injury would have been even worse. Mu Jin said that her shoulder and arm were also injured."

Shangguan Ruyu's handsome face scrunched up as he tried to grab that hand and rub it, but then pulled it back.

He asked, "It's so blue, does it hurt?"

Feng Chuchen shook her head, "It doesn't hurt."

She really didn't feel any pain.

Shangguan Ruyu didn't believe it. "How could a delicate young lady like you not be in pain? A wise man doesn't stand in danger or under strong pressure. Stay away from things like this and don't try to be a hero. Isn't Peony very formidable? How could she have caused your master to suffer such a serious injury?"

Feng shouted, "Sister, did you hear that? Brother Shangguan told you to stay away from danger. You don't listen to me, but Brother Shangguan is an official, you can't disobey him."

Two men, one big and one small, stared at Feng Chuchen, their eyes locked.

Feng Chuchen could only say, "Okay, I'll be more careful next time."

Shangguan Ruyu pointed to the food box and package in Duan Yan and Song Yan's hands, "These are pastries and osmanthus sauce made by the Imperial Kitchen, and this is medicine for treating external injuries."

He then asked, "Have you, or your clinic, offended someone?"

Feng Chuchen asked Mu Jin to take Feng Buji out for some snacks before revealing her guess.

Shangguan Ruyu pondered for a moment and said, "The fact that you saved Lord Xiao and that person cannot be spread. Note that we never saved that person, and this matter must be erased from your memory."

"As for Lord Xiao, we have made full preparations and it is impossible for this to get out... What, you still suspect someone from the Ming Prefecture? Who?"