"Look! What is that young woman doing?"
"Has she lost her mind? How dare she lay a hand on General Zhang's younger son?!"
……
While the servant from the General's Estate was arguing with Cheng Qi, Shu He had already driven three silver needles into the three major acupoints on the young master's head. Just as she was about to administer the final needle to clear his airways, an arm grabbed her hand in a fierce grip.
"What do you think you're doing?!!"
Shu He looked up. It was the sweating servant. She hadn't expected him to be so strong, given that he looked only sixteen or seventeen!
"Do you want him to die?"
Shu He's cold, indifferent tone made the servant freeze for a second. Of course he didn't want the young master to die! But neither could he let just anyone tamper with the young master's body!
"If you stop me again, he's going to stop breathing!" Shu He withdrew her hand, looking at him with utter composure. In any case, she wasn't the one who should be panicking.
For some reason, Shu He's gaze shook the servant's resolve. He actually found himself feeling that this woman could be trusted! Just as he was about to let go, Cheng Qi's anxious and furious voice rang out, "Madness! Absolute madness!!"
"My good woman, you are sticking needles into Young Master Zhang's fatal skull points! You—are you trying to kill him?!"
Although Cheng Qi had never studied acupuncture, he knew full well that the human body had three major fatal points that must never be touched! And this woman had stuck needles into two of them at once!! Even if his master were to return, he wouldn't be able to save Young Master Zhang's life now!
Hearing this, Xiao Duo's brows shot up. Enraged, he grabbed Shu He by the collar and demanded, "What did you do to our young master? Speak, who sent you here to harm our young master?!"
Looking at the hand clutching her collar, a cold look crossed Shu He's face. Of all things, she hated being grabbed by the collar the most! Even if it was by this little brat!!
With a single kick, she sent the servant flying, and then—amidst the horrified and stunned gazes of the onlookers—she administered the final needle to Young Master Zhang.
Seeing this, Cheng Qi was so terrified he dropped straight onto his backside on the floor, his face ashen as he muttered continuously, "It's over, it's all over... All three fatal points pierced..."
With Young Master Zhang dead, that terrifying brute Zhang Zhiyi would probably tear their Shourentang to pieces!!
"Where did this ignorant, reckless woman come from? Who are you trying to kill?!!" Cheng Qi wept and cursed, throwing all pretense of gentility to the wind. "It's over, our Shourentang is finished!!"
The shop assistants inside the dispensary also wore ashen faces. Although Cheng Qi had not yet finished his apprenticeship, he at least knew something of medicine! Since even he said so, the young master probably couldn't be saved!!
At that moment, they were already calculating how to divide up whatever little inheritance they had...
"Young Master!!"
Xiao Duo crawled over to the young master's side with bloodshot eyes, trembling as he reached out to check his breathing, but felt nothing. Enraged, he turned and lunged at Shu He, only to be swiftly kicked flying again as he drew near.
Ignoring the pain in his body, he glared at her with venomous hatred. "The General will definitely kill you!"
"Th-is this murder?"
"Go, go report this to the authorities! A vicious woman has murdered General Zhang's younger son!"
……
Upon hearing the words "report this to the authorities," Shu He couldn't help frowning and gave a sharp cry, "Wait!"
Though some were stopped in their tracks by her commanding presence, others had already slipped out and vanished into the distance.
Shu He was somewhat annoyed. She already had lives hanging over her head! Why meddle in this nonsense? If the officials came and really started questioning her identity, she would be fine, but what would happen to Xiao Yi'er if her treatment was delayed?
"What are you panicking about?" Shu He glared angrily at the servant. "If I really wanted to kill someone, would I do it in broad daylight? Have you got any brains at all?"
The servant was momentarily stunned, but immediately snapped back, "Who knows what you're plotting? Over the years, plenty of people have wanted to kill my young master, including no shortage of suicidal assassins! Who's to say you aren't one of them?"
"And who told you he was dead?" Shu He was speechless, once again silently cursing herself for meddling!
"I just checked! My young master stopped breathing!!" Tears filled the servant's eyes, brimming with remorse and self-blame. If only he hadn't been so useless, how could the young master have been murdered like this?
"Just because you felt no breath, does that mean he's dead?" Shu He's expression turned slightly cold. "If I truly wanted him dead, I wouldn't have had to do a thing—just watching him suffocate to death would have been fine, wouldn't it? Why bother doing it myself?"
The servant paused at her words, finding them somewhat logical. "B-but the young master is still dead! If you hadn't interfered, perhaps the young master could have held on until Doctor Xu returned. But now, even if Doctor Xu comes back, it's beyond saving!!"
"I'll say it again: I am here to save him, not to harm him! He will wake up in a moment!"
Shu He couldn't be bothered to explain further. She wanted to leave and find another pharmacy; after all, once the officers arrived, it would inevitably cause trouble.
"Stop her!!" Cheng Qi shouted frantically when he saw her leaving. "She's trying to run! She killed someone and she's trying to run!"
Hearing this, the crowd looked at one another, none of them daring to move. Then, a man said, "What are you afraid of? The authorities will be here soon enough. This woman killed someone, and someone from General Zhang's estate at that! Once we catch her, we'll all be rewarded!"
"That's right! General Zhang cleared Yuancheng of bandits and he's a good general—we can't let this murderer get away!"
"Stop her!"
"Stop her!"
……
In an instant, the people from the pharmacy blocked the doorway so tightly not even a drop of water could pass through. Every single one of them was filled with righteous indignation, looking as though they wanted to devour her alive!
She completely lost her patience, turned to the servant, and said, "Originally, those few needles would have kept him from having another attack for three months. But since you are forcing me to prove my innocence, I have no choice but to needle him again so he wakes up immediately. Only, this time, I can't guarantee how long his body will hold out before another attack strikes!"
With that, she took a silver needle from her needle pouch and plunged it directly into the young master's Baihui acupoint.
A heavy gasp echoed through the room. The young master, sitting in the Grand Tutor's armchair, jerked upright, exhaled a deep breath of stale air, and then began to breathe in heavy, ragged gasps.
Everyone was thoroughly frightened by the sight. Upon seeing this, the servant leaped to the young master's side and steadied him, disbelief written all over his face. "Young Master, are—are you alright?"
The young master looked to be around fourteen or fifteen years old, with a youthful, delicate face, though his skin was deathly pale and completely lacking in color. His pupils focused, and his gaze landed on the servant beside him, looking rather bewildered. "Xiao Duo, what—what happened to me?"
Seeing his young master return to normal, the young teenage servant named Xiao Duo felt a massive weight lift from his chest, immediately followed by another bout of weeping. "Thank goodness! Young master, Xiao Duo almost thought you were gone..."
Not "almost," he *had* been!!
Cheng Qi was also a picture of absolute disbelief. "Th-this is impossible? Both forbidden points were pierced, and he can still come back to life and be fine?!!"
This was... rather different from what his master had taught him!!
Shu He couldn't help rolling her eyes inwardly. People in this world were always so fond of their own self-righteous assumptions!
"Now that he's fine, may I leave?"
Shu He addressed the crowd of townsfolk blocking the doorway.
The crowd exchanged glances, their faces turning a mottled blue and red.
"The facts are clear enough. This good woman truly saved someone, not harmed them. Everyone, make way!"
Someone spoke up in the crowd, and immediately the blocked doorway was cleared once more.
However, before Shu He could even lift a foot to leave, a menacing group of people shoved the crowd aside on both sides and strode into Shourentang.
Walking at the very front was a young woman wearing a red long dress with her hair tied up in a high ponytail. The red color made her fair, bright face look like the blazing summer sun—dazzling and eye-catching. She held a sword, her pretty face frosted with displeasure. "Who dares harm my younger brother?!"
"Second Sister!"
"Second Young Mistress!!"
When Xiao Duo saw that their Second Young Mistress had brought a group of subordinates along, he immediately realized the misunderstanding must have reached the General's Estate.
As soon as Zhang Zhirou stepped inside, she saw her younger brother Zhang Zhili standing there safe and sound, his complexion not even looking particularly weak. He didn't look like he had been injured at all, and a look of utter confusion instantly filled her eyes.
"A-Li, what—what is going on?! I just heard people say that you..."
Zhang Zhirou couldn't bring herself to utter the unlucky words, but her meaning was abundantly clear.
"Second Sister, I—I don't know either." Zhang Zhili was still in a daze; all he knew was that he had suffered a wave of distress earlier, after which he couldn't breathe. When he opened his eyes again, he was right here.
"Xiao Duo, you tell me!"
Though Zhang Zhirou possessed a bright and exquisite appearance, her temper was anything but gentle! Their family had practiced martial arts for generations; apart from the third sibling whose weak health prevented him from practicing, not a single member of the family was poor at martial arts, and they were always sparring at the military training grounds. How could anyone expect her temper to be good?