Chapter 39: Framing

By the time he emerged from Jing Wang Fu, it was already evening.

Xi Bing stood inside the Wang Fu gates, waving goodbye, while Chen Ji stood on An Xi street, heavy-hearted.

He walked through the lingering twilight, smelling the aroma of cooking wafting from each household along the street, and only then did he feel a sense of relief.

Hei Yun poked its head out from under the eaves of the roof, leaping across the air into his arms: "Who beat Bai Banruo? I didn't beat it!"

Chen Ji smiled, touching its head: "No one beat it. It was just a reason for Yun Fei to summon me into the Wang Fu."

He murmured to himself: "At the time, Yun Fei said that Jing Fei's lead glass cup was sent to her by her maternal family, so I didn't think about it further. But now that I see the relationship between Jing Fei and the Liu family, perhaps it was intentional... Has she cursed anyone from the Liu family recently?"

"Yes, she cursed her brother Liu Mingxian, and very foully."

"That's just right." Chen Ji felt a certain emotion: "At the time, I was only busy with logical reasoning, and didn't consider human nature more deeply. Indeed, human nature cannot be judged by common sense. But I didn't anger Liu Laoye to death, I didn't send the cup, I didn't kill Liu Shiyu. Why is her revenge not directed at the Liu family and the Mi Tan Si, but at me... Hiss, Liu Shiyu was also killed by the Liu family to silence her. The Liu family has a ruthless person!"

Chen Ji gasped, reviewing all the clues. He suddenly discovered that the Liu family's actions were abnormally ruthless, showing no regard for kinship even towards their own people: "Could the Liu Laoye in the coffin also have just been killed?!"

Hei Yun solemnly intoned: "Ferocious, ferocious!"

Is this ruthlessness useful? Naturally it is. If they weren't this ruthless, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu wouldn't have been imprisoned. Instead, the Liu family would have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor.

Back at the medical hall, Yao Laotou was behind the counter, looking at the account books while fiddling with an abacus. He had the air of an old schemer who couldn't figure things out...

Chen Ji smiled and teased: "Master, why don't you just throw some copper coins to calculate the accounts?"

Yao Laotou glared at him: "Cut the nonsense. I think you're asking for a beating. Fortune-telling can only tell you the direction, how can it calculate exact amounts?"

"Where are the senior brothers?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

"They've gone to the backyard to make food." Yao Laotou squinted at him: "Didn't you go to diagnose the cat? Didn't you prescribe some medicine for it?"

"No..."

Yao Laotou let out a cold laugh: "I still thought you were very careful in your work. Even if it has no injuries or illness, you should prescribe some cheap wound medicine and send it into the Wang Fu. Play the part fully, otherwise you'll be found out sooner or later."

Chen Ji was startled: "Thank you for the reminder, Master. You are indeed the wiser. Tomorrow I'll send some Shechuangzi."

He walked towards the backyard. In the kitchen, only Liu Quxing was washing rice and cooking porridge. She Dengke was nowhere to be seen.

Just as Chen Ji was about to go to the apprentices' sleeping room, he saw She Dengke pushing the door open and coming out.

She Dengke was startled when he saw Chen Ji: "Eh, didn't you go to the Wang Fu?"

Chen Ji said: "That white cat's injury isn't serious. I just took a look and came back. What were you doing in the room, Senior Brother She?"

"I just changed my clothes. Let's go, help with picking vegetables. If we're slow to make food, Master will scold us again," She Dengke said, pulling Chen Ji towards the kitchen.

However, just at this moment, neat footsteps and the clinking of iron scales as guards walked could be heard from outside the medical hall.

Chen Ji noticed that the hand She Dengke had pinched his arm with suddenly tightened, and he could feel sweat through his clothes.

Yao Laotou walked to the door, frowning: "Girl Chunhua, General Wang, why are you blocking the door of my Taiping Medical Hall?"

Chen Ji struggled free from She Dengke's hand and walked outside. Liu Quxing also emerged from the kitchen carrying a spoon: "What happened, what happened?"

Outside the Taiping Medical Hall, Chunhua was particularly plain today, wearing only a light green ruqun with no jewelry, and her hair was simply held up with a wooden hairpin.

Chunhua had a hesitant, wanting-to-speak-but-stopping expression. Beside her, the Wang Fu guards all held long ji and wore heavy iron armor. The person in the lead had a tiger-like gait and eagle-like gaze, his eyes sharp.

Chen Ji smiled and asked: "Girl Chunhua, what is this for?"

Then he heard Chunhua say to the chief of the Wang Fu guards: "General Wang, a few days ago, my lady lost the South Sea pearl that Wang Ye gave her. We first searched the maids in Wanxing Garden and didn't find the pearl's whereabouts. Later, we thought about it, and the only medical hall apprentice who entered and left Wanxing Garden was this Chen Ji, and he even rummaged through my lady's things!"

Chen Ji frowned. Jing Fei!

After losing her son and nephew, Jing Fei's revenge came quickly and urgently, not even waiting overnight!

General Wang coldly gazed at Chen Ji: "Do you have anything to say? Can you prove your innocence?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then calmly said: "Others slander me for stealing things. This kind of matter is very difficult to prove innocence."

On An Xi street, shopkeepers and assistants from every shop were peering out of their doors. They were all about to close, but didn't expect to witness such a big spectacle.

Someone whispered: "The young doctor Chen from Taiping Medical Hall stole things from the Wang Fu?"

"They say it's the South Sea pearl that Jing Wang gave to Wang Fei. I've heard of this thing. One pearl is as big as a longan, and one can sell for several hundred taels of silver!"

......

......

Chen Ji listened to the surrounding discussions, his face unchanged.

General Wang gazed at him for a long time, finally saying gloomily: "Control this apprentice and go inside to search!"

As he finished speaking, two guards, one on the left and one on the right, grabbed Chen Ji's arms. The guards' arms were like iron rings, tightly gripping Chen Ji's arms, making him unable to move and causing pain.

Chunhua followed the guards into the medical hall: "General Wang, I'll also follow and look. I've seen that pearl before, it's easy to recognize."

Chen Ji watched her enter the medical hall, pulling open the drawers of the medicine cabinets one by one, scattering the medicinal materials everywhere.

Yao Laotou watched coldly: "General Wang, if there is truly a thief from my Taiping Medical Hall, this old man will resign from office and return to my hometown, never to set foot in Luo City again. But if there is no thief from my Taiping Medical Hall, how should you explain yourself?"

General Wang cupped his hands to him from a distance: "Imperial Doctor Yao, this official is also acting on orders. Girl Chunhua came with Jing Fei's waist token, so I must follow orders to catch the thief. Furthermore, one can never truly know another's heart. How do you know that your apprentice is not a thief?"

Yao Laotou suddenly let out an angry snort: "I just dare to affirm that he is not!"

Chen Ji looked at Yao Laotou in surprise, not expecting that the other side would actually speak up for him at this moment.

While they were speaking, Chunhua had already entered the backyard. She first searched the kitchen, then immediately entered the apprentices' sleeping room.

She was seen rummaging through the bed, finally staring at the apprentices' clothes cabinet.

Chen Ji understood. Her earlier searches were all pretense. This was her real target.

Chunhua knew from the beginning that the pearl was here!

Chen Ji looked at She Dengke, seeing that the other's tall and strong figure was nervous and uneasy, his hands twisted together, his lips completely drained of color.

She Dengke saw Chen Ji look over and hurriedly turned his gaze away, not daring to meet his eyes.

This was a pre-planned frame-up by She Dengke and Chunhua!

Chen Ji frowned, but She Dengke had clearly not left the medical hall, and Chunhua hadn't come to the medical hall today. How did they transmit the information and the pearl?

Chen Ji surveyed the surroundings. The backyard of this medical hall and the Wang Fu were only separated by one wall. If someone spoke on the other side of the wall, the sound could be heard in the backyard.

The courtyard wall was not high; throwing a pearl over was not a difficult matter.

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Senior Brother She, do you like Chunhua?"

She Dengke was startled and subconsciously took a step back: "Ah? What are you saying? I don't understand what you're saying."

Chen Ji shook his head: "Nothing..."

Liu Quxing on the side looked at Chen Ji and said worriedly: "You didn't really steal something, did you?"

Chen Ji denied it: "No, I will never do this kind of petty theft in my life."

Liu Quxing believed him when he said this, but Liu Quxing clearly felt that Chunhua had a plan and was very certain.

He looked at Master again: "Master, quickly say something."

Yao Laotou remained silent, not saying a word. If the evidence was truly found, no one could help Chen Ji.

At this time, the guards came out of Yao Laotou's main room and shook their heads at General Wang.

Everyone's gazes turned towards Chunhua in the apprentices' sleeping room. Chunhua was frantically searching the clothes cabinet, finally standing blankly in front of the clothes cabinet, frozen, her back to the crowd. Her body began to tremble, and she started to cry.