He pointed at Cheng Yao with a trembling, pudgy finger. “You’re an outsider. How could you possibly know…”
He suddenly fell silent. Terror filled his eyes, as though Cheng Yao had not named a medicinal herb but uttered some forbidden incantation.
The surroundings fell quiet.
Constable Wang looked suspiciously from Cheng Yao to the shopkeeper, his heart pounding.
That was right—Lady Cheng was not from this area. How could she know such things?
Even the owner of this medicine shop was so shaken. Just what was this “purple lingzhi” really?
Cheng Yao looked at the shopkeeper. “Do you have paper and ink?”
“Yes.”
The shopkeeper had someone fetch some cheap yellow paper used for keeping the shop’s accounts, along with a brush.
Cheng Yao took them. Without even sitting down, she leaned over the corner of the counter and began to draw, her wrist moving fluidly.
The tip of the brush whispered across the paper.
After only a few dozen breaths, she straightened and pushed the sheet toward the shopkeeper, who had yet to recover from his shock.
“Gather it according to this illustration. It may be enough to cover the rest of the medical fee.”
The shopkeeper lunged forward and snatched up the paper.
At just one glance, he froze as though struck by a binding spell. His eyes were nailed to the page, and he even held his breath.
“No… Impossible…” His lips trembled, and his hoarse voice sounded like a broken bellows. “This… this is the secret diagram of the Seven-Leaf Flower. It was lost long ago. Only… only the palace has it…”
He abruptly raised his head. The terror in his eyes had been replaced by a complicated mixture of fanaticism, greed, and utter fear. He stared fixedly at Cheng Yao as though he meant to devour her alive.
“Who are you, exactly?! Where did you get this diagram? It’s identical to the illustration in the Imperial Medical Bureau’s stolen Compendium of Secret Herbal Lore!”
The Compendium of Secret Herbal Lore! Stolen from the Imperial Medical Bureau!
Those words exploded through the medicine shop like thunder, leaving the entire room deathly silent.
Constable Wang felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head. The way he looked at Cheng Yao changed completely.
Secret palace medicines. A lost medical classic!
What astonishing secret was Lady Cheng hiding?
Facing the almost predatory stare, Cheng Yao merely brushed at the nonexistent dust on the cuff of her prison garment. Her relaxed bearing was completely at odds with the tense atmosphere.
“I came across an old man living in seclusion in the mountains while gathering herbs yesterday. We had a pleasant conversation, and he told me about these things.” She lifted her eyes. “Shopkeeper, I’ve told you everything I know. Is that enough to offset the remaining cost of the medicine?”
The plump shopkeeper carefully cradled the flimsy sheet of yellow paper, as though it were some priceless treasure.
The color in his face rose and fell. His shock, greed, and disbelief ultimately transformed into an almost obsequious reverence.
“Madam,” he said in a trembling voice, “this old man was blind and offended you. I sincerely beg your pardon! My apologies!”
What old man living in the mountains would know about such a rare medicinal plant? Clearly, she was the one who possessed this knowledge!
Her origins were far from ordinary, and she had just offered him such an enormous favor. It was an opportunity not to be missed!
As he spoke, the shopkeeper hurriedly pushed forward the money pouch Constable Wang had previously placed on the counter. “There’s no need to rush about the medical fee, no need at all! Once we gather the plant according to Madam’s diagram, it will certainly cover the cost—and leave us with plenty to spare!”
He abruptly turned to the assistant, who was still standing there in a daze. “Hurry! Follow the illustration and gather a team immediately. Go to Eagle’s Beak Cliff… No, first prepare the finest tools, then invite the best herb gatherer in town—the old headman! Quickly!”
The assistant flinched at his shout. He hastily took the sheet of paper, and even one glance was enough for him to see that the lines were precise and the plant’s shape extraordinary. Not daring to delay, he scrambled away.
The shopkeeper once again arranged a broad smile on his face and bowed repeatedly to Cheng Yao and Constable Wang. “Constables, Madam, you’ve had a difficult journey and suffered a terrible ordeal. The front room is disorderly, and the smell of medicine is rather strong. Why not rest in the back courtyard? I’ll have my wife prepare some simple tea and food. It won’t be anything fancy, but at least it will fill your stomachs and warm you up.”
The drastic shift from his earlier arrogance to his current obsequiousness left all the yamen runners and exiled convicts staring in astonishment.
“No need,” Cheng Yao refused crisply. “Our status makes things inconvenient, so we won’t trouble you, Shopkeeper. Now that the wounded have been treated and bandaged, we still need to find somewhere to settle down. We won’t keep you from making your fortune.”
She turned to Constable Wang. “Constable, since the medical fee has been settled, may I go into town to purchase some dry rations, water flasks, clothing, and other necessities?”
Constable Wang studied her calm eyes and weighed the matter.
Cheng Yao had just helped resolve their immediate crisis. Her request was hardly unreasonable. He was about to nod when a mocking voice sounded beside him.
“Well, Madam Cheng, putting on airs as a hero already, are you? Off to enjoy yourself on your own?”
The speaker was none other than Constable Zhang.
His tone suddenly turned stern. “Don’t forget, you’re a convicted criminal! All property belonging to exiled prisoners must be handed over to the guards for safekeeping! You want to buy things? Where’s the money? Hand it over for confiscation!”
He stepped in front of Cheng Yao and held out his hand.
Cheng Yao spread both hands. “Constable Zhang must be joking. I’m a convicted woman who has been through confiscation of my property, exile, and an attack by a wild boar. How could I possibly still have money hidden on me? If I did, why would I not have taken it out when Constable Wang was gathering funds for the medical fee? If you don’t believe me, search me.”
She spoke so frankly, and her gaze was so clear, that Constable Zhang found himself in an awkward position.
He did not dare search her, but he hated Cheng Yao to the bone and was unwilling to let the matter go so easily.
He looked around. His eyes landed on a woman in coarse cloth standing at the doorway, watching the commotion. He strode over, grabbed the terrified woman, whose face had gone pale, and dragged her inside without a word.
“You there. Help me search her!”
“How dare you!” Cheng Yao’s voice suddenly sharpened, carrying a coldness that brooked no violation. “She’s an ordinary citizen. What right does she have to search me?”
Constable Zhang was momentarily cowed by her sudden forcefulness. The woman seized the opportunity to wrench herself free and fled, sobbing. The onlookers gathered around the shop also began pointing and whispering among themselves.
Humiliated and enraged, Constable Zhang abruptly turned his aggression toward Hongxiu and Xiao Fu, who had been standing silently behind Cheng Yao.
“If you refuse to be searched, then these two servants of yours can get out of the group!”
Cheng Yao’s expression turned completely cold. “Hongxiu and Xiao Fu are freeborn citizens who volunteered to accompany us and care for us. What business is that of yours?”
Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, and Constable Zhang felt a chill in his heart beneath it.
But with everyone watching, he could not back down. Otherwise, how would he establish his authority over the convicts in the future?
He stiffened his neck and argued, “There has never been any rule allowing servants to accompany exiled prisoners. Since they aren’t prisoners, they have no right to remain with an exile party!”
As soon as he said this, several other guards joined in:
“Brother Dapeng is right! They aren’t prisoners, so what are they doing here?”
“Rules are rules! If they aren’t prisoners, they have to leave!”
Constable Wang’s brows were tightly furrowed, his expression grim.
