maidservant

Chapter 133 Domestic Violence: Woman with Pockmarks

After the wound was treated, with the compassion of a healer, Yunshan prescribed a recuperative medicine, both for external and internal use, without being perfunctory.

They also asked Afu to prepare some food.

The woman was unwilling to leave, only saying that she was willing to sweep and wash dishes and hide for a few more days. Yun Shan thought that her injuries would take seven or eight days to heal, otherwise, if they became infected, it might endanger her life, so she agreed to let her stay.

But the matter did not end there. A few days later, Xiugu's husband, Wang Mazi, found out that she was hiding in the clinic. He arrived in a menacing manner with a few cronies, shouting that he was going to take her back.

Yunshan and Afu tried to stop her, but were pushed aside. Xiugu cowered in a corner in fear. In the chaos, Yunshan quickly told Afu to run and report to the authorities.

Soon, the constables brought Wang Mazi and the others to the yamen.

Last time, Lord Mei upheld the law impartially at Zhanqian's instruction, so Yunshan instinctively trusted him to some extent.

In court, Yun Shan thought Wang Mazi would receive the punishment he deserved, but she never expected that the local official, Mei Renxing, was a greedy and despicable man.

Wang Mazi secretly slipped a bag of silver to Mei Renxing in the hall. Mei Renxing's face immediately lit up with a smile. He cleared his throat and shouted sternly at Xiugu, "You woman, you left home without cause and even accused your husband of beating you. What is your crime!"

Yunshan was incredulous and stepped forward to argue: "Sir, the scars on Xiugu's body are irrefutable evidence, and the neighbors can all testify. Wang Mazi's domestic violence is well-known. How can you turn black into white!"

Mei Renxing slammed his gavel and said impatiently, "Stop talking nonsense! If you dare to disrupt the court again, you will be punished as well!" After saying that, he ruled that Xiugu must go home with Wang Mazi and serve her husband properly.

Xiugu collapsed to the ground, her eyes vacant, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. She crawled to Yunshan's feet, clutching Yunshan's skirt tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Dr. Song, what should I do! Going back means certain death. He'll definitely beat me to death, and the child will suffer too. I barely escaped, hoping for a chance to live, but now..."

Xiugu's shoulders trembled violently, her words filled with despair and helplessness.

“I have worked hard for this family without complaint. Even though he hit me time and time again, I gritted my teeth and endured it, hoping that my child could have a complete family.”

“But he didn’t treat me like a human being at all, and he tortured me even more. If it weren’t for protecting the child, I wouldn’t have had the courage to escape this time.”

Xiugu raised her tear-streaked face and stared intently at Yunshan, as if she were her last lifeline. "Manager Song, you're a good person, please save me, please save me!" Xiugu became more and more agitated as she spoke, her voice trembling with sobs, and she almost fainted.

Yun Shan didn't want to get involved, but the woman's cries for help kept pounding in her ears. Yun Shan felt her head buzzing, and before she could react, she watched helplessly as the woman was taken away.

Back at the clinic, Yunshan's thoughts remained unsettled for a long time.

Now this corrupt official has taken money from her husband and is pushing her into a living hell. She's a weak woman, powerless and helpless, with a child to raise. She can't run away. Is she destined to live like this forever?
"Doctor, you are kind-hearted and have excellent medical skills. Please save me, save my child. I am really desperate. If I go back, my child and I will probably not survive..." Whenever Yun Shan stopped what she was doing, this voice and this scene would appear before her eyes.

The clinic was filled with the aroma of medicine. Doctor Feng, hands behind his back, slowly walked to Yun Shan's side, his expression concerned yet tinged with worry, and began to advise her:
"Yunshan, as doctors, our duty is to study medicine and strive to cure patients' ailments. As for other matters, it's best to stay out of it. Don't you agree?"

Yun Shan was arranging medicinal herbs when she heard this. She stopped what she was doing and looked at Doctor Feng with a sorrowful expression.
"Dr. Feng, isn't healing the sick and saving lives our mission as doctors? Xiugu's experience of domestic violence is so tragic, how can we bear to ignore it?"

Doctor Feng sighed softly and said earnestly, "Yunshan, you are still young and haven't seen enough of the world. In this world, most of the tragic things happen to women, and there are countless pitiful people like Xiugu. But can we save them all? Even if you help her this time, what will you do if there are many more in the future?"

Nine times out of ten, tragic events involve women. This seemingly simple sentence struck Yun Shan deeply.

Yun Shan was in a daze, as if asking Doctor Feng, or perhaps herself: "Doctor Feng, if you can only treat physical ailments but turn a blind eye to the suffering of the human heart and the injustice of the world, if you heal a woman's wounds time and time again but inadvertently whitewash those villains, allowing them to indulge themselves until the woman loses her life, can you be considered a good doctor?"

Upon hearing this, Doctor Feng's body jolted, as if struck deep within him by this blunt and sharp question. He opened his mouth, but was momentarily speechless, unable to utter a word for a long while.

After a long while, he shook his head helplessly, his eyes filled with a complex expression, a mixture of admiration for Yun Shan's persistence and a sigh of helplessness in the face of reality.

Just then, a commotion broke out outside.

Wang Mazi, accompanied by a few shady thugs, stormed into the clinic, kicking over the medicine box by the door, scattering herbs all over the floor.

He yelled, his face contorted with rage, "Manager Song of Xinglin Medical Clinic encouraged my wife to leave home, almost causing my family to break apart! If he doesn't give me an explanation today, this clinic can forget about staying open!"

Afu strode out from the inner room, his brows furrowed, and stared fearlessly at Wang Mazi: "Wang Mazi, don't twist the truth! Your wife ran away because she couldn't bear your domestic violence. Our shopkeeper was just a doctor with a kind heart, treating her injuries."

A skinny, monkey-like thug stepped forward and said menacingly, "Oh, you've come to the government office for medical treatment?!"

"Enough nonsense! If you don't come up with several dozen taels of silver to compensate our Master Wang today, this matter won't be over!" As he spoke, he reached out to grab the precious medicinal herbs on the medicine cabinet.

Seeing this, Afu rushed over to stop them: "You bunch of scoundrels, when did we owe you money? Why should we pay? How dare you come to the clinic in broad daylight and bully our clinic!" But he was not expected to be pushed to the ground by a small person behind him.

Yunshan helped Afu up, glaring at him angrily: "Don't be so arrogant! This is broad daylight, how can you act so recklessly! If you don't leave, I'll report you to the authorities immediately!"

Wang Mazi sneered: "Report to the authorities? Do you think I'm afraid? Speaking of reporting to the authorities, if it weren't for your meddling, I wouldn't have had to waste those extra tens of taels of silver to give to that official."

"But Lord Mei has already taken my money, so what can you do if you report it to the authorities!" As he spoke, he reached out to overturn the table in the clinic.