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Chapter 141 The Thousand-Household Commander Strikes
When Su Youpeng arrived in town, Su Youjin was having dinner with his second son and his wife at Tianshuiji Restaurant.

Upon hearing his cousin's report, Su Youjin threw down his chopsticks, abruptly stood up, wiped his mouth haphazardly with his sleeve, and exclaimed, "Damn it! How dare they touch my little brother!"

"Lanlan, close the door, we're going to the county!" Su Youcai's expression was relatively calm, but all the fights he'd ever gotten in his life were for his younger brother...

"Okay." The proprietress nodded without saying a word and instructed the shop assistants, "The shop will be in your hands for the time being."

"Then, what about the temple fair in the first month of the lunar calendar?" the workers asked, nodding in dismay.

"Just do what you think is best, we can't worry about that now!" The proprietress said as she pulled Su Youcai upstairs, opened the locked money box, and emptied out five hundred taels of silver, which she then divided into two leather satchels.

She and Su Youcai were the standard accompaniment for them when they went out to do business.

"Not leaving any?" Su Youcai asked, carrying a heavy load of silver on his back.

"If we win this case, we'll make a profit even if we invest all this money; if we lose, this money won't even be enough to cover the losses," the proprietress said in a deep voice.

“Indeed.” Su Youcai nodded. They had promised unconditional returns; if they ruined Erlangjiu’s brand, the sheer volume of returns alone would bankrupt them!

While the couple prepared their luggage for departure, Su Youjin hurriedly went to Magistrate Ma's residence to ask for leave.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, there wasn't much to do at the Thousand Households Office. Commander Ma basically stayed home every day, like a bear hibernating—this was his way of maintaining health by "harvesting in summer and storing in winter"...

Upon hearing Su Youjin's report, the hibernating old bear suddenly opened its fierce little eyes. After pondering for a while, it said in a deep voice, "Youjin, you go ahead first, I'll be there soon to back you up!"

"Yes, Uncle!" Su Youjin didn't bother with formalities and left. It was definitely a good thing that Commander Ma could go; at least someone could speak to the county magistrate on equal terms.

As soon as Su Youjin left, Commander Ma said in a deep voice, "Change clothes, I want to go back to the Commander's Office!"

The maidservant hurriedly brought over the official robes of a fifth-rank military officer and began to dress Commander Ma.

Ma Qianhu's son, Ma Baicheng, asked, "Father, are you going to get involved in this mess?"

"Nonsense! Who doesn't know that Erlang Wine is my business? I even asked Magistrate Lu to inscribe the name!" Commander Ma said angrily.

"Anyone who touches Erlang Wine is daring me! You think I won't react? I'll only do that if I'm dead!"

“Father is right, but they are in Hejiang County, not in our Yongningwei. The mighty dragon can’t cross the river, Father!” Ma Baicheng reminded him.

"Damn it, they knew I wouldn't be able to cross the river, didn't they?" Commander Ma gritted his teeth and said, "I'll show them what a dragon crossing the river looks like!"

He then instructed his son, "You take a hundred brothers and come with me, fully armed!"

"Ah?" Before Ma Baicheng could speak, Madam Ma exclaimed in horror, "Master, are you crazy? How can you lead troops out of your own territory without orders?!"

“It’s alright.” Commander Ma had already prepared a plan. “We are a frontier garrison. According to the law, ‘in case of emergency or long distance, we may do as we please.’ We just need to report the facts afterward.”

“But there has to be an emergency first!” Madam Ma said.

"How could there not be?" Commander Ma said confidently, "Those people in the county certainly didn't expect that they had stirred up a hornet's nest—the Erlang Su family will definitely fight them to the death, and hundreds of people might already be on their way! When I heard the news, I couldn't intercept them in time, so I could only follow them and try to persuade them to turn back. Does that count as reporting the facts?"

"I agree," Ma Baicheng nodded, thinking to himself that learning is indeed endless, and the key to its application lies in one's own mind.

"If I stop the situation from escalating and bring the people back safely, will the commander blame me?" Commander Ma asked again.

"No. But nobody's a fool, the commander must have his own thoughts," Ma Baicheng said worriedly.

"I'm about to retire from the military, why should I care what he thinks?" Commander Ma sneered, straightened his short-winged black gauze hat, and gave a final instruction before leaving: "Call Qianli along."

"Huh? Why call him?" Ma Baicheng asked, puzzled.

"Sigh..." Commander Ma sighed. The son was no like his father. He could only place all his hopes on his grandson.

~~
Hejiang County Government Office.

Su Lu called Su Tai, who was waiting at the gatehouse, and followed Ji Shuban to the prison gate, where they saw his uncle being carried out of the prison by two jailers.

His clothes were torn to shreds, and his back and thighs were covered in blood and gore; he looked utterly miserable…

Fortunately, Su Youma was still somewhat conscious. When he looked up and saw his two nephews, he grinned and said, "Brother Xia, Brother Qiu, you've come?"

"Uncle, I've come to take you home." Su Lu, fighting back tears, took the stretcher from the jailer along with his sobbing second brother. Su Tai even took off his shirt and covered his uncle with it.

"Don't cry, don't cry, don't lose face." Uncle was still trying to be a hero. "Remember, the men of the Su family shed blood and sweat, but not tears, understand?" "Yes, Uncle." The two nephews nodded emphatically. Their uncle had never been so great in their hearts.

Who would have thought that beneath the embroidered pillow was not only a fool, but also a man of steel!

"..." The two jailers looked at the unyielding Su Youma with strange eyes, almost thinking that the guy who had cried out and screamed that shook the prison earlier wasn't him...

But despite all the crying and shouting, they didn't budge in the end.

~~
Su Lu and Su Tai carried their uncle out of the county government office, where Su Man, who had been waiting outside, helped the old man to greet them.

"Dad, I didn't embarrass you!" The uncle's eyes welled up with tears when he saw his father, but he still stubbornly pretended to be a hero.

"Stop talking nonsense!" The old man pulled back the clothes covering his buttocks, his eyes bloodshot, and said, "Go home quickly, I'll treat your injuries!"

“Mr. You has already made arrangements with the county hospital…” Su Lu didn’t care about his grandfather’s feelings at this point. The county hospital was more reliable than his grandfather’s unorthodox methods, right?
"That's even better!" The old man immediately nodded and said, "The county's medical officers are far superior to my mediocre skills."

So the group headed straight for the county medical school, which was twenty feet away... Various government-run institutions were set up on Yamen Street, such as medicine and yin-yang studies, which were composite entities that combined management and business functions.

The head of the medical department was called the Training Department, and he had four doctors under him, all of whom were collectively referred to as medical officers by the locals. They handled medical administrative affairs and provided publicly funded medical care for county officials. They also treated patients and even made house calls, for which they were charged a fee.

You Muyou had already given instructions, and Liu Xunke from the county medical school personally waited at the door, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

"Quickly, bring them in and put them on the bed!" Seeing the person being carried over, he quickly called for them to go inside, where the medical officer was already prepared for surgery.

After the four members of the Su family moved Su Youma to the wooden bed, a physician used leather straps to firmly fasten his chest and legs to the bed board. He then poured a bowl of strong liquor down Su Youma's throat and finally put a bridle on him to prevent him from biting his tongue later...

I can't speak for other things, but their treatment of sores and whip marks is absolutely professional and they have a wealth of experience.

Liu Xunke then took a pair of scissors and quickly cut open Su Youma's pants.

His once fair and jade-like buttocks and legs were now covered with a crisscrossing network of whip marks. The skin was torn and flesh gaped, resembling a cracked, dried-up riverbed. The marks were blue, red, and purple, as if a vat of dye had been overturned—a horrifying sight!
The Su family grandfather and grandson were heartbroken, but Liu Xunke said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound..."

Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, they heard him gasp for breath and say, "I won't die."

"..." My heart is still aching.

At this moment, a physician brought over a pot of steaming medicinal soup, with mugwort and angelica floating on the surface.

"We need to pick out the fabric from his flesh first." Liu Xunke said, soaking a piece of white cotton cloth in a copper basin, wringing it out until it was about 80% dry, and applying it to Su Youma's wound.

The sturdy wooden bed creaked and shook violently. Su Youma's eyes widened, and he made hoarse noises as he desperately tried to struggle and scream, but he was restrained and could not do so.

Liu Xunke ignored him completely, only occasionally sprinkling some medicinal soup onto the cotton cloth. Once the scabbed wound had softened, he removed the dark red cotton cloth, and carefully picked out the clumps of fabric from the wound with a small pair of tweezers. Then he used the medicinal water in the basin to rinse the wound.

Now the true condition of Su Youma's wounds was fully revealed. The edges of the deep wounds, revealing the flesh, were rolled up and swayed with his heavy breathing.

“These bits of skin and flesh can’t be saved. If they can fall off on their own, let them. But if they’re still attached to the skin, we’ll have to help them,” Liu Xunke said, switching to a sharp pair of small scissors and trimming off the pieces of skin and flesh that couldn’t be saved.

His movements were quick and steady, and no matter how much Su Youma shook, he didn't cut any good flesh and cause secondary bleeding.

Next came the application of strong liquor, wound medicine, and tissue-regenerating ointment, followed by bandaging... Throughout the entire process, Su Youma remained completely still, prompting his nephews to secretly admire him, realizing that their uncle was quite courageous!

"He fainted from the pain." Liu Xunke removed the bridle from Su Youma, and seeing that he was still not moving, he inserted a needle into Baihui (GV20) and woke him up.

Su Youma suddenly tilted his head back and let out a terrible scream, almost blowing the roof off. He even blew two big snot bubbles from his nose from the pain... Only then did he realize that his bit had been removed.

Seeing the astonished expressions on everyone's faces, the uncle couldn't help but blush. He had thought that no matter how he called out, no one would make a sound...

"Leave an address, I'll come to change the dressing every day at dawn and write another prescription..." Liu Xunke seemed to be the epitome of 'a doctor's benevolence'. He picked up a pen, wrote down a few medicines on the prescription paper, drew his own signature, and handed it to Chun Ge'er, saying:

"Go to Pushengtang at the end of the street and get the medicine according to the prescription. Since it has my signature, you don't need to pay. Go back and simmer it over a low flame for half an hour. Take one dose every day to prevent fever from attacking your heart."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Liu!" The old man was extremely grateful. Coming here was definitely the right decision; Dr. Liu's skills were far superior to his own, and he was also so warm and attentive!
The old man hurriedly took out his silver to pay the consultation fee, but Liu Xunke refused, saying, "Old man, please let me have some decency."

The person introduced by You Muyou still dares to ask for a consultation fee. Does he not want to continue working in the training department?

"I originally wanted to arrange a carriage for you, but the wounded are afraid of being jostled, so it's safer to carry them back." Liu Xunke escorted them to the door, gave them various instructions on taboos and precautions for taking care of the wounded, and then turned back.

(End of this chapter)