My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

The Qinghe Free Clinic was located in Jiuliu Lane in the south of the city.

The name sounds kind.

The location was also chosen very well.

Next to it was a dilapidated temple, behind it was wasteland, and the street in front was mostly inhabited by porters, vagrants, the sick, and people who did not want to be seen by the government.

This kind of place is most suitable for bestowing favors.

It is also most suitable for hiding knives.

Before the carriage even reached the alley entrance, I could smell the medicine.

It tastes bitter.

It smells like musty grass.

There's also a familiar calming scent.

Ah Liu sat in the car, already covering his nose with a cloth.

"Young master, my legs go weak whenever I smell medicine."

I glanced at him.

"Then you'd be better off waiting in the car."

Ah Liu's eyes lit up.

I continued, "But you'll have to carry the tent boxes inside."

His light went out again.

Yan Xiaoyi, riding beside him, heard this and lazily said, "Your servants are becoming more and more like evidence lately."

Ah Liu retorted in a low voice, "The younger one is alive."

Yan Xiaoyi looked at him.

"temporary."

Ah Liu immediately fell silent.

This time I didn't just bring people from the Censorate.

The Qinghe Free Clinic tent is not an empty warehouse in Qinghe Lane.

The warehouse was empty but full of goods; we dare to seal it off and dismantle it.

The free clinic tent was full of people.

patient.

Poor people.

child.

elder.

If you make a surgical incision, they will accuse you of obstructing people from seeking medical treatment.

If you close the shed, they can accuse you of harming patients and preventing them from receiving medicine.

The most disgusting part is that the accounting department would hide the bills in life-saving medicines and the survivors among the patients.

So I called Captain Luo over as well.

Lieutenant Luo did not come willingly.

But he came.

Last night, with that fortune slip in Qinghe Lane, he'd already got one foot in the table. Now, pulling his foot out won't be easy.

He brought twenty soldiers from the military corps, who were not wearing heavy armor, but only carrying short swords and clubs.

I also invited Physician Song.

Physician Song looked distressed.

"Lord Shen, I am a medical officer on duty at the Imperial Medical Bureau, not a physician accompanying the Censorate."

I nodded.

"So we're asking you to save patients, not to arrest people."

The physician sighed.

"Every time Lord Shen talks about saving someone, it always ends up sounding like he's saving a life."

"Whose life should we save?"

"Your humble servant's."

Ah Liu looked at him with great sympathy.

They probably felt they had found another person who shared their plight.

Three long tents were set up outside the free clinic tent.

A wooden sign hangs in front of the shed:

Qinghe provided medical treatment, and the poor were free of charge.

The sign is beautifully written.

It's as beautiful as the words "Disaster victims have been properly resettled" on the Ministry of Revenue's official document.

There were many patients queuing outside the tent.

Some were coughing, some had fevers, some were holding children, and some were lying on straw mats.

Several young apprentices carried the medicine back and forth quickly.

A middle-aged doctor sat in the middle of the shed.

He wore a long blue cloth robe, his beard was neatly trimmed, and his face carried a look of compassion.

I've seen that look on my face in the temple and in the imperial court.

They are usually very expensive.

When he saw us, he was taken aback at first, then stood up and bowed.

"Gentlemen, have you come for a medical consultation?"

Ah Liu almost choked on his words.

I said, "Investigate the case."

The middle-aged doctor's face remained filled with unwavering compassion.

"I am Mo Qingshan, a humble citizen, and I am the doctor who occupies this clinic. This free clinic only treats the sick and poor and does not involve any official cases."

Captain Luo stood beside me and said coldly, "You think you can just say you won't get involved?"

Mo Qingshan sighed softly.

"If the officials want to investigate, I dare not stop them. But the clinic is full of sick people and cannot withstand the disturbance. If any sick person is frightened by the search, stops taking their medicine, or becomes seriously ill, the Qinghe Free Clinic cannot bear the responsibility, and even you gentlemen may not be able to bear it."

He spoke very softly.

But each word is like an abacus bead.

Look, the knife is coming.

The patient is the shield.

I didn't get angry.

Getting angry won't help at this time.

I looked at Physician Song.

"Physician Song, first check if the patient in the shed can be moved and if the medication can be stopped."

The physician Song understood and immediately took two apprentice doctors to see him.

Mo Qingshan's eyes flickered slightly.

He didn't expect me to check the illness first, instead of checking the accounts.

Captain Luo glanced at me.

I whispered, "Let's start here at the free clinic and secure our right to save lives."

Captain Luo nodded.

He was a military officer, not good at beating around the bush.

But he knew that sometimes a title or status was harder than a knife.

I said to Mo Qingshan, "Dr. Mo, the free clinic admitted a clerk from the Ministry of Revenue named Jiang Wen today."

Mo Qingshan frowned.

"A treasury official in the Ministry of Revenue? No."

"Medical records".

"Patients usually provide their own names. Some vagrants are nameless and have no registered residence; only their symptoms are recorded."

"Give it to me."

Mo Qingshan hesitated for a moment.

Lieutenant Luo placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Mo Qingshan sighed.

"Retrieve the medical record."

A young apprentice brought over the medical record.

The paper was rough, but the characters were neat.

I flipped to this morning.

Most of them are written simply.

Wang Laosan, cough.

Liu, hot.

An unnamed child has a stomachache.

When I turned to the middle, I saw a line:

Unexplained cold, male, over forty years old, coughing, dizziness, entered the shed before noon.

An unexplained cold.

More than forty.

groggy.

Enter the shed before noon.

Jiang Wen, a former deputy treasury official of the Ministry of Revenue, is in his forties. This morning he "claimed illness" and his black suitcase was later moved to the free clinic tent.

Right.

I pointed to this line.

Where is this person?

Mo Qingshan glanced at it.

"The third couch in the back shed."

"lead the way."

Mo Qingshan did not move.

"Lord Shen, the patient is drowsy and taking medicine; it is not advisable to disturb him."

I looked at him.

"If he truly has a cold, it would be my ignorance of medicine if I disturb him. But if he is Jiang Wen from the Ministry of Revenue, it would be your ignorance of how to survive if you stop me."

The pity on Mo Qingshan's face finally faded a little.

"Lord Shen, you flatter me."

"I rarely speak lightly these days."

He didn't say anything more, and turned to lead the way.

The back shed was even darker.

The patients here are more seriously ill than those in the front ward.

Many people were lying down, covered with old blankets, and the smell of medicine was even stronger in the air.

As soon as I went in, Ah Liu frowned.

"Young master, this smells even stronger than the Southern Soup Porridge Stall."

"Um."

Moreover, the aroma is more complex.

The smells of calming incense, bitter medicine, grass ash, mildew, and sweat were all mixed together.

It's best suited for masking a person's original scent.

A man was lying on the third couch.

His face was sallow, his beard was disheveled, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was heavy.

He was wearing gray clothes.

There was a bit of paper dust on the sleeve.

At first glance, he does indeed look like a seriously ill middle-aged minor official.

I stood by the tatami mat, not calling him immediately.

Look at the hands first.

This person has thick palms with calluses on the base of their palms.

But it's not the kind of cocoon a warehouse clerk would use to flip through books, move boxes, and unlock locks.

More like a porter.

Next, look at the fingernails.

There was mud under his fingernails, not the kind of ash mud from the old warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue, but the yellow mud from the streets.

Jiang Wen was the deputy treasurer of the Ministry of Revenue, and he handled account books and keys every day; his hands shouldn't be like that.

I bent down and smelled it.

Ah Liu's expression turned into one of unbearable disapproval.

This person has a strong calming taste in their throat.

It's excessive.

It felt like I had just been force-fed a bowl of soup.

But the dust on the corner of his clothes was the dust from old paper stored in the Ministry of Revenue.

What does this tell us?

This suggests that the clothes may belong to Jiang Wen.

No, it's not a person.

I reached out and flipped up his collar.

Mo Qingshan immediately said, "Lord Shen!"

I look at him.

"What's the rush, Dr. Mo?"

"The patient is weak and should not be moved."

"If he really has a cold, I can turn him over and he won't die. If he dies from just turning over, then Dr. Mo's medical skills should be retired."

Ah Liu whispered, "Young master, you're even cursing the doctor now."

I ignored him.

There is a new seam mark on the inside of the collar.

The clothes have been changed.

And the change was very urgent.

I pointed it out to Physician Song.

After examining the person, Physician Song said in a low voice, "The person is under the influence of a sedative, not simply suffering from a cold."

Mo Qingshan's expression changed.

"Doctor Song, be careful what you say."

Physician Song looked at him.

"I am a medical officer."

That's simple.

But it works well.

I asked the man on the bed, "Is he awake?"

The Song physician removed the needle.

"He can stay awake for a while."

Mo Qingshan tried to stop him.

Lieutenant Luo took a step forward.

"Dr. Mo, stand still."

Mo Qingshan could only stand still.

The doctor of Song Dynasty performed acupuncture.

After a while, the man on the bed let out a muffled groan, and his eyelids twitched.

I squatted down and asked, "What's your name?"

The man was confused.

"Huang... Huang Laosi..."

"Where is Jiang Wen?"

His eyes looked blank for a moment.

"Jiang...what...?"

"Who changed your clothes?"

He was trembling.

"The medicine...the people at the pharmacy...to put it bluntly, they're rich..."

"How many?"

"Two hundred coins..."

Ah Liu was so angry he almost jumped up.

"Two hundred coins for you to wear a shroud for the dead?"

Old Huang was so frightened he almost fainted again.

I stopped Ah Liu.

"Who told you to lie here?"

"Mo... Mo..."

Mo Qingshan's face darkened.

Huang Laosi stopped talking.

It's not that he doesn't want to talk about it.

It was Physician Song who pressed his pulse.

"We can't ask anymore, or people won't be able to handle it."

I stood up and looked at Mo Qingshan.

Mo Qingshan sighed.

"Lord Shen, this man is talking nonsense while he is ill."

I smiled.

"How come those who spout nonsense in the capital always manage to get their stories onto the case?"

Mo Qingshan remained silent.

Captain Luo has already ordered his men to keep an eye on him.

I crouched down to examine the bed.

The straw mat was still warm.

But it's not a person's body temperature.

It looks like it was just replaced.

There was a small piece of scrap paper under the bed.

I picked it up.

There is only half a word above.

Jiang.

Ah Liu's eyes lit up.

"Jiang Wenzhen is here!"

"Let's continue."

I looked into the depths of the back shed.

"Just left."

Yan Xiaoyi suddenly spoke from the back window.

"There are drag marks here."

We went there.

There were two very shallow drag marks on the muddy ground below the rear window.

It was as if someone was half-supporting, half-dragging another person away.

There are also dents on the corner of the box.

The black leather suitcase has been here before.

I asked Mo Qingshan, "Where does the back door lead?"

Mo Qingshan did not answer.

Captain Luo's men have already gone to check the back door.

I'll be back soon.

"There is a small courtyard in the back, which leads to the medicinal herb storage room."

Herbal medicine warehouse.

Black leather case, disassembled medicine box.

My heart sank.

Just then, a loud "thump" came from the direction of the back shed.

Like a heavy wooden crate falling to the ground.

Yan Xiaoyi's eyes turned cold, and he jumped out of the back window.

Captain Luo also led his men to rush towards the back door.

I followed.

Ah Liu ran while carrying the evidence box, his face contorted with grief.

"Young master, you've run away again!"

The backyard is not big.

Boxes of medicinal herbs were piled up all around.

Some of the boxes were open, and they contained dried herbs.

Some of the boxes were sealed and labeled "Cold and Flu Powder," "Calming Pills," and "For Free Medical Consultation."

Yan Xiaoyi had already subdued one of the medicine boys.

The young apprentice lay face down, clutching a roll of oiled paper in his hand.

He was so frightened that he burst into tears.

"It's not my fault! I was just moving the medicine box!"

I walked over.

"Where's the black leather suitcase?"

The boy who was in charge of medicine cried even harder.

"Tear it down...it's been demolished."

"Who demolished it?"

"Accountant Hu and Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang..."

Mo Qingshan's expression changed completely.

I stared at the medicine boy.

"Is Jiang Wen still alive?"

"Alive! He was alive just a moment ago!"

"Where did you go?"

The young apprentice pointed tremblingly to the innermost part of the medicine storage.

"They stuffed the account books...the account books into the medicine box, saying they were going to send them to the East City Pharmacy."

"Where's the account book from the black leather suitcase?"

The medicine boy stammered.

"We...we broke up."

"How many boxes will we get?"

Five.

Which five?

Just as the apprentice was about to speak, thick smoke suddenly billowed from the depths of the medicine warehouse.

Someone set it on fire.

The accounting meeting will be held again to settle accounts.

I shouted it out almost immediately.

"Seal the medicine box! Save Chiang Wen!"

Smoke billowed out from the cracks in the medicine warehouse door, instantly suppressing the bitter smell of the herbs with the heat.

Ah Liu stared at the cigarette, feeling completely numb.

"Lord Zhao said to run away first if there's fire!"

I grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Let's grab the box first this time!"