A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

The more the bearded man tried to stop him, the more convinced Yang Hu became that the corpse absolutely had to be examined.

"Everyone in the neighborhood is here." Yang Hu stopped arguing with the man, turned to the crowd, and said loudly, "Jichuntang selling medicine that leads to death is a heinous crime. But whether this crime is established or not is not determined by crying or cursing, but by examination. The cause of death will be known after the examination."

He paused, his gaze returning to the bearded man: "If Jichuntang is truly at fault, an autopsy will only confirm your accusations, which you should be more than happy about. Why are you so stubbornly preventing an autopsy? What are you afraid of?"

This question left the man speechless, his face turning pale and then red.

The crowd, who had initially overwhelmingly believed the victim, began to murmur amongst themselves. "Yes, someone's dead, so why are they afraid of an autopsy?"

Yang Hu then invoked the name of the Zhou family. He had cured the life of Old Master Zhou, a major grain merchant in the city, and everyone of any standing in the city had to give him some face. With this reputation as leverage, and with the entire neighborhood watching, the aggrieved party ultimately couldn't stop him.

The coroner was brought in. However, Yang Hu was not comfortable with the coroner's rudimentary examination methods and took matters into his own hands.

He squatted down and lifted the white cloth.

The deceased's face was bluish-black, with dried bloodstains remaining in his seven orifices, and his fingernails were jet black and shiny. Yang Hu examined the deceased's eyelids, noticing fine blood vessels on the whites of his eyes; he then pried open the deceased's mouth to examine the tongue and oral cavity, and finally checked the degree of rigor mortis. In his mind, the wordless medical book turned page by page.

The degree of rigor mortis and the location of the lividity told him that this person had died much earlier than the group claimed, "He just passed away this morning." Most of the deceased had died within the first day or two, and this group had hidden the body elsewhere, only bringing it over to be doused with dirty water during the time when the disturbance at Jichun Hall was at its most intense.

These signs, one by one, all point to a cause of death that is all too clear.

He took out a silver needle, pried open the deceased's jaw, inserted it into his throat, paused for a moment, and then slowly pulled it out.

The once gleaming silver needles now had a layer of blackened tips, radiating a eerie deathly aura under the sunlight.

The onlookers gasped in unison. They'd all heard of the silver needle method for testing for poison, but seeing the needle tip turn black was a first for them.

"Poisoning." Yang Hu stood up, his voice not loud, but clear and distinct, carrying throughout the entire street. "Bleeding from all seven orifices, fingers turning blue-black, and a silver needle turning black immediately upon probing the throat. This is death from a deadly poison, an extremely potent and lethal substance."

Boss Su's face turned deathly pale.

Yang Hu then changed the subject: "But everyone, I've examined the medicine from Jichuntang. There isn't a single poisonous ingredient in it. It's a formula for gently nourishing the spleen and stomach. Let alone poisoning someone, even a three-year-old child wouldn't be harmed in the slightest."

He raised the black silver needle and looked around at everyone: "This poison is so potent that it could never have come from Jichuntang's mild prescription. In other words, this merchant did not die from Jichuntang's medicine at all. He was poisoned by someone else first, and after he died, he was moved to the front of Jichuntang and this basin of dirty water was poured on him."

These words caused an uproar throughout the street.

The bearded man tried to argue, "You...you're slandering me! Who knows if you're in cahoots with that guy surnamed Su!"

"Collusion?" Yang Hu sneered. "Then tell me, when and where was your companion poisoned? And why did he die right after getting medicine from Jichuntang? If he really died from the medicine, why did you refuse to let them perform an autopsy?"

A barrage of questions left the man speechless, cold sweat beading on his forehead, his eyes darting away, no longer daring to meet Yang Hu's gaze.

In the crowd, an elderly man with white hair stroked his beard and spoke coldly: "I've lived for seventy years and have never seen anyone who dies a relative but is afraid of investigating the cause of death. If there's nothing fishy going on here, this old man's beard will grow backwards."

These words were like a needle, piercing through the last layer of window paper.

At this point, everyone in the crowd understood. The tide had turned in an instant. Those who had previously cursed Jichuntang were now turning around and pointing at the group of aggrieved victims, accusing them of "unscrupulous extortion" and "framing the dead." The few fellow pharmacists who had previously been sarcastic and gloating were now sheepishly disappearing into the crowd.

Seeing that things were going badly, the group picked up the corpse, covered in dust and dirt, and fled in a sorry state.

The Jichuntang brand has been preserved after thirty years.

With tears streaming down his face, Boss Su bowed deeply to Yang Hu, saying, "The divine doctor not only saved my Jichuntang today, but also saved the livelihood of dozens of people in my Su family. I will never forget this great kindness."

Standing behind her father, Su Qing looked at Yang Hu with a gaze that went beyond mere medical respect. It held an indescribable, warm feeling. This young, miraculous doctor had repeatedly extended a helping hand to her family when they were at their lowest point. First, he had saved the old shopkeeper who had served her father for thirty years; now, in front of the entire street, with just a few words, he had single-handedly pulled the entire Jichuntang pharmacy back from the brink of disaster. That composure, that profound insight—she had never seen anything like it in any other man in her twenty years of life.

All the favors owed to her, the Su family, weighed heavily on her shoulders. But she knew in her heart that her own unspoken feelings were even deeper and heavier than all those favors. As soon as this thought arose, she blushed and hurriedly lowered her eyes.

Yang Hu accepted the thanks, but felt no relief whatsoever.

He was thinking about something else.

To spend such a large sum of money, bribing a group of thugs, poisoning a living person, and orchestrating such a meticulously planned scheme, all to frame and bankrupt a pharmacy, the person behind this is no ordinary business rival. Ordinary business disputes would never escalate to murder. Someone capable of such ruthlessness either has their eye on Jichuntang, the biggest piece of meat in the city, or Jichuntang, the lifeline of the city's medicinal herb industry, has gotten in someone's way.

Most of the medicinal herbs in the city come and go through Jichuntang. Wound medicine, antidote, and healing medicine—which of these isn't crucial for the military and officials? If a pharmacy controls this lifeline, it's like holding the reins of many people's secrets. Anyone engaging in shady dealings will be in Jichuntang's sight.

Yang Hu couldn't quite make out the hand that was casting its net in the shadows.

But deep down, he had a vague, inexplicable premonition. Could the trouble at Jichuntang and the thread he was secretly investigating—the thread that sent military rations to the border every night—be connected by the same hand?

As night deepened, Yang Hu stood by the window, gazing in the direction of Jichun Hall.

The lights beneath the signboard flickered on again, warm and inviting. But he knew that tonight's events had merely served as a shield for Jichuntang. The mastermind behind that web would never let it go so easily.

As for what kind of ruthless opponent is hidden under that net, and whether he is the same person as the secret supply line for military rations, no one can say for sure right now.

All Yang Hu knew was that from tonight onward, in his ever-expanding chess game, there was another piece called Jichuntang, and the Su family, whose very lives and fortunes depended on his decision.