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

The counterattack from that hand came even faster than Yang Hu had anticipated.

Ever since Liu Ye attached himself to the border army's hidden stake outside the city, and ever since that unfamiliar merchant came to inquire, Yang Hu knew that the hand hidden deep within the camp had already noticed that Jishetang was uprooting it. It would never sit idly by. He just hadn't expected it to act so quickly and ruthlessly.

At midday that day, the sky was overcast, and the Jishetang clinic was filled with patients seeking medical treatment. Suddenly, a group of menacing yamen runners arrived at the door. Leading them was a burly foreman with a knife at his waist. He stood with his hands on his hips at the entrance and shouted, "By order of the Prefectural Governor's Office, the Jishetang clinic in the east of the city is harboring deserters and colluding with bandits. Today, we are ordered to raid it! All bystanders, get out of the way!"

The hall erupted in uproar. The patients, terrified, scattered and fled, turning the once harmonious clinic into chaos.

Yang Hu remained calm.

He had long suspected that the hand wouldn't let the matter rest. The unfamiliar merchant who had inquired about Jishetang's background a few days ago was a harbinger. But he never expected that hand would extend its reach into the prefectural government office, daring to openly confiscate their property under the guise of official authority.

Harboring deserters and colluding with bandits. These eight words, though seemingly a frame-up, are actually stabs to the heart of the matter.

Inside the Jishetang pharmacy, Qin Ying, disguised as a medicine boy, is none other than the granddaughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, whose name is on the register for "fighting to the death for her country." In a secret room in the backyard, the surviving witness brought out by an informant from outside the city is still locked up, along with a box full of irrefutable evidence used to investigate the traitor. If even the slightest detail is leaked during this investigation, it will lead to a catastrophe of confiscation of property and extermination of the entire family.

That move was ruthless and cunning; it was an attempt to use the government's knife to uproot Yang Hu, the thorn embedded in its lifeline.

But despite its meticulous planning, it overlooked one thing: when Yang Hu investigated it, he was already prepared for it to turn around and bite him.

From the moment he realized he was being watched by that hand, he meticulously planned his next move. He hid what needed to be hidden, moved what needed to be moved; the entire Jishetang, down to the smallest apprentice, was arranged flawlessly. That hand thought this counterattack would overthrow him, little did it know, he was waiting for the day it would lose its patience and reveal its claws.

"Don't be hasty, squad leader." Yang Hu stepped forward, bowing respectfully. "May I ask, which official gave the order? And on what grounds?"

"Enough with the nonsense!" The burly gang leader glared at the young doctor with disdain. "You greenhorn, a quack like you dares to challenge the authorities? We're here on orders to raid your property, what excuse do you need? Search us!"

Several yamen runners responded and tried to force their way in.

Yang Hu, however, did not back down, and said calmly, "A search is permissible. But just a few days ago, the entire Jishetang received a thank-you note from Old Master Zhou, the owner of Zhou's shop. It was I who cured Old Master Zhou's illness. You, the constable, surely know the significance of Zhou's shop in the city. Furthermore, everyone in the eastern part of the city has witnessed how many lives Jishetang has saved through its virtuous medical practices. If you find anything today, fine; but if not, can the Prefect bear the charge of framing innocent citizens? And you, the constable, can you?"

The snarling look on the burly gang leader's face froze.

He had naturally heard of Zhou Ji's reputation. He was one of the most prominent grain merchants in the city, and even the government officials had to give him some face. Not to mention the reputation of the miraculous doctor at Jishetang, which had even caused Zhao Tongpan to suffer a setback. This matter had long been known among the constables.

He originally thought he was coming to arrest a weak, untrained doctor, but he never expected that this doctor had such deep connections.

But military orders are hard to disobey, so he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Stop using your wealth to intimidate us! Search!"

The constables stormed into the clinic, ransacking it, overturning medicine cabinets and overturning medicine drawers, causing chaos. The people seeking medical treatment crowded outside the door, discussing the matter. Some cursed the constables for bullying the kind-hearted, while others worried for the clinic.

The residents of the eastern part of the city had received countless favors from Jishetang over the past six months. Seeing their family's miracle doctor being humiliated by the government, they were all filled with righteous indignation, but they were also afraid of the government's power and only dared to point and whisper from outside the door.

Yang Hu stood with his hands behind his back in the hall, his expression unmoved, letting the constables search the place without the slightest panic.

Disguised as a young apprentice, Qin Ying huddled behind the medicine cabinet, obediently wiping away dust. Her hands, which had once held knives and spears, were now hidden in her wide sleeves, subtly pressing down on a short blade. If things went wrong, she was prepared to risk exposing her identity and fight her way out of the courtyard to protect everyone. But as she looked at Yang Hu's rock-solid face, the murderous aura that had been about to erupt slowly softened.

She believed him.

The constables searched for half an hour, turning the front hall and back courtyard upside down, but found nothing.

That box of irrefutable evidence and the prisoner brought from outside the city had been moved by Yang Hu the very night the unfamiliar merchant inquired about them, and hidden in another inconspicuous hideout in the city. The secret room in the backyard was empty. As for Qin Ying, disguised as a medicine boy, a smeared-on, meek servant, mingling among the other employees, how could those yamen runners, who only recognized people by their clothes, possibly recognize that this was actually the daughter of a military family who should have died for her country long ago?

The burly gang leader's face grew increasingly grim.

If nothing is found, the search becomes a baseless disturbance. If things escalate, with Zhou Ji stepping in, the miracle doctor protesting his innocence, and the neighbors testifying, the one who will be held responsible is the head constable.

"Squad Leader," Yang Hu said calmly, handing over a heavy money bag, "The brothers have worked hard. Jishetang doesn't have any deserters or bandits, only medicine to save lives. This matter must have been deliberately sabotaged to deceive the Prefect. Squad Leader, go back and report the truth."

The burly gang leader weighed the money pouch in his hand, then glanced at the stubborn and well-connected young doctor, and finally waved his hand dismissively: "Withdraw!"

A seemingly aggressive raid turned out to be all bark and no bite, ending in a dismal failure.

The burly gang leader, who was acting on orders from above, thought he could establish his authority by taking down a helpless, unruly doctor. However, he didn't expect to run into a stubborn, hard rock that wouldn't listen to reason. In the end, he had to swallow his pride and accept the money. He was seething with anger, but he couldn't vent it.

As soon as the constables left, a sigh of relief filled Jishetang. Lu Rou's face turned pale, and she finally released her grip on the short dagger. Only Yang Hu, watching the constables' departing figures, had a dark look in his eyes.

This time, the hand that attacked missed its target. But the fact that it could use the constables of the prefectural government to openly search and confiscate Jishetang showed that its claws had already reached into the officialdom of this city.

From Zhao, the quartermaster of the Western Camp, to the clerk delivering military reports in the Central Army, and now to the people working for it in the prefectural government, the hand hidden deep within the camp is deeply entrenched, its tentacles far longer and deeper than Yang Hu imagined. It can leak military supplies to feed the barbarians, can fabricate a document stating that Qin Yingyu died in battle, and can frame Duke Lu and his entire family for execution—all thanks to this tightly woven net.

Such a hand cannot be uncovered by simply searching the city. Its roots are deep within that military camp.

"It seems," Yang Hu said in a low voice, his eyes cold, "that unless we uproot that hand from the very root, Jishetang, along with all the people in the courtyard, will never have a truly peaceful life."

To pull out that hand, one must go to where it is rooted. The gate to the northern military camp is closer than ever before.