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

The "Yang's" restaurant in the east of the city is becoming increasingly famous.

The line of people seeking medical help stretched all the way to the alley entrance. Even some prominent families would squeeze in to try and establish connections. But a big tree catches the wind and rain, and some people saw it and saw it as a thorn in their side.

The first strange thing was about the medicinal herbs.

That day, Lu Yan was carrying a batch of medicinal herbs, her eyes growing increasingly furrowed. She grabbed a handful of angelica root, brought it to her nose to smell, broke it open to examine the cross-section, and her face immediately darkened.

"Young master," she handed the angelica root to Yang Hu, "something's not right."

Yang Hu picked it up and took a look, and he knew it.

Angelica root should be yellowish-white with a strong aroma, but these are dull gray in color, have a very faint aroma, and contain many mold spots. They are expired products, mixed in and passed off as new medicine.

"It was delivered by 'Jihetang' in the west of the city." Lu Rou flipped through the account book. "I've always gotten my supplies from them, and this has never happened before. The price wasn't reduced this time, but the medicine has gotten worse."

Yang Hu rubbed his fingers against the moldy spot.

"It's not a mistake," he said. "It's someone who deliberately had someone treat the patient with harmful medicine!"

Using bad medicine won't cure the illness. And if it doesn't cure the illness, it will ruin the "Yang's" reputation.

"Let's ask at other pharmacies," Yang Hu said.

Liu Ye had been running around for half a day, and her complexion wasn't good.

"Some pharmacies in the city," she said, "when they hear that Yang's pharmacy is getting medicine, they either say they're out of stock or that the prices are too high. And 'Jihetang' is even more evasive, as if someone has pulled strings to get it for them."

Someone used their connections to get the pharmacies in the city to cut off Yang's business.

This is even more insidious than blocking people in the street.

Then, the second thing happened.

A few thugs arrived at the clinic's entrance. They didn't cause trouble or fight; they just squatted there, loitering around. When a patient came in, they said in a sarcastic tone:

"Hey, another one's here? Don't you know? That Dr. Yang from the east of the city, he literally killed someone before."

"Oh, the news's out there. This clinic...it's easy to get in, but hard to get out..."

Those who came to see the doctor were all emergency patients, and they were already panicked. After being frightened like this, many of them simply didn't go in.

Lu Rou was so angry that her face was practically steaming.

"Young master, someone is deliberately trying to sabotage our business!"

Yang Hu, however, remained completely unperturbed.

He already knew about 80-90% of the truth.

The three tactics of cutting off supplies, spreading rumors, and blocking the store entrance were not just the result of jealousy from competitors; it seemed that someone was holding a grudge and wanted to drive Yang's in the east of the city to its death step by step.

"Go investigate!" he said to Liu Ye. "Find out who was speaking."

A few days later, Liu Ye returned.

"It's...the Zhao family in the west of the city." She whispered through gritted teeth.

"Young Master Zhao," the last time Young Master Zhao sent his servants to demand someone, he was turned away by himself using the name of Zhou's City Defense Battalion, losing face in front of everyone. Now that he's too scared to come in person, he's resorted to underhanded tactics.

Young Master Zhao.

Yang Hu tapped the corner of the table a few times.

The last time he came to demand his men, I used the name of Zhou's City Defense Battalion to shut him down and publicly humiliated him. That bastard won't dare come again. But he couldn't let go of that anger; it festered and turned into those insidious little tricks later on.

"Even the most insidious things have their own methods of attack," Qin Ying said with a sneer as she wiped her knife.

"If something insidious has no use, it won't become insidious."

He first processed the medicinal materials.

He had given orders to the major pharmacies in the city. But his connections weren't limited to the city.

Master He, who had just cured a patient a few days ago, was the most renowned salt merchant in the city. Salt merchants traveled all over the world, and their trade routes were extensive. He had a saying: "If Yang Ji needs anything, just let him know."

Yang Hu delivered these words.

When Master He heard that someone was trying to sabotage Yang's business, he immediately made a decision: the best local products from both the north and south could be brought up along with the medicinal herbs on the salt ship. It was a small matter, and the new, high-quality goods arrived in just a few days.

Jihetang's little tricks were thus rendered useless.

However, Yang Hu did not give up easily. He informed several pharmacies in the city that Yang's medicinal herbs would no longer need to go through the salt route. This move completely severed one of Jihetang's largest and longest-standing customers. The other pharmacies were all watching with amusement: in trying to please Zhao Yanei, they had managed to get rid of the biggest and most influential customer in the east of the city, only to lose more than they gained.

Then there are those thugs at the gate,

He didn't drive them away; everyone in the eastern part of the city had benefited from his kindness. He helped set the broken leg of Li Dada; he cured the embroidery woman in the south of the city of rat sores; and he even treated the poor man from the village who had "resigned himself to his fate" and was brought back.

The neighbors were even more unwilling to accept that those thugs were blocking the doorway and ruining his reputation.

"Bullshit!" the old man selling steamed buns was the first to speak up. "Dr. Yang killed someone? That woman, Liu, who suffered from postpartum hemorrhage in Millstone Alley in the south of the city, had already prepared for her funeral. It was Dr. Yang who saved her with just a few punches and kicks. Whose dirty money did you idlers take to ruin an innocent person like this?"

"My wife choked a couple of days ago, and everyone on the street said she was going to die. It was Dr. Yang's skillful hands that pulled her out of her coffin. Anyone who dares to speak ill of her here, ask my carrying pole if they'll allow it." Zhao Er, who was carrying water, also threw down his carrying pole and came over.

One person criticizes, ten will follow suit!

The vegetable vendors and water carriers rushed over in a flash, blocking the group of hooligans in the middle.

Someone actually pulled out a string of copper coins from a rogue's pocket; it was money he'd collected from the shady businesses in the west of the city. He scattered them all over the ground with a clatter.

Several thugs who were used to being arrogant were forced to kneel in the street with their heads held down in front of a group of defenseless neighbors.

Get out of here, covered in dust and dirt.

Zhao Yanei's two subtle attacks struck the salt merchants' supply routes one way and pierced the hearts of the neighborhood residents the other.

In the Zhao residence in the west of the city, after hearing what his subordinate said, Zhao Yanei kicked the charcoal brazier next to his feet.

He used three methods simultaneously: cutting off supplies, spreading rumors, and blocking the gate. He was confident this would give that young doctor a major headache. But the doctor changed his supply route, and a group of women selling steamed buns and carrying water joined in. His little schemes were utterly useless.

What's most infuriating is that those burly thugs blocking the door were a bunch of mud-smelling water carriers and pancake sellers who had their heads held down and beaten!

The son of the dignified Magistrate Zhao, after all that effort, ended up being defeated by a pile of stinking mud!

That's the attitude he has!

It's even worse than being bullied in the street.

"A lousy doctor from out of town!" Young Master Zhao gritted his teeth, his fingers clenching tightly. "My father is Magistrate Zhao; no one in this city dares to mess with him."

At night, after closing the clinic, Lu Yan helped organize the medicinal herbs.

"Young master didn't expend much effort today, did he? He managed to neutralize those two powerful attacks."

"It's not that I didn't put in the effort!" Yang Hu said, holding a cup of hot tea. "It's the goodwill I've built over the past six months by curing one illness after another and speaking up for me."

Looking outside.

"Zhao Yanei used a soft knife, cutting off my medicine business and reputation. But he doesn't know," Yang Hu said leisurely, "that what I stand in this city for isn't money or fame, but people's hearts. I've dug deep enough roots that he can't sever the bond between me and the salt merchants even if he tries to harm me in the medicine business."

"My reputation may be ruined, but I can't ruin the neighbors' opinion of my signboard!"

Qin Ying put down the short knife and gently tapped the hilt with her fingers.

"Young Master Zhao has been humiliated. He dares not act openly, nor can he do anything secretly. I have seen too many people like this in the military camp. They can't gain anything, so they swallow their anger and wait for a reason to make a profit and get back at him. Next time, they will probably be even more vicious and shameless."

"I know!" Yang Hu nodded.

This guy has a powerful magistrate, Zhao Tongpan, behind him. If he uses his soft power now, it might not be effective next year.

Use his father's official position as a backer to stab him in the back again?

The charcoal fire flickered dimly.

Yang Hu looked at the swirling snow outside and took a sip of the hot tea that had already gone cold.

"You're using a soft knife? I'll use people's hearts to block it back!"

But he knew that this little rascal's petty temper couldn't shake the real abyss at all.

The shady dealings in the west of the city are ultimately inextricably linked to the Prefectural Magistrate's Office. Even removing a single stake or smoothing over a corpse won't appease the Prefectural Magistrate's Office.

One day, they will meet in this courtyard in the east of the city.

He put the teacup down.

That little bastard can't swallow this anger; he'll come after him sooner or later.

This year, we should at least have a proper Chinese New Year celebration!