Chapter Twenty-Four: Deserved

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  It's not surprising that the government is arresting people, but they actually came to Ping'an Hall to make arrests, which shocked Shi Wei.

  Because of this body's true self having previously provoked that prison disaster, Shi Wei's mood suddenly became vigilant.

  He hastily put on his clothes and came out, while Shi Niang and Ding Xiang also came out of the house when they heard the noise outside.

  Shi Wei took a glance at Ding Xiang and saw that her cherry-like mouth seemed slightly swollen, probably due to his overexertion the previous night.

  Ding Xiang saw Shi Wei and hastily bowed her head in greeting, but didn't dare to look directly into Shi Wei's eyes, a hint of shyness visible between her eyebrows.

  "What's going on outside?" Fan Peilan was still frightened by the last incident, and as soon as she heard that the officer was arresting someone, her heart became anxious.

  "Don't worry, you all wait here, I'll go and deal with it."

  He said with a calm tone and walked into the hospital's front hall, slowly opening the large door.

  "What's taking so long to open the door? Is it because you've done something wrong and don't dare to open it?" The catcher at the door looked very displeased, eyeing him up and down like a thief.

  Shi Wei looked out onto the street, not just his Ping'an Hall, but also the neighboring households had been opened by the bailiffs, as if something big had happened, and all the yamen runners in the county were mobilized.

  Na Bao saw Shi Wei and didn't respond, so he immediately became angry and shouted: "Get out of the way, I'm going to go in and search!"

  Shi Wei's face also fell, and he said coldly: "This official doesn't know what's going on, but he insists on breaking into a civilian's house early in the morning."

  He saw him dare not let go, "swish" and took out the knife, viciously saying: "I'm going to trespass, you damn..."

  "Rest without courtesy."

  He hadn't finished speaking when he was abruptly interrupted by someone behind him, and as he turned around sharply, he saw Chen Pi, the leader of the captors, striding towards him with large steps.

  Chen Pi pointed at the catcher and scolded: "Are your eyes used for fortune-telling? This is our famous Stone Langzhong of Darning City, how could his family harbor a thief? Get out of here quickly."

  Bao was suddenly awakened by Chen Pi's rebuke and realized he had wronged someone, so he hastily apologized to Shi Wei with a smile and slunk away from the Peace Hall in embarrassment.

  Scolding his subordinates, Chen Pi's face changed in an instant and he smiled, cupping his hands: "Newcomer from afar, doesn't understand the situation, don't blame Shi Langzhong."

  "Ah, it's nothing." Shi Wei also smiled and cupped his hands, "It's been a long time since I've seen Master Chen, I was just thinking of visiting your mansion to catch up on old times."

  Chen Pi smiled: "I also wanted to visit Shi Langzhong, but things were too busy and I couldn't spare the time."

  Shi Wei said a few words of polite nonsense to the jailer, then curiously asked: "So early in the morning, Master Chen and the various officials are searching everywhere, I wonder if there's been some big case."

  Chen Pi shook his head helplessly, "Last night, some daring thief sneaked into Master Ma's mansion and beat him half to death. The county magistrate is furious, and this morning he ordered everyone in the yamen to search house by house."

  Chen Pi yawned as he spoke, clearly having had a poor night's sleep.

  Ma Bo was beaten half crippled?

  When Shi Wei heard this news, he was both shocked and delighted.

  Yesterday, he managed to get the better of Ma Bo by a hair's breadth, but still felt it wasn't enough to quench his thirst for revenge. He didn't expect that today this little brat would be beaten up by someone else, which really satisfied his own desire for revenge. Who knew what kind of good fellow had helped him vent his anger?

  Shi Wei's heart was secretly delighted, but his mouth said: "This thief is really bold and daring, even daring to hit Master Ma. However, since he's masked, you Chen brothers think it's impossible to know what the thief looks like, even if you search house by house, I don't think you'll be able to find out who the culprit is."

  Chen Pi smiled and said, "Stone Langzhong doesn't know that the guards of the Ma family are not to be trifled with either. The thief was slashed on the leg while escaping and bled profusely, so he must have been seriously injured. As long as he is still in this city, I'm not afraid we won't be able to find him."

  "So that's how it is. Since Master Chen is a public figure, would you like to search my Peaceful Hall?" Shi Wei smiled and stepped aside, clearing a path.

  Chen Pi waved his hand repeatedly: "Shi Langzhong is our respected doctor, how could he hide a thief. Besides, if I searched Ping'an Hall and let the county magistrate know, wouldn't I be skinned alive?"

  At the time of speaking, Chen Pi smiled and seemed to have another intention in his words.

  Shi Wei immediately understood that the news of Chen Pi was indeed well-informed, as he had only treated the county magistrate's wife for her illness yesterday, and today it had already reached his ears.

  No wonder he is so fawning, more so than before.

  Shi Wei patted his stomach and smiled: "Since that's the case, I won't invite Master Chen in today. Another day when I'm free, I'll invite Master Chen to drink with me."

  "How dare I? It was I who invited Stone Langzhong."

  After a few pleasantries, Chen Pi excused himself on account of official business and left.

  The big gate was closed and inside, Fan Peilan and Ding Xiang hurried out. Fan Peilan anxiously asked what brought the officials to their door.

  Shi Wei then smiled and told what had just happened.

  Fan Peilan heard this and couldn't help but show a relieved expression: "This Ma Bo is evil in many ways, being beaten by someone is also what he deserves, it's just unknown which heroic good fellow avenged us, only hoping that he won't let the government catch him."

  Over there, Ding Xiang saw nothing out of the ordinary and also put her mind at ease, then went to prepare breakfast for them.

  Ding Xiang walked away, and Fan Pei Lan suddenly lowered her voice, smiling and asking: "Yuan Zhi, did Ding Xiang go to your room last night?"

  Fan Peilan suddenly brought up this matter, and from her expression, it was clear that she had an ulterior motive.

  Shi Wei shook his head and sighed with a smile: "Master's wife, why didn't you even give me a hint, making me feel so awkward."

  Fan Peilan feigned a scowl and complained: "I'm your teacher's wife, after all; how can I not be in charge of such matters?"

  "Master is right, of course Master's wife is right, I thank you for your kindness." Shi Wei hastily cupped his hands and bowed.

  Fan Peilan's scolding turned into delight, and she poked him on the head: "You little rascal, you've also learned to be glib-tongued. I think we should find a wife for you soon, to teach you some discipline."

  "Hehe, I'm satisfied with just having Shi Niang, no need to marry any daughter-in-law."

  His words, however, carried a hint of frivolity, which instantly stirred up Fan Peilan's emotions, causing her cheeks to flush and her eyebrows to furrow as she rebuked him in a low tone: "You little scamp, what nonsense are you spouting?"

  Shi Wei was taken aback for a moment, then realized that she had spoken without reserve and her words were ambiguous.

  He saw the teacher's wife with a blush on her face, and looking at her elegant figure, he couldn't help but have evil thoughts, just as he was thinking of teasing her, suddenly someone knocked on the door again.

  "Who is it?" Just as things were unclear, they were disturbed by an unexpected guest. Shi Wei opened the door impatiently.

  At the door was a woman with an anxious face, Shi Wei recognized her as Xiong Qing Dai's personal maid.

  "Shi Langzhong, Miss asks you to go to the mansion quickly?" The maid said urgently.

  Shi Wei's face revealed a hint of doubt: "I remember that tomorrow is the day for using needles, what's wrong, miss? Are you feeling unwell?"

  She tiptoed and whispered a few words into Shi Wei's ear, and his expression changed instantly.

  "You just wait for a moment, I'll be right there."

  Shi Wei hurriedly ran towards the medicine cabinet, quickly gathered a few medicinal materials, stuffed them into the medicine box, and carried it out.

  Fan Peilan saw that he was in a hurry and asked what was wrong. Shi Wei only said that Miss Xiong's condition had relapsed, and as he spoke, he had already left the hospital.

  Shi Wei followed the maid to hurry to the Xiong Mansion, and didn't even have time to call out to Xiong Qingye, directly going to Xiong Qingdai's boudoir.

  "Miss is inside, I'll keep watch outside. Stone Lang, please take a look at Miss quickly." The maid closed the door and stood guard outside with a flustered expression.

  "Shi Langzhong, you've come......" The voice of Xiong Qingdai, who was lying in bed, was extremely weak, as if she had a serious illness.

  Shi Wei put down the medicine box and rushed to the bedside in a few steps, pressing down Xiong Qing Dai who had sat up halfway.

  At a glance, she saw that her face was pale and her lips were purple, looking extremely weak. She hastily asked: "Miss Xiong, I heard from the maid that you accidentally got injured, where did you get hurt?"

  "On your leg." Xiong Qing Dai weakly responded with a single word.

  Shi Wei slowly lowered her body and lifted the quilt that covered her from bottom to top, revealing a pair of smooth and white jade-like legs.

  When he was about to be lifted up to almost his thigh root by Zibei, he couldn't help but take a breath of cool air.

  But look, the bed sheet was stained with a large patch of fresh blood, and her upper thigh was wrapped in a thick bandage, which was also stained with blood.

  "How could you be so careless and end up getting hurt like this?"

  He gently and carefully unwrapped the bloody bandage, and when he saw the blurry wound, his sword-like eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

  After a moment of contemplation, Shi Wei asked slowly: "Miss Xiong, why do you want to hit that Ma Bo?"