Chapter 56 What Happened?

  "Second Master, just cry out if it hurts!" Zhao Ye lay on the soft couch, his forehead covered in cold sweat, as Gui Hua wiped the sweat for him.

  "This woman is too vicious, she's gone too far!" Doctor Wang lifted the white cloth covering Prince Wang's hand and took a glance. Zhao Che's palm had turned black and was swollen to the point of shining, as if it would burst like a bubble with just a light touch. Even-tempered Doctor Wang couldn't help but blurt out a curse, "Second Master, bear with it for a moment, I need to use a needle to puncture your fingers and release the stagnant blood, otherwise your hand will be crippled!"

  "Royal Doctor Wang, just treat me, I can endure it!" Zhao Ke's tense old doctor smiled and said. In fact, he didn't take this injury seriously at all. If it were his past life, he would have treated himself, but the people in the room who heard this all secretly praised him. The prince not only didn't make a sound while being punished, but also dared to call out to the executioner, and now he was still nonchalant. If it were themselves, they probably wouldn't be so calm.

  "Second Master will surely become a real man when he grows up!" Doctor Wang praised, but his hands didn't stop moving. He took out a silver needle from his needle case and quickly pricked the tips of Zhao's five fingers, causing blood to gush out like a fountain, dripping into the bowl below and blooming into red flowers. The fragrance of osmanthus and pagoda tree flowers became unbearable, and they turned their faces away. When the bleeding slowed down, Doctor Wang continued to press on his palm until the dark blood that flowed out turned bright red before he stopped.

  "Second Master, what's going on?" The door was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and Xi rushed in, holding a wine jar and shouting. As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, he saw that Xiao Huang's expression was not right, and when asked questions, he hesitated and stuttered, knowing that something was wrong.

  "Master, Second Master was beaten by Dian Zheng today and is badly injured!" Guihua hastily replied.

  "I'm going to die with her" The crowd parted, and everyone rushed to the bedside. Wang Ye's face was pale, his hair was soaked with sweat, and his hand, although treated, was still swollen beyond recognition. In Huai Hua's hands, a bowl of bright red liquid, her eyes were red, and she choked back tears as she shouted.

  "Look at her, she's a sixth-rank Zhengzheng, and you're just a newly appointed little Huangmen, what can you use to compete with her?" Zhao Ke shouted at Jianxi.

  "Second Master, I'm going all out with her, what mistake did you make? She dares to hit you like this!" Jian Xi said, still not showing any mercy.

  "Alright, a gentleman's revenge is not late even after ten years!" Zhao Yi said with an indifferent smile, "What are you holding in your arms, is it wine?" He became excited when he saw the wine jar in Xi's arms.

  "Second Master, yes, the distilled liquor has turned out well, just like ours. Take a sniff!" Jian Xi said as he lifted the lid and handed the wine jar to Zhao Yi's face.

  "Hmm, fragrant and strong!" Zhao Yan raised his head to take a sniff, then took a big swig from the wine jug. His face immediately turned bright red, and it was clear that the alcohol content was not low.

  "Second Master, they all say so!" Seeing Xi seeing Wang Ye's happiness, he wiped away his tears and said.

  "Ah, refreshing!" Zhao Ye took another sip of wine, but this time he didn't swallow it, instead spitting it onto his hand. The pain spread instantly to every part of him, and every cell in his body seemed to be stimulated into activity. The depression in his heart also seemed to dissipate along with it.

  "Second Master, for the next few days, don't get your hand wet, rest more and absolutely do not lift heavy objects. I'll give you some medicine to clear heat and detoxify, drink it and you'll recover quickly!" Doctor Wang applied the ointment on Zhao's wound and wrapped it with silk cloth.

  "No need to be so troublesome, I just use this strong liquor to soak for two days every day, and that mother-in-law of mine has a strong liver fire, can give them some medicine to clear the fire!"

  "Haha, Second Master speaks reasonably!" Wang Taigong was stunned for a moment, but the bad smile on Wang Ye's face suddenly came to his senses and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  "Then I'll leave it to Old Wang!" Zhao Ye was very satisfied with the old man, indeed a great doctor, his brain was well-maintained. "See Xi, get Old Wang to bring over a few jars of our newly brewed liquor, this is the best for soaking medicinal wine!" He instructed further.

  "Thank you, Second Master! I've long heard of this fine wine, but never had the chance to taste it. Today, I finally fulfilled my lifelong wish!" The old man said with a bow.

  "Wang Bo has already poured some for you. It's from our own winery, so feel free to help yourself whenever you want!" Zhao Ye said with a wave of his hand, as if it didn't matter.

  That night, the Wang Mansion held a grand banquet to celebrate the completion of the dam and the brewery's new batch of huangjiu. Unfortunately, the master was unable to attend due to his injuries, but he ordered that only newly brewed huangjiu be served, instructing everyone to drink freely. This made it clear to everyone in the mansion that the master had been beaten severely, and the one responsible was the new imperial censor from the palace.

  That night, Yu Zhu didn't sleep well. It wasn't because she was feeling guilty for hitting the prince, but because the patrolling guards would pass by the outer wall of their Autumn Courtyard every half hour or so, and they wouldn't stop banging on the wooden clappers until dawn, which made her oversleep for the first time.

  At noon when lunch was served, the kitchen only sent two dishes of vegetarian food and a pot of brown rice. Normally they would follow the palace rules with four bowls and four plates plus one soup. She couldn't help but send someone to question the kitchen, but the cook's reason was very sufficient. Because the king's lunch was only one meat dish and one vegetable dish, their food standards could not exceed that of the king, which did not conform to the palace rules. The maid who went to deliver the food for the little eunuchs clearly saw that although there was only one dish, it had more meat than vegetables. This made her so angry that she threw all the food away, resulting in them going hungry for a day.

  Dinner was even worse, a dish of salted vegetables with more salt than vegetables, a pot of what looked like unwashed rice porridge, and a plate of black-skinned whole wheat pancakes. This time Yu Zhu decided to go ask herself, but when she stormed out the door, she was blocked by the small yellow gate because it was already late at night, according to the palace rules, no one was allowed to enter or exit freely.

  The next day, Yu Zhu's eyes were red and swollen, her mouth was cracked, and a row of small blisters had appeared under her nose. She had clearly come down with a fever. She sent someone to invite Doctor Wang to come and examine her, but was told that the doctor only treated the prince and she wasn't high enough in status. In the end, Doctor Wang couldn't bear the entreaties of the person who had come and, acting out of a sense of medical ethics, he broke the rules of the palace and prescribed several doses of medicine for her.

  Yu Zhu took the medicine and soon relieved her fire, by evening not only did the boils disappear but her round face turned into a pointed one. Having no choice, she asked Wang Taiyi to prescribe more medicine. This time it didn't relieve her symptoms, instead it made her constipated for three days. For several days in a row, she was either relieving herself or getting constipated again. The fierce mother night demon was treated by the old man into a delicate Lin Daiyu, that swaying-in-the-wind appearance made people feel 'heartbroken'!

  Under the careful treatment of Dr. Wang, Zhao's swelling had gone down in three days, but everyone still wouldn't let him go out and just kept him indoors every day. However, he was young and couldn't be cooped up for long, so today he used discussing official business as an excuse to slip out of the house and come to the outer courtyard. When everyone saw him, they all rushed forward to greet him warmly, ask about his injury, and of course also exchange a few pleasantries.

  Zao Bian walked and chatted, the dozens of meters long road took a good half an hour to walk, he soon discovered the problem, that is, the guards usually patrolled at night with just a whistle stick, but today in broad daylight they were all fully armed with knives and guns, even the doorkeeper had a short knife tucked into his waistband, and the watchtower in the corner of the wall was equipped with bows and arrows, looking like they were preparing for a major enemy.

  "Master Meng, what's going on?" At this time, Zhao Chu arrived with two guards to patrol with Meng Tao and stopped him to ask.

  "Second Master, are you feeling better? Everyone heard that you were beaten up. If it weren't for the steward's advice, they would have rushed in and hacked that woman to death!" Meng Tao said indignantly.

  "Fortunately, you guys didn't go. That was sent by my mother, and I wouldn't dare to mess with it. I appreciate your kind intentions, but don't be impulsive, or else we'll get into big trouble!" Zhao Chu practiced martial arts with the guards every day and got along well with them. These people were straightforward and valued loyalty, so if he didn't warn them, they might really do something like that.

  "Oh, this girl's got a big background, but don't worry, Second Master, come down and I'll teach you Iron Sand Palm, then you won't be afraid of that bad girl hitting your palm again!" The guardian 'Iron Palm Hong Ba' Wang Ye Bao said with a smile, following behind Meng Tao.

  "Hmm, that makes sense. But practicing Iron Sand Palm alone won't be enough, I'll also need to practice Iron Butt Technique, otherwise I won't be able to handle those women!" Zhao Yan said with a serious expression.

  "Haha, Second Master is right, but you'll have to find Pan Long. That kid has the horizontal practice of the Thirteen Taibao, and he's impervious to swords and guns, let alone afraid of family law!" Another guard said with a big laugh, finding what Wang Ye said amusing.

  "Second Master, these days the village is not peaceful, you'd better not go out!" Meng Tao said solemnly as soon as he saw Zhao Che's outfit, knowing that the king was about to sneak out again.

  "Is someone causing trouble in the Zhuangzi?" Zhao asked.

  "Second Master, it's not that our people are causing trouble, but rather that there have been many suspicious strangers gathering outside the mansion gates these past few days. Yang Feng and I investigated and found that among them are not only Jianghu figures, but also a number of officials. They've tried to sneak into the mansion several times, but we've managed to block their attempts each time. Second Master, it's best you don't go out!" Meng Tao said.

  "Oh, what's going on that the yin and yang are in an uproar? Is it someone from the mansion who has stirred up trouble outside or is something eyeing our mansion?" Zhao asked thoughtfully.

  "Second Master, we're not quite clear about it yet, but it shouldn't be aimed at the people in the mansion. If that were the case, the officials would have come to talk to us already. If it's aimed at things, those people from the jianghu might still have a chance, but the officials all know this is the Wang Mansion, how could they let them run amok!" Meng Tao didn't understand much about the situation either and couldn't say too much.

  "Hmm, then just ignore them. As long as they don't enter the mansion, there's no need to clash with them. It's just a waste of everyone's effort!" Zhao Che said with a smile.

  "Second Master, why be polite to us? The mansion has been treating us well every day with good wine and meat, and our food, clothing, and expenses are all first-class. We have never been shortchanged in the slightest. Now, exerting some effort is nothing!" Hong Ba said with a hint of dissatisfaction, feeling that Wang Ye was underestimating them.

  "Alright, alright, I was wrong!" Zhao Chun hastily said, "See Xi, go back and instruct the wine workshop to send two jars of strong wine, to help everyone relax a bit!" This time several guards all laughed, having tasted the new wine yesterday, everyone's throat is still itchy.

  "Thank you, Second Master!" Others didn't know, but Meng Tao did - this wine was quite valuable. Although their monthly salary wasn't low, it still couldn't afford a jar of this wine. Everyone else was happy, except for Zhao Chu, whose travel plans were ruined and who had been sent back to the inner courtyard by Meng Tao.