Yang Haiyan walked into the medical clinic, where a waiter immediately approached her, saying, “Greetings, honored guest. Are you here for a prescription or a consultation?”

The waiter could tell people’s status from their clothes—he referred to wealthy-looking individuals as “honored guests,” as it was polite and appropriate for people of status.

If they were ordinary citizens, he would call them “madam” or “sir.”

Yang Haiyan was about to answer when Lian Momo suddenly shouted, “Madam, watch out!”

Immediately following the shout, there was a loud cry, “Ahhh…” and a sudden commotion.

Yang Haiyan turned her head and saw a man rushing toward her.

She quickly stepped aside, but to her surprise, the man moved in the same direction.

Was he about to crash into her?

In that critical moment, Granny Lian pulled Yang Haiyan into her arms, and the man collided with Granny Lian’s back, avoiding direct contact with Yang Haiyan.

At the same time, a voice from the crowd cried out, “Husband!”

Looking closely, Yang Haiyan saw that the man had fallen to the ground, a knife wound in his abdomen, with blood flowing uncontrollably.

Yang Haiyan instinctively took a few steps back, shocked by the sudden scene.

No matter how composed she was, her heart was pounding at the sight.

Granny Lian, concerned, asked, “Madam, are you alright?”

Thankfully, the man hadn’t crashed into her.

Even if the situation could be explained, colliding with a dying man seemed ill-omened and unlucky.

Yang Haiyan shook her head and quickly asked, “Are you okay, Granny?”

Granny Lian nodded, “It seems like he didn’t hit me too hard.”

A woman in the crowd suddenly cried out, “Husband, someone killed my husband! Help! Someone, help!”

“What’s going on here?” A middle-aged man with an authoritative presence came forward, ordering, “Call the authorities.”

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Yang Haiyan and Granny Lian.

Meanwhile, the other doctors in the clinic immediately checked on the injured man.

Someone from the crowd reported, “Doctor Feng, I saw that man rushing toward this madam, but this maid blocked him. After that, he collapsed with a knife wound.”

Yang Haiyan was slightly surprised—this man was Doctor Feng? He seemed rather severe.

Doctor Feng asked sternly, “Did you two injure him?”

With just this one question, Yang Haiyan’s impression of Doctor Feng plummeted.

Anyone with eyes and a brain wouldn’t ask such a question.

Why was he assuming they were responsible?

Before Yang Haiyan or Granny Lian could respond, Kun Shi and a group of soldiers pushed their way through the crowd.

“Madam!” Ten soldiers immediately surrounded Yang Haiyan, their synchronized movements and the chilling aura they exuded made it clear to anyone watching that these men were not ordinary guards.

They were different from the typical household guards or even the government’s bailiffs.

This was no surprise.

These soldiers were battle-hardened, having killed and bled on the battlefield.

Their training was brutal, honed in bloodshed.

In contrast, household guards or bailiffs were often ordinary men with connections, some of whom had never fought in their lives.

How could they compare to these soldiers?

The chaotic scene quickly fell silent, and even Doctor Feng realized that the woman protected by these soldiers must have an extraordinary status.

At that moment, one of the clinic’s doctors announced, “Doctor Feng, the man has passed away.”

Doctor Feng glanced at the man on the ground, then looked back at Yang Haiyan.

He made a respectful bow to the crowd, saying, “Everyone, I was not present when this incident occurred, and I don’t know why this man collapsed with a knife wound. The authorities have been notified, and I ask all witnesses here to stay until the county officials arrive to provide testimony, so we can give the magistrate helpful clues.”

Most of the people present were familiar with the clinic, and some were just passersby who had come to see what was happening.

Regardless, Doctor Feng and the clinic had earned their trust, so they all agreed to stay.

In the now quiet scene, the woman kneeling beside the stabbed man burst into loud sobs again. “Husband, you died so horribly! How could you just die like this? What will happen to me and our child now?”

“Heavens! Why did you take my husband? How could you be so cruel? How can a woman like me live on?”

In her wailing, the woman suddenly pulled out the knife from the stabbed man’s abdomen and attempted to stab herself in the stomach.

Yang Haiyan had been watching her, and upon seeing this, she shouted, “Kun Shi, stop her!”

Kun Shi had also been watching the woman as she cried, and when he saw her actions, he immediately grabbed her hand, speaking firmly, “Don’t you still have a child? If you do something foolish, what will happen to your child?”

Hearing this, the woman collapsed onto the stabbed man’s body and continued to cry loudly.

Soon, officials from the county office arrived.

The head constable, leading a few officers, said, “Someone reported a murder here. What happened?”

The common people, fearful of the authorities, backed away.

The constable saw the stabbed man lying on the ground and noticed Kun Shi and the soldiers surrounding Yang Haiyan, with Doctor Feng nearby.

Surprised, he asked, “What happened here? Who are these people?”

He was referring, of course, to Yang Haiyan and her group.

Kun Shi and the others remained silent, waiting for Yang Haiyan’s cue.

Yang Haiyan said, “Captain Kun…”

Kun Shi stepped aside and said, “Ma’am.”

Yang Haiyan nodded, turning to the constable. “I am a witness and somewhat involved in this incident. Would you like to hear my account?”

The constable, realizing that this woman was of high status, responded politely, “Please wait a moment, ma’am. All witnesses need to give statements. I ask for your cooperation.”

He then instructed his officers to question those present.

Once the constable had organized the scene, he approached Yang Haiyan again, “Ma’am, please explain what happened in detail.”

Yang Haiyan nodded and began, “I was just a passerby, in town to buy some things. I had heard of the good reputation of Doctor Feng at the Feng Family Clinic, so I came here for medicine. As I greeted the assistant, my maid warned me to be cautious. I turned and saw the man on the ground charging at me. I dodged, but he kept coming towards me. My maid stepped in to protect me, and then the man collapsed.

“After that, there were shouts from the crowd… Doctor Feng came out and asked us if we were the ones who had injured him. I don’t understand why Doctor Feng would assume we had attacked him.”

Yang Haiyan’s words were directed at Doctor Feng, for his earlier assumption had seemed accusatory.

Before Yang Haiyan could finish, Doctor Feng quickly interjected, “When I saw you both standing opposite the injured man, I asked only to clarify the situation. If my words offended you, I apologize.”

Yang Haiyan smiled slightly, “Since Doctor Feng has apologized sincerely, I’ll accept it. But I would advise you to think carefully before speaking in the future. As the saying goes, ‘A doctor must be cautious with his words.’ I had high expectations for you, Doctor Feng, so hearing such baseless remarks from you was quite surprising.”

The constable, listening to their conversation, said, “Since this was a misunderstanding, let it be. But such statements should not be made lightly.”

Doctor Feng replied, “Yes, of course.”

The constable then questioned Grandma Lian and the assistant who had been standing beside Yang Haiyan at the time.

Their accounts were identical to Yang Haiyan’s.

Finally, he told Yang Haiyan, “Since this has nothing to do with you, we won’t detain you. However, this is a crime scene, so we must continue our investigation. I ask that you please step aside.”

Yang Haiyan responded, “Of course. Grandma Lian, Kun Shi, let’s go.”

The constable wasn’t targeting Yang Haiyan specifically; he was simply clearing the area of anyone not involved.

As they left the Feng Family Clinic, Kunshi asked, “Ma’am, is this matter really over?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “Since it has nothing to do with us, we’ll leave it be. Besides, we have other matters to attend to. We don’t have the time to linger. If you’re curious, once we’ve settled in Yunxiang County, Niu Da will need to return home to relocate the orchard trees to the new county. You can accompany him then, and you might have the chance to inquire further.”

Kun Shi laughed, “I was just asking out of curiosity, Ma’am. If you want to know the outcome later, I can certainly go check.”

Afterward, they visited another clinic to buy medicine for colds and fever, in case anyone got sick from the rain.

They also hired the clinic’s resident doctor to accompany them.

Although the doctor was unwilling to travel all the way to Yunxiang County because it was too far, he agreed to visit the army’s camp since it wasn’t too distant.

To him, healing was the same wherever the patient was, as long as it was within reasonable travel distance.

Once Yang Haiyan finished her errands, she regrouped with Aunt Fan and Aunt Niu’s wife.

At the Army Camp

The troops from Qi Nation and the barbarians camped together—over 3,000 men.

Each tent housed 20 people, divided by gender: one tent for men, another for women.

This arrangement made things more convenient.

Luckily, they had enough tents—around 150 to 160—and all the soldiers, about 500 in total, shared the tents.

With help from the men, the setup was quick.

The tents were prepared in advance for just such a rainy situation.

Once the tents were ready, Qin Fang announced, “Women and girls will be in one tent, men and boys in another. Each tent will house 20 people. Everyone can now rest in their tents.”

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of approaching horses interrupted him.

Qin Fang called out, “Captain Yang, go check who’s coming. Captain Lu, prepare to protect everyone.”

Captain Yang quickly mounted his horse and rode off, while Captain Lü arranged the defense.

A short while later, Captain Yang returned, shouting, “General, it’s part of our supply team returning.”

The returning group brought back ginger and brown sugar.

They saluted Qin Fang and said, “General, Madam instructed us to bring the ginger and sugar back first.”

Qin Fang replied, “Move them to the storage tent. All the food will be kept there.”

The storage tent was raised higher than the others to prevent important supplies from being soaked and spoiled by water.

In the Carriage

Grandma Lian recounted what had happened at the clinic earlier, leaving Aunt Fan and Aunt Niu’s surprised and fascinated.

They marveled at how such a dramatic incident had occurred during what was supposed to be a simple trip to town.

Curious, Aunt Niu’s asked, “Grandma Lian, in your opinion, how do you think that man was stabbed?”