Chapter 156: Coercion
Editor: Atlas Studios
Pang Kongqing’s face was still pale as he looked at Mu Yangling suspiciously. “Y-Your cousin is a bandit?” As soon as he said that, Pang Kongqing wished he could bite off his tongue. He knew that he shouldn’t be too curious.
Mu Yangling looked at him with a faint smile and casually picked up a stone at the door. She tossed and caught it before exerting strength to crush it.
While Pang Kongqing stared at her with his mouth agape, Mu Yangling said calmly, “Our Mu family’s ancestors have Hu blood, so we’re a little stronger. Naturally, we can live comfortably even though we live a dangerous life. It’s just that my mother doesn’t like my father doing such stuff. Physician Pang, our Mu family is very loyal.”
“Y—you’re bandits from Mount Daluo?” Pang Kongqing had only heard that the leader of a group of bandits in Mount Daluo had Hu blood. Could it be that this “cousin” was the beloved son of the bandit leader?
Knowing the bandits of Mount Daluo were the most ferocious, Pang Kongqing did not dare to delay any longer. If he offended them, it was not impossible for them to sneak into Mingshui County to massacre the Pang family.
Seeing that Pang Kongqing had obediently followed Mu Yangling to her room, Shu Wanniang and Great-aunt heaved a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Fei Bai had already hidden himself. Only Bai Li looked at Pang Kongqing coldly with a straight face and a sword lying on his lap.
Pang Kongqing shivered a little, and Mu Yangling quickly comforted him. “Physician Pang, don’t worry. This is my cousin’s servant. He won’t do anything to you. Come and take a look.”
Bai Li had already put on some simple makeup for Qi Haoran. At this moment, his face was even covered by a handkerchief. This attempt to hide his appearance was quite conspicuous.
Suspicion flashed across Pang Kongqing’s eyes, but he had no choice but to calm down and take his pulse. However, he heard two children discussing softly outside. “Cousin is so pitiful. He can’t come to the city to play in the future.”
“That won’t happen. Cousin said that she’s already covered his face. No one will see his face. In the future, Cousin can still come to the city to play with us.”
Mu Yangling had obviously heard the voices too. After glancing at Pang Kongqing, she went out and pulled the children away. Through the window, Pang Kongqing could not hear her reprimanding the children clearly. However, when he saw the handkerchief on the patient’s face, he no longer had the desire to investigate. In fact, he even hoped that the handkerchief would be more stable and not fall off. Otherwise, if he saw the true appearance of the bandit’s beloved son, he might really die without a burial place.
Mu Yangling held Xiuhong and Bowen’s hands and walked to the kitchen. Only then did she squat in front of them and pat their heads. “You’ve done very well. When your Brother Haoran wakes up, I’ll ask him to buy you delicious food.”
Xiuhong was so nervous that her palms were sweating. She was only a few months younger than Mu Yangling, and naturally knew how serious this matter was. She only hoped that Qi Haoran could survive this ordeal and not die in their house. Otherwise, their entire family would be implicated by him.
Still confused, Bowen asked in confusion, “Just now, Cousin and I were playing by the field. We clearly saw Brother Haoran and the others leave. Why did they come back in the blink of an eye?”
It turned out that after Mu Yangling left, Shu Wanniang realized the many loopholes. She could only get Bai Li to continue pretending that Qi Haoran and Fei Bai had left their house and returned to the military camp, while instructing others to stop Qi Haoran’s bleeding. As long as they left the village and changed into their clothes where no one could see them before sneaking back from the north, their tracks would be easily covered. This was because that area was filled with bushes and trees.
She was also the one who had scared Bowen and Xiulan into crying. No one had expected Great-aunt to come back so early today, not to mention that she had returned with Madam Hu-Fang. Shu Wanniang could only pretend to be seriously ill with a handkerchief stained with roe deer blood in her trouser pocket.
She managed to trick Madam Hu-Fang, but even Great-aunt was startled.
Now, as long as one investigated carefully, they could still find some suspicious signs, but at least ordinary people would no longer notice anything abnormal.
Mu Yangling sighed and went out to help her pale father into the kitchen. She asked in a low voice, “Father, where are you hurt?”
Exhaling, Mu Shi said, “There are a few wounds that have stopped bleeding. I’ll get your mother to apply the medicine for me later. Nothing is more important than Little General at the moment. Ah Ling, hold the doctor back later. Don’t let him leave before Little General is out of danger.” Mu Shi took out a bag of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into her hand. He whispered, “Buy medicine with this later. Make sure to get the premium herbs. Also, think of a way to secretly inform Young Master Fan and General. We can’t hide this from them. Little General has caused a huge disaster and we have to make up for it as soon as possible. Otherwise, I’m afraid it will implicate the entire Great Zhou.”
Mu Yangling’s mouth fell open. What kind of trouble did Qi Haoran cause that involved the entire country?
A sound came from the room. Mu Yangling turned around and saw the half-hidden Bai Li looking over. She hurriedly ran over and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Bai Li looked at Pang Kongqing.
Having just finished examining the wounds on the patient’s body, Pang Kongqing wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and glanced at Bai Li. Then, he said to Mu Yangling, “He’s injured his vital points. I don’t know if he can be saved.” Seeing Bai Li’s expression change and looking at him fiercely, he hurriedly added “But I’ll try my best. However, if he has a fever or his wound is inflamed, there’s nothing much I can do and can only leave it to fate.”
“In that case, Physician Pang, please write the prescription.”
“Sure, sure.” Pang Kongqing was afraid of angering Bai Li, so he hurriedly said, “I’ll write two prescriptions for him now. One for internal consumption and one for external application. How about it?”
“We’ll do as you say.”
Pang Kongqing only wanted to quickly finish writing the prescription and leave, so he did his best to write it. He even specially explained it to Mu Yangling, who was reading the prescription. In the end, he even habitually added, “My pharmacy has all these herbs…” Pang Kongqing wished he could bite off his tongue.
However, Mu Yangling had already folded the prescription and placed it in her arms. She said to Pang Kongqing, who was looking at her expectantly, “Physician Pang, as my mother is seriously ill, I’ll have to trouble you to stay here for the night. Tomorrow, when my mother’s life is out of danger, I’ll send you away.”
Not looking at Pang Kongqing’s incredulous eyes, Mu Yangling directly instructed Bai Li, “Let Physician Pang rest in my room. Watch over him and be more polite.”
Bai Li glanced at Pang Kongqing and nodded.
Pang Kongqing could only watch as Mu Yangling left. He turned his head stiffly to look at Bai Li, put on a stiff smile, and greeted, “Brother, please take care of me.”
Bai Li glanced at him coldly, turned around and sat down on the stool at the side.
Pang Kongqing turned his head to look at the patient, but the person lying on the bed had yet to wake up. He could only look at Bai Li, who was constantly releasing cold air. For the first time, he hoped that Mu Yangling would come back soon.
Mu Yangling sprinted all the way to the county, but she did not go to Benevolence Hall to get the herbs. Instead, she went to another medicinal shop. The shopkeeper did not think too much about it and simply packed the herbs for Mu Yangling.