"Rebellion! Rebellion!" Zhao Xiong was instantly furious. "You unruly commoners, how dare you be so presumptuous!"
Just as he was speaking, a painful groan suddenly came from the crowd.
"Ow, ow, ow! My stomach! Oh no, this porridge is poisoned! It's killing people!"
When Zhang Chen heard this, he couldn't help but frown.
In the crowd, three or two beggars were seen carrying another person who looked like a beggar. The person being carried had foam at the corners of his mouth, his eyes were tightly shut, and he was unconscious.
Zhang Chen swept his gaze over them and couldn't help but sneer.
Following beside them was none other than his "old acquaintance," Huang Wenyi.
Looking at those beggars again, they were none other than the very beggars who had previously ambushed the original owner.
Good! I wasn't looking for you, but you've come knocking on my door!
Huang Wenyi was seen pointing at Zhang Chen and angrily cursing, "Zhang Zifan, look at the good deed you've done! You talk about distributing porridge to help the people, but you're clearly poisoning and harming them!"
Zhang Chen looked at the few people and sneered, "So many people drank the porridge, yet only these few are poisoned. Huang Wenyi, isn't your trick a bit too clumsy?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present suddenly understood and said, "That's right, why are we fine? These people are clearly faking it!"
"I know them. A few days ago, it was these few who injured Zhang Gongzi at the market!" Someone suddenly spoke up. "I saw it clearly that day. They saw that Zhang Gongzi didn't give them money, so they attacked him from behind!"
"Zhang Gongzi has given us charity quite often. These few are truly heartless!"
...
In the crowd, the common people stepped forward one after another to speak up for Zhang Chen.
Zhao Xiong twirled his beard and said in a sarcastic tone, "Hmph, cut the nonsense! Now that a life is involved, you can't escape responsibility! Men, seize him!"
"Who dares to cause trouble!"
A cold, stern shout made Zhao Xiong jump in surprise and pause slightly.
But after seeing that the person who spoke was Zhang Chen, he couldn't help but laugh, "Oh ho, Zhang Family boy, are you getting bold? You dare to challenge this Lord? Who do you think you are! Let me tell you, this Lord is the master of this county. Today, let alone seizing you, even killing you would be nothing more than a blink of an eye!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen couldn't help but frown slightly.
This Zhao Xiong clearly came prepared today, deliberately targeting him. And that Huang Wenyi must have colluded with these beggars to frame him!
Good, Huang Wenyi, there's a road to heaven, but you didn't take it; there's no door to hell, yet you came knocking! I haven't even settled the score with you for yesterday's ambush, and you dare to come to my door! Since that's the case, let's settle both old and new scores today!
Zhang Chen gritted his teeth inwardly, while Huang Wenyi said from the side, "Exactly, Zhang Family child, the County Magistrate wants to take you back for questioning. Are you still trying to resist?"
Zhang Chen secretly glanced at Hua Tuo and saw that he was looking at the few beggars, revealing a cold smile with a hint of contempt in his eyes.
Zhang Chen understood in his heart.
Hua Tuo had always been a benevolent healer. If these few people were truly poisoned, there would be no reason for him to stand by. At this moment, he was calm and showed contempt, which must mean he had long seen that these few people were deliberately faking it to frame him!
Since that's the case, I'll play along with you!
Zhang Chen made a plan in his mind, then stepped forward and said, "Since Lord says they are poisoned, Zhang once encountered an eccentric cultivator in his early years who taught him a method to cure poison. Today is a good time to try it."
"Zhang Family child, you... what tricks are you trying to pull now?" Huang Wenyi, seeing this, quickly said from the side, "Lord, you must not listen to his nonsense. Quickly arrest him!"
"What? Is Lord Zhao going to let the people under his rule die from poison?" Zhang Chen said with a smile. "If this matter spreads, I'm afraid it will harm Lord's reputation."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiong thought to himself, if he didn't let him save them, it would inevitably give others something to talk about. It would be better to let him try. Anyway, these few people weren't poisoned, so could he really treat them to death? Besides, if he did treat them to death, wouldn't that be even better? He could just sentence him for murder!
Thinking of this, Zhao Xiong said, "Alright, you can try. However, even if you save them, you won't escape the crime of poisoning!"
"Lord, don't worry. If they are indeed poisoned by me, Zhang will bear all the responsibility alone!"
After Zhang Chen finished speaking, he turned and came to Hua Tuo's side, bowed, and said, "Looking at Sir's attire, you should be a physician. May I borrow a medical knife from you?"
Hua Tuo said, "Zhang Gongzi, don't fall for their trick. I just examined them, and these few people are not..."
Zhang Chen quickly made a gesture to him, indicating that Hua Tuo should not reveal the truth.
Zhang Chen naturally knew they were faking it, but everything that happened today was premeditated, specifically to deal with him. Telling the truth now would be useless; only by letting them expose themselves could he succeed.
So, Zhang Chen said, "Sir, don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Please lend me a medical knife."
Seeing Zhang Chen like this, Hua Tuo could only take out a small, three-inch long knife from his medicine box and hand it to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen took the medical knife, thanked Hua Tuo, walked up to the few beggars, and said, "Several years ago, I encountered an eccentric who taught me this method, which can cure all poisons in the world."
Upon hearing this, everyone present not only showed astonishment, surprised that this Zhang Family Gongzi knew medical skills, but also surprised that there was a method in the world that could cure all poisons.
Even Hua Tuo, upon hearing this, was slightly stunned. He had practiced medicine for many years, always prescribing medicine based on the symptoms, and had never heard of any method that could cure all poisons in the world.
Zhang Chen fiddled with the medical knife in his hand, walked up to the beggar lying on the ground, and gently lifted his clothes.
"My senior once said that all poisoning is due to toxins entering the body, attaching to the organs, then corroding the internal organs, and finally taking one's life. This method is also simple. If this person was poisoned by drinking the porridge, the toxins must now be attached to his stomach and intestines. You just need to cut open the abdomen, take out the stomach and intestines, and use a sharp blade to scrape off the attached toxins from the surface. Afterward, put the stomach and intestines back in place and sew up the wound with fine thread. Doing this will make him fine."
As soon as Zhang Chen finished speaking, he smiled slightly and was about to cut towards the person's stomach.
"Mama!!!"
Suddenly, with a scream, the beggar who had been lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth, suddenly jumped up, clutched his stomach, and repeatedly retreated to the side.
Everyone present was first stunned, and then began to discuss animatedly.
"This..."
"What's going on? How did he stand up?"
"Are you stupid! Can't you see this? This person wasn't poisoned at all!"
"What? Good! So he was faking it! You bunch of bastards!"
Everyone suddenly understood and began to point and curse at those few beggars.
Just then, with a "slap," a burly man had already jumped out and slapped the beggar from earlier across the face, instantly making him dizzy and disoriented, and he repeatedly begged for mercy.
"Zhang Gongzi is so kind-hearted, yet you few beasts actually want to frame him. Your consciences must have been eaten by dogs!"
"Exactly! You few heartless fellows, aren't you afraid of retribution, of being struck by lightning?"
Zhang Chen stood up, turned to Zhao Xiong, and said, "Lord, this person is not poisoned. This should prove my innocence, right?"
Zhao Xiong was both shocked and angry upon seeing this. How could he not understand now? What eccentric teaching a method to cure poison? He was clearly tricked by this kid!
"Good! Good! Zhang Family child, you actually dare to play tricks on this Lord!"
"Lord, why do you say that? I am merely proving my innocence. The ones who truly played a trick on Lord are those few people."
As Zhang Chen spoke, he glanced at the few beggars.
Upon seeing this, the few beggars quickly knelt and kowtowed, repeatedly saying, "Lord, spare our lives! It's not... it's not our business. It was... it was him, he instructed us!"
The beggar pointed towards Huang Wenyi beside him.
"You, you... you're slandering us! Lord..."
"Shut up!" Zhao Xiong roared exasperatedly.
How could he not know the whole story? Today's events were actually all implicitly instructed by him. If they kept implicating others like this, his role as the mastermind would be exposed soon!
This Huang Wenyi is truly useless for accomplishing anything but excels at ruining everything!