The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming-Chapter 18: Exclusion

News of the Cao family was the talk of Jiangling. As Ye Chutang walked down the street, she couldn’t help but overhear people gossiping about it.

She listened as she went and managed to piece together the gist of what had happened.

Cao Chengwen had been taken away by the government office that very morning and was likely being interrogated. The entire Cao family estate had been sealed off by government officers, with no one allowed in or out.

A case involving three lives was a major one, and no one dared to treat it lightly.

Ye Chutang wound her way through two streets before finally stopping in front of a pharmacy.

Seeing her, the pharmacy clerk hurried forward to greet her enthusiastically. "Doctor Ye! You’re here! Please, come in!"

The clinic Chutang ran was small, and with three little ones at home, she bought most of her herbs from larger pharmacies, supplementing them with only a few she gathered herself from the mountains.

It was mainly for the convenience.

Ye Chutang went inside, greeted Manager Zhao, and handed him a list of herbs, just as she always did.

"This is all for this time."

She had been primarily treating Shen Yanchuan lately, which had used up quite a few of her supplies. She figured it was time to restock.

However, when Manager Zhao looked at the list, a troubled expression crossed his face.

"Doctor Ye, this... a number of these herbs, we don’t have them in stock."

Chutang was taken aback. "What?"

Manager Zhao pointed to the list. "You know it’s been raining the last couple of days, making the roads difficult to travel. Our herb delivery has been delayed! We’re out of angelica root, poria, and lindera root!"

Chutang felt a prickle of suspicion, but her expression remained unchanged.

She said calmly, "Then just give me what you have from the rest of the list."

Manager Zhao shot the clerk a meaningful glance.

A short while later, the clerk returned with the herbs. Chutang took one look and laughed.

"Manager Zhao, this is hardly my first time shopping here. You know perfectly well I would never accept herbs of this age and quality."

Not only were they out of everything she needed, but what they did bring her was substandard. They were clearly doing this on purpose to slight her.

Manager Zhao’s mouth opened and closed. "Doctor Ye, this is truly all we have left. If you’re not satisfied, perhaps... you could try another shop?"

Chutang raised her eyes slightly and gave him a long, quiet look.

Manager Zhao, however, guiltily averted his gaze and deliberately shouted at his clerk, "What are you gaping at? The medicine cabinets are covered in dust! Don’t you know how to clean? What kind of impression does this give people!"

Chutang simply excused herself and left.

She went to another pharmacy on the same street and, as expected, received a nearly identical response.

—Incomplete stock. No sale.

After leaving the third pharmacy empty-handed, Chutang stopped wasting her time and headed straight home.

That evening, the brothers Ye Jingyan and Ye Yunfeng returned from their lessons. As soon as he was home, Ye Jingyan went straight to the dispensary.

But he quickly reemerged, a surprised look on his face. He called out to Chutang, who was in the courtyard organizing herbs to dry, "Sis, didn’t you go buy new herbs today?"

’Sis had clearly mentioned it this morning, so he had planned on putting them away as soon as he got back. But he was surprised to find nothing new had been added.’

Chutang briefly recounted what had happened.

Ye Jingyan’s brow slowly furrowed. "So they’re refusing to sell to us on purpose? But why would they do that?"

Without looking up, Chutang replied, "What other reason could there be? We’ve obviously offended someone."

"Offended someone? But we..." Ye Jingyan suddenly thought of something, and his expression shifted. "Could it be... the Cao Family?"

’But the Cao Family should have their hands full right now. How could they have the spare energy to make trouble for us?’

"I heard Boss Cao is back in Jiangling," Chutang said.

Cao Deping had been out of town. After getting news of Cao Chengwu’s death, he had rushed back without a moment’s rest, only to find that just as he arrived home, Cao Chengwen had been taken in on suspicion of murder.

What a coincidence.

As for why he targeted Chutang the moment he returned... Cao Chengwen had undoubtedly fanned the flames.

’Thinking back, Cao Chengwen must have conspired with these pharmacies against her some time ago. It’s just that she’d been too busy the past few days to think about buying herbs, which is why she was only discovering it now.’

The Cao Family was a prominent and well-connected clan in Jiangling. Dealing with a family of outsiders like Chutang’s would be all too easy for them.

If it weren’t for Chutang’s exceptional medical skills and the respect she’d earned from the community, today’s situation would have likely been much worse.

She might not have even been allowed through the pharmacy doors.

Ye Jingyan grew worried. "Then what are we going to do?"

’A clinic with no medicine... isn’t that a joke?’

Chutang, however, didn’t seem to think the matter was that serious. "It’s simple. If worst comes to worst, we’ll stop dispensing herbs. We’ll just write prescriptions and let the patients fill them elsewhere. It’s all the same."

Ye Jingyan’s lips pressed into a tight line.

’His sister’s tone was light, but he knew this was no small matter.’

’If all the pharmacies were truly colluding against them, then even more difficult problems were sure to follow!’

"Sis! Dinner’s ready!"

Ye Yunfeng had been busy in the kitchen and hadn’t heard their conversation.

Chutang put away the last of the herbs.

"Let’s eat first. We can talk about everything else later. Go bring Xiao Wu over for dinner."

Ye Jingyan was still worried, but since his sister had spoken, he could only comply.

But just as he turned to leave, Chutang’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Wait. Yan, what happened to your hand?"

Startled, Ye Jingyan instinctively tried to hide his hand, but he stopped when he met Chutang’s eyes.

Just then, Ye Yunfeng walked over. Hearing the question, he said indignantly, "It was the tutor!"

Chutang could see it clearly, of course—the two angry red welts on Yan’s palm had been left by a disciplinary ruler.

Usually, it was A Feng who came home with marks like these. Yan was always so bright and reserved, never one to stir up trouble. ’How could this have happened?’

Ye Jingyan explained, "It’s nothing. The tutor asked me a question in class, and I couldn’t answer, so I was punished."

’What kind of question could he possibly fail to answer?’

’The tutor was clearly picking on him!’

Chutang was quiet for a moment and didn’t press the matter.

"All right, let’s eat first."

Ye Jingyan nodded softly.

...

Chutang couldn’t eat the meal in peace.

It was obvious someone was deliberately targeting them.

And Chutang didn’t have to think hard to guess who was behind it all—it had to be the Cao Family.

But that wasn’t the crucial part. The crucial part was how to resolve it.

A shopkeeper could sell herbs to whomever he pleased, and a school tutor could punish any student he wished. At the end of the day, it would all be dismissed as a private grudge.

’They’re making things as difficult as possible for you within the scope of their power. What can you possibly do about it?’

However, it wasn’t long before something even more unexpected happened.

—After three days of questioning at the government office, Cao Chengwen was released without charge.