The next morning, before Li Man'er had even finished breakfast, Xiao Qiniang rushed to find her.
"Sister Man'er, my father's leg is in terrible pain. Can you come and take a look at him?"
Li Man'er looked surprised. "Leg pain? How can that be? Wasn't he fine before? Why is it hurting again? Is it an old injury or a new one?"
"It's an old injury, the same leg that was hurt before," Xiao Qiniang said, sounding anxious. "The pain this time is a bit different from usual. You should come quickly and check it out."
Li Man'er abandoned her meal, very interested in Xiao Rudu's leg injury. She stood up and said, "Let's go, right now."
Liu Ya quickly brought her mouthwash, helped Li Man'er change her clothes, and then, carrying her medicine box, accompanied Li Man'er to Xiao Rudu's residence.
Xiao Rudu had been busy with state affairs these past few days, so he had been resting in the study in the front courtyard. Halfway there, Li Man'er suddenly recalled what Qi Yihan had said, that Xiao Qiniang also hated Xiao Rudu. But judging by her current behavior, it was hard to tell.
As soon as they reached Xiao Rudu's residence, Li Man'er heard his suppressed groans of pain. The two doctors who were treating him stood by, trembling, unsure of how the situation had escalated.
They had been following the acupuncture methods taught by Miss Li and had never been careless. They didn't know what had gone wrong this time. halfway through the acupuncture, Xiao Rudu had started writhing in pain. They had checked thoroughly, found nothing amiss, yet could not identify the cause of his leg pain.
The two doctors had now been apprehended by Xiao Rudu's personal guards, awaiting Li Man'er's confirmation of their negligence. If it was their fault, they would likely suffer a severe beating, even if they managed to keep their lives.
"Miss Li, please examine our General quickly." Although Xiao Rudu was not in the camp, the yamen was dominated by the Xiao family. Xiao Rudu, though outwardly engaged in business, still held considerable influence, and many in the army still recognized him as their sole commander.
The speaker was Xiao Rudu's personal guard, Gong Xiao. This man had followed Xiao Rudu for many years and was exceptionally loyal. Seeing Xiao Rudu in such agony, Gong Xiao wished he could suffer in his stead, but there was nothing he could do but anxiously wait.
With Li Man'er's arrival, Gong Xiao seemed to find an anchor, and his demeanor steadied considerably.
"I have followed the General for many years and have never seen him in such pain. Even when he was severely wounded back then, he never cried out so much..."
Li Man'er interrupted him, "Don't speak, let me take your pulse first."
Gong Xiao immediately fell silent.
Li Man'er first produced a silver needle and stunned Xiao Rudu. She explained, "It's not a solution for him to continue in such pain. Let him sleep for a while. If we give him painkillers, it will hinder finding the cause of the illness, so let me find the cause first."
Everyone understood.
Xiao Qiniang stood by Xiao Rudu's side, her eyes showing a hint of anxiety. She was nervous, her handkerchief twisted into knots.
Li Man'er extended her hand to feel Xiao Rudu's pulse. After a moment, she said, "Are there any remnants of the medicine the General has been taking?"
"Yes!" Gong Xiao waved his hand, and two guards brought forth the dregs of the medicine Xiao Rudu had been taking recently.
Li Man'er carefully smelled the dregs and immediately exclaimed, "Why is there the taste of aconite juice in this medicine? How did you two prepare the General's medicine?"
The two doctors were shocked. "Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Li Man'er snorted and said to Gong Xiao, "This medicine has been tampered with. Get someone to catch a rat or a bird. If it's fed to them, it will be revealed."
Gong Xiao wished he could kill the two doctors with his gaze. Gritting his teeth, he ordered someone to catch a rat. Soon, someone entered with a simple cage made of branches.
Xiao Qiniang was a little afraid of the rat and retreated a couple of steps.
Li Man'er picked out two pieces of medicinal material from the dregs and said to everyone, "The taste of aconite is strongest here. Just rinse these in water and feed them to this rat, and we'll know if I'm telling the truth."
Without being told, a guard found a water bowl, rinsed the two pieces of dregs in it, and then took them out.
He placed the water bowl in the cage. Before long, the rat approached and took a couple of sips. However, before it could finish the water, the rat let out a heart-wrenching cry, struggled a few times, and then flipped onto its back and died.
Everyone was startled. Gong Xiao drew his saber, his teeth gritted, and walked towards the two doctors. "I'll kill you."
The two doctors knelt and begged for mercy. "It really wasn't us! The General has always treated us well, how could we possibly harm him?"
"That's right. We are always responsible for the General's medicine. If anything happened to him, we would be the first to be suspected. How could we possibly survive?"
Gong Xiao retorted, "Perhaps you were trying to take a risk! Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."
"Wait." Li Man'er stood up and walked to Gong Xiao, asking softly, "May I ask, General, were these two personally responsible for preparing the medicine?"
"Indeed."
Li Man'er said, "If they had truly poisoned it, the dregs would have been cleared away completely by now. How could such a glaring loophole have been left for you to discover? If this yamen had no doctors, it would be one thing, but I am here."
Gong Xiao also hesitated. If they mistakenly killed these two, wouldn't the real culprit escape and potentially strike again?
"Yes, yes, yes, Miss Li is right. We wouldn't dig our own graves."
"The General showed us great kindness. We are not ungrateful, heartless wretches."
Gong Xiao then looked at Li Man'er again. "Miss Li, is it really not them?"
"Death penalty is spared."
This statement was quite clear.
Although the two were not the murderers, they had been negligent and allowed someone to exploit a loophole. Therefore, their lives were spared, but they could not escape punishment.
Hearing this, the two immediately looked at Gong Xiao, their eyes about to shed tears.
"Your lives are spared today, but punishment is unavoidable. Thirty strokes of the military cane each, to set an example. Do you accept?"
The two quickly thanked Gong Xiao for showing mercy and apologized to Li Man'er. This was a life-saving grace, for which prostration would not be excessive.
Gong Xiao waved his hand, and guards stepped forward, dragged the two outside, placed them on a bench, and began administering the punishment without further ado.
Thirty strokes of the military cane on a martial artist would at most result in superficial wounds, healing within a few days once the scabs formed. However, these two physicians were scholars, their bodies only slightly stronger than ordinary people. Thirty strokes of the military cane resulted in torn flesh and blood, a gruesome sight.
One of them fainted on the spot.
It seemed these wounds would take at least one or two months to heal.
Li Man'er shook her head. "The New Year is approaching, why bother?" They truly couldn't see things clearly!