Lin Jingyuan could not possibly stand by and watch his own mother be beaten to death.
He stepped forward and let out a sigh. “Officer, please show mercy.”
“Hmph! I’m practically dying already. Why should I care? Taking someone down with me wouldn’t be so bad.”
“You’re her son, aren’t you? If you keep getting in my way, I’ll beat you too!”
“Still not moving aside?”
He Er lashed Lin Jingyuan several times with his whip, but Lin Jingyuan refused to step back.
Just as He Er was about to strike again, Jiang Wanyue stepped forward.
“Stop! You’ve been bitten by a snake. I can treat you.”
He Er sneered. “You can? Are you a doctor or something?”
“I grew up in the countryside. I know a little about medicine and herbal remedies.
“Let me ask you this—are you short of breath? Is your face flushed? Is your heart racing? Is the bite swollen and painfully throbbing?”
Having every symptom accurately described, He Er stopped swinging his whip and panted heavily.
“You really know how to treat snake bites?”
She had gotten every symptom exactly right.
If only He Er knew…
Jiang Wanyue would have laughed at how foolish he was.
Moments earlier, He Er had used all his strength to viciously beat Old Madam Lin.
After exerting that much effort, of course he would be short of breath, flushed, and have a racing heartbeat.
Besides, Xiao Jin had already told her that the snake it summoned to teach him a lesson was nothing more than a king ratsnake.
It wasn’t venomous. However, king ratsnakes were large, and their bites left deep wounds that could be quite painful.
Besides, if it had really been a venomous snake, with all the wild thrashing He Er had been doing, the venom would have spread throughout his body by now.
“It’s just…”
Jiang Wanyue frowned.
“Just what?”
He Er instinctively covered his backside.
“The place where you’ve been injured…”
“Don’t tell me you can’t treat it?”
As he raised his whip toward Jiang Wanyue, Li Dashan barked,
“That’s enough!”
“Isn’t the woman over there unconscious from a snake bite too? Go examine her first. Once you know what kind of snake bit her, you’ll know how to treat it.”
Jiang Wanyue cupped her hands respectfully.
“Officer, you’re truly wise. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”
Li Dashan waved his hand.
“Enough. Go treat them. If you fail, you’ll answer to me.”
Without another word, Jiang Wanyue walked over to Lin Shutong.
She fully adopted the demeanor of a physician.
But Lin Shutong looked utterly miserable.
Her clothes had only been hastily wrapped around her body, leaving large patches of skin exposed.
A dark bruise encircled her neck.
Her body was also covered in bruises.
Clearly, He Er was not the type to show a woman any mercy.
Jiang Wanyue lifted Lin Shutong’s eyelids, pried open her mouth, and examined her carefully while clicking her tongue.
She was about to burst out laughing.
Lin Shutong wasn’t unconscious at all.
As Jiang Wanyue handled her, she could clearly feel Lin Shutong’s body trembling ever so slightly.
The bite was on Lin Shutong’s arm, and she quickly found it.
Two swollen puncture wounds oozed blood.
In truth, a bite from a king ratsnake wasn’t a serious matter. Once the swelling went down, she would be perfectly fine.
What really frightened everyone was Lin Shutong pretending to faint.
Combined with the fact that He Er’s bite was in such an embarrassing place—on his buttocks—the whole group had descended into chaos.
After finishing the examination, He Er hurried over.
“Well? Can it be treated?”
“Yes.”
“Then hurry up!”
“I need to gather some herbs first.”
Jiang Wanyue stood and turned to Li Dashan.
“Officer, may I borrow a torch?”
Li Dashan raised the torch in his hand.
“I’ll go with you.”
“All right.”
“We’ll search the place where the snake appeared. Usually, where venomous snakes are found, you’ll also find the herbs that counteract their venom.”
She wasn’t making that up.
Many venomous snakes were known to guard valuable medicinal plants.
Using the torchlight, Jiang Wanyue searched along the hillside.
Sure enough, she found several useful medicinal herbs.
Purslane, Sophora root, Scutellaria…
All of them were excellent herbs for clearing heat and detoxifying the body.
In ancient times, learning to identify medicinal herbs required apprenticing under a physician. Ordinary commoners rarely had the opportunity to learn, so even if precious herbs grew right before their eyes, they wouldn’t recognize or gather them.
As a result, medicinal herbs were abundant.
After gathering the herbs, Jiang Wanyue handed the purslane and Sophora root to Li Dashan.
“Officer, have He Er chew these two herbs into a paste and apply it to the wound. Change the poultice every two hours. If neither of them shows any problems by tomorrow, the poison will be gone.”
Hearing her explain everything so confidently, Li Dashan finally began to believe that Jiang Wanyue truly understood medicine.
“So you really do know medicine?”
“When I was living in the countryside, I was taken in by a butcher. The village’s barefoot doctor pitied me, and seeing that I had a talent for medicine, he passed all of his medical knowledge on to me.”
“…to me.
“So I do know how to handle basic medical treatments.”
“You’re quite capable, aren’t you?”
“Thank you for the compliment, Officer.”
“All right, all right. I’ll have He Er take care of it himself.”
Li Dashan looked at Jiang Wanyue. The girl certainly had a silver tongue and wasn’t someone who would quietly accept being wronged.
What had happened tonight was better left alone. He couldn’t be bothered to investigate any further.
He wasn’t a magistrate responsible for solving cases. Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
In truth, the herbs didn’t have to be chewed before being applied to the wound. They could just as easily be crushed with a stone.
But since they had schemed against her…
They could suffer a little.
Besides, Sophora root was incredibly bitter.
That alone would give them something to remember.
Sure enough, He Er’s spitting and complaints echoed through the night.
“Boss, that little brat isn’t tricking me on purpose, is she?
“This medicine is way too bitter! My tongue’s gone numb!”
“You’re practically at death’s door, and you’re still worried about whether the medicine is bitter? If you want to die, then don’t use it.”
He Er was a coward through and through. Though terrified, he forced himself to chew the herbs into a paste before trembling as he applied it to his buttocks.
Afraid Lin Shutong might actually die, Li Dashan tossed the freshly gathered herbs in front of Liu Shuying.
“If you don’t want your daughter to die, chew these up and apply them to her wound.”
The moment Liu Shuying put the Sophora root into her mouth, she gagged and spat it out.
“Ugh!”
The medicine was unbearably bitter.
But seeing her daughter lying unconscious, she gritted her teeth and endured wave after wave of nausea. After a long struggle, she finally managed to chew the herbs into a paste and spread them over Lin Shutong’s wound.
As she looked toward Jiang Wanyue…
That wretched girl dared to torment her daughter like this.
She would never let Jiang Wanyue off so easily.
Meanwhile, Jiang Wanyue was in an excellent mood now that everything had been resolved.
She had been wondering how to let everyone know that she possessed medical skills.
Unexpectedly, fate had handed her the perfect opportunity.
Knowing medicine would become one of her greatest advantages during exile.
The journey into exile was long. There was no telling when they might encounter snakes, insects, or other dangers. With her medical knowledge, life for her branch of the family would be far less difficult.
After leaving the crowd, the snake’s tail wrapped around Jiang Wanyue’s little finger rubbed affectionately against her.
“Hehe, woman, I did a pretty good job just now, didn’t I?”
“You certainly did. Were you the one who dragged away their clothes?”
“Of course! You have no idea—that man’s… tsk… was so tiny! We snakes have two!”
Xiao Jin spoke with obvious innuendo.
Jiang Wanyue coughed awkwardly and quietly changed the subject.
“Didn’t you say you wanted meat tomorrow? I’ll do my best.”
Xiao Jin was a carnivorous snake. It couldn’t go even a single meal without meat.
“You’d better not lie to me.”
“When have I ever lied to you?”
“Fine, fine. I’ll trust you this once.”
The woman and the snake chatted merrily, completely unaware that, hidden in the darkness, a pair of bright, piercing eyes had been watching Jiang Wanyue for a very long time.