Lin Shutang exchanged a knowing smile with her eldest sister-in-law, then walked up to her and took her pulse.
Her gaze sharpened, and then she said with a grave expression, “Mrs. Yang, you don’t have long to live.”
“However, I can save you.”
“What? You’re talking nonsense!” Mrs. Yang snapped.
Seeing this, Madam Jiang immediately rebuked her, “Mrs. Yang, if you don’t believe my Shutang, so be it, but what right do you have to shout at her? We came here today to seek justice, not to give you a medical consultation!”
Mrs. Yang’s face turned purple with rage.
At that moment, the physician happened to arrive.
Mrs. Yang, as if seeing a lifeline, immediately had him take her pulse.
The poison she had been afflicted with was no light matter. An ordinary physician naturally couldn’t detect it, only knowing that her pulse was unusual and her condition severe. “Madam, you don’t have long to live.”
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Yang felt as if the sky had collapsed. She staggered, nearly losing her footing. “What? I don’t have long to live?! Physician! Is there any way you can cure me?”
The physician let out a long sigh and shook his head.
Elder Sister-in-law Chen Wanrou said slowly from the side, “Mrs. Yang, you’ve seen it now—the physician said the same thing as my sister-in-law. If you don’t believe her, there’s no need to turn around and blame her.”
She then said to Madam Jiang, “Mother, since she won’t admit it, let’s just leave and go straight to the county office to file a complaint, and have Assistant County Magistrate Yang conduct the investigation himself.”
Madam Jiang nodded cooperatively. “Alright, let’s go now.”
Mrs. Yang panicked and hurried forward to block their way. “Sister, we’re all family—let’s talk things through properly, talk things through properly.”
After speaking, she signaled with her eyes for the maidservant to escort the physician out, then continued, “The poison you’ve been afflicted with truly has nothing to do with me.”
Madam Jiang’s gaze turned cold. “You still say it has nothing to do with you? From the moment I walked through the door, I never once said I was poisoned. How did you know I was poisoned?!”
Mrs. Yang’s mind couldn’t quite process this.
Madam Jiang let out a cold snort and continued, “You’ve incriminated yourself.”
Mrs. Yang slightly recovered her composure. “Sister, I was merely guessing.”
She then looked at Lin Shutang. “You said just now that you can save me—is that true?”
Lin Shutang nodded. “That’s right.”
The poison she had administered, of course she could cure it.
Mrs. Yang took small steps toward her. “You’re my sister’s second daughter-in-law, aren’t you? I never expected someone so young to have such excellent medical skills. Won’t you treat me, for the sake of being your aunt?”
Lin Shutang raised an eyebrow. “Just now, Mrs. Yang didn’t seem to believe me.”
“I believe you—how could I not believe you?” Mrs. Yang stepped forward and took her arm, a completely different person now.
Lin Shutang narrowed her eyes with a smile. “Just now I may not have made myself clear. I rarely give consultations.”
“If Mrs. Yang wishes for me to treat you, you’ll need to show some sincerity.”
Mrs. Yang thought she wanted silver. “Is fifty taels enough?”
Fifty taels?
A faint smile curled at the corner of Lin Shutang’s lips.
In a little while, the entire Yang family would be hers—why would she need silver?
She swept her gaze over Mrs. Yang. “I want the heirlooms my grandmother left to my mother.”
She had noticed upon entering that the vermilion hairpin on Mrs. Yang’s head, the necklace around her neck, and the bracelets on her wrists were all items from the Jiang family.
The moment her mother-in-law had seen them, her eyes had reddened slightly.
Mrs. Yang did it on purpose. Knowing her sister was coming, she deliberately wore all of Madam Jiang’s heirlooms on her person, intending to provoke Jiang.
Lin Shutang wanted those items, and she could simply collect them into her Kongjian later, but what she couldn’t stand was Mrs. Yang’s smug expression.
She wanted her to remove all of those things in front of everyone and personally return them to her mother-in-law.
Mrs. Yang’s face turned deathly pale. Clutching the bracelet on her wrist, she took a step back.
Her life in the Yang family was actually not good. Lord Yang was wealthy but extremely stingy.
The only things she could wear out to show off were these items.
Lin Shutang crossed her arms and smiled. “It seems Mrs. Yang is unwilling. Fine then, let’s go.”
With that, she turned and made to leave with Madam Jiang and the others.
“Wait!” Mrs. Yang gritted her teeth and called them back. “I’ll give them, I’ll give them. I’ll give them right now.”
She really was afraid of death.
Lin Shutang turned back around. “Good. Take everything out now and give it to my mother, and I’ll treat you immediately.”
“Now?!” Mrs. Yang’s face was ashen, feeling utterly humiliated.
Seeing her hesitate, Lin Shutang turned to leave again. “If you’re unwilling, then go find a physician yourself to treat you.”
The physician from earlier was already the best in Wanhexian.
Lord Yang certainly wouldn’t be generous enough to spend more silver to send her to the capital to find a doctor.
Mrs. Yang stopped her again. “Fine, I’ll give them, I’ll give them all. As long as you’ll treat me, I’ll give everything.”
With that, she raised her hands and, with great reluctance, removed the red jade hairpin, the dangling hair ornament, the pearl, the gold hairpin from her head, along with the pendant from her neck and the jade ornament from her waist.
She took off the jade bracelet and silver ornaments from her wrists and placed them all on the table beside her.
With her hairpins pulled out, her hair fell loose around her, leaving her disheveled and pitiful.
Madam Jiang looked at the heirlooms of her mother lying on the table, her slightly reddened eyes welling with tears.
Her sister-in-law supported her as she stepped forward and gathered them all up.
Lin Shutang walked up to Mrs. Yang and gave her a careful once-over. “There’s more.”
Mrs. Yang shook her head. “There’s nothing else.”
Lin Shutang stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. “Nothing else? Then what is that on your hand?”
Mrs. Yang looked down and saw it was the thumb ring on her finger.
“This…”
Lin Shutang furrowed her brow and said coldly, “Take it off.”
Despite her petite and gentle appearance, she had once been a skilled hand with a sniper rifle. A single sentence from her carried immense pressure.
Mrs. Yang’s wrist was squeezed painfully, and she quickly cried out, “Fine, fine, I’ll take it off.”