As the Japanese assumed they were cowering and their spirits soared, the crowd outside stirred, and a detachment of soldiers arrived.
"We heard someone reported to the authorities, saying someone deliberately smashed up the shop?"
Leading this troop of soldiers was their commander, who immediately ordered his men to surround the entire medical hall and walked in with a stern face.
At the same time, another voice rang out from the crowd.
"Make way, Lord Zhu is here!"
The crowd immediately parted, creating a path. The Prefect of Ningcheng, whom Ye Qingcheng had met a few days prior, emerged from the crowd, accompanied by a few burly escorts.
Glancing at the two groups that had suddenly arrived, Ye Qingcheng stood in a corner of the medical hall with her arms crossed, showing no surprise.
The shop assistant from before was sent by her to report to the authorities. Even Prefect Zhu Chang of Ningcheng was specially invited by her!
Both of them were indispensable for today's performance.
Only when everyone was present would the show be truly exciting!
Prefect Zhu Chang, walking through the crowd into the hall, was initially confused about what had happened. Upon seeing the Japanese men smashing the shop and Ye Qingcheng observing them indifferently, he knew things were not good.
"Your Honors, it was I who reported it. These Japanese came to my medical hall for treatment, not only refused to pay for the medicine but also smashed up my establishment!"
Ye Qingcheng looked up and spoke to the soldiers, intentionally withholding her identity by not greeting Zhu Chang first.
The Japanese men who had just finished smashing the shop, their arrogance still high, had initially felt a bit guilty upon seeing the soldiers. However, upon seeing Zhu Chang following behind, their confidence surged again.
Even when faced with Ye Qingcheng's accusations, they didn't lower their heads, maintaining an air of haughtiness and not refuting her words at all.
But Zhu Chang, at this moment, was in a state of panic, his face shifting from green to white, unable to quell his sense of impending crisis.
These Japanese men were all familiar to him, and they were accustomed to acting as bullies. He never expected them to run into trouble today.
Zhu Chang wanted to tell them Ye Qingcheng's true identity. However, under the eyes of so many people, suddenly revealing such information would seem out of place and might arouse Ye Qingcheng's suspicions.
Xiao Wangye and Ye Qingcheng had given him a hard time from the moment they arrived. Zhu Chang knew very well that these two were not easy to deal with and he absolutely could not reveal any weaknesses to them.
However, the soldiers were all low-ranking officials who understood none of these intricate matters. After paying their respects to Zhu Chang, they took both parties back to the yamen.
This incident caused a great stir. Coupled with the reputation of the medical hall that Ye Qingcheng had established throughout the day, many citizens rushed to the yamen to watch.
It was rare for them to see someone daring to confront the Japanese.
Following them, Xiao Wangye also brought his men and followed suit.
In the court, Zhu Chang sat in the main seat, feeling as though he were sitting on pins and needles.
Ye Qingcheng's refusal to reveal her identity was a clear indication that she intended to keep it hidden.
For now, he could only comply with her wishes and not expose her.
On the other side, the Japanese, confident with Zhu Chang present, confronted Ye Qingcheng with full conviction. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Lord Zhu, our smashing of the shop was not without cause. This medical hall is a greedy establishment that deliberately charged us exorbitant fees for medicine and discriminated against us as Japanese."
The Japanese men spoke first, vehemently accusing Ye Qingcheng of her actions.
However, Ye Qingcheng remained composed, appearing innocent as she shrugged and retorted:
"Discrimination? We did no such thing. The reason the medical fees were higher is because the medicinal ingredients were transported from elsewhere, making them expensive. Our medical hall never deliberately raised the prices of medicinal materials. When the cost is already high, we naturally need to make a profit, so we only added a small amount."
Ye Qingcheng's explanation was incredibly familiar to Zhu Chang. Was this not the same excuse he had given when Xiao Wangye questioned him about the Japanese merchant caravan maliciously inflating grain prices?
A cold sweat broke out on Zhu Chang's forehead, sending a jolt of panic through him as he suddenly understood something.
Meanwhile, the dispute in the hall was not over. The Japanese were silenced by Ye Qingcheng's words, rendered speechless.
But they quickly found another argument, angrily questioning Ye Qingcheng:
"Then why don't you charge everyone the same fee? Why only us Japanese are charged high prices, while locals only pay one qian!"
"The people of Ningcheng are struggling to even afford food. If I were to charge high medical fees, how could they survive? I am acting out of kindness."
"Then why do they pay one qian, and we pay a high price? You are discriminating against Japan."
Facing their accusations, Ye Qingcheng chuckled softly, casting a contemptuous glance at them.
Then, she turned to face everyone and declared in a loud voice:
"I will state just three points, and these three points are sufficient to prove my innocence."
"Firstly, I opened the medical hall, but I did not charge any exorbitant fees for my consultations. The high prices are solely derived from the medicinal ingredients."
"Secondly, as I mentioned, the medicinal ingredients you used were specially transported from other regions, incurring high costs. They should naturally be priced high."
"Thirdly, the rules were established at the entrance of the medical hall long ago, visible to all. The fees for Ningcheng locals and outsiders are different!"
Ye Qingcheng's words were resonant and powerful, causing everyone to nod in agreement, unanimously siding with her.
Zhu Chang, seated on the high bench, immediately grasped the hidden meaning behind her words and could no longer sit still.
He opened his mouth, intending to stop Ye Qingcheng, but his peripheral vision caught sight of him.
Xiao Wangye, dressed in casual clothes, stood among the crowd, his sharp gaze fixed on him, the meaning in his eyes unmistakable.
Zhu Chang retreated.
At this moment, especially with the crowd's righteous indignation, if he were to suppress Ye Qingcheng in front of everyone and side with the Japanese, he was certain that in the next moment, Xiao Wangye would accuse him of colluding with the enemy and treason.
If it were in the past, he could have managed to suppress his assistance to the Japanese. But now, the Regent's Consort was one of the involved parties, and the Regent himself, holding an imperial decree to investigate the Japanese, would surely not dare to step forward.
When Ye Qingcheng finished speaking, everyone present believed she was referring to the medical hall. Only Xiao Wangye and Zhu Chang understood that she was using this incident to implicitly refer to the Japanese merchant caravan's malicious inflation of grain prices.
On this matter, Zhu Chang was in an awkward position and could not intervene. He could only let them argue in the hall, unable to utter a single word.
The Japanese, seeing his prolonged inaction, became anxious, unwilling to accept this accusation and suffer this loss.
Thus, they shifted their focus, inadvertently falling into the trap Ye Qingcheng had set.
"This is a greedy medical hall. The ingredients are not that expensive, no matter where they are sourced from."
Several of them had consumed the medicine and, upon closer inspection, realized that the ingredients were not rare varieties at all, and therefore could not possibly justify such high prices.