CHAPTER 241: CHAPTER 241: ATTACKED BY THIEVES

"Dr. Zeng, can my father and my younger brother be cured?" Elder Li San was most concerned about this.

Dr. Zeng sighed, "I can only do my best."

Old Master Li is not old, becoming paralyzed from a stroke at this time; ideally, with careful conditioning, there would still be a chance for him to speak again. But the problem is, Old Master Li fled here from a famine, and although he seems well, he is actually very weak. Now we can only do our best to save him, living one day at a time.

And Elder Si suffered brain damage from a high fever. Since ancient times, there has been no one whose brain was damaged by fever that could be completely cured.

Hearing this, Elder Li San had a surge of joy inside, but his face showed unbearable grief. Grasping Dr. Zeng’s hand, he implored with a choked voice, "Dr. Zeng, you are the best doctor in the Prefecture. Please think of a way, you must cure my father and my younger brother. My younger brother is still young, he doesn’t even have children yet, he can’t just be left foolish like this."

Seeing how distraught he was, Dr. Zeng almost knelt down before him and had to say, "I will definitely think of a way, definitely think of a way, rest assured. However, the illnesses of Old Master Li and Elder Si are urgent and require long-term medication, and the cost of the medication is not cheap, Elder Li San should be prepared."

Hearing this, Elder Li San paused, secretly calculating the silver spent these last few days on doctors for the old man and Elder Si... a total of one hundred and eighty taels. It has only been three days, and so much money has been spent, and more will have to be spent over the years. How could the Li Family’s money be enough for this?

Elder Li San instantly lost interest in treating them.

Master Qi, observing Elder Li San’s behavior, remembered what Gu Family’s daughter said to him that day, "She wants the Li Family never to rise again," and before saying this, she first asked if Elder Li San was capable?

Now it seems, Master Qi realized, Gu Family’s daughter wants him to keep Elder Li San down, never letting him have a chance to rise.

"Dr. Zeng, just prescribe the medicine, no matter how much it cost, as long as it can cure Old Master Li and Elder Si," said Master Qi.

Elder Li San was still calculating costs, startled by this statement, he exclaimed, "Cousin..."

Master Qi looked at Elder Li San, asking, "Hmm? Junming, is there something you want to say?"

Elder Li San choked, "No, nothing, Junming is just worried about father and Elder Si, was momentarily distracted."

Master Qi said, "You are tired, go rest for a bit, I will handle things here for now."

Feeling flattered, thinking Master Qi was helping him, Elder Li San said, "Then Junming will take a short rest, cousin, please see Dr. Zeng out."

Helping to send someone off would certainly mean helping to pay the consultation and medication fees.

Elder Li San thought he had made a profit, so he went back to his own courtyard to rest.

After Elder Li San left, Master Qi let Dr. Zeng prescribe the most expensive medicines. Both patients were severe, and he prescribed the best medicine, costing three hundred taels of silver in just five days. However, Master Qi neither advanced the consultation nor the medication fees, but said, "Put it on the tab, and next time when picking up the medication, the Li Family will pay it all together."

Elder Li San, being shrewd, knew Dr. Zeng’s consultation was expensive, and after the medication was finished, did not go back to Dr. Zeng, but rather to another doctor’s clinic, hired a doctor with average medical skills who casually prescribed some medicine for Old Master Li and Elder Si, just getting by.

However, people from the clinic where Dr. Zeng worked came to demand payment, and when Elder Li San learned that the medicine for those five days cost three hundred taels, he was so angry he nearly vomited blood!

But he had no choice but to pay, secretly cursing Master Qi while he took out three silver notes and gave them to the attendant, sending him away.

No sooner had this wave calmed than another arose.

The Protector of the Li Family who had escorted the Li Family while fleeing famine, and in order to protect the Li Family, had bloodied his hands on the road, was no longer the honest and upright servant of the past, but rather comparable to strong bandits. Seeing the Li Family in turmoil, a few Protectors banded together, and in the middle of the night, sneaked into Elder Li San’s room and stole most of the Li Family’s silver notes and the servants’ indentures.

By the time Elder Li San realized it, all the servants’ indentures were gone, and nearly ten thousand taels worth of silver notes had disappeared, leaving only three thousand taels of silver notes, along with some jewelry and broken silver.

Elder Li San was so furious that he fainted.

Mrs. Qu was crying her heart out, and hurried to pinch Elder Li San’s philtrum to revive him, finally awakening him, "Third Master, we must quickly report this to the authorities. We can’t let those traitorous thieves steal our family’s property."

"Right, report it to the authorities. We must have Lu Wang and the others captured!" Elder Li San, dragging his weary body, went to the Qi Family to find Elder Qi Er and together they went to the Prefecture Government Office to report the incident.

But Lu Wang and his group had already left the city, and the Prefecture Government Office was still accommodating some disaster victims, truly with no manpower available to search for Li Family’s people.

Elder Li San was shivering as he left the Prefecture Government Office.

As soon as he stepped out, Elder Li San couldn’t help but cry, "Cousin, what can our family do now? Those utterly conscienceless scoundrels took away most of my Li Family’s wealth in one fell swoop, even the servants’ indentures are gone. My father and younger brother are still ill, needing daily medication, how are we to live now?!"

Master Qi was also surprised that Li Family’s Protector would steal from his own master’s house, "Don’t get so worked up. Take good care of your father and younger brother. The Qi Family will help you look for Lu Wang and his group, but the chance of finding them is slim."

It is still chaotic in Central State, and if Lu Wang and his associates escape there, mixing in with the disaster victims and changing their identities, even if the Qi Family takes action, it would be difficult to find them.

"Go home for now, and lead a thrifty life from here on. It’s still possible to get by."

Though the Li Family had a large portion of their silver notes stolen, they still had three thousand taels of silver notes, nearly a thousand taels of silver, several boxes of jewelry, and a three-section mansion on Jiqing Street. Their lives were far better compared to those disaster-stricken refugees.

Hearing this, Elder Li San felt a rush of blood that nearly made him spit out blood.

Was he, Li Junming, supposed to live a frugal life? He was meant to enjoy a life of luxury, commanding servants and reveling in lavish meals.

Now that the silver was gone, along with the servants’ indentures, he would have to spend extra money to replace those contracts, otherwise, without a valid reason, he couldn’t pursue the servants if they fled.

After this incident, the Li Family was truly defeated, and Master Qi also wrote a letter informing the Gu Family of the Li Family’s affairs so they could be at ease.

...

Gu Jinli and his family rode in a carriage, journeying for a day, finally returning to Tianfu County.

Jiang Jiao personally took Gu Daya’s family to the county government’s Civil Affairs Office to register their new household.

When Master Qi came to the Jiang Residence to deliver their household registration, he also gave them a letter, stamped with the official seal of the Prefecture Government Office. With this letter, Gu Daya’s family could transfer their registration to Da Feng Village.

Gu Jinli and Gu Dashan also went along, planning to buy the remaining old houses at the edge of the village.

They had previously come to the county government to handle the deed for a house. However, several mud-brick houses at the village edge, half-collapsed and uninhabitable, still remained.

Although uninhabitable, as their family workshops were to be expanded in the future, they took this opportunity while passing through the county to purchase the remaining old houses, planning to rebuild them when they had the money later.

In the Civil Affairs Office of the county government, after the clerk reviewed Gu Daya’s family’s registrations and Master Qi’s letter, he did not make things difficult and quickly changed their registration for them.

Finally, he cautioned, "Those who have newly changed their registration may not change it again within three years; remember this."