Just after three o'clock in the afternoon, it was supposed to be the time for trading. However, Wang Ergou, a shop assistant at Wuya Pharmacy in Ruyi Pavilion, was lying on the counter, looking like he was sleeping in the cool autumn weather.

The usually harsh Mr. and Mrs. Wu did not intend to blame him for this.

This was because the people in the Capital loved luck the most, so the first day of each month was the coldest time for medical stores and pharmacies. Even old customers who couldn’t stop taking medicine would buy a few days in advance and refused to come to the market at the beginning of the month.

Only those who have an emergency or didn’t pay attention to their daily lives would choose to buy medicine at the pharmacy on the first day.

Over time, this first day became a good day for pharmacy apprentices to take a break from their busy schedules.

***Bang!***

Wang Ergou was dozing off when suddenly a loud noise came from his ear. He jumped up more than three feet and held up the medicine jar to look closer. However, at some point, there was already a middle-aged man standing with a horizontal eyebrow in the shop.

And just now, it was the middle-aged man who slapped the counter.

Before Wang Ergou could take a closer look, the man burst out and cursed, "What? What's the point of such a turtle grandson trying to hit someone?! Come on, come on, let's see what kind of people in the Capital can bully people like that!"

This out-of-town accent was spoken urgently and quickly, and Wang Ergou only managed to get a rough idea of it. However, seeing him staring at the medicine jar in his hand with a disheveled face, he could roughly guess what was going on.

He must be a newcomer from outside the city who was tricked by the mischievous thugs in the Capital, so he suppressed his resentment a little bit.

Although Wang Ergou felt a little gloating in his heart, he didn’t dare to provoke him recklessly. He quickly put down the medicine jar in his hand and asked calmly, "What kind of medicine do you need?"

***Pop!***

The man slapped the medicine jar and shook it high on the counter again. When he raised his hand again, there was already a prescription on the table.

"This one!"

*Damn it, this out-of-town guy!*

Wang Ergou cursed inwardly, picked up the prescription, and glanced at it, only to find that half of the text on the prescription was blurred by sweat, and no matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to distinguish everything.

He couldn't help but frown and said, "Sir, your prescription has been soaked in sweat. I'm afraid you'll have to go back and ask for another one."

"What? Useless!"

As soon as the man heard these words, the veins on his neck swelled high, he spat and called out, "I'm waiting for medicine to save life. If you delay my brother's life, can you afford to pay for it?"

Speaking, he grabbed Wang Ergou's collar and shouted, urging him to prepare the medicine quickly.

The man didn't listen to what Wang Ergou said at all, tearing at him randomly. The commotion grew louder and louder and soon alarmed Mr. and Mrs. Wu in the backyard.

The landlady grabbed Wang Ergou, and the landlord stopped the man from going out of town. He kept asking about the reasons and consequences, and then the landlord asked for the prescription. After carefully scanning it, he smiled and said, "My guest, don't worry. This prescription should be the work of Dr. Liu from the Revival Hall. He often asks people to take medicine from us, even if the handwriting is blurry, I can roughly tell."

As he spoke, he took the paper currency and transcribed the prescription again. He then asked Wang Ergou to prepare all the medicine and hand it over to the man from another city. He warned, "Although this medicine is good, you must not mistake the amount and heat."

The man from another city softened his attitude when he saw him so kind and amiable.

After hesitating a few times and asking for the price, he hurriedly took out two hanging copper coins from his belt and counted them in detail. He handed them over to the owner and carefully wrapped the remaining money before hurriedly leaving the pharmacy.

"***Spit*** What a bastard!"

Wang Ergou chased up to the door and spat, then turned around with a smile on his face and said, "You're still good at buying and selling. You've collected twice the amount of money and made that fool grateful to you."

However, the landlord’s face darkened, and he cursed, "Monkey child, if I can't see it at first glance, you'll cause trouble for me! There aren't many customers around today, so go and memorize the prescription backward. If you can't memorize it tonight, you won't get to eat!"

Speaking, regardless of how much Wang Ergou begged, he and the landlady returned to the backyard.

Two flowers bloom, each representing one branch.

The man from another city who was buying medicine ran out two streets, then passed through alleys, and arrived at a dilapidated small courtyard. He knocked on the door several times, long and short.

The courtyard door opened in response, and a woman dressed in cloth and a hairpin flashed out, welcoming the man straight into the hall.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, the man immediately knelt on one knee, clasped his fists, and saluted, saying, "I’m Yang Licai, greetings to the Thousand Households!"

This voice was precise and round; it was the most authentic dialect of the Capital.

There were six or seven Dragon Guards crowded into this dimly cramped room, while a majestic man sat on a bench in the center. But who else could it be if it weren't Sun Shaozong?

Sun Shaozong leaned forward slightly and said, "So, have you already seen everything you should have seen?"

"I have seen it."

Yang Licai hurriedly said, "I followed your orders and pretended to be a wronged outsider. As expected, I led the landlord and his wife out."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sneer and said, "That Landlord Wu is really someone who hides his sword in a smile. He looked at me, seeing that I’m just a newcomer from outside the country, he f***ing charged me twice as much for medicine!"

Sun Shaozong didn't pay much attention to these trivial matters. He waved his hand and ordered, "It's not too late. You can choose the people first."

As soon as the words fell, the voice of a woman speaking could be heard from within, but the content was full of punches, completely devoid of any key points.

And after this woman finished speaking, another woman spoke up.

Just like this, five women in a row let out either high-pitched or soft voices, and then they fell silent again.

Yang Licai immediately confirmed, "The fourth one, the fourth one's voice is most similar to that of the Xu family."

Before the words could be finished, a woman came out of the room with a curtain, and her figure and appearance were three points similar to those of the Wu family.

Then Yang Licai followed suit and drew gourds, selecting the man with the most similar voice to Landlord Wu.

When both of them arrived outside, Yang Licai pointed out several obvious loopholes. The scout next to him, who was skilled in disguise, stepped forward and made some modifications until Yang Licai felt that there were five or six similarities, and then he gave up.

"Give it a try."

At this moment, Sun Shaozong raised his hand, and the scout in charge of disguise surrounded Yang Licai to the inside. Immediately after, the small Dragon Guard led in a man with a face full of fear from outside.

After the man entered the door, he saw Sun Shaozong sitting on a bench with a golden sword and immediately knelt with a thud. Just as he was about to cry out to Lord Qingtian, someone suddenly rushed down and said, "Dr. Liu!"

The man was taken aback, looked up, and followed the sound, only to see a pair of men and women standing in the dim corner, vaguely familiar with him. He couldn't help but blurt out, "Landlord Wu, why are you... here too?"

The two imposters listened to his conversation and leaned closer. The person pretending to be the Xu family screamed and said, "It's all because of you! What kind of prescription did you prescribe? It killed three people!"

"Three... three lives?!"

Dr. Liu was taken aback and sat on the ground in a panic. He said anxiously, "I... how could this be possible? I have never sought merit, but I have never made a mistake. I have never prescribed a prescription randomly. How could it possibly harm people and even kill three at once?"

"How impossible!"

Mr. and Mrs. Wu leaned forward and said sternly, "Would the Heavenly Master still wrongly accuse you?"

Dr. Liu was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up and kowtowed to Sun Shaozong like pounding garlic, repeatedly shouting his grievances.

Sun Shaozong calmly spoke in an official tone and asked, "If you have any grievances, get up and confront Landlord Wu first. If it's not that your prescription went wrong, there might be a problem with the medicinal herbs at Wuya Pharmacy."

Upon hearing this, Dr. Liu immediately jumped up and, like a cockfight, choked his neck, pushing all the blame onto Landlord Wu.

At first, Landlord Wu argued a few words, but later he was stumped by Dr. Liu's use of a large set of seemingly plausible medical theories.

Seeing that Landlord Wu couldn't resist and was repeatedly defeated, Dr. Liu was feeling smug when he suddenly heard Sun Shaozong said, "Enough, let's take this Dr. Liu down first."

Dr. Liu was stunned for a moment, just as he was about to inquire if he had escaped punishment, two gatekeepers, the Dragon Guards, rushed forward and wiped his shoulders, arms, and mouth, dragging him out.

At the same time, a burly man with a beard flashed up from there, kneeling on one knee in front of Sun Shaozong and asking, "My Lord, do you think these two people are still capable?"

Listening to this voice, it was Yang Licai himself.

"It should be enough."

Sun Shaozong nodded and said, "Wait until you exit through the back door, get everything ready first, and then take action immediately when the sky gets a little dark."

After a pause, he solemnly reminded, "This matter is of great significance, and you must be careful and not repeat the same mistake as last time."

"Don't worry, My Lord. Your plan is so detailed. If there is any further mistake, I won't have the face to come back to see you again."

After Yang Licai finished speaking, he saw that Sun Shaozong had no further instructions, so he called out five or six servants in green clothes and hats from inside, and together with the highly imitated Mr. and Mrs. Wu, they quietly slipped out through the back door.

Sun Shaozong watched as they rushed out in unison, and soon heard the sound of horse hooves and carriages rumbling. However, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh in his heart. It seemed that they were too sturdy, and it wasn’t a good thing.

Originally, the operation to capture Landlord Wu and his wife was most stable under his direct command, but with Sun Shaozong's stature, there were not many people in the Capital that could be found, and he was a bit eye-catching mixed in among them.

He had no choice but to entrust the task to Yang Licai.

Not to mention how anxious Sun Shaozong was.

Yang Licai led those people out of the back door and then led two horses and three carriages out of a courtyard.

The male servant dressed up, took a waist knife and a hunting bow from the starting cart. The maid dressed herself up by taking out a luxurious dress padded with cotton from the back of the caravan and hanging it on the fake Xu family.

When everyone took their positions, the carriages and horses rustled. His people took their weapons and were ready to face the pedestrians. They looked at the wealthy families who had returned from autumn hunting in the city!

This convoy had been circling around the city for half an hour, only to see it approaching a quarter past eleven in the afternoon before heading straight to Wuya Pharmacy.

"Stop, stop!"

Seeing that the front team had already crossed the boundless pharmacy, a little servant girl suddenly poked her head out of the carriage behind her and said in a sharp voice, "The Third Master's chronic illness has occurred again. Let Grandma go and buy the medicine back and save time coming back and forth."

After hearing these words, two maids from the carriage in front also got off and gave orders, saying, "Go to the pharmacy and take a look. Don't let any inconspicuous people collide with our Grandma!"

With a command, several wealthy slaves immediately got off the cart and stormed into the pharmacy like wolves. They soon came out to report that there were no idle people inside.

The two maids then helped a plump noblewoman out of the car and, surrounded by three or five wealthy slaves, entered the boundless pharmacy.

In about a quarter of an hour, the noblewoman finally emerged from the pharmacy. With just a few steps, her plump body seemed to be a bit tired. It was all thanks to the two maids pulling hard that she finally got back into the carriage ahead.

Not long after, the convoy resumed its journey, draped in the afterglow of the sunset, circling a long distance dully before finally returning to the back door of the small courtyard.

***Crunching~***

The carriage had not yet come to a steady stop when Sun Shaozong saw the back door running left and right. He strode out from inside and didn't speak, his eyes fixed on the carriage.

"Your Excellency."

Yang Licai quickly dismounted from his horse and lowered his voice, saying, "I am fortunate enough to live up to my fate!"

With a wave of his hand, the two wealthy slaves on the cart immediately pulled down a limp man, and the fat woman in the caravan was also pulled out by the two maids.

Yang Licai rolled up his sleeves and wiped off the makeup on their faces. If it wasn't Mr. and Mrs. Wu, who else could it be?

Sun Shaozong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, relaxed his hand, and said with a smile, "Landlord Wu, I have waited for a long time!"

Mr. and Mrs. Wu stared angrily but couldn't say a word.

Yang Licai said on the sidelines, "Kong Xiao and Jiang Tao, who pretend to be Mr. and Mrs. Wu, have successfully taken control of the shop assistant Wang Ergou. If any unrelated people are coming to their door, Wang Ergou will receive them first. If the thieves of the White Lotus Sect come to their door, they will immediately release a secret code."

After a pause, he bowed again, "Do you think we should interrogate now or..."

"Take it to the back first."

Sun Shaozong pointed to the courtyard across from him and said, "Let's wait for the news from the Ruyi Pavilion before we pay attention."

Yang Licai respectfully agreed and personally escorted Mr. and Mrs. Wu into the opposite courtyard.

Sun Shaozong turned his head back to the rudimentary courtyard, sat on the stool, and picked up a thick file from the table under the dim oil lamp, carefully studying it.

About two-quarters of an hour later, someone pushed the door in and respectfully reported, "Report to Inspector Sun, the door of Wuya Pharmacy has closed, and there is no abnormality around the Ruyi Pavilion."

***Tch!***

It seemed that the people of the White Lotus Sect did not send anyone to monitor Landlord Wu and his wife in the Ruyi Pavilion.

Sun Shaozong placed the files in his hand on the table, stretched his waist wide, and muttered, "Let's go. Follow me to the backyard to extort a confession. Otherwise, how can we justify the black materials specially sent by the Governor?"