The people next to him burst into hearty laughter after hearing Doctor Liu’s words, teasing that young fellow from the Wang Family until his face was burning with embarrassment before they finally stopped.
Yet Wang Yongzhu insisted that Doctor Liu apply medicine and bandage every one of the slightly injured people, and even demanded the bandages to look as if they had broken arms or legs.
Doctor Liu puffed up his beard and glared with wide eyes, feeling insulted. Was this a mockery of his medical skills? Some of these injuries didn’t even need ointment, yet he was asked to bandage them as if they had broken limbs – was this questioning his medical expertise?
Although he felt inclined to refuse, he was getting on in years and was well aware of Lady Jiang’s formidable nature, fearing he couldn’t withstand even a flick of her finger.
Resignedly, he went from one injured Wang Family member to the next, bandaging them up like sticky rice dumplings, pulling the bandages so tight that they could hardly move, almost as if their arms and legs were truly half disabled.
While being reluctantly bandaged, those uninjured Wang Family clanspeople looked at each other, chuckling and making a mockery of themselves.
After finishing the task, Doctor Liu turned to Wang Yongzhu and asked, "Alright, is there anyone else who needs to be seen?"
The moment Doctor Liu laid eyes on the scene, he noticed the big man in front of Wang Yongzhu had an arrow in his arm that was still bleeding, and not far away, another man was lying on the ground with an arrow in him, wincing in pain.
However, since he was brought in by the Wang family and they had not yet spoken up, it wasn’t his place to say anything. Now that everyone at the Wang family’s side had been attended to, as a doctor, he couldn’t just stand by and watch people get hurt and do nothing, right?
Wang Yongzhu pointed at Boss Ma and his men, "For these two gentlemen, please just give them a quick bandage, Doctor Liu. As long as they don’t die on my Wang Family property today, that’ll do."
What kind of statement was that?
Doctor Liu was taken aback, but after seeing the Wang Family clan people around, he knew this was another dispute in the making.
Without saying much, he cut off the arrows, pulled out the arrowheads, slapped on some medicine haphazardly, made sure to stop the bleeding, then wrapped them up carelessly and left it at that.
Boss Ma and his men, now under the roof of another, could not help but bow their heads and dare not complain.
Still, once Doctor Liu’s medicine was applied and a cool sensation followed by the cessation of bleeding occurred, they knew their lives were spared.
Wang Yongzhu handed Doctor Liu a heavy purse as thanks and saw him off.
After being examined and declared fine, Wang Yonggui was carried back to his own room by Jindou and Jinhoo to rest.
Lady Jiang and several children stayed by his side, not daring to leave for even a moment.
Lady Lin, who had come out earlier, saw her husband hugging Laosan and crying. First shocked, she then sighed in relief that it wasn’t her own man who was in trouble.
But when she later heard that it was Wang Yonggui who had taken a blow for her husband with a pole, which could otherwise have cracked his skull open, she couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat of relief, looking at Wang Yonggui with eyes filled with gratitude.
Seeing that Lady Jiang and her family were only tending to Wang Yonggui, Lady Lin took the initiative to boil a pot of hot water and brought it to the third brother’s wife, "Sister-in-law, I’ve boiled a pot of hot water. You should wipe down third brother’s body while he’s still unconscious and steam the injured parts with the hot water."
In rural folk remedies, it’s said that rolling freshly boiled eggs over the bruises or steaming them with a hot towel can speed up the healing process.
Lady Jiang wiped away her tears, thanked Lady Lin, took the hot water, and began wiping down Wang Yonggui’s body and steaming his injuries without further mention.
Outside in the courtyard, the Wang Family Patriarch, who had received the news, and Wang Laozhu, who had felt lost without his authority and often wandered the fields aimlessly, both returned.
Wang Laozhu first went to see Laosan, who was injured and still unconscious, then returned to the courtyard. The Wang Family Patriarch was discussing with Wang Yongzhu how to handle Boss Ma and his group of people.
Previously, the Wang Family Patriarch was quite dissatisfied with Wang Yongzhu taking charge, questioning who else had an unwed daughter in charge of family affairs?
But then he thought, Wang Yongzhu becoming the head of the Wang Family was a matter of fate and a situation that couldn’t be helped.
He had initially intended for Wang Yongzhu to manage things temporarily until the Wang Family could recover. As the Clan Leader, he certainly planned to intervene, not wanting a woman to be in charge permanently when there were men available.
He hadn’t expected that Wang Yongzhu would get involved in dyeing fabrics and even receive rewards from the ladies of the palace. Putting other things aside, just the reputation alone had raised the standing of the Wang Family’s daughters.
People from other villages knew that the Wang Family daughters had received praise from the palace and came to propose marriage in droves, quickly resulting in several matches being made.
Not to mention, since Wang Yongzhu took charge, the matter of water theft had increased the Wang Family’s influence in the village. Furthermore, their collection of mountain produce had significantly benefited the villagers.
No longer needing to travel far to the town to sell their goods and getting a better price, who wouldn’t be happy?
Now in the village, aside from the Lizheng, the Wang, Song, and Li families were already implicitly regarding the Wang Family with the most respect.
Although the Wang Family Patriarch was older, he was not rigid in his thinking. Seeing how Wang Yongzhu, a young girl, had brought so much benefit to the Wang Family since taking charge,
he had completely stopped mentioning the idea that women should not be in charge.
Now, it seemed like the trouble was targeted at just the Wang Family, but if these people succeeded, the Wang Family’s businesses would fail. The influential status the Wang Family had gained because of these achievements would no longer be secure.
This was no longer a matter concerning only the Wang Family, but an issue that affected the entire Wang Family Clan.
However, he was aware of Qian Dahao’s influence in Shiqiao Town and knew it was not to be underestimated. Engaging in a direct conflict might not end favorably for the Wang Family.
This was why his attitude was rather conflicted.
Wang Yongzhu couldn’t concern herself with all of that. Qian Dahao had previously tested them with substandard goods, and she had been preoccupied with other matters, unable to deal with him immediately.
She didn’t expect that only a few days later, Qian Dahao would become impatient and resort to even more despicable and violent tactics.
According to what Boss Ma had confessed, the implicit message in Qian Dahao’s words was to scare the Wang Family members by injuring them severely—aiming to cause at least some disability, if not take a life.
Otherwise, why would Boss Ma and his men start by aiming their clubs at the heads of Wang Yongfu and Wang Yonggui?
The man who injured Wang Yonggui also told Boss Ma that they didn’t intend to take any lives at the moment, so they measured their strikes carefully, aiming to knock people unconscious for a week or two, or break the legs of the Wang Family members so they couldn’t gather mountain produce, which would settle the matter.
After hearing the entire story, Wang Yongzhu was simultaneously terrified and infuriated.
She had previously heard a comic dialogue that said, "In the deep cold of winter, one yearns for spring’s warmth; in the dead of night, one awaits the morning sun; beauties long for wealthy patrons, mistresses hope for hooligans; scholars studying at night wish for a female ghost, lonely old bachelors yearn for a wife; actors hope to win awards, and those who tell comic dialogues wish death upon their fellow performers."
Applied here, did those involved in gathering mountain produce also hope for the death of their fellow traders?
It wasn’t just hoping; they were actually attempting to kill their competitors!