After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Lu Huai was scolded by the Emperor because of the Zhu family's affair, and now he needs the Xie family to mediate. At this critical juncture, he absolutely cannot offend the Xie family. She had also heard about what happened at the Chrysanthemum Appreciation Banquet. The Empress valued Xie Chaoyun, and Princess Ping Le was on good terms with Lu Zhiyuan. It seemed that great fortune was about to befall the Marquis's family, and she absolutely could not let a foolish Ji Wanwan ruin everything.

After thinking it over, Madam Lu shook off Ji Wanwan's hand and said coldly, "Since you hit Qingzhi for no reason, then let Yuan'er hit her back."

Ji Wanwan's face was ashen.

Don't even mention that her old wounds hadn't healed; even if she hadn't been injured, thirty strokes of the cane would have taken a heavy toll on her life. She didn't want to die; she hadn't yet experienced wealth and luxury.

She pulled off the hairpin from her head and pointed it at her neck: "Since Yuan'er thinks I should die, then I will grant Yuan'er's wish."

"What's all this commotion? You're all trying to drive me crazy." Old Madam Lu tapped her cane. "Wanwan did make a mistake. She shouldn't have interfered in Yunniang's affairs and shouldn't have been greedy. As for the matter of the Commandant's Mansion, Yuan'er, you have no evidence and can't arbitrarily accuse your Aunt Ji."

Seeing Lu Zhiyuan's displeasure, Old Madam Lu coughed lightly and said, "Just give her ten lashes. We'll leave the rest until your Aunt Ji recovers."

Lu Zhiyuan didn't object. After all, she was the female lead in the book, and it wouldn't be good to kill her now. What if the plot went wrong? Her crappy system still hadn't told her what the mission was or how to return to the real world.

It was the same courtyard, the same few people, the only difference was that the person being beaten had changed.

Seeing Ji Wanwan approach, the two people being beaten seemed to have found their pillar of support and reached out for help. After learning that they had already been hit twenty times, Lu Zhiyuan waved her hand, signaling to drag them down, and pointed to the two blood-stained stools, saying, "Aunt Ji, you can choose whichever you like."

Ji Wanwan felt disgusted and refused to lie on it.

Lu Zhiyuan gave Lu Yun a wink, and Lu Yun took the specially made paddle from the servant and struck Ji Wanwan on the back. The nail pierced her skin, and Ji Wanwan fell forward, collapsing onto the stool with a piercing scream.

She knew it hurt, but she didn't know it hurt this much.

“Aunt Ji, don’t be afraid. I will ask Lu Yun to be gentler for the next nine strokes so that Father won’t feel sorry for you.”

Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, Lu Yun took out a small porcelain bottle and sprinkled the powder onto the board. This was a type of anesthetic powder developed by the young lady; it worked faster and relieved pain better. Qingzhi had endured the pain of the stitches thanks to this medicine.

The powder was sprinkled on the wooden board not out of pity for Ji Wanwan, but out of a desire to make her suffer even more intense pain.

The young lady once said that a person's tolerance for pain gradually increases. It's like being hit with a paddle; the first hit hurts a lot, but if you can endure it, the second and third hits won't hurt as much. As the hits continue, you get used to the pain. When the paddle is finally finished, there's a feeling of complete relief and ease.

Using Mafeisan makes all the difference.

You don't feel the pain while it's being administered, but once the anesthesia wears off, the excruciating pain will come crashing down on you.

Ji Wanwan was carried back, supposedly because they encountered Lu Huai, who reeked of alcohol, on the way. Lu Huai intended to go over to check on her, but upon smelling the nauseating stench of blood, he vomited all over Ji Wanwan.

It's easy to imagine how difficult that night was for Ji Wanwan.

Her mother hadn't returned yet. Holding the address Qingzhi had given her, she led Lu Yun to search each clinic one by one. When they found the clinic under the Xie family's name, they encountered someone from the Commandant's Office. This person was none other than Commandant Ma's subordinate. Upon seeing Lu Zhiyuan, his eyes lit up, and he greeted her with a smile.

"Miss, are you here to buy medicine?"

Lu Zhiyuan shook her head, looking at the seal on the shop. The seal was freshly affixed, the ink was still fresh, and it smelled of paste.

"It's either buying medicine or seeing a doctor." The man, holding his sword, said, "This place can't treat patients anymore. Everyone from the manager to the staff has been arrested. They've gotten involved in a murder case; they're probably quacks."

Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that they had gotten into a doctor-patient dispute.

Early in the morning, a middle-aged man brought his mother to see a doctor, saying that she had been suffering from severe abdominal pain after eating breakfast. The old woman was thin, hunched over, and pressed her hands hard against her abdomen.

Initial diagnosis revealed that the elderly woman's abdominal pain was not caused by a single disease, but was accompanied by obvious external injuries, leading doctors to suspect that she had been violently beaten.

The son denied it, saying that they had always been filial to their mother and that the doctor was just making things up for money. He demanded compensation from the doctor, arguing that the doctor had spread rumors and tarnished his reputation.

The doctor, not wanting to get into a fight, asked him to leave, but he threw a tantrum in public, pushing his mother to the ground. The old woman, writhing in pain, was met with condemnation from the onlookers.

When the son realized he couldn't get the money, he became enraged and abandoned his mother.

The doctor, unable to bear it, and seeing the old woman's desperate pleas, prescribed her some painkillers. The prescription clearly stated that this medicine only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. To cure the illness, the cause needed to be understood, and the old woman's son needed to agree and cooperate.

Two hours later, the old woman's son carried her back to the clinic. This time, she was bleeding from her mouth and nose, and had no breath; she was practically a corpse.

The old woman's son insisted that his mother was poisoned by medicine prescribed by the clinic and demanded compensation from the clinic.

With a corpse, a prescription, and eyewitnesses who had gathered to watch the commotion early in the morning, the clinic's claim of a fatal drug attack was supported by overwhelming evidence, making it difficult for the clinic to defend itself.

Upon hearing this, Xie Chaoyun rushed to the clinic, only to find it already surrounded by the old woman's son and his relatives and friends. She only said that she was the manager, and they turned around, swarming forward and raining countless punches upon her.

Xie Chaoyun knew martial arts and could easily deal with this rabble, but she crouched on the ground, covering her head, letting them punch and kick her. Whether as an unarmed civilian or a resentful victim, she couldn't bring herself to retaliate.

Upon learning that the clinic belonged to the Xie family, the subordinate sighed, "Fortunately, our people arrived in time and brought the chaotic scene under control. Miss, you didn't see how badly Madam was beaten; even I felt sorry for her."

Lu Zhiyuan gave Lu Yun a wink, and Lu Yun nodded and withdrew from the crowd.

He was going to investigate the background of that old woman and her son.

The young lady once said that there are no coincidences without a reason in this world, and even if there are, there must be a human element involved. What he needs to do is find that human element and clear the name of the lady and the clinic.

To ensure fairness and impartiality, the Commandant's Office sealed off the clinic and took away all those involved in the case, including Xie Chaoyun.

This was Lu Zhiyuan's first time visiting the Commandant's Mansion. Unlike the gloomy and terrifying government office she had imagined, it looked like an extremely ordinary courtyard, except that there was a courtroom inside.

The courtroom was empty; the disciplinary rod lay scattered on the floor, leaving obvious drag marks. Captain Ma approached, rubbing his hands together; several new scratches, left by the woman's fingernails, marred his cheek.