Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Never Bow Your Head

Over thirty years ago, the Zhao Family of Taiyu City was one of the most prominent major families. However, after offending a Direct Disciple from the Cyan Yuan Sect, the annual tribute of Cultivation Resources they were forced to provide began to increase. Unable to sustain this for more than a few years, the Zhao Family started to decline.

When a major family begins to show weakness, neighboring powers will swarm them like hyenas, devouring them until nothing is left.

The members of the Zhao Family either died or fled for their lives.

Zhao Qiyang was one of those family members. At the end of his rope, he was taken in by Lingyu Palace. They helped him create a new identity and plant him inside the Cyan Yuan Sect as a mole.

The ultimate source of the Zhao Family’s downfall was the Cyan Yuan Sect. Therefore, Zhao Qiyang agreed without a second thought; revenge had become his obsession.

Later, Lingyu Palace also found his younger brother, Zhao Ziqing, and arranged for him to enter the Cyan Yuan Sect. Zhao Qiyang secretly pulled some strings to have Zhao Ziqing transferred to the Medicine Hall, intending to help him become a Pharmacist’s Assistant.

The plan was set. They were targeting the vacant Pharmacist’s Assistant position under Xu Gaocen, because as an Intermediate Pharmacist, Xu Gaocen knew more of the Cyan Yuan Sect’s secrets.

Unfortunately, Yang Chan got there first. Zhao Qiyang had originally planned to help by secretly arranging for Zhao Ziqing to become another Pharmacist’s Assistant, but he was suddenly reassigned and had to leave the mountain with Liu Xuan and other Sect members. Naturally, the matter had to be postponed.

Although they were biological brothers, they almost never revealed their relationship in public, and their private contact was also very infrequent. Thus, to any outsider, the two appeared to have no connection at all.

What Zhao Qiyang never expected was that their meeting before he left the mountain would be the last time they would ever see each other. The thought filled him with immense fury.

He had cursed the mighty Cyan Yuan Sect countless times in secret and leaked an endless stream of intelligence about it, yet the Sect remained as powerful as ever.

An alliance of the Three Major Sects had been forced to retreat and defend their own mountain gates; the battle had nearly reached their very doorsteps.

And this was the result, even after he had leaked countless pieces of valuable intelligence.

Because of these intelligence leaks, the Cyan Yuan Sect had realized there was an internal problem and had been investigating. A few moles had already been caught, but they were all low-ranking and couldn’t be traced back to him.

But if this continued, he would be in grave danger too. Therefore, he needed a scapegoat. The prime culprit who caused Zhao Ziqing’s death, Yang Chan, was the target he had selected over the past few days.

However, it now seemed this chosen target was not so simple.

“I was the one who prepared the medicine for Xu Yuan in the third bed upstairs in Room Bing.”

Yang Chan quickly recalled the process of preparing Xu Yuan’s medicine packet. Although he had been busy with his tasks, his Tai Chi Health Cultivation Skill had reached Tier Three, greatly enhancing his memory, so he was able to recollect the details swiftly.

He replayed the memory in his mind and confirmed that someone must have tampered with it afterward.

“I know you prepared it. By concocting this kind of medicine, you were trying to kill Xu Yuan.”

Zhao Qiyang flared up again, directly pronouncing judgment on the matter.

“Doctor Zhao, why are you being so arbitrary? Could it be that a mistake was made on your end, and now you’re looking for a mere Pharmacist’s Assistant like me to take the fall?”

Yang Chan’s brow furrowed slightly. With his first words, he escalated the issue, intending to draw the attention of the crowd.

“Besides, even if something went wrong in the Pharmacy, it should be handled by Pharmacist Xu, not you,” Yang Chan continued, bringing up Pharmacist Xu’s name.

His five senses were sharp, and he had naturally noticed the inexplicable malice coming from Zhao Qiyang. The person handling this matter couldn’t be a Basic Level Pharmacist like Zhao Qiyang; it had to be the one in charge of the Pharmacy, Xu Gaocen.

He was Xu Gaocen’s Pharmacist’s Assistant. It would be far better to have Xu Gaocen handle the investigation than to leave it to Zhao Qiyang.

“Are you suggesting that I, a Pharmacist, am not qualified to deal with you?” Zhao Qiyang roared, his voice cold.

“Of course not. I am an Official Disciple of the Cyan Yuan Sect. If someone is to handle my case, it could be Pharmacist Xu, the head of the Pharmacy, or the Law Enforcement Hall, but it does not include you.”

Yang Chan retorted directly. ’When trouble finds you, if you can fight it, you must not back down. Otherwise, the situation will only get worse.’

It was like in a modern workplace: when a major problem arose, someone would always look for a scapegoat. The person who meekly accepted the blame would inevitably face more trouble later—a ruined reputation, a tarnished name in their field, or worse, huge financial liabilities or even jail time.

Therefore, in a situation like this, the bigger the scene he made, the better. It would force someone more impartial to step in and handle it, ensuring the blame wouldn’t ultimately fall on him.

“Furthermore, Pharmacist Zhao, you want to pin this whole medicine packet issue on me with just a single sentence? You haven’t even asked who handled it in between, or whether someone might have swapped the herbs. Are you being overly arbitrary, or are you just desperate to pin this on me?”

Yang Chan threw the trouble right back at Zhao Qiyang.

He was certain he had done nothing wrong, which meant the one causing trouble must be the one with something to hide. He wasn’t afraid of an investigation; the other party, however, might not feel the same.

“What’s going on here?”

Xu Gaocen had heard the commotion and came out. A sizable crowd had gathered, and he had no choice but to step in and handle it, as he was the one in charge of the Pharmacy.

“Pharmacist Xu, it’s like this…”

Yang Chan strode over quickly, not giving Zhao Qiyang a chance to speak first, and clearly explained the situation from his perspective.

“I see. Pharmacist Zhao, do you have anything to add?”

After listening, Xu Gaocen nodded in understanding. He didn’t just take Yang Chan’s word for it, but turned to question Zhao Qiyang.

He was well aware of the principle that one must hear both sides of a story to see the truth.

“Today, I was…”

After glaring at Yang Chan, Zhao Qiyang recounted his side of the events and his conclusions.

Things had already escalated beyond his expectations, but he still had to make the accusation stick.

“Is that so…”

Just as Xu Gaocen finished listening and was about to state his conclusion, Yang Chan interrupted.

“Pharmacist Xu, this disciple recalls the preparation process. The box of February Red was taken from the tenth medicine chest on the fifth shelf in the pharmacy in Courtyard Bing. It was Lü Le who selected that medicine chest.”

“And besides myself, others who used February Red from that same chest to prepare medicine packets include Sun Qi Wu and Xu You. Their prepared packets should still be there, by the patients’ bedsides…”

As Yang Chan spoke, he was recalling these details. While he didn’t quite have a photographic memory, it was far superior to that of an ordinary person.

“If there’s nothing wrong with those medicine packets, and there’s nothing wrong with the chest Lü Le selected, then for the original two liang of February Red to have become two liang of Dianthus, someone must have tampered with it. They might even be using this to harm the disciples of the Cyan Yuan Sect.”

“A similar incident of medicine swapping has happened before in the Cyan Yuan Sect. If someone swapped the herbs now, it’s highly likely the work of a mole from an enemy sect.”

“Therefore, this disciple requests a thorough investigation into this matter.”

Yang Chan’s words began by clearing his own name, then skillfully guided the suspicion toward a mole from an enemy sect. He had successfully escalated the incident, forcing whoever was pulling the strings in the shadows to reveal themselves.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep