Physician, Not A Consort
Chapter 151: I Will Not Spare You

"Return Physician Lin back to us, Chen Birou! Return Physician Lin back to us!” One of the commoners picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Chen Birou’s head. Chen Birou wasn’t quick enough to dodge it and ended up with a bleeding wound. The guards hurriedly swooped in to subdue the crowd.

Chen Birou covered the wound with a hand while Yanping scrambled to find something to patch her up. She pushed Yanping away and wiped away the blood on her face, ordering the guards, “Kill them! Kill them all!”

The guards paused. That wouldn’t do!

More and more commoners gathered outside the Prince Residence. Flute had arrived with people from the plantation as well. Lin Yuchen rushed up to Chen Birou and grabbed her by the hair, slapping her across the face again and again as he snarled, “How dare you sell my sister?! How dare you?! I’ll have you - ”

Chen Birou was seeing stars. The guards hurriedly returned to attack Lin Yuchen, knocking him down with kicks. Flute and Sword leapt forward to grapple the guards. The guards were naturally no match for Flute and his brothers, and they ended up losing in no time.

Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Yanping grabbed Chen Birou and made for the door. The silent steward suddenly extended his leg to trip her. Yanping looked up at the steward, stunned, while Chen Birou unsteadily rose to her feet and slapped him.

“How dare you do this to me, servant!”

With an impassive expression, the steward kicked Chen Birou in the stomach. “I may be a servant, but Consort Lin has cured my wife. I’m getting revenge for Consort Lin!”

Chen Birou didn’t expect the steward to be this bold. In her memory, he had always been a timid lowly servant. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Then Minister Chen arrived with a large group of soldiers he had gathered, and they clashed with those from the plantation. Minister Chen helped his daughter up and yelled urgently, “Physicians! Get me a physician!”

“Spread the words to the physicians in the capital,” Imperial Physician Chen shouted. “If anyone dares treat Chen Birou, there won’t be a place in the city left for them!”

The commoners immediately rushed to the different hospitals and pharmacies to tail every physician on shift. The entire city had been caught in the clash.

Meanwhile, Guihua had found Zheng Feng, who was still searching through every household with his face covered in dust. Wangchen was with him as well. They were surprised to see Guihua.

“Commander Zheng, His Majesty ordered for you to head to Yangzhou immediately,” Guihua said as she panted. “Chen Birou sold Consort Lin to a brothel in Yangzhou!”

Zheng Feng blanched and flew up onto a horse, followed by Wangchen. Chen Luoqing had left the city in search of Lin Haihai with the other princes. Zheng Feng halted his horse when he reached them and said, “Your Highnesses, General Chen, this lowly official will head to Yangzhou after His Majesty. Please keep a close eye on Prince Pingnan in the meantime!”

“Physician Lin was taken to Yangzhou?” Chen Luoqing’s eyes were bloodshot, making his exhaustion clear.

“Chen Birou poisoned and sold her to a brothel in Yangzhou!” Zheng Feng explained slowly. The revelation struck the general and the princes like lightning, rendering them motionless.

Zheng Feng braced the pain in his heart and commanded his horse to head to the south. Before following him, Wangchen told Chen Luoqing, “We’ll leave the imperial court in your capable hand, General Chen!”

Chen Luoqing nodded. “Leave it to me, Consort Zhuang!”

He had momentarily reverted back to her old title, but she didn’t feel the need to correct him. She no longer cared about the way people addressed her.

“Chen Birou!” Chen Luoqing’s eyes shone icily. “I will not spare you!”

The princes exchanged glances, their hearts heavy. They didn’t expect the gentle woman to be capable of such atrocities.

Yanping panickedly stopped the bleeding for Chen Birou and wiped away the mud on her face, which was swollen and covered in bruises. Her beauty was effectively  destroyed. Minister Chen paced around with his hands behind his back and reprimanded her, “Why would you do something this foolish, my daughter?”

Chen Birou pushed Yanping away and said coolly, “Don’t worry, Father. His Highness has decided to divorce that bitch. I simply taught her a lesson. The prince wouldn’t do more than saying a few disapproving words. All this time, he’s never been able to even scold me. Some days ago he even hit that bitch for badmouthing me. Fret not, Father. His Highness’s heart belongs to me!”

She laughed. “His Highness will only feel bad for me when he sees me like this. He wouldn’t blame me for what I did!”

Minister Chen shook his head, his long beard swishing about. “Even if His Highness doesn’t hold you accountable, the citizens of the capital, the empress dowager, and the emperor won’t let you off the hook!”

“Why are you so scared, Father?” Chen Birou remained unfazed. “Grand Chancellor Yan has said that the world will soon fall under a new ruler. Why would I be afraid of the emperor and the empress dowager? As for the commoners, they’ll get what they deserve for what they did to me!”

Minister Chen was stunned. “Grand Chancellor Yan was involved as well?”

“That’s right. It was the First-Grade Madam who helped me!” she said in a pleased voice. “It was thanks to her that the plan went as smoothly as it did. Even if she hadn’t gone to the dining hall alone that day, we would’ve found a way to make her end up on her own. We’d been planning for this for a long time!”

Minister Chen thought for a moment. “Go back home for now. Then it’ll be easier for Father to protect you!”

He was still worried that accidents might happen. Things didn’t seem as simple as she thought it was.

“It’s fine. His Highness will be protecting me. You should go back home first!” Chen Birou pushed him away. “It’s fine. I’ll just stay in the residence.”

“Keep a close eye on your young mistress,” Minister Chen coldly ordered Yanping. “Don’t panic for the slightest thing!”

Scared, Yanping hurriedly said, “This servant understands!”

“Then I’m going, Birou,” Minister Chen said. “Be careful!”

“It’s fine. Go ahead!” Chen Birou cracked an insidious smile. “Leave twenty men with me, Father!” Oh the good old steward. She would show him who was in charge!

“Good idea.” Minister Chen turned to say to the group of guards, “Protect the young mistress with your men, Mingkun. Don’t let anyone hurt her!”

A freckled man stepped forward to accept the order. “Rest assured, Sir. This lowly guard will do everything in my power to protect her.”

“You better,” Minister Chen said darkly. “This official will be taking my leave.”

As soon as Minister Chen was out of her sight, Chen Birou scowled and ordered Zhang Mingkun, “Take the steward to me!”

Zhang Mingkun did as she said. In fifteen minutes, he and his men had returned with the steward. He dropped the old man on the ground and cupped his fists at Chen Birou. “Here he is, Young Mistress!”

The steward shuddered and looked up at Chen Birou with greyed, resentful eyes. He’d seen his fair share of bad people in his long years, but he’d never met someone as vicious as she was.

Chen Birou scoffed and walked up to the steward, slapping him across the face and snarled, “You dare kick your master, you old dog?! Which leg is it? Break it!” She turned to Zhang Mingkun. “Break both his legs now!”

The steward scrambled to his feet and shouted at Chen Birou, “Do you really think of yourself as the princess consort? Do you really think His Highness won’t punish you? In my mind, there has only ever been one princess consort, and it’s not you!‘

Enraged, Chen Birou ordered, “Beat him. Beat him to death! Let’s see if he’ll keep running his mouth then!”

A few guards swarmed up to the steward and threw punches at him. The steward was too old to take such hard swings. Soon he was beaten to an inch of his life.

Finally, the plantation workers and the common people who had been fighting Minister Chen’s soldiers managed to break through the door and rush into the Prince Residence. From afar, Flute saw the steward getting beaten. With a few leaps, he reached Chen Birou’s building and kicked away a few guards, saving the old steward who now resembled a tattered rag doll more than a man.

Guihua had returned to the residence then. Flute recognized her as Master’s maid. He told her, “Get Yang Hanlun here. He must deal with this matter properly no matter what!”

Guihua glared at Chen Birou with fire in her eyes. She wanted nothing more but to run up to strangle her. “You must not let the woman go free, Master Flute! Have your men stand guard at the door to keep her from running away. I’ll seek out the prince at once!”

Chen Birou was worried when she saw Flute, but she regained her calm when she heard that Guihua was going to find the sixth prince. He would take her side no matter what happened. He had promised her that!

-----

Yang Hanlun was keeping the empress dowager company in the palace. The empress dowager was feeling drowsy after the stroke. Defu reported that Guihua asked to see him outside the Ci’an Palace. Yang Hanlun’s heart pounded. He was about to go outside when the empress dowager woke up like she had sensed something. She called out to the eunuch, “Tell her to enter!”

Defu left to carry out her order. Then Guihua entered timidly before dropping to her knees and kowtowing respectfully. “This servant greets Your Majesty and Your Highness!”

The empress dowager recognized her as Lin Haihai’s maid. She said with a softer voice, “What did you visit the palace for?”

Guihua panicked. She couldn’t let the empress dowager know. The old woman wouldn’t be able to take the shock in this state. Stuttering, she said, “The secondary consort is feeling unwell. She asked for Your Highness to return!”

“Birou’s feeling unwell?” Yang Hanlun asked worriedly. “What illness does she have?”

“It’s probably just something she ate,” Guihua stammered out a lie. “She said she had a stomach ache!”

Her eyes shifted around when she was anxious. The empress dowager pulled a long face and ordered, “Look up at this Empress Dowager, Guihua!”

Scared, Guihua almost collapsed to the floor. Yang Hanlun noticed her abnormal reaction as well and demanded with a scowl, “Just get it out already, Guihua. What happened?”

Guihua knocked her head on the floor and broke into tears. “Your Majesty, Your Highness, you must find justice for Consort Lin!”

The empress dowager raised her voice in worry, “What’s going on? Just tell us! Do you want to worry this Empress Dowager to death?”

Guihua looked up at her and said pitifully, “Consort Chen had Consort Lin kidnapped and sold to a brothel in Yangzhou!”

She threw herself prone onto the floor and bawled. Enraged, Yang Hanlun kicked her down, but she stubbornly insisted, “This servant is telling the truth!”

Yang Hanlun trembled with fury. “How dare you lowly servant run your mouth in the palace? If it isn’t for your master, this Prince would kill you here and now!”

Guihua took off the silver hairpin in her hair and held it to her neck, crying out, “This servant is telling the truth and only truth, Your Majesty, Your Highness! Consort Lin has been sold to a brothel. She would’ve ended up killing herself to avoid being humiliated. This servant is deeply indebted to Consort Lin and will not live when Consort Lin is dead! This servant only wishes for Your Majesty to hold the culprit accountable for Consort Lin. All the citizens of the capital know what happened, and a large crowd has surrounded the Prince Residence to make Consort Chen pay. The steward was beaten half to death by her people. He would’ve died if not for the workers at the plantation!”

She raised her hand to stab at her own neck.

Yang Hanlun glared at her in fury. He was certain that Guihua was spreading lies. He knew what kind of a person Birou was. He knew everything about her!

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