Old Chang just chuckled.
"If I didn't have any skill, I wouldn't have this tone."
His old face instantly shed its pretense of goodwill.
Song Qingchao yielded no ground.
She opened the medicine packet in her hand and let it spill down, "Old Chang, you won't get far by peddling these counterfeit and inferior medicines."
Old Chang, angered, tapped his cane with a "da" sound.
"Escort them out," he said sternly.
As his words fell, two burly men stood up behind him.
Song Qingchao waved her hand directly.
"No need to be so polite, I'll leave on my own."
She then left, clutching her handkerchief. As she reached the doorway, she turned back and taunted, "You'd better be careful when using this moldy medicine, even after cleaning it. Don't end up causing a death."
After speaking, Song Qingchao left.
She truly didn't want to linger for another moment.
She paid no mind to the ensuing chaos in the shop after she left.
All she knew was that her wish to cause trouble had been fulfilled.
However, upon returning to the carriage, she discovered Lin Tingwan being surrounded by Zhou Zhengxi and the others.
Lin Tingwan had spotted Song Qingchao from afar.
Seeing Song Qingchao return, Zhou Zhengxi ceased blocking Lin Tingwan.
Song Qingchao grabbed the furious Lin Tingwan, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to beat that old geezer's teeth out! He's spewing nonsense!"
Song Qingchao's expression cracked slightly, but she managed to hold back, "Young lady, mind your manners."
She pulled the other woman back.
Lin Tingwan stubbornly thrashed her arms, but her efforts were futile against Song Qingchao's strength.
Her meager strength was nothing compared to Song Qingchao's...
"Zhengxi, drive the carriage back."
After a simple arrangement of her companions, Song Qingchao directly picked up Lin Tingwan and walked towards a dark alley behind them.
Lin Tingwan resisted, but Song Qingchao showed no hesitation, drawing her blade.
Lin Tingwan: "..."
I was just joking, why so serious?
She laughed and pushed Song Qingchao's blade back, "My lady, please don't be angry, we'll go now!"
Song Qingchao: "..."
She felt that this "transmigrator" was not quite normal.
She shook her head and followed.
Song Qingchao and Lin Tingwan waited in a small alley by the city gate.
While waiting for Chang Pinghe to arrive, Song Qingchao pondered the piece of glass in her hand.
"My lady, I've seen you fiddling with this. What are you trying to make?"
Song Qingchao thought for a moment before honestly replying, "Glasses."
She extended her hand and directly retrieved the crafted frame from her spatial dimension, "Do you know this?"
Lin Tingwan leaned closer, "So pretty."
She took the eyeglass frame, "Is it all gold?"
Song Qingchao nodded matter-of-factly, "Otherwise? It's not like I'm poor."
Lin Tingwan was speechless for a moment. She then recovered, "Are you using it yourself?"
"Giving it away," Song Qingchao replied casually, leaning against the wall.
"Giving it to Bai You'an?"
Song Qingchao naturally hummed an affirmative, but turned her face away, her earlobes flushing.
Lin Tingwan let out a knowing "Oh," her trailing tone as if reaching for the edge of the moon.
She was about to say more.
But Song Qingchao quickly cut her off.
"Don't move."
She collected the item from Lin Tingwan's hand into her dimension, then pulled the woman into the shadows.
Lin Tingwan's round eyes darted around, whispering, "These need prescriptions. I can help you."
"Hush."
She pressed Lin Tingwan down deeper.
Only when she identified the approaching person as Chang Pinghe did Song Qingchao let down her guard, emerging from the shadows to block the carriage.
The carriage was also arranged by her special request.
Otherwise, a general returning home in a carriage would seem somewhat unusual.
The two exchanged a look, and Chang Pinghe directly boarded the carriage.
Song Qingchao didn't wait for Lin Tingwan to say anything, directly pushing her into the carriage. Before it sped away, she gave a stern instruction, "Take good care of my sister-in-law."
As the carriage sped away.
She turned to look at Chang Pinghe's furrowed brow, "General Chang, there's no need to worry. Tingwan's medical skills are excellent, and she's very clever."
Chang Pinghe silently shook his head, "I'm not worried about that."
He hesitated for a moment, "I didn't expect you to guess correctly."
Song Qingchao snapped her fingers, "Man proposes, God disposes. Let's go."
...
The two traveled stealthily along the road.
Finally, led by Chang Pinghe, they crouched on the rooftop directly facing the city gate.
Song Qingchao settled down cleanly.
This was indeed an excellent vantage point.
Chang Pinghe, however, looked at her with a strange expression.
"What? Are you still curious how I knew?"
"No..."
Chang Pinghe stared intently at the activity at the city gate.
He was initially just surprised by Song Qingchao's nonchalance in crouching on the rooftop.
But to voice it now would be beneath his dignity as a general.
Song Qingchao completely misunderstood.
"Tingwan is truly capable."
"That's not what I meant..."
Song Qingchao was at a loss for words, and both of them fell silent.
Old Chang, as expected, did not disappoint him.
Soon, they saw a soldier inside the city furtively moving towards the city gate.
Chang Pinghe, enraged, was about to go down and apprehend him, but Song Qingchao held him back.
"Wait a moment longer."
After a short wait, they saw the original soldier being slowly replaced by others.
Once all the replacements were made, the city gate was opened, and several fully loaded ox carts entered sequentially.
The leader exchanged a few words with the soldiers.
However, a soldier inside the city asked, "Why so few? The letter said there would be many."
The leader shook his head helplessly, "That was before. Now diseases have broken out everywhere outside, and they won't even sell the dregs of the medicine. These are all I managed to stockpile, and they were almost snatched away. Be content!"
The men slowly pulled the carts inside, occasionally coughing.
"I'll go down and arrest them now!"
Song Qingchao did not agree, "Now? They can easily deny it if we arrest them now."
"With witnesses and evidence, why would they deny it!" Chang Pinghe was furious.
"Can you prove they were sent by the Chang family?" Song Qingchao threatened, moving closer, "Or will the general not be able to uphold justice even against his own kin?"
She sneered, "I thought the general would be different from others."
Chang Pinghe showed little outward reaction, but he stopped his actions.
"Very well. I will go down and organize people to follow them and see where they are going! If it's the Chang family! I, Chang Pinghe, will show no leniency!"
"Your righteousness is commendable, General."
After Chang Pinghe left, the worry on Song Qingchao's face did not lessen much.
Because the matter she worried about the most had indeed happened...
With disasters erupting everywhere, how could she possibly remain untouched?
Song Qingchao glanced at the situation below, then leaned over and jumped down.
Well, she would take it one step at a time.