On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2210 Please have some water

The woman raised her tearful eyes and looked into his eyes, as if trying to find a flaw in them.

She knew that Li Sanlang was always shrewd, but now that her life was at stake, she couldn't help but waver.

"You...you really will come to pick me up? You won't leave me here alone, will you?"

Li Sanlang reached out and gently hugged her shoulders, his voice tender: "Silly wife, you are the apple of my eye. We promised to enjoy happiness together, how could I abandon you?"

"Don't worry, you can get treatment here. I'll be back as soon as I get the money; there won't be any delay."

His voice was gentle, and his eyes were sincere. The woman hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto his sleeve: "Then you must come back soon. I'll be waiting for you here."

"Don't worry." Li Sanlang released her, a barely perceptible hint of urgency flashing in his eyes. He turned and, hugging the wall, sneaked out of the west courtyard.

The woman watched his figure disappear into the night, feeling empty inside. She both hoped he would return soon and felt vaguely uneasy, but for now, she had no choice but to trust him.

The night outside the courtyard grew darker. Li Sanlang kept his head down, avoiding the patrolling constables, and quickly walked through several quiet streets and alleys before turning into an abandoned house.

The house's walls were dilapidated, the courtyard was overgrown with waist-high weeds, and fallen leaves piled up among the broken walls, clearly indicating that it had been uninhabited for a long time.

He walked familiarly to an old locust tree deep in the courtyard, squatted down, and groped around a hole in the tree root for a while.

The tree hole was covered by fallen leaves and soil, and if you didn't look closely, you wouldn't notice anything unusual.

He pushed aside the clutter, reached into the tree hole, and quickly pulled out a heavy cloth bag.

Li Sanlang eagerly opened the cloth bag. Moonlight shone through the gaps in the branches and leaves, illuminating the gleaming silver inside, which looked to be about twenty or thirty taels.

His eyes lit up instantly, and a look of ecstatic joy appeared on his face. He reached out and rubbed the silver, his mouth agape in a wide grin—this was his reward for the trip, and with this silver, he could live a carefree life for a while.

He hastily stuffed the cloth bag into his arms, got up to leave, but froze on the spot as soon as he turned around.

In the shadow of the old locust tree, a figure suddenly appeared. His dark robes blended into the night, and his tall figure and piercing gaze were none other than Song Ping, who had been secretly following him.

Li Sanlang's smile froze on his face instantly, his joy replaced by sudden fear, and his face turned deathly pale.

He instinctively took a step back, his throat tightened, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Without wasting any words, Song Ping strode forward, reached out and grabbed Li Sanlang by the collar with a firm grip, making it impossible for him to break free.

Li Sanlang was not particularly thin, but in front of Song Ping, he was like a rabbit caught by a hawk, powerless to resist.

"W-What are you doing? Let me go!" Li Sanlang finally reacted, struggling and shouting in panic, "I didn't do anything to you, why are you grabbing me?"

Song Ping remained silent, but tightened his grip and dragged him out of the courtyard.

Li Sanlang's feet kicked wildly on the ground, trying to grab onto the weeds around him, but Song Ping forcibly pulled them away. He could only be dragged along, staggering forward, his shouts sounding particularly jarring in the silent night.

Song Ping dragged him out of the abandoned house and out of the narrow alley.

Outside the alley entrance, Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe stood side by side, the glow of the lantern illuminating their figures. The two looked calm, their gazes fixed on Li Sanlang, who had been dragged over, with a hint of indifferent scrutiny.

Upon seeing Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe, Li Sanlang's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground. All the color drained from his face, his lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with extreme fear.

He never expected to be discovered so quickly.

"Speak, what exactly do you want?" Song Ping shoved Li Sanlang forward, his voice low and powerful, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Li Sanlang staggered to his feet, clutching the silver in his arms tightly. His eyes darted around, but he still stubbornly insisted, "I...I didn't do anything!"

"I just... I just had some money hidden away because my wife is sick, and I wanted to use it to pay for her treatment. What's wrong with that? Why are you arresting me?"

Yan Ruyu waved her hand gently, her expression calm and composed.

Song Ping understood, stepped forward, and reached out to grope Li Sanlang's body.

Li Sanlang struggled to stop him, but Song Ping held his shoulders firmly, preventing him from moving.

Soon, Song Ping found the half-burnt incense stick and a small packet of residual white powder in his clothes.

Song Ping handed the items to Yan Ruyu.

Yan Ruyu picked up the half-burnt incense stick, sniffed it lightly, raised an eyebrow, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "This incense is of good quality, made with fine ingredients. You can't buy it in ordinary markets. The price must be quite high, right?"

Li Sanlang's face paled even more, his eyes filled with even more panic, and his lips moved, but he could not find any reason to defend himself.

Yan Ruyu waved her hand again, and Sun Qing walked over carrying a bucket.

"Come, Grandpa Sun, have some water." Sun Qing walked up to Li Sanlang with a sneer on his face.

Upon seeing the bucket, Li Sanlang's pupils constricted, and he instinctively took two steps back, his voice trembling as he cried out, "No, I won't drink! I'm not thirsty!"

He knew all too well what the water in the bucket was—it was the spring water he had just put the poison powder in the bucket in the west courtyard!

He himself didn't know the details of the medicine powder, so how could he dare to drink it?

"That's not up to you." Sun Qing's smile turned cold, and his eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness.

He gave Li Sanlang no more chance to resist, grabbed the back of Li Sanlang's neck with one hand, and forced his head close to the bucket.

Li Sanlang struggled desperately, tilting his head back and making whimpering sounds, but Sun Qing's strength was immense, and he couldn't break free at all. He could only watch helplessly as the bucket of water got closer and closer.

Li Sanlang's lips were almost touching the water's edge; he could already feel the coolness of the water.

A chill ran through my entire body.

"I said, I said."

He screamed in horror.

Huo Changhe waved his hand, and Sun Qing loosened his grip a little, but did not let go of him.

Looking at his own terrified face reflected in the water, Li Sanlang stammered, "It's...it's all because of my wife. She's always been greedy, lazy, and loves to spend money. She's also addicted to gambling."

"She heard that the medical treatment here was free, so she thought she could sneak in and see if she could get some benefits, like stealing some medicinal herbs or something."

“When we were on the street, she saw it all. The medicine delivered by the owner of the Qian family pharmacy was of excellent quality. She said that if we stole it and sold it, we could definitely get a good price.”

Sun Qing grabbed his neck forcefully: "They're so righteous, giving away their medicinal herbs for free to treat everyone's illnesses, and you guys are trying to steal them to sell? Are you even human?!"

Li Sanlang grimaced in pain, his face contorted in agony. "I didn't want to either... that woman insisted on doing it. I told her it was immoral, and she said it was better to be immoral than to be poor. I'm a son-in-law who married into the family; I couldn't disobey her..."

He was in tears, and sounded very pitiful.