The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 683: Chapter 683: Coming Out of Nowhere

The old woman who had fallen to the ground had a fearful expression. She trembled, trying to get up, but her injuries were likely too severe. She tried several times but couldn’t manage it.

The little girl with her, who looked to be no more than five or six years old, had thrown herself on top of the woman, sobbing helplessly. Her small face was flushed, her eyes full of tears.

”Grandma, Grandma, are you okay? WAHHH...”

The old woman was both panicked and heartbroken. Her wrinkled hand trembled as she wiped the tears from the little girl’s face. ”Good girl, don’t cry, don’t cry. Grandma’s fine, I’m fine...”

Seeing this, the surrounding crowd couldn’t help but point and start whispering.

”Which official’s family is this? So arrogant!”

”Exactly! Their carriage clearly hit someone first, and they still have this attitude! Bullying an old woman and a child who have no one to rely on. It’s heartless!”

”I think... that carriage belongs to... Mr. Fan?”

”Which Mr. Fan?”

”In this entire Capital City, how many officials named Fan are there? It’s the disgraced Mr. Fan Chengzhuo!”

”It’s really him? Hiss... no wonder! He probably still thinks he’s the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. What airs he puts on!”

Fan Chengzhuo, sitting inside the carriage, also heard the discussions outside and couldn’t help but frown.

His health had worsened over the past two days, to the point where even eating had become difficult. Left with no other choice, his driver had mentioned a doctor in the city who specialized in difficult and unusual cases, urging him to go have a look in the hopes of some improvement.

Fan Chengzhuo was initially reluctant, but he simply couldn’t endure it any longer.

’Zheng Baosu’s case still isn’t resolved. How can I just die like this?’

’Even if the master wants my life... I have to survive this period first!’

So, after a fierce internal struggle, Fan Chengzhuo had finally left his home, planning to find some medicine just to stay alive.

He never expected to run into something like this.

Just as he was about to tell his driver to give them some silver and settle the matter, a tickle in his throat made him start coughing violently again.

”You— COUGH COUGH! COUGH— COUGH COUGH COUGH!”

The driver jumped in fright, quickly turning back to the carriage. He urgently pulled back the curtain and asked with a worried face, ”Sir, are you all right?”

WHOOSH—

A gust of cold wind blew into the carriage with the movement. Fan Chengzhuo took a breath of the cold air and inadvertently choked on it, which made his coughing even more severe.

”COUGH COUGH COUGH— HACK— COUGH— HACK!”

His face was flushed and his breathing was rapid. He had no choice but to pound his chest hard a few times with one hand before he could finally catch his breath.

However, in that brief moment, the onlookers had already gotten a clear look at the person sitting inside the carriage—it was him.

The crowd immediately began to whisper amongst themselves, their discussions growing more heated.

The gazes they cast at Fan Chengzhuo were filled with veiled contempt and disgust.

Fan Chengzhuo was furious. He raised his hand and pointed forcefully at the driver.

The driver sensed his anger, quickly lowered the curtain, and turned around, his expression becoming even more menacing.

”Are you all deaf?! My master is unwell and needs to see a doctor right now! If you don’t get out of the way, don’t blame me for getting rough!”

The old woman, terrified by his ferocious rebuke, pulled the little girl into her arms and pleaded, ”Sir, please forgive us! We-we’ll leave right now! Right now!”

As she spoke, she struggled to her feet. However, just as she stood up and took a single step, a sharp pain shot through her leg, causing her face to turn pale as she uncontrollably pitched forward—

The little girl cried out in fear and scrambled to rush over. ”Grandma!”

Just then, a man in plain clothes ran out from somewhere and caught the old woman, steadying her.

”Ma’am, are you all right?”

The old woman looked up, trembling, only to see a stranger. ”You... you are...”

The man smiled. ”My Second Miss saw that you seemed to be injured and sent me to come help you.”

”Your Second Miss?”

The old woman looked back in confusion and only then saw a woman who had just stepped down from a carriage. She was dressed in a simple brocade dress, with a single Haitang-flower white jade hairpin canted in her hair. Her face was beautiful and clear, her demeanor gentle and graceful.

The old woman didn’t recognize Ye Chutang, but someone in the crowd already had.

”Isn’t that Miss Ye?”

Ye Chutang came forward, took her pulse, and performed a simple examination, her brow furrowing slightly.

”Her hip is fractured. She must be taken to a doctor immediately for proper treatment.”

With that, she took out an ingot of silver and pressed it into the old woman’s hand.

The old woman repeatedly tried to refuse. ”No, no...”

”An injury to the muscles and bones takes a hundred days to heal. This will require a long time to recover, and it will certainly cost a fair bit of silver. Please, take it. Also, I will write a prescription for you in a moment. Just have a family member get the medicine according to the prescription.” As Ye Chutang spoke, her gaze fell upon the little girl.

The child was clearly bewildered by the sudden turn of events. She stood there timidly, no longer daring to cry, with teardrops like large pearls clinging to her eyelashes. She just stared blankly at Ye Chutang, her eyes filled with helplessness.

Ye Chutang smiled. ”My youngest sister is about the same age as your little girl. If she were being bullied out here, I would also hope someone would step up to help her. It’s just a small token of my concern. Please don’t refuse it.”

Hearing her mention the little girl, the old woman’s eyes instantly reddened. She looked down with tear-filled eyes at her granddaughter, who was still dazed with fear.

Someone in the crowd shouted, ”That’s the highly skilled Miss Ye from the Ye Family! Other people can’t even get an appointment with her! Ma’am, you’ve had a stroke of incredible luck! You should hurry and accept it!”

Only then did it dawn on the old woman. She looked at Ye Chutang in disbelief.

’Th-this is the... Miss Ye who treated His Majesty?’

’Then... then...’

The old woman’s stance finally softened, and she immediately tried to kneel and kowtow to Ye Chutang.

”Th-thank you so much, Miss Ye! You—”

She wasn’t able to kneel, as she was stopped by Ye Chutang’s driver.

Ye Chutang said, ”There’s no need for thanks. This was all a misunderstanding. I’m sure Mr. Fan didn’t do it on purpose.”

As she spoke, Ye Chutang looked up towards the front and smiled faintly. ”Mr. Fan, wouldn’t you agree?”

Fan Chengzhuo never in a million years expected Ye Chutang to show up out of nowhere.

He certainly didn’t want to have anything to do with Ye Chutang, but in the current situation, he couldn’t refute her.

’Otherwise, wouldn’t I become the target of public criticism!?’

Fan Chengzhuo finally managed to suppress his cough, cursing himself for not speaking up sooner and letting Ye Chutang get the upper hand.

Since things had come to this, he had no choice but to say, ”Second Miss Ye is right. This is indeed my fault, and I should be the one to take responsibility.”

With that, he coldly reprimanded his driver, ”What are you standing there for!”

The driver was now flustered. He quickly acknowledged the order, hurried to get some silver to hand over, and found someone to help send the old woman and the little girl away.

After a flurry of chaotic activity, the matter was finally settled.

However, just as Fan Chengzhuo breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he could finally leave, Ye Chutang called out to him.

”I heard just now that Mr. Fan is unwell and on his way to see a doctor?”