Chapter 198: Chapter 114: The Benefits of a Superior Medicine Refiner_2 Chapter 198: Chapter 114: The Benefits of a Superior Medicine Refiner_2 “`
“Make way, make way, come in, please.” The Gatekeeper Officer, upon seeing this, briskly waved his hands at his subordinates.
The guards at the gate immediately cleared a path; the Gatekeeper Officer beckoned to the stunned doctors, amiably gesturing for them to come inside, “Don’t just stand there. Didn’t Lady Changsheng tell you to enter the city? Hurry up.”
The doctors finally snapped out of their daze, their expressions changing dramatically.
The City Gate, always under strict control, opened just like that?
The Gatekeeper Officer was even politely inviting them into the city?
It must be their illusion; these guards, who usually acted so superior and aloof, when had they ever been so courteous?
But the reality was right before their eyes, and only after they followed the Gatekeeper Officer into the city without a scratch did they come to their senses.
They had entered the city! They had gotten through the City Gate after it closed!
Without being shot on the spot!
One doctor couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “The words of… Lady Changsheng, they really work…”
Hearing this, the Gatekeeper Officer rolled his eyes, “What nonsense! To be acquainted with Lady Changsheng is a blessing of your Three Lives; now hurry home and rest.”
With the County Prince’s token in hand, let alone opening a gate, even if Lady Changsheng wanted to demolish the gate, he could only obey her orders.
She was the one who dared to massacre the entire City Lord’s Mansion!
The doctors didn’t come out of their stupor until they were back home, lying in bed.
They suddenly realized something: Lady Changsheng was not only related to the County Prince’s Mansion that governed Liuzhou, but also deeply involved!
This realization led them to collectively bury the events of the night deep in their hearts, daring neither to think nor to mention a single word of it!
The next morning, the group of exhausted doctors with dark circles under their eyes showed up at Hu Yihai’s house. When Gu Changsheng’s name was brought up again, they couldn’t help but show a bit of respect and awe. In the end, Hu Yihai and Elder Xu were elected to represent them.
The Jiangnan Medical Debate Conference was of utmost importance; they had no choice but to ask Lady Changsheng to come out of retirement.
Hu Yihai, after all, had dealt with Lady Changsheng the most, and Elder Xu had always been on good terms with the Gu Family—they were the perfect choice for the task!
Hu Yihai felt extremely anxious; he might have had the most interactions with Lady Changsheng, but his appearances were always the least flattering. He was the antagonist, and if Lady Changsheng recalled their past with displeasure, he might be the first to be tormented to death!
However unsettled he felt inside, he had to go. This was about the future prospects of Liuzhou City’s Medical Guild for the next five years!
Even at the cost of their lives, they had to persuade Lady Changsheng to come out of retirement and help!
Hu Yihai and Elder Xu exchanged glances, almost imperceptibly nodding at each other. Lady Changsheng was their last hope!
Filled with a surge of fighting spirit, they tremblingly got on the carriage, their legs still sore from the previous day’s back-and-forth. This time they were more cautious.
A carriage was a must!
Gu Changsheng at this moment was lying on a soft couch in the courtyard, basking in the sun.
Seeing the two being led in, the scenes of the previous day involuntarily surfaced in her mind, and her expression darkened slightly.
“Lady Changsheng, for the sake of the millions of people in Liuzhou Region, we humbly ask for your aid to help the Liuzhou Medical Guild.”
“Please help the Liuzhou Medical Guild.”
Without hesitation, two people whose ages added up to over a hundred bowed their backs respectfully.
They felt genuinely humbled by their inferior skills.
To learn from a master is an honor; their bowing was only right and proper.
Gu Changsheng, looking at the stack of prescriptions respectfully placed before her, narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, “All this trouble, what’s it for that you comb the city with great fanfare, making my name, Gu Changsheng, known to all? A Medical Debate Conference, is it worth it?”
She had learned a bit about the previous day’s events. This Medical Debate Conference, what kind of contest was it to cause such a stir, necessitating her involvement?
“Lady Changsheng doesn’t know, at the time of the Medical Debate Conference, the most esteemed pharmacists from the Zhou Dynasty will be present. The competition results determine the order in which the medicines are selected and their quantities for each state. We have lost the competition for two consecutive sessions; for ten years, the price of medicinal materials in Liuzhou has been fifty percent higher than in other provinces and districts. The poor can hardly afford medicine for treatment. It’s not that we are heartlessly hiking up prices; we genuinely pay a high price to import medicines from other states!”
“Lady Changsheng, if Liuzhou were not inherently wealthy, the issue of medicine prices would certainly lead to unrest. Even so, we have spent a lot of silver taels on this. This matter affects the wellbeing of the people. We sincerely hope for your help.”
Hu Yihai and Elder Xu looked abashed, their eyes filled with hope as they looked at Gu Changsheng.
“According to you, the distribution of medicinal materials in the Jiangnan Five Prefectures is all determined by this debate?” Gu Changsheng tilted her head, her eyebrows slightly raised.
“Yes,” Hu Yihai and Elder Xu promptly nodded.
“Medicinal materials, yes, that is indeed a big issue…” Many medicinal materials have specific origins. As a doctor, Gu Changsheng understood the importance of medicinal materials. It was a matter concerning the amount and price of medicine; she couldn’t possibly stand by idly.
“Based on what you’ve said, the Medical Debate Conference focuses on medicine appraisal, so why is there a medicinal refining competition?” Medicine refining, also known as processing, is usually done by a Master of Medicinal Refiner, and those proficient in it are hard to come by, mostly hailing from large pharmacist families. Even if there are one or two who do not come from such families, they are lured away with hefty compensation.
“The pharmacists added this competition to discover Master of Medicinal Refiners. For a hundred years, whoever can process Superior Medicinal Materials is allowed to buy them at cost from the pharmacists, without limit!” Hu Yihai shook his head, “It’s just that over the past hundred years, only sixty years ago did someone from Taizhou manage to refine what was barely considered Superior Calculus Bovis.”