In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

From Dingsheng Pass to Jiangning, the journey would involve a change from land to water. According to Zhu Qingyu's original plan, although they wouldn't have to travel in shifts for twelve hours a day like Su Mu and the others had done, the normal itinerary would be via the official post stations. They would depart at the end of February and arrive by mid-April.

As a result, she traveled on and off along the way, and it wasn't until early May, just before the Dragon Boat Festival, that the group finally arrived at the Jiangning Ferry.

The extra two weeks were spent entirely on unexpected medical appointments.

After leaving Dingsheng Pass and heading south, the first major city you pass is Wu'an City.

Since it was her way to take up her post, she could use the official post station. Zhu Qingyu thought she was being discreet and spent the night at the Wu'an City post station.

When the official document for taking up his post was presented, the postmaster was greatly surprised:

"Are you the legendary healer, Dr. Zhu?"

Zhu Qingyu was even more surprised:

"No, you must have mistaken me for someone else?"

The words "miracle doctor" are irrelevant to her, no matter how she thinks about them. Zhu Qingyu felt that the postmaster had probably mistaken her for someone else.

As a result, the postmaster read the official document again and was extremely excited:

"It's you, Lord Zhu, who quelled the epidemic in the northern frontier! Divine Physician Zhu! Lord Zhu, my elderly mother has been suffering from a cough for months, and despite seeing doctors all over Wu'an City, she hasn't gotten better. Could you please take a look?"

At the time, Zhu Qingyu had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem and answered lightly:

"It's too late today, the old man is probably asleep. Let's do it tomorrow, when he wakes up, I'll take a look at him."

Zhu Qingyu envisions tomorrow as a day where she has breakfast, sees a doctor, and then continues her journey.

The next morning, when I opened the window, I saw a long queue outside the rest station downstairs.

Zhu Qingyu asked Su Mu curiously:

"What delicious food are they selling down there? There are so many people, let's go buy some and try it."

Su Mu was quite lively and loved to join in the fun. He came back early after asking his questions, looking like something terrible had happened.

"Madam! These are all people who have come to see you for treatment!"

Looking at the long queue, Zhu Qingyu really couldn't understand how these people knew about her, who was nobody, at this time, without a mobile phone or trending topics.

They even went so far as to queue up so early in the morning?

Since they've already come all this way, and they're patients, maybe they've tried other treatments without success and are coming here with their last hope. We can't just turn them away.

The trip had to be postponed, so Zhu Qingyu borrowed a place from the post station manager and set up a temporary clinic. She arranged for Su Mu and Lin Lan to join her, and the three of them took turns seeing patients from morning till night, for a whole day.

Zhu Qingyu originally thought that Wu'an City was close to the northern frontier, so the people here knew her, which was just an exception.

When we arrived at the next big city, there were even more people!

Where did so many people come from? And how did they know? Zhu Qingyu couldn't figure it out at all.

In the next city, there were not only people queuing up for medical treatment, but also doctors who came to learn from him, men and women, young and old.

Zhu Qingyu's top priority upon assuming his post in Jiangning is to pilot the establishment of a medical clinic at Huiyi Temple and recruit and train doctors.

These first batch of doctors will be sent to various places to rebuild medical clinics, so they are required to have a certain foundation, preferably with medical experience, so that they can be trained quickly in a year.

So when doctors took the initiative to approach her, it was a good thing, so in addition to seeing patients, she also had to interview doctors.

But she was really curious: how did they know about the recruitment of doctors when the government hadn't even issued a notice yet?

Zhu Qingyu then asked one of the people who came to become her apprentice:

"How did you know that the government was recruiting doctors from Huiyi Temple?"

The person who came to become an apprentice looked completely bewildered.

"Is the government recruiting doctors? What is Huiyi Temple?"

So they had no idea at all?

Zhu Qingyu became even more curious:

"If you don't know, then why did you come?"

The person who came to become an apprentice was very excited and expressed his determination on the spot:

"It's a rare opportunity that Your Excellency is passing through this place. I've come to try my luck and see if Your Excellency will accept any disciples!"

So they weren't there for official business?

They came all this way because of her?

After asking several people, Zhu Qingyu finally understood how attractive the ability to cure epidemics was to doctors today—roughly the same as in modern times when she heard about a miracle doctor who could cure cancer.

That's why Liu Yuanpan was able to rise from an insignificant doctor to the head of the Imperial Medical Academy by contributing prescriptions for epidemic remedies.

As Zhu Qingyu traveled south, she treated patients and recruited doctors along the way, and her team continued to grow. By the time she reached the Jiangning ferry, the team had grown from about thirty people at the start to nearly fifty.

The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and Jiangning is already getting hot; it's early summer.

At the Jiangning ferry, the boat was docking. While the guards were unloading the luggage, Zhu Qingyu was still discussing things with Su Mu and the others:

"Master is now the Imperial Textile Commissioner of Jiangning, and he hasn't been in office for long. He must have a lot of work to do. We've been traveling on and off without a fixed schedule, so I haven't written to him to let him know we're back. Let's go to the post station first, and after we've settled in, we can go find Master."

As they were talking, Mother Tian suddenly looked towards the ferry crossing and said:

"Isn't that the master? The master! The master!"

Mother Tian's voice was always loud, booming like thunder, and even in the noisy dock, it had a strong penetrating power.

Zhang Shen and his men were asking questions from boat to boat when they heard Tian Mama's voice and immediately looked over.

Upon seeing Zhu Qingyu on the boat, Zhang Shen didn't even wait for the boat to come to a complete stop before jumping aboard.

His jump startled not only the boat captain who was moored, but also Zhu Qingyu.

If it were anyone else, the old boatman would have cursed them out:

"You dared to jump before the boat had even come to a complete stop! Are you out of your mind?!"

However, since Zhang Shen was wearing official robes, the boatman dared not curse him. He could only quickly help Zhang Shen up and say with a wry smile:

"Oh dear, my lord, please slow down! This boat is so tall, if you slip and fall into the water, I can't bear the responsibility."

Zhu Qingyu wouldn't tolerate being scolded by the boat captain, so she stepped out of the cabin and jokingly scolded:

"Master Zhang, you're getting more and more capable! Now you even dare to jump off a boat. With such great skills, why don't you go to heaven?"

Despite being scolded, Zhang Shen smiled broadly and, swaying from side to side on the rocking boat, ran over and hugged Zhu Qingyu tightly.

"I was so worried! I counted the days, you should have arrived by now. I came looking for you every day, but you never came. I was worried something had happened to you on the way. I'm so glad you've finally arrived, Qingyu!"