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

Zhang Shen rambled on about how Zhu Qingyu was biased, and then said he wanted to scold Gu Zhao, but he never actually uttered a single curse.

Zhu Qingyu handed him a handkerchief:

"Jingyan, go ahead and curse me if you want. You can curse me or him."

Zhang Shen refused the handkerchief and instead reached out to hug him.

Zhu Qingyu was standing, while Zhang Shen was sitting. He hugged her, his arms around her waist, burying his face in her clothes, his sobs growing even more intense.

"I can't bear to scold you. But if I scold him, you're already so biased towards him, and if I do, you'll definitely hate me. But if I don't scold him, I'll be so sad. You want him to come so I can scold him to his face? Where is he? When is he coming?"

It has been more than three months since I parted ways with Gu Zhao in the northern frontier.

It remains to be seen how long it will take Gu Zhao to persuade his elders upon his return to the capital, or even whether he will be able to persuade them at all.

Considering the Empress Dowager's temper, Zhu Qingyu was not optimistic about the situation.

It could take three months, it could take three years, or it might not even come at all.

Zhu Qingyu patted Zhang Shen on the back:

"I don't know. As you know, given my circumstances, his family might not approve of me or agree to my request."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shen sat up straight, his eyes now filled with anger, not tears.

"His family doesn't approve? Why would they? You're a third-rank official of the imperial court, a divine physician who quelled the plague in the northern frontier. Looking around the world, there's only one like you. You're so good, why wouldn't they agree? If they don't agree, I don't agree either! What is Gu Shouming? He's just someone who relies on his good family background. Besides that, he's despicable, bullies others, and utterly useless. A spoiled brat who can't even decide his own marriage, he's not worthy of you in the slightest. I don't agree!"

Zhu Qingyu sighed when she heard him finally utter the curse:

"Are you feeling better now that you've finished yelling?"

Zhang Shen persisted, emphasizing the key point:

"I disagree!"

Zhu Qingyu hummed in agreement:

"Okay, I understand."

Seeing her so calm, Zhang Shen's anger subsided, but sorrow returned, his face filled with helplessness.

"Since you're biased towards him, it won't matter even if I disagree."

Zhu Qingyu took a handkerchief and wiped away the tears from Zhang Shen's eyes, saying:

"How could it be useless? Jingyan, he needs to convince his family to agree, and so do I. You are my closest relative, and your opinion is very important to me."

Hearing her say that, Zhang Shen's hope was rekindled. He stood up abruptly and took her hand:

"Qingyu, can we still be husband and wife?"

Zhu Qingyu took a step back, withdrew her hand, and shook her head, saying:

"Jingyan, I have someone else in my heart, and I can no longer be your husband, not even a husband and wife who can hide their relationship from each other. If you agree, we can go to the government office to get a divorce, and we can still be family. In my heart, you are the closest family member I have in this world. If you do not agree to sign the divorce papers, or if you want to sever all ties with me and have no further contact, I will accept that as well."

Hearing Zhu Qingyu mention severing ties, Zhang Shen was so distressed he could hardly breathe.

"I don't want to cut ties with you, Qingyu. Please don't say things that hurt me so much. I don't want to hold you back, but he can't even be there for you, I can't agree to that. You treat me like family, this is your home, please don't stay in the guest room. I'm so upset today, my mind is so confused. I'll stay in the guest room, let's both take some time to think it over, don't rush into a decision today, okay?"

In this world, once a choice is made and one follows their heart, whether or not one can actually achieve it is sometimes beyond human control.

The official divorce decree is merely a formality of worldly marriage. She doesn't necessarily have to force Zhang Shen to immediately make a formal break. She can give him time until he is willing.

Zhang Shen needed time to think it over, but for Zhu Qingyu, having already made her decision, she didn't want to drag things out or be ambiguous any longer.

The next day, Zhu Qingyu moved out as planned and moved to Jiangning Huiyi Clinic.

The Huiyi Clinic in Jiangning was converted from an existing house.

Lord Zhuang was the Governor of Jiangsu, in charge of all government affairs. It was he who led Zhu Qingyu to the Hui Medical Clinic on her first visit, and he even told her about its history.

"This used to be the residence of the Zhou family, salt merchants. It was recently confiscated after their property was seized. I think it would be perfect to use it as a clinic. Take a look and see what's missing, and I'll arrange to fill it in. According to the regulations, the expenses for the clinics in various places will be allocated from the local salt tax. Once you've sorted things out, we'll see together how much we should keep this year."

Zhu Qingyu knew the Zhou family, the salt merchants, when she was in Yangzhou. She remembered that when she left Yangzhou last year, the Zhou family was doing well. She didn't know why their property was confiscated.

Zhu Qingyu was really curious and asked Lord Zhuang:

"What did the Zhou family do wrong? Why was their property confiscated?"

The two entered Huiyi Clinic. Lord Zhuang touched the clinic's main entrance and replied:

"Last year, Lord Dai, the salt commissioner of Yangzhou, started to reform the salt tax, requiring all families to prepay the salt tax. The Zhou family borrowed a year's worth of salt tax from the government last year. At the beginning of this year, knowing that the court was going to reform the salt law, they still borrowed for another three years. Now that the salt transport department has been abolished, the salt law has been reformed, the salt permits have been abolished and replaced with tickets, and the price of official salt has plummeted. The Zhou family can't repay the money, so they have to have their property confiscated to pay off the debt."

Lord Zhuang was sent to Jiangning by the Emperor to carry out salt tax reform.

The salt merchants who originally made their fortunes from salt taxes are likely to have all perished in this mess.

They were all people she already knew, and Zhu Qingyu sighed upon hearing this.

The salt reform was a devastating blow to the existing beneficiaries, but for Zhu Qingyu, it was a good thing.

The medical clinics established in various places were initially funded by the silver donated by the Zhang family to the Ministry of Revenue. However, for these clinics to operate sustainably, they needed to pay doctors' salaries and subsidize affordable medicines for the public. They required a steady stream of income. With the reform of the salt law and the availability of salt tax revenue, these medical clinics could continue to operate.

Lord Zhuang instructed Zhu Qingyu to quickly prepare the budget for Huiyi Clinic this year so that money could be saved from the salt tax. Money was a major issue, so in the following days, Zhu Qingyu made it her top priority.

That day, Zhu Qingyu finished the first draft, wrote a document, and took it to the government office to see Lord Zhuang. As soon as she entered, she bumped into Miss Zhuang.

Miss Zhuang was filled with panic. Upon seeing Zhu Qingyu, she felt as if she had seen a savior. She grabbed her and ran inside, saying as they ran:

"My lord, my lord, my father has been poisoned! Please help me!"