The World's Number One Medical Hall

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Wealth Leads to Disaster

Actually, things aren't that complicated.

That day, as soon as everyone had settled in, they immediately began to look for renowned doctors for Ning'er, and thus learned that there was a clinic at the nearby street corner.

It is said that Dr. Zhu in the clinic apprenticed under a Taoist alchemist in his youth. His skills are extremely advanced, and he can cure any difficult or complicated disease. It is said that many high-ranking officials and nobles would come to him for treatment if they were unwell. He is a well-known doctor in the area.

The fellow disciples were certainly not ignorant people, and they knew that this claim was exaggerated, but after hearing that he had studied under a Taoist alchemist, they were immediately much more reassured about his abilities.

Actually, it's not that folk doctors are inferior to Taoist alchemists in terms of medical skills; in fact, the opposite is true.

When it comes to healing and saving lives, true masters of medicine are not only no less skilled than alchemists, but are even more skilled.

After all, although physicians do not cultivate themselves or internalize their inner energy, their main focus is on treating illnesses and saving lives, and researching various diseases.

While alchemists are also proficient in medicine and possess internal energy that can aid in treating illnesses, their ultimate goal in practicing medicine is to refine elixirs, extract their essence, cleanse themselves of impurities, and help themselves achieve longevity and freedom.

Therefore, even within the inner palace, in addition to alchemists, physicians were also employed.

However, despite this, among folk doctors, there are many renowned and skilled physicians, but far more are quacks who have only learned a few basic skills and yet dare to prescribe medicine for others.

After all, you can't tell the authenticity of a doctor just by looking at them, so you're bound to be a little uneasy. But Taoist alchemists are different. Their medical skills may not be as good as those of real famous doctors, but since they can achieve the cultivation of alchemists, they must have put in a lot of hard work in the medical field and have some real skills. They are unlikely to be frauds.

It is precisely because of this that, over time, people have come to unanimously admire alchemists in the field of medicine, believing that only alchemists are true masters.

Tie Xiong and his fellow disciples were originally from the Taoist sect, so they wouldn't be so superficial. However, Ning'er's injuries were only external, not some serious or difficult-to-treat illness. Upon hearing that Doctor Zhu had studied under a Taoist alchemist, they were immediately relieved. They figured that no matter what, he must have some skills that wouldn't harm Ning'er.

So without hesitation, as soon as they settled in, they immediately went to invite this Doctor Zhu to come and treat Ning'er.

This Dr. Zhu was truly remarkable. Although he charged a high price, he was indeed quite skilled. He clearly explained Ning'er's condition on the spot and prescribed a remedy, saying that she would recover in a few days.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and immediately thanked Dr. Zhu profusely before sending him back. Of course, Dr. Zhu also said that since he had taken on the patient, he had to be responsible for him and could not tarnish his reputation. Therefore, he was extremely strict about the medicinal materials. If they were purchased from outside, he would not be able to take responsibility for the patient's condition.

The meaning was obvious: the medicinal herbs had to be obtained from his family's clinic. Everyone understood the deeper meaning, but for Ning'er's health, they naturally wouldn't hesitate.

But when the medicine was brought back, everyone was speechless. They knew it wouldn't be cheap, but the price was still too astonishing.

The main currencies in the world today are gold, silver, and copper. Although paper money was introduced four years ago, it is not widely accepted by the public.

Therefore, in general, silver coins and copper coins were still the main currencies used for transactions among the general public.

One silver coin could be exchanged for one hundred copper coins. For an ordinary family of four, the annual income was about two thousand coins, or twenty silver coins, which was enough to maintain a basic standard of living.

However, Ning'er has only gotten three doses of medicine and it has already cost nearly fifteen silver coins, which is more than half a year's expenses for a family of four.

This doesn't even include the fact that Dr. Zhu's consultation fee alone is ten silver coins. To be honest, for an ordinary family, they probably couldn't afford to treat such a serious illness even if they died.

But there was nothing they could do. When they went to see Dr. Zhu, they were prepared. After all, a doctor with such a renowned reputation would definitely charge a high price; he wasn't there to treat ordinary people.

At that time, everyone still had money on hand. After all, although the Ming Prince's Mansion had only hastily collected some valuables, they still had more than a thousand silver coins in cash notes.

For now, everyone is managing to stay afloat, so we're not worried about the cost and are only concerned about Ning'er's condition after taking the medicine.

Sure enough, the high price was worth it. This Doctor Zhu was indeed very skilled. After just three doses of medicine, Ning'er's condition improved significantly.

Moreover, Dr. Zhu was indeed responsible. He came back for a follow-up visit three days later and said that Ning'er was recovering very well, but her vital energy had been depleted this time, so the prescription was adjusted and she needed to be nourished.

Of course, it was also explained that the medicinal herbs had to be obtained from his family's clinic.

When everyone heard the word "nourishing," they knew it probably wouldn't be cheap, but they didn't say anything, as long as Ning'er could get better.

However, when they returned with the medicine this time, everyone's faces were truly grim.

The price last time was already astonishing, but this time it has more than doubled. Just one dose of medicine costs as much as twenty silver coins. Although everyone still has money, they dare not spend it like that. Moreover, they are not newcomers to the world of medicine, so they naturally know that there must be something fishy going on. This is not because ordinary people cannot afford to treat illnesses, but even wealthy people would probably find it difficult to be so extravagant.

After discussing it, the group realized that Dr. Zhu must have noticed that they were newcomers and dared to come to him for treatment so soon. After his previous probing, he was deliberately trying to rip them off.

To be honest, if it's not too excessive, everyone can tolerate it. After all, we've seen all sorts of things over the years. We can endure it for as long as we can. As long as no one is hurt, nothing else matters.

But this is something that everyone can't stand. It's not that they're worried about the money, but mainly because the source of their money is illegitimate. If Dr. Zhu does it this way, who knows how much it will cost? Once so much money is exposed, something bad might happen.

At that time, everyone agreed that they should no longer get medicine from him.

Actually, everyone had already made up their minds at that time. Didn't Ming Wang still have two cartloads of medicinal herbs?

The things that come from the palace can't be bad; they might even be much better than the medicinal herbs that Doctor Zhu uses.

Once the decision was made, everyone followed the prescription, taking the precious medicinal herbs from the Ming King's collection, and then going to Doctor Zhu's place to get the cheaper herbs, saying that they were already short of money since they had just arrived.

However, once money is lost, some things are not so easy to resolve. The doctor Zhu did not say much, and several days later, he still came to Ning'er for a follow-up visit.

But things went wrong during the follow-up visit.

That Dr. Zhu was indeed very capable. He discovered from Ning'er's condition that she was still taking the medicine and that the effect was quite obvious. In fact, Dr. Zhu had already noticed this family and was able to confirm that they had not gotten the medicine from other pharmacies.

He remained calm and wrote another prescription, changing the herbs to more expensive ones. He also gently comforted Ning'er, saying that she was in her growth period and had suffered a great loss of energy. Although the recovery was good, he wanted to prevent her from developing any health problems later. He urged everyone to try to use some nourishing herbs, as this would affect the child's entire life. In the end, to show his concern for the child, he even waived the follow-up consultation fee.

The crowd naturally thanked him profusely and saw him off. But when they looked at the prescription, they couldn't help but smile bitterly. Not to mention the preciousness of the medicinal herbs, the price was astonishing just from the age of the herbs.

However, no one dared to disregard Doctor Zhu's words, so they naturally took the medicine from the Ming King's medicinal herbs and gave it to Ning'er.

Three days later, Dr. Zhu came for a follow-up visit. By then, Ning'er was lively and energetic, as if she had fully recovered.

Dr. Zhu didn't change the prescription or say anything more, only saying that if Ning'er continued taking the medicine for another week, she would be fine.

Everyone was overjoyed and, needless to say, expressed their gratitude to Dr. Zhu with proper etiquette.

With Dr. Zhu gone, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief and began discussing the fact that Tie Xiong had not yet returned, thinking about sending someone to inquire and search for news.

However, before the matter was settled, shortly after Doctor Zhu left, a large number of government officials suddenly arrived and surrounded the courtyard.

Undoubtedly, everyone was immediately alarmed, fearing that something terrible had happened.

There was no time to think, so they were about to fight back, but the eldest brother calmed them down. After talking to them, they learned that someone had accused them of theft.

And without a doubt, the aggrieved party was Doctor Zhu.

Everyone understood the situation, but since there was no danger to their lives, and considering that Ning'er and Ajiu were still there, it would be difficult to break through the encirclement under heavy guard. Therefore, they dared not make any rash moves unless pushed to the last step.

They searched as they pleased, but naturally they found nothing.

Those two cartloads of medicinal herbs, after all, came from the palace, so they didn't dare leave them around casually and kept them in a separate, carefully placed location.

The search yielded no results, which displeased the officials, who still wanted to arrest the person. However, in broad daylight, they had no legitimate reason to act, and rules always exist, regardless of the era.

Eventually, the officials left, but everyone knew that the matter was probably not over yet.

It's clear that Doctor Zhu has his eye on everyone and probably won't give up easily. The fellow disciples should be patient and try to move away from here to avoid trouble.

But these are chivalrous heroes of the martial world, not naive. They discussed it and realized they couldn't just let the other party do whatever they wanted. They might as well show off their skills and intimidate them.

Unexpectedly, before anything could be done on this side, another problem arose.

That night, the autumn air was crisp and clear. Ning'er, feeling a bit better, played with Ajiu in the courtyard. Suddenly, several torches fell from the sky outside the courtyard, startling Ning'er so much that she screamed.

In fact, she didn't need to call out. Everyone in the room was sharp-eyed and quick-witted, and they immediately noticed something was wrong and took control of the situation.

Chen Zhiqi watched as Ning'er nearly had a torch thrown directly at her head and was now crying loudly in fear, and anger rose in his heart.

Without saying a word, he rushed out and saw several men in black holding torches, looking completely unrestrained.

When they saw him come out, they kept shouting at him, showing no fear whatsoever.

Chen Zhiqi couldn't stand it, so he charged forward. The men, however, showed no fear and instead pulled out long knives from their bodies, ready to attack Chen Zhiqi instead.

However, it was obvious that they were wrong. The group was no match for Chen Zhiqi, and in just a few moves, they almost lost their lives.

If his fellow disciples hadn't arrived and stopped him, he might have really killed them.

Unwilling to cause a real disaster, and watching the group flee, the group returned to their house and immediately discussed that they couldn't wait any longer and had to leave right away.

But then it occurred to me that these people were probably trying to force them to leave, because they couldn't possibly leave alone; they would have to take something with them. That was probably their intention.

Having gotten themselves into this mess, everyone felt heavy-hearted, but to be honest, at that moment, they weren't too concerned about fighting off those thugs.

But little did they expect that, less than half an hour later, countless men appeared in the alley, all dressed in black with long swords, stretching as far as the eye could see.

By this time, everyone realized that this was an organization, a gang in the martial arts world, and probably a very powerful one.