“The boss has come!” It was almost the new year, thus Wang Lin did not continue to travel around to the various halls out of the province. Instead, he returned to the capital to take care of things. A brat from the countryside had started out as a lowly clerk in a medicine shop had reached this sort of position. There were times when he thought about it quietly that even he did not dare believe it. And all of these unbelievable and impossible things became reality with Feng Yu Heng. All of this was like giving him a new identity in a short two years. He had become someone that could be easily recognized in the capital. But even if he held an influential position in front of others, when facing Feng Yu Heng, he would rather return to being a simple clerk and use a most modest attitude to face his benefactor. “Boss, quickly come inside and have a seat.” As he spoke, he took a look at the child that Wang Chuan was holding and could not help but let out a surprised voice: “This is… the Feng family’s young son?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded and spoke while walking: “From this day forward, this child no longer belongs to the Feng family. I don’t have any place to send it, so just arrange a room for him. Then have a wetnurse and some maidservants take care of him. As for what he is called… I have never thought about it. Just have his surname be Han. As for its name, just call it as you see fit.” She did not have any feelings toward this child, but she would not allow this little guy to suffer too much grief. Although she could not allow him to live like a true young master, she could raise him to be a proper person that could survive through on his own power. He would be completely cut off from the extremely negative influence of his incompetent parents.
As an important member from one of Feng Yu Heng’s businesses, Wang Lin had a bit of an understanding of the Feng family’s matters. In regards to this child, he had personally visited for an examination, thus he immediately understood Feng Yu Heng’s intentions. Without saying anything, he directed someone to receive the child and immediately find a wetnurse and maidservant. Only then did he bring Feng Yu Heng into the “office” that was specially reserved for her.
When Feng Yu Heng was seated, Wang Lin began to report Hundred Herb Hall’s progress. Not including the main hall in the capital, Hundred Herb Hall had already opened 12 in the entirety of Da Shun. There were three each in the North, South, East and West, and the one in the capital was the one in the center. After the new year, there were preparations to open a new one in the three northern provinces. It would be a test. If it succeeded, more would be built in the border regions.
Feng Yu Heng listened seriously but did not express her own opinions. In regards to the planning of the Hundred Herb Halls, she only gave some guiding advice at the start, but Wang Lin’s ability to learn and understand, as well as his ability to advance, were all exceptional. It was basically to the point where she would say something once, and Wang Lin would be able to develop on those ideas and do it even better. That was why Feng Yu Heng felt very at ease about Hundred Herb Hall’s expansion. As for her visit today, she had another matter to attend to aside from sending the child.
“Recently, the palace has not been too peaceful. I am preparing to place someone inside the imperial physician’s group.” She directly told Wang Lin about the purpose of her visit and had Wang Lin recommend someone.
Wang Lin thought for a long time but said with a bit of a troubled tone: “Placing someone inside the imperial physician’s group, that person must first be qualified from a medical standpoint. At the very least, they cannot be worse than the people that are already in that group. Also, this person must be absolutely faithful to us. In regards to this point, it is equally as important as the medical ability. This…” He scratched his head, “Boss, to speak of someone that is absolutely loyal, this lowly one is definitely able to recommend one, but when it comes to medical ability, this lowly one’s knowledge is a bit lacking and only knows a bit about medicine. it’s truly impossible to compare with the people in the imperial physician’s group. It must be said that the person most suited to choose is actually old man Yao. It would have been best to have had him choose when he was still around. But he no longer comes to this side. As this lowly one sees it, how about having Song Kang choose one!”
As Feng Yu Heng’s disciple, Song Kang spent most of his time in the capital. Wave after wave of people passed through the hands of Song Kang with knowledge of the most cutting-edge medical knowledge. In regards to Song Kang, Feng Yu Heng and Yao Xian were not stingy and indeed taught him a great deal of knowledge. Wang Lin brought up having Song Kang choose one, and Feng Yu Heng did not have much of an objection, thus she nodded and had Song Kang called in.
Song Kang was inside Hundred Herb Hall and very quickly entered the room. When he entered, he had brought someone with him. This person looked to be around 25 or 26 years of age and also looked to be very steady. Holding a medicine kit, he followed behind Song Kang and had an obedient look on his face. The impression that he gave was very good.
Song Kang saw Feng Yu Heng, and the sight was no different than if he had seen his mother. Without saying a single word, he kneeled on the ground and kowtowed, repeatedly calling her master. All that was missing was a round of crying. The person that was behind him was shocked and a little embarrassed, but he also knew who Feng Yu Heng was, thus he obediently saluted.
Feng Yu Heng nodded to him then personally helped support Song Kang up. After quite a bit of consoling, she finally managed to calm Song Kang’s emotions. She had returned to the capital for half a year. Meanwhile, Song Kang had gone out of the province with Wang Lin, and they had only just returned two months earlier. Speaking of, he really had not seen Feng Yu Heng for a long time. The two spoke for a while before Feng Yu Heng spoke about her plans once more, telling him: “I need a person that is very skilled in medicine and is a very good person to be sent into the imperial physician’s group.”
Song Kang thought for a bit then pushed the person behind him forward, “Master, do you think that he will be alright? His name is Sun Qi, and he is a disciple that I have taken in.” After speaking, he tugged at Sun Qi, “Quickly go and kowtow to your grandmaster.”
Sun Qi listened and kneeled on the ground to kowtow to Feng Yu Heng, “Sun Qi greets grandmaster.”
Song Kang’s disciple, this was a status that caused Feng Yu Heng to be a little surprised, and she was a little unaccustomed to the title of grandmaster. She managed to put on a smile and had Sun Qi stand up. She then casually asked a few questions and found that Sun Qi’s medical knowledge indeed had a strange view. Although those views were a bit insignificant in the eyes of her soul from the modern era, but for a person of this era to be able to gain an understanding of surgery was already quite a big step forward. And she hoped that the person that she would be sending into the palace would have a certain understanding of surgery and would not be like the already-existing imperial physicians, who only focused on Chinese medicine.
Of course, verbal statements were no guarantee, thus Feng Yu Heng immediately brought the group to the operating room. There happened to be an operation waiting for Song Kang to perform with Sun Qi acting as the lead assistant. Feng Yu Heng also went in and watched it through halfway and was satisfied with Sun Qi’s medical ability. Thus the person that would be going into the palace was decided. It was arranged for him to enter the palace in five days. Only then did she leave the operating room.
Returning to her room, Wang Lin followed her the entire time. Feng Yu Heng did not ask too much to Song Kang and Sun Qi; however, she now began to ask Wang Lin: “How much do you understand of that Sun Qi?”
Wang Lin was startled, “Is boss worried about him? Song Kang’s disciple should be fine, right? This lowly one also interacted quite a bit with Sun Qi. Normally, he seems like a decent person. He’s very obedient and is willing to work. His skills are indeed good.”
Feng Yu Heng smiled bitterly, “When looking at people, you can’t just look at the surface. I trust Song Kang, but Song Kang has a problem. He’s crazy for medicine. To him, anyone with good medical abilities is a good person. Or it could be said that when he looks at a person, he only looks at their medical abilities. In regards to the other things, as long as it’s not some extreme evil, he does not concern himself with it, nor can he notice it. That’s why I am asking you. We must not be foolish with the person that is sent into the palace. Do you know how Sun Qi and Song Kang got to know each other? How did he end up as Song Kang’s disciple?”
Wang Lin was clear on the matter, thus he told Feng Yu Heng: “Sun Qi was originally a traveling doctor that came from the Northwest. His medical ability is very famous. There was one time that Song Kang saw him treating a vagrant on the streets. Taking an interest in his medical abilities, he asked Sun Qi if he wanted to come with him to Hundred Herb Hall. Speaking of, Sun Qi did not want to come to Hundred Herb Hall at first. He just wanted to be a traveling doctor, taking patients as he traveled. He did not want to settle down in one place, especially in a place like the capital. He does not like it. But Song Kang forcefully dragged him to Hundred Herb Hall to take a look and showed him surgery. After that, Sun Qi resolutely followed Song Kang and even acknowledged him as his master.”
Listening to Wang Lin speak of Sun Qi’s origin, there was nothing that stuck out. It sounded like he was also a maniac for medicine. Although he was not as manic as Song Kang, it was still something a normal doctor could not compare to. Of course, this was the thing that made her most uncomfortable. Since he was a maniac for medicine, and he did not want to stay in Hundred Herb Hall, how could he have accepted entering the imperial physician’s group without any resistance?
Seeing that Feng Yu Heng did not speak for a while, Wang Lin continued: “If boss is feeling uneasy, how about sending Song Kang? He is the most suitable person.”
Feng Yu Heng repeatedly shook her head, “No good. Once he gets in there, he will be tied up, and it will be very hard for him to worry about the things here. We still don’t have enough people on our hands. We still need to expand outward too. We can’t afford to give up Song Kang. How about this, pick some more reliable disciples to also go into the palace. Two people will go in, and that will provide some supervision.”
Wang Lin nodded, “This is not a problem.” After thinking a bit, he said: “Just have Xu Mao go. He is a relative from my old home. He has also worked in Hundred Herb Hall for over a year. He is definitely reliable.”
“You can make the decision for this.” Feng Yu Heng was able to feel at ease with Wang Lin’s side. After all, Wang Lin was not a maniac for medicine like Song Kang. he was a business person and made more consideration. He was more accurate in his view of people. If he said that someone was reliable, that person would definitely be reliable; otherwise, she would not have been so at ease with handing Hundred Herb Hall over to him for these two years.
After taking care of arrangements, she did not continue to remain. She stood up and brought Wang Chuan and Huang Quan back to the manor. At the same time, she calculated it in her mind. Xuan Tian Ming should be returning within a few days, right?
She calculated while walking in the streets of the capital. Inside the palace, the Emperor sat in Heavenly Hall and also calculated the days. While calculating, he muttered to himself as if reciting sutras. Just the sound of it caused Zhang Yuan’s head to hurt.
“Are you setting up a stall to do some fortune telling or something?” Zhang Yuan watched the Emperor’s serious expression and could not help but advise: “What are you calculating? Can you calculate it accurately? If it’s not accurate, have the people from the Board of Astronomy come and calculate it. There are specialized people for this. We can’t just want to show off for everything.”
The Emperor angrily chased him way: “Go, go, go, while you’re going, We will calculate how long it will be until old ninth returns to the capital. What is it, does the Board of Astronomy concern itself with calculating these things?”
“Then what they are responsible for calculating, is it not up to you? They’ll calculate whatever you tell them to!”
The old emperor slapped the table, “If you don’t understand anything, don’t bother participating! The Board of Astronomy is a place that divines things with the stars. That matter is clearly something for the Board of Astronomy, not a fortune teller! We need to do this Ourself.”
“Alright, it turns out that you’re telling your own fortune.” Zhang Yuan had no power to advise him any further. He found a stair in the hall and prepared to take a seat. Before his butt could touch the ground, the Emperor suddenly said, “Go and prepare some people. Listen to Our order tonight. Have them go to Winter Moon Palace and start a fire!”
The eunuch’s calf trembled in fear. Unable to sit down, his feet slipped, and his entire body rolled down the stairs of the hall.