The Martial Doctor-Chapter 78 - 77: Junior Brother, You’re So Good to Me
The road home.
Seems not very peaceful.
"Master, is someone following us?" Mr. Xie, after all, is a skilled practitioner in the Bone Forging Realm, and he could detect the tail following behind the carriage.
If it were an ordinary coachman, that might not be the case.
"Don’t worry about it, just head back." Lin Miao instructed, after tonight, he was under more scrutiny, wanting to keep a low profile and continue biding his time was no longer possible.
"Got it." Mr. Xie agreed, driving the carriage swiftly and steadily along the street.
"Junior brother, did I cause you trouble today?" Inside the carriage, Sun Youwei nestled in Lin Miao’s embrace, slightly raised her head, and asked with a whisper like orchids.
She was now accustomed to such intimate contact. After all, she had already determined her belonging, anything more reserved would be pretentious.
Besides, the embrace of her junior brother was indeed very warm and gave a strong sense of security.
"No, you did very well." Lin Miao comforted her, if Sun Youwei hadn’t appeared today, the subsequent events would not have occurred.
However, he had no intention of blaming Sun Youwei, for in this world, how can one avoid all conflicts?
Thinking of avoidance today, and again tomorrow, staying detached when matters do not concern oneself, living like that would result in having no friends.
He also looked unfavorably upon the Ye Family, not only having inappropriate thoughts about his senior sister but also forcing someone to agree to a marriage alliance at their birthday banquet.
Such conduct is truly disdainful.
He didn’t have a deep relationship with the Xu Family either, but Mr. Xu was considered a decent elder, at least his attitude towards patients was worthy of an accomplished healer. He was willing to interact and even build a friendship with such a person.
As for the Xu Family, he made a clear distinction in his mind, Xu An was Xu An, and even Xu Qixi was separate from the Xu Family.
Returning home to Xiuyue Square.
It was already the end of the Hai hour.
"Old Xie, can you do counter-surveillance, check the origin of the tail." Lin Miao instructed Mr. Xie.
"You really know how to use people." Mr. Xie muttered, there was no choice, as the Lin Family’s steward, if he didn’t do this task, who would?
"Senior sister, I’ll take you back to rest." Lin Miao escorted Sun Youwei back to her room before returning to his study.
He replayed the events of the birthday banquet tonight, especially everyone’s words, in his mind.
Even though the matters of the Ye and Xu families didn’t concern him, he was dragged into it, so he naturally needed to be prepared.
Currently, he was already considered a "probationary" physician. According to the rules set by the court, these probationary physicians needed to find a medical hall for their internship.
And ordinary medical halls wouldn’t suffice; it had to be one with at least a junior physician.
Only a medical hall with junior physicians was qualified to accept "probationary" physicians for internships. After completing a year of internship and reaching a certain number of consultations, followed by assessments, they could be considered official physicians.
By then, they could either continue to practice at the internship medical hall or open their own practice, both were possible.
Under normal circumstances, one with a clear lineage doesn’t need to consider this, only those who want to break away from their original lineage might consider developing externally.
This actually formed a rather closed academic hierarchy.
But it wasn’t absolute, after all, medicine has developed over the years, with various branches and transmissions, some fragmented into countless sects.
Every change of dynasty would drive a break from the old order. Although the field of medicine was relatively stable, medical practitioners weren’t living in a vacuum and were greatly influenced by politics.
Like the current Da Li Dynasty, the court was dominated by the Hedong Confucian School (a branch of Mr. Zhong’s heritage), but in reality, there were many medical schools such as the Alchemy School (Alchemy), the Warm Disease School, the Injury and Illness School (Sima Sheng), the Scripture School (Le), and so on. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
The late Sun Simiao should belong to a branch of the Scripture School, but as to which branch exactly, no one knows now.
Sun Simiao never mentioned his master to Lin Miao or Sun Youwei, whether he was avoiding something or for other reasons, anyway, he was now an orphan without roots.
And there were quite a few people like him.
If he didn’t intend to join any medical hall, there was another path he could take, albeit a much harder one.
But for Lin Miao, it was definitely much freer.
What he wanted was freedom!
If he joined a medical hall, no matter how favorable the conditions, there would still be many constraints. He didn’t want to depend on anyone.
He decided not to join any medical hall and to apply for the court’s temporary "consultation" qualification to serve at a Convenient Medical Diagnosis Point for a year!
And Xiuyue Square had such a Convenient Medical Diagnosis Point, which had long been without a visiting "physician".
Because no one was willing to serve at these Convenient Medical Diagnosis Points, the Benefit People Pharmacy didn’t have enough physicians and doctors either, so in places with a medical hall, they wouldn’t generally assign a convenient consultation physician.
This service was temporarily undertaken by nearby medical halls. The Benefit People Pharmacy would purchase services, such as a certain number of convenient consultations per year.
Holding a prescription from the Benefit People Pharmacy’s convenient consultation allowed for discounted medicine purchases. Indeed, there were benefits involved, but these discounts had limits on quantity and type.
It was somewhat like low-income insurance, but it wasn’t specifically targeted at any individual. Even when purchasing medical hall services, these prescriptions had spending limits.
If Lin Miao applied for this "convenient consultation", it might involve Xiuyue Square, where Xiuyue Square had two major medical halls.
Anning Hall and Jia’s Medical Hall.
Anning Hall is the designated pharmacy for the Convenient Medical Diagnosis Point, and it’s also the main service purchaser of Xiuyue Square Benefit People Pharmacy. The locals in the square usually go to Anning Hall for minor ailments.
Jia’s Medical Hall has only Mr. Jia, who runs this private medical hall without a pharmacy, as he lacks professional pharmacists and sells only ready-made medicines. His main clients are not ordinary people, but gang members, hooligans, and women from pleasure houses. He’ll see all sorts of people, as long as they pay.
The clientele of these two establishments barely overlaps, so even in the same square, they coexist peacefully.
If Lin Miao intervenes, this balance will be disrupted. Of course, if no one goes to Lin Miao for medical needs, then this balance remains unaffected.
Moreover, the biggest issue.
Lin Miao’s Convenient Medical Diagnosis Point doesn’t have a pharmacy, not because it’s impossible, but because it’s not qualified; it requires a "pharmacist" to open a pharmacy. Otherwise, even if patients receive prescriptions from him, they’d need to go to Anning Hall to get the medicine.
If a partnership with a "pharmacist" could be established, this issue would be resolved.
However, good "pharmacists" are hard to find. Senior Sister can become a "pharmacist," but the "pharmacist" exam is generally held the day after the medical exam in spring, which is around March or April next year.
That’s at least three or four months away. Should we wait?
If it really doesn’t work out, then just wait.
Sitting on the cold bench at the diagnosis point for a few months doesn’t matter; it could actually lower the amount of attention on him.
The fewer big shots pay attention, the more beneficial it is to his starting phase.
He is still young, and time is his asset, giving him ten more years than those who pass the medical exam at twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
So, he can afford to wait.
...
Star-Picking Tower.
Top floor, Su Chen’s room.
Star-Picking Tower is a property of the Su Family. Naturally, Su Chen, the third son, gets to stay in the best room.
Now even his mother has arrived.
The top floor is spacious enough, with several rooms, so Bai Feng moved in with her maid. Besides this, she brought many guards, who are her escorts trained by the Snow Mountain Sect, all skilled in the Bone Forging Realm.
Being the top martial arts sect in the northwest, Bai Feng was once a core disciple of the sect and later married Su Qi, the richest man in Lianzhou, which established an extraordinary relationship.
The Snow Mountain Sect needs secular support, and the Su Family needs the martial protection of the Snow Mountain Sect — a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"Son, this friend you made is quite interesting. Tell me, how did you two meet?" Bai Feng is a woman of the jianghu, naturally disinclined to abide by the pretentious etiquette of aristocratic families — she only respects them on important occasions. Privately, she’s bold and carefree, dare to roll up her sleeves, cross her legs, drink heartily, and even issues drinking orders.
Su Chen inherited this carefree spirit from his mother Bai Feng.
But his father Su Qi is a refined gentleman, and it’s unclear how these two came to be a pair, yet remained loving for over twenty years.
Su Chen is the third child of the family; he has two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. His sister is biological, while his older sister is born of his father and another woman.
This is quite common in prominent clans and noble families.
As a successor to the family, Su Qi was versed in matters of men and women early on — having women or children is unsurprising.
For family succession, marriage isn’t the priority; birthing heirs is what matters.
Even if these women bear children, their status would be no more than a concubine. The official wife must be formally wedded, recognized by both the family and parents.
No matter if the match is equal in status, it must receive parental and family approval.
Though Su Chen ranks third in age, he is the legitimate son of the Su Family.
"Mom, I met Lin Miao – my virtuous brother in the Scripture Pavilion at Xinglin Institute. At that time, he was alone, standing there while others were copying medical texts from the board. He had brought nothing, so I lent him a set of paper and pen. Then, it seemed he had some grievances with the Ye Family; Ye Xizhao’s two aides seemed ready to hassle him..."
"Wait a moment, weren’t Ye Xizhao’s two bodyguards killed by someone?" Bai Feng suddenly raised her hand, interrupting Sully Chen’s words.
"Yes, it happened in the East Market that afternoon after the written exam," Su Chen replied.
"That afternoon, was your young friend in the East Market, or why did those two go to the East Market?" Bai Feng astutely caught the key point.
"I’m not sure. I haven’t asked him," Su Chen shook his head. "Mom, you don’t suspect that my brother Sanshui killed those two, do you?"
"To kill someone in a busy market and depart without leaving a trace, that indeed doesn’t seem like something a seventeen-year-old could achieve," Bai Feng nodded in agreement. "If he had help, or a master assisting from the shadows?"
"Mom, I’ve been to his home, didn’t find any signs of a master." Su Chen shook his head.
"Son, your jianghu experience is still shallow. If a master wants to hide, you won’t detect it," Bai Feng smiled gently. "Tonight, this move of his inadvertently disrupted Ye Shengyuan’s plan to forge alliances at the birthday banquet. Find a time to invite him; I’d like to meet him."
"Mom, I really don’t like that Xu Qixi..."
"That’s your father’s arrangement; if you don’t like it, just treat it as worshipping a Bodhisattva at home," Bai Feng said nonchalantly.
As for Xu Qixi, the little girl isn’t much liked by Bai Feng, but she isn’t detested either. The little girl can be educated after marriage.
