After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

Chapter 118 Backer
These details were mentioned by the brokerage manager when Bai Wanqing accompanied him to inspect the shop yesterday.

In the eyes of the broker, Doctor Zheng was a kind and righteous man. Having met him today, Bai Wanqing also had a very good impression of the doctor in front of her.

"Dr. Zheng, would you be willing to practice medicine at my clinic when it opens? We can discuss the consultation fee!" Bai Wanqing smiled slightly at Dr. Zheng, extending an olive branch to him.

Doctor Zheng looked at the dentist, then at Bai Wanqing, and shook his head, saying, "Young lady! Yesterday I heard from the people at the dentistry that you bought this shop to open a clinic, and I felt that was inappropriate."

Have you heard anything about me from the brokerage firm?

Bai Wanqing glanced at the man with the tooth, then nodded and said, "I've heard about it!"

Dr. Zheng was surprised, "I heard that you still want to open a clinic, and you're even willing to hire me as a doctor?"

Bai Wanqing smiled and only said one sentence, "Dr. Zheng, just tell me if you're willing or not?"

Doctor Zheng hesitated, but the broker, seeing this, still wanted to help. He smiled and introduced Bai Wanqing to Doctor Zheng, "Doctor Zheng, you don't know, do you? The lady who came to see your shop today is the wife of the prefect of Huaizhou."

“If you practiced medicine in her shop, none of those things would have happened again.” After saying that, the broker glanced at Bai Wanqing out of the corner of his eye and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still smiling.

Dr. Zheng was slightly taken aback, and then his expression towards Bai Wanqing changed unpredictably.

"Madam, why do you want to open a clinic?" Doctor Zheng still had doubts. Although it would be difficult for the Fang family to cause trouble if the clinic was opened by the prefect's wife, he was unwilling to associate with an official's wife who knew nothing and just opened a clinic for fun.

Bai Wanqing guessed the doubts in Doctor Zheng's mind. "Doctor Zheng, do you know the Bai family in Huaizhou County?"

Doctor Zheng shook his head, "I am ignorant and have never heard of this before."

He had only heard of the Yao family of Cangzhou and the Fang family of Jianzhou, but he had never heard of the Bai family of Huai'an County.

Bai Wanqing smiled and said, "Doctor Zheng, have you ever heard of Doctor Luo?"

Doctor Zheng's eyes lit up when he heard the name "Divine Physician Luo." "I wonder what the relationship is between Madam and Divine Physician Luo?"

Bai Wanqing said softly, "Dr. Luo is my grandmaster. Doctor Zheng is not someone I opened a clinic on a whim. My family has been running a clinic since we were in Huai'an County. My father was also a well-known medicine merchant in Huai'an County."

"Dr. Zheng can ask around about these things; he'll find out as soon as he asks."

Doctor Zheng naturally dared not question what the prefect's wife said. "Madam, I believe you."

Seeing that he was somewhat hesitant, Bai Wanqing continued, "Dr. Zheng, do you think it's a good thing or a bad thing if all the medical clinics in a prefecture are monopolized by one family?"

Dr. Zheng was surprised that Bai Wanqing would ask such a direct question; it was clearly aimed at the Fang family.

"Madam, as far as I know, this is not a good thing." Doctor Zheng frowned and continued, "Although there are many clinics in Huaizhou City now, the owners of these clinics are all the same person. I have heard that some people have been mistreated at one clinic, but when they go to another clinic, the doctor there covers for them."

"This happens a lot?" Bai Wanqing asked, frowning, because this was a situation she hadn't expected to be so bad.

Dr. Zheng paused for a moment, then said, "Not many, but there have been more than a dozen cases in the past few years."

Bai Wanqing's expression darkened slightly; in her view, these dozen or so cases were already a lot.

"I originally thought that monopolistic clinics would only inflate drug prices and make medical treatment more expensive for ordinary people, but I didn't expect there to be such a cover-up."

Both Doctor Zheng and the dentist sighed softly. Doctor Zheng said, "The medicine is indeed more expensive than before. People who aren't very wealthy used to go to the clinic for treatment when they were sick, but now..."

"They're all being brewed at home," the broker added. "After all, the medicine prescribed at this family clinic costs four or five hundred coins per dose; how could an ordinary family afford that?"

After the man finished speaking, the three of them remained silent for a while.

"So we must open this clinic, and not only open it, but open it well." Bai Wanqing made up her mind at this moment. Although she had not yet received a reply from Master Luo, she was still determined to open the clinic.

Looking at Bai Wanqing like this, Doctor Zheng quickly made up his mind, "Madam, since you've decided to go, then I've decided to come."

"As long as you don't mind my current bad reputation."

Dr. Zheng was still very worried about affecting Bai Wanqing's business.

Bai Wanqing smiled and said, "Don't worry, you've forgotten, I have two powerful backers!"

Two powerful backers? Doctor Zheng thought for a moment and understood. Indeed, there were two: the prefect of Huaizhou and the divine physician Luo Feng.

Dr. Zheng's eyes suddenly reddened; he never imagined he would still have the opportunity to treat patients.

Seeing that the two were getting along very well, the broker was also pleased. "Then, gentlemen, why don't we change the contract for this shop today?"

Bai Wanqing had no objections, and Doctor Zheng readily agreed.

After the two signed the contract and Bai Wanqing paid the money, they went directly to the government office to exchange the deed. Bai Wanqing did not expect everything to go so smoothly.

But this success was only temporary, because the Fang family already knew that the Zheng family's shop had been sold.

"What did you say? Who bought the Zheng family's shop?" Master Fang was startled when he heard the steward's report.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, it is the newly arrived wife of the Prefect."

"What does she want the Zheng family's shop for?" Master Fang was a little annoyed. He had his eye on the Zheng family's shop for a long time, but Madam Zheng was stubborn and refused to sell it to him no matter what. Later, he even sent someone to pretend to be a buyer, but Doctor Zheng saw through his plan.

He just hadn't been able to secure that good shop.

"I heard it's for opening a clinic!"

Now Master Fang was even more agitated. "What did you say? Isn't she the wife of the prefect? ​​What kind of clinic does she run?"

The housekeeper doesn't know either! "Sir, why don't we send someone to inquire?"

Master Fang nodded, "Go ahead! Remember not to let the news leak out. We don't know what kind of person this new prefect is, so let's not offend him for now." After the steward agreed, he left.

Master Fang twirled the prayer beads in his hand, pondering, "Hopefully, it was just a whim of the prefect's wife!"

If he were to actually let her open the clinic, he would probably lose a lot of money! Without money, how would he feed the people behind him?

Master Fang felt a headache coming on; why did it have to be the prefect's wife?

Bai Wanqing happily led Ruixin home. "Tomorrow, let's find a carpenter's shop and reserve the sign for the century-old medical clinic."

"I will write another letter to my father. The establishment of this pharmacy will not have been possible without your support in providing medicinal herbs."

Seeing that the clinic was about to be established, even Ruixin was a little excited.

"Miss, what about Doctor Luo? Should we write another letter to invite him?"

Bai Wanqing also remembered this, "Yes, write it down!"

Bai Wanqing quickly wrote two letters and had Ruixin send them out. Meanwhile, Lin Yunche returned from his official duties.

"Judging from your expression, today went quite smoothly?" Lin Yunche saw that Bai Wanqing had already started listing the items needed for the clinic, and knew that the deal for the shop had been finalized.

"Not only did it go smoothly, but there were also unexpected gains."

"Oh? What did you find?"

Bai Wanqing told Lin Yunche about Dr. Zheng's plans to practice at the century-old medical clinic, but Lin Yunche was not happy. "The Fang family can actually go to such lengths?"

Bai Wanqing's expression was cold and stern. "Yes! I didn't expect that either."

Lin Yunche chuckled softly, "The men I went out to investigate the bandits today have also sent a reply?"

Bai Wanqing turned her head and asked, "Are there really bandits in the mountains?"

Lin Yunche frowned and nodded, "Yes! But these bandits are indeed as the Wei family said. They hardly ever come down the mountain, and their numbers are not many. If you want to say who they have robbed, it is only those unscrupulous merchants who pass by. They have never robbed legitimate merchants."

Lin Yunche also found this strange.

"Then how can this be considered banditry?"

"That counts, as long as they've done this plundering, it counts." Lin Yunche felt there was more to the story, so he sighed and said.

"So, according to you, the people who robbed Wei Qian shouldn't be these people?"

"No. Speaking of which, has Wei Qian already woken up?"

"He's awake, don't worry! His life is safe for now."

Lin Yunche nodded, "That's good. This matter is too strange. I still need to find some time to ask him about it."

"Ok!"

After Lin Yunche finished speaking, his stomach started growling, and Bai Wanqing realized that it was time to eat.

She immediately stood up. "Sorry, I forgot the time. I'll do it now."

"How about noodles?"

Lin Yunche was indeed very hungry at this moment. "Of course, I'll start a fire for you."

Bai Wanqing did not refuse, so the two of them finished their dinner together.

This was the first time Lin Yunche had ever eaten noodles cooked by Bai Wanqing. After taking a bite, his eyes lit up. "These noodles are so delicious!"

"You like it?"

Lin Yunche nodded.

"Then I'll make it for you often from now on," Bai Wanqing said with a smile.

Lin Yunche grinned happily, "Then I'll draw for you often."

Bai Wanqing was speechless for a moment.

After clearing away the dishes, Bai Wanqing looked around their prefectural compound and felt that having only three people was indeed too few.

Especially Lin Yunche, now if anything happens, he always asks Ruixin to run errands.

If Ruixin were taken away by him, he would have no choice but to go to the yamen and ask someone from the prefectural government to run errands for him.

But how can public and private matters be mixed up?

So Bai Wanqing and Lin Yunche discussed buying him a servant to accompany him.

After listening to Bai Wanqing's suggestion, Lin Yunche thought for a moment and readily agreed, "Madam, you can make the arrangements."

Lin Yunche trusted Bai Wanqing, but Bai Wanqing knew that Lin Yunche had a special identity.

She has to be very discerning when choosing a partner. "I'll go to various brokerage firms tomorrow. If I find someone suitable, I'll bring them back. If not, we'll look around some more."

Lin Yunche expressed his agreement.

(End of this chapter)