Chapter 92: Holy Land

Although Ding Peng, a Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, was only a third-rank official, Gu Qiming, the third-rank Head of the Medical Department, still gave him enough face and personally sent him out of the Medical Department gate.

Watching Ding Peng walk away, Gu Qiming walked back with a serious face. When he reached the front of the Medical Department building, he didn't go in directly but continued to walk forward until he reached the street entrance, silently watching the square behind the Jiujie.

Even from far away, he could still see the stone cauldron in the square and the old courtyard behind the stone cauldron at a glance.

"Master."

"Master."

Gu Qiming saw his two disciples coming from the Second Street, withdrew his thoughts, and looked at them: "Why did you come over at this time?"

Yuan Tianchou and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying first saluted Gu Qiming, and then Lu Zimo spoke: "The disciple and the junior sister have a few places we don't understand when reading the Medicine Ancestor's notes, so we came to ask Master for advice."

Gu Qiming gave an "um," turned and walked toward the Medical Department building, and motioned for the two disciples to follow.

Yuan Tianchou followed quickly: "Master, I heard that Embroidered Uniform Guards came to the Medical Department again. Was it for the pill theft some time ago?"

Gu Qiming nodded: "I have already sent them away."

Yuan Tianchou: "Were the stolen pills all found?"

Gu Qiming shook his head.

Yuan Tianchou looked surprised: "The pills weren't all found, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards just left like that?"

Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying, who hadn't spoken, looked at Gu Qiming, who was silent, and said: "Master, do you not want the Embroidered Uniform Guards to continue investigating?"

Gu Qiming brought his two disciples back to his office before saying coldly: "Over a hundred people were arrested from the Apprentice Hall. I took a look, and they were all people with no background."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guards know very well that they have nothing to do with Leng Xiangru, but they still took them away. Why do you think that is?"

Yuan Tianchou and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying looked at each other and didn't speak.

Yuan Tianchou's father was the Director of the Imperial Observatory. Although his official position was not high, the Yuan family was a long-standing family in the capital. Before the Great Jin Dynasty established its capital in the capital, the Yuan family had already been passed down in the capital for who knows how many generations.

Therefore, the Yuan family's news was relatively well-informed.

Yuan Tianchou could see the suppressed anger in Gu Qiming's eyes. He knew the real reason behind the disaster in the Apprentice Hall this time.

His father knew the Art of Qi Observation. As early as the year before last, he saw the Medical Department shrouded in auspicious clouds from the Observatory Tower.

His father reported this to the imperial court.

At first, the imperial court didn't pay much attention, and the power-holders just casually inserted some people in, mostly arranging them in the Apprentice Hall and the Disciple Hall.

But after last September, the power-holders suddenly began to attach importance to the Medical Department and all set their sights on the Jiujie Pharmacy.

In the past few months, all parties had been dispatched, and they were all inserting people into the Jiujie.

Because the competition was so fierce, those with weaker power set their sights on the Disciple Hall and the Apprentice Hall.

The stolen pills were found in the Apprentice Hall, but because the thief Leng Xiangru was found, it was actually only necessary to punish the person in charge of the Apprentice Hall. However, someone pressured the Embroidered Uniform Guards, which led to the arrest of over a hundred apprentices.

With over a hundred apprentices arrested, all parties could start inserting their own people.

Gu Qiming was indignant: "If the Embroidered Uniform Guards were allowed to continue investigating, not only would the Apprentice Hall be in panic, but the Servant Hall would also be turned upside down by them."

Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying was a mountain villager from the suburbs of the capital. Because she had a Wood Spirit Root, she had felt close to plants and trees since she was a child. Relying on following a half-baked traveling doctor and self-study, she had learned a set of medical skills.

Gu Qiming discovered her while picking herbs in the mountains, then accepted her as a disciple, brought her back to the Medical Department, and now she was a qualified pharmacist who could refine Grandmaster pills.

Limited by her vision, Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying was often confused about the twists and turns in the imperial court: "Master, could it be that someone wants to insert people into the Servant Hall? The Servant Hall is for heavy and tiring work."

Gu Qiming's eyes were cold: "Someone has ulterior motives, spreading news in secret, saying that the Medical Department is a holy land." As he spoke, he looked at his two disciples.

"Cultivators cannot do without pills. What kind of holy land can the Medical Department be? Naturally, it is a holy land for alchemy."

"Every family wants to lay out their plans, and they all want to cultivate their own alchemists. Being a servant in the Servant Hall is a bit humble, but for them, entering the venue first is the most important thing."

Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying: "Since that's the case, why did the Embroidered Uniform Guards leave? Why didn't they search the Servant Hall?"

Yuan Tianchou guessed some of this question and looked at Gu Qiming: "Master, is it because of that female servant who dared to fight with the Embroidered Uniform Guards?"

Gu Qiming didn't want his two disciples to only know how to refine pills, so he didn't hide it from them: "Although that female servant is a cultivator, in the eyes of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, she is clearly not enough."

"What really makes the Embroidered Uniform Guards wary is the person behind that female servant."

Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying was confused: "Since that female servant has a background that makes the Embroidered Uniform Guards wary, why go be a servant?"

Gu Qiming: "Her background is too poor. She doesn't even know what resources she has. Hua Changxin, the personal disciple of the Taisu Palace Master, is that female servant's sister, but she and her family don't know this."

Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying was full of surprise: "Hua Changxin, the Green Lotus Fairy of Taisu Palace?"

Yuan Tianchou looked enlightened: "The Green Lotus Fairy is not only inseparable from the Sixth Prince but also has a close relationship with the Prince of Dong'an. The other personal disciples of Taisu Palace also have backgrounds."

"With such a backer, no wonder the Embroidered Uniform Guards didn't dare to touch that female servant."

As he spoke, Yuan Tianchou looked at Gu Qiming: "Master, I heard that the female servant is bold and not afraid of trouble. Then let her stay in the Servant Hall. I think with her there, it can make some people wary."

Gu Qiming looked at Yuan Tianchou with satisfaction. He really thought so. Someone eyeing the Servant Hall was not what he was most worried about; what he was most worried about was someone eyeing the old courtyard.

"By the way, I asked you to pay respects to the old man in the old courtyard in the square earlier. Did you go?"

Yuan Tianchou and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying nodded: "We went."

Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying: "Master, that old courtyard is very strange. The courtyard gate can only be pushed open a crack, and it is a bit difficult to get in. The old man living in the courtyard is also strange. No matter what the senior brother and I said, he didn't pay attention."

Gu Qiming: "Did the old man ask you to take the wooden plaque hanging under the eaves?"

Yuan Tianchou: "Yes, the disciple spent a lot of effort to take it down, but the junior sister took it down very easily."

Gu Qiming's expression shook after hearing this: "Bring your wooden plaques for me to see."

Yuan Tianchou and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying didn't hesitate and took off the wooden plaques at their waists and handed them to Gu Qiming.

Gu Qiming looked at them in his hand, then got up and walked to the bookshelf, taking down a wooden box.

The wooden box opened, and inside was also a wooden plaque, exactly the same as the one Gu Qiming and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying got.

"When I first entered the Medical Department, I also went to the old courtyard and got such a wooden plaque."

Yuan Tianchou and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying were very surprised: "Master, what is this wooden plaque for?"

Gu Qiming shook his head: "I don't know either." As he spoke, he returned their wooden plaques to them, "You take the wooden plaques and study them well. I always feel that this is like some kind of key."

"If the Medical Department is really a holy land, then this wooden plaque is absolutely extraordinary. You two must keep it well."

Yuan Tianchou and Seeing Seeing Mu Qingying nodded in agreement. Then, Yuan Tianchou thought of something and said to Gu Qiming: "Master, Gu Jinfan often goes to the old courtyard. She should also have gotten a wooden plaque."

Speaking of Gu Jinfan, Gu Qiming's eyes flickered.

Although they both had the surname Gu, they were not from the same clan.

He found that this young woman was a bit mysterious. In many things, he couldn't understand the other party.

Her news seemed particularly well-informed. He hadn't heard about the Mount Kunlun affair, but she knew it and even took the cultivators of the Gu clan to Mount Kunlun in advance.

He didn't know where she got the news from.

This trip to Mount Kunlun, the Duke of Xinguo's mansion would probably return fully loaded. ===== CHAPTER 93 =====