The Martial Doctor-Chapter 71: Qihuang Research Institute

Wan Bin is an inspector at the Imperial Pharmacy, and he has a special power upon arriving in the region: he can recommend talents to the Qihuang Research Institute.

The Qihuang Research Institute at the Imperial Pharmacy is Da Li Dynasty’s official medical research institution, far surpassing the local Xinglin Institute.

The medical texts there are as extensive as clouds of smoke (cannot be verified), and there are numerous accomplished and renowned doctors teaching there (there is doubt...).

Moreover, the director of the Qihuang Research Institute is one of the five great medical experts of Da Li Dynasty, Fu Qingzhu.

Many practitioners aspire to enter the Qihuang Research Institute, receive personal guidance from Mr. Fu, rise to prominence, and reach the pinnacle of their lives.

However, entering the Qihuang Research Institute has requirements: one must be a medical practitioner under the age of forty, recommended by at least three renowned doctors from various prefectures, and approved by the Imperial Pharmacy before entering the Qihuang Research Institute.

There’s also a strict rule that requires at least three years of independent medical practice.

If there is any fabrication and it is discovered, not only will the title of renowned doctor be revoked from the recommending doctors, but their medical houses will also be penalized.

In fact, the prefectures rarely offer recommendations, as no one wants to gamble with their reputation and future over such matters.

This is just one way; another is when inspectors from the Imperial Pharmacy observe promising talents during their local inspection tours and extend invitations directly.

This does not require local recommendations but still demands certain entry conditions, such as three years of independent practice without experiencing any major medical incidents, age, and others.

Wan Bin is exercising this power, and he has only one quota. Once he gives it to Lin Miao, unless Lin Miao meets the conditions and enters the Qihuang Research Institute, Wan Bin won’t regain his recommendation power.

This is essentially betting his future.

In fact, Wan Bin has been an inspector for four or five years but has never exercised the privilege of recommending someone to the Qihuang Research Institute.

This privilege is used very cautiously because it’s directly related to oneself; recommending the wrong person would implicate oneself.

Wan Bin decided to recommend Lin Miao after careful consideration, knowing Lin Miao’s background and history.

Especially the scene at Cuiyun Pavilion where Su Chen and Lin Miao treated a little boy; he witnessed the entire process firsthand on site.

Of course, he wasn’t inside the dining room but outside the door.

As an inspector of the Imperial Pharmacy, he himself is a medical practitioner with excellent skills. The method Su Chen used to extract the foreign object from the boy’s throat wasn’t difficult; he had seen it before, but Lin Miao’s miraculous method of saving the boy was unheard of.

A child who had stopped breathing was brought back to life by him.

In his decades of medical practice, he had never seen anything like it.

As for the rumors outside suggesting that this was a deliberate plot by Su Chen to gain fame, it’s apparently unreliable; who would willingly use their child’s life to create opportunities for others?

Moreover, he quietly inquired afterward, and those dining guests didn’t initially know Su Chen or Lin Miao.

It was just coincidence that both parties chose adjacent private rooms while dining.

Originally, he didn’t know Lin Miao until he saw him with Su Chen at Jinxian Tower and learned about his identity.

He then personally witnessed Lin Miao pulling a hemorrhaging woman back from the brink of death (though he didn’t see the detailed process), yet the fact was undeniable.

Thus, he decided to personally seek out Pei Jian at the prefecture, requesting him to extend an invitation and have Lin Miao over for a banquet.

He has some connections with the Pei Family, otherwise, he wouldn’t have sought out Pei Jian.

Li Jing seems a bit distant for Lin Miao; he hasn’t thought that far ahead yet, but in his future plans, going there is certainly included.

In this magnificent world, he must explore and can’t stay confined to such a small place as Dongshan Prefecture for life.

How else could he meet different people and see different landscapes?

Unexpectedly, Wan Bin granted him an opportunity to go to Li Jing and enter the Qihuang Research Institute of the Imperial Pharmacy three years later.

This is indeed a good reason.

Of course, he understands what Wan Bin wants; this is essentially a mutual achievement situation, and there’s nothing wrong with it.

Such communities of interest tend to be the most solid alliances.

Wan Bin left him a recommendation letter stamped with the inspector’s seal; with this, he can go to Li Jing three years later.

Of course, the court will assess whether he meets the entry conditions for the Qihuang Research Institute. If not, he can continue to fulfill them without time constraints, as long as he isn’t over the entry age.

Therefore, if Lin Miao isn’t qualified, Wan Bin won’t be able to exercise his recommendation power for the rest of his life.

By the time Lin Miao turns forty, Wan Bin will no longer be serving as an inspector.

With this recommendation letter, no medical house in Dongshan City dares to sign that long-term "indenture" contract with him.

By then, he can leave anytime just by taking this, and no one can stop him.

This is considered a "Protective Talisman," and Lin Miao feels his luck isn’t bad; he keeps the recommendation letter close to his body and leaves the prefect’s house, gets on the carriage, instructing Mr. Xie to drive back home.

He left at three quarters past five, and when he returned, it was already close to the end of nine. The banquet, in all, took about two hours.

At the courtyard front.

Lin Miao gets off the carriage and sees Xia Zhu still kneeling there, startling him; what is this woman so obstinate about?

"I say, Xia Zhu, whatever you want to learn, I can teach you, but let’s skip the teacher-disciple ceremony, okay?" Although he knows Xia Zhu is gifted in martial arts and wouldn’t be affected by kneeling for days, having her kneel in his own courtyard isn’t good.

It’s not a good situation; there’s no wall in this world that doesn’t leak air, and if word gets out, they’ll think he wronged Xia Zhu.

Rumors spread easily, but once they catch fire, they’re hard to extinguish.

Words can be very frightening.

"No, Xia Zhu doesn’t covet Mr. Lin’s skills, but sincerely wishes to apprentice under him, with no ulterior motives." Although Xia Zhu had not eaten all day, her voice remained strong.

A martial artist has a strong physique.

A regular person would have fainted from kneeling for a day.

"Ah, why are you so stubborn?" Lin Miao sighed deeply and said through gritted teeth, "Do you believe that I could have you thrown out right now? No one is on the street anyway."

Xia Zhu did not speak, merely raised her head to glance at Lin Miao before lowering it again.

"Are you really not afraid? The night is much colder than day, and if you freeze outside, how will I compensate Xia Cixi..."

Just as if to echo Lin Miao’s words,

snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

This was the first snow he had seen upon arriving in this world.

"Xia Zhu, this mentorship process requires mutual consent. Isn’t your behavior somewhat excessive? We have no grudge, didn’t I just help your father yesterday, yet you repay kindness with ingratitude?" Lin Miao asked helplessly.

"Xia Zhu doesn’t dare. If I can apprentice under Mr. Lin, I will serve him my entire life to repay his teaching." Xia Zhu bowed low.

"Xia Zhu, give me a reason. What’s your true motive for apprenticing with me?" Lin Miao asked.

"If I tell you, will Mr. Lin take me as a disciple?"

"If your reason persuades me, I might consider it," Lin Miao said through clenched teeth, leaving room for possibilities.

"Xia Zhu has learned medicine from my father since childhood, for twenty years now, yet each time I encounter patients seeking treatment, I feel helpless. Even my father, with his top-tier medical skills in Dongshan City, faces many unsolvable difficult cases, and my mother has been bedridden for years..."

"Why do you think I can solve these difficult cases?" Lin Miao asked, eyes wide, "I am not yet seventeen, even if I learned from the womb, it would have been only seventeen years, shorter than your learning by three years."

"Some study for twenty years and gain only superficial knowledge, while others grasp medical theories with slight learning. Mr. Lin’s method of saving lives makes Xia Zhu feel there is always someone better. A mentor’s value isn’t based on age; accomplishment is foremost." Snowflakes landed on Xia Zhu, quickly soaking her clothes, the cold wind bringing a bone-chilling cold that made her teeth chatter.

"I’m really impressed!" Lin Miao turned angrily to leave, but after a few steps, sighed, turned back and took off his cloak to place it on Xia Zhu’s shoulders.

"I can let you learn beside me, but you’re not allowed to call me ’Master’." Lin Miao truly feared Xia Zhu would kneel in the courtyard another night and catch a cold.

"Yes, Master." Xia Zhu’s legs were numb from kneeling, trying to stand but losing balance and falling flat.

Lin Miao had no choice but to extend a hand and lift her from the ground to the living room.

"Patron."

"Mrs. Luu, you haven’t rested yet?"

"Youwei asked me to wait for your return, saying you might have instructions and it wouldn’t do for no one to be here to serve you." Luu Wan explained.

"Prepare a bowl of ginger soup for Miss Xia Zhu, no, better yet, ginseng soup, and also bring her a bowl of noodles or wontons." Lin Miao instructed.

"Do you want a bowl too, Patron?"

"Sure, prepare a bowl for Mr. Xie as well." Lin Miao nodded, considering how rare it was to fill up at social gatherings.

After a bowl of ginseng soup, Xia Zhu’s face quickly became rosy.

"Thank you, Master, for the ginseng soup."

"Enough, Xia Zhu, if you keep calling me that, I’ll throw you out now." Lin Miao found the title unsettling.

"Then how should Xia Zhu address you?"

"Just use my name."

"That won’t do. Xia Zhu has already apprenticed, how can I address Master by name?" Xia Zhu quickly stated.

"You can decide, but you’re not allowed to call me ’Master’, understood? I haven’t married yet, and now you’re aging me!"

"Then I shall call you Mr. Lin."

"Alright, that will do." Lin Miao nodded helplessly.

"Junior Brother."

"Senior Sister, why haven’t you slept?" Seeing Sun Youwei draped in a fur coat entering the living room, Lin Miao hurried to greet her.

Xia Zhu also stood up, feeling awkward, unsure of how to address Sun Youwei, whether to call her "Senior Aunt" or "Master’s Wife."

Neither title seemed quite right.

"I knew you returned, so I came to check in." Sun Youwei explained.

"You’re worried about her, right?" Lin Miao gestured towards Xia Zhu.

"Miss Xia Zhu greets Master..."

"Senior Sister is my fiancée, but let’s not be too formal. You can each speak respectfully in your way, free from constraints of rank." Lin Miao said.

"Miss Xia Zhu can call me Mrs. Sun."

"Respect should not be abandoned. Though you have not yet wed Mr. Lin, etiquette dictates Xia Zhu should call you Master’s Wife." Xia Zhu said earnestly, clearly having made her decision.

This title "Master’s Wife" made Sun Youwei’s face blush a deep red.