Chapter 65: Trading Medicine for Debt

  Under the treatment of Xiao Nan and his father, Lu Zhenwu's condition quickly stabilized, but he had not yet come to due to the huge physical consumption.

  Zhao Dingzhou and several other generals from the military district shook hands with Xiao Nanyue one by one. Zhao Dingzhou thanked Xiao Nanyue sincerely: "Xiao Dafu, thank you so much! General Lu's situation is critical, if anything happens to him, it will have a great impact on our country." After Lu Zhenwu stabilized, he also wiped away cold sweat.

  Zhao Dingzhou's words further confirmed Zhou Hao's speculation that Lu Zhenwu was indeed the first commander of the PLA garrison in Hong Kong in his past life. If Lu Zhenwu really died from poisoning, it would have a very unfavorable impact on both China's military and the smooth transition of Hong Kong.

  But then Xiao Nan Yue laughed and said, "We're just doing our best, if you really want to thank someone, you should be thanking my little junior brother. If he hadn't used his true energy to suppress the poison in General Lu's body and force it out, General Lu would have been in real danger."

  Zhao Dingzhou and others all focused their attention on Zhou Hao, with a mixture of gratitude and astonishment in their eyes. The army was not lacking in internal family masters, but they had never seen anyone like Zhou Hao who possessed such profound cultivation at his age. The three people who had previously infused true energy into Lu Zhenwu also admired Zhou Hao wholeheartedly. Earlier, the combined efforts of the three of them could only barely slow down the spread of toxins within Lu Zhenwu's body, whereas Zhou Hao not only suppressed its spread but even managed to concentrate the toxins and force them out of his body, a feat that truly left people in awe.

  "I didn't know Xiao Hao and Zhao Dafu were from the same school." Zhao Dingzhou said with a smile to Zhou Hao, but his tone was not without blame, silently reproaching Zhou Hao for not telling him this, apparently not considering him as one of their own.

  "This, Zhao brother, didn't I tell you before that I met a strange person in Qiuning Mountain? He is also Xiao Shixiong's master, so it turns out that we two are fellow disciples." Zhou Hao explained.

  One of the three internal family experts couldn't help but ask, "May I ask what is your master's surname and given name? To be able to teach disciples like Xiao Daifu and you, he must be a highly skilled person in both medicine and martial arts."

  Just as Zhou Haogang was about to speak, Xiao Nanyue preempted him by saying: "Sorry, because our master dislikes publicity and has also instructed us not to reveal his name to others, so please forgive us."

  As for Xiao Nan Yue's words, everyone didn't find it hard to understand, because many talented and extraordinary hermits had that temperament. Zhou Hao thought that Gong Sun's medical skills and martial arts were so formidable, but he had lived alone in the cave of Autumn Peace Mountain for decades, presumably also disliking showiness like Xiao Nan Yue said, so he didn't object either.

  At this time, a tall and big man with a national character face walked in, his face was full of anxiety, and there were still tears in his eyes. As soon as he came in, he asked nervously: "How is the captain? Is the captain all right?"

  "Yanjun, General Lu is fine now, you don't have to worry." Zhao Dingzhou patted the man's shoulder.

  He let out a long sigh, looking at Lu Zhenwu on the hospital bed, his expression filled with self-blame and remorse. "It's all my fault, if I hadn't given the tea leaves to the leader, he wouldn't have been poisoned."

  When he heard this, Zhou Hao knew that this man was Shen Yanjun, a senior colonel under Lu Zhenwu.

  Zhao Dingzhou then said to Shen Yankun, "This time you should thank Xiao Hao and Xiao Daifu, they are the ones who saved General Lu."

  Shen Yangjun heard this and was about to kneel down to Zhou Hao, but Zhou Hao hastily grabbed him and wouldn't let him kneel. "Principal Shen, don't be like that, it's just a small favor, not worth mentioning."

  Shen Yanguan wiped away the tears from his eyes and said to Zhou Hao and Xiao Nan, "Then I won't say anything else. From now on, you can ask me for anything, as long as it's not against the law or discipline. Even if it means going through fire and water, I will repay your kindness!" His words were solemn and forceful, leaving no room for doubt. Zhou Hao was deeply moved by Shen Yanguan's promise and felt even more respect for his loyalty to Lu Zhenwu.

  "By the way, Yan Jun, have you found that merchant who gave you the tea leaves?" Zhao Dingzhou asked.

  As soon as Shen Yangjun mentioned that merchant, he immediately showed a gritted teeth expression. "That killer, on the second day after giving me the tea leaves, ran away and our people still can't find him." He said to Zhao Dingzhou and others: "Wei Zhongbao has been doing business in Guangxi for many years, I met him by chance, this time when I came back from Guangxi, I planned to get some authentic bitter nail tea for the leader, so I asked him to help me buy it, unexpectedly he was so bold as to poison the tea leaves."

  "Does he know those tea leaves were meant for General Lu?" Zhao asked Dingzhou.

  Shen Yanguan shook his head, "I don't know, I've never told him before, and he doesn't know the captain either."

  "Then he must be targeting you, but didn't expect to implicate General Lu." Another general said.

  "It's all my fault, Chief." Shen Yanguan's expression turned heavy again.

  But then Zhao Dingzhou said, "It's not ruled out that he actually knew about the relationship between Yan Jun and General Lu. General Lu's identity is too sensitive, especially at this time. I suspect that there are British people behind this, they were originally reluctant to return Hong Kong to us! It's hard to say whether they won't play some tricks to make things difficult for us."

  "General Zhao, you mean that Wei Zhongbao might be a British spy?" Shen Yanyun was also startled.

  Zhao Dingzhou nodded, "It's possible. I have to report this immediately, hum! If it was really those British people who did a good deed, we can't just let it go like that!" He looked at Xiao Nanyue, "Right, Xiao Daifu, I heard from my little sister that this 'Yan Wang Xiao' poison is from the Yang family in Guangxi?"

  "Hmm, the person I saved was indeed poisoned by the Yang family." Xiao Nan Yue said: "However, what kind of people the Guangxi Yang family are, I'm not very clear about. When they came to our door that year, their faces were all covered, and I didn't even know what they looked like."

  Zhao Dingzhou said to the other generals and officers present: "This matter must be thoroughly investigated, I want to know what kind of people the Yang family is, daring to secretly communicate with foreign enemies, we can't let a single one go!"

  "Yes!" The crowd responded with alacrity.

  Then, Xiao Nanyue gave Lu Zhenwu a prescription and asked the hospital staff to decoct the medicine for him on time. He also instructed some precautions to take note of. Zhao Dingzhou then arranged for someone to send them back home. Before leaving, Xiao Nanyue also made an appointment with Zhou Hao to go to Qiuning Mountain two days later to pay respects to Grandfather Gongsun.

  Zhou Hao and Zhao Yuqin remained at the base, both of them went to Zhao Dingzhou's office, after Zhao Dingzhou reported Lu Zhenwu's situation to the Central Committee, he immediately came over to see them.

  "Xiao Hao, the prescription that Xiao Dafu used to detoxify General Lu earlier, was it passed down by your master?" Zhao Dingzhou asked as soon as he sat down.

  Zhou Hao said: "Yes, Xiao Shixiong said that Master had studied the highly toxic 'Yan Wang Xiao' in his early years and also developed an antidote."

  Zhao Dingzhou said, "This 'Yan Wang Xiao' is highly toxic. When General Lu was poisoned, we couldn't even detect what kind of poison it was. Our medical team consists of experienced military doctors." He looked at Zhou Hao seriously and said, "According to Xiaodafu, this 'Yan Wang Xiao' was a highly toxic poison used in ancient palaces to kill high-ranking officials and concubines, also known as the prototype of 'He Dian Hong'. I want to ask, how did the Yang family get their hands on this 'Yan Wang Xiao'? And where did your master obtain it from and study it in his early years?"

  Zhao Yuqin's face changed, "Brother, you mean 'Yan Wang Xiao' is from Xiaohao Shifu's hands?"

  "It's a big deal, I can't let go of any possibility." Zhao Dingzhou coughed lightly.

  Zhou Hao immediately said: "Although my master is a bit eccentric, I think he won't use poison to harm people."

  "I didn't mean that, being able to teach disciples like you and Xiao Daifu, your master's character is absolutely not bad." Zhao Dingzhou said: "I'm saying whether it could be that your master accidentally let 'Yan Wang Xiao' fall into the Yang family's hands in his early years?"

  "I'm not quite sure about this." Zhou Hao shrugged his shoulders.

  "Also, you mentioned earlier that your master passed on several prescriptions to you, which are very effective in treating injuries and recovering vitality?" Zhao Dingzhou asked: "Now looking at the detoxification prescription from Xiao Daifu, the few prescriptions your master gave you should also be very reliable..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Zhou Hao understood his meaning. Zhao Dingzhou and the others had seen that with Xiao Nanyue's detoxification prescription, they could deal with the "Yan Wang Xiao" that made all the doctors helpless, so the prescription that Zhou Hao mentioned earlier must be very valuable too. Therefore, Zhao Dingzhou wanted Zhou Hao to hand over those prescriptions to the military.

  "There are many medicinal materials in those prescriptions that have not been discovered yet." Zhou Hao said immediately: "So I want to take advantage of the winter vacation to find those medicinal materials with Xiao Jiming, study their specific medicinal properties, and finally realize the prescription. My idea is to open a pharmaceutical group in the future and promote and develop traditional Chinese medicine."

  Zhao Dingzhou understood what Zhou Hao meant, he wanted him to develop those prescriptions himself. Zhao Dingzhou still wanted to persuade Zhou Hao, but after thinking about it again, from Zhao Yiqin's introduction and his own interactions with him, Zhou Hao was very determined, once he made up his mind, others would find it difficult to stop him. Moreover, since he had already decided to develop the prescriptions himself, what right did he have to ask him to hand them over to the military?

  Just as they were about to give up, Zhou Hao said: "However, Brother Zhao, I have a proposal. I'll hand over one of the prescriptions to you, can you lend me some money?"

  Zhao Dingzhou and Zhao Yuqin both felt very strange when they heard Zhou Hao's words, and Zhao Dingzhou asked: "Do you want to borrow money? How much?"

  Zhou Hao stretched out three fingers, "300 million." Seeing Zhao Dingzhou and Zhao Yuqin both showing shocked expressions, he said: "The medicinal materials required for this prescription are all existing and available, that is to say, this prescription is ready-made. This prescription is called 'Hei Yu Gao', which is very effective in stopping bleeding and recovery from external injuries, I estimate its efficacy is four to five times that of Yunnan Baiyao."