Mr. Qi was tired after being disturbed for half the night, so he ordered his servants to prepare guest rooms for Wang Ping'an and Wang Youcai, and let them stay overnight. The villagers from Wulicun were anxious to return home and didn't want to wait until dawn to leave. Mr. Qi didn't insist on keeping them, but instead had his servants give each villager 50 copper coins as a consolation fee, and also gave each of them a torch to take back home.

  Wang Youcai was greatly shocked tonight, and being older, he fell asleep soon after going to bed. Wang Ping'an, however, couldn't sleep, tossing and turning as he thought about Qi Laoda's condition and how to cure him with absolute certainty. His mind was a jumble of thoughts until the time of the first cockcrow, when he finally fell into a daze and slept.

  After leaving the village, Qi Huan rushed along the road at midnight and arrived under the city wall. He got off his horse, took out a military saddle bag, sat outside the city gate, and waited for dawn to open the gate before entering the city to buy medicine.

  The soldiers on the city wall naturally recognized him, and Qi was a fierce and powerful general from Xuzhou. His martial arts were highly skilled, and even when they wanted to fawn over him in peacetime, they couldn't get close. Seeing him sitting outside the gate, the guarding soldier called out: "General Qi, do you have urgent business? You'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to enter the city."

  Qī Huán raised his head and said, "This little trip is not worthy of the title 'general', brother is being polite! Tomorrow I have to go into the city to get medicine for my father, it's an urgent matter!"

  "It turned out that General Lao was ill, General Qi, you don't have to wait until dawn, we can use a basket to lift you up now, and you can go into the city tonight to fetch medicine for General Lao!" When something like this happens, the guards are still very willing to help.

  Qizhuan hesitated for a moment, thinking that entering the city a little earlier would be better, so he nodded in agreement. The guard put down the large basket and lifted him up. Qizhuan said a few polite words before immediately going down to hurry to the nearest pharmacy.

  Xuzhou is a big city, with many pharmacies. Just one street away from the city gate, there was a pharmacy that had closed its doors. Qi Huan didn't care about this and went forward to knock on the door, waking up the shop assistant and asking him to prepare medicine according to the prescription.

  The shop assistant looked at the prescription and was immediately stunned, asking: "Sir, is this prescription written by a divine doctor?"

  Qī Huán snorted, he had previously sought out the famous doctor Cheng, but Cheng's treatment couldn't cure his father's illness, and even told him to prepare for the worst, which made him very unhappy. Now that his partner was asking in this way, he became even more displeased, saying: "What business is it of yours who wrote the prescription? As long as I take the medicine according to the prescription, that's all that matters, I'm not going to stiff you on the payment!"

  "Alright, alright! I'll get the medicine for you right away. However, one of the ingredients is in my master's room and he has it locked up. Let me go ask him for it. Please wait for just a moment, I'll be right back!"

  "Hurry up, don't mess up my big deal!" Qi Huan said.

  The boy ran quickly into the backyard, knocked on the door and shouted: "Master, master, get up quickly, I just got a prescription, take a look!"

  The doctor in the pharmacy heard him calling at the door and knew it was an urgent matter, so he got up and put on his clothes to come out. He said: "You little boy, why are you so flustered and lost your composure? If the patient sees you like this, who will come to our house in the future?" He took over the prescription, looked at it once, hummed, then looked again carefully, hummed again, walked back into the room, lit a candle, and under the candlelight, examined it for the third time!

  He took a deep breath, slowly exhaling, the doctor at the pharmacy said: "This prescription is for treating severe dampness and stagnation. The first prescription stops asthma, the second prescription clears the meridians, it's clear and logical, both cautious and bold, taking everything into account, this is indeed a priceless good prescription! As far as I know, no one in our city can come up with such a great prescription, not even Cheng Jisheng that old man. Is it possible that a famous doctor has arrived in Chang'an?"

  The apprentice was his disciple, so he naturally understood the medical skills. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to find an excuse to leave immediately after seeing the prescription and report back to his master. The apprentice said: "I just asked, this prescription shouldn't be written by Cheng Jisheng. The man who grabbed the medicine had a bad temper and didn't want to say anything, so I didn't dare ask further!"

  The doctor at the pharmacy nodded, without thinking, sat down at the desk, picked up his pen and began to write a prescription. A medical practitioner who sees such a good formula, how can he not immediately record it!

  He copied Wang Ping'an's prescription, but Qi Huan and others in front were impatient, calling out to urge the apprentice to hurry back. The doctor at the pharmacy quickly wrote down the prescription and instructed the apprentice: "When fetching the medicine, slow down a bit, I'll go out myself later to ask about the origin of this prescription."

  The fellow nodded in agreement, took the prescription and quickly walked out of the house. The doctor at the pharmacy held the prescription, muttering to himself, when suddenly he heard the door to the inner room open, and his wife came out, asking him: "Why did you let the fellow in? Can't you talk about it outside?"

  The doctor at the pharmacy didn't have the mood to chat with her about etiquette, and he simply handed over the prescription, saying: "Miss, come quick and take a look, I got an absolutely wonderful prescription tonight, what luck!"

  His wife came forward, took the prescription and looked at it. As a doctor's wife, she had often seen her husband write prescriptions and was familiar with pharmacology. She only glanced at it once and said: "This prescription must have been stolen, otherwise such a good prescription would only be kept as a treasure of the family business, how could it be leaked out?"

  The doctor in the pharmacy wiped away his sweat and nodded: "Not bad, I was thinking the same thing just now. Wife, do you think the person who wrote this prescription might be an imperial physician from the capital?"

  His wife immediately shook her head: "Cheng Jisheng used to be an imperial physician, but I can guarantee that he wouldn't have prescribed this kind of medicine. Whoever prescribes this kind of medicine is either a master among masters or has inherited the recipe from their ancestors; in any case, you must go and meet them!"

  The doctor at the pharmacy nodded repeatedly, he was just about to go and take a look.

  So-called peers are enemies. If two doctors have similar levels, they will prescribe different prescriptions for the same disease, and neither of them will convince the other. However, if one doctor's level is far superior to the other, and the prescription he prescribes is much better than the other's, then the person who was unwilling to admit defeat will immediately turn into unconditional, or even blind worship!

  The doctor and his wife immediately understood that they had met a master when they saw the prescription, and in this regard, they were not wrong. This prescription was indeed written by a famous modern doctor, a medical scientist who wrote books and passed them down through generations. How could it be inferior?

  The doctor at the pharmacy said, "I reckon if I go to see the person who wrote this prescription, they might not necessarily see me. Why don't I disguise myself as a medicine decocting assistant and follow them to help out? Maybe I can catch a glimpse from afar. Coming to grab medicine in the middle of the night means it's an emergency, and if I can learn even a little bit, I'm afraid it'll be useful for the rest of my life!"

  His wife also nodded and said: "Don't say any more, or else the medicine peddler will leave!" She repeatedly pushed him.

  The doctor hastily came out of the bedroom and entered the front hall. The apprentice, seeing him come out, let out a sigh of relief, thinking: "Sir, if you hadn't come out, he would have beaten me up! This delay was also a bit too long!"

  Qī Huán picked up the medicine package and tossed the money onto the counter, saying: "I don't know how your family's main hall recruited you, but with hands and feet as slow as yours, if it were me, I would have kicked you out the door long ago!" Having said that, she turned to leave.

  The doctor at the pharmacy hurriedly said: "Sir, you came in the middle of the night, I suppose there's a patient at home who urgently needs medicine. Does your family have someone specifically to decoct medicine? This prescription is not easy to decoct!"

  Qī Huán stopped in her tracks, turned around and said: "Does brewing medicine still require a special person? I didn't know that!"

  The doctor at the pharmacy said: "Of course, it requires a special person. Decocting medicine is quite particular, if the fire is not enough or too much, the medicine will lose its efficacy!"

  Qī Huán thought: "Wáng Xiān Dì is definitely going to decoct the medicine, but he has to take care of his father..." He asked: "Is there anyone in your shop who can decoct medicine?" After glancing at the smiling partner opposite him, he said: "If it's him, then forget it!"

  The doctor at the pharmacy was waiting for these words, and Qi Huan hurriedly walked away. In fact, he was even more anxious to follow him, and hastily said: "I am just a partner in this shop who specializes in decocting medicine, I can go with you, just to save people, no need to pay the diagnosis fee!"

  "Hey, what a great thing! Qi Huan waved his hand and said, "Follow me!"

  The doctor in the pharmacy was overjoyed, he finally had the good fortune to meet that great master. If he was lucky and thick-skinned enough, as soon as they met, he would kneel down before the great master and perhaps be accepted as a disciple, learning his brilliant medical skills, copying down his extraordinary prescriptions, and leaving them as a family heirloom. Then for the rest of his life, he wouldn't have to worry about anything, nor would his children or grandchildren!

  White fruit roasted chicken cubes

  Recipe: 800g chicken meat, 20 white fruit flesh, 1500g fresh soup, 12g ginger slices.

  Method: Cut the chicken into pieces, add 10g of Shaoxing wine and 2g of salt, marinate for 20 minutes. Heat a clean pot over high heat, add duck oil or lard, stir-fry until 70% hot, add ginger slices and fry until fragrant, pour in the chicken pieces and stir-fry until they are no longer raw, add white fruit meat and stir-fry for a few more times, add Shaoxing wine and fresh soup, bring to a boil, then add scallion knots and five-spice powder, simmer over low heat until the chicken is tender, add a small amount of fine salt and adjust the seasoning, if there is too much soup, use medium heat to reduce the sauce, leave a little sauce in the pot and serve.

  Effects: Warm lung and benefit Qi, consolidate kidney and reduce urination.

  Usage: Take with meals.