"Liu Ren wasn't an Imperial Hospital physician at all. He was a fraud. That man just now wasn't sick, yet he prescribed tonic medicine for him. Wasn't that swindling people?"
Chen Zhiming had noticed it too. "And they're giving away eggs. That cost isn't low either. What exactly are they doing this for?"
"To steal business—or rather, to completely ruin our medical hall," Lin Taichu said. "They use free eggs to draw in customers, then prescribe expensive tonics to people who aren't sick. That lets them make a fortune while creating the illusion of
Medical skills
being superb."
"Once our medical hall has no customers left, they can monopolize the medicinal herb trade in Qinghe Town. Then they can raise medicine prices as high as they want."
"What do we do, then? Expose them directly?" Chen Zhiming asked.
"No. No one will believe us right now." Lin Taichu shook his head. "We need to find someone reliable to investigate them, learn their background, and find out exactly what Liu Ren's connection is to the force behind him."
That night, Lin Taichu had someone summon a boy named Gou Sheng from a ruined temple outside the city.
Gou Sheng had once been a beggar. When he was little, he had fallen seriously ill and Lin Taichu had saved him. Ever since then, he had followed Lin Taichu, running errands for the medical hall and sometimes passing messages for the scouts. He was clever and tight-lipped.
When he saw Lin Taichu, Gou Sheng quickly bowed. "Physician Lin, what did you need me for?"
Lin Taichu pulled him aside and said in a low voice, "Gou Sheng, I need you to investigate something. Keep an eye on Medicine Peace Medical Hall at the west street entrance. See whether they're doing anything besides giving