Chapter 136 - 135: The Powerful Connections No One Dares Offend (Part 1)

Chapter 136: Chapter 135: The Powerful Connections No One Dares Offend (Part 1)

Zhou Qi’s attitude still satisfied Xu Jing, but she couldn’t help thinking that after returning, she would have to find a way to conceal her identity. Although not everyone would intentionally investigate her, once someone did, her identity would be exposed, making things troublesome.

Zhou Qi was quite tactful and didn’t bring up the matter again. He sat back down and said, "In this way, can I assume that the cooperation between us has been finalized?"

"Of course."

Xu Jing wasn’t someone who liked to be indecisive. She nodded immediately and said, "Next, we might as well discuss the specifics of our cooperation. Let me first state our requirements, Mr. Zhou, I hope you don’t mind?"

Seeing Zhou Qi nod, Xu Jing said, "Although we have temporarily resisted the suppression from the Lin Family this time, the Lin Family is not the type to give up easily. They will certainly take further actions, possibly continuing to block us in the purchase of medicinal materials.

The Zhou Family, over the years, surely has long-term cooperative medicinal merchants. I hope that our Xinglin Hall can also share the Zhou Family’s medicinal procurement channels."

Zhou Qi gave a slight smile and said, "Of course, there’s no problem. In fact, not only do we have long-term cooperative medicinal merchants, but we also have our own caravan which specifically goes to various direct production areas of medicinal materials to procure them. The Lin Family also has a similar caravan."

Xu Jing was aware of this, so from the start, she had no intention of competing with the Lin Family for medicinal supplies, as they didn’t have such a foundation.

Xu Jing nodded and put forward her second request, "Currently, our Xinglin Hall is suffering from a staff shortage. I need to stay in the Western Capital for some time and can’t return. After cooperating with you, I will only stay in the Western Capital more often. I hope the Zhou Family can lend us people to at least ensure the normal operation of Xinglin Hall in Anping County.

Of course, the salaries for those people will be paid by us. I’m not a stingy manager and won’t mistreat your Zhou Family’s people, Mr. Zhou, you can rest assured."

Zhou Qi couldn’t help but be amused by her last sentence and said, "This is certainly not a problem either. I will send someone to Anping County shortly to select a few reliable doctors to send over."

They in Tianyi Hall have a very mature doctor training system, selecting talented children from all over the country every year and concentrating them for training. This way, the doctors trained are usually very loyal to Tianyi Hall, and their medical skills are assured.

This is what every mature large medical hall would do.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xianbai, who was still inwardly troubled by the truth about Miss Xu’s identity, slightly widened his eyes, unable to believe that these two most troublesome matters were resolved so easily.

Xu Jing, however, said calmly, "Although I need to borrow people from Tianyi Hall, I am not going to use them directly. Before they go to Xinglin Hall, they need to come to me first for a month of training."

Zhou Qi was taken aback, and Zhou Xian couldn’t hold back any longer, gritting his teeth, "You woman, don’t be too arrogant..."

He was interrupted by a cool glance from Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi looked at Xu Jing and asked with a smile, "May I ask Miss Xu your intention for doing so?"

"The people trained by Tianyi Hall naturally exhibit Tianyi Hall’s style in every movement. If I use them directly, won’t Xinglin Hall become a second Tianyi Hall? That would not work."

Xu Jing said, "Although Xinglin Hall is still very weak now, it will certainly grow stronger in the future. In the initial stage, I need to maintain the characteristics of Xinglin Hall itself, letting others know that even though Tianyi Hall and Xinglin Hall are cooperating, they are two entirely different medical halls."

Zhou Qi couldn’t help but laugh softly.

How could he forget that this woman was ambitious, and her ambition might not be any less than his?

He smiled faintly and nodded, "Alright, I agree with this point as well. Does Miss Xu have any other requests?"

With Zhou Qi’s straightforward attitude, Xu Jing was also quite satisfied. She smiled and said, "Not for now. It’s your turn, Mr. Zhou, to share your thoughts."

"My thoughts are very simple, I just hope that Miss Xu can pave the way for Tianyi Hall, allowing it to reopen a branch in the Western Capital."

When Zhou Qi talked about serious matters, the smile on his face disappeared, and the gentle and harmless temperament he originally had suddenly became stable, "For more than three years, I haven’t had a moment where I didn’t hope to restore Tianyi Hall to its most glorious days. Miss Xu may not know, back then the largest medical hall in Anping County was our Tianyi Hall, and the first medical hall to establish a branch in the Western Capital was also our Tianyi Hall. However, everything changed more than three years ago when my father was killed by bandits on his way back from the Western Capital."

Although Zhou Qi tried his best to restrain himself, Xu Jing could still see a trace of heaviness and shadow in his brows and eyes.

Zhou Xian, beside him, couldn’t hide his emotions, his cheeks already tightened.

Xu Jing raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Could your father’s fate be related to the Lin Family?"

Zhou Xian looked up in astonishment and blurted, "How do you know?!"

Zhou Qi also looked at her in some astonishment, and Xu Jing calmly said, "It was just a general deduction."

Zhou Qi couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment, taking a light breath and said, "That’s right, before my father was murdered, he often said he felt someone was following him. During that time, there was also chaos with bandits outside the Western Capital. So when my father returned to Anping County that time, he was very cautious and didn’t disclose his return time or route to the outside world, only a long-term follower by his side at that time knew.

When my father returned, he deliberately avoided the areas affected by the bandit chaos, it should have been foolproof..."

What followed, he didn’t have to say, Xu Jing had already guessed.

She immediately asserted, "Could it be that your father’s long-term follower betrayed your Zhou Family?"

Zhou Qi nodded, even he couldn’t help but clench his jaw as he talked about it, "We only found out later that the one who revealed my father’s whereabouts was the traitor. Later he openly joined Guangming Hall and now has become one of Lin Chengzhao’s most useful managers! However, although my father was most likely murdered by them, we have no evidence.

Moreover, when he went to Guangming Hall, he revealed much of our Tianyi Hall’s internal information to them. As a result, during that period, Guangming Hall frequently suppressed us, striking precisely at our weaknesses every time, leaving us powerless."

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had to cut off my own arms and shrink my operations to protect myself.

My hope to restore Tianyi Hall’s past glory is my obsession and also our Zhou Family’s revenge.

Xu Jing looked at Zhou Qi and said, "I already understand your situation, but there’s one more thing I want to know. Since your Tianyi Hall was the first to establish a branch in the Western Capital before Guangming Hall, you must certainly have a number of noble connections. How come now..."

Zhou Qi couldn’t help but smile bitterly, "Those connections were taken away by Guangming Hall over these past three years, we were too busy protecting ourselves to have the energy to maintain those relationships.

But among them, some families were still willing to show us goodwill. They told us very discreetly that the Lin Family had climbed a high branch in the Western Capital, and it’s a branch that ordinary people dare not offend, so they couldn’t help our Zhou Family."

High branch?

Xu Jing shot a questioning glance at Zhou Qi, who said, "Although they were unwilling to tell us who that high branch is, I have been observing the Lin Family in secret recently, and if I am not mistaken, that high branch refers to the Jiang Family in the Western Capital."

The Jiang Family.

Like the Xiao Family where Xiao Yi is from, it is one of the four great families of Great Chu.

The four great families of Great Chu were those that followed the Grand Ancestor Emperor to establish the country initially. It can be said that people from these four families hold more than half of the court in Great Chu and hold an extraordinary position in Great Chu.

No wonder ordinary people dare not offend them.

Looking at Zhou Qi’s unconcealable helplessness in his brows and eyes, Xu Jing gently smiled and said, "Mr. Zhou need not be so disheartened. Although the Jiang Family is a powerful force, Great Chu is not without families that can rival them.

Since Mr. Zhou has pinned his hopes on me, I will naturally do my best to not let Mr. Zhou down."

Zhou Qi couldn’t help but lift his eyes slightly, "Oh? Could it be that Miss Xu already has a way to deal with this?"