Bai Suzhen counted secretly, and indeed she figured out that Lord Liang was sick in bed because of the theft of his treasure. She looked up at Liang Lian, but saw that there was no strange expression on his face. She breathed a sigh of relief, and concluded that he came to her house just to find a doctor for his father, and did not know about Xiaoqing's theft. Since it had nothing to do with the theft, then the matter was easy to handle.
"Mr. Liang, please take a seat. Xiao Qian, serve the tea." After turning around and instructing Xiao Qian, Bai Suzhen sat down opposite Liang Lian.
Although Xiao Qian was dissatisfied with Liang Lian and his servant, he did not dare to neglect Bai Suzhen's orders. He brought up more tea in a short while, then stepped aside and stood aside with Manager Li.
Liang Lian was not in the mood to drink tea. He looked at Bai Suzhen, raised his head slightly, and said, "Miss Bai, my father is old and has fallen ill this time. His condition is serious, so I don't want to waste time. Miss Bai, you'd better let Xu Xian go with me as soon as possible!"
Bai Suzhen hesitated for a moment, then said, "Mr. Liang is worried about Prime Minister Liang's condition, and it is natural for him to be anxious. However, Prime Minister Liang is an important official of the court. I think even if the doctors in Lin'an Prefecture cannot cure his illness, Mr. Liang must have already asked the imperial physician to diagnose Prime Minister Liang—" Seeing that Liang Lian did not deny it, she continued, "If even the imperial physician is helpless against Prime Minister Liang's illness... then please forgive me for being frank, I am afraid... even if my Doctor Xu from Bao'an Hall goes to the mansion, it will be of no use."
Liang Lian frowned and said with disdain: "Those quacks in Lin'an Prefecture are not worth mentioning at all... Those imperial doctors who treated my father were either old and confused or incompetent. I heard that Xu Xian from your Bao'an Hall can cure the poison of Hedinghong. Since he can even cure the incurable Hedinghong, his medical skills are naturally better than those of ordinary quacks, unless--" his eyes swept to Bai Suzhen, and he changed the subject and said: "The rumor is false, Xu Xian is just a name for nothing!"
The rumor was indeed wrong. The poison of Hedinghong was not cured by Xu Xian. It was just that the doctor in Bao'an Hall was Xu Xian. Outsiders who didn't know the inside story of the old beggar woman and her grandson being poisoned mistakenly thought that it was Xu Xian who cured them. So the rumor spread. Liang Lian didn't know about this, and Bai Suzhen didn't want to explain. She just smiled and said, "Mr. Liang, the medical skills of Doctor Xu are obvious to all the patients in Suzhou Prefecture."
"That's good." Liang Lian said, "As long as Xu Xian from your Baoan Hall can have some real skills and not disappoint me again like before, I will naturally not treat him unfairly."
Bai Suzhen smiled, but frowned secretly. Although Liang Xiangguo was not an honest official, he had always contributed to the country and the people, and he was already over fifty years old. Bai Suzhen really had no intention of making things difficult for him, but a heart disease needs a heart medicine. Liang Xiangguo's illness was caused by the theft of treasures. If the four treasures, the Fiery God Pearl, the Godly Heavenly Music Picture, the Hourly Eight Diagrams Furnace, and the Mutton Fat Jade Bottle, were not found, Liang Xiangguo would probably have trouble sleeping and eating, and his illness would naturally not get better. If Xu Xian were to treat him at this time, it would be futile, and even worse, it might cause disaster. Therefore, the matter of going to Liang Wangfu for a medical consultation had to be rejected no matter what.
Seeing Bai Suzhen remained silent for a long time, Liang Lian said impatiently: "Miss Bai, why don't you send someone to find Xu Xian?"
Bai Suzhen said politely, "Mr. Liang, Doctor Xu is only a junior after all. He has only been practicing medicine for a short time, so his experience is bound to be insufficient. If he is unable to cure Prime Minister Liang's illness, wouldn't that delay Prime Minister Liang's condition?"
Liang Lian stared at Bai Suzhen with a focused gaze, "What does Miss Bai mean by that?"
Bai Suzhen noticed the fierce aura that flashed in Liang Lian's eyes for a moment, but her expression remained unchanged as she slowly said, "Mr. Liang, there are many doctors in Suzhou Prefecture who are better than Dr. Xu in medical skills. I think...Mr. Liang should still—"
"Anyone else?" Liang Lian continued, sneering slightly, and said unhappily, "It's a stroke of luck that my Liang Wangfu has chosen Xu Xian. As long as he can cure my father's illness, with my father's status in the court and his importance in the emperor's mind, he only needs to say a word and Xu Xian will be able to rise to prominence, and your Bao'an Hall will naturally become famous. Such a profitable and harmless deal, Miss Bai, are you going to refuse it?"
Bai Suzhen smiled and said calmly, "I believe what Mr. Liang said is true, but the purpose of opening a clinic to practice medicine is just to relieve the pain of patients. As for reputation, it is secondary."
"So Miss Bai is really going to refuse to let Xu Xian treat my father?" Liang Lian's face darkened, his fingers tapped the table, and his eyes became cold.
Bai Suzhen said slowly: "Prime Minister Liang is an important official of the court and the pillar of the country. Suzhen just hopes that Mr. Liang can find a doctor with better medical skills than Doctor Xu to diagnose Prime Minister Liang."
"Pah—" Before Bai Suzhen finished speaking, Liang Lian suddenly swept the teacup on the table to the ground with a flick of his sleeve. The teacup immediately broke into pieces when it hit the ground.
"Madam Bai, are you okay?" Xiao Qian rushed forward and asked anxiously. He turned around and didn't care about Liang Lian's identity. He cursed: "Hey, what are you doing? If you hurt our Madam Bai, I, Xiao Qian, will never forgive you!"
"What a bold dog slave!" Liang Lian sneered and winked at his subordinate beside him. The subordinate immediately understood and stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Qian by the collar, and lifted him up.
"Cough cough..." Xiao Qian's face immediately turned blue from being strangled.
"Let him go!" Bai Suzhen shouted, her white clothes fluttering, and she came to the servant in an instant, flicked her finger on the other's arm, and immediately forced the other to let go of Xiao Qian. Seeing that Xiao Qian was not seriously injured, her expression eased a little, turned her eyes to Liang Lian, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Liang, I, Bao'an Hall, am really helpless to treat Prime Minister Liang's illness. Please ask someone else, Shopkeeper Li, please see you out-"
"Bai Suzhen, don't refuse a toast and drink a forfeit." Liang Lian slammed the table and stood up, saying coldly, "I am the son of the prime minister, and I have condescended to talk to you for so long, but in the end you dared to refuse to send someone to diagnose my father. Do you really think that I can't do anything to you?"
"Who dares to touch my sister—"