The people at Renxin Medical Hall knew nothing about the minor legal dispute brewing at Xinlin Hall.

The reputation of Chunshui Sheng had grown even greater. Whether scholars and refined guests, or common folk, anyone who had used this medicinal tea could not in good conscience say anything bad about it.

Many people came to buy the medicinal tea, but only Lu Tong was making it, which inevitably made the work exhausting. Sometimes before Renxin Medical Hall had even opened, people would be waiting at the door in the early morning to buy the medicinal tea.

On this particular morning, a young man dressed as a servant arrived at West Street, muttering to himself: “Master wants to buy Chunfeng Sheng? No, it’s Chunhua Sheng? What exactly was it called Chun-something Sheng?”

That confounded nasal congestion medicinal tea had become very popular recently, highly praised among scholars. His own master habitually suffered from chronic rhinitis, and hearing about this medicinal tea, had specifically instructed him to go buy some. Unfortunately, the servant had a poor memory – he remembered the beginning and the end, but not the middle character.

When he reached West Street, the shops were bustling with activity, customers coming and going. The servant’s eyes were nearly dazzled by the sight. When he looked up again, he saw not far ahead a large medical hall, extremely grand and spacious, with three characters written above: “Xinlin Hall.”

The servant wanted to ask for directions, so he approached the middle-aged man at the medicine counter: “Excuse me, is there a medical hall on this West Street that sells nasal congestion medicinal tea?”

The middle-aged man turned around and asked with a smile: “Are you perhaps referring to Chunyang Sheng?”

“Chunyang Sheng?” The servant looked puzzled. Was that what it was called? It seemed about right, so he asked: “Does it treat nasal congestion?”

“Exactly!” The man enthusiastically placed a jar of medicinal tea in his hands and spoke amiably: “It can relieve nasal congestion and chronic rhinitis, with quite good effects. Three taels of silver per jar. Would you like to take one jar back to try, young brother?”

Three taels of silver per jar. The servant said in surprise: “Isn’t it four taels of silver per jar? When did you change the price?”

The man smiled without answering.

“Never mind.” The servant took out several ingots of silver from his chest and handed them over: “I’ll buy five jars first.” He was secretly delighted – the medical hall lowering the price was a good thing. The extra silver he could keep for himself later. Heaven knows, earth knows, he knows, the medical hall knows – in any case, his master wouldn’t know.

The servant bought the silver and left happily. Bai Shouyi watched his retreating figure, playing with the silk cord at his waist, smiling to himself: “Sun above, water below, I am above you, naturally suppressing you. Chunyang Sheng…”

He sighed: “What a wonderful name indeed.”

…

While Xinlin Hall gradually became busy, in front of Renxin Medical Hall in West Street Lane, it was no longer as lively as before.

Except for Master Hu occasionally coming to buy some medicinal tea to support the business, few new customers came to the door. Seeing the jars of Chunshui Sheng on the table in front gradually piling up into a small tower again, Du Changqing couldn’t sit still.

He half-leaned on the table, watching Lu Tong who was sorting medicinal tea into jars, and asked: “Doctor Lu, do you think there might have been some error when you made this medicinal tea? The batch we sold earlier indeed had good effects, but the new batches made later might not be as effective as before. Otherwise, how could the customers disappear after drinking it?” He spoke tentatively: “I absolutely don’t mean to doubt your skills, but is there a possibility that your pharmaceutical techniques are not yet mature enough?”

His doubtful tone immediately angered Yin Zheng, who retorted sharply: “Master, that’s a strange thing to say. If my young lady’s medicinal tea truly had poor effects, why would Master Hu continue to buy it? Even if it were to support the medical hall’s business, he’s coming far too frequently.”

Du Changqing was at a loss for words. This was indeed true. Master Hu would buy some medicinal materials every couple of months for his father’s sake, but he wouldn’t be as particularly attentive to the medicinal tea as he was now. These past few times seeing Master Hu, he hadn’t been seen covering his nose with a handkerchief either – his nasal congestion should have improved somewhat.

Since the medicinal tea’s efficacy was fine, why were fewer and fewer people coming to buy the tea?

While he was puzzling over this, A’Cheng ran in from outside, gasping: “Master, Master, this is terrible!”

Du Changqing said impatiently: “What now?”

A’Cheng glanced at Lu Tong, who was seriously sorting medicinal materials, before speaking carefully: “I just took a walk around West Street and heard that Xinlin Hall recently introduced a new medicinal tea that only costs three taels of silver and can relieve nasal congestion and chronic rhinitis…” Under his master’s increasingly ugly expression, the young clerk stammered out a few words: “Called ‘Chunyang Sheng.'”

Yin Zheng was stunned.

Being both a nasal congestion medicinal tea and called Chunyang Sheng, wasn’t this clearly copying their formula? And they reduced the price by one tael of silver – this was obviously deliberately targeting Renxin Medical Hall.

Du Changqing immediately burst into curses: “Shameless! I wondered why the medical hall’s business has been so poor these past few days – it’s all been intercepted by Xinlin Hall. That Bai Shouyi is as shameless as ever, using such underhanded tactics!”

Xinlin Hall was large and spacious with a good reputation. Any stranger entering West Street would naturally go to Xinlin Hall first upon inquiry. With all the customers being snatched away by Xinlin Hall, even fewer people would actively come to Renxin Medical Hall.

Du Changqing charged toward the door in a rage, as if to confront Xinlin Hall for an explanation, when Lu Tong said: “Manager Du.”

Du Changqing glared at her fiercely.

“You’re not going to stop me too, are you?” Du Changqing pointed outside, so angry his hands were trembling: “This is Renxin Medical Hall’s newly created medicinal tea. Not only did that Bai Shouyi copy our formula, he even gave it such a name – who is he trying to deliberately disgust? We worked so hard to build up our reputation, all to make wedding clothes for Xinlin Hall? Can I be content with this? Anyway, with the medicinal tea business stolen, the medical hall still can’t continue operating. If I go shame him at Xinlin Hall’s door, at least I won’t have suffered a complete loss!”

“And then what?” Lu Tong looked at him calmly: “After people buying medicinal tea hear a round of shaming, they’ll still buy the cheaper medicinal tea. Xinlin Hall’s income won’t decrease, so what will Manager Du gain?”

Du Changqing paused.

Yin Zheng and A’Cheng felt uneasy.

Lu Tong put down the medicinal tea in her hands, took a cloth to carefully wipe the medicinal residue from her hands, and spoke lightly: “New medicines are different from practicing medicine in a clinic. As long as you find the formula and use the same materials and the same preparation methods, you can create something with the same effects. Not to mention Xinlin Hall – in a few more days, other medical halls will also sell the same medicinal tea. Besides ‘Chunyang Sheng,’ there will be ‘Chunfeng Sheng’ and ‘Chunhua Sheng.’ Does Manager Du plan to go shame them one by one, house by house?”

Du Changqing was left speechless for a long while, then said irritably: “Then what do you suggest? We can’t just swallow this insult. Or,” he looked at Lu Tong hesitantly, “should we also learn from them and lower our price to three taels of silver per jar?”

“Xinlin Hall has a considerable reputation in the capital’s medical circles, with a fame far exceeding Renxin Medical Hall. At the same three taels of silver, common people would first choose to buy from Xinlin Hall. Low-price selling is not a long-term strategy.”

Du Changqing became even more dejected, saying bitterly: “Heaven wants to ruin me! Could it be that Heaven truly wants me, Du Changqing, to be a waste my entire life, never improving?”

Lu Tong looked at him: “Manager Du, I told you before that others might not necessarily be able to make my medicinal tea.”

Du Changqing was startled.

Back then at the tea stall in front of Laiyi Inn, Du Changqing had indeed foreseen today’s situation. At that time, he had asked Lu Tong what advantage Renxin Medical Hall would have if other medical halls learned how to make the medicinal tea.

And Lu Tong’s response then was: “Setting aside whether others can learn my medicinal tea, why doesn’t Young Master Du consider that if I can make nasal congestion medicinal tea, couldn’t I make other medicinal teas as well?” Her words had shown confidence, without any anxiety.

Now that things had come to this, Lu Tong’s face still showed no trace of worry.

He thought again and again, and after a while, spoke hesitantly: “Doctor Lu, could it be that your medicinal tea contains hidden mysteries that are difficult to replicate?”

Lu Tong picked up a jar of medicinal tea in front of her, her fingertip brushing over the willow flower painting on the jar, and spoke softly: “To prepare the same medicinal tea, one needs to identify the formula used in the medicinal tea. I added one ingredient to the medicinal tea that others find difficult to distinguish. I believe the doctors at Xinlin Hall also cannot identify it.”

Du Changqing’s heart stirred, and he said joyfully: “Really?”

Lu Tong put down the tea jar and looked at Du Changqing again: “Manager Du, if I were you, instead of being angry here, I would do something else.”

“Something else?” Du Changqing looked confused: “Do what?”

Lu Tong smiled: “After the Peach Blossom Festival, thanks to Master Hu’s introduction, Chunshui Sheng was in high demand. At that time, rumors spread in the marketplace that Chunshui Sheng had miraculous effects – nasal congestion would be relieved immediately upon taking it. There are rarely any miraculous elixirs in the world that work instantly. For a new medicine, such exaggerated claims about its efficacy are a curse, not a blessing. Fortunately, Chunshui Sheng’s effects were genuine, which allowed it to maintain its reputation.”

Du Changqing nodded and cursed: “That’s right, I don’t know which damned person was going around with such exaggerated praise!”

Lu Tong looked at him.

Meeting her gaze, Du Changqing was startled, then his expression gradually changed: “You mean…”

Lu Tong said calmly: “Xinlin Hall wants to replicate Chunshui Sheng, but if they can’t identify the formula, the efficacy will be greatly reduced. They can manage in the short term, but over time, when people who buy the medicinal tea discover it doesn’t live up to its reputation, their credibility will inevitably collapse. Manager Du,” she looked at Du Changqing: “To treat others as they treat you – since Xinlin Hall started this, why not add fuel to their fire?”

“If I were you, I would immediately send people to spread rumors in the marketplace that Xinlin Hall’s Chunyang Sheng has miraculous effects, curing illness upon taking the medicine, far superior to Renxin Medical Hall’s Chunshui Sheng.”

She finished speaking unhurriedly, and the surroundings fell completely silent.

A’Cheng and Yin Zheng were dumbfounded.

Du Changqing looked into Lu Tong’s bright, dark eyes and, for some reason, suddenly shivered.

After a moment, he swallowed and said quietly: “Good… good… we’ll do as you say.”