According to Zhu Qingyu's original plan, traveling from Dingsheng Pass to Jiangning by land and then by water, although she didn't need to travel around the clock like Su Mu and the others did on their journey, following the normal route through official post - houses, if she set off at the end of February, she should have arrived in mid - April.
However, she made many stops along the way. It wasn't until early May, when the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, that their group finally reached the Jiangning Ferry.
The extra half - month in the middle was all spent on unforeseen medical consultations.
After leaving Dingsheng Pass and heading south, the first large city they passed by was Wu'an City.
Since she was on her way to take up her post, she could use the official post - houses. Zhu Qingyu thought she was keeping a low - key profile and stayed overnight at the Wu'an City post - house.
When she showed her official documents for taking up the post, the post - master was greatly surprised.
"Are you Divine Doctor Zhu?"
Zhu Qingyu was even more astonished.
"No, you must have mistaken me for someone else."
The title "Divine Doctor" seemed completely unrelated to her. Zhu Qingyu thought the post - master had probably made a mistake.
But then the post - master checked the official documents again and got extremely excited.
"Yes, it's you, Lord Zhu who quelled the epidemic in the northern border! Divine Doctor Zhu! Lord Zhu, my humble self's old mother has been suffering from a cough for months. I've taken her to see all the doctors in Wu'an City, but her condition hasn't improved. Could you please take a look at her?"
At that time, Zhu Qingyu didn't realize the seriousness of the problem and replied casually.
"It's too late today. The old lady has probably gone to sleep. How about tomorrow? I'll examine her when she wakes up."
Zhu Qingyu imagined that after having breakfast the next day, she'd just take a quick look at the patient and then continue on her journey.
However, when she got up the next morning and opened the window, she saw a long queue outside the post - house downstairs.
Zhu Qingyu curiously asked Su Mu.
"What delicious food are they selling down there? There are so many people. Let's go and buy some to try."
Su Mu was lively and loved to join in the fun. She had already asked around and came back looking extremely worried.
"Doctor Zhu! All the people down there are here to see you for medical consultations!"
Looking at the long queue, Zhu Qingyu really couldn't understand how these people knew about her, someone who wasn't well - known, when there were no mobile phones or hot searches at this time.
Moreover, they had even come so early in the morning to queue up.
Since they had come, and they were all patients, maybe they had already seen other doctors without success and were coming to her with their last hope. She couldn't just turn them away.
So, she had to postpone her journey. Zhu Qingyu temporarily borrowed a place from the post - master and set up a temporary consulting room. She also assigned Su Mu and Lin Lan to help. The three of them saw patients from morning till night for a whole day.
Zhu Qingyu originally thought that because Wu'an City was close to the northern border, the people here knew about her, and it was just a special case.
But when they reached the next large city, there were even more people!
Where did all these people come from? And how did they know about her? Zhu Qingyu just couldn't figure it out.
In the next city, there were not only people queuing up for medical consultations but also doctors who came here out of admiration to be her apprentices. They were of different genders and ages.
Zhu Qingyu was on her way to Jiangning to take up her post. One of the most important tasks was to pilot the construction of a medical hall at Huiyi Temple in Jiangning and recruit and train doctors.
These first - batch of doctors would later be sent to various places to rebuild medical halls. So, they were required to have a certain foundation, preferably with medical practice experience, so that they could be trained in a year.
Therefore, it was actually a good thing for doctors to come to her on their own initiative. So, besides seeing patients, she added another task of interviewing doctors.
But she was really curious. The official notice for recruiting doctors hadn't even been issued yet. How did they know about it?
Zhu Qingyu asked one of the doctors who came to be her apprentice.
"How did you know the news that the government is recruiting doctors for Huiyi Temple?"
The doctor who came to be an apprentice looked confused.
"Is the government recruiting doctors? What is Huiyi Temple?"
It turned out that they didn't know about it at all.
Zhu Qingyu was even more curious.
"If you don't know, then why did you come?"
The doctor who came to be an apprentice was very excited and immediately expressed his determination.
"Lord Zhu passing by here is really a rare opportunity. I'm here to take a chance and see if Lord Zhu will accept me as an apprentice!"
So, they weren't here for the government job at all?
They were actually here for her?
After asking a few more people, Zhu Qingyu finally understood how attractive it was for today's doctors to be able to treat the epidemic. It was roughly the same level as if someone in modern times said there was a divine doctor who could cure cancer.
That's why Administrator Liu was able to rise from an obscure doctor to the administrator of the Imperial Hospital by presenting the prescription for the epidemic.
As Zhu Qingyu traveled south all the way, seeing patients and recruiting doctors, her group kept expanding. By the time they reached the Jiangning Ferry, the group had grown from about thirty people at the start to nearly fifty.
The Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, and Jiangning had already become hot. It was early summer.
At the Jiangning Ferry, the boat was docking. While the guards were carrying the luggage, Zhu Qingyu was still discussing with Su Mu and the others.
"Master Zhang is now the Jiangning Imperial Textile Commissioner, and he's only been in the post for a short time. He must be very busy with his work. We've been making stops along the way without a fixed schedule, so I didn't write to him to tell him we're coming back. Let's go to the post - house first. After we're settled, we'll go to find him."
Just as she was speaking, Nanny Tian suddenly looked towards the ferry and said.
"Isn't that Master Zhang over there? Master Zhang! Master Zhang!"
Nanny Tian always had a very loud voice, which was like thunder. Even in the noisy dock, her voice was extremely penetrating.
Zhang Shen was originally asking about them from one boat to another. As soon as he heard Nanny Tian's voice, he immediately looked over.
Seeing Zhu Qingyu on the boat, Zhang Shen couldn't even wait for the boat to come to a complete stop. He jumped onto the boat.
His jump not only startled the boatman who was docking the boat but also Zhu Qingyu.
If it were an ordinary person, the boatman would have scolded.
"You dare to jump when the boat isn't stopped! Are you crazy?"
But since Zhang Shen was wearing official robes, the boatman didn't dare to scold. He could only quickly support Zhang Shen and said miserably.
"Oh, my lord, please be careful! The boat is so high. If you stepped in the air and fell into the water, I couldn't bear the responsibility."
The person the boatman didn't dare to scold, Zhu Qingyu wasn't going to tolerate. She walked out of the cabin and said with a half - scolding and half - joking tone.
"Master Zhang, you're really becoming more and more capable! Now you even dare to jump on the boat. Since you're so capable, why don't you go to the sky?"
Although Zhang Shen was scolded, he had a big smile on his face. He staggered over on the swaying boat and hugged Zhu Qingyu.
"I've been so worried. I calculated the days, and you should have arrived long ago. I've been coming here every day to look for you, but you just didn't show up. I was worried that something might have happened to you on the way. Finally, I've waited for you, Qingyu!"
