Jing Liming came over and asked, "He's set his sights on the Quhan Pill?"

"Yes," Qin Zhao said, "When he agreed to help us find medicine earlier, I thought he was a little too generous. Recently, I've gradually figured out the reason."

The medicinal herbs that Mr. Xue wanted were extremely rare and expensive. Moreover, they asked for a full three or four months' supply at a time. If these herbs were bought on the market, they would be worth no less than a thousand strings of cash.

But when they made this request, the county magistrate agreed without hesitation.

This is not consistent with the corrupt official's greedy nature.

The only possible explanation is...

Jing Li: "Is there collusion between the county government and the pharmaceutical merchants?"

"Yes," Qin Zhao said, "The government controls most of the county's medicinal materials, and pharmaceutical merchants are dependent on the government. Whether that dependence is voluntary or forced, at least the county government can easily obtain low-priced medicinal materials and make a profit from it."

Jing Li sighed, "I thought they were so generous, but it turns out they just rely on squeezing the people's blood and sweat."

Qin Zhao sighed: "There's nothing we can do about it."

The emperor is far away, and the county where they are is under the jurisdiction of Jiangling Prefecture, which is a thousand miles away from the capital.

The higher-ups can’t and won’t take care of this matter.

Jing Li asked: "Does that dog official also want to do this to us? If so..."

"Don't worry, we have the upper hand in this matter." Qin Zhao let out a faint smile. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen a day like this when the pharmacy is closed to secretly send someone to invite me."

Jing Li blinked in confusion.

His confused look was particularly adorable. Qin Zhao lowered his head and kissed him on the lips, explaining, "Because he's afraid of being seen."

No matter how much collusion there was between officials and merchants, the county magistrate had to maintain his reputation among the people and could not have too close dealings with the merchants in public. Unfortunately, the medicine shop was often crowded with people, so he did not dare to come and look for them.

As for why they have the advantage, it is naturally because only Qin Zhao has the recipe for the cold-relieving pill.

The county magistrate wanted to profit from it, so he didn't dare to provoke him easily.

.

When Qin Zhao and Jing Li arrived at the outer courtyard, they saw several men in ordinary clothes standing in the courtyard.

Ayi had obviously never seen such a scene before, and he didn't dare to leave. He huddled in the corner of the yard in fear, sorting the herbs.

Seeing Qin Zhao and the others come out, he immediately stood up and ran over as if he had seen a savior: "Master Qin, I have conveyed your message, but they... these officials refuse to leave..."

The county magistrate naturally wouldn't come in person if he wanted to see someone, so when Qin Zhao heard someone was looking for him, he concluded that he must have sent a few officials to invite him. Qin Zhao originally wanted Ayi to tell the officials to go back and report, and he would arrive later, but he didn't expect these people to be cautious and wait until now.

Qin Zhao said gently: "It's okay, you guys go back to the inner courtyard first, I'll take care of this."

Jing Li pulled Qin Zhao's sleeve, and Qin Zhao patted his hand soothingly: "Don't worry, go."

The two young men left with heavy hearts, and Qin Zhao stepped forward: "My dear officials, please wait."

The men seemed a little impatient waiting, but when they saw Qin Zhao coming, they were still polite to him: "We came too early, it's okay to wait a little longer. My master would like to invite Mr. Qin to his house for a chat. Please come with us."