At this time, in the Gu residence, in a garden in the backyard, in the style of a Suzhou garden, with a small bridge and flowing water, cold bamboo was planted beside the Taihu stones. Several flowers bloomed in the adjacent garden, and the entire small garden was filled with floral fragrance...
In a pavilion, the short Gu Shiren, dressed in a Tang suit, lay comfortably on a lounge chair. Behind him stood a beautiful woman with an outstanding temperament, her qipao accentuating her plump and alluring figure. She was massaging the old man's shoulders, a charming smile on her face. "Dad, does it feel good?"
"Mmm..."
Gu Shiren, with his eyes closed and enjoying himself, smiled and said, "Use a bit more force..."
"Okay, Dad, I'll help you with that later..."
The beautiful woman chuckled, then saw a figure approaching. It was her husband, Gu Zhongtang. She smiled charmingly, "You're back."
Gu Zhongtang looked at his second wife massaging his father with such allure, finding nothing amiss. He said to his father, "Dad, the Liu family is in trouble!"
"What kind of trouble?"
Gu Shiren asked without opening his eyes.
"Liu Pingyi's second son, Liu Yuan, has been arrested by the police. He instigated his disciple to set fire to Wan Yunting's Xiuyuan Hall!" Gu Zhongtang said with a solemn expression.
Gu Shiren's eyes immediately shot open. He turned to Gu Zhongtang in disbelief, sat up, and said angrily, "Foolish."
Seeing the old man's anger, the beautiful woman behind him stopped and dared not speak, not even daring to breathe. Gu Zhongtang also lowered his head and said, "This matter has spread throughout the entire capital. Wan Yunting's supporters and fans are causing a commotion at Liu Pingtang, trampling their plaques."
"Liu Pingyi's third son, Liu Yong, also got into a fight with Wan Yunting's fans and supporters, and they were all taken away by the police. This matter has become a big scandal, and it's probably difficult for the Liu family to resolve!"
Hearing this, Gu Shiren's old face turned angry. He was genuinely infuriated and said, "I warned them last time not to be so high-profile. Now, if they get into trouble, they might implicate us!"
Gu Zhongtang raised an eyebrow and looked at his father, "Dad, why don't we return to the country ahead of schedule?"
Gu Shiren raised his hand to stop him, his old eyes narrowing. "I haven't obtained those classical prescriptions yet. How can I leave so easily?"
Gu Zhongtang said, "Those classical prescriptions preserved by the Chinese Medical Association have always been held by Gu Yuanbai. Why don't we have Liu He and the others find a way to open the Chinese Medical Association's safe and bring out the prescriptions?"
Gu Shiren shook his head slightly and said, "That would be too risky. Besides, the Liu family is finished this time."
Gu Zhongtang frowned and said, "Should we wait for Tan Jianlin to take over the Health Commission before making plans?"
Gu Shiren's old eyes were sharp. He asked, "When will Kong Jingguo be transferred away?"
Gu Zhongtang replied, "It should be around this time."
Gu Shiren frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "The Liu family won't affect us for now. Let's wait for Tan Jianlin to take charge of the Health Commission. I will personally intervene!"
Gu Zhongtang nodded and said, "I'll go talk to Tan Jianlin later."
"Mmm, tell him to take over the Health Commission as soon as possible, and then get rid of Gu Yuanbai!" Gu Shiren's old eyes were sharp, and he said sternly.
"Understood."
Gu Zhongtang nodded. Seeing that it was almost time, he said goodbye to Gu Shiren and turned to leave.
Gu Shiren, in his anger, grabbed a teapot and smashed it to pieces, cursing, "A bunch of idiots..."
In the evening, Liu Pingyi and Xue Dongshan, along with Liu He and Xue Xialan, Xue Tonghua and Tian Xiangrong, Zhang Shunchang, and a group of others, arrived at the entrance of the Gu residence, seeking an audience with Gu Shiren.
Gu Shiren's eldest grandson, Gu Zhengqing, came out and said to them, "Everyone, my grandfather is not feeling well and cannot receive visitors. Please come back another day."
Seeing that Gu Shiren refused to see them, Liu Pingyi was anxious and said, "Doesn't Old Master Gu care about us anymore?"
"Yes, Old Master Gu can't just do nothing," Liu He said anxiously.
However, Gu Zhengqing's expression was serious, his eyes sweeping over them coldly. "Your Liu family still has the nerve to say that? It's precisely because of you that my grandfather is angry and unwell. He said that he must bear all the consequences of his own foolish actions. Please all leave."
After speaking, Gu Zhengqing turned and went inside, even instructing the butler to slam the door shut.
"This..."
Xue Tonghua and Zhang Shunchang and the others looked at each other, unsure of what to do for a moment.
"It's over, our Liu family is finished..."
Liu Pingyi couldn't take any more blows. His body went limp. Fortunately, Liu He and the others supported him, preventing him from falling to the ground...
Xue Dongshan sighed and said, "Old Liu, your Liu family can only accept your bad luck. Who told Liu Yuan to be so foolish as to set fire to Wan Yunting's medical clinic!"
"That's right."
Xue Tonghua also sighed and said, "It's not difficult to understand why Old Master Gu refused to see us. After all, no one wants to be implicated by your incident. We hope your Liu family can understand our choice!"
Zhang Shunchang and Tian Xiangrong nodded in agreement. Although no one wanted to be in trouble, Liu Yuan's actions were truly foolish.
Therefore, they couldn't be blamed for not helping the Liu family. After all, with the situation escalating to this extent, it was unlikely for the Liu family to recover.
Liu He's face was somber, his eyes burning with rage. He was extremely angry in his heart. He also understood why the Gu family and Xue Dongshan were not speaking up for the Liu family, as he resented his second uncle Liu Yuan's foolish actions!
It was precisely because he had asked Zhang Ping to set fire to Wan Yunting's medical clinic that he had pushed his entire Liu family into an abyss and completely ruined his own future prospects.
"Alas..."
Everyone could only shake their heads and sigh before returning to their respective homes.
However, Xue Dongshan and the others thought that the Liu family's incident would not implicate them. But the next morning, the news broke out with several other incidents!
Someone deliberately depressed the prices of medicinal herb growers, acquired medicinal herbs at low prices, and then sold them to the market at high prices, and even exported good quality medicinal herbs abroad!
At the same time, it was also revealed that Ma Qisheng, the chairman of Zhenghai Pharmaceutical Group, colluded with Liu He to produce non-compliant proprietary Chinese medicines with cheap medicinal herbs and sell them to the market, while also falsely accusing others!
And Liu Yong colluded with the Food and Drug Administration to issue a sky-high fine to the Niu family, all to snatch the Niu family's ancestral secret recipe!
In addition to these incidents, news and Douyin also exposed various dark secrets within the Chinese medicine circle, directly exposing the black-hearted deeds done privately by the Liu family and those of the Xue family, like a bomb exploding in the entire Chinese medical community of China.
On Douyin, many netizens commented in the comment sections of these news reports: "Oh my God, is this what a pharmaceutical company chairman would say?"
"A good medicine, but not a good product!"
"These black-hearted capitalists are truly incurring divine wrath. No wonder those medicines don't cure illnesses. It turns out they are not producing good medicines behind the scenes, creating fake medicines and controlling us patients. They are truly vampires...!"
"And this Liu Yong, colluding with the drug administration to issue a sixty million fine for privately manufacturing proprietary Chinese medicines, in order to force people to hand over their ancestral secret recipes. This is simply too wicked!"
"I say why Chinese medicine is getting worse and worse now. It turns out that good Chinese medicines have all been exported abroad. This is truly the sorrow of Chinese medicine practitioners..."
These news reports immediately triggered heated discussions among people in the entire Chinese medical community and caused them to feel sad.
The actions of the Liu family and the Xue family and their associates had refreshed the worldview and understanding of Chinese medicine practitioners. They thought they would be the future of Chinese medicine, but in the end, they followed the old path of the Sima family.
For a time, all public criticism pointed towards the Xue family and those of the Liu family...
At this moment, the Beijing Chinese Medical Association office was in complete chaos. Those who supported Liu He and the Xue family all shut their mouths.
Especially when Gu Yuanbai, accompanied by Shen Tonghe, Wei Datong, Zhang Fenglin, Ding Huixiang, Miao Sihui, Meng Kang, and Dai Hanchi of the Dai family from Shanghai...
As well as Song Sinan, Zhang Xiaoyu, Huang Jingshan, Wei Renxin, and others, entered the association office together, they happened to run into Liu He and Liu Yong, Xue Xialan and Li Wenhai, as well as Xue Tonghua from the Xue family, and Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang.
At this moment, Liu He and Xue Tonghua and the others were in a very bad mood due to the incidents revealed by the news that morning. They were just about to hold a press conference to clarify these matters when they did not expect to see Gu Yuanbai and his group arrive.
"It seems that the news this morning was orchestrated by Chairman Gu, wasn't it?" At this moment, Xue Tonghua's face was somber, his eyes coldly glaring at Gu Yuanbai and snorting.
Liu Yong, Tian Xiangrong, and the others stared fiercely at Gu Yuanbai and Shen Tonghe, while Wei Datong said coldly, "What, you dare to do it but not admit it?"
"Liu He, you have truly disappointed us!"
Shen Tonghe looked at Liu He and said, "When Yunting and Chairman Gu recommended you as the vice-chairman of the association, they really misjudged you."
However, Liu He's face was somber. At this moment, he no longer concealed anything. His eyes sharply swept over Gu Yuanbai and Shen Tonghe and the others, and he said coldly, "If it weren't for you outsiders coming in, the chairman of the Chinese Medical Association would have been mine long ago!"
"Ha, you are truly conceited and arrogant."
These words made Meng Kang and the others laugh coldly, "If it weren't for Chairman Wan and Chairman Gu coming to the capital back then, you would still be crushed under the Sima family, unable to breathe."
"Heh heh, but now the Sima family is down, and you people are becoming restless, using this incident to oust Chairman Wan. Humph, don't think that no one knows about the black-hearted things you've done in private!"
"Your insatiable greed is slandering us Chinese medicine practitioners and ruining our reputation. You don't deserve to be doctors!"
"Since things have come to this, there's nothing more for you to say. Hurry up and pack your things and get out."
Wei Datong waved his hand, intending to expel these people from the Chinese Medical Association entirely, with Gu Yuanbai leading them to take over.
Liu He's sharp eyes stared directly at Gu Yuanbai. He instead sneered, "Gu Yuanbai, do you really think that with you outsiders, you can truly control the Beijing Chinese Medical Association?"
"I tell you, not a chance!"
Xue Tonghua and Zhang Shunchang, Tian Xiangrong, and Liu Yong and the others had grim expressions, showing no fear of Gu Yuanbai and the others.
"Old Master Gu is here!"
Suddenly, a shout came from behind Gu Yuanbai and the others. Everyone turned their heads...
They saw Gu Zhongtang and Gu Zhengqing supporting Gu Shiren, who was wearing a Tang suit and leaning on a dragon-headed cane, walking over. At the same time, Liu Pingyi and Xue Dongshan, as well as Gu Zichen, were following behind...
This scene caused Gu Yuanbai's eyebrows to slightly arch, and his old face fell silent...