I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

Li Ming nodded. "But you have to be careful. Some people have been gossiping about you lately. They say you secretly learned the Wang family's medical skills."

The male protagonist was stunned, "Wang family? What is my relationship with the Wang family?"

"You really don't know?" Li Ming was a little surprised. "The Wang family said you stole their ancestral secret manual. Now several famous traditional Chinese medicine practitioners are questioning your lineage."

The male protagonist shook his head, a little amused, "What secrets does the Wang family have? I treat illnesses using the basic theories taught by my master, plus some of my own insights. Let them say whatever they want."

Seeing him so calm, Li Ming stopped talking. However, he was a little worried. In this circle, reputation was very important. If someone questioned his lineage, it would be very detrimental to his future development.

After the hero said goodbye to Li Ming, although he didn't take it seriously, he began to pay attention to these rumors. He found that some people were indeed talking behind his back, but most people who had seen him treat patients still believed in his medical skills.

Just then, an unexpected opportunity arose.

In the offices of Huakang Pharmaceutical Group, a middle-aged man in a suit and tie was answering the phone. His name was Masao Tanaka. Officially the Vice President of Huakang Group, he was actually a spy sent by Japan, specializing in gathering intelligence on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

"I already know about the Wang family's affairs," Tanaka Masao said to the other end of the phone in fluent Chinese. "If that young man really has some secret skills, we must find a way to obtain them."

A male voice came from the other end of the line, "Tanaka-kun, this matter is of great importance. We have been lurking in China for many years just to obtain the essence of their traditional medicine. If we can obtain the real secret recipe, it will be of great help to our research."

"I understand." Tanaka Masao nodded, "I will send someone to contact the Wang family first to see if I can get any clues from them."

After hanging up the phone, Tanaka Masao immediately gathered several of his men. These people were all employees of the Huakang Group, but in fact they were all working for the Japanese medical intelligence agency.

"Do you all know about the recent incident with the young Chinese medicine doctor?" asked Masao Tanaka.

A young man named Zhang Wei nodded. "We've already investigated. This person is indeed quite capable and has cured several difficult diseases. The Wang family claims he stole the secret manual, but the details are still unclear."

"Then let's start with the Wang family." Tanaka Masao knocked on the table, "Arrange someone to contact them and see if there's any chance of cooperation."

A few days later, Wang Laosan received an unexpected call.

"Mr. Wang? I'm Li Qiang, the business manager of Huakang Pharmaceutical Group. I heard your family has some ancestral medical secrets. Our company is very interested in them and would like to cooperate."

When Wang Laosan heard it was a big company, he immediately became excited and asked, "How do you want to cooperate?"

"We can meet and discuss in detail. Our company specializes in the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine. If your secret book is truly valuable, we are willing to pay a high price for the copying rights."

Wang Laosan was secretly delighted. Isn't this a godsend? Not only can he make money, but he can also use it to deal with that kid.

The next day, Wang Laosan met Li Qiang in the office of Huakang Group. Li Qiang was actually Zhang Wei's pseudonym, responsible for external liaison.

"Mr. Wang, I heard that your family's secret book was stolen?" Li Qiang asked with pretended concern.

Wang Laosan pretended to be indignant. "That boy is the one who stole our family's medical skills and is now cheating people everywhere. He has ruined the reputation of our family's medical practice."

"This is indeed outrageous." Li Qiang nodded, "But our company is still very interested in cooperating. Even if the secret manual is not in your hands, you should at least know the contents, right?"

Wang Laosan rolled his eyes and said, "Of course, I learned the medical skills of our family since I was a child. But that kid stole the original, so now we can only compile it based on memory."

"That's okay. We can help you sort it out." Li Qiang said with a smile, "As long as the content is true, we are willing to pay a cooperation fee of 500,000 yuan."

Five hundred thousand! Wang Laosan almost lost his seat. This figure was an astronomical sum for their family.

"However," Li Qiang changed the subject, "we need to confirm that the young man indeed stole your secret manual. If we can get him to admit it, or if we can get evidence, our cooperation will be more secure."

Wang Laosan nodded repeatedly, "That's no problem, we will definitely find a way to make him admit it."

In this way, the Wang family and Huakang Group reached a preliminary cooperation intention. The real purpose of Huakang Group was to contact the male protagonist through this method and obtain his medical skills.

At the same time, Tanaka Masao was also planning another plan.

"We can't just rely on the Wang family," he said to his men, "If that young man is truly capable, we need to contact him directly."

"But his master's lineage is now being questioned, so he probably won't trust strangers easily," Zhang Wei reminded.

Tanaka Masao pondered for a moment and said, "Then let's hold an academic invitation meeting. Invite some well-known Chinese medicine practitioners, including himself. This way it will appear formal and will not arouse suspicion."

"Good idea. We can invite him to give a lecture in the name of academic exchange." Zhang Wei's eyes lit up.

"Not only that," Tanaka Masao sneered, "We can also have the Wang family question him face to face at the meeting and create a conflict. This will not only allow us to observe his true level, but also create opportunities for our subsequent contact."

The plan was thus finalized. Huakang Group began preparing for an event called the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Academic Exchange Conference," and the invitation would soon be delivered to the male protagonist.

At this time, the male protagonist was still concentrating on treating the patient, completely unaware that a huge net was quietly being opened against him.

A week later, the male protagonist received a beautiful invitation from Huakang Pharmaceutical Group, inviting him to attend a "Traditional Chinese Medicine Academic Exchange Conference."

"Inheritance and Innovation of Traditional Chinese Medicine"—this was the theme of the exchange meeting. The invitation stated that the male protagonist was expected to share his treatment experience and engage in academic exchanges with his peers.

The male protagonist looked at the invitation letter and was a little surprised. Although he had cured a few patients, he was not considered a famous doctor. How could a big company invite him to attend an academic conference?

"Maybe he wants me to share some clinical experience." The male protagonist thought that this is also an opportunity to learn and see other Chinese medicine treatment methods.

A few days later, the male protagonist arrived at the conference center of Huakang Group. The venue was decorated very formally, and the attendees were all famous Chinese medicine practitioners, including some respected old experts.

"Dear colleagues, welcome to today's academic exchange meeting." The host was Zhang Wei, a senior executive of Huakang Group. "Today, we have invited many elites in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine to discuss the inheritance and development of Traditional Chinese Medicine."

The male protagonist sat in the audience and looked around, realizing that he was indeed the youngest person. Most of the other participants were middle-aged people in their forties or fifties, and they all looked very experienced.