Just then, a stern reprimanding voice suddenly came from behind the group...
"You all have such audacity, daring to speak ill of the Princess Consort of Qin behind her back. Aren't you afraid of losing your heads?"
Upon hearing the sound, all the female medicine practitioners turned around in surprise.
Dingxiang had returned unnoticed and was standing behind everyone, glaring angrily at them with a stern expression.
The leading female herbalist, who had been speaking eloquently and enthusiastically just moments before, suddenly became hesitant and stammered in surprise, "Dingxiang...you...when did you get back?"
Dingxiang glared at her fiercely, took two steps forward to stand in front of her, and scolded, "What? Just now you were so enthusiastic in leading the gossip, how come you've already given up so quickly?"
As she spoke, she glanced at everyone else present and said, "What are you all doing gathered here? I've only been out of the palace for a few days, and you're all already so idle? Don't you have anything to do?"
Seeing a flustered woman in the corner of the group, Dingxiang called out to her, "Zhuyu, you have the worst medical skills in the entire Imperial Pharmacy. Instead of wasting time gossiping here, you should study more and improve your medical skills. You'll earn more money when you leave the palace. Don't you know your family's situation? If you don't work hard, do you expect a windfall? When I leave the palace, will you have all the pills I taught you to prepare?"
Zhu Yu usually followed Ding Xiang to learn from her. Today, she only heard that the handsome and powerful King Qin had entered the palace and might visit the Imperial Pharmacy. So she came here to see his heroic demeanor.
However, being scolded by his master, he pursed his lips and honestly replied, "Not yet..."
As she spoke, she suddenly looked up and met Dingxiang's stern eyes, and hurriedly said, "It'll be ready soon, I'll do it right away, I'll do it right away."
As he spoke, he slowly backed away until he reached the round archway, where he disappeared in a flash.
Watching everyone being reprimanded, all bowing their heads in silence, the former medicine girl boldly retorted to Dingxiang.
"Dingxiang, don't think that just because you've become the head pharmacist of the Imperial Pharmacy, you can do whatever you want and control everything. Over the years, haven't you asked how many people here have truly respected you?"
Seeing this, Dingxiang looked carefully into her eyes, then at the other people who were casting questioning glances at her, and decided to have a serious discussion with her.
"What do you mean by that? Why don't you make it clear in front of everyone today? You say I got this title of Great Medicine Maiden by relying on certain people? Then you'd better explain to me clearly whose power I'm relying on?"
The medicine woman glanced in the direction of the room where Yi Shangyun and Judge Zhang were, and suddenly realized that Yi Shangyun was not someone to be trifled with these days. So she silently swallowed and stopped talking.
So he lowered his voice, speaking in a tone barely audible to himself, and said to himself, "Whose power are you relying on? Don't you know that yourself?"
Dingxiang only saw her lips move slightly, so she tilted her ear towards her, trying to hear what she said more clearly, but in the end she still heard nothing, so she asked her again, "What did you say? Speak louder?"
Just then, a stern voice rang out, coming from inside the house into the courtyard.
"Who is making such a racket here, daring to slander the Great Medicine Maiden and showing her disrespect? This is an act of insubordination. Do you want to be punished?"
Upon hearing this, everyone, including Dingxiang, immediately knelt down in panic and apologized, saying, "Your Honor, please forgive us. We know we were wrong."
Judge Zhang stepped out and stood before the crowd, with Yi Shangyun following behind. Judge Zhang angrily said, "With Princess Qin here today, how dare you all be so bold and disrespectful, gathering here to cause trouble? Have you all rebelled?"
Everyone was instantly speechless.
Seeing this, Yi Shangyun slowly stepped forward, looked deeply at Dingxiang, and said, "I know that many of you had some objections to the fact that Dingxiang replaced me as the head pharmacist of the Imperial Pharmacy because of my recommendation, and thought that I was biased. In fact, I chose Dingxiang after repeated and careful observation and consideration among you."
Upon hearing this, Dingxiang silently cast a look of deep gratitude at him.
Yi Shangyun looked at her and smiled slightly, then continued, "It's pointless to say more now. Many years have passed, but if someone is truly more talented than her, they should be promoted."
Upon hearing this, Imperial Physician Zhang asked, "I wonder what the Princess means by these words..."
Yi Shangyun turned to look into Judge Zhang's eyes and suddenly suggested, "Your Excellency, why don't we have a truly fair competition among the medicine maidens today? Let's see who has the most skill and deserves the title of Grand Medicine Maiden. In this way, everyone will be truly convinced of the Grand Medicine Maiden's worth in the future."
Upon hearing this, Judge Zhang began to ponder to himself: "A competition between female medicine practitioners..."
Thinking about it, he suddenly laughed and said, "Good, Your Highness's idea is excellent! In that case, I will personally preside over this competition. I haven't seen such a fierce competition in a long time."
He then gave an order to the female pharmacists, saying, "To ensure fairness, everyone in the Imperial Pharmacy is welcome to participate in the competition today. The time has come to witness your hard work in honing your skills. Whoever comes out on top today will be the undisputed head female pharmacist of the Imperial Pharmacy. After that, let's see who dares to disagree!"
Yi Shangyun smiled and looked back at Dingxiang's face.
Dingxiang nodded to him, to reassure him.
The competition was held in this courtyard, attracting almost everyone from the Imperial Pharmacy to come and watch.
The content of the competition is nothing more than the daily routine of everyone.
After several rounds of elimination, only the former Great Medicine Girl and Ding Xiang remained for a final showdown.
Judge Zhang and Yi Shangyun took their seats at the head of the table.
At this moment, both the former medicine girl and Dingxiang had their eyes covered with a cloth.
At that time, two female medicine doctors each carried a wooden tray, the contents of which were unknown, and each tray was mysteriously covered with a red silk cloth, and placed it on the table in front of the two women.
Imperial Pharmacist Zhang said leisurely, "Identifying herbs is the most basic skill in the Imperial Pharmacy. Now, there are several herbs in front of you. Please identify them within the allotted time and then write them down accurately."
The two used essentially the same method: they first pinched the medicine with their fingers and gently crushed it, then brought the crushed dregs close to their noses and smelled them.
The former expert in medicine quickly wrote down: "Honey-processed ephedra, angelica, asparagus, polygonatum, red peony root, gypsum, anemarrhena, scutellaria, poria, atractylodes macrocephala, dried ginger."
Dingxiang went a step further than her predecessor, the great female herbalist, at the last moment. She personally tasted several herbs before writing down: "Honey-processed ephedra, cimicifuga, angelica, asparagus, polygonatum, red peony root, gypsum, anemarrhena, scutellaria, poria, cinnamon twig, atractylodes macrocephala, roasted licorice root, dried ginger."
Seeing that both of them had put down their pens, Judge Zhang got up and went over to check them himself.
He first walked over to the former female medicine master, looked at her answer, and asked, "Are you sure you've identified them all?"
The former female pharmacist replied confidently, "Yes."
Judge Zhang smiled, then strolled over to Dingxiang's side. Upon seeing her answer, his eyes widened in surprise: "You can even decipher such a complicated prescription?"
Dingxiang smiled, glanced at Yi Shangyun who was sitting calmly, and said, "The Treatise on Cold Damage records that if, after six or seven days of cold damage, there is a severe diarrhea, the pulse at the cun position is deep and slow, the hands and feet are cold, the pulse in the lower part of the body is not palpable, there is sore throat, spitting out pus and blood, and persistent diarrhea, it is difficult to treat. The Ephedra and Cimicifuga Decoction is the main treatment."
Upon seeing Yi Shangyun's gentle smile, she turned her gaze back and carefully explained, "Ma Huang Sheng Ma Tang is the most complex formula in the *Shang Han Lun*. The two herbs, ephedra and cimicifuga, primarily emphasize dispersing and expelling pathogens, and the formula also contains elements of Bai Hu Tang. The heat in Ma Huang Sheng Ma Tang is in the lungs and stomach, so gypsum and anemarrhena are used to clear stomach heat, and scutellaria is used to clear lung heat; polygonatum, angelica, peony, and asparagus are added to nourish and invigorate blood, along with Ling Gui Zhu Gan Tang for deficiency and cold in the middle jiao, plus dried ginger. Although this formula has many herbs, the dosage of each herb is not large."
Seeing her speak fluently about the prescription, Judge Zhang exclaimed in surprise, "How can a female pharmacist like you know so much?"
Dingxiang said firmly, "These are all prescriptions that the Princess taught me before, as well as methods for identifying herbs that the Princess taught me."
Judge Zhang nodded and said, "Not bad, very good."
He then cast another admiring glance at Yi Shangyun, before turning around and announcing, "Dingxiang wins this game."
Upon hearing this, the former drug dealer immediately lost her confident smile and questioned her incredulously, "How is that possible? What did I do wrong?"
Judge Zhang sat back down and explained, "Don't you remember the poem that says, 'Ephedra, Cimicifuga, Peony, Ginger, Anemarrhena, Asparagus, Poria, Atractylodes, and Astragalus. Fourteen ingredients: Angelica, Licorice, and Prepared Licorice, used to harmonize Yin and Yang.'"
Upon hearing this, the former master of medicine finally realized why these ingredients seemed familiar when she was identifying them: "So it is... Ephedra and Cimicifuga Decoction, with fourteen ingredients including Angelica sinensis, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, and Glycyrrhiza uralensis... fourteen ingredients."
Judge Zhang had a flash of inspiration and immediately began the second round of assessment: "For the second round of assessment, how about we have a contest to see who can prepare the Ephedra and Cimicifuga Decoction in front of you?"
The question immediately caused an uproar among the surrounding audience.
"What? Compare decocting medicine? Isn't that the simplest task we do every day?"
Judge Zhang said with delight: "Decocting medicine according to a prescription is also a very important task. Different decoction methods result in different medicinal effects, and the decoction method of a prescription is very particular. The same prescription can have different indications and effects due to different decoction and administration methods. Even if the diagnosis is accurate and the medication is appropriate, it will not be able to exert its due effect if the decoction and administration methods are not correct. It can be seen that decoction is not simply putting the collected herbs into a clay pot and boiling them on a stove."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com