“Common knowledge of chemistry is still important.”

"You must be able to identify poisons. Otherwise, one day someone might secretly poison you and you won't even know how you died." Wu Qing said with great sorrow.

The eldest prince humbly asked Wu Qing for advice: "My lord, cinnabar is a good medicine for nourishing the spirit and calming the soul. Can't it be consumed in large quantities?"

The eldest prince remembered that the elixir his father took was mixed with cinnabar.

Wu Qing nodded: "Of course not!"

"The main component of cinnabar is mercuric sulfide."

Wu Qing dug out the long-buried high school chemistry knowledge from his brain.

"Sulfur is poisonous, and mercury is also highly toxic. Right? This mercuric sulfide contains both sulfur and mercury. Can its toxicity be underestimated?"

She said seriously: "Excessive intake of this stuff will inhibit the activity of multiple enzymes, causing metabolic disorders, and directly damage the human central nervous system."

The eldest prince looked confused after hearing this.

Wu Qing knew that he didn't understand, so he used a more common example to explain:

"In fact, the ink you use and the red pigment on the lacquerware are mostly mercuric sulfide."

Wu Qing paused and observed the eldest prince's reaction.

Seeing that he was still very skeptical, Wu Qing continued, "Of course, there is a slight difference between the two. But think about it, swallowing red paint directly, it would be scary, right?"

The eldest prince's throat moved slightly, and hesitantly said: "This... cinnabar and red lacquer, how can they be the same thing? They are just similar in color, right?"

In the eldest prince's impression, cinnabar is a very fine vermilion powder that is light and can be pinched with the fingers.

And red paint... has a pungent smell and is as sticky as flowing blood.

The eldest prince still insisted on his own understanding.

"Many good medicines such as Anshen Pills and Zixue Powder also contain cinnabar."

"Your words may have some truth to them, but in my opinion, there is still an essential difference between the two. I cannot agree with them."

Wu Qing replied helplessly: "Please review the question, Your Highness. What I am talking about is medicine that cannot be taken in large quantities. A small amount of cinnabar can indeed be used as medicine."

After saying that, Wu Qing's eyes suddenly became stern and he narrowed his eyes dangerously.

[Wait, why is this kid so entangled in the matter of cinnabar? ]

[Oh no, he wouldn't be like his father in his later years, liking to eat elixirs, right? ]

[Okay, just eat it, and don't say a word.]

The eldest prince thought that perhaps it was because Concubine Ji had never tasted the elixir and did not know its magical properties.

"My dear, my mother still has a few elixirs in her collection. I will take one out and give it to you tomorrow." The eldest prince said secretly.

"The elixir is indeed a tonic. I have personally experienced this."

He lowered his voice, looking a little embarrassed.

"I was lucky enough to taste one, and it made me feel clear-headed and my memory improved greatly. I could recite even the most obscure scriptures easily."

"It's just that the effect is a bit strong." The eldest prince said, "I had a nosebleed for a long time after eating it."

“……”Wu Qing was speechless.

Does the Queen know about this?

If I knew, I would definitely beat him up.

Wu Qing replied with a complicated expression: "Thank you for your kindness, but the elixir is so precious that I dare not accept it... You'd better be more cautious in the future and don't be greedy for a moment's pleasure."

[In a sense, the eldest prince is not wrong. This so-called elixir is indeed a "tonic substance".]

[Heavy metals such as lead, copper, gold, silver, and mercury are all available. I am afraid that instead of nourishing people, they may kill them.]

[Hey, rather than believing in immortality, it is better to believe that I am Qin Shi Huang, v me 50, and I will lead the Chen Kingdom to conquer the Atlantic Ocean. ]

Wu Qing added: "It's better to eat less of this. If you eat too much, you might vomit blood, and it might even affect the inheritance of your offspring."

"But Father..."

The eldest prince stopped talking in time.

This cannot be disclosed.

It was precisely because his father took the elixir privately that he became interested in the elixir.

Wu Qing looked at the eldest prince, a trace of pity flashing in his eyes.

She added silently in her heart: [Taking large amounts can also cause acute renal failure.]

[At what age did the eldest prince take the elixir? Heavy metals are particularly harmful to the kidneys. Perhaps this is why he was still wetting the bed at the age of nine.]

[Heavy metals also damage the nervous system. His ability to memorize is also slightly worse than the Second Prince... No way, could he have really taken the elixir and become stupid?]

The eldest prince could only remain silent in awkward silence.

The second prince pinched his thigh secretly and laughed.

Wu Qing turned around and looked at him in confusion: "What are you laughing at? What's so funny about the elixir?"

"No, no, sir. I was just laughing at my brother for not doing well in the exam."

The second prince quickly shook his head, but he couldn't suppress the smile.

The eldest prince could only glare at him.

"Stop laughing at your elder brother."

Wu Qing sighed, "How good are you? Don't forget, your score is lower than his."

She picked up the second prince's quiz paper.

The second prince's handwriting is clearer and more beautiful than the eldest prince's. It was the type of handwriting that Wu Qing's examiners liked most when he was in school.

"Your Scripture and arithmetic are passable, but the rest..."

Wu Qing is hard to describe in words.

The second prince restrained his smile.

"The design of your test paper is really weird. The words are arranged horizontally, which makes it quite difficult to read. It took me a lot of time," he complained.

"And the question is also very strange. I have never seen such a multiple-choice question before."

He concluded confidently: "If I were to take the test according to the style of the imperial examination, I would never lose to him."

Wu Qing disagreed.

"It's just a different way of testing your knowledge. If you don't do it right, it means you haven't learned it yourself."

Several people kept their heads down as they argued, their voices gradually growing louder, attracting Master Xun's attention.

Master Xun put down his teacup and slowly stood up from his seat.

He had also looked through the timetable made by Concubine Ji and knew that the princes had taken a "small test" yesterday.

So when Wu Qing and the other two were discussing the setting of tomorrow's questions, Master Xun appeared among them quietly.

A shadow fell.

The three of them suddenly fell silent and looked up at him blankly, as if they were in a frozen picture.

The second prince's heart sank, and he tried to take back his answer sheet.

He was quick to take back his paper.

Master Xun did not say anything to stop him, but just glanced at him calmly.

The second prince immediately lost his temper, withdrew his right hand obediently, and acted like a coward.

Master Xun's gaze fell on his scripture answer sheet.

He took a quick look and questioned Wu Qing's question: "The question you asked is a little too simple."

First, write it down, then explain it.

Basic questions like these account for half of the marks for the scripture questions.

In Master Xun's opinion, such questions were obviously too simple and could not truly test the princes' knowledge of the scriptures and their deep understanding.

Master Xun frowned and said with a little dissatisfaction: "Your Excellency should not judge the princes by the standards of ordinary students."

"The last few discussion questions you asked me yesterday were pretty good."

Wu Qing said silently, "Master, this is not the first time I have asked a question. I just want to give them a feel for it."

"Besides."

She pursed her lips and said, "It's such a simple question, and they didn't answer it correctly."

After hearing her words, Master Xun slowly shifted his gaze from her face to the two answers on the table and examined them carefully.

The eldest prince's handwriting was illegible and he had corrected his answers many times. There were many ink spots on the white paper.

Although the second prince's handwriting was neat, his answers were far from the topic and were totally unconventional.

Master Xun's face gradually turned pale.

When he was an examiner, such papers would never be presented to him.