Led by Luo Fan, Qing and Mo Junqian entered the palace once again.
There were many workers repairing the area that had been burned down. Luo Fan led the two along a side path, winding their way to a quiet garden.
The garden wasn't large, but it was very clean. There was a bamboo hut and a half-garden of medicinal herbs. Zhuge Hongming was standing in the yard, tending to the herbs that were drying in the sun.
A faint scent of herbs filled the air. Qinghe noticed three characters written on the plaque in front of the bamboo house: "Jingcaotang" (Clean Herb Hall).
Luo Fan stepped forward and said, "Master, the person has arrived."
Zhuge Hongming did not turn around, but simply waved his hand to dismiss Luo Fan.
Qinghe stood there, hesitating whether to step forward and offer a greeting. After all, he was an elder, and it was really not appropriate to just stand there like that.
Before he could even make a move, Zhuge Hongming had already spoken up: "Give me the Yu Fuling."
Qing and Mo Junqian looked at each other, both with puzzled expressions, wondering what he meant.
Until Zhuge Hongming repeated what he had just said.
Qinghe had never studied pharmacology and had no idea which one was Yu Fuling, so she stood still. Mo Junqian stepped forward, circled around the herbs, and finally picked up a medicine sieve and walked up to Zhuge Hongming, saying, "Senior, here are the herbs you requested."
Zhuge Hongming still didn't look up. He took the herbs, poked at them, and asked, "Do you know the uses of Poria cocos?"
Mo Junqian said, "It stops bleeding, removes blood stasis, and unblocks the meridians."
He nodded: "What about that one?"
Mo Junqian looked in the direction he was pointing and said, "Returning Star Grass, clears the head and eyes, and dispels wind and cold."
"Yang Dan?"
"It relieves exterior symptoms by inducing sweating, relaxes muscles and promotes blood circulation."
"Poor Huang?"
"It disperses qi throughout the body, clears heat and detoxifies."
"Baby's breath?"
"It strengthens the body's vital energy, reduces internal heat, and nourishes Yin."
"Zi Chen?"
"It has a pungent and bitter taste, and it harmonizes the effects of other medicines."
...
Mo Junqian answered all the questions, and Zhuge Hongming finally looked up at him.
"You seem to know quite a lot."
Mo Junqian humbly replied, "I grew up in adversity since I was a child, and all my injuries were healed by these herbs. Over time, I've memorized them."
Zhuge Hongming walked over to a spot, grabbed a handful of herbs, and asked, "Do you recognize these?"
Mo Junqian looked at the herb in his hand and frowned: "Forget-Me-Not Grass, a common poisonous herb that grows mostly in damp environments. Its toxicity is not strong enough to be fatal, but..."
Zhuge Hongming: "Go on."
"However, if it is mixed with another herb, it becomes highly poisonous and difficult to detect, killing people silently."
Qinghe asked, "What is the other one?"
Mo Junqian: "White Ghost".
"White Ghost? Is it also a poisonous weed?"
He shook his head: "No, quite the opposite. White Ghost is a healing herb with no toxicity and mild medicinal properties. Many elixirs contain this herb."
Qinghe: "This is interesting. One is the Forget-Me-Not Grass, and the other is the White Ghost. Two species with different attributes, combined together they become the Forget-Me-Not."
She said to Zhuge Hongming, "The Soul-Forgetting Poison has now spread throughout the capital. I wonder if you, senior, have found a way to cure it?"
Instead of answering, Zhuge Hongming asked, "Have you ever studied alchemy?"
Qing and Mo Junqian exchanged a glance and both shook their heads.
Zhuge Hongming sneered: "What has that old bastard Qi Changfeng taught you! Is the Qingyun Sect so poor that it can't even afford medicinal herbs?"
Upon hearing this, Qinghe's heart sank. It turned out that Zhuge Hongming had known about their background for a long time, but had never exposed them. Now he had summoned them to the palace again. He wondered what the reason was.
Seeing the two staring at him warily, Zhuge Hongming flicked his sleeve and said, "I'm not interested in you two little brats. If you want to stay in this palace, then come and learn alchemy from me." With that, he turned and went into the bamboo house.
Given that their opponents were too powerful and seemed to be helping them, the two hesitated for only a moment before surrendering and going inside.
There were only two tables in the room, one piled high with herbs and the other piled high with books.
"If you want to learn alchemy, first understand these books."
Zhuge Hongming said that and then went about his business. Qinghe looked at the stack of books on the table, which was taller than her, and immediately felt a little regretful.
There are so many books; just reading the titles would take half a day, let alone understanding them.
But since we're already here, and we can't find the Divine Pearl anytime soon, it's not bad to learn something here.
After her disguise as a man was exposed, Qinghe changed back into women's clothing. She wore an elegant blue dress, her long hair was loose, and she wore only a wooden hairpin in her hair, which matched the bamboo house quite well. Leaning lightly against the bamboo window, the sunlight shone on her, making her look more gentle than her usual indifference.
The book contained mostly introductory-level knowledge, with obscure and difficult-to-understand professional terms. For someone who had never been exposed to alchemy before, it was easy to fall into common pitfalls. Surprisingly, Qinghe didn't seem to be struggling at all; on the contrary, she absorbed the information very quickly and finished the book in less than a quarter of an hour.
However, she herself was completely unaware that she was engrossed in reading the book, her brain working at full speed, and she gradually gained a new understanding of alchemy.
Time flies, and it was already evening. The setting sun had not yet disappeared into the distance, and the red glow dyed half the sky.
Zhuge Hongming interrupted them: "Let's stop here for today. I have already asked Luo Fan to prepare accommodations for you. You can stay in the palace for now and continue tomorrow."
Qinghe thought for a moment and felt it was necessary to ask clearly: "Senior, is your help to us because of my master, or is there another reason?"
Zhuge Hongming: "What do you think?"
Qinghe slowly stood up and said, "Senior, you are exceptionally strong and upright. I suppose you are not interested in that item. I guess you are here to help us at the request of my master, right?"
Zhuge Hongming: "What should you do if I become very interested in what you're looking for?"
Qinghe remained calm: "You can't have your cake and eat it too. Senior wants to provide free manpower while also taking away our supreme treasure. There's no such thing as a free lunch."
The implication is that you either pay money or hand over the divine pearl; there's no way you can get something for nothing.
Zhuge Hongming suddenly smiled; his usually stern face broke into a smile.
Looking at Qinghe, he inexplicably showed a hint of admiration: "Qi Changfeng has indeed taken on a good disciple. Remember, no secret is completely airtight. If you want to find what you're looking for, pay close attention to the people and events in this palace." He glanced at the sky outside, "The darkness can give you cover. Go out and explore; you might find something."
After leaving the bamboo house, Luo Fan led them to a residence not far from Jingcao Hall, gave them a few instructions, and then left.
After thinking it over, Qinghe decided to go see Changping. Since their last parting, she hadn't had a chance to properly apologize to her. Now that she was back in the palace, she had the opportunity.
When Mo Junqian saw that Qinghe was going out, he wanted to go with her. Qinghe felt that the two of them were in a cold war and refused him. But Mo Junqian obviously didn't think so. He said that the cold war was just Qinghe's wishful thinking. Qinghe couldn't persuade him, so she went with him.
But to her surprise, this trip nearly cost her her life.
*
Chengen Hall
Consort Cheng was sitting in front of her dressing table, and a maid was putting a new white jade hairpin on her head.
"Is it pretty?" The voice was soft and gentle.
The maidservant smiled charmingly. She was Consort Cheng's favorite maidservant, so she was a little bolder in front of her mistress. "Your Highness is exceptionally beautiful and incomparably gorgeous. Of course you are beautiful!"
Cheng Fei, looking at herself in the mirror, curled her lips into a smile: "You silly girl, you always know how to say nice things." Her tone was full of laughter.
"The King has arrived!"
A shout suddenly came from outside, and a moment later Mo Zhanli walked in.
Consort Cheng waved her hand to dismiss the maids in the palace, and now only the two of them remained in the large room.
Consort Cheng gracefully rose and walked to Mo Zhanli, elegantly touching the white jade hairpin in her hair, and asked affectionately, "Does Your Majesty think it looks good?"
Mo Zhanli's expression was cold, a barely perceptible hint of disgust flashing in his eyes as he stared at Consort Cheng.
Suddenly, he raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face, saying in an extremely cold tone, "I warned you, don't follow her example, you don't deserve it."
Consort Cheng was slapped to the ground, and her white jade hairpin slipped and broke in two.
Consort Cheng seemed oblivious to the pain, picked up the hairpin, stood up, and said to herself, "What a pity, such fine white jade, broken just like that."
Mo Zhanli: "Stop your hypocrisy. I'm asking you, many people in the capital have been poisoned by the Soul-Forgetting Poison, even Changping has been poisoned. Did you do it?"
Consort Cheng returned to her dressing table, placed the broken white jade hairpin in a wooden box, and mixed it with the other broken hairpins.
"Does Your Majesty have any evidence to support your claim?"
Mo Zhanli sneered, "Do you need evidence of the dirty things you've done?"
Consort Cheng's smiling face suddenly turned cold. She abruptly swept the jewelry off the dressing table, scattering pearls all over the floor.
She yelled at him, "I'm filthy? Aren't you filthy too? You were the one who caused all those things back then! If we're talking about filth, you're a hundred times filthier than me!"
His aura instantly turned cold. Mo Zhanli took a step in front of her and grabbed her neck tightly: "Don't mention the things from back then to me again!"
Even with her face flushed red from being pinched, Consort Cheng didn't forget to mock him. She laughed maniacally, "Hahaha, you're scared! You're afraid that what happened back then will be exposed, aren't you? The more scared you are, the more I'll talk. You want to forget the despicable things you did? Let me tell you, no way! As long as I live, you'll never forget!"
Mo Zhanli didn't lessen his grip until Consort Cheng was about to faint, then he shoved her away.
Consort Cheng collapsed to the ground, coughing violently. Mo Zhanli looked at the panting woman on the ground and said, "You've gone mad."
Consort Cheng tried to get up, but her head spun and she fell to the ground again. "Yes, I've gone mad. I've been mad ever since the day he died. Do you know why I'm still alive? I want to destroy your Tianqi Kingdom with my own hands, destroy you as its ruler, destroy your beloved little daughter, and make you live in eternal pain like I have!"
Mo Zhanli remained silent, coldly observing her.
Suddenly, Consort Cheng remembered something and said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh no, you're already in a lot of pain because of that person, the person you killed with your own hands, the one you loved most... Ah!"
Mo Zhanli's palm strike was quite powerful, and Consort Cheng cried out in pain, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Don't think I wouldn't dare kill you. Shaoling has grown up now, and you're no longer of any use to me."
Consort Cheng clutched her chest and sneered, "You really think you love her? Can you guarantee you won't have any other women after you get her? I know you best. No wonder she doesn't like you. Someone like you doesn't deserve her at all! You don't deserve her!"
The barrage of harsh words provoked Mo Zhanli, who was furious. He channeled all his strength into his palm and struck at Consort Cheng. Consort Cheng sneered as she watched the palm strike approaching her, and slowly closed her eyes.
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