Su Mu drank tea for a while before slowly speaking to Nangong Ce.
"Of all the countries in this world, why did you choose the Kingdom of Dongyue, and why did you choose me?"
Nangong Ce replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "I just happened to have fled to the Eastern Yue Kingdom. I had no other choice but to choose the Eastern Yue Kingdom and Your Majesty."
"You are indeed honest!" Su Mu sneered, "But how can I believe that the divine pills you have refined can prolong my life?"
"I presume His Majesty is currently consuming a divine elixir that is not from the Nangong Divine Sect?"
"So what if it is?"
Nangong Ce said, "All the divine pills in this world are made by imitating the divine pills of the Nangong Divine Sect. Even if the most skilled pharmacist can smell some of the medicinal ingredients in the divine pill, the divine pill is ultimately for human consumption. If there is too much or too little, it will cause extremely serious damage to the human body."
Su Mu sneered, "Are you saying that all the physicians around me who concoct elixirs for me are frauds? And that the elixirs they concoct are all useless?"
Nangong Ce replied politely, "Forgive my bluntness, but it is indeed so."
Su Mu asked dismissively, "How do you know that the elixir I took is useless?"
“Your Majesty, I observe dark circles under your eyes, which should be due to the ingestion of a poisonous elixir. When first ingested, this elixir will make one feel incredibly energetic, as if one has inexhaustible strength.”
"But this phenomenon is just an illusion and cannot last long. At most two days, at least one day, Your Majesty will feel more weak than before. Over time, it will deplete Your Majesty's vital energy and will be harmful to your health."
Upon hearing this, Su Mu's expression immediately darkened. He quickly asked Jin Zhong to bring a bronze mirror to examine him, and sure enough, there was a dark color in his eye sockets.
Thinking back to how he usually felt energetic after taking the elixir, but then became lethargic and had to keep taking the elixir to maintain his previous energy level.
With that thought in mind, Su Mu smashed the bronze mirror and summoned the eunuchs waiting outside the Zichen Palace.
"Go to the Imperial Hospital and drag out all those doctors recruited from the common people. Chop them up and feed them to the dogs!"
As the eunuch, trembling with fear, left to carry out his orders, Su Mu hurriedly asked Nangong Ce, "Do you have a way to remove the poison from my body?"
“This humble subject can help Your Majesty remove the poison,” Nangong Ce continued.
"I am not talented, but I did use extraordinary means to become the sect leader of the Nangong Divine Sect. Although I have not been in power for long, it has been enough for me to memorize all the secret formulas of the Nangong Divine Sect's divine pills."
"Therefore, Your Majesty! If you can grant me even a little protection, with the divine elixir formula that I obtained from the Nangong Shenzong, I can not only remove the poison from Your Majesty, but also prolong your life and live as long as the Southern Mountains."
"Furthermore, with me here, even if a terrible plague or malaria breaks out again among the people of Dongyue, there is no need to worry. After all, the prescriptions I have are more than enough to treat these diseases."
Upon hearing this, Su Mu nodded with satisfaction: "Then you might be able to refine longevity pills?"
Nangong Ce paused for a moment, but quickly nodded and replied that he could.
Su Mu noticed the fleeting panic in Nangong Ce's eyes and frowned, shouting, "You dare to lie to me?"
Nangong Ce quickly replied, "This humble subject did not lie to Your Majesty. This humble subject has the secret recipe for the Longevity Pill and will certainly refine the Longevity Pill for Your Majesty."
Su Mu sneered and said, "If you can refine longevity pills, why did you look so fearful just now?"
Nangong Ce quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Su Mu, saying, "Your Majesty, this humble subject was not terrified because I did not know how to make the Longevity Pill."
Su Mu asked, "Why is that?"
Nangong Ce said, "Your Majesty should have inquired about the fact that there are only three longevity pills left in the world, right?"
Su Mu remained silent, but his slightly narrowed eyes clearly indicated that he had indeed heard of it.
“That’s just a rumor,” Nangong Ce said. “The claim that there are only three longevity pills left in the world is just a rumor. This is a message that I had my disciples spread to various countries.”
"The reason is simple: it's just to drive up the price of the longevity pill."
"Oh?" Su Mu said, "I sent someone to give you 600,000 taels of silver to buy longevity pills, but you refused."
Nangong Ce lowered his head so low it almost touched the ground, and said in a panic, "Your Majesty, I sold the Longevity Pill to a merchant from the Southern Shu Kingdom for one million taels of silver."
Upon hearing this, Su Mu flew into a rage, slammed his hand on the table, and roared fiercely, "Are you mocking me, the ruler of a nation, for being unable to afford a price and being inferior to a merchant from the Southern Shu Kingdom?"
"This humble subject would never dare! Please calm your anger, Your Majesty! Those were all my past methods of accumulating wealth. I only wanted to tell Your Majesty that I have the ability to produce longevity pills."
"This longevity elixir can not only prolong life and grant Your Majesty eternal life, but it can also be sold for profit, enriching the treasury of Dongyue. I only beg Your Majesty to spare my life, and I will do my utmost to refine all the miraculous elixirs Your Majesty needs in the future!"
After Nangong Ce finished speaking, he trembled all over and banged his head heavily on the ground, as if waiting for Su Mu's punishment.
Su Mu used a great deal of willpower to barely suppress the raging anger surging within her.
Looking back over the past few years, there has been frequent war and domestic turmoil. The national treasury has long been depleted, to the point that the 600,000 taels spent to buy the elixir were barely raised by his subordinates through selling official positions.
He did not consider himself incompetent, but felt that the country had a multitude of daily tasks to handle, and even if he had three heads and six arms, how could he possibly manage everything?
If there were a longevity pill that could strengthen his body and extend his lifespan, he would surely be able to build the Eastern Yue Kingdom into the most powerful country in the world.
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