Resplendent – Chapter 479

Chapter 479 — There’s a Conspiracy!

Gu Ye sat under her oiled-paper parasol on a tiny folding stool, her cheek propped up by one hand, looking utterly bored as she stared off into space. No one could tell what she was thinking.

From the viewing stands, Ling Juechen found his little girl adorable no matter how he looked at her.  He muttered worriedly, “She’s been sitting in the same position for so long—her legs will go numb. Get up and walk a bit!” 

Grand King General, where is your usual icy, stoic demeanor?

The Fourth Prince snatched the monocular telescope from him and aimed it toward the girl. “Isn’t my future sister-in-law falling asleep? Her eyes look all squinty!”

Ling Juechen grabbed the telescope back and snapped, “Why do you care if she’s asleep or not?”

“I’m just worried about her exam!  If she doesn’t pass, won’t the little girl cry?” The Fourth Prince truly didn’t expect his cousin’s beloved girl to be someone who studied pharmacology. But he didn’t have much confidence in her. Look at her—parasol, folding stool, even a little hand fan… She didn’t look like someone who could endure hardship or diligently study medicine at all.

“Can you not talk nonsense? There is no ‘if’!” Ling Juechen snapped. He knew exactly how capable his little girl was. This beginner-level exam was child’s play for her.

“Alright, alright! My future sister-in-law is the best. She has the talent of a Grand Pharmacist, okay?” The Fourth Prince rolled his eyes, humoring him. Still, ever since his cousin fell in love, he really wasn’t as cold and hard to approach as before. Mm… he was starting to seem a bit more human!

When Gu Ye stood up again, the hare’s ear had fully soaked. She set her parasol on the ground, picked up the knife, and began slicing the roots into pieces three to five millimeters thick. Back in Qingshan Village, she had practiced knife skills tirelessly; each slice now was nearly identical in thickness, practically as uniform as something cut by a machine.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept across the field. The parasol she had left on the ground tumbled away, blown far off. She had no choice but to set down her knife and run after it.

Laughter erupted from the stands. The sight of the little girl chasing her parasol was simply too adorable. Whose child was this? Was she there to take the exam or to play around?

Gu Ye retrieved her parasol, calmly returned to her workstation, and continued slicing her hare’s ear. With her skill, she finished cutting the entire root in no time. All that remained was to dry the slices. The sun was strong today. She spread the slices neatly across the workstation, picked up her parasol again, and sat back down on her little folding stool.

After sitting there for half a morning, she began to feel thirsty. Gu Ye opened her small medical kit, took out a pouch of mung bean soup that had been chilled until slushy, and started sipping it slowly. The icy mung bean soup was refreshing and cooling. After a few sips, she set it aside. Drinking too much would make her need the bathroom, and with all these people watching… how embarrassing that would be!

She rummaged through her pouch and pulled out a piece of crisp, roasted biscuit, nibbling on it little by little. 

On the panel of judges, they had long noticed this particularly unconventional little girl. One ninth-level pharmacist chuckled and shook his head. “Whose girl is that? Eating, drinking, holding a parasol, fanning herself… Does she really think she’s on a picnic?”

“I saw her come in with the Defender Duke,” another ninth-level pharmacist with a graying beard said, curling his lip. “I have no idea who recommended her.  Every year there are always a few who slip in without real skill and ruin the rules of our pharmacist community.”

A relatively young ninth-grade pharmacist returned to the judges panel and, hearing the discussion, remarked with a smile, “The girl may be working on the most basic hare’s ear slices, but her knife skills are excellent. Clearly, she’s put in real practice. Passing the first-level exam shouldn’t be a problem.”

The ninth-level pharmacist with the graying beard gave a disdainful sneer. “Every year, some privileged youths think that once they pass the primary exam, they’ve become part of the pharmacist world, able to associate with senior pharmacists or even grandmasters. Best case, they hope to catch the eye of a renowned master and become their disciple, so their family might ‘produce an extraordinary pharmacist.’ Laughable!”

Indeed, many declining noble families sent their less-favored children to study pharmaceutics with exactly that intention. But this pharmacist was being a bit too sweeping in his judgment.

Gu Ye endured the blazing sun the entire afternoon, feeling like she was about to dry into a little salted fish. Once the slices were properly dried, she immediately rushed forward to submit her hare’s ear slices.

Because she was the first to finish, several judges examined her work and issued her a pharmacist’s robe embroidered with a lingzhi motif. She carried the robe out of the field. 

Hua Hao and Yue Yuan hurried to her, fanning her, wiping her hands and face with cool water, and helping her drink a cup of warm water.

Gu Ye returned to the stands and collapsed into a chair. 

Lady Jun, heart aching, cut the honeydew melon into small pieces and fed them to her daughter, all the while complaining, “It’s already autumn. Why is it still so hot? Look at how sunburned the child is, her little face all red. My sweet Bao’er, we’re not relying on this to make a living anyway. How about not taking the exam tomorrow?”

The Duke, for once, opposed his wife’s suggestion. “How can she give up halfway? Our daughter apprenticed under a famous master. After all these years of learning, would she go back with only a first-level pharmacist qualification? Today’s heat is unusual. It might be better tomorrow. Good girl, here, have some iced mung bean soup to cool down.”

Gu Ye took two sips and put it down. She had already drunk a bellyful of water today. If she drank any more, she’d have to run to the toilet again and again. How embarrassing that would be!

“Eh? My good Junior Nephew still isn’t done? That’s way too slow, isn’t it?” Gu Ye glanced toward the area where the Jiang family pharmacists were seated. Other than a few of Jiang Zhongtian’s senior brothers, she didn’t see her Junior Nephew anywhere.

As for her senior brother, the Grand Pharmacist Jiang, he would not appear in the first few days. Didn’t she see that all the judges were eighth and ninth-level pharmacists? A Grand Pharmacist only appeared during the final senior-level exams, or during evaluations for ninth-rank pharmacists attempting to advance to grand pharmacist.

Gu Ye looked around the field with hundreds of people wearing identical pharmacist robes. Trying to pick Jiang Zhongtian out of that crowd was truly difficult. The junior-level exam really wasn’t much to look at. After sitting a while, she left with her two maids to go home for a nap.

Oh right—she hadn’t even eaten lunch yet. Although she had little appetite, she’d ask Aunt Yan to make something light and appetizing once she got home. She had to eat something. The pharmacist exams would last eight or nine days. The body was the capital of revolution; she had to take care of herself.

Fortunately, the heatstroke her family was worried about didn’t happen to her at all. The next day was the Level-1 to Level-2 exam. After resting for a night, she appeared at the testing grounds full of energy again.

Before she could enter, Jiang Zhongtian blocked her way. Looking her up and down, noticing the Level-1 pharmacist robe she wore, Jiang Zhongtian couldn’t help asking, “Little Aunt Master, are you planning to take the exams level by level, one at a time?”

Gu Ye then spotted the Level-3 pharmacist robe on him. Her already large eyes widened even more, and she pointed at the three embroidered lingzhi mushrooms in shock: You—you—wasn’t yesterday the Level-1 exam? How did you end up with a Level-3 pharmacist robe? There must be shady dealings here!!!”