Resplendent – Chapter 513

Chapter 513 – Hold in disdain

When her son wanted to marry a girl from a military family, the old lady was extremely reluctant. She had her sights set on the daughter of a former teacher at the Imperial Academy’. She was virtuous, gentle, and refined with scholarly grace. But her son was stubborn as a mule, set on marrying the daughter-in-law he has now.

Out of love for her son, she couldn’t refuse and arranged the marriage. She had thought that with some proper guidance, she could teach the girl manners. Who could have known? That girl, taking advantage of a minor illness, went to live at the estate and never returned! 

Her son and grandsons ended up running back and forth to the estate constantly. Even at her age, having reached her life span, she still had to manage the entire household!

One troublesome daughter-in-law was enough to shorten her life. If she got another unruly wife for her eldest grandson, it would probably take ten more years off her lifespan. No, she had to keep her eyes wide open for her eldest grandson’s bride!

With that thought, the old lady pinched her youngest grandson’s cheek and scolded, “Don’t talk nonsense! When watching the pharmacist exams, it’s forbidden to make loud noises. If you disturb the pharmacists, you might get kicked out unknowingly!”

Hearing that, Han Mufei was terrified. Being expelled from the exam site would be utterly embarrassing. He immediately sat up straight, composing himself to watch the examination properly.

The senior pharmacist exam was exponentially more difficult, so each level of the test was allotted five full days. The seventh-level pharmacist exam still had a large number of candidates and was held outdoors. 

Gu Ye has prepared tent and cooking supplies, worried that she wouldn’t eat or rest well, which could affect her performance. She was also afraid it would affect her mood.

While all the other pharmacists were busy selecting ingredients and preparing their materials, Gu Ye and her two attendants were leisurely pitching a tent and organizing their food. 

Those nearby kept glancing over. When they saw how young she was, they all shook their heads. They thought her passing the Level 6 exam had already been pure luck, and that she must have come to the Level 7 assessment just to mess around or have fun.

Gu Ye wasn’t trying to stand out. She simply didn’t want to squeeze in with everyone else. After everyone else had already finished choosing their medicinal ingredients, she slowly strolled over. With one look at the ingredients on the materials table, she already had a plan in mind.

She intended to make her own specialty wound-healing salve. The steps were simple and wouldn’t take much time. She absolutely didn’t want to stay at the exam grounds for three to five days; she’d be bored to death. She had already learned beforehand that mid-to-high-level pharmacist exams were not like lower-level ones; there were no skipping levels here. One had to take each step properly, one level at a time.

Among all the materials, only dragon’s blood was missing. Fortunately, candidates were allowed to request two specific ingredients they needed in the advanced pharmacist exam. Gu Ye walked up to the judges’ platform, blinked at several familiar faces, and stated her request: “Honorable judges, I need two liang of dragon’s blood.”

The Sage Apothecary narrowed his eyes, wearing a rather satisfied smile, and asked, “Dragon’s blood, huh? Vice-Chairman, you heard her. Go prepare it for my disciple! Good girl, are you planning to make a wound salve?”

“Honorable judge, candidates are not supposed to casually chat with others during the assessment, nor are we allowed to reveal what medicine we’re making.” Gu Ye put on an official, by-the-book expression, leaving the Sage Apothecary gritting his teeth in frustration.

Baili Yunjì gave a faint smile and said, “Martial Uncle, please respect the regulations of the Apothecary Guild. Do not influence the candidates.”

The Sage Apothecary was reluctant to snap at his own disciple, but toward the disciple of his lifelong rival, he was far less gentle: “I’m just saying a few words to my own apprentice. What’s the problem? What rule did I break? Did I leak exam questions to her? Did I give her tips during the test? In front of me, what right do you have to speak?”

“Master, losing your temper out of embarrassment is very undignified,” Gu Ye couldn’t help speaking up in fairness for her Senior Brother Baili.

The Sage Apothecary took a deep breath and ground his teeth. “Whose side are you on, exactly? I’m your master! Instead of speaking up for me, you help this brat?”

“I stand with what’s right, not with favoritism!” Gu Ye kept her pretty face stern, showing a completely impartial expression. At that moment, the dragon’s blood arrived. She accepted it, bowed to the panel of judges to express her thanks, then said to the Sage Apothecary, “Master, your disciple is going to begin compounding.”

The Sage stroked his beard, nodded, and reminded her, “Do well on the exam, and don’t embarrass your master… No, wait. Make a fine medicine and shock them all!”

Gu Ye acted as though she hadn’t heard a thing, turned around, and walked off briskly. On the judges’ platform, the chairman of the Yan Kingdom’s Apothecary Guild spoke with interest, “Sage Apothecary, your disciple certainly has quite a personality!”

“Doesn’t she? Chairman Rao, you truly have a good eye. My young disciple is far more interesting than the senior one!” As the Sage Apothecary finished speaking, he cast a sideways glance at Jiang Qiu, who sat upright and proper nearby, then curled his lip and shook his head.

Chairman Rao did not dare criticize Grand Pharmacist Jiang; instead, he praised politely, “Sage Apothecary, it is you who have a good eye. Both of your disciples are top-tier. There’s no need to even mention Grand Pharmacist Jiang, your young disciple, at such a tender age, is already taking the senior-level pharmacist assessment. It’s truly astonishing!”

“Heh! A level-seven pharmacist is nothing!” The Sage scoffed.

His little disciple’s skill in apothecary had already surpassed his own. A thirteen-year-old Grand Pharmacist! He was looking forward to seeing all these people drop their eyeballs in shock.

Chairman Rao raised a brow. It seemed that little girl was far more than she appeared. Incredible—at such a young age, with achievements like this, she might very well become someone who surpasses the legendary Lady Apothecary.

The chairman of Dongling Kingdom’s Apothecary Guild, Chairman Li, looked displeased at Chairman Rao’s covetous gaze and couldn’t help saying, “A girl as outstanding as Miss Gu is truly a blessing to our Dongling Apothecary Guild!”

His meaning was obvious: Miss Gu belongs to Dongling. You could only watch and drool. Dongling is about to produce a second Lady Apothecary!

Chairman Rao merely stroked his beard and smiled without replying.

The matter of the Fourth Prince petitioning the Dongling Emperor to marry a young lady of the Defender Duke’s Manor on behalf of Prince Ning had naturally not escaped his notice as the guild chairman. As for how he learned of it—Well, that was not something he could disclose.

This Miss Gu was not only an exceptional pharmacist but also the daughter of the Defender Duke.

As long as they pressured the Dongling Emperor, the match would certainly be secured for Prince Ning. And once the little girl married into the Yan Kingdom…Marry the chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog, follow the dog. 

In the end, where this little girl would truly belong? That was far from decided.

After selecting the medicinal ingredients, the next step was to prepare them. These minor preliminary tasks naturally didn’t require her personal involvement. Hua Hao and Yue Yuan were the helpers she was long accustomed to. There was no need for her to say much; they knew exactly what to do.

The entire first day passed in the busy work of processing herbs. Both lunch and dinner were cooked on the same stoves used for frying medicinal ingredients, with pots and bowls they had brought themselves.

For lunch, they made braised rice and egg-drop soup. It was simple, but far better than gnawing on dry rations. The fragrant braised rice made the surrounding apothecaries swallow repeatedly, their own dry, hard biscuits suddenly even harder to stomach.

Seizing the break at noon, Jiang Zhongtian shamelessly begged the proctoring apothecary to accompany him across half the assessment grounds so he could scrounge a share of the braised rice. There wasn’t much conversation between them, but with both soup and rice, he ate quite contentedly.