Chapter 223: Exchange!
Prime Minister Liang arrived at Divine Doctor Zhao’s courtyard and said to Zhao Ming, Divine Doctor Zhao’s disciple, “Young Master Zhao, has Divine Doctor had his meal yet?”
“Replying to Your Excellency, Master has already had his meal.”
Prime Minister Liang nodded. “I have urgent matters to discuss with Divine Doctor. Please trouble Young Master Zhao to announce my arrival.”
“Yes!” Zhao Ming walked to Divine Doctor’s room and knocked on the door. “Master, Prime Minister Liang has urgent matters to discuss with you.”
A voice, old but still full of vigor, came from inside the room. “Invite him in.”
Zhao Ming pushed the door open and said to Prime Minister Liang, “Your Excellency, Master invites you in!”
Prime Minister Liang walked in, and Zhao Ming closed the door to keep the cold wind out.
“Your Excellency, please have a seat.” Divine Doctor Zhao put down the medical book in his hand and poured a cup of tea for Prime Minister Liang.
This tea was a special blend he made himself, using many medicinal herbs as ingredients. Drinking it regularly could prolong life, and he only shared one or two jin with the Zhao Kingdom Emperor, never giving it to anyone else.
Prime Minister Liang also knew the benefits of this tea. Usually, he would have already started drinking, but at this moment, he had no time for tea. He said impatiently, “Divine Doctor, we have found the Heart-Protecting Herb!”
Divine Doctor Zhao was drinking tea, and upon hearing this, he spat out a mouthful of tea. He quickly put down the tea bowl. “How is that possible?!”
The Heart-Protecting Herb had long been extinct. Three generations of the Zhao Kingdom had searched every country, but they hadn’t found a single plant.
Prime Minister Liang then said, “His Highness the Crown Prince conquered your country’s Jiangdu City and broke the formation at Qi Xiong Mountain. It was found on Qi Xiong Mountain!”
Divine Doctor Zhao was extremely surprised. “Broke the formation at Qi Xiong Mountain? That’s even more impossible!”
That was an Ancient Formation!
Left behind by Ancient Formation Masters, people only knew how to pass through Qi Xiong Mountain. But as for the other areas of Qi Xiong Mountain, countless famous Formation Masters from various countries had tried to break the formation over the centuries, but none had succeeded!
The Crown Prince of Chu was just a young boy who hadn’t even grown all his hair yet, how could he possibly break the formation?
“There’s no mistake about it. This news was sent to me by carrier pigeon from the border!”
Divine Doctor Zhao fell silent.
Qi Xiong Mountain had been protected by the formation for hundreds of years, maybe even thousands. It was very likely that there were Heart-Protecting Herbs inside, and perhaps even Soul-Soothing Herbs, Muscle-Regenerating Herbs, and Jade Bone Herbs!
After all, the founding emperor of the Zhao family had also found these Four Divine Herbs in the Qi Xiong Mountain range and refined them into the Four Divine Pills.
Thinking of this, he looked at Prime Minister Liang. “Your Excellency, if you can find the Heart-Protecting Herb and the Soul-Soothing Herb, your son will definitely be saved!”
Prime Minister Liang then said, “I’ve already thought of a way to obtain the Soul-Soothing Herb and the Heart-Protecting Herb from His Highness the Crown Prince. These days, I’ve noticed two groups of people who want to obtain the Four Divine Pills from Divine Doctor. I secretly investigated and found that one of them is from the Crown Prince of Chu. If Divine Doctor is willing to exchange those pills, you will definitely be able to get the Soul-Soothing Herb and the Heart-Protecting Herb!”
Didn’t Divine Doctor Zhao say that the pills had lost their efficacy? It wouldn’t be a loss at all to exchange pills that were about to lose their efficacy, or even moldy pills, for Divine Herbs that were extinct in the world.
As for the other force, it was from the Jin Kingdom Emperor. It was said that the Jin Kingdom Emperor was willing to pay a high price to borrow those pills and a Firefly Fruit to take a look. And the other party only wanted to borrow them for the princess to see before returning them.
He also heard that the Jin Kingdom Emperor finally had a princess! It was a princess who had been living outside many years ago. For this reason, the Jin Kingdom was preparing to establish an empress.
Who was that princess? She was actually found! This kind of thing was not uncommon in the royal family, but it was rare to find them.
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However, Prime Minister Liang only listened to this matter and didn’t pay much attention to it, so he didn’t tell Divine Doctor Zhao.
Hearing this, Divine Doctor Zhao felt a bit reluctant.
Because even if he had the Heart-Protecting Herb and the Soul-Soothing Herb, he wasn’t completely confident that he could refine the Heart-Nourishing Pill and the Soul-Soothing Pill.
However, these Divine Pills indeed had little efficacy left. Although they were preserved in thousand-year-old profound ice, they could only be preserved for a hundred years. After a hundred years, they would lose a little efficacy every year. It had been nearly two hundred years now, and the efficacy was almost gone!
He weighed the pros and cons in his heart and decided to exchange them!
He had a 50% chance of refining them successfully. If he could refine the Heart-Nourishing Pill and the Soul-Returning Pill, then his achievements in medicine would be comparable to those of the founding emperor’s master!
“Let’s exchange them! But tell them that the Heart-Protecting Herb and the Soul-Soothing Herb can only be exchanged for the Heart-Nourishing Pill and the Soul-Soothing Pill.”
“Okay!” Prime Minister Liang responded and immediately left, arranging for his steward to negotiate with Chu Tiankuo’s people.
He knew why Chu Tiankuo wanted the Soul-Soothing Pill. He had also heard about Chu Tiankuo’s inability to sleep for years without the Soul-Soothing Herb.
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Two days later, the steward came back to report, “Master, they refused to exchange. If it’s not the Four Divine Pills, they won’t exchange! They even requested to borrow Divine Doctor Zhao’s Firefly Fruit to take a look, saying that someone from the Eldest Prince’s side found a few fruits, and one of them wasn’t sure if it was a Firefly Fruit, so they wanted to see Divine Doctor Zhao’s Firefly Fruit! Moreover, from their tone, they said that if we don’t exchange now, we might not need to exchange soon. His Highness the Crown Prince brought back several Soul-Soothing Herbs this time and plans to have the Imperial Physicians try to refine the Soul-Soothing Pill. He even said with a hint of pride that the Eldest Prince discovered many rare medicinal herbs on Qi Xiong Mountain this time! Maybe they could find the Muscle-Regenerating Herb and the Bone-Nourishing Herb on Qi Xiong Mountain.”
Prime Minister Liang frowned upon hearing this, unsure how much of this was true.
However, he knew that Divine Doctor Zhao really wanted to exchange, so Prime Minister Liang told Divine Doctor Zhao about these words.
Of course, he modified his words to make Divine Doctor Zhao even more eager to exchange.
Divine Doctor Zhao was surprised after hearing this. “They found the Four Divine Fruits, and several Soul-Soothing Herbs?”
The Four Divine Herbs corresponded to the Four Divine Fruits.
The Four Divine Fruits were still alright. Only the Firefly Fruit was extinct, and it had been impossible to find since fifty years ago. But their Divine Doctor family still had five Firefly Fruits preserved. Of course, outsiders didn’t know this and only knew that one was preserved.
As for the other three Divine Fruits, the Divine Doctor Valley had them, but they only bore fruit once every hundred years, which was very rare.
Prime Minister Liang nodded. “From his tone, the Eldest Prince has arranged for people to search for various rare medicinal herbs in the Qi Xiong Mountain range. He also said that good news comes back every few days. They have already found several Soul-Soothing Herbs, and they are very confident that they can find all Four Divine Herbs and have the Imperial Physicians of the Imperial Hospital try to refine the Four Divine Pills!”
Divine Doctor Zhao sneered upon hearing this. “Are the Four Divine Herbs that easy to find? Even if they are found, this old man can’t guarantee that they can be refined! Others don’t even know the complete recipe, how can they refine them! These words are just trying to trick me into giving away my few Divine Pills and the Firefly Fruit!”
Prime Minister Liang nodded. “I think so too. Then does Divine Doctor still intend to exchange?”
Divine Doctor Zhao thought for a moment. Although he knew that the other party was most likely deceiving him, after weighing the pros and cons, he still said, “Exchange, but I want three Soul-Soothing Herbs and two Heart-Protecting Herbs! If they find the Muscle-Regenerating Herb and the Bone-Nourishing Herb, they must also give me one of each, and then I will give them a Firefly Fruit. Only if they agree will I exchange!”
