After two consecutive days of rain, the sky finally cleared.

In the Imperial Pharmacy, Shi Changpu moved the damp medicinal materials into the sun to dry, then sat down to doze in a chair by the courtyard gate.

The duties at the Imperial Pharmacy weren’t as busy as those at the Medical Officials’ Court, but they weren’t exactly leisurely either. However, for someone without much ambition who just wanted to muddle through life, this was a cushy position.

Shi Changpu had entered the Imperial Pharmacy twenty years ago. In the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed. His colleagues had either climbed up the ranks or fallen to their deaths midway up, but he alone remained steady, showing every intention of holding his position as Medical Director until the end of time.

His superiors would always scold him in frustration, saying that like the Medical Officials’ Court, the Imperial Pharmacy offered plenty of opportunities for advancement if one caught the eye of someone important. Yet in all his years in the palace, forgot about catching anyone’s eye – he hadn’t even received a single word of praise, taking mediocrity to its extreme.

Whenever his superiors scolded him, Shi Changpu would appear outwardly submissive and remorseful, while internally rolling his eyes to high heaven.

What did they know?

In both the Imperial Pharmacy and the neighboring Medical Officials’ Court, the people inside were all sick in the head. Today I make six bottles of medicine, tomorrow he makes seven. Today he burns the midnight oil thinking up health tonics for the nobles, tomorrow I won’t rest until even later.

In the end, those competitive people broke down, their hair turning white at a young age, all to benefit those high and mighty nobles in the palace, just to earn a word of “recognition.”

Hmph.

Shi Changpu sneered.

Though his salary wasn’t generous, he didn’t spend much money anyway. Being mediocre in everything meant others had no expectations of him, so he didn’t need to force himself to advance.

Life was about getting by, might as well take it easy.

Shi Changpu turned over, finding a comfortable position in the sunlight. Before he could close his eyes, a voice suddenly called out: “Changpu!”

He jumped to his feet: “Chief.”

The visitor was Qiu He, the head of the Imperial Pharmacy.

Qiu He was over sixty, and when he ran, his snow-white beard and eyebrows trembled. Shi Changpu worried the old man’s bones might fall apart as he ran, so he hurried to meet him: “Chief, what’s the…”

“Dream-One Pills…” the old chief steadied himself by holding onto his arm, panting as he spoke.

Shi Changpu thought to himself, here we go again.

Every year when the Dream-One Pills were sent to Consort Rou’s palace, they would inevitably receive a thorough scolding from her people soon after, always about the mediocre effectiveness and insufficient quantity, how the Imperial Pharmacy was full of useless people who only knew how to eat and not work, and how they would all be driven out of the palace sooner or later.

Fortunately, after years of experience with such complaints, Shi Changpu had developed ways to handle them. Without waiting for Qiu He to speak, he immediately lowered his head and started confessing.

“Chief, you’re right, this year’s Dream-One Pills weren’t effective enough, it’s all my fault.” His admission of guilt was particularly sincere: “It’s all my shortcoming, my knowledge of pharmacology is mediocre, failing Consort Rou’s trust. But the raw material, Red Fragrance Silk, was limited to begin with, and its potency faded quickly. It’s really difficult to find a solution. Chief, please rest assured, I will study hard from now on, striving to find a way to stabilize the medicine’s effectiveness by next year, to help Consort Rou with her insomnia and ease the noble’s worries.”

Qiu He: “You…”

Shi Changpu nodded: “Yes, yes, yes, it’s my fault. Chief, you can dock my salary or scold me as you see fit, I won’t say a word.”

Qiu He: “I…”

Shi Changpu: “Yes, yes, yes, Chief worries about me all day, Changpu feels deeply ashamed. Please don’t make yourself sick with anger, the entire Imperial Pharmacy depends on you.”

The old chief stamped his foot in anger: “Will you let me finish speaking!”

Shi Changpu immediately fell silent.

“Someone just came from Consort Rou’s palace saying that this year’s Dream-One Pills were quite effective, and she’s especially sending down rewards.” Qiu He patted his shoulder, his smile full of satisfaction, “Changpu, I used to worry about your lack of ambition, but I didn’t expect you were quietly working hard all along. Heaven doesn’t shortchange those who prepare themselves – your time has come!”

Shi Changpu: “Huh?”

…

After the old chief came to give his instructions, he took Shi Changpu along to receive the rewards.

Even after Consort Rou’s head palace maid left, Shi Changpu still felt dazed, as if it wasn’t quite real.

Heavens above, this was truly unexpected fortune, luck striking so suddenly it left one unprepared. However, for Shi Changpu, this wasn’t necessarily a good thing. A tall tree catches the wind – all his life he had only hoped to muddle through as a Medical Director at the Imperial Pharmacy. Who would have thought he’d suddenly catch Consort Rou’s attention? Look, his colleagues’ gazes had already changed – they wouldn’t think he had been getting up in the middle of the night to develop new medicines, would they?

Twenty years of effort were ruined in an instant; Shi Changpu’s heart was bleeding.

Just which bastard was trying to harm him?

Qiu He turned around and spoke to him in a gentle tone he hadn’t used in many years: “But Changpu, which part of the formula did you modify to make this year’s Dream-One Pills so much more effective? Consort Rou isn’t easily pleased, you know.”

Modified the formula?

Shi Changpu answered anxiously: “Chief, with my shallow knowledge and limited medical expertise, how would I dare to arbitrarily change the prescription? This year’s Dream-One Pills used the same formula as before. The manufacturing process hasn’t changed at all either.”

This wasn’t a lie – after all, how would someone who took every chance to slack off create extra work for himself?

He wasn’t that bored.

Qiu He frowned: “Really?”

“True!”

This was strange indeed. Consort Rou had specially sent someone with rewards, so the effectiveness of the Dream-One Pills couldn’t be false. In the Imperial Pharmacy, all Dream-One Pills were personally made by Shi Changpu and never delegated to others. If he hadn’t changed the formula, and the manufacturing process was the same as before, why were the effects different?

The old chief pondered for a while, then said: “Take me to the medicine room to have a look.”

“Yes.”

The medicine room wasn’t far. Shi Changpu supported Qiu He there, and as soon as they entered, the bitter medicinal fragrance filled the air.

Shi Changpu pointed out his workspace to Qiu He: “Chief, this is where I make the medicine. During the days I was making it, no one else came here. This is half a bottle of leftover waste medicine.”

Qiu He nodded, took out a few pills from the bottle, and sniffed them lightly.

Shi Changpu glanced to the side and noticed a few scattered stems of used Red Fragrance Silk on the floor, their bright red color-like lines of blood in the dim medicine room, were quite eye-catching.

They must have been missed during the cleaning of the past two days. Once picked, Red Fragrance Silk’s potency gradually faded, becoming completely ineffective after seven days at most. These scattered stems were already useless. Shi Changpu squatted down to pick up two remaining stems, intending to throw them into the bamboo basket.

Without the poison, the herbs naturally lost their scent. When the flower stems brushed against one’s face, there was no dizzying fragrance left, only blandness, yet their color remained as vivid as blood.

They looked just like they had been freshly picked.

Hmm… freshly picked?

Shi Changpu froze, suddenly realizing something. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes and carefully examined the herbs in his hand.

The red flowers were extremely vibrant, with the remaining silk still clinging to the emerald-green stems, more eye-catching than winter plum blossoms.

Shi Changpu stared at the stems in his hand, his expression gradually changing.

The Red Fragrance Silk’s pollen was poisonous, but as its potency faded, the color would typically fade as well. However, these two stems in his hand, though they had lost their fragrance, still maintained the appearance of being recently picked, showing no signs of withering.

This was different from usual.

He suddenly spoke up: “Chief…”

“What is it?”

“It’s the flowers…”

He turned around, bringing the stems close to Qiu He’s face, excitedly explaining: “It’s not the formula, it’s the flowers – the flowers have changed!”

…

When the news from the Imperial Pharmacy reached the Southern Medicine House, it was during the afternoon rest period.

Zhu Mao was awakened from his sleep, and with his shoes barely properly on, he hurried out of his room while fastening his outer robe’s belt to receive the visitors.

When he reached the courtyard, he found two people sitting in the main hall. One had graying hair, while the other was younger, wearing a gray robe and looking around the surroundings.

Zhu Mao hurriedly entered and bowed to the white-haired old man: “Chief Qiu.”

The visitor was Qiu He, head of the Imperial Pharmacy.

Although the Southern Medicine House was under the Medical Officials’ Court, the Imperial Pharmacy and Medical Officials’ Court had mutual dealings. Even Cui Min, the head of the Medical Officials’ Court, showed some courtesy to Qiu He, let alone a mere Medical Supervisor like himself.

While ordering servants to serve tea, Zhu Mao asked with a fawning smile: “What brings Chief Qiu here so suddenly?”

As the head of the Imperial Pharmacy, Qiu He could have simply sent someone with a message if he had any business. Why make the trip to the Southern Medicine House personally? Zhu Mao rarely even saw Cui Min, so when such an important figure suddenly appeared, he naturally didn’t dare to be careless and remained on high alert.

Qiu He didn’t speak, just coughed lightly, and Shi Changpu took the initiative: “Our visit today is actually about the Red Fragrance Silk that was sent to the Imperial Pharmacy earlier…”

Red Fragrance Silk?

Zhu Mao froze: “What about the Red Fragrance Silk?”

Shi Changpu exchanged a glance with Qiu He before turning to ask Zhu Mao: “Supervisor Zhu, this year’s Red Fragrance Silk is different from previous years… Did you perhaps change the person in charge of processing the herbs?”

At these words, Zhu Mao’s heart sank.

Red Fragrance Silk was poisonous, so the Red Fragrance Garden had always been He Xiu’s responsibility. He Xiu was timid and dull, but she hadn’t caused any problems picking and processing Red Fragrance Silk over the years. Until this year… this year, Lu Tong had been added to the picking team.

Lu Tong’s face not showing any brown poison marks had just been his excuse to find fault. But thinking about it now, no one knew what Lu Tong had done while picking and processing the herbs.

She couldn’t have tampered with the Red Fragrance Silk, could she? Zhu Mao’s heart filled with doubt and alarm.

How dare she!

Thinking this, Zhu Mao made a swift decision and suddenly stood up: “In response to the Chief, we did add one more medical worker to picking Red Fragrance Silk this year. It was different from previous years.” He turned and called to a worker outside: “Someone, go fetch He Xiu!”

The worker quickly left and soon returned with He Xiu.

He Xiu had been checking inventory in the medicine storehouse when she was suddenly summoned, feeling nervous and unsure why Zhu Mao had called for her. As soon as she entered the room before she could even see who was inside, Zhu Mao’s sharp question hit her: “He Xiu! You said earlier that the picking and processing of Red Fragrance Silk were all done by Lu Tong alone – is that true?”

He Xiu was startled, still unclear about the situation, and quickly knelt to argue: “My Lord, what I said was true. Medical Officer Lu wasn’t lazy. On the contrary, seeing that I was affected by the Red Fragrance Silk’s pollen and had trouble breathing, she took on most of the picking herself, and the later processing was all done by Medical Officer Lu as well.”

She thought Zhu Mao had called her about Lu Tong being lazy, so she immediately attributed all credit to Lu Tong, but Zhu Mao’s next words nearly scared her soul out of her body.

Zhu Mao said: “So you’re saying that if anyone tampered with the Red Fragrance Silk, it could only have been Lu Tong?”

“Tampered?”

The words He Xiu was about to say got stuck in her throat, and she was momentarily confused: “What tampering?”

No one answered her. Zhu Mao turned to bow deeply to the two seated men, his tone unusually serious: “Chief, you’ve heard it all – the picking and processing of Red Fragrance Silk was done by these two people.” After a pause, he continued: “For many years, He Xiu handled it alone without error. This year, thinking the medicine house had additional hands, I specifically assigned one more person to help in the herb garden, not expecting this woman to harbor ill intentions… It was all due to my failure to investigate properly.”

Though his words seemed to be accepting blame, every sentence was deflecting responsibility, subtly removing himself from the entire incident.

Shi Changpu, who often took the blame for his superiors, particularly despised this behavior.

Looking at the trembling medical worker on the ground, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy for a fellow sufferer.

Zhu Mao was still speaking: “Lu is still in the Southern Medicine House. If the Chief wishes to punish her…”

“Punish? Who said anything about punishment?” Shi Changpu interrupted him.

Zhu Mao’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

Shi Changpu tucked his hands into his sleeves and deliberately walked slowly to He Xiu’s side, looking down at her with a pleasant expression: “You just said that the processing and organizing of this Red Fragrance Silk was all done by Medical Officer Lu?”

He Xiu’s body trembled slightly.

She had gradually understood from Zhu Mao’s words that there was an issue with the batch of Red Fragrance Silk sent to the Imperial Pharmacy. But no one knew exactly what Lu Tong had done. She wanted to cover for Lu Tong, but being naturally timid, faced with the sharp gaze before her, she finally didn’t dare to lie and answered honestly: “…That’s correct. Doctor Lu was efficient in processing the Red Fragrance Silk and wasn’t affected by the pollen. I saw that the Red Fragrance Silk she processed was cleaner than when I did it, so I didn’t stop her…”

“So this batch sent to the Imperial Pharmacy was all processed by Doctor Lu.”

Shi Changpu made a meaningful “Oh” sound and nodded significantly.

Zhu Mao sensed something was off – this wasn’t going the way he had expected. He anxiously spoke up: “Medical Director Shi, what exactly…”

“Changpu,” Qiu He, who had been sitting silently, finally couldn’t watch anymore and raised his eyebrows in reproach, “Stop teasing Supervisor Zhu.”

Only then did Shi Changpu turn around, showing a genuine smile: “Very well, Supervisor Zhu, we didn’t come here to assign blame, but to give credit. This batch of Red Fragrance Silk had powerful medicinal properties, and the Dream-One Pills made from it were very much to Consort Rou’s liking. The Chief came to the Southern Medicine House to meet the medical officer who processed the Red Fragrance Silk.”

“Someone with such impressive skills shouldn’t be underestimated. We never knew the Southern Medicine House was hiding such talent.”

He spoke earnestly, then looked around: “Where is this Medical Officer Lu now? Please bring her out to meet us!”

With each sentence he spoke, Zhu Mao’s expression became more rigid, until Shi Changpu asked his final question. Zhu Mao stood there like a wind-eroded stone, his face extremely unsightly.

For a long while, no one answered.

Just as Shi Changpu was showing confusion, He Xiu suddenly prostrated herself and called out loudly: “In response to my Lord, I know where she is.”

“Medical Officer Lu is currently in the Shrine of Shennong in the back courtyard, kneeling in reflection!”

Shi Changpu: People who muddle through their careers won’t have too bad luck (-_-)

Forward this lazy carp Changpu, and heaven-sent fortune will come to you next!