Chapter 1150: The Little Deer Feast at Zhongshun Palace

Inside the Hall of Rongxi.

Before Su Mingzhe entered the door, he heard the sharp voice unique to eunuchs coming from inside.

When Jia Zheng saw his son appear, he beckoned him to come closer and introduced him to the others:

"Ying'er is here. This is Steward Xie from Prince Zhongshun's mansion. Come and meet him!"

When Su Mingzhe heard this, he bowed and said:

"Jia Ying pays respects to the chief steward!"

"It is said that the Second Young Master was born with a jade in his mouth and is the reincarnation of an immortal god. Now that I see him, he is indeed extraordinary. No wonder he can refine such a miraculous elixir as Pei Yuan Dan!"

When Manager Xie opened his mouth, Jia Zheng and his son were surprised at first, but then they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Rong and Ning mansions are loyal to the retired emperor.

Prince Zhongshun was the brother of Emperor Longqing and his most trusted minister.

The two sides were in a hostile relationship in the court.

Jia Zheng was very nervous when Steward Xie came to visit him unexpectedly and asked to see Su Mingzhe.

Now, we know the purpose of his visit is related to Peiyuan Dan.

Jia Zheng and Su Mingzhe relaxed their guard.

After all, the emperor is still alive, and even if Prince Zhongshun dislikes the four princes and eight dukes, he will not break up with them at this time.

The three of them chatted for a while, and Manager Xie began to ask about the taboos of taking Peiyuan Dan.

Su Mingzhe did not hide anything and told him everything immediately.

Manager Xie waited for him to finish speaking and then asked:

"What if someone doesn't use spring water to dissolve the Pei Yuan Dan, but takes it directly, and takes two pills in a row, what will happen?"

Su Mingzhe and Jia Zheng were both stunned when they heard this.

Since Manager Xie said so, it is obvious that someone did it.

Su Mingzhe thought for a while before speaking:

"It depends on several situations. If it is a Pei Yuan Dan of better quality, you will probably have a headache and fever for about half a month. When the effect of the medicine wears off, your body will recover on its own."

"If the quality of the Peiyuan Pill is average, I might suffer a lot. Not only will I have a headache, but I might even have diarrhea and a rash..."

"If it's of poor quality, your life could be in danger!"

After hearing this, Manager Xie immediately smiled and bowed, thanking Su Mingzhe for clearing up his doubts. He then asked how to identify the quality of Peiyuan Dan.

Su Mingzhe did not hide it either. He took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket, poured out a Peiyuan Pill, and explained to Manager Xie:
"Although this Pei Yuan Pill is made from natural treasures and refined, it still cannot avoid the poison of the pill."

"The alchemy technique I created is to remove the poison in the pill. If one tenth of the poison can be removed during the refining process, a kind of pattern will appear on the Pei Yuan Pill. Theoretically, nine tenths of the pattern can be removed."

"Mine has five patterns on it, so it's considered to be of excellent quality. If there are no patterns, then it's of poor quality. If there are only one, two or three patterns, then it's of average quality. As for those with more than six patterns, they're of the best quality, which you don't usually see..."

As Su Mingzhe spoke, he handed the Peiyuan Pill to Manager Xie and asked him to check it.

Manager Xie counted them and found that there were five kinds of patterns on a small pill, which was really rare.

In fact, Su Mingzhe had once told Xia Shouzhong about the refining of Peiyuan Dan.

Now, the steward of Prince Zhongshun's household came to ask again. Because the matter had no beginning or end, Su Mingzhe and Jia Zheng could not guess what exactly had happened.

The three of them chatted for a few more words.

Because Prince Zhongshun had a bad relationship with the Rongning Mansion, Chief Steward Xie returned the Peiyuan Pill and said goodbye and left.

Return to Prince Zhongshun’s Palace.

Steward Xie came to the study and reported the conversation between him and Su Mingzhe to Prince Zhongshun, who had been waiting for a long time.

Prince Zhongshun is a strong middle-aged man, and his every move brings great pressure to others:

"You said that this small pill will have several kinds of pill patterns? Then take a look at these pill patterns given by my royal brother. How many pill patterns are there?"

Manager Xie came to the table and opened a jade box. There were ten grooves in it, four of which were empty at the moment. The remaining six pills were wrapped in gold foil. "Your Highness, we don't have this one, this one, and this one..."

Manager Xie opened all six pills in one breath, and finally said in a decisive tone:

"Your Majesty, among these six, only one has Dan patterns, and it's the one with the least patterns!"

Prince Zhongshun took the one-patterned Peiyuan Pill handed over by Chief Steward Xie, looked at the pattern on it carefully, then picked up the other five pills and looked at them. His expression gradually became solemn and gloomy:
"My royal brother gave me ten Pei Yuan Pills. It was said that he would give me top-grade Pei Yuan Pills. Even if they are not five- or six-marked, they should be three- or four-marked. These dogs actually gave me this kind of... excuse! It's really outrageous!"

Seeing that his master was angry, Manager Xie could only advise:

"Your Majesty, the royal treasury is still in the hands of Dai Quan, so you can only be patient for now!"

"Be patient. I will continue to be patient!"

Prince Zhongshun was furious when he thought of the great loss he had suffered, but when he thought of the Jinyi Tiqi under the command of Dai Quan, he had to lower his voice to avoid being heard by outsiders.

After a while.

Prince Zhongshun threw the pill in his hand back into the jade box with disdain:

"However, I have made note of this account!"

Manager Xie silently rewrapped the pills and put them back into the jade box. Then he asked:
"My Lord, the prince's side..."

Prince Zhongshun thought of his own weak grandson, and felt distressed:
"Go prepare a valuable gift and send it to Rongguo Mansion tomorrow. Find this Jia Ying and ask him to help you refine a furnace of Peiyuan Pills!"

"Here!"

Manager Xie waited for a while, and when he saw that his master had no new instructions, he quietly left the study.

February 15th.

The results were announced in Chang'an County.

Fifty candidates successfully joined the ranks of literati.

From then on, these fifty people could call themselves scholars and could wear square scarves.

Manager Xie had already selected a valuable gift and was ready to pay the visit.

As a result, the servant he sent to deliver the visiting card quickly reported back, saying that the second son of Rongguo Mansion had passed the county examination and was going to attend the Xiaoluming Banquet in the county government, so he could not receive guests for the time being.

At noon.

Fifty scholars who had passed the Chang'an county examination came to the county government office for a banquet.

The county examination was the smallest test in the imperial examination, so the banquet was also the smallest, and was also called the "Little Deer Singing Banquet."

At the banquet, the county magistrate took out the first examination papers of fifty people to show that his admissions were fair, so that everyone could learn from each other.

The first candidate in the county examination thought that he had won the first place and deserved it. He even wanted to comment on other people's test papers with the momentum of pointing out the whole country.

As a result, when he looked at Su Mingzhe's test paper, he immediately felt ashamed of himself.

Whether it is font or article.

There is a big gap between the two.

At this moment, the first place candidate saw Su Mingzhe in luxurious clothes and suddenly guessed why he got the first place.

Seven hundred years ago, during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Su Shi, a great writer of his time, took part in the imperial examination.

After looking at Su Shi's paper, the other examiners were all impressed and decided to put Su Shi at the top of the list.

As a result, the chief examiner Ouyang Xiu mistakenly thought that the paper was written by his student Zeng Bu, so in order to avoid suspicion, Ouyang Xiu moved Su Shi's paper to the back.

Su Shi, a great writer of his time, missed the top spot because of this.

Now, Su Mingzhe just lost the top spot in the county exam.

All I can say is that this is fate.

After understanding these principles, the top candidate in the county examination suddenly straightened his chest and began to accept compliments and flattery from others with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)