154 – Display One’s Talent for the First Time (Part 1)

When Yuan Anshi learned that Qin Mian and Lei Tie had come back, he quickly went out to welcome them. From a long distance, he cupped his hands and sighed, “Eldest Lei-gongzi and Qin-gongzi, this old fellow feels ashamed for not taking good care of Lei-gongzi and Sirui.”

“Sir Yuan is overstating. It has nothing to do with Sir Yuan.” Lei Tie asked, “Where are they?”

Yuan Anshi raised his hand as he said, “This way, please.”

Qin Mian and Lei Tie followed him into a winding corridor.

“If you two have the right social connection in the Capital, there may be a way. If we could invite the Imperial Doctor to appear personally, maybe…” Yuan Anshi had a deep sense of shame in his eyes. If something happened to Huo Sirui in the Capital, he couldn’t explain it to his good friend of many years.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie had no comment. Everything had to wait until they had seen Lei Xiangzhi with their own eyes.

In a moment, they arrived at the east courtyard.

Yuan Anshi looked at Yuanyuan and Manman, worried that they would be shocked. “Lei-gongzi’s appearance is not very good… The children should stay out.”

Lei Tie handed Yuanyuan and Manman to Lei-Qin Le and Lei-Qin Zhong, “Take good care of them.”

“Yes, Eldest Master can rest assured.” Lei-Qin Le and Lei-Qin Zhong held the two soft children with care.

Yuan Anshi called a maidservant and asked her to prepare some snacks for the two children.

Walking into Lei Xiangzhi’s room, Qin Mian was startled to see his face. Lei Xiangzhi’s face was white, his lips were pale, and his breath was shallow. At first glance, Qin Mian thought he was a dead man.

Qin Mian sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up Lei Xiangzhi’s wrist to feel his pulse. [Magical] Pill and medicine were a group. The premise for him to learn concocting magic pills [alchemy] was to identify medicinal materials. It was a piece of cake for him to feel the pulse.

Yuan Anshi was a bit surprised. He had never heard that this Qin-gongzi possessed medical skills before.

After a few breaths, Qin Mian put Lei Xiangzhi’s wrist back into the quilt, looking slightly relaxed.

“How is it, wife?” asked Lei Tie.

Yuan Anshi nervously looked at Qin Mian.

Qin Mian said, “It’s really poisoned.”

Yuan Anshi immediately asked, “Is there any solution?”

“Yes.” Qin Mian said, “I’ll go to see if the others are afflicted with the same kind of poison.”

When Yuan Anshi saw that Qin Mian seemed to be confident, he did not urge Qin Mian.

Qin Mian felt Huo Sirui and the others’ pulses respectively and determined that they had the same kind of poison.

“This poison seems mild, but in fact it’s overbearing. Fortunately, we came back in time. Even more fortunate that I have five antidote pills with me. Otherwise—” Qin Mian shook his head and cupped his hands in obeisance to Yuan Anshi, “Sir Yuan, the antidote pills will expel the poison from their bodies in two hours. I’ll have to trouble you to arrange people to take care of them.”

Yuan Anshi was very happy, “As long as it can be detoxified, this old fellow will arrange it.”

Qin Mian took out a small white porcelain jar from his pocket that could be held in one hand. He didn’t let outsiders interfere. He personally fed each of them a detoxification pill. After waiting for a while, he felt their pulses again and nodded slightly.

“The pills are starting to work. Let’s go out first.”

Yuan Anshi nodded as he said, “Gentlemen, please. We’ll talk in the main hall.”

The three men sat down in the main hall.

Yuan Anshi wore a lamenting face and cupped his hand as he said, “Qin-gongzi, this old fellow wants to thank you. Yongcheng trusts me, so he entrusts Sirui to me. If something happens to him, this old fellow won’t be pardon even if I die ten thousand of death.”

Qin Mian cupped his hands to return the salute, “Sir Yuan regarded me as an outsider. Sirui is my and A-Tie’s brother-in-law; it’s my duty to save him. It’s also their luck, otherwise, even the Daoist Immortal Daluo can’t save them. As the saying goes, ‘one is bound for good fortune after surviving a great disaster’. Sir Yuan doesn’t have to worry about it.”

Yuan Anshi repeatedly nodded, “That’s right. May I know the name of this poison?”

Qin Mian said, “if I guess it correctly, the first two days of their poisoning were typhoid symptoms.”

“Correct,” said Yuan Anshi, firmly.

Qin Mian added, “This is the specialty of this poison. The symptoms of the poisoned person on the first two days are exactly the same as that of typhoid, which often does not cause the attention of the poisoning. On the third day, when the person feels something is wrong, the toxicity has spread to the whole body. If the person fails to take the antidote within three days, either he spends time in an unconscious state or dies in poor health; the weak will go off like the snuff of a candle. Therefore, this poison has a terrible name: Gate of Hell.”

“Indeed, the name is terrible.” Yuan Anshi was angry and struck the table. “I’ve reported this to the local authority. We must find out who actually dared to attack the Gongshi(s)¹ in the Imperial City.”

After that, he looked worried. “The palace examination is in three days. I don’t know if they can still catch up.”

“Rest assured, Sir Yuan.” Qin Mian said, “When they wake up, I’ll prepare a medicinal bathwater for them to soak in, and that’ll do.”

He immediately wrote a prescription for Lei-Qin Shun to fetch. Because the time was too short, the effect of ordinary herbs was too mediocre, so he had to secretly add a little spiritual spring water to the bathwater.

Yuan Anshi was still a little uneasy at the bottom of his heart. After two hours, his servants came to report that all five of them had woken up and their faces had recovered some vitality. Only then he was relieved and had more confidence in Qin Mian’s medical skills.

The few of them were talking when a manservant came in in a hurry.

“Reporting to the Old Master: there is a man who calls himself Lei-Qin Cheng outside the gate. He said he wanted to see Eldest Lei-gongzi and Qin-gongzi for an urgent matter.”

Qin Mian and Lei Tie’s faces changed slightly at the same time.

“Sir Yuan, he’s a servant of ours, coming from our hometown.”

Yuan Anshi noticed the looks on their faces and quickly told the manservant, “Invite him in.”

Qin Mian was ill at ease. Not long after they arrived in the Capital, he had asked Lei Tie to write home a letter confirming their safety. Something must have happened at home, otherwise, Lei-Qin Cheng would not have come all the way to the Capital.

Lei Tie held his wife’s hand. His calming voice made one feel at ease, “I’m here.”

In a short time, the manservant led Lei-Qin Cheng in.

Lei-Qin Cheng was travel-worn and weary. He knelt and said, “Greetings to Eldest Master and Little Master.”

Yuan Anshi stood up. “Lei-gongzi and Qin-gongzi, this old fellow remembers that something needs to be dealt with. Please excuse me.”

“Please go ahead, Sir Yuan.”

“Make yourselves at home.” Yuan Anshi left with the manservant.

Lei Tie asked Lei-Qin Cheng in a heavy tone, “What’s the matter?”

Lei-Qin Cheng answered, “Eldest Master and Little Master, nine days ago, famous chefs from all over the country came to Double Xiang House one after another, declaring to have a competition with the chefs of Double Xiang House. If Double Xiang House loses, it has to publish the secret recipes of thirteen spices and eighteen delicacies to the public. Manager Sun declined on the ground that the two Masters were not there and he could not be the master himself. However, those people were not reconciled and said that they were willing to stay in Running Water Town and wait for the two Masters to be back. Manager Sun knew that this matter was far from good, and immediately sent your servant to hurry to the Capital. Your servant went to Swan Goose Path Inn first. After asking the people in the Inn, your servant found out that the two Masters were in Yuan Residence, and so came over.”

Click to continue to Part 2 😛

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