AEOGA CH50

Yun Luo’s eyes were filled with pure wonder.

Even though he had already guessed as much, confirming that this world-changing miracle medicine was indeed the invention of the young master before him still filled him with spontaneous, solemn respect.

The person standing right in front of him possessed an accomplishment that, by this single deed alone, was enough to enter the historical records.

No matter how composed Yun Luo usually was, his inner heart couldn’t help but surge with an excitement that was difficult to quell. Once this medicine was brought into the world, how much suffering across the realm could be spared?

“Divine Physician Lu,” Yun Luo unconsciously changed his form of address, his tone far more respectful than before.

Lu Xuechao said, “I am no physician, Young Master Yun; there is no need to call me as such.”

Strictly speaking, Lu Xuechao was a politician. He had once been the Crown Prince’s strategist and was now the reigning Empress, his daily work revolving around attending court and participating in state governance. Combined with his attainments in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he could also be hailed as a man of letters, calligrapher, painter, chess grandmaster, and musician. Had it not been for the system player’s persecution, he would have gone down in history for ages, leaving behind popular poems and paintings, creating the “Feixue-style” calligraphy for countless generations to copy and learn, setting up a Zhenlong chess layout that no one could solve, and composing world-famous musical scores. Were it not for all this, how could he possibly deserve the game system’s evaluation of “possessing a wit bordering on the demonic”?

As for business and medicine, those were merely side ventures at best.

It was just that he had accidentally turned them into the best under Heaven.

Just like the belief he had firmly adhered to since childhood—either do not do it at all, or do it best.

His various achievements recorded in the historical records would take up two full pages and still not fit.

And at present, such a figure stood right in front of Yun Luo.

Even though Yun Luo did not know of Lu Xuechao’s achievements in other fields, it was hard not to feel admiration.

Hearing Lu Xuechao’s self-deprecating words, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch slightly, feeling even more crestfallen.

The old doctor at the side blew his mustache and glared, almost unable to catch his breath.

Not a physician, yet he solved a monumental challenge that doctors across the land had never conquered, and at such a young age—how is an old fellow like me supposed to feel?

Yun Luo took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement: “Has Young Master Lu considered letting Mafeisan be introduced to the world?”

Lu Xuechao nodded: “That is indeed my intention. Benefiting oneself alone is inferior to benefiting all under Heaven. However, I am merely a passing traveler with no channels to sell it…”

Changli had strict regulations regarding the pharmaceutical industry. Opening a pharmacy required a business license, and launching a new medicine required layers of examination and registration. Naturally, these were non-issues—with a single command from Xie Chongjin, all these procedures could be handled immediately. But for now, they did not wish to expose the relationship between these industries and the imperial family.

Lu Xuechao’s ambitions were by no means small; he did not merely wish to expand within Changli, but also to insidiously infiltrate the economies of other nations without raising their alarm. Thus, he could not be openly linked to the imperial court, which would spark vigilance abroad.

Leveraging existing civilian forces was the best way to stay concealed.

Yun Luo immediately said, “Jiangyan Pharmacy is willing to sell it on your behalf.”

Fearing he might be too abrupt, he added: “I know that Mafeisan is extraordinarily precious. If Young Master Lu is willing to let Jiangyan Pharmacy manufacture and sell it, the profit split from Mafeisan shall be a ninety-ten divide—ten percent for the Jiang family, ninety percent for you. Furthermore, thirty percent of all total profits earned by Jiangyan Pharmacy will be granted to you, Young Master Lu. If you are unwilling to provide the secret prescription, that is fine as well; as long as you supply the goods, the sales split will remain ninety-ten, minus only the thirty percent profit share from Jiangyan Pharmacy.”

This was practically taking a mere consignment fee.

Yun Luo made it crystal clear. As long as it was revenue generated from Mafeisan, Lu Xuechao would receive ninety percent, while the Jiang family took ten percent. By Lu Xuechao’s personal efforts alone, he couldn’t produce much Mafeisan. Once Mafeisan hit the market, demand would far exceed supply. If the formula were handed over to Jiangyan Pharmacy, which possessed a mature pharmaceutical supply chain capable of mass production, it would generate far greater profits, allowing both Lu Xuechao and the Jiang family to make a fortune in a win-win scenario. As for the prescription, the Jiang family was willing to trade thirty percent of Jiangyan Pharmacy’s total profits for it, effectively granting Lu Xuechao a stake in the business with just a single sheet of paper.

Before the disaster, Jiangnan had been the most prosperous and affluent place in all of Changli outside Yujing; the sheer weight of being the “richest merchant in Jiangnan” went without saying. Jiangyan Pharmacy was the core industry of the Jiang family; in the medical industry, the Jiang family was not only the titan of the three Jiangnan regions, but the leader of all Changli. It was only because their other industries were less developed than the Wang family’s that, in terms of total financial power, the Wang family was considered the richest in Changli.

Even if all other industries ran at a loss, the pharmacy remained the Jiang family’s greatest source of revenue, and thirty percent of its profits was undoubtedly an astronomical sum.

For such a monumental matter, Yun Luo should have properly discussed it with Jiang Yue, but at present, he only wanted to offer the absolute best terms to secure this opportunity for collaboration. He had a premonition that this was the turnaround opportunity that could help the Jiang family climb out of its current plight. Even if Jiang Yue were present, he would never let this once-in-a-lifetime chance slip away.

On the surface, it seemed the Jiang family was taking a heavy loss on this deal, but in the long run, what the Jiang family would gain would be beyond imagination—perhaps even surpassing their past peak of glory.

Lu Xuechao merely said, “I need to consider it. It is getting late today, so I shall take my leave first.”

Performing the surgery for that youth had brought dusk upon them before they realized it.

Yun Luo knew that a matter of such magnitude could not be rushed: “Once Young Master Lu has made up his mind, you may come to the Jiang Manor for a chat. This is my visiting card.”

Lu Xuechao accepted the visiting card and nodded slightly.

He then turned to Xie Chongjin: “Let’s go, it’s time to return.”

Inside the carriage.

Xie Chongjin looked at Lu Xuechao, looking as though he wanted to speak but hesitated.

Lu Xuechao caught him sneaking several glances. Every time he looked back waiting for him to speak, Xie Chongjin would lower his head in silence.

Ultimately, Lu Xuechao couldn’t help opening his mouth first: “Say whatever you want to say.”

Xie Chongjin parted his lips: “…I don’t know what to say.”

He had originally wanted to praise Lu Xuechao for being so intelligent and possessing such brilliant medical skills.

Xie Chongjin knew Lu Xuechao understood medicine—Lu Xuechao had told him after awakening—but this was the first time he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

In his past life, Lu Xuechao had stayed deep within the palace and had few opportunities to practice medicine to save people. That knowledge had merely served to help him better guard against and investigate culprits when poisonings occurred in the imperial harem. Its greatest purpose had been allowing him, when he sensed his impending death, to take Mafeisan to spare himself from pain.

Xie Chongjin had been controlled back then and hadn’t even known Lu Xuechao possessed this skill. Lu Xuechao hadn’t learned medicine since childhood; he had simply been driven to become omnipotent by circumstance.

Seeing Lu Xuechao practicing medicine to save someone today, Xie Chongjin finally felt a sense of reality—they had studied together since childhood, and he knew better than anyone what his partner could and couldn’t do. After years apart, Qingshu had truly worked hard to learn so, so many things during the times he hadn’t known. He understood better than anyone what Mafeisan signified; it was a grand invention capable of changing future generations, created by his Qingshu.

He should have been marveling at it and feeling proud of it, yet thinking of the reason why Lu Xuechao had created Mafeisan, he couldn’t help but feel agonizing pain.

This was a hurdle in his heart that he couldn’t cross, no matter how many times he recalled it.

He didn’t apologize again, because Qingshu disliked hearing it; apologies were an old cliché, and hearing too many of them would bring weariness.

And so he didn’t know what to say.

“Good. Knowing that I dislike hearing it, you’ve learned to shut your mouth,” Lu Xuechao let out a soft laugh.

Xie Chongjin: “…”

Even without speaking, Qingshu knows exactly what’s on my mind.

“When Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a person, it must first test his mind, exhaust his muscles and bones, starve his body, impoverish his person, and confound his actions, thereby tempering his character and increasing his capabilities,” Lu Xuechao said. “Do you think that perhaps it was like this—that Heaven wanted to stimulate my potential, and thus set obstacle after obstacle before me? Look, I truly know many things I didn’t before, and I am able to help many people I originally couldn’t…”

This was truly finding joy amidst hardship; Lu Xuechao’s subtext was telling Xie Chongjin—if there is a fault, it is Heaven’s fault, and has nothing to do with you.

Xie Chongjin lowered his eyes: “If Heaven is such a Heaven, then I would rather not be the Son of Heaven.”

“Huaiyun, you cannot abandon your responsibilities, nor are you someone who would flee from them,” Lu Xuechao’s tone was gentle and calm. “Since you were young, you wanted to be a good emperor—guarding the nation’s gates, dying for the state, with a clear conscience toward the realm and its people. If you could abandon that, I wouldn’t like you as much.”

Half of Xie Chongjin’s agony stemmed from failing Lu Xuechao, and the other half from his guilt toward the people of the realm. Had he been even slightly cold-blooded and selfish, he wouldn’t suffer like this.

It was precisely because he had once loved with pure sincerity that he became so pessimistic and weary of the world.

“Not being the Son of Heaven.” Xie Chongjin raised his eyes, his sharp Phoenix eyes transforming the pain of once being toyed with by fate into an indomitable resolve: “I shall be the Sovereign of Men.”

The Son of Heaven received mandates from Heaven; the Sovereign of Men stood as an equal to Heaven itself.

Lu Xuechao smiled and applauded: “How impressive, Your Majesty the Sovereign of Men.”

Xie Chongjin: “…”

The grand momentum suddenly leaked out, leaving him feeling a bit red-faced.

He had genuinely thought so, but with Qingshu laughing like this, he felt he was being childish again.

Lu Xuechao added: “I think that’s not good enough.”

Xie Chongjin asked, “Is it too arrogant?”

Having been toyed with by fate to such an extent, it was difficult to maintain any respect for it.

Lu Xuechao shook his head.

“The Sovereign of Men stands as an equal to Heaven; you should stand as an equal to me.”

“Together, we can… rise above Heaven.”

Imperial Villa.

The moment Lu Xuechao returned, he dove straight into the kitchen, having someone prepare a fresh, live chicken, as well as yellow mud, lotus leaves, and other ingredients.

Xie Chongjin volunteered to help as well.

Lu Xuechao gracefully put on gloves: “What are you helping with again? Coming to drink vinegar again?”

This was a poke at his last attempt to help in the kitchen, where he had done nothing useful besides being jealous.

Xie Chongjin proved his usefulness: “I’ll help you slaughter the chicken.”

Usually in the palace, all the ingredients Lu Xuechao used were fully prepared, with imperial chefs taking care of tasks like slaughtering chickens and ducks. Seeing that Lu Xuechao hadn’t asked anyone else for help, Xie Chongjin was worried Lu Xuechao wouldn’t be able to handle a live chicken.

“After all, you don’t even have the strength to bind a chicken; what if it pecks your hand…”

Before his words could land, Lu Xuechao picked up the flapping, wildly struggling chicken. Swiftly and decisively, his blade fell—slitting the neck to drain the blood, plucking the feathers, chopping off the feet, slitting the belly to scoop out the internal organs, executed all in one fluid motion.

Xie Chongjin: “…”

Lu Xuechao said softly, “Nobody actually thought I’d never slaughtered a chicken before, right?”

Whether learning to cook or learning medicine and poison, taking life was unavoidable. When studying Gu arts, those densely packed Gu insects were a hundred times more revolting and terrifying.

He had no gentlemanly taboos about staying away from the kitchen.

Fragile had only ever been Lu Xuechao’s physical body, never his heart and mind.

Looking at Lu Xuechao’s hands plucking feathers, Xie Chongjin reflected for the first time on whether he had developed a stereotype.

It felt like Qingshu… didn’t actually need that much protection after all.

Lu Xuechao paid no further mind to Xie Chongjin, concentrating fully on making Beggar’s Chicken.

The method used by those beggars had given him inspiration, but it still needed improvement. The beggars lacked seasonings and side ingredients, so the taste wasn’t particularly great. Lu Xuechao stuffed the chicken cavity with shrimp, mushrooms, and other fillings, sprinkled spices, coated the outer layer in yellow mud, wrapped it in lotus leaves to infuse the chicken with a faint, clean fragrance of lotus leaves, and set it over charcoal fire to roast slowly.

Floating on the lake yesterday, Lu Xuechao had found the refreshing scent of lotus leaves delightful, putting it to use immediately.

Xie Chongjin sat on a stool watching him, catching a whiff of a scent that felt a hundred times more fragrant than what he had smelled in the temple earlier today.

Lu Xuechao tended to the charcoal fire, turning the chicken over. His white robes caught traces of dust in the smoke and fire, his ethereal, transcendent facial features blurred and softened in the ash, as though an immortal had been drawn into the mortal realm.

In that instant, Xie Chongjin’s heart fluttered.

He loved this mortal realm deeply.