Each of the twelve wooden boxes was carried a blend of a thousand medicinal herbs.
In a while, each table would be occupied by three people and each person would have to pick four kinds of herbs, put them into the wooden boxes to be sealed up. Finally, the boxes would be brought up to the stage and the five elders would be invited up there to verify them.
It sounded easy enough, however, the execution was much more difficult than it seemed.
Not to mention how to discern one thousand different herbs, there were in fact many herbs that bear similar traits.
For this reason, to pick out a few kinds of herbs from among a thousand herbs would be very challenging.
“Open the boxes!”
After the disciple who was the overall in charge of the event gave the cue, the twelve boxes were opened.
In that instant, the eyes of all the people seemed to be glued to the medicinal herbs in the boxes.
The rest of the disciples gently began to bring out the stalks of herbs from within the boxes and place them carefully on the round table.
“I didn’t expect these oldies to spend so generously. Those are good quality herbs. I wonder how much money would be enough for use.”
Lin Mengya said with regret in her voice. Like Zuo Qiuyu, her heart was pained.
The reason being that some of the herbs had to be kept away from light in an extremely dry environment.
These herbs would be exposed to the sunlight for half a day, and be fiddled by human beings’ hands over and over again. Not only would their efficacy be greatly compromised, but there was also no way they could be returned to the store after this.
“Given Qian Yuming’s character, he would definitely not put these herbs to use again since he esteemed ostentation and extravagance. If it were him, he would set these herbs on fire to destroy them afterward.”
Zuo Qiuyu was crestfallen. He already thought it extravagant looking at how the competition venue had been set up.
Those medicinal herbs could well be used to treat patients and save lives.
At this moment, they had, however, become a tool and means for Qian Yuming to show off the huge amount of medicinal herbs stored in the Pavilion of Herbs.
“This was one thing that hurries him on his way to death. Sooner or later, this would be evidence used against him.”
The more Lin Mengya saw the events unfold before her, the more clearly she was able to understand why Cousin Chen had bit the bullet to get rid of these dregs.
Nevertheless, these were events in the long past. It would not be possible to completely eradicate them in that instant.
They could only endure it for the time being.
Lin Mengya breathed in deeply and took in the fragrance of the medicinal herbs.
As she smelt the intense scent of the herbs, the Shen Nung system began its analysis, and soon, all the different kinds of herbs were committed into Lin Mengya’s memory.
“What perversion.”
Lin Mengya could not help but sigh at the thought that the winners in this preliminary round of competition would not stand a chance to become the Chief Elder after all.
However, the first candidate to come out would be guaranteed a bright future thereafter.
However, this first round was too challenging for anyone to wishing to emerge victorious.
In order to identify the kinds of herbs, apart from observing their nature, smells, and appearances, one had to use many other extraordinary means to succeed.
For example, there was this particular herb called the Sea Flower that appeared so ordinary like a stalk of withered grass.
In order to identify it, one needed to roast it on fire first.
It had to be roasted for 15 minutes before the withered stems would start to produce a milky white liquid externally.
To pick out such a strange herb among a thousand other herbs would be extremely difficult.
It would take a very talented person to pass this round.
It would not be considered malpractice if they managed to identify a few medical genii as a result.
It would be beneficial to Cousin Chen as well as the five elders to have more talents identified anyway.
After introducing the rules, the candidates who were participating in the preliminary round of competition began to file out through the main gate of the Pavilion of Herbs.
Those of noble birth and those whose medical skills were widely recognized were allowed to enter the finals directly.
These candidates of all shapes and sizes were few in number and none of them looked familiar to the spectators.
Surrounding the twelve tables were altogether 36 candidates who had taken their respective positions at their respective tables.
Some of them appeared nervous, while others looked excited and some even seemed like they were faced with great enemies.
All in all, none of the participants appeared relaxed.
This should be the way about it. If any of them wished to stand out from the rest, he had to possess outstanding abilities.
“The first round of tests requires you to complete this task within four hours and the time starts now!”
As the disciple in charge gave a cue to begin, a column of incense, as thick as a man’s arm was being lit simultaneously.
The incense was specially made to keep time. It would finish burning after a certain time.
Although it could never be as accurate as a modern-day clock, it was accurate enough for the use.
At the disciple’s cue, all thirty-six candidates immediately focused their attention on the work of distinguishing the herbs.
It was the first time Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu was witnessing such a scene.
As time continued ticking, the candidates began displaying their talents.
After Lin Mengya looked around, she noticed a very interesting young man at the third table.
Somehow, he managed to get himself a basin of water and Lin Mengya saw that he was dipping the herbs from the table into the water very quickly before he took them out again.
“Cousin Yu, look at that young man. What’s he doing?”
Zuo Qiuyu had also noticed that person because all the others had made use of different characteristics to identify the herbs.
This man was the only one who continuously used the medicinal herbs to dip into the water.
Moreover, he was doing this so quickly that the other two participants who were sharing the same table with him began to look displeased.
“I’m not sure too. Maybe he is trying to clean the herbs. Could he be worried that they are dirty?”
Being so far away, Zuo Qiuyu could not be sure what the young man was trying to do.
Of the people he knew, Liu Xuan was one person who almost had a compulsive disorder for cleanliness.
Even so, Zuo Qiuyu had never seen Liu Xuan washing everything in the water before use.
Nevertheless, what the young man was doing was not violating the rules of the competition after all. Perhaps there was some abstruse secret in the water that could help him discern the herbs.
The others, however, seemed to observe to be certain first before they start testing.
For the particular young man, however, he simply continued dipping the herbs in the water and then taking them out.
Nevertheless, dipping the herbs into the water did not seem to do any changes to the herbs. The other two candidates who were giving him angry looks had quietened down suddenly for some reason.
Lin Mengya sensed something fishy. What on earth was this man doing?
Like the other candidates, Lin Mengya’s expression turned serious, and soon, nearly half the duration passed.
Lin Mengya, who was sitting erect behind the curtain of beads, was starting to feel bored.
“I’m going out to have a look around. Are you coming with me?”
Nowadays, Lin Mengya got to enjoy being treated like a superstar in Lintian.
Her every move would turn into the most talked about topic of gossip in Lintian.
She might as well stop hiding. Would it not be better for her to just show herself openly?
“I’d rather not go. You and Yu An go ahead, just be careful.”
Zuo Qiuyu was wearing a serious expression on his face. Lin Mengya supposed he was worried about fighting for the position of the Chief Elder.
There was not much Lin Mengya could do to help him at this moment, so together with Yu An, she left the enclosed space cordoned by the curtain of beads.
“Let’s go. Bring me to Cousin Chen.”
Once outside, Lin Mengya lowered her voice so that only Yu An could hear her and vice versa.
Yu An was slightly taken aback. He wondered where he had given away the fact that the emperor was present.
“It’s not your fault. It’s really because my cousin had left the scent of the herb in the room. While any common people would not be able to detect the smell, nothing escapes my nose.”
Since they entered, the subtle fragrance of Cousin Chen’s expensive medicinal herbs had been lingering in the air.
Unfortunately, it had failed to escape Lin Mengya’s keen sense of smell.
It made sense after pondering over it. Cousin Chen had high regard for this competition. He had even sent his most trusted guard by his side to attend.
How could he be absent at such a critical moment?
Moreover, with Lin Mengya and Zuo Qiuyu in the limelight, Cousin Chen could very well keep a low profile while he attended this event without people finding out. Why would he grab this opportunity?
People had thought that at this moment, the emperor had stayed in Wangtian City because he was either feeling unwell or had caught a cold.
Who would have guessed that Zuo Qiuchen had arrived at the old capital early on?
For this reason, Yu An was not too surprised when this had been found out.
He simply smiled in admiration and said gently, “No wonder His Majesty said that while he could fool others, he would never be able to keep anything from you.”
“This way please, Your Highness,” continued Yu An.
The people outside the enclosed area had all been sent away earlier on.
Yu An led the way and they went deeper into the area on the second floor.
Although this place was supposedly set up by the people in the Pavilion of Herbs, Lin Mengya was curious when she saw that Yu An seemed very familiar with the surroundings.
Finally, they arrived at the innermost area. Yu An looked around with vigilance, then he gave three gentle knocks on the wall.
After a moment, someone from inside opened the door.
“I knew you will definitely come.”
Inside, Zuo Qiuchen, dressed like a nobleman, was smiling at Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya did not stand on ceremony. After entering, she made herself comfortably by sitting down at where Zuo Qiuchen’s seat.
“What was your intention? Are you using Zuo Qiuyu and me as cannon fodder? If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation today, don’t expect me to risk my life for you in the future.”
At the sight of Lin Mengya’s stubborn expression, Zuo Qiuchen smiled wryly.
He knew it was not easy to fool this cousin of his.
Immediately, he tried to humor her with the explanation, “Stop being angry, my dear cousin. I did not try to keep you in the dark intentionally. Isn’t it better for me to be protecting you secretly?”
Protect them in secret? Lin Mengya raised her eyebrows and glanced at him.
“What have you been doing trying to protect us? You just wanted us to take away all the attention from you, and that’s how I see it. You had this all planned out.”
Lin Mengya was obviously not convinced by his explanation.
Seeing there was no way of fooling Lin Mengya, he sighed quietly and said, “Actually, I couldn’t stop worrying about Qiuyu. What you’re not aware of is that there were deep grievances between him and those old men. If I did not come, I’m afraid he would ruin everything on impulse.”
Deep grievances? She did observe that Zuo Qiuyu was rather agitated when he saw the elders just now.
So that was the reason behind all these.
“What kind of deep grievances?”
Lin Mengya pressed further and a hardened look flashed across Zuo Qiuchen’s face.
Apparently, Zuo Qiuchen shared Zuo Qiuyu’s sentiment of hatred.
“Those four men had caused the death of Qiuyu’s master. In fact, he died trying to protect the two of us. If not for him, we won’t be alive today.”
Lin Mengya became speechless at Zuo Qiuchen’s words.
No wonder people rumored how there were many filthy and despicable things happening within the royal family. Today, she had learned something new again.
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