Chen Tang no longer spoke; instead, he tidied up Chen Shi’s hair, placed a gold crown on his head, and inserted a gold hairpin.
Chen Shi, now neatly dressed, immediately left the house.
Before long, Chen Shi entered cheerfully with a few Scholars, who quickly composed themselves and greeted Chen Tang upon seeing him.
Chen Tang looked at these young men in surprise; Chen Shi had indeed brought a Pharmacist. These people, youthful and vigorous, were not very old but had traveled the countryside for years and had encountered numerous diseases. They gathered around Chen Shi’s mother to analyze her condition. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com
They discussed repeatedly and proposed a prescription. Looking at it, Chen Tang saw it was a formula to calm the mind, strengthen thoughts, replenish Primordial Qi, and enhance Qi-Blood. Besides, there were several other powerful herbs to soothe the spirit. Taking this prescription would lead to forgetting worries and consolidating one’s essence, hence stabilizing the soul.
"Without the soul, there’s nothing you can do."
Huang Fengnian told Chen Shi, "We need to retrieve your mother’s soul. By the time it returns, her body will have recuperated and won’t feel the sorrow, which will help stabilize her soul."
Chen Shi thanked them, and the group hastily responded, "You are our honored teacher; how can we accept such a grand gesture from you?"
Chen Tang was utterly shocked.
Chen Shi took out several key ingredients and instructed the servants in the house to prepare the medicine according to the prescription while Huang Fengnian and others helped with the alchemy, saying, "Once we have made the Spirit Pill, there’s no need to boil medicine daily. Just dissolve a pill in honey water each day and have your mother take it."
They assisted in preparing the medicine until noon, at which time Chen Tang invited them to stay for lunch. However, the Scholars waved their hands and cheerfully said, "We’ll eat at the guild hall; we don’t want to trouble you, Sir!"
Chen Tang escorted them out of the Chen Mansion and upon returning, hesitated to administer the bright vermillion Spirit Pills to Chen Shi’s mother.
He swallowed one to test its effects, and as it dissolved in his abdomen, he suddenly felt everything in the world seemed beautiful. He lazily sat in the courtyard, his Qi-Blood circulating automatically and his Primordial Qi abundant, with all worries gone.
When the effects wore off, he realized he had done nothing all afternoon and had even neglected his duties at the Ministry of Revenue!
He carefully examined the effects of the Spiritual Medicine he had taken, and was shocked. "My longevity..."
The single dose of Spiritual Medicine had increased his lifespan from a hundred to over two hundred years!
Chen Tang was dumbfounded. He hastily looked for Chen Shi but could not find him, so he asked a servant, who said, "The young master has gone to Qushang River."
"He went to a brothel?!"
Chen Tang’s forehead vein popped and he clenched his fists.
Chen Shi arrived at the pier near Qushang River in the Western Capital and quietly waited.
It was still early for the brothel visit as the courtesans were still dressing and wouldn’t open so early. There were also not many boats at the dock.
However, there were already many scholars and officials waiting at the dock. The scholars chatted and laughed in small groups, while the officials stayed inside their sedan chairs without emerging.
A child selling Erectile Dysfunction Pills repeated his offer among the crowd, asking the officials if they needed any. Those queried either evasively changed the subject or laughed it off with a dismissive wave, "Why would I need that?"
Still, Chen Shi noticed that a few stealthily made purchases.
"That’s a business opportunity; later on, I’ll tell Huang Fengnian to come here and make some money," Chen Shi thought to himself.
At that moment, a scholar at the pier brought up political affairs, prompting those waiting to visit the brothel to sigh and lament.
"The frontier army is in a dire situation, sea demons keep attacking our borders, and the court is even transferring frontier troops to the Western Capital. There are indeed traitors in the court!"
One scholar slapped his hand with his fan, filled with righteous indignation, and bellowed, "Are they all idle eaters in the Cabinet? Issuing such foolish orders! In my view, the real demons are not on the seas or in Jianghu, but in the Western Capital, within the Cabinet!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd became incensed.
An elder with silver hair exclaimed angrily next to Chen Shi, "If I were a Cabinet Scholar, I would throw all these do-nothing elderly officials and those corrupt, law-breaking scoundrels into the Heavenly Prison, subject them to severe torture, and make them confess!"
"Well said!" the crowd cheered in agreement.
"Are all the members of the Three Dukes and Six Ministries loyal ministers?"
A burgeoning official emerged from his sedan, passionately declaring, "Tomorrow, I shall present a statement in the court criticizing the current malpractices and shaming those idle old fools! They should realize that the common people are struggling, barely able to feed themselves or afford transportation!"
His words resonated with the crowd, who applauded enthusiastically.
"The officials of the Western Capital should leave the capital and see the provinces!"
The crowd gradually bonded and became more familiar, their discussions growing more heated.
As Chen Shi listened from the sidelines, their talks shifted to famous courtesans of the Western Capital, lauding their skills and graceful dance, and the new tunes that became popular across the Western Capital and even beyond.
They moved on to discuss their lifelong ambitions to achieve great things but soon returned to cursing the court. They also gossiped about a noblewoman who was caught red-handed having an affair with a Zen Master just outside the city; the conversation eventually steered towards more romantic affairs but then circled back to political issues, leading to another round of fervent criticism.
"The brothel is open!" Someone suddenly shouted.
The crowd scrambled onto the dock, jostling to get onto the boats first, causing the boatmen to shout, "Easy, easy, the boat’s going to capsize!"
"My shoe’s been stepped off!" a scholar yelled amid the throng.
With few boats on the pier, they quickly filled up, and many were left unable to get on. A boatman hollered, "I can take one more; who’s coming up?"
Numerous arms shot up as many voices cried, "Me! Me!"
Chen Shi shook his head, and just then, he saw a decorated barge approaching. The crowd hurriedly gathered around, waving at the barge, "Boatman, come over here!"