Doctor Gui cursed heatedly for quite a while, not even pausing to catch his breath. Xiao Ruiyuan’s eyes twitched almost imperceptibly, and seeing no sign that he would stop, he finally couldn’t help himself, handing over the box in an attempt to shut him up.
"What is this?"
Sure enough, Doctor Gui stopped his tirade, asking as he reached out to take the wooden box.
The two had known each other for many years and both served the Crown Prince. Despite the difference in their ages, they had developed an exceptional understanding.
Doctor Gui was deeply devoted to the art of healing, his greatest interest being to find dicinal materials, refine good dicine, and treat diseases that other doctors couldn’t.
Xiao Ruiyuan knew Doctor Gui’s preferences well and often found him dicinal materials, each ti exceedingly precious. Over ti, Doctor Gui had co to believe that anything he brought out must be extraordinary.
"This... this is..."
Even though he had been prepared, when Doctor Gui saw what was inside the box, he beca so excited that he couldn’t speak coherently. His trembling hands held it as if it were a rare treasure.
"How is it? Is the age sufficient?"
Seeing Doctor Gui’s reaction, Xiao Ruiyuan let out a slight sigh of relief, but he couldn’t fully relax without knowing the exact age of the Ginseng, so he took the initiative to ask.
Upon hearing this, Doctor Gui took a deep breath, calming himself before he began to examine the Ginseng in the box. Not wanting to damage the Ginseng body and affect its dicinal properties, he found a pair of soft silk gloves to put on and carefully held up the Ginseng against the bright candlelight for close inspection.
After looking it over back and forth for a while, seeming sowhat uncertain, he took out a small knife, gently cut a one-inch long Ginseng whisker, and, without even bothering to wash it, put it directly into his mouth to chew a few tis, testing its dicinal properties.
Watching Doctor Gui’s series of actions, Xiao Ruiyuan kept silent the entire ti, but his right hand had already clenched into a fist.
The room was filled with silence, punctuated only by the faint sounds of Doctor Gui smacking his lips. After the Ginseng whisker was completely chewed to bits, Doctor Gui finally opened his eyes, remaining silent for a long ti as the wrinkles on his forehead deepened considerably.
Under Xiao Ruiyuan’s anxious gaze, Doctor Gui finally shook his head, disappointnt in his voice as he said, "This Ginseng is the best quality I have ever seen in my lifeti, but... if I’m not mistaken in my estimation, it’s only about nine hundred and fifty years old! Alas, what a pity..."
Repeating ’what a pity’ several tis, Doctor Gui’s expression was grim. After the struggle to find such a high-aged Ginseng, just when it seed the poison afflicting the Crown Prince could be cured, it fell short by those fifty years!
A fifty-year difference might seem negligible for a Ginseng of over nine hundred years, but even a gap of one or two years ans it’s not a Thousand-year Ginseng, and its efficacy is still far from enough to refine a Detoxification Pill.
In all his years, only his master had once possessed a whisker of Thousand-year Ginseng; it too was ultimately made into a dicine by his master to save soone’s life!
After hearing this, Xiao Ruiyuan’s heart sank suddenly. Although he had considered this possibility beforehand, he still found it sowhat hard to accept.
Even if the search continued, there was no certainty in finding a Thousand-year Ginseng! Fifty years can see a man from infancy to old age; even if the Ginseng were replanted, he couldn’t wait that long, and his cousin, with less than a year to live, couldn’t wait at all!
Looking at the robust Ginseng lying in the box, Xiao Ruiyuan fell silent for a long ti. Eventually, he picked up the wooden box without saying a word or even bidding farewell and left Doctor Gui’s courtyard without looking back.
Preoccupied with his thoughts, Doctor Gui forgot to call after Xiao Ruiyuan to take the exceptional Ginseng with him. He paced back and forth in the room several tis, looking out into the deep night outside the door when suddenly, an idea popped into his mind...
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