Lie Changshun’s severe scolding was like a thunderclap that startled Lie Sisi, causing her to imdiately change her expression.
She looked at Lie Changshun in surprise, "Grandfather, what do you an?"
"How could Grandfather be unaware of your little sches," Lie Changshun stroked his beard, "Since you cannot forget Prince Fa, and he himself harbors ambitions to compete for the world, which is far better than Fa Xiaoyun’s narrow-minded contentnt with one corner, Grandfather has decided to grant your wish. From now on, Lie Family Mansion will cooperate with Prince Fa."
In recent years, Lie Family Mansion has seen great dostic developnt, yet as the saying goes, ’greed swallows more than a snake can hold,’ and Lie Changshun’s greed swelled accordingly. He wasn’t satisfied with just letting Yongchun Hall develop by attacking cities within Shang Kingdom; he wanted to further expand to other scattered tribes and neutral small countries outside the two main nations.
However, such expansion was predicated on the conquest of those nations’ territories. Lie Changshun had secretly borrowed the nas of the court officials to propose this to Fa Xiaoyun several tis, only to be refused each ti on the grounds of the national treasury’s insufficiency and the high cost of war in terms of resources and the well-being of the people.
But Fa Xiaoyi was different. A few days ago, he personally visited to express his feelings for Lie Sisi, and also proposed his intention to expand the territory and support Lie Family Mansion in the future.
This stark contrast in responses imdiately stirred the greed of Lie Changshun, the old man for whom profit was the only concern.
"Grandfather, you truly care for Sisi. What about this ti’s pill test?" Lie Sisi was originally confident in her chances of passing the Imperial Alchemist’s examination, but with the reveal of Yue Jinghua’s talent, especially after secretly obtaining a Feminine Charm Pill and still failing to analyze its ingredients, Lie Sisi’s confidence wavered.
"How many tis have your second grandfather and I told you, you need to stay calm in your actions. This matter with Prince Fa is the best example. If you had understood how to bear with the situation and let Yue Jinghua make a fool of herself in front of everyone during the banquet, the Consort and the Prince would have destroyed that marriage proposal themselves, unlike now, where you only get to pick up the man Yue Jinghua has rejected," Lie Changshun said with a look of frustrated disappointnt.
Lie Sisi couldn’t accept it and defended herself, "It’s all because Yue Jinghua is exceedingly cunning. That woman is not as simple as she appears to be on the surface. She’s not only set a trap for in the Xuan Technique Pavilion but also orchestrated the incident at Cuiwei Lake. Both Xiao Yi and I were frad by her."
"Sisi, you and Yue Jinghua have grown up together since you were kids. Unless she’s not Yue Jinghua, it’s impossible for her to have such craftiness," Lie Changshun didn’t bother with Lie Sisi’s excuses anymore: "The Elixir Furnace indeed was left behind by Feng Wanwan, but since his death, it has been unable to produce pills."
"Hmph, look at you, the bigger you grow, the less useful you beco, not even able to handle a Yue Jinghua. I’ve heard the dicine shop in the north of the city is also run by her. The most worrying thing right now is that she may have inherited Feng Wanwan’s talent for Alchemy, or perhaps, she has the support of a mastermind behind her," Lie Changshun was also becoming restless after figuring out Yue Jinghua’s recent moves.
He didn’t expect that within a few months, Yue Jinghua would learn Alchemy, and not only that, but she had also quietly beco an officially recognized Pill Master by the Danlu, while Lie Sisi’s status as an entry-level alchemist wasn’t even officially recognized by the Danlu.
Comparing the two, it was as if Yue Jinghua was a professional, while Lie Sisi seed more like an amateur.
"No matter, luckily I still have a treasure that I purchased for a hefty price, as long as you use this Elixir Furnace for pill-making, it will definitely make the process much more effective," Lie Changshun said with a smile that did not reach his eyes; deep down, he loathed Yue Jinghua to death. Ever since the dicine shop north of the city opened, Yongchun Hall’s business had dropped by thirty to forty percent.
About half a month ago, Lie Changshun unexpectedly acquired a furnace in an auction at the nightclub.
The furnace was nad the Golden Toad Tripod. This tripod, when used to control Fire, could distribute the fire elent evenly across every part of the Elixir Body, maximally preserving the spiritual nature of the dicinal ingredients, and thereby increasing the pill success rate.
This was Lie Changshun’s trump card, which he would not pull out unless absolutely necessary.
He stood up and went to the bookshelf, shifting a secret compartnt on the shelf, and from inside, he took out a sowhat heavy square box.
Upon seeing it, Lie Sisi’s brows imdiately brightened with joy, "Second Grandfather, this tripod?"
"Inside, there is a mantra for using the tripod. Go and understand it so that when the ti cos, you can shine," smiled Lie Changshun.
Upon recalling this, Lie Sisi couldn’t help but show a smug expression on her face, confident that she would win this ti’s Imperial Alchemist’s examination.
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