Chapter 4: Chapter 3: Unforgettable Memory, Immunity to All Poisons

There were a total of four eunuchs in the Imperial Pharmacy. Not long ago, two had died while helping Consort Zhen test medicines, so currently, only Xiao Chunzi and Liang Xin remained in the entire pharmacy. There was also an eighth-rank chief eunuch, but since he also held duties in the Imperial Kitchen, he rarely visited the Imperial Pharmacy.

The original Xiao Fuzi had been a somewhat dull and honest little eunuch. In the past, Xiao Chunzi would feel a slight sense of superiority in front of Xiao Fuzi, but what Liang Xin did today left him in complete awe. What impressed Xiao Chunzi most was that Xiao Fuzi actually knew how to write.

In Xiao Chunzi's consciousness, being able to write was a skill possessed only by scholars. And what were scholars? In this Northern Song Dynasty, where "all pursuits are low and only studying is high," scholars were the backbone of the entire Great Song, representing the highest class of people.

Returning to the Imperial Pharmacy, Xiao Chunzi hurriedly brought a chair out from the inner room for Liang Xin: "Xiao Fu... no, Brother Fu, please sit, please take the seat of honor."

Liang Xin glanced at Xiao Chunzi and nodded with satisfaction: "Mm, you're a young man with a future. Keep working hard."

"Yes!" Xiao Chunzi immediately hurried off to boil water to make tea. Once the tea was ready, Xiao Chunzi brought it to Liang Xin: "Brother Fu, please have some tea."

Liang Xin nodded, took the teacup, and used the lid to brush away the tea leaves floating on the surface. The tea was just ordinary fragrant leaves, but Liang Xin still took a careful sip and then put on an expression of enjoyment.

Then, Xiao Chunzi pulled out a string of silver coins and handed them to Liang Xin, saying: "Brother Fu, I cannot take this money, please take it."

Liang Xin looked at Xiao Chunzi and pushed his hand back: "I am single and don't lack money to spend. Take it for yourself."

"How can I do that? My mother told me since I was a child that one should not accept rewards without merit. I..." Xiao Chunzi looked anxious, not knowing what to do.

Liang Xin smiled: "If you really want to do something, it's not impossible. Go find a few books for me to look at. This godforsaken place has neither television nor computers; it's truly boring."

"Television? Computers?" Xiao Chunzi was completely bewildered.

Liang Xin waved his hand: "Even if I told you, you wouldn't know what they are. Hurry up and find some books for me."

"Oh, oh!" Xiao Chunzi nodded hurriedly, then turned and ran back into the Imperial Pharmacy. After a short while, Xiao Chunzi dragged out a wooden box. Liang Xin blinked in surprise as Xiao Chunzi dragged the box in front of him: "Brother Fu, there are books inside."

"So many?" Liang Xin opened the wooden box and casually picked up a few books to flip through: "They are all medical books. Where did you get these?"

"Three months ago, Imperial Physician Wen was sent to the Meridian Gate for execution because he harassed a palace maid. I remembered that he often treated us during his life, so I went out of the palace to bury his body, and then went to his residence to pack up his belongings. When I arrived at Imperial Physician Wen's home, it had already been emptied; only this box of books remained."

"Forget it, medical books are still books. I'll take a look first. Just in case I have a headache or fever in the future, I might be able to prescribe something for myself."

Liang Xin smiled and picked up a book to start reading. At first, Liang Xin didn't feel anything unusual, but as he read further, he felt something was wrong. After a simple scan, he had already memorized all the contents of the medical books, reaching a state of photographic memory.

If one were to say that at the beginning Liang Xin was reading books, by the end, he was merely flipping through them. From morning until noon, Liang Xin actually finished reading the entire box of books. All the contents of the books floated in Liang Xin's mind; he was very confident that even a tiny punctuation mark in the books could be remembered perfectly.

"When did my memory become this good? Is it a talent or superpower gained after transmigrating? Or... is it related to the power of the He Clan Jade?"

Liang Xin set the last book aside and closed his eyes, recalling the contents of the books he had just read. Liang Xin guessed that Imperial Physician Wen must have been an extremely skilled physician, as that box of books explained Traditional Chinese Medicine very clearly, moving from shallow to deep.

From introductory texts like the *Huangdi Neijing* and *Shanghan Lun* to the most profound works like *Prescriptions for Difficult and Complex Diseases* and the *A-B Classic of Acupuncture*, everything was complete. Furthermore, every book contained Imperial Physician Wen's personal insights and annotations of practical experience. This meant Liang Xin encountered no difficulty in reading these books and quickly understood their meanings.

Of course, this didn't mean that because Liang Xin had memorized so many medical books, he was a master of medicine. It could only be said that he now understood Traditional Chinese Medicine, but he was not yet able to apply it. It was like a youth with profound internal energy who had no combat experience and thus could not exert the effects of that energy.

At noon, Eunuch Xu personally brought lunch to Xiao Chunzi and Liang Xin. When Liang Xin opened the food box and saw the exquisite dishes, complete with color, aroma, and taste, his mouth immediately watered. He said, "Thank you, Eunuch Xu, I won't be polite," and immediately began to eat.

Completely unlike Liang Xin, when Xiao Chunzi saw the exquisite meal, the expression on his face was as if he were about to cry. Upon seeing Xiao Chunzi's expression, Eunuch Xu knew that the boy understood what was happening. He patted Xiao Chunzi's head, a look of heartache on his face, and said: "I'll leave a few words behind just in case. If anything truly happens, I will have someone send them to your family."

"I..." As soon as Xiao Chunzi opened his mouth, tears began to flow.

Liang Xin was stunned and said: "Xiao Chunzi, why are you crying? If you don't eat this delicious food, I will."

Xiao Chunzi glanced at Liang Xin, and his crying immediately increased by several decibels; his tears flowed more and more, and his sobbing grew more sorrowful. Liang Xin could roughly guess the situation now. He put down his chopsticks and looked at Eunuch Xu: "Eunuch, has work arrived?"

"Yes." Eunuch Xu nodded: "The Empress is seriously ill, and the imperial physicians have prescribed a potent medicine. Because they cannot control the dosage, you two may have to test a dozen or so bowls of medicine in a moment."

"Is the medicine very toxic?" The reason Liang Xin asked was that generally, imperial physicians prescribed medicines focused on strengthening the foundation and nourishing the vital essence without harming the original qi, but looking at Eunuch Xu, it seemed the situation was different this time.

Sure enough, Eunuch Xu nodded and sighed: "It is a formula that uses poison to combat poison."

"What?" Liang Xin's face instantly turned pale. In Xiao Fuzi's memory, anyone who tested a "poison to combat poison" formula was destined to die. Liang Xin cried out in his heart that this was too much of a trap. He had just transmigrated and now he had to die? Sigh... he only hoped that after death, he could transmigrate back to the modern era.

Every minute after lunch became exceptionally long. Perhaps death is not the most painful thing; the most painful thing is waiting for death. Xiao Chunzi kept crying and crying, but when the imperial physicians and the food-serving eunuchs brought the medicine over, Xiao Chunzi suddenly stopped crying. Although his whole body was trembling, his eyes were very calm.

"Are there only two of you left in the entire Imperial Pharmacy now?"

An old man walking at the front of the imperial physicians scanned the surroundings and asked. This old man was very clear in Xiao Fuzi's memory; he was the Chief Physician of the Imperial Pharmacy, Chen Yuding.

"Only the two of us. Where is the medicine? Let's begin now."

Liang Xin glanced at Xiao Chunzi and took a step forward. He had thought it through; since death was inevitable either way, if he died, he would just transmigrate again. There was no need to act like a coward.

Chen Yuding looked at Liang Xin, sighed slightly, and said: "Very well, which of you two will go first?"

"Me!" Before Liang Xin could even open his mouth to make a sound, Xiao Chunzi had already raised his hand and shouted. "I'll go first. If I die, then let Brother Fu go."

As he spoke, Xiao Chunzi walked toward the food-serving eunuch.

Liang Xin was slightly moved. He grabbed Xiao Chunzi and said: "Xiao Chunzi, I have no attachments; life and death do not matter to me. Since there is so much medicine, there will surely be a portion for you at the end. You should wait."

"Brother Fu." Xiao Chunzi looked at Liang Xin, his eyes instantly turning red.

Liang Xin felt a bit uncomfortable under Xiao Chunzi's gaze, so he said no more and reached out to take a bowl of medicine from the eunuch's hands and swallowed it.

"Someone! Record this." Chen Yuding grabbed Liang Xin's wrist to check his pulse.

"The pulse is steady and powerful, the internal breath is continuous and long, the body is very healthy... Mm, the pulse is starting to weaken, the rhythm is extremely chaotic. Foaming at the mouth, face turning blue—these are signs of poisoning. It seems this person is about to pass. Huh?"

Chen Yuding was just about to give up on Liang Xin and let Xiao Chunzi test the medicine, but Liang Xin's pulse suddenly became powerful again. At the same time, Liang Xin, who had almost fainted just a moment ago, suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood, and immediately after, his complexion turned rosy.