Translated by Luxican

Edited by madghost

The Great Zhou Empire had a legendary healer, who was even a step higher than all Imperial Doctors.

This Great Doctor, who was now gone for a long time, had taught many Imperial Doctors in his earlier years. His identity in the Medicine Association was also very aloof. Later in his old age he had brought one Medicine Assistant to look after him.

And this Medicine Assistant was the female Medicine Assistant "Qi Fang Fei" in front of them.

So, despite the fact that Qi Fang Fei was very young and her status was only that of a Medicine Assistant, she had a higher status in the Medicine Association, even in front of elders, she could say a word or two.

No wonder even Pharmacist Kong has to be respectful when he sees her.

"Are these all the Medicine Apprentices who came to participate in the assessment today? I heard that you are conducting the second round of the examination. Could you let me see how your medicines are?" Qi Fang Fei came to the Medicine Association today to find an herb. And she just happened to hear that a group of Medicine Apprentices came to participate in the assessment.

Although she didn't have a low position in the Medicine Association, she is only a teenage girl after all. She had a naïve personality and still remembered how she had a headache when she was at the Medicine Assistant examination. So, she sneaked in to see.

"Miss Qi, please look, these are all the concocted medicines by them," Pharmacist Kong simply handed over the medicine judgement to Qi Fang Fei.

Qi Fang Fei looked at a bowl of medicine in front, but after looking at the color, she pouted, "Unqualified, obvious lack of heat."

The Medicine Apprentice's face turned pale, and he left in despair.

Qi Fang Fe looked at several more bowls of medicines, but she found problems in all of them.

At this time, she walked to a medicine bowl, only to see an empty bowl in front of her. There was no medicine in it, wherever you looked.

"Hey! It's really rare. You, why don't you have any concocted medicine?" Qi Fang Fei suddenly saw an empty bowl and looked at it again. The owner of the empty bowl was still too tiny and young, "Don't you know how to concoct Medicine?"

"It's not that I don't know how to concoct medicine, but that my herbs are all wrong ones, the amount of them is too little, and the age is also to shallow, at this point, the medicine I will make with these will not help, but may cause harm to the patients," Yun Sheng said unhurried, she presented her herbs to Qi Fang Fei and Pharmacist Kong.

Yun Sheng's move scared Cheng Qing and the few guilty Medicine Apprentice, they lowered their heads and did not dare to say anything.

Qi Fang Fei was shocked, and couldn't help thinking of the moment she had just become a Medicine Assistant. Once, because of her negligence to the herbs, she had accidentally mixed an eight-year-old herb into a ten-year-old herb, while making medicine. Although she discovered it later, she thought it wouldn't have a strong impact on the medicine itself, so she just used it as is.

But after the pharmacist inspected the medicine, he was furious and shouted at her: "You knew that the herb was wrong, but still concocted medicine, how can you be considered a qualified Medicine Assistant!"

After Pharmacist Kong viewed the herbs, he also found that the herbs were wrong. Qi Fang Fei glanced at Cheng Qing, who had a guilty conscience, and she spoke with a warning: "You all, I don't care what caused today's incident, but remember, as a Medicine Assistant you may never exchange or steal the herbs to cause harm. If in the future any of you dare frame your colleagues like this, you will get stripped of this profession forever!"

The few Medicine Apprentices were shaking with fear, and Cheng Qing was frightened enough to make his face lose all color.

At this round, 13 more Medicine Apprentices had failed, and although Yun Sheng didn't make any medicine, she passed thanks to her wits.

Qi Fang Fei however did not leave, this examination round had just made her interested in Yun Sheng.

She also learned from Pharmacist Kong's mouth that Yun Sheng had accurately weighted 18 types of herbs in the first round.

She wanted to see how Yun Sheng would perform in the third round.

"In the third round of assessment, you have to identify herbs."

In the third round of assessment, the expression of the Medicines Apprentices became more relaxed than earlier.

It may be difficult for ordinary people to distinguish between herbs, but for these Medicine Apprentices, most of them had followed their respective pharmacists since their childhood and often entered and exited the medicine library of the Medicine Association. Except for some rare herbs, they knew most of them.

Pharmacist Kong saw the change in the Medicine Apprentices' eyes. And he couldn't help but shake his head: "this time the herbs for assessment are different from the previous years. Your assessment location is not in the herb storage. Come with me."

If the herb identification isn't happening in the herb storehouse, then where would it be?

Not only the Medicine Apprentices, even Qi Fang Fei was surprised.

The group of people walked and reached the main entrance of the Medicine Association.

***

At this time, including Fan Zhi and Cheng Youhai, as well as some civilians who came to buy medicine, were also at the main entrance. They saw a group of Medicine Apprentices come out, and all showing lively expression.

When Qi Fang Fei passed Fan Zhi, and saw him, she was a bit startled. After hesitating for a moment, she still called out, "Senior Brother."

It turned out that Fan Zhi, Yao Rong and Cheng Youhai, all had learned under that great master in their earlier years, and were counted as the Senior Brothers of Qi Fang Fei.

Fan Zhi saw Qi Fang Fei, he nodded his head, and said with a bitter smile: "I'm not your Senior Brother anymore."

"Senior Brother... Doctor Fan, why did you come to the Medicine Association today?" Qi Fang Fei sighed, remembering that Fan Zhi had been expelled from the Medicine Association long ago.

"Junior Sister, he brought his own Medicine Apprentice to participate in the assessment, that little girl. I never thought she could last until the last round," Cheng Youhai greeted enthusiastically, but Qi Fang Fei only revealed a lukewarm attitude.

It turns out that the loli was Senior Fan Zhi's Medicine Apprentice. No wonder her temper was so similar to Senior Brother's.

***

At this moment, Yun Sheng and the twenty other Medicine Apprentices were standing at the entrance with confusion.

Pharmacist Kong said with a smile: "Your third round of examination is starting now. You have an incense stick's time to distinguish which herbs are used in this golden red cauldron to make this fragrance? Remember only if you guess all the herbs, you can be considered to have passed the assessment, otherwise, you're eliminated."

The test was to actually distinguish the herbs through the fragrance of the tripod!

All the 20 Medicine Apprentices did not have a clue that the third round would actually be this one.

"Isn't this just making things more difficult? The fragrance of the cauldron in the entrance will be replaced every day with a different one. How can we guess which kind of herbs were used today?" The Medicine Apprentices frowned, but a few wandered around the cauldron and started sniffing nonstop like dogs, to guess the herbs inside the tripod.

Only, Yun Sheng and Cheng Qing didn't act immediately.

Both stared at the aroma that kept coming out of the tripod, trying to distinguish how many kinds of herbs were mixed in there.

.....The time of one incense stick was coming to an end.

Nearly half of the Medicine Apprentices had given up halfway through.

One after another, the Medicine Apprentices began to report the ingredients of incense, but none of them could guess all the herbs.

There were only two Medicine Apprentices left, namely Yun Sheng and Cheng Qing.

"Only one more to go," Cheng Qing was getting anxious, he still couldn't discern what all the herbs were.

He looked at Yun Sheng again and saw that she was still unresponsive. It seemed that she, like himself, couldn't guess what all the herbs are.

" The quarter of an hour is almost over, the two of you, who will answer first," Pharmacist Kong finally reminded.

"Me!" Cheng Qing stepped forward first.

T/N: We have an editor now! Yay! It's really nice to work with them, and I'm happy that someone joined me on this project! 

Thanks for reading!!