Chapter 705: Meticulous (2/2)
Eunuch Yuan narrowed his eyes. It looked like they really did need to leave this particular official alive. It wasn’t because she had skills in planting and raising crops but because she could make these medicines.
“I heard that you were preparing to concoct a life-elongating ‘prolonging life pill’, is that right?” Eunuch Yuan arrived in front of Xiaocao and looked at her with great interest. His cold eyes seemed to be slithering around her like a disgusting snake and Xiaocao couldn’t help but feel goosebumps rise on her arms.
“That’s right.” Xiaocao had always thought that people with something missing were never truly right in the head. Naturally, her Sir Su was an exception to the rule. Thus, she didn’t believe that being confrontational with Eunuch Yuan was the right choice. Before her husband found them, she needed to keep herself very safe, so she replied in a very obliging manner.
Eunuch Yuan asked with great interest, “When do you plan on concocting this? How long will it take? How much life can one pill give?”
“The efficacy of the prolonging-life pill naturally depends on the rarity and value of the ingredients used. For example, if you use some ordinary ginseng and reishi mushroom compared to using hundred year old or even thousand year old variants, there would naturally be a big difference between the two. The more inferior types can only prolong life by about three to five years. The better types can give a person one to two more decades without any issues!” Yu Xiaocao threw out a bait. She needed to preserve her safety first before making other plans.
Eunuch Yuan’s eyes lit up. He only looked to be around forty but his head full of white hair revealed his true age. He was one of the great experts of the previous dynasty and was even older than the emperor emeritus. He was getting close to eighty.
In this era, he was already considered quite long-lived. After all, those who practiced martial arts kept their bodies in tip-top form. However, time eroded all things, including the body. Eunuch Yuan was well aware of this reality.
He was wildly ambitious and desperately wanted to recover the previous dynasty so that he could be the power behind a puppet emperor. Unfortunately, time was not on his side...if he could extend his life by another twenty years, he would be able to reach his cherished goal. Eunuch Yuan’s heart became more excited at this prospect.
“If all of the ingredients are prepared for you, how long will it take for you to make?” Eunuch Yuan’s power had flourished all these years, so he naturally ended up with quite a number of good things in his hands. Even if he couldn’t take any out now, with his connections and wealth, it’d be very easy for him to come up with a full set of ingredients for the prolonging-life pill.
“A total of forty-nine days!” Yu Xiaocao saw that Eunuch Yuan’s face had twisted and hurriedly added, “The more precious a pill, the more time it needs to be made. Just think, one needs to purify the medicinal ingredients, make sure the ingredients are harmoniously incorporated together, shaping the pill...all of these require time. If someone told you that you can get it in three to five days, they were definitely trying to trick you!”
Eunuch Yuan wasn’t well-versed in making meds, so when he heard her explanation, he was mollified. He even told her to give him a list of ingredients and then had his subordinates go prepare what was needed.
“Chief Steward, a group of authorities are here. They say that they are searching for a group of criminals and need to go through our residence!” The door to the hidden room opened and a very ordinary looking person in nondescript clothing entered. The expressions and mannerisms of this person were not any different than those of ordinary servants in ordinary households.
Eunuch Yuan revealed a scornful smile and replied in a gentle voice, “Then allow them in to search around! We are law-abiding citizens and will cooperate fully with the authorities.”
Outside the hidden room, Zhu Junyang took a group of soldiers and entered into Jinling’s largest silk merchant’s residence, which was owned by the Chen Family. They began to search the area from top to bottom.
Governor Fan ordered, “Everyone keep their eyes open and search carefully. You can’t let a single corner off!”
Chen Guang, the head of the Chen Family, was a middle-aged man in his fifties with a long beard. When his two sons got the message, they hurried over and personally escorted the authorities along to every corner and cranny of the Chen Family’s residence. All of the male servants had also appeared in the outer courtyard.
Chen Guang and his descendents all had the proper reaction to this situation. All of them were a bit anxious but none of them seemed to be hiding anything more. They resembled the other families who had gotten their homes searched. They had the right level of nervousness but nothing else.
Other than the head of the Chen Family, Chen Guang, no one else in the family knew about the secret room in their warehouse. Furthermore, none of them had an inkling that all of the recent scary events were related to their family. Except for a select few that were carefully chosen and trained, the rest of the servants were all clueless and in the dark.
The people of the inner residence were also fooled! Even Chen Guang’s wife of decades didn’t even know that her husband was a secret supporter of the previous dynasty. This truly showed just how much he had endured and disguised himself. Thus, Zhu Junyang and Governor Fan were destined to fail here.
“If you discover any suspicious people, you need to report it immediately. Recently, make sure the guards patrol a bit more around the residence. That group of criminals only targets families who have a bit of wealth and status!” Governor Fan couldn’t help but leave a parting warning as he took his officers out.
The head of the Chen Family gratefully said, “Thank you, Your Excellency. This commoner will definitely have the guards patrol the area. If anything happens, we will immediately report it to the authorities!”
“Master, this is the last family! Did we get tricked by the tracks in the beginning?” After searching frantically for an entire day, they still had nothing to show. Hou Xiaoliang had become quite fretful.