Chapter 464: Contesting over quantities (1/2)
From what Gu Qi Sha knew of Han Yunxi’s skills, she’d recognize that it was more than just antidote to Broomcorn Millet Poison with a glance. She wouldn’t have to resort to reagents just to know. Still, he silently admired her skills to divide the antidote from the fake powders with such skill. Even he himself couldn’t compare.
He took the bottle of antidote and weighed it in his hand. According to his calculations, Long Feiye had already used up two parts of it.
“Han Yunxi, simply filling up the bottle with stray powders of your own to trick others doesn’t seem like Qin Wangfei’s style,” Gu Qi Sha smiled disdainfully. His words were clearly insinuating that Han Yunxi was making up the claims herself.
She had long expected this, so she’d made her own preparations. Slowly settling into her seat, she said, “Gu Qi Sha, the Serpent Fruit that His Highness gave you must have weighed around three liang and two qian (~160g), right?”1
“So what if it did?” Gu Qi Sha couldn’t make things up about that bit of info.
“You’re certain?” Han Yunxi wanted a definite answer.
“Yes!” Gu Qi Sha admitted openly.
“Very good. Then according to the directions for Broomcorn Millet Poison antidote, a three liang and two qian Serpent Fruit, if used up completely, is enough to fill one and a half bottle’s worth of antidote. May I ask if you used all of the Serpent Fruit?” Han Yunxi grew serious.
Gu Qi Sha’s eyes flickered with admiration, never expecting Han Yunxi to calculate quantities this way. Of course, it didn’t scare him. The one he was trapping was Long Feiye, so he’d gone to no ends of trouble to tighten the noose. He glanced at Long Feiye and saw the man still leisurely drinking his tea as if he was watching a play.
You can relax all you wait. See if you can still keep your cool later!
“I didn’t use it all!” Gu Qi Sha replied.
Han Yunxi nodded. “Then how much did you use?”
Gu Qi Shao’s eyes flickered shrewdly before he replied, “One liang and seven qian (~85g).”
Han Yunxi grew puzzled. “You’re certain?”
Why did Gu Qi Sha say a number like that? If he only used two liang and seven qian’s worth of Serpent Fruit, then he should have made enough antidote to fill the entire bottle.
But he’d only given Long Feiye a bottle that was eight parts full. Isn’t doing that just making it obvious that he cheated Long Feiye?
“Absolutely certain!” Gu Qi Sha said coldly.
“One liang and seven qian’s worth of Serpent Fruit is enough to make a full bottle of antidote, yet you only gave us one that was eight parts full. What do you mean by that?” Han Yunxi pressed.
Instantly, Gu Qi Sha struck the table and stood up in anger. “Han Yunxi, if you two want to cheat this old fellow, then you shouldn’t treat me as an idiot! I clearly gave away a full bottle of antidote!” His eyes flashed to Long Feiye as he exclaimed, “Duke of Qin, you speak!”
Long Feiye glanced back and objected, “It was only eight parts full.”
“Long Feiye, you!” Gu Qi Sha grew furious.
Long Feiye ignored him. It was impossible to prove anything without the evidence. Under those circumstances, ‘trust’ became more important. Naturally, Han Yunxi would only trust Long Feiye. Her main point of contention wasn’t even whether the bottle had been originally eight parts or completely full, because she could calculate that perfectly based on the remaining quantity of Serpent Fruit.
“It’s useless to argue over details. If you said it was completely full, then it was completely full,” Han Yunxi said generously.
Gu Qi Sha had long foreseen that Han Yunxi would only trust Long Feiye when the circumstances were unclear, so he simply waited for her to continue her analysis.
“Gu Qi Sha, so you used two liang and seven qian of Serpent Fruit to create a full bottle of antidote, am I right?” Han Yunxi reiterated the facts.
“Yes!” Gu Qi Sha answered loudly.
“Then where are the remaining five qian of Serpent Fruit powder?” Han Yunxi asked.
The handling of Serpent Fruit had very specific directions. One had to first split it in half and pound each half into powder before mixing them together to create something with medicinal properties. For example, Gu Qi Sha once had his own Serpent Fruit, but after Long Feiye ruined most of it, it was now unusable. Whether or not he still had Serpent Fruit powder from the one he used for the antidote was still a question up in the air. He looked at Han Yunxi and didn’t reply.
“Where is it?” Han Yunxi asked again.
“Qin Wangfei, although you’re not part of the medical community, you should know our customs, correct?” Gu Qi Sha finally asked. What he meant was that when a person didn’t need the leftover ingredients from making medicine, the remnants could be rightfully claimed by the prescription maker instead.
Naturally, Han Yunxi knew all this already, but she replied, “You should know that this wangfei’s an outsider to the community. Of course I don’t understand!”