I attained immortality through meditation in the Great Qian Dynasty.

Impossible! Licorice is such a common ingredient; it's the same everywhere!

The licorice was a batch of old stock that was brought in from the south to reduce costs.

Although the quality is a bit poor, it's cheap.

To prevent mold and insects, and to make the product look better, we even had the shop assistant fumigate it with sulfur several times...

Wait! Sulfur!

Is it...

No...it can't be!

Sulfur fumigation is a common practice in the industry; everyone does it this way!

What could this kid possibly know?

"Fine! Let's have a contest! I'd like to see what kind of nonsense your licorice can produce!"

The competition begins.

The licorice from both families was placed into the cauldrons, and an equal amount of water was added.

Inside the bronze cauldron near Jishetang.

The aroma of herbs wafted out, a scent that was refreshing and invigorating.

The medicinal soup in the cauldron had also turned amber.

And the bronze tripod at Huichuntang...

As the steam rose, a pungent, sour smell spread out.

The medicinal soup in the cauldron began to foam with strange white bubbles.

"Huh? What's this smell? Why does it taste sour?"

"Look at that pot of soup from Huichuntang! It looks like dishwater!"

Qian Defa's face turned ashen.

Zhao Zian picked up his own bowl of medicinal soup.

"Which villager would like to come up and taste it for themselves?"

Several bold men went up on stage.

They tasted the licorice soup from Jishetang and nodded in approval.

"It's sweet! It goes down smoothly and feels so good!"

"That's right, this is the real taste of licorice!"

Then, they walked over to the bowl of herbal soup at Huichuntang and frowned.

One of the men pinched his nose and dipped his tongue in the liquid.

"Ptooey! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"

"What the hell is this stuff? It's sour and astringent! Like vinegar! How can this be medicine?"

Qian Defa felt ice-cold all over.

Zhao Zian's voice rang out.

"The processing of medicinal herbs does indeed involve sulfur fumigation to prevent insects and mold, a method that has existed since ancient times. However, everything has its limits! Excessive sulfur will not only destroy the medicinal properties but also produce pentasulfuric acid, which is highly toxic! It tastes sour and prolonged use will inevitably damage the liver and kidneys, causing immeasurable harm!"

"Your Huichuntang's medicinal herbs are cheap! But what the villagers are buying—is it a cure-all or deadly poison?!"

"You're playing with the lives of the entire town just to make money and suppress your competitors!"

"You deserve to get the money; what is your crime?!"

Qian Defa's eyes were bloodshot.

"You...you're talking nonsense! You're slandering me!"

"My Huichuntang has been a century-old brand, dedicated to healing and saving lives. How could I possibly sell poison and harm people!"

No, we can't just accept this!

Once they admit it, Huichuntang is finished, and so is he!

"Fellow villagers! Don't listen to this brat's seditious talk!"

"He's holding a grudge because we stole his business from Jishetang. He's deliberately setting a trap for me!"

"He says it's poisonous, so it's poisonous? Where's the evidence? Just this bowl of soup that's the wrong color? Who knows if he tampered with it!"

Zhao Zian didn't refute, he just watched.

The calmer he remained, the more uneasy Qian Defa became.

"I know the full value of my medicine!"

Qian Defa shouted at the men behind him.

"What are you all standing there for?!"

"Drink this licorice soup from this pot!"

"Drink it in front of the whole town! Let them see whether our Huichuntang medicine is poison or not!"

The men turned pale.

drink?

Drink this stuff?

Are you kidding me!

Others may not know, but how could they not know?

One of the guys suddenly felt weak in the knees.

"Shopkeeper, this won't do! This soup..."

"Shut up!"

Qian Defa's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Anyone who doesn't drink today is guilty of something, someone who conspired with this kid to ruin my Huichuntang! Pack your bags and get out of here right now! I'm also going to report you to the authorities, accusing you of betraying your employer and colluding with outsiders to falsely accuse your boss!"

After coercion comes enticement.

"Drink it! If you drink it, it proves the medicine is effective, and I'll reward each of you with twenty taels of silver! From now on, you'll be great contributors to Huichuntang!"

Twenty taels of silver!

The men looked at each other in bewilderment.

Fight!

Maybe it's not that serious? It just smells bad, but it won't kill anyone, right?

"I'll drink it!"

One of the bolder guys made up his mind.

He walked to the cauldron, scooped out a bowlful, and drank it down.

Once there's a first one, there's a second, and a third.

The three men gritted their teeth and drank it all up.

After finishing their drinks, the three of them stood still.

Qian Defa raised his head and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Did you see that? Folks, did you all see that?!"

"My buddy drank it! He's perfectly fine!"

"Poison? Arsenic? I think you, Zhao Zian, are the most venomous snake; your heart and liver are rotten to the core!"

"You're so young, yet your heart is so malicious. You're willing to spread rumors and slander to suppress your colleagues. Do you even deserve to be a doctor?!"

"Now, what do you have to say?! Huh?!"

The crowd began to stir.

"It seems... I'm really alright?"

"Could it be that Doctor Zhao really made a mistake?"

"That's true, how could licorice decoction be highly poisonous? That's an exaggeration."

Only Zhao Zian remained calm.

"Don't rush."

"Let the medicine fly a little longer."

A sudden change has occurred!

The guy standing on the far left had bulging eyes and was clutching his stomach.

"My stomach hurts so much, it feels like it's being stabbed with a knife..."

He collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing violently.

Immediately afterwards, the other two guys also started acting up at almost the same time!

"what!"

"Help...help me!"

Money was being distributed when his mind went blank.

"No, how could this be, how could this happen..."

The onlookers roared in anger!

"Oh my god! It's really poisonous!"

"Murder! Money must be spent to commit murder!"

"This isn't medicine! This is clearly poison that will rot your guts!"

The crowd was outraged!

A calm voice rang out.

"Make way, everyone! This old man wants to take a look!"

He is Physician Wang from Jishetang.

He carried his medicine kit and squeezed his way to the group of poisoned men.

He knelt on the ground and first pried open one person's eyelids to look at their pupils.

"The poison has penetrated deep into the internal organs; the pulse is weak and thready; the situation is critical!"

"Dr. Zhao, should we needle the Tianshu and Guanyuan acupoints?"

He turned his head and looked at Zhao Zian.

Zhao Zian nodded slightly.

"Dr. Wang, supplement with Zusanli (ST36). First, protect the heart meridian, then force out some of the toxins."

"good!"

Dr. Wang identified the acupoints and inserted the needles.

Those guys, their shaking lessened, at least they managed to stay alive.

Dr. Wang's compassion and skill stand in stark contrast to Qian Defa's disregard for human life, who lived not far away!

The villagers' anger had reached its peak!

They bought life-saving medicine!

But what Huichuntang sold them was a deadly poison!

What those three guys just drank was nothing more than a bowl of licorice soup.

But how many medicines did they and their families drink at Huichuntang in the past?

"Damn it, you have to pay up! My dad got three doses of medicine for rheumatism from you last month, and after taking it, he started vomiting and having diarrhea, and he lost a lot of weight! I thought it was the wrong medicine, but it turns out you, you damned bastard, poisoned it!"

A burly man had bloodshot eyes.