After my father was sent to marry into the princess's household, I became the darling of the en

At the entrance of Yingzhu Garden.

Shen Jingque stood outside the threshold, carrying a small medicine basket that was bigger than her head.

Ji Qianshang stood under the corridor with his arms crossed, his purple clothes loose and his eyes still showing resentment from not having slept enough.

The two stood three steps apart, staring at each other with obvious disdain.

Ji Qianshang raised one eyebrow: "You're here early."

Shen Jingque: "There's nothing we can do; child laborers have no human rights."

Ji Qianshang frowned. "What child labor?"

Shen Jingque looked up, her expression somber.

"At my age, I should be lying in bed growing, eating and drinking well and sunbathing, but instead you dragged me here to sort medicinal herbs and wash medicine jars."

Ji Qianshang almost laughed in anger, "Who arrested you? You agreed to it yourself yesterday."

Shen Jingque spread her hands, "An adult's breakdown can happen in an instant, but Xiaohai's breakdown started at dawn."

Ji Qianshang couldn't understand; the little girl was talking nonsense again.

He turned and pointed to the pharmacy, "Stop talking nonsense, let's learn about the medicines today. Classify these thirty medicines, and if you get one wrong, you have to copy its properties ten times."

Shen Jingque looked at the medicinal herbs piled up like a small mountain in the room, and her vision blurred.

Even capitalists would applaud you for being a heartless workshop.

The pharmacy was bigger than she had imagined.

Rows of medicine cabinets lined the wall, each labeled with a small tag, while newly delivered medicinal herbs were piled on a long table in the middle.

Several servants were sorting through the dried grass roots, stems, flowers, leaves, and seeds.

As soon as Shen Jingque reached out and touched a handful of grass, a familiar prompt popped into her mind.

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified: Perilla Leaf.]

[Efficacy: Relieves exterior syndromes and dispels cold, regulates qi and harmonizes the stomach.]

Shen Jingque's eyes lit up instantly.

Wow... who said pharmacies are bad? This pharmacy is amazing!

It's just like running a dungeon. If she stays here for a while, she can complete the beginner level of the encyclopedia and unlock the Spirit Spring Water!

She immediately changed her attitude, as if she had seen a freeloader at a buffet.

Touching this and smelling that, Ji Qianshang's brows furrowed deeper and deeper as he moved quickly.

"What are you doing? Are you a monkey going up the mountain to pick peaches?"

Shen Jingque picked up a small handful of roots and sniffed.

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified: Fangfeng.]

Without looking up, she said, "I'm using a divinely bestowed method to sense the soul of the medicinal herbs."

Ji Qianshang gritted his teeth: "Speak like a human being."

Shen Jingque: "I am inhaling the fragrance of nature."

Ji Qianshang: "..."

That little girl really has a sharp tongue.

He picked up a slice and threw it in front of Shen Jingque.

"What is this?"

Shen Jingque lowered her head.

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified: Atractylodes macrocephala.]

She blinked. "White atractylodes."

Ji Qianshang threw away another piece.

"this."

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified: Cangzhu.]

"Cangzhu".

Ji Qianshang raised an eyebrow, grabbed a handful of things, mixed them together with Shen Jingque on his back, and then spread them out in front of her.

"Distinguish which are white atractylodes and which are pale atractylodes."

Shen Jingque reached out and poked at them, muttering as she did so, "What's so hard about distinguishing them? Are you playing with me like a tissue and a radish? Are you teasing a dog?"

As she spoke, she picked up a piece of Atractylodes macrocephala: "This thing that looks like dried-up poop is Atractylodes macrocephala."

Ji Qianshang choked on his tea.

Xuan Qi had just stepped inside when he heard the last half of the sentence. He immediately changed direction and silently retreated.

The pharmacy is likely to be in chaos today; non-combatants should evacuate first.

Ji Qianshang put down the teacup, and his temple twitched.

"Can you please stop using such disgusting language?"

Shen Jingque said earnestly, "It's easy to remember. You see, I'll never forget Cangzhu for the rest of my life."

Ji Qianshang was unable to refute it.

He stared at the two piles of pills that Shen Jingque had separated, and the more he looked, the stranger his expression became.

All correct, and she barely even looked at them before quickly sorting them out with her hands.

If it truly is a gift from heaven...

Ji Qianshang took a small box from the top shelf of the medicine cabinet.

The box contained three similar-looking herbs.

He pushed the box in front of Shen Jingque.

"Try again."

Shen Jingque glanced at him. "Master Boiled Chicken, is this an entrance exam?"

Ji Qianshang gritted his teeth. "Call me Ji Qianshang."

Shen Jingque obediently changed her address, "Okay, Master Bai Zhanji Qianshang."

Ji Qianshang closed his eyes.

Ren, she's still young, she's a girl, you can't hit her.

Shen Jingque reached out and touched the first herb.

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified: Golden Bell Seed.]

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified: Corydalis Rhizome.]

[Shennong's Illustrated Handbook has identified this as counterfeit Corydalis rhizome. The surface is treated with dried tangerine peel, and it contains a small amount of fragments of red thread root.]

Shen Jingque stopped.

Red thread root? Red thread root again?

She looked up at Ji Qianshang, "This third one isn't clean."

Ji Qianshang, who had been leaning lazily against the medicine cabinet, straightened his back upon hearing this.

"Where is it dirty?"

Shen Jingque broke open the piece of herb. "The smell on the outside has been masked, and there are bits of red thread root mixed in inside."

Ji Qianshang's drowsiness dissipated. He took the medicinal herbs, used a small knife to trim the edges, and then brought them to his nose to smell them carefully.

A moment later, his face turned very pale.

Really.

He casually took this box of medicine from the spare medicine cabinet last night, originally just wanting to test Shen Jingque.

The medicine in the spare medicine cabinet had been tampered with?

Ji Qianshang took the pill and strode out.

Shen Jingque quickly followed, carrying her small medicine basket, asking, "Where are we going?"

Ji Qianshang said, "I want to see Xiao Changgeng."

Inside the room, Xiao Changgeng was looking at the roster that Xuan Qi had sent.

A thin blanket covered his legs, the medicine stove next to him was empty, and no more medicine was being brewed in the room, so the bitter smell of medicine had faded considerably.

As soon as Ji Qianshang entered, he placed the box on the table. "The spare medicine cabinet also has a problem."

Xiao Changgeng raised his eyes and his gaze fell on the box.

Ji Qianshang recounted the events.

Xuan Qi stepped forward to examine the object, and his expression darkened.

"There are only three spare medicine cabinet keys: one is with Young Master Ji, one is with me, and the other is with Granny Yan in the storeroom."

Xiao Changgeng pressed his fingertip against the edge of the roster.

"Did Granny Yan interrogate you last night?"

Xuan Qi said, "After questioning, she swore that only Afu from the medicine-making room had taken the medicine in the past half month, and that Young Master Ji had taken it himself on two other occasions."

Ji Qianshang's temper flared up. "Then what does she mean? I'm supposed to change my own dressing? Do you think I'm bored?"

Shen Jingque followed him in at some point and whispered behind him, "It could also be that you're sleepwalking and getting up in the middle of the night to plant a landmine in your career."

Ji Qianshang turned his head and glared at her.

Shen Jingque immediately shut her mouth, making a locking motion with her lips.

Xiao Changgeng looked at her, "What do you think?"

Shen Jingque pointed to herself, "Me?"

How could she possibly think that she wasn't an ignorant little girl who had only been in the manor for two days?

Besides, this business involves palace intrigue, which she's not familiar with!

Xiao Changgeng said, "Yesterday you smelled something wrong outside Yingzhu Garden, and today you found the red thread root in the spare medicine. Tell me about it."

Shen Jingque really wanted to say that she was just a child laborer who came to intern and that she was not responsible for solving cases.

But she glanced at Xiao Changgeng's legs, then at the pills in Ji Qianshang's hand.

The repeated appearance of the red root indicates that the person changing the dressing is very familiar with Xiao Changgeng's prescription and the procedures in Yingzhuyuan.

This was more complicated than she had imagined.

She cleared her throat.

"If both the main and backup medications have been tampered with, then the person must either be able to frequently enter the pharmacy or have contact with the person picking up the medication. Just focusing on the key is useless; keys can be borrowed, medications can be resold, and people can lie."

Xuan Qi frowned. "Whom do you suspect?"

Shen Jingque shook her head. "I suspect everyone who has access to the medicine."

Ji Qianshang snorted coldly, "Saying that is the same as saying nothing."

Shen Jingque ignored him and continued, "But there is a way."

Everyone in the room looked at her.

Shen Jingque extended one finger.

"Red thread root is not flour, and it will leave a smell if you touch it. Have everyone who has recently touched the spare medicine cabinet gather in the yard. If someone has been in contact with red thread root for a long time, there will be some residual smell on their hands, cuffs, and under their fingernails."

Ji Qianshang frowned. "The medicinal smells are mixed; how can we distinguish them?"

Shen Jingque blinked. "I smell it."

Ji Qianshang: "..."

He almost forgot that there was a little monster with a dog-like nose here.

Xiao Changgeng looked at her for a moment, then said, "Xuanqi, do as she says."

Xuan Qi accepted the order and left.

Just as Shen Jingque was about to go out and see what was going on, a system alarm suddenly sounded in her ear.

[Warning: The trial period for Shennong Space has begun.]

Shen Jingque stumbled, inwardly roaring, "What the hell?"

The electronic voice of System 001 carried a hint of unease.

[The host has prematurely exhausted the basic permissions of the Shennong Space, and the trial period rules have now been triggered.]

The next moment, a panel that only she could see popped up.

[Shennong Space Basic Version Trial Countdown: 45 days.]

[Retention Condition: Complete Main Event 1 within 45 days and encounter the Chosen One, Xiao Jingchen.]

[Failure Penalty: The basic version of Shennong Space will be recycled, and the Shennong Illustrated Book will be frozen simultaneously.]

Shen Jingque: "..."

She got angry.

Is this system malfunctioning?

A chance encounter? I just happened to run into you, you little radish, at a meeting!

She is currently in the Princess's residence, separated from the male lead Xiao Jingchen by countless chasms including the Marquis's mansion, the imperial palace, and the imperial court. Where can she possibly bump into him?

System 001 weakly replied: [Host, the main storyline cannot be put on hold for too long.]

Shen Jingque knew that this broken system didn't have any real authority, so she started to quickly calculate in her mind.

She is able to gain a foothold in the Princess's mansion now, partly because of her words and partly because of this Shennong Space.

Without her space, if she blindly interferes in Xiao Changgeng's medicine case, she could easily turn from a gifted child prodigy into a pretentious little swindler.

At that time, let alone making her father a prince consort, her father, who is just a clerk, might be implicated and punished.

The more Shen Jingque thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.