Reborn Divine Doctor: The Abandoned Girl's Legend
Chapter 198 - 68: Duel, The Struggle of the Imperial Alchemists (Part 1)

Chapter 198: Chapter 68: Duel, The Struggle of the Imperial Alchemists (Part 1)

After some discussion, the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xia decided that this royal court alchemist competition would adopt a best two out of three system, presided over by the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xia respectively. Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine would compete in three rounds, each round accounting for one point. Only the final victor could become a court alchemist.

"This first round of the competition shall be presided over by I. Yao Concubine, Princess Ye, follow me." The Empress Dowager led the two ladies into the medicine storehouse of the Xia Palace.

The medicine storehouse was divided into two parts: the pharmacy and the alchemy room. The Empress Dowager led Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine into the alchemy room.

Stored in the alchemy room were elixir bottles of varying sizes, containing commonly used third to fourth-grade Elixir Pills.

The concubines and the princes and princesses within the palace could claim a certain amount of Elixir Pills monthly, according to their grade.

Pills above the fifth grade would require an edict from the Empress Dowager to claim, as for sixth-grade and above, they were even more scarce. Only princes and princesses who had achieved great merits or were particularly favored and on the verge of breakthrough would Emperor Xia personally decree rewards.

Gazing at the dazzling array of elixir bottles, Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine both wore serious expressions, uncertain of how the Empress Dowager would test them.

The Empress Dowager raised her hand, and two eunuchs stepped forward, blindfolding both women with black cloths.

"As court alchemists, the foremost duty is to be able to identify various Elixir Pills, preventing those of poor quality or even poisonous ones from entering the court. Before you, there are ten kinds of Elixir Pills without labels. In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, you must rely solely on touch and smell to identify the grade and name of these Elixir Pills," said the Empress Dowager before having ten bottles of Elixir Pills delivered and placed in front of Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine.

To know, an alchemist’s identification of Elixir Pills depends on color, scent, and taste. Being blindfolded greatly restricts the accuracy of identifying the Elixir Pills, unquestionably increasing the difficulty.

Emperor Xia and Master Long Yu anxiously awaited the outcome on one side.

Fortunately, both Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine were of cool disposition. After a momentary daze, they quickly regained their wits.

Half an incense stick later, both almost simultaneously wrote down the names of ten Elixir Pills.

The Empress Dowager ordered the written names of the Elixir Pills to be collected and glanced at them.

"The results are in, the winner of the first round of elixir identification is Princess Ye," declared the Empress Dowager. Yao Concubine’s complexion changed, biting her lip.

Yao Concubine, having been instructed by reputable masters, faced no difficulty in identifying Elixir Pills even whilst blindfolded.

She was absolutely confident that the Elixir Pills she had listed were correct.

Even if that little Fourth Rank Alchemist Princess Ye had guessed all the Elixir Pills correctly, at most, it would have been a tie. It couldn’t possibly have been her loss.

Clearly, the Empress Dowager was showing favoritism.

But, as a concubine, Yao Concubine naturally could not contest the Empress Dowager’s decision; she could not, but Emperor Xia could. Yao Concubine looked at Emperor Xia with a deep sense of grievance.

That look could melt even the toughest of men into tender compliance.

How could Emperor Xia allow Yao Concubine to be wronged?

"Mother, this is obviously unfair. The Elixir Pills written down by Yao Concubine and Princess Ye are clearly the same. Even if a distinction really had to be made, at best, it should be a tie," Emperor Xia had also sneaked a peek at the papers of the two ladies. If he wasn’t mistaken, the names of the Elixir Pills they guessed should be nearly identical.

"Oh? Is Your Majesty questioning my decision? Yao Concubine, Princess Ye, step forward and look at each other’s answers," the Empress Dowager said irritably, glaring at Emperor Xia.

However, Master Long Yu quietly shook his head by the side. The Emperor had truly fallen for Yao Concubine’s enchantment and, as the Empress Dowager’s own flesh and blood, he did not understand her at all.

Although the Empress Dowager did not favor Yao Concubine, she was by no means one to muddle right from wrong. The more Emperor Xia protected Yao Concubine, the more the Empress Dowager would grow to loathe her.

Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine both stepped forward, and their answers, clear in black and white, sprang to life on the paper. At first glance, the answers of both were exactly the same.

The first Elixir was the Soul Condensing Pills, the second Elixir... But when she reached the last Elixir, Yao Concubine’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Yao Concubine, do you have anything else to say?"

For the last Elixir, Yao Concubine wrote down the Blood Circulation and Stasis Dissolving Pill, while Ye Lingyue wrote the Blue-striped Blood-activating and Blood-clotting Pill.

The Alchemy Cultivation of Yao Concubine was indeed beyond doubt. She had accurately identified the fourth-grade Elixir, the Blood Circulation and Stasis Dissolving Pill, but she had not expected that the Empress Dowager would provide a Blue-striped Elixir.

After all, there is no discernible difference in scent and texture between an ordinary Elixir and a Blue-striped Elixir.

Ye Lingyue won because the moment an Elixir fell into her hands, she could use the Cauldron Breath to distinguish the components and Grade of the Elixir.

Although it was only a difference of two words, Yao Concubine still lost.

"So in this round, I declare Princess Ye the winner. Does anyone have an objection?" the Empress Dowager said irritably.

Emperor Xia sheepishly remained silent, while Master Long Yu nodded approvingly.

Yao Concubine glanced at Ye Lingyue, a sharp gleam briefly flashing in her eyes.

If previously Yao Concubine hadn’t taken Ye Lingyue seriously, after this first round of competition, Yao Concubine had begun to see Ye Lingyue as a threat.

The second round of the competition would be presided over by Emperor Xia, and this time, no matter what, that little alchemist could not be allowed to win.

"Since the beloved wife and Princess Ye have already competed in medicine identification, let’s compete in Alchemy for the second round. After all, the most important skill for a Court Alchemist is Alchemy." Seeing that Yao Concubine had lost one round, Emperor Xia felt a sense of urgency.

He thought for a moment and had already come up with a plan.

"I have also prepared a dozen Elixir Recipes. The beloved wife and Princess Ye will each draw one, and they will have two hours to refine as many high-quality Elixir Pills as possible. The winner will be the one who succeeds in this task," Emperor Xia said, and he ordered a eunuch to prepare paper and ink. He then wrote down a dozen Elixir Recipes, and flipped the papers over, beckoning Ye Lingyue and Yao Concubine to come forward and choose.

Emperor Xia’s actions seemed fair, but in reality, they were not.

Yao Concubine, being his favored concubine, often prepared ink and paper for Emperor Xia in the palace. She was already well acquainted with Emperor Xia’s writing habits and could see through what he had written at a glance.

Yao Concubine was in no hurry, picking up a piece of paper and upon looking at it, saw a Fourth-grade Elixir written on it.

When it was Ye Lingyue’s turn, she too stepped forward and, under Yao Concubine’s watchful eye, flipped open an Elixir Recipe.

What was written on that page was the Seven Heart Pill.

Upon seeing the Seven Heart Pill, the Empress Dowager’s gaze slightly darkened.

This Seven Heart Pill was a Fifth-grade Elixir and among the fifth-grade elixirs, it was more difficult to refine.

In the Imperial Palace, only Alchemists of Sixth Rank and above could refine a Fifth-grade Elixir.

The difficulty of refining it was certainly much greater than that of the Fourth-grade Elixir chosen by Yao Concubine.

~For reaching 300 monthly tickets, an additional Chapter will be released. I would like to explain that Da Fu’s writings actually cost the same as others’, which is two thousand per Chapter, equivalent to others’ two Chapters. Recently there have been six updates a day, equivalent to twelve Chapters by others~