In an alchemy room with high roofs and low eaves, a middle-aged Taoist priest with fair skin and high cheekbones shouted to three medicine boys, who were busy around a cauldron of things. In front of the bright fire, his face was calm and solemn.
"Take 40% of your salary and open the cauldron!" Taoist Bai Shou said.
"Yes, Master!" replied the medicine boy with a velvet beard standing on the left side, and opened the lid of the cauldron as instructed.
The thin white Taoist approached the cauldron and inhaled hard, as if smelling the medicinal gas wafting out of the furnace. After taking a few breaths, he told the velvet-bearded medicine boy: "Zhi Dian, come over with a lamp so that I can see more clearly."
The velvet-bearded medicine boy responded "Yes", took out the lamp from the candlestick, carried it over and handed it to the white thin Taoist priest, and said respectfully: "Master, take it!"
The thin white Taoist put the lamp on the edge of the cauldron, hunched over the furnace and looked around to make sure there were no mistakes or omissions. After checking that everything was correct, he straightened up and said to the young-looking medicine boy behind him: "Stop the trench and take a measuring cup to scoop out water."
The little medicine boy named Zhi Qian hurriedly brought a medicine box from the medicine cabinet, took out a small porcelain measuring cup and two wide-mouth glass bottles. Seeing that the young disciple had prepared all the utensils, the thin white Taoist ordered: "Ladle in nine measuring cups of salt water!" Seeing that the little medicine boy's movements were slightly hindered, he scolded sternly: "Keep your hands and feet steady and quick, don't do anything." The potency of the medicine will be lost!"
Zhi Qian bit his lower lip tightly, steadied his hands and feet, and poured all nine glasses of saltwater into the medicine cauldron.
"Take another four cups of red gall water and stir well!" Taoist Bai Shou ordered again. Zhikun picked up the medicine spoon next to the cauldron and stirred it evenly into the cauldron. The thin white Taoist took a closer look, nodded "Yes", and then asked the tallest of the three medicine boys to order: "Zhihe, pour three cups of alkaline water, add seven qian of cordyceps powder, four and a half qian of cinnamon powder, Two cents of red mercury!”
Sure enough, the most delicate work in refining medicine is always left to the most careful medicine boy. Zhiwei is the oldest, nearly an adult, and has followed the master for the longest time. His hands, feet, and eyes all reveal his skill and sharpness. Taking out the dish, peeling it off, measuring it, and putting it into the tripod are done in one go, without any jerky feeling. The thin white Taoist looked on with a rare smile and nodded slightly unconsciously. Seeing that the medicine had been put into Zhiyi, he looked over and said "Hmm" again, and said, "Mix well and put the lid on the cauldron! Wrap a wet cloth around the edge of the lid!" Zhiyi followed the master's orders. One is dealt with properly.
"Take 20% of your salary and replace it with beech charcoal!" Taoist Bai Shou ordered again. After listening to the master's words, the medicine boy named "Zhi Dian" hurriedly ran to the southwest corner of the alchemy room to pick up a large bamboo basket, which was filled with gray-black beech charcoal.
The thin white Taoist walked around the cauldron three or four times, gently stroked his beard, and went out to the alchemy room.
"Hey, Zhan is the Taoist priest, but the liquid is ready?" A hale old man about sixty years old was walking quickly and asked with a smile. Come to think of it, this old man had been waiting outside the alchemy room.
This thin white Taoist is Qingxuan's second disciple, the current first guest of Emperor Yonghua, Zhan is the Taoist. And this hale and hearty old man was Ni Juzheng, the most trusted confidant of Emperor Yonghua and the leader of Dahua's internal officials.
Taoist Zhanwei smiled and said: "It's not that fast. The original liquid in this bowl has been brewing for more than two hours. I just added the auxiliary liquid and medicinal powder. It still needs to be simmered on low fire for half an hour. The cauldron can be opened at the second quarter of the hour. medicine."
"That's right, we all rely on the Taoist Master here." Ni Juzheng thanked him. After the ceremony, he said again: "Your Majesty asked me to go to the Taoist's dormitory whenever I have free time. I think I have something to ask."
Zhan Wei looked back at the alchemy room and saw three disciples standing by the cauldron. He turned around and said to Ni Juzheng: "Now that everything is done here, if it is easy for the emperor, why don't I go and see the saint right now?" stop?"
Ni Juzheng said happily: "It's just right! If he hadn't been worried about missing your elixir refining, the emperor would have been here long ago. Most likely, the emperor would not be able to sleep after staying in his bedroom for a long time. The sooner the Taoist priest had gone, the sooner he would have ended the emperor's trouble. Maybe we should rest a moment earlier."
Master Zhan said to Ni Juzheng, "Wait a moment." Then he returned to the alchemy room and gave some instructions to the three disciples. The matter of controlling the fire was also explained clearly, and there was nothing left in the alchemy room to worry Zhan Wei, so he followed Ni Juzheng to the Yangxin Hall where Emperor Yonghua slept.
Emperor Yonghua stayed up all night, feeling really tormented in his heart.
Since taking the yangsheng liquid refined by Qingxuan more than a year ago, Emperor Yonghua has indeed felt much more refreshed, and truly feels that he seems to be more than ten years younger. At this point, he became even more convinced of the immortality technique of this sect. He wished he could take off his dragon robe and go to the Zhenwu temple to become Qingxuan's Guan disciple. It's a pity that he can't shirk the throne now, and Qingxuan has no chance of entering the palace to practice with him, so he has no choice but to ask Zhan Wei to try out a pill similar to Yangsheng liquid for him. Unexpectedly, Zhan Wei's alchemy skills were so profound that Qingxuan Zhenzhi passed down the medicine. He tried out the prescription more than a year ago, and tonight is when the first potion of medicine comes out of the cauldron. Emperor Yonghua couldn't watch from the sidelines, so how could he not be anxious? At this moment, he has not taken off his outer robe, and has been patrolling back and forth in Yangxin Hall.
"Your Majesty, Manager Ni and Taoist Master Zhan are here!" The little eunuch on night duty came over to report.
Qingxuan raised his eyebrows and shouted: "Hey! We're finally here!" As he walked quickly towards the outside, he bumped into the two of them.
"No gift! No gift!" Emperor Yonghua said anxiously, "Zhan Wei, have you prepared the derivative liquid?" The medicinal liquid refined by Zhan Wei is called derivative liquid. Its effect is to maintain the balance of yin and yang in the body, so as not to cause The vitality in the body is depleted, so that the appearance of the skin becomes rejuvenated.
Zhan Wei smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. The prescription has been tried a long time ago and there is nothing wrong with it. If you wait, the medicine will be available in the next quarter."
After hearing this, Emperor Yonghua kept rubbing his palms and said with restraint, "Okay, okay, just wait a little longer."
Seeing Emperor Yonghua sitting uneasily, Zhan said to him, "Your Majesty, why don't I take this opportunity to explain this derivative liquid to you again?"
"Of course this is the best!" Emperor Yonghua said with a smile, stroking his hands, and led Zhan Wei to sit down at the altar table with a look of expectation on his face.
Zhan Wei sat down and said: "Master has passed on the prescription of this Yang Sheng Liquid to me, but the potency of this medicine is too strong. The Emperor has taken it once and will never take it again. I will break down the properties of these thirty kinds of medicines. Only eleven medicinal materials were left to prepare this derivative liquid. It is said that this derivative liquid can be regarded as a defective product of Yangsheng liquid, and its medicinal properties are far inferior. However, its advantage is that this medicinal liquid has mild medicinal properties and does not hurt. The internal organs can be used for a long time. The emperor takes one dose a day, and it is not difficult to maintain his beauty for seven or eight years."
"Oh! Seven or eight years!" Emperor Yonghua could no longer suppress his excitement and stood up hurriedly and asked.
"If you don't stop taking the medicine, it will only get longer and not shorter!" Zhan Wei said seriously, "Human aging is due to the increase in Yin Qi in the body and the gradual decline of Yang Qi. The ratio of the ingredients in the derivative liquid, When the yin qi in the body is too heavy, the positive medicinal power in the medicinal liquid is absorbed, and once the liver fire is too strong, the negative medicinal power is absorbed. This allows the person to roughly maintain a balance of yin and yang without damaging yang or yin. The vitality is not exhausted, nor is it sluggish. This is the art of maintaining a long-lasting appearance!"
Emperor Yonghua listened with his mouth open, fascinated, and his thoughts flew beyond the sky.
"Dong~~dong~~dong~~" Suddenly I remembered the sound of the bronze bell telling the time, and it was the hour.
Emperor Yonghua came out of his dream and suddenly reached out to grab Zhanwei, tremblingly saying: "How long will it take? Let's go get the medicine now!"
Zhan Wei had no choice but to let him lead him outside the palace. As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the palace, they saw a large group of ministers walking towards the Yangxin Palace. They only heard the eunuch on duty sobbing and reporting: "Your Majesty, several princes and ministers have been waiting in the outer courtyard early, saying that they have something very important to report. I dare not let them in because of the emperor's strict order, but the time has come and I really can't stop them!"
When Emperor Yonghua saw this battle, he naturally knew that something big must have happened. He looked in the direction of the elixir room and shed two tears. He cried loudly: "I am an idle member of the Taoist sect, how can I be the lord of a country!"
