Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Di Xiulan: ?
Ye Piaoling explained, “Laoye means maternal grandfather. I just think you kind of look like my grandpa too! Case closed. We must be related!”
Di Xiulan: “…”
Ye Piaoling chuckled. “So, um, since we’re family and all, can you give me a discount on that bed of yours?”
“…”
Di Xiulan was speechless for a long moment before he finally spoke, his face expressionless.
“Very well. Then I shall change it to two thousand a night.”
“Great… Wait, what? Two thousand?!”
Ye Piaoling’s eyes went wide. She couldn’t have heard that right!
“Grandpa, are you kidding me? How the hell is that a discount? That’s a damn price hike!”
Di Xiulan narrowed his eyes at her. His voice was like wind scraping out from the depths of a cavern. “What did you say?”
A chill ran down Ye Piaoling’s spine, and she hurriedly repeated herself. “Babe, are you kidding me? How is that a discount? That’s a price hike!”
She couldn’t afford to offend him. One grandpa in the form of Gu Liuxian was already more than enough. This man was better left unclaimed.
The man smiled faintly and said in a lazy, indifferent tone, “You are very clever. If I hear you call me that grandpa thing again, I cannot guarantee what will happen.”
“Come on, don’t be mad!”
Ye Piaoling quickly coaxed him. “I was wrong! I’m your grandpa. I’m your grandpa, okay?”
Di Xiulan: “…”
Ye Piaoling said, “All right, let’s not talk about that anymore. I just wanted to ask my daily question. Can I get a discount on getting into bed today?”
Di Xiulan said, “I can break your bones at a discount.”
Ye Piaoling: “…”
Ye Piaoling: “Fine. Then let’s not do that.”
Extremely unwillingly, she counted out one thousand taels in Silver Banknote and placed it on the table.
All the money she’d worked so hard to earn had been spent here!
Over these days, she had been coming to Chonghua Palace on and off. Counting it all up, she had only lain on that bed a dozen or so times in total.
As for the goal of one hundred times…
Ye Piaoling exhaled heavily. What mysterious Chonghua Palace? This place was nothing but a money pit!
…
After sweeping the Library Pavilion for several days, Xiao Mei’s back and waist ached terribly.
What she hated most was this kind of menial labor, because it reminded her of the humiliating days when she had been a maid at the Prime Minister’s Mansion.
Not only that, she could even vaguely sense that after this punishment, her prestige among the disciples had declined.
Those young ladies and young masters who followed her still flattered her on the surface, but in secret, they had already begun to question her abilities. They were even quietly grateful to Ye Piaoling.
When she spoke ill of Ye Piaoling again, their reactions were no longer as enthusiastic as before.
Xiao Mei could not tolerate it.
She swung the broom viciously. She could not lose to Ye Piaoling. Since Ye Piaoling had caused her to make a mistake and be punished, then she would make Ye Piaoling commit an even bigger mistake and suffer an even harsher punishment!
But how should she do it…
As Xiao Mei pondered, her eyes suddenly shifted.
She had it!
The Duke’s Mansion had confiscated a batch of Ghost Infant Grass today. It was something explicitly banned by Dali, and anyone who smuggled it would be convicted and thrown into prison.
Ghost Infant Grass was highly poisonous and was often used to refine all sorts of sinister poison pills.
And in the Tianwen Sect’s alchemy classes these past few days, they happened to be using a herb called Heavenly Infant Grass. Its appearance and aura were extremely similar to Ghost Infant Grass. As long as she secretly swapped the Heavenly Infant Grass Ye Piaoling was using with Ghost Infant Grass, once the pill came out of the furnace, Ye Piaoling would be finished!
Openly using a poisonous banned substance to refine pills in the Tianwen Sect-forget mere punishment, she might be dragged straight to prison!
…
Alchemy class.
Ye Piaoling’s gaze fell on the ground medicinal herbs in front of her, and she suddenly paused.
The powder from her Heavenly Infant Grass seemed a little different from when she had just finished pounding it yesterday.
The color had become slightly brighter, and it looked a little more moist.
Ye Piaoling frowned.
The medicinal powder had been left in the air overnight. Even if it oxidized, the color should have darkened and the moisture should have dried out. How could it possibly become fresher the longer it sat there?
She pinched up a little powder and gently sniffed it. Her expression instantly changed.
Holy shit!
This wasn’t Heavenly Infant Grass at all. It was Ghost Infant Grass!
There just so happened to be a Youth Restoration Pill in How Trash Is Made, and its ingredients required Ghost Infant Grass. To help identify it, the book had specifically detailed the subtle differences between the two herbs, so she could tell them apart.
But after one night, how had her Heavenly Infant Grass turned into Ghost Infant Grass?
Ye Piaoling raised her head and looked toward the other disciples.
Her gaze met Xiao Mei’s. Xiao Mei immediately looked away, but there was a cold smile at the corner of her mouth that she couldn’t quite hide.
Ye Piaoling suddenly understood.
It was Xiao Mei. She had tampered with her herbs and swapped the Heavenly Infant Grass for Ghost Infant Grass!
Once the pill came out, she would have refined a poison pill with a banned substance right under everyone’s eyes. That was no small crime!
Ye Piaoling lowered her eyes, the corners of her lips curving slightly.
When she had read the secret recipe for the Youth Restoration Pill, she had even wondered where she could find Ghost Infant Grass. After asking around, she learned that the Duke’s Mansion had indeed confiscated a batch, but such banned substances would be sealed and destroyed according to the law. She had no way of obtaining any…
Who would have thought Xiao Mei would actually deliver Ghost Infant Grass right into her bowl?
Ye Piaoling honestly wanted to give Xiao Mei a good-person card!
Suppressing her laughter, Ye Piaoling began to add the dozen or so herbs into the alchemy furnace one by one in an orderly manner.
Not far away, Xiao Mei stared at her closely.
Her red lips lifted into a cold smile.
Ye Piaoling, that idiot, not only hadn’t noticed that the herbs had been switched, she had even gotten the order and dosage wrong.
Who knew what kind of monstrosity she would refine in a while?
Xiao Mei could already picture the scene of Ye Piaoling being shackled and sent to prison!
Several hours later, the disciples’ pills had all emerged from their furnaces one after another.
In the end, only Ye Piaoling’s pill had yet to take shape.
“What’s going on? Why is hers so slow?”
“Even if she ruined it, it should have come out by now, right?”
The alchemy elder also walked over to Ye Piaoling’s Cauldron and frowned. “Did you use the wrong formula?”
Before he had even finished speaking…
With a boom, an enormous burst of fire suddenly shot out of the Cauldron!
Everyone jumped in fright.
The elder was also somewhat shocked. Only when certain rare and extraordinary pills emerged would such a phenomenon occur!
Ye Piaoling remained calm and unhurried. Only after the flames receded did she open the Cauldron. With a flip of her wrist, the pill inside flew out and hovered above her palm.
“This…”
“Is this…?!”
Everyone stared with eyes wide in astonishment.