People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 40, With the help of a benefactor, one becomes immune to all poisons.
Han Yu slammed the bamboo slips onto the table, his eyes flashing with a cold light, his face terribly gloomy.

"Xu Qing! Well done, well done!"

Hu Meiren immediately bestowed the gifts he had just sent over to Xu Qing as a reward. It would have been fine if they were just ordinary treasures, but instead, she gave him the two most valuable gifts he had sent.

These two gifts were obtained through great effort and at a cost of countless sums of money.

This is tantamount to slapping him in the face; it is an insult to him!
"Fourth Master, should we?" Han Qiancheng revealed a fierce glint in his eyes, his meaning self-evident.

Although Han Yu was angry, he remained rational and shook his head at Han Qiancheng.

"The real purpose of Consort Hu's actions is to warn me not to make a move on Xu Qing. After the sudden death of Lady Nanming, the most favored women in the harem are only Lady Mingzhu and Consort Hu."

"Madam Mingzhu has always ignored me; only Consort Hu has the potential to be my help."

"We suffered heavy losses this time, which is when we are weak. I have also taken away Ji Wuye's military power, and he will definitely not miss this opportunity to counterattack."

"Zhang Kaidi's relationship with Han Nianshi has not yet been repaired. It is not advisable to offend Hu Meiren now, otherwise we will be surrounded by enemies."

Han Yu felt somewhat exhausted. He had been trying to win over Hu Meiren for many years, but to no avail.

As a result, Xu Qing only appeared by Hu Meiren's side for a few days, and he only cured Hu Meiren's anorexia before he gained her favor.

If his father hadn't been so obsessed with women and listened to the whispers of his concubines far more than to the advice of his court officials, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to please a concubine.

"He's just a royal physician, why would Consort Hu value him so much?" Han Qiancheng asked.

"I also want to know the reason behind this. There must have been something we don't know about when Xu Qing treated Hu Meiren." Han Yu's expression was uncertain.

"Then what happens next?"

"Send someone to investigate the relationship between Hu Meiren and Xu Qing carefully, and make sure to find out why Hu Meiren values ​​Xu Qing so much."

Han Yu seemed to have made up his mind, suppressing his anger and returning to normal.

"From now on, we should not only suspend the plans targeting Xu Qing, but also try our best to win him over."

"Fourth Master, are you trying to use Xu Qing to get closer to Consort Hu? But we sent assassins to kill him before, and now we're plotting against him. Will he side with us?" Han Qiancheng asked.

"I don't need him to side with me, I just need him to remain neutral and not interfere with my friendship with Hu Meiren."

"The assassination attempt was carried out by a Baiyue assassin; he had no evidence to suspect me. Secondly, it was my father who spread the news that he had cured the crown prince,"

"I merely added fuel to the fire. Even if he knew I was behind it, as long as there was no murderous intent in the scheme, we not only didn't plot against him, but actually made him famous. He should thank me," Han Yu explained.

He plotted against Xu Qing, but the real killing intent came after Xu Qing diagnosed a powerful figure and the powerful figure died suddenly after taking medicine.

If he withdraws now and abandons his subsequent plans, then this game of chess will transform from a killing move aimed at Xu Qing into a rising star game that will help him gain fame, which will be entirely beneficial to Xu Qing.

“But even if you’re willing to do this, Xu Qing might not be willing to accept our good intentions.” Han Qiancheng was clearly still somewhat unwilling.

“He’s a smart man; he wouldn’t truly want to be on my opposite side. For a smart person, self-interest is more important than petty grudges.” Han Yu’s eyes flashed with coldness.
"Ji Wuye and the Crown Prince knew that I was trying to win over Xu Qing. Even though Xu Qing had saved the Crown Prince's life and his medical skills were superb, they dared not take him under their wing."

Killing Xu Qing to vent their anger was secondary; their real goal was always to weaken the Crown Prince and Ji Wuye's power.

Previously, Xu Qing had caused him heavy losses, and the plan to assassinate the crown prince had failed, causing him to lose his mind.

Now that he has regained his senses, he naturally has other ideas.

If temporarily setting aside personal grudges could win over Hu Meiren's favor and allow him to cope with Ji Wuye's counterattack, it would be entirely worthwhile for him.

As for Xu Qing, he could settle accounts properly once he had achieved his goal and was free from any obstacles.

"A strategic retreat." Han Qiancheng's eyes gleamed.

"That's right, it seems my temperament still needs tempering. It's really wrong of me to lose my mind over a mere imperial physician," Han Yu said in a deep voice.

But the thought of losing 60% of his retainers and loyal followers, only to end up achieving nothing, still filled him with heartache and anger.

"Fourth Master, you didn't lose to Xu Qing, you lost to Consort Hu. She personally intervened to protect Xu Qing, and you had no choice but to comply," Han Qiancheng comforted him.

“You’re right, but I also have my faults. First, notify our people and tell them to abandon the plan. At the same time, arrange for people to spread the word so that those princes and ministers will give up on seeking Xu Qing’s pulse diagnosis.”

As soon as Han Yu finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

Han Qiancheng walked to the door, opened it, and after the person standing outside whispered a few words to him, his expression became serious.

Han Qiancheng closed the door again and went back to his room.

"Fourth Master, I'm afraid we don't need to spread the news."

"Xu Qing left Anping Jun's residence a quarter of an hour ago, and then news spread that the pill to save the crown prince was extremely expensive, and that Xu Qing had used up the medicine storehouse's collection of many years in order to refine the pill," Han Yu said, mentioning several medicinal herbs that were hundreds of years old.

Han Yu was taken aback, and his expression turned serious.

"It seems that Xu Qing is smarter than we thought, and has actually found a way to break the deadlock." "It seems that we have to pay a price to ease the tension between us."

Han Yu was somewhat relieved that he had abandoned his plan against Xu Qing because of Hu Meiren's actions.

Otherwise, if someone like Xu Qing is pushed towards Ji Wuye, then he will probably be completely cut off from the path of having a harem in the future.

Han Yu continued to give orders to Han Qiancheng.
"Qiancheng, continue to give the instructions as I told you: make those people give up taking pulses, and at the same time help him spread the news."

"After the Crown Prince wakes up from his coma, I will select a few hundred-year-old medicinal herbs from the mansion and give them to Xu Qing in the name of my gratitude for curing the Crown Prince."

"promise."

Han Qiancheng bowed and took his leave, leaving only Han Yu in the room.

"Xu Qing, what exactly are your abilities that make Hu Meiren value you so much?"

Han Yu was completely baffled. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that Xu Qing was just a royal physician, whose most outstanding feature compared to others was that he was handsome.

With Han Yu's encouragement, the news spread by Anping Jun quickly spread among the powerful and wealthy in Xinzheng.

After learning that the cost of refining elixirs to treat incurable colds was so high, these powerful figures all abandoned their previous ideas.

They weren't sick to begin with, so having Xu Qing take their pulses would just be asking for trouble, and it would bring bad luck if word got out.

So, except for a few people, everyone else made various excuses to give up having Xu Qing take their pulse.

As dusk fell, Xu Qing returned to her home.

After closing the door, Xu Qing took out the stockings and thong from her bosom.

"Oh, I never expected that Miss Hu would have such a hobby."

Xu Qing chuckled softly, looking at the silky stockings and thong in her hand, and put them into an empty box to hide them.

He wasn't so desperate as to use Hu Meiren's personal clothing to arrange flight takeoff. If he wanted to, he could easily touch her—or rather, give her a massage.

"First, refine the last bit of ginseng's medicinal power in your body, and then take a whole he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum)."

After Xu Qing finished speaking, he sat cross-legged and began to circulate the Evergreen Technique to digest the medicinal power in his body.

Half an hour later, Xu Qing opened his eyes, a gleam of light bursting forth. Feeling the abundant internal energy within his body, he revealed a satisfied expression.

"I was too busy the past two days. After breaking through to the second level, I haven't had a chance to properly study the second level of the Evergreen Technique."

Xu Qing took out the box containing the Evergreen Skill from under the bed and took out the strip of cloth inside that recorded the second level of the skill.

The first level of the Evergreen Skill is the general outline of the mental technique, used to lay the foundation. Starting from the second level, its miraculous effects begin to emerge, and the effect brought by the second level is immunity to all poisons.

"Immune to all poisons?"

Xu Qing began to practice the exercises according to the instructions on the cloth strip, cultivating the second level of the Evergreen Technique.

As Xu Qing practiced the second level of the Evergreen Technique, he felt the internal energy within his body begin to transform.

The originally fierce and colorless internal energy gradually turned into a soft blue color. When it was circulated, the pain from the meridians was gone. Instead, the whole body felt warm and comfortable.

Half an hour later, Xu Qing suddenly opened his eyes, opened the box beside him, and took out a 600-year-old He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum).

Although this Polygonum multiflorum plant is 600 years old, its body is still smaller than that of an ordinary 50 Polygonum multiflorum plant.

Xu Qing could only say that it was indeed a rare and precious treasure, and then swallowed it in four or five bites.

As the medicinal power of He Shou Wu dissolved in his body, Xu Qing immediately began to circulate the Evergreen Technique to absorb its medicinal power.

The powerful medicinal force circulated within Xu Qing's body, causing his clothes to burst open into strips of cloth, with white mist spreading around him.

Xu Qing didn't finish his cultivation until the early hours of the morning.

"I absorbed 30% of the medicinal power in the middle of the night, but the medicinal fragrance on my body did not become stronger. It seems that my guess was right. I must completely refine the medicinal power before I can swallow a medicinal herb."

Xu Qing felt the increased internal energy within his body, and even felt that his strength had increased considerably.

"I just wonder how effective this immunity to all poisons is?"

Xu Qing wasn't foolish enough to take poison herself for testing; she could only wait and see if there would be an opportunity to test it later.

"I wonder how the news that was spread today went? I hope it will have a good result."

During the day, he had already spread the news about the cost of refining garlic extract through Anping Jun, and now he was just waiting for public opinion to ferment.

Xu Qing shook his head and prepared to go to sleep; he still had to go to work as usual tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)