Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

The door to the side room in the backyard was half-open, letting in a dim candlelight.

A strong, pungent odor wafted out from the wide-open door.

"elder brother?"

Gu Mingyue raised her hand and knocked on the door, then stepped inside without waiting for a response.

Xiao Ye followed him inside.

The table was piled with miscellaneous items, and a dozen or so ceramic bowls of various sizes were filled with liquids of yellowish-brown, grayish-green, and grayish-white.

Paper with writing on it was scattered everywhere.

Gu Mingli squatted by the small stove, stirring the pot with bamboo chopsticks in one hand and dripping medicine into the porcelain bottle with the other.

A streak of charcoal ash smeared on his face, and a few strands of hair on his forehead were stuck to his temples with sweat.

"elder brother."

Gu Mingyue called out again.

Gu Mingli was slightly taken aback, and then looked up at him, his eyes bloodshot.

"Huh? Mingyue? What's wrong?"

"It's past 7 PM. You haven't had a drop of water since this morning."

Gu Mingli tilted his head and thought for a moment, then stood up, grabbed a towel from the table, and wiped his hands.

"So fast? I feel like only a little while has passed..."

His gaze passed over Gu Mingyue and landed on Xiao Ye.

"His Majesty has arrived too?"

Xiao Ye nodded and took two steps closer.

"Yeah, just came to see you. No matter how busy you are, you still need to eat and rest."

"I'm fine. I'll eat later; this batch of reagents will be ready soon."

Gu Mingli squatted back down by the small stove and continued stirring the medicine pot.

"I need to check the sedimentation effect. We can test the results in a bit."

Gu Mingyue and Xiao Ye exchanged a glance and shook their heads helplessly.

His brother was the same way when he was doing research in modern times; once he got into it, he wouldn't care about anything else and would forget to eat or sleep.

Xiao Ye glanced around at the bottles and jars on the table and the dregs of medicine scattered on the floor.

I picked up a piece of paper; it was covered with symbols and numbers I couldn't understand.

"What is this?"

Gu Mingli stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and leaned over to take a look.

"Oh, this. The formulation ratio of the insecticide."

"Sophora flavescens is the main active ingredient, which can paralyze the nervous system of locusts. Stemona japonica extract helps kill the eggs. A sulfur-lime mixture sprayed into the soil can destroy the eggshells."

Gu Mingli perked up at the mention of this and drew a picture on paper with a charcoal stick.

"Once the pesticide is successfully developed, the application process will be carried out in two steps: Matrine mixed with alcohol as a ground spray will paralyze the locusts' nervous system upon contact, causing them to die. Then, lime sulfur will be used alone to till the soil and kill the locusts' eggs."

Xiao Ye listened attentively, trying to digest what he was saying.

"Then this..."

Xiao Ye pointed to a string of symbols with arrows on the paper.

"What does this mean?"

"Adjusting the proportions."

Gu Mingli blurted it out, then realized that Xiao Ye didn't understand, so he changed his answer.

"It's about recording the quantity of several ingredients mixed together. Similar to a prescription, but more precise."

Xiao Ye nodded and put the paper down.

I still don't understand.

But he knew numbers; Gu Mingli had taught him before.

Liu An instructed the young eunuch to set out the exquisite food on the table.

Xiao Ye said, "Come here, let's eat first. It's no joke to faint from hunger on the stove."

Gu Mingli looked at the hot soup, and sure enough, his stomach growled.

He grinned.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Gu Mingyue and Xiao Ye sat at the table with Gu Mingli, watching him eat swiftly and without interrupting.

Gu Mingli didn't intend to chat with them.

After finishing my meal, I got up and went back to work.

late at night.

The candle in the side room was replaced with a third one.

Gu Mingli held the ceramic bowl up to the candlelight to look at it.

The pale yellow liquid in the bowl was slightly translucent, with little sediment on the surface.

He put down the bowl, dipped a thin bamboo stick into a drop of the medicine, and brought it to his nose to smell.

The bitter taste of Sophora flavescens is mixed with the smell of sulfur, and it has a somewhat pungent odor.

"Hmm, the concentration is right this time."

Gu Mingli reached out and touched the wooden basin filled with soil next to him.

This pot of soil was dug up from the field by Yi Wu during the day; it contained locust eggs.

He used a bamboo skewer to scoop out the medicine and drip it onto the soil.

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed.

The plump insect eggs were speckled with dark gray spots. Gu Mingli picked one up and pressed it with his fingertip; the eggshell slumped down, becoming soft and limp.

dead.

"It's done!"

Gu Mingli quickly wrote down the final proportions on a piece of paper.

I checked all the dosages from beginning to end and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that everything was in order.

When I stood up, I realized my neck was stiff, my legs were sore and numb, and I couldn't even straighten my back.

He straightened up, leaning on the table, and his bones cracked twice.

The sky outside was just beginning to lighten.

From yesterday morning until now, Gu Mingli has been working for two days and one night straight, only eating a bowl of paona (a type of porridge) in between.

Now that I've finished what I was doing, I can't shake off the sleepiness anymore.

He folded the paper with the recipe written on it, placed it in the middle of the table, and weighed it down with a stone mortar.

He then pulled up a nearby stool, put his arms on the table, buried his head in the crook of his arms, and fell fast asleep.

I don't know how much time passed, but I vaguely heard footsteps and people talking.

"...How long have you been lying there?"

"Your Majesty, Lord Gu has been lying here since before dawn. I called him twice, but he didn't respond."

The formula research site is a closely guarded secret, and to prevent leaks, waiters are not allowed to enter without Gu Mingli's orders.

So even though he was lying on the table, no one dared to force their way in and wake up Master Gu.

"Stop shouting. Let him sleep."

It was Xiao Ye's voice, speaking very softly.

Then came Gu Mingyue's voice.

"Brother? Wake up... Don't sleep on this hard table. Come on, get up and go to bed."

A warm hand rested on Gu Mingli's thin shoulder and gently shook him a few times.

"Brother? Wake up."

Gu Mingli mumbled something, but his throat was so dry he could barely speak.

"Stop pushing... just five more minutes of sleep..."

"No, go to bed."

Gu Mingyue tried to pull his weak arm.

Gu Mingli groaned twice and refused to move, as if he were glued to the table.

Gu Mingyue tried pulling, tugging, and pushing several times, but couldn't budge it.

She turned to look at Xiao Ye, who was standing quietly to the side.

Xiao Ye pointed to the bed next to him.

"Stop bothering him, just put him on the bed to sleep."

"Okay. I'll go get some people to carry him out."

As she spoke, Gu Mingyue turned and walked towards the door, preparing to call for help.

She had only taken two steps when she caught a glimpse of Xiao Ye walking up to her brother.

Xiao Ye stretched out his long arm, grabbed Gu Mingli's forearm, wrapped it around his shoulder, and put his other arm around Gu Mingli's waist.

With a little effort, he forcefully pulled that limp body off the stool.

As soon as Gu Mingli's feet touched the ground, his body began to sway uncontrollably.

Gu Mingyue reacted quickly and firmly held onto her brother's other arm from the other side.

Gu Mingli felt someone pulling him and mumbled incoherently.

"The recipe... is on the table... have someone make it... quickly..."

He still had that bug-killing thing on his mind.

"Okay," Xiao Ye replied. "You get some rest."

As he spoke, he and Gu Mingyue stood on either side of him.

They carried him, half-carrying and half-lifting him, to the temporary bed set up against the wall.

They were placed there with great care.

After settling everyone in, Gu Mingyue took the recipe from the table, copied a portion, and put it in her sleeve.

"Your Majesty, time is of the essence. I will go to the workshop first and arrange for the workers to begin preparing the insecticide."

"Go."

Xiao Ye watched Gu Mingyue leave, then turned to look at Gu Mingli on the bed.

He walked to the bedside, took the thin blanket, unfolded it, and covered Gu Mingli's waist and abdomen.

"Someone come here."

Liu An strode in and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty."

"Young Master Gu has been working very hard these past two days and cannot be left unattended. Arrange for people to be on duty around the clock to look after him. Report any unusual activity immediately."

"Your servant obeys the decree."

Liu An immediately summoned two eunuchs to take turns watching over the room.

That afternoon, the pesticide workshops in Anyang City began operations.

Zhao Pucheng personally supervised the production of the first batch of insecticides, and soon led his team to produce them.