TTPC Ch. 10: Losing The Tonic Again

The thick book exuding a soft golden radiance trembled lightly. If it had intelligence, it might be in a state of joyful laughter.

Lin Yi ‘looked’ toward the Pharmacopoeia, which was in high spirits, thinking that the injury it had received on account of his own recklessness should already be recovered. Perhaps after drinking the tonic a few more times, he would be able to resist a new round of backlash……

When that time came, he must seize the opportunity and take the prescription out as soon as possible.

He had also learned these last two days that the prescriptions could be brought outside, but he was too excited at the time and took it out immediately. Afterward, it disappeared when the spiritual power stopped.

He wasted the blood he coughed up in vain!

However, not taking it out was also beneficial. After all, he was currently under surveillance. If the Lin Family discovered the prescription, he wouldn’t be able to explain where it came from.

Lin Yi slowly withdrew from his sea of consciousness, opened his eyes, looked toward the sky, and then could not help but ‘look’ outside the house.

The hour was nearly there for them to bring him today’s serving of tonic.

……

“What is this?”

The servant of the Green Bamboo Courtyard was about to bring the stewed tonic into the house when they were blocked by Shao Shi and Lin Ying, who had appeared.

“A tonic.” The servant replied.

Shao-shi’s husband, Lin Jinfeng, was one of the ten pharmacists who held status in the Lin Family. Facing her, servants were naturally respectful.

“Tonic?” Lin Ying stared at the cup, “What is he drinking a tonic for?”

The servant glanced at Shao-shi and found that she was also staring at him. After pondering for a moment, he replied, “This is something the Patriarch instructed in order to replenish Young Master Yi’s energy and blood and nurse his health.”

“He’s blind. Why does he have to nurse his health? He’s going to be married off anyway. What’s the point in wasting medicinal materials?” Lin Ying spoke with dissatisfaction. Why should a person like Lin Yi be helped in nursing his health when he’s going to Pei Family to die quickly.

The servant didn’t answer, and Lin Ying became increasingly unhappy. She was about to snatch the cup, but Shao-shi stopped her and signaled at her not to be impulsive before speaking to the servant herself, “Show me.”

The servant hesitated for a moment but still handed the cup over.

Shao-shi lifted the cup lid, and smelling the medicinal scent inside, she asked, “This is Yin Nourishing Grass?”

“Yes.” The servant responded.

Shao-shi’s expression changed slightly, likely because she already understood what was going on with this tonic. Thinking of the purpose of why they had come over today, Shao-shi raised her eyes to look at her daughter.

Lin Ying immediately understood and went to talk to the servant to divert his attention, “Why are you having Lin Yi take Yin Nourishing Grass. He is a man. Why would he eat this kind of thing……?”

Then at that moment, something came to mind, and the expression on her face distorted for a split second. When she looked at the cup again, she revealed a fierce look as if she wanted to devour it, “You’re feeding Lin Yi this kind of thing. Do you want him to seduce Big Brother Pei?! He already has that bewitching appearance, but you’re still trying to make him become some kind of freak that is neither man nor woman to touch Big Brother Pei?!”

Lin Ying was already genuinely angry, her head fervent with the impulsive urge to really overturn it.

Upon seeing this, the servant hurriedly blocked her path, “Young Miss Ying, you cannot!”

At the moment the servant turned around to stop Lin Ying, Shao-shi added a transparent and colorless substance to the cup before quickly covering the lid back.

“Ying’r, don’t make trouble again unless you want to return with me right now!” After Shao-shi’s purpose was completed, she sternly shouted at Lin Ying.

Seeing Shao-shi warning her not to be excessively noisy with her eyes, Lin Ying reluctantly bit her lower lip, rigidly staring at the cup without any further movements.

The servant let out a breath of relief and hurriedly retrieved the cup from Shao-shi’s hand, “Eldest Madam, after you——”

The group entered the room and saw Lin Yi sitting upright and still behind the table. Although his eyes were unfocused when he ‘looked’ at them, his eyes vacant and indistinct, the feeling that all their tricks were seen through in that split second still made Shao-shi and Lin Ying somewhat uneasy.

“Young Master Yi, this is today’s tonic.” The servant placed the cup on the table in front of Lin Yi and lifted the lid.

The smell of the medicine rushed out as soon as the lid was opened. The moment Lin Yi smelled the scent of the medicine, his heart turned cold.

These past few days, he had seen various kinds of figures and could roughly make out which figure was who. Initially, he was happy when he saw the figure of the servant entering his ‘line of sight’ outside. Who knew he would see the servant being stopped by Shao-shi and Lin Ying. He watched them stand there, watching as they passed something between their hands and then had a slight struggle. After a moment, they entered the room, but he felt something wasn’t right. He had a bad premonition in his heart, afraid that his hope for today’s tonic was dashed.

Now, smelling the scent of this medicine, his mind automatically identified what was inside. Apart from the regular tonic, there was one more thing——

Red Frost Mist.

A poisonous mist produced by a spiritual herb called the Seven-Leafed Red Frost Flower.

The Seven-Leafed Red Frost Flower was a type of spiritual herb that bloomed red flowers after the seventh leaf sprouted. When the flowers bloomed, a thin layer of frost mist would condense on the surface, seemingly stunning and beautiful but actually toxic. The poison originated from the thin layer of frost. The body of the Seven-Leafed Red Frost Flower itself is not poisonous and was the main ingredient of many middle-level medicines and pills. However, when its flowers bloom, it emits a toxic gas that condenses on the surface as frost mist. This frost mist was a material of many low-level poison formulas, and when used alone, it was a slow-acting poison that could poison a person’s throat.

If he drank this stuff, he really would become mute.

He cursed silently in his heart——

“Damn it.”

“Wu…”

……?

Lin Yi, who was cursing, paused for a moment. He seemed to hear something? It was like the weeping of a milk-fed child, the kind of anxious sadness of arriving but getting lost……. But where was there a child here? Was he hallucinating?

Because of this interruption, it seemed to others that Lin Yi was just sitting there staring at the cup in a daze or perhaps pondering deeply.

Knowing there was a sinister plot involving the cup of soup, Shao-shi and Lin Ying both slowed their breathing and stared nervously at Lin Yi.

The servant beside him saw Lin Yi was different from usual, not drinking the tonic soup as soon as it was served. It was quite strange.

“Young Master Yi?” The servant was puzzled and couldn’t help but speak, “The tonic soup is already in front of you. You can reach it with your hand.”

Lin Yi returned to his senses, raised his head, and ‘looked’ at the few people before him, “Tonic soup? Isn’t it poison?”

Lin Ying suddenly grabbed Shao-shi’s arm, her breathing becoming short, “What nonsense are you talking about?!”

The servant also frowned, thinking that Lin Yi was going to act like some kind of demon again. “Young Master Yi, this is tonic soup, not poison. Didn’t you act recklessly and shamelessly to beg for this from the Patriarch? What are you up to now?”

When Lin Ying heard that Lin Yi made a scene to beg for the tonic soup, her eyes were immediately filled with contempt, “Lin Yi, you’re still scheming. It’s a pity that with your disabled body, no matter how much tonic soup you drink, it’s meaningless. As a blind man, did you still think Big Brother Pei would like you?”

As she spoke, her gaze scrutinized Lin Yi’s face carefully with jealousy and malice, resembling that of a hissing snake. Looking at his face, fair and soft skin, exposed neck and wrists as white and delicate as frost, his hands also white and tender, he was even more feminine than women. Where was there a man’s appearance?! If it weren’t for his blindness and inability to cultivate, left abandoned to fend for himself in a remote courtyard for many years, if he were released, who knew how many people he would draw in. Just like a vixen who wanted to nourish his body with tonic soup, he definitely wanted to use his body to seduce Big Brother Pei. It was incredibly disgusting.

Lin Yi was too lazy to respond to Lin Ying’s nonsensical words and endured the pain in his heart to push away the tonic soup in front of him before saying, “I won’t drink this soup. Lin Ying wanted to kill me that day, and now you come in with her again. Who knows if you all have poisoned the soup.”

“What nonsense are you talking?! Who is poisoning you?! If it’s you, you deserve it!” Lin Ying was shocked and angry.

The servant also felt Lin Yi was making trouble for no reason, “I handled this tonic soup personally. No one is poisoning you.”

“Who knows if you are in the same boat as her?” Lin Yi said.

“You!” The servant was angry with him for a moment. Still, during the past few days, he had already experienced Lin Yi’s methods of making a scene and shamelessness and quickly calmed down again, “Since you requested the Patriarch for the tonic soup and it’s stewed well, you are compelled to drink it. Otherwise, who can justify it?”

“I feel a surge of energy and blood. If I drink this soup again, I will cough up blood,” Lin Yi said.

“What coughing up blood?! You must drink the tonic soup!” Lin Ying said impatiently. Shao-shi also frowned and stared at Lin Yi tightly.

Lin Yi remained unmoved.

“Today, you must drink it! You must drink it even if you don’t want to! You! Make him drink the tonic soup for me!” Lin Ying instructed the servant.

But the servant only furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, and then walked over to collect the tonic soup in front of Lin Yi and carried it away.

“What are you doing?!” Lin Ying commanded him to stop, “Put that back for me!”

The servant replied, “Young Master Yi coughed up blood because he couldn’t bear the potency of the tonic soup. Fortunately, the Patriarch came to rescue him in time. Originally, we’d already stopped giving him the tonic soup. It was Young Master Yi who insisted on drinking it and stewing it every other day. Now that Young Master Yi feels unwell, he can no longer drink the tonic soup. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to explain it to the Patriarch.” Neither Lin Ying nor Shao-shi expected this type of thing to happen. In that case, Lin Yi no longer needed to drink the tonic soup?

Translator’s Note

I almost wasn’t able to get this chapter out. This week was so busy, and work was completely shorthanded the entire time. Friday was the worst, which is when I finished the translation for this chapter. Either way, I managed! I hope you enjoy the chapter and remember to look up even when things are low!