The old Daoist priest's hair and beard were all white. If it wasn't for his flushed face and his furious glare at Li Yi, he would look like an immortal in everyone's eyes.
"He didn't mean it, please don't be angry …" MIngzhu hurriedly walked over and said when she saw the unhappy expressions on the Daoist priests' faces.
Although the Imperial Astronomer was under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, these Daoist priests were not just officials, especially the old Daoist priest in front of them. He had an extremely high reputation in Daoism, and even the Emperor treated him with respect.
All the officials and nobles in the capital yearned for the miraculous pills he concocted to prolong their lives.
"How can I not be angry when you insult my Daoism for no reason!" The old Daoist priest was obviously still angry. He pointed at Li Yi and asked, "Tell me, why are my pills useless?"
Ever since the appearance of the Five Minerals Powder, taking pills had become one of the hobbies of the rich and powerful in ancient times. In order to prolong their lives and become immortals, the number of pill masters began to increase explosively. Mercury, gold, lead … whatever was more important, they used it to concoct pills.
Taking pills became the norm. When they had nothing to do, they would meet up with a few friends to take pills. That was the culture of society. What else could Li Yi say?
If this was the modern era, gathering a crowd to take drugs would cause them to go to jail for life.
It was obvious that Daoism had not changed from external alchemy to internal alchemy. Li Yi had no intention of explaining to the old Daoist what heavy metal poisoning was. A group of people were going crazy from wanting to become immortals. This was the same as telling the old monk Tan Yin that his Buddha was useless.
Even Li Xuan, MIngzhu, and the old Emperor believed that taking pills was useful. What he said was meaningless.
"My apologies, I misspoke just now. May I ask if you can let me take a look at that holy pill?" Li Yi cupped his hands at the old Daoist priest.
"Hmph, remember not to be careless in the future." Although the old Daoist was still somewhat angry, he did not continue to make things difficult for him when he saw that he was with Princess Yongle. He took out a brocade box from his sleeve and carefully opened it.
The old Taoist was very cautious with this pill. He held it himself and did not let Li Yi touch it. He stared at Li Yi as if he would take his hand back at any time.
Li Yi looked at the pill in the box. This pill was about the size of a quail's egg and was dark red in color. It actually reflected light, and under the sunlight, it looked very strange. Other than mercury sulfide, which was also known as cinnabar, what else could have such an effect?
It seemed that these Daoist priests' alchemy techniques were still very traditional. Since they had mercury, they must have added a lot of lead as well. Gold powder, silver powder … Not sure if they had added anything else. Li Yi looked at the white-haired old Daoist priest and thought to himself that he would never eat the alchemy that he had refined himself.
"I'll go back first." Not long after, Li Yi looked away from the pill and did not look at the old Daoist priest again. He said something to Li Xuan and turned to walk out of the hall.
"Sigh …"
Li Xuan stretched out his hand, but before he could say anything, Li Yi had already walked out of the door.
He and MIngzhu looked at each other and chased after him helplessly.
He did not expect that Li Yi would actually have a conflict with these Daoist priests. One had to know that when facing these people, even he and MIngzhu could not say or do anything.
Li Yi walked in the direction of the palace gate alone. Only a fool would come out on such a hot day. Anyway, the old Emperor did not have long to live. Although he would definitely die after eating those pills, at least in the early stages, he could still feel the cheerfulness of the gods and the improvement of his physical strength. Otherwise, there would not be so many people in the world who believed in it.
"Lord Li?"
Suddenly a slightly surprised voice came from behind. Li Yi stopped and saw a person running out from a small palace at the side.
"Oh, it's Imperial Physician Liu." Li Yi saluted him. The person who came was the Imperial Physician Liu Jimin whom he met once in Qing 'an Prefecture.
Imperial Physician Liu said with a smile, "It's really Lord Li. We haven't seen each other for more than half a year since we parted at Qing 'an Prefecture. I didn't expect to meet you in the palace today. In front of us is the Imperial Physician's Bureau. Would Lord Li like to go in and have a cup of tea?"
It just so happened that it was a little hot on the way here. Li Yi thought for a moment and then nodded and said, "Thank you, Imperial Physician Liu."
"Lord Li is too polite. Please!" Imperial Physician Liu smiled and reached out his hand.
…
…
"This Imperial Physician's Bureau is quite cool." Li Yi sat on the chair, took a sip of tea and said.
"Speaking of which, I haven't thanked Lord Li in person for offering the 'Wound Suturing Technique'. Lord Li is kind and generous, and everything you do is for the benefit of the people. On behalf of the people in the world, I thank Lord Li!" Imperial Physician Liu sat opposite him, cupped his fists and said.
He had heard this sentence from Imperial Physician Liu last time. Li Yi waved his hand and seemed to think of something. He suddenly asked, "Lord Liu has always been responsible for His Majesty's illness, right?"
Imperial Physician Liu was stunned for a moment. Then he nodded and said, "My colleagues and I have been trying to find a way to cure His Majesty's illness, but there has been no progress. I don't know why His Majesty's illness suddenly worsened a month ago. Even I can't do anything. Fortunately, the Imperial Astronomer and a few Taoist priests offered sacred medicine so that His Majesty's illness did not worsen further."
Li Yi sighed. Even the current imperial physician said so. It could be seen that this kind of thinking was deeply rooted in everyone's mind.
Even if countless people had died because of this thing, in order to strengthen that illusory belief, they could always find suitable reasons. For example, the raw materials for refining the elixir were not chosen properly, the temperature of refining the elixir was not controlled well, and even the death of the emperor could be said to have become an immortal. If the old emperor really became an immortal, it was unknown whether the heads of these imperial physicians and Taoist priests could be kept.
"Imperial Physician Liu, do you really think that the elixir worked?" Li Yi took another sip of tea and said lightly.
Imperial Physician Liu glanced at him and his expression gradually froze. He stood up from his seat, looked at Li Yi and said carefully, "Lord Li, please explain clearly …"
Li Yi looked at him and asked, "Lord Liu, do you know what was used to refine the elixir?"
Imperial Physician Liu shook his head. What he learned was medical skills, not alchemy. His specialty was not the same. How would he know what was used to refine those pills? What's more, which one of those Alchemists didn't value their own pill formula more than their own life? How would other people know?
"Cinnabar, lead powder, and maybe gold and silver powder …" Li Yi stood up, patted Imperial Physician Liu's shoulder and said, "Lord Liu, take care."
Every time Li Yi said a word, Imperial Physician Liu's face became a bit paler. When he finished his sentence, the imperial physician's face had already lost all color.
Plop.
After Li Yi's figure disappeared from the imperial physician's office, Imperial Physician Liu finally couldn't help but collapse to the ground.
"Lord Liu, what's wrong with you!" The officials of the imperial physician's office immediately rushed up.
After an unknown amount of time, Imperial Physician Liu finally came back to his senses and said anxiously, "Quickly, quickly go and invite Lord Li back!"
When the people of the imperial physician's office were going crazy under the scorching sun, Li Yi was leisurely lying on the rocking chair, tasting the iced grape wine and eating the fruit salad that the little maid had personally fed him. He only felt that every pore on his body was about to open up.
This was life. It was thousands of times better than going to the imperial palace to suffer in such a hot day …
Li Xuan came in from the outside, sweating profusely. After hugging a piece of ice from the corner of the room, he didn't let it go. He sat opposite of Li Yi and asked while gasping for breath, "What happened to you just now? Is there a problem with the elixir?"
Li Xuan didn't understand why Li Yi's attitude changed so much when he heard about the elixir. He was puzzled in his heart, so he specially came back to ask.
"There's no big problem." Li Yi shook his head and said, "If His Majesty doesn't take those elixirs, at most a few years, at least … only one or two years of lifespan."
Hearing this, Li Xuan's expression darkened. Then he thought that if the elixir could extend his lifespan by a few years, it could be considered a very good ending. He asked, "What if he takes the elixir?"
Although heavy metal poisoning needed time to slowly accumulate, since those Taoist priests dared to take it out to the emperor, they must have already experimented with it. That kind of dosage should not have any problems in a short period of time. However, the old emperor's body was already very bad. After thinking for a while, Li Yi gave Li Xuan a conservative number.
"Two months."
"What? Two months! "
Li Xuan suddenly jumped up from the chair. The ice in his arms fell to the ground and shattered.
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