Chapter 36: Lucky Star

  Sheng Qiye was also stunned. He stood there with his knife for a while, seeing his wife turning over the dead snake repeatedly, even opening its mouth to check its fangs, before he believed that the snake was really dead...

  "How did he die?" Sima Qi was baffled. He came over and took Sima Siyan's pulse again.

  The pulse is beating slightly faster, probably because of being frightened just now.

  Sheng Qiye grasped Sheng Siyan's hand again and examined it closely, seeing two clear tooth marks on the tiger's mouth, but the bleeding had stopped, with only a few drops of blood beads flowing out, which was quite strange.

  "Do you feel dizzy and nauseous, like you're about to throw up?" Sheng Qiye asked with concern.

  Sheng Siyan felt a bit awkward and thought to herself: Dad... just because she was bitten by a snake, could she really get pregnant? Feeling nauseous and vomiting, wasn't that the standard for pregnant women?

  Although she thought so in her heart, Sheng Siyan certainly didn't dare to say it out loud in front of Sheng Qiye. She shook her head and said, "No, I don't have any feelings."

  Neither dizzy nor nauseous, not even a slight urge to vomit. The wound on my hand only felt a faint stinging pain, similar to the kind of pain I would feel when being pricked by a needle while sewing with Wang.

  Wang picked up the dead, stiff snake with glasses and clicked his tongue: "What a fine mountain breeze! Look at those venomous fangs. Alas, it died too quickly. I must hurry to squeeze out some of its venom; this is a top-grade medicinal material."

  Sheng Qiye's eyes lit up as he slapped his forehead, exclaiming: "I remember now! The main ingredient for my medicine is the venom of the Gu Mountain insect! I've been searching for it for ten years but couldn't find it. Who would have thought that upon returning home, the Gu Mountain insect would deliver itself to my doorstep? Haha!" He laughed heartily and praised Sheng Siyan, "You're truly a little lucky star, whatever you think of comes true! Our Sheng family's name will be cleared this time!"

  Sheng Siyan's heart skipped a beat, and she hastily stepped aside to make way for Wang Shi, who was carrying the dead snake with its eyes bulging out, to dispose of it in the medicine room. Meanwhile, she asked Sheng Qigong, "Father, what do you mean by 'washing away injustice'? What are you talking about?"

  Sheng Qiye stood with his hands behind his back, looking straight at Sheng Siyan with a stern expression: "How much did your mother tell you about the Sheng family's affairs?"

  Sheng Siyan thought she could pretend to be ignorant, but under the piercing gaze of Sheng Qiye, she had no choice but to obediently say: "Mother only said that we are related to the Sheng family in Beijing, and didn't say anything else." After thinking for a moment, she added another sentence: "Mother also said that this is a huge secret, if we reveal it, we won't be able to survive, so I usually pretend I never heard her say that." In other words, she didn't consider herself as the young lady of the Guo Gong Fu...

  Sheng Qiye's expression relaxed, and he nodded in approval. "Your mother is a cautious person, listening to her is not wrong." Then he said to Sheng Siyan, "Quickly go inside and wash up, you were scared just now, later I'll brew a bowl of calming tea for you, after drinking it you can sleep."

  How could Sheng Siyan possibly fall asleep? However, she also had many questions in her mind and wanted to be alone for a while, sorting out these clues to see what was going on. She responded softly, first entering the kitchen to boil water, then dragging the bucket into the inner room to wash up with a swaying gait, taking three steps at a time.

  In the pharmacy, Wang was carefully handling the venomous fangs of the mountain wind, trying to squeeze out the venom. However, no matter how hard she tried, she only managed to squeeze out a tiny bit. The venom was golden yellow in color and had a thick consistency.

  Sheng Qiye watched for a while, then said, "I'll do it." He took out the small silver knife he carried with him and cut open the snake's head. After locating the venom gland, he dug out the entire gland that produced the venom.

  Unfortunately, after they broke open the poison gland, they found that there was almost no venom left inside...

  "What's going on?" Mr. Wang was very disappointed and said with a hum: "I still hoped for more venom."

  The venom of the Gu is a deadly poison, but it is also a very good medicine. It can be used to relieve pain, break blood, and disperse stagnation, and has an extraordinary effect on paralysis.

  Generally, snake venom also has these therapeutic effects, but it is said that the stronger the toxicity of the snake, the more severe the therapeutic effect of its venom.

  And this "Guo Shan Feng" beside them has grown almost into a python, its toxicity is even more toxic than poison.

  If this "Guo Shan Feng" venom is used as medicine, its medicinal properties can be imagined.

  "Alas, what a pity. It's truly a shame." Seventh Master Sheng shook his head, "However, being able to extract this bit of venom is also good. With the addition of this 'Guo Shan Feng' venom to my medicine, its efficacy will be even better."

  Wang's lips were pursed, with two deep nasolabial folds beside her nose, carefully collecting the drop of venom that had just been squeezed out into a small porcelain box.

  Sheng Qiye took over the snake, peeled off its skin, and pulled out the snake meat, saying: "That's right. This Gu mountain wind was originally non-toxic, so our family's Siyan escaped a disaster."

  King's family then smiled. She took the knife from the chopping board, cut the snake meat into pieces, washed it with water, and put it in a pot to stew with the chicken she had slaughtered earlier, making a dish of dragon and phoenix presenting auspiciousness.

  Sheng Qiye took a deep breath and exclaimed: "It's really fragrant!"

  Wang smiled slightly and sat down in front of the stove, staring at the fire.

  Sheng Qiye also sat down beside her, speaking in a low voice about the main matter: "I've come back this time because I heard that the Empress Dowager will soon be issuing an imperial edict to search for a divine doctor with exceptional talent who can cure the Emperor's illness."

  Wang's eyelid twitched and he asked with a slanted glance, "Will the imperial edict be announced soon? But it hasn't been announced yet, where did you hear that from?"

  "I naturally have a place to know." Sheng Qiye didn't elaborate, continuing: "I spent ten years on that side, carefully studying many formulas, and finally settled on this one. As long as the venom of Guo Shan Feng is added, it will definitely be effective in treating the emperor's illness."

  It is well known that the Emperor was suddenly rendered speechless, sightless and immobile fifteen years ago after being given the wrong medicine by Old Master Sheng, becoming like a living corpse.

  "Your Majesty has had a hard time. After fifteen years, you haven't died..." Wang said with a clicking sound, it was unclear whether she was praising or mocking him.

  Sheng Qiye gave her a sideways glance, "Fifteen years is not easy, probably can't hold on any longer, so the Empress Dowager put up a notice seeking talented and extraordinary scholars. —— This also means desperately seeking medical attention."

  There are so many imperial physicians in the palace, and even Zheng Su Xian, the gatekeeper's disciple of the old master, a national treasure in the medical field, can't do anything. Now they want to post notices all over the country, it can be seen that the emperor's situation is very critical.

  Wang understood and said: "Your prescription is specifically for treating paralysis, right?"

  Paralysis

  The emperor's condition was privately believed by them to be paralysis. As for what caused the paralysis, there were many different opinions.

  This disease is generally not so serious. However, when it becomes severe, as in the case of Your Majesty, it is extremely difficult to treat.

  Because the causes of beriberi are diverse, each one requires a special prescription.

  The venom of the Gu mountain wind is recognized as the most effective medicine for paralysis.

  The only problem is that this medicine is too hard to find. Even professional snake catchers who have seen the venomous mountain wind snake can only run away from it.

  Moreover, in the thousand years of the Daxia Empire, the Mountain Wind has appeared rarely.

  Never thought they would encounter one in their own backyard.

  "...who exactly took away the poisonous liquid of the Gu Mountain Wind?" Wang Shi and Sheng Qiye were both pondering.

  They all thought that Sheng Siyan was bitten by this highly toxic wind snake but didn't die from the poison, because the venom of this snake had just been extracted and hadn't had time to produce new venom.

  However, this still can't explain why Sheng Siyan didn't get hurt at all, while Guo Shanfeng died instead.

  ……

  Sheng Siyan finished washing up and sat on the bed, staring blankly at her left hand.

  The small hand as white as jade had two more tooth marks on the tiger's mouth.

  That night, Zhou Huai Xuan suddenly fell ill, convulsing uncontrollably like an epileptic fit. In a state of panic, she clenched her fist and stuffed it into his mouth, letting him bite down on it to prevent him from biting off his own tongue and exhausting himself to death.

  It was that one bite, on her left hand at the tiger's mouth, leaving two tooth marks of Zhou Huai Xuan.

  However, after five years, she continued to grow up, and Wang used various medicinal herbs to treat the marks on her forehead and left hand. The wound on her forehead had completely disappeared, and the tooth mark on her left hand was very faint and almost invisible. But today, after being bitten by that glasses-wearing snake, the tooth mark reappeared, deeper than before, and it's unknown when it will heal.

  Besides, why did Glasses King Snake die but she's fine?

  Sheng Siyan's brow furrowed in thought.

  ……