After the diagnosis was complete, the old man withdrew his hand. Wen Jue watched him with eager eyes, standing obediently by his side, not urging him.
Ling'er had already brought the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, placing them on the other side of the massive stone table.
"Elder Bai, please proceed."
After offering his thanks, Elder Bai picked up the brush with a trembling hand and began to write, his strokes slow and deliberate. He continued until the entire sheet of paper was filled before stopping.
Ling'er picked up the paper and set it aside to dry.
Elder Bai put down his brush and looked at Wen Jue, who was still waiting, his innocent, round eyes fixed on him.
Wen Jue's demeanor made him chuckle. He opened his treasured medicine box and waved it towards Wen Jue, generously fulfilling his promise.
"Here, little one, take a good look. What's inside?"
Wen Jue quickly climbed onto the stone stool, standing tall to get a clear view of everything in the small wooden box.
It was filled with bottles and jars. In the bottom left, there was a compartment where neatly stacked square pieces of cloth were piled, containing thin rolls of what looked like delicate needles, varying in thickness.
But these were not the main focus.
Wen Jue's nose twitched, his little head almost touching the medicine box.
Ling'er noticed Wen Jue's actions, worrying that Young Master Wen Jue might knock over the medicine box, and also concerned that he might annoy the renowned physician, as famous doctors often had their eccentricities.
However, Elder Bai signaled to her that it was fine.
Wen Jue carefully examined the contents, row by row.
Then, he quickly located the faint, elusive scent he had detected.
Wen Jue extended his short arm, pointing to a small jade bottle within the wooden box, "What is this?"
Elder Bai stroked his white beard and smiled. The child had sharp eyes, immediately finding the old man's most precious item.
He answered with calm assurance, "This is a pill I developed to alleviate wound pain, though it's still a semi-finished product."
Despite his words, there was an unspoken pride in his tone.
At this moment, Wen Bai had finished sampling the small snacks on the table, finding them slightly unsatisfactory. He retrieved his small fruit platter.
System 001 chimed in, "Host, this is an anesthetic. Made from several highly toxic medicinal herbs, it uses poison to counteract poison, making its effects far superior to similar anesthetics of this era."
System 001 sighed, "This human old man is quite capable among the mortals in this world. However, this semi-finished product, while effective as an ingested anesthetic, could potentially become an incredibly potent poison if other medicinal herbs were added appropriately later on. Though the toxicity of the original herbs in this bottle has already been neutralized."
Wen Bai was not interested in these details, replying perfunctorily, "Oh."
On the other side, Wen Jue softly imitated Ling'er's address and asked, "Elder Bai, can I have some of this?"
Elder Bai stroked his beard and looked at Wen Jue's serious little face. His expression softened uncontrollably. He chuckled, but refused, "No, no, this is medicine. It cannot be given to you, little one. If you were to take it by mistake, it would be troublesome."
Wen Jue promised, "I won't eat it, I just think the smell from this bottle is very nice. I like it very much."
Elder Bai paused, the hand stroking his long white beard faltered.
Nice smell?
He immediately straightened his posture and leaned slightly towards Wen Jue, "Little one, you can smell the scent from this bottle?"
Wen Jue nodded obediently, as if to say, 'Can't everyone smell this?' He described it, "It's a bit bitter, and also like... like... unripe fruit!"
"Unripe fruit, that description is excellent! Does it mean astringent, is that it?"
Wen Jue nodded.
"Using taste to describe smell, only you could think of that."
Elder Bai chuckled and opened the bottle in front of him.
He brought it close to his nose and sniffed it carefully, repeatedly. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and trembled, "Yes, it does have that scent."
He was extremely sensitive to these matters, having worked with these herbs so often while developing this medicine.
But he had overlooked that the medicine actually had a scent; he had initially assumed it was colorless and odorless.
This was something he was proud of.
But now, it truly had a scent, a scent he had overlooked.
The scent was extremely faint. Even with his keen sense of smell, he needed to bring it extremely close to his nose to detect the subtle hint of it.
Yet this little one, from a distance, with the medicine still in the bottle, could smell it.
Elder Bai's expression turned serious as he looked at Wen Bai for a few moments.
Then, he solemnly took out a jade bottle from his person, which he never parted with.
He carefully transferred half of the vial of medicine, the one he was most proud of developing in his life thus far, from the small bottle.
He filled it into his cute little jade bottle and solemnly handed it to Wen Jue.
"Little one, this is your destiny with this old man. Half of this bottle is yours as a gift, but you must remember not to eat it, understand? With your small body, if you were to eat it carelessly, you would simply fall asleep! And never wake up!"
Wen Jue was delighted and accepted it.
His round eyes were solely focused on the small bottle. After admiring it, he placed the small bottle into his personal small pocket.
Then, he said softly, "Thank you, Elder Bai."
The little one was very well-taught, at least in terms of etiquette, impeccable, appearing both smart and clever.
Elder Bai was pleased and nodded.
He couldn't help but say to Wen Jue, "Little one, I have many more things like this at home. If you are interested, you can always come to me."
Wen Jue looked up joyfully, his eyes bright, "Really?!"
Elder Bai couldn't resist and patted Wen Jue's little head, "Of course, it's true."
With that, Elder Bai no longer wasted time and proceeded to his original purpose: examining the three little ones.
He turned and his gaze met Wen Bai's.
Ah, they were twins.
"Come on, little one."
Wen Bai glanced at the male protagonist, Mo Xingchen, who was cowering behind him. He pried off Mo Xingchen's hands that were clinging to his shoulder, and walked towards Elder Bai without hesitation, leaving Mo Xingchen with a dashing silhouette.
Before Elder Bai could speak, Wen Bai obediently pulled up his sleeve and extended his tender, lotus-root-like little hand.
Then, he deliberately glanced back at Mo Xingchen.
Wen Bai did not see expressions of admiration or respect in Mo Xingchen's eyes.
Mo Xingchen looked at him with an expression of shared misfortune, as if they were both prey.
Wen Bai: "..."
As expected, the male protagonist was still too young?
After examining Wen Jue, from observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking, to the extremely slow writing, Elder Bai had finished in less than fifteen minutes.
However, when examining Wen Bai, Elder Bai seemed to have even more patience.
More than fifteen minutes had passed, and Elder Bai was still carefully questioning Wen Bai, stroking his beard.
He inquired about his daily routine, the regularity of his diet, and even Wen Bai's favorite and disliked foods.
It was so detailed that it included how much Wen Bai liked certain foods, and from what time his appetite in the morning began to change...
Wen Bai answered each question, though he often gave fabricated answers.
After all, those were the habits of the original body, which he did not know.
He went with his intuition.
As Elder Bai listened, his expression became complex, as if he had never encountered such an inexplicable and difficult case.
After Wen Bai's detailed account, Elder Bai pondered for a long time.
Just as Mother Wen, standing by, was becoming increasingly worried, fearing a diagnosis of something grave that she couldn't bear, Elder Bai finally took action.
He walked to the other side of the stone table, picked up his brush, hesitated, and wrote two full pages, then constantly revised them.
It took him another fifteen minutes of revision before he finally nodded.
Mother Wen's expression was somber, Ling'er was worried, and the surrounding servants held their breath.
Wen Bai: "..."
After being examined, Wen Bai finally returned to his original seat.
He took back the small fruit platter that Wen Jue had been holding, which belonged to him.
Wen Jue was not angry when his item was taken back. He simply gave Wen Bai a big smile and said softly, "Brother, let's eat together."
Wen Bai looked at the face that was identical to his own.
For a fleeting moment, Wen Bai felt that he could not refuse.
He had a strange illusion.
It felt as if whether the other person ate or he himself ate, it was as if he was the one eating. This peculiar illusion.
Wen Bai sat down next to Wen Jue with a blank expression, ignoring the small hand reaching for the fruit in his platter.
Wen Jue looked at Wen Bai's expression and secretly giggled.
Ah, how interesting his brother was, he had never noticed before.
As for Mo Xingchen, after being coaxed for a long time and still unwilling to come, he was brought over by Duo Shu and Fu Qi, who each grabbed one of his hands, held him down on the stone stool, and kept him there.
Mother Wen, watching from the side, couldn't help but smile.
Mo Xingchen's small face turned red upon seeing the beautiful smile of Mother Wen. He forced himself to sit on the stone stool and extended his small hand.
Since he couldn't resist today anyway, maybe... he wouldn't have to drink that bitter medicine!
As they were causing a commotion, a servant suddenly approached from not far away. However, the servant's attire was not the usual uniform of the Wen family servants.
Ling'er, Mother Wen's maid, saw this and, after seeking permission from Mother Wen, walked over.
Soon, Ling'er returned, holding something wrapped in a cloth.
Mother Wen walked a little further away.
Ling'er whispered, "Madam, after those three people left today, the other two showed no unusual behavior. Ah Da, the servant who followed Young Master Wen Jue, is now dead. He seems to have died from poisoning. This was found on him."
Mother Wen opened the cloth and saw a jade pendant that was extremely familiar to her. It was a gift she had personally chosen for Xiao Jue's fourth birthday, and should have been the most valuable item in Xiao Jue's room.
"I actually allowed such a person to stay by Xiao Jue's side..."
Ling'er naturally recognized it as well. Seeing Madam Wen blaming herself, she comforted her, "Madam, the Wen family's rules are strict, and there have been no incidents of theft. Could it be that..."
Mother Wen murmured, "It's possible. Xiao Jue is so young, and Bao'er has also given away his precious items as mere playthings to others... It's time for us to find a tutor for them."
Mother Wen, holding the jade pendant, turned back to Wen Jue.
"Xiao Jue, is this your jade pendant?"
Amidst a faint fragrance, Wen Jue saw the jade pendant in front of Mother Wen. The smile on his little face froze.
Ah Da was so greedy. The things he usually asked for, and the things he gave Ah Da.
After getting what he wanted, that person would hug it to sleep every night.
Ah Da had been staring at this jade pendant for a long time, his eyes clearly filled with desire.
How could he have lost it?
The medicinal properties needed to be in contact with the skin for 4-5 hours to take effect. Had he not been wearing it?
Wen Jue's good mood was about to vanish.
"This is my jade pendant, but Ah Da said he really liked it and wanted to take it with him, so I gave it to him. How is it with Mother now?"
Mother Wen smiled and patted Wen Jue's little head.
Xiao Jue was indeed a kind child.
Ling'er, on the other hand, was furious. That servant had actually asked Young Master Wen Jue for things, such valuable things, so brazenly. He probably asked for many other things on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, Ling'er knew that Madam would start blaming herself again.
Mother Wen said to Wen Jue, "Then shall I have someone send it to Ah Da?"
No, amidst that faint fragrance, Wen Jue smelled a hint of blood.
Mother was lying to him.
Wen Jue extended his little hand and took the jade pendant. "Then I've changed my mind. Ah Da doesn't want it anymore, Xiao Jue doesn't want to give it to him."
Mother Wen said gently, "Then we won't give it to him."
Wen Jue took the jade pendant from the scented cloth. His nose twitched.
It was the scent of blood.
Hmph~
Ah Da couldn't possibly still be alive.
Wen Jue's smiling face regained its cheerfulness.
However, looking at Wen Jue's innocent little face, she didn't want Wen Jue to be holding something from a dead person. Mother Wen was momentarily at a loss for words.
Whenever she faced Wen Bai and Wen Jue, she instantly lost her usual decisiveness and sharp demeanor.
However, Ling'er was clever and immediately saw through Mother Wen's thoughts.
Ling'er walked over, steadied herself, and said, "Young Master Wen Jue, look, this jade is already broken."
Wen Bai looked over and indeed saw a very small flaw on it.
Mo Xingchen noticed the commotion and tried to gain attention in his childish voice, "If it's broken, throw it away. You can't wear it, it might cut us little babies."
Ling'er, speaking an untruth, added in agreement, "Yes, it would be bad if it injured you!"
Mother Wen immediately replied, "Tomorrow, your mother will find you a better one."
Wen Jue nodded obediently and handed over the jade pendant.
He never liked gold, silver, or jade. He only liked his small pocket and the things inside it.
Mother Wen breathed a sigh of relief and immediately handed the jade pendant to Ling'er.
At this point, Elder Bai had also finished his diagnosis.
Seeing that Duo Shu and Fu Qi were no longer holding him down, Mo Xingchen scurried behind Wen Bai and Wen Jue again.