It must be said, though all three ladies are of similar age, only Mrs. Lan stood out among the pack that left her looking practically a decade younger than the rest.
Blushing, Madam Lan felt overly embarrassed at their excessive flattery. âItâs nothing much actually. I only ate more of the fruits and vegetables Ling Yue brought home from time to time. Thereâs also the ointment made from the beauty cosmetic Dan pills she gave me though.â
âMrs. Lan, which placeâs cosmetic Dan pills are you using to have such good effects? Look at you. That skin is practically like an eggâs shell, so nice and pearly white.â What woman doesnât love beauty? Hearing its due to an ointment, thereâs no way they wouldnât press on for more information.
âLing Yue says itâs from Master Longyu. If both of you like, I can have them sent over to your places tomorrow. I still have some at home that I didnât use yet.â
âPff, already so old and still so shameless. Do they think Master Longyuâs Dan pills are so easily attained?â Hearing itâs from the great master, Nangon Qinglin couldnât keep still anymore and started to mouth off with her cynical words.
âNangong Qinglin, watch what you say. The Dan pills are indeed from Master Longyu and not some low class good from a street stall.â Its one thing to insult her, itâs another to insult her god mother. Outraged, Ling Yue slams the table and stood up.
âHohoho, some people donât even blush when bragging. Lan Ying Yue, how many days have you been in the capital? You are but a three-cauldron alchemist, as if someone like you would be able to get something so precious from the great Master Longyu. Who in the capital doesnât know this? The great masterâs cosmetic Dan pills are so precious that one canât even get it unless they got some connections. Let me open your eyes and show you what a real cosmetic Dan pill looks like.â From her pocket, Nangon Qinglin pulls a bottle out and pours a beady looking object onto her palm.
âSee this? This here is the real deal. I personally went to Master Longyu yesterday to procure this at great expense. If what you say is true then bring yours out and compare.â Nangon Qinglin had begged long and hard for this blue pattern cosmetic Dan pill. Even then it costed her over five hundred gold.
Now this was indeed special. Unlike Ling Yueâs version that was one grade higher, which were yellow patterns, this one in Nangon Qinglinâs hand was but a blue pattern. Whatâs more, when Ling Yue saw the beady little thing, her brows quickly pricked up when her nose picked up the scent.
Somethingâs wrongâ¦
Then thinking back to that day when she met Longyu, Ling Yue immediately understood whatâs going on after remembering what the dwarf said about getting revenge for his apprentice.
âWhatâs wrong, you canât?â Getting no reaction from the opposition, Nangon Qinglinâs cheekiness expanded like a balloon.
âMiss Nangong, bragging or not bragging, we will all know once you try it. My motherâs improvement is for all to see here, thereâs no denying this fact. As for yours in your hand, I have my doubts.â Puckering her lips to one side, Ling Yue makes a doubting face.
âAre you accusing me of lying? Humph, fine, Iâll test it right now and show you.â Immediately, she shaved part of the Dan pill into powder form and mixed it with water. Rubbing it onto her face, she then knew something was wrong for her skin didnât feel right.
âWhy is it so itchy?â Finding it strange, Nangong Qinglin gasped and started to scratch her face repeatedly. The more she did, the worse the itch got.
âAhh! Qinglin, thereâs a lot of red dots on your face.â Sitting closest to the girl, Hong Yu Ying cries out after noticing the problem.
Now things were getting serious. Frightened by her daughterâs facial condition, Mrs. Nangong hurries forward to look because the red dots were similar to an infectious disease that none dared to mention.
Unlike Mrs. Nangon, the rest of the occupants on the table didnât fare so well and dashed to one side in order to gain some distance.
âThis is impossible, my cosmetic Dan pill⦠Master Longyu sold me a fake cosmetic Dan pill.â Scared out of her wits, Nangon Qinglin tossed the pill in question away and started to sob miserably.
Before the festive banquet could even begin, this mess pops up. For a moment, the whole hall fell into disarray.
âHer highness the Queen Dowager has arrived.â
âImperial Consort Luo has arrived.â
Note: A imperial Consort is nothing more than a senior concubine of the king.
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In the critical moment, the Queen Dowager took control of the chaotic situation by leading a bunch of consorts and palace maids into the hall.
âWhatâs going on?â The Queen Dowager of Da Xia was a eighty something year old granny. Through great maintenance, sheâs been gifted with great fortune and kept her looks to that of someone in the forties.
After seeing Nangon Qinglinâs dotted face, even the Queen Dowager herself became startled.
âYour highness, earlier Miss Nangon used some sort of ointment made by Master Longyuâs cosmetic Dan pill and became like this.â One of the palace maid rushed forward to report.
âRubbish, Iâve used Longyuâs products all my life and never experienced anything like this. This child mustâve bought some fake one after being fooled. Quit standing around and call the royal physician this instant.â The Queen Dowager hollers at the maid.
In no time at all, the royal physician arrives at the scene and took a look at Nangon Qinglinâs face while not forgetting to examine the Dan pill on the floor.
âAlkali lime was added to this Dan pill. Once mixed with water, the lime will easily intoxicate the skin. Fortunately, the amounts used here were very little and wouldnât cause permanent harm. I can say this cosmetic Dan pill in question is a fake.â
âHow can this be, I bought this directly from Master Longyu within the alchemist tower. How can Master Longyu sell me a fake Dan pill.â She cries out with sobbing tears.
âRubbish. Are you saying Master Longyu is selling counterfeit pills? This child is too insensible. Thereâs no need for you to attend the feast tonight. Go home and confine yourself for three months and transcribe the female precepts a hundred times.â
Wanting to defend herself some more, Nangong Qinglin found herself being stopped at the mouth by her mother before she could utter another word. Then like a beaten dog, she was dragged away by her infuriated mother.
Taking this all in as a comedy show, the rest of the ladies here werenât as foolish as Nangong Qinglin. They knew very well that the Queen Dowager had a good relationship with Master Longyu and wouldnât stand for any form of slandering.
With this level of backing, who in the capital would dare question Master Longyuâs product?
While everyone thought Nangon Qinglin was at fault for this matter, only Ling Yue knew the truth. As per the girl said, Master Longyu sold her a counterfeit Dan pill.
Then again, Ling Yue personally felt the dwarf didnât do a good enough job. Why only alkali lime? If it was herself, she wouldnât be so kind. However, the results from tonight werenât so bad. Better than nothing.
âQueen Dowager, please donât overexert yourself over that girl. Tonight is the Ghost Festival banquet, we should enjoy ourselves.â A beautiful woman dressed in red came over and lends support to the old queen dowager, her face a total smile.
âHow come the queen isnât here yet? As the head of the inner palace, she should be presiding over tonightâs banquet.â Looking around, the old queen dowager wrinkles her forehead after being stung by the extreme red of the consortâs dress.