"You'll have to figure this out on your own. After all, I'm not a divine doctor. I don't know what's on his mind," the Empress Dowager said and then turned around to leave.
Xiao Xiao received a signal from her mistress and gave the villagers one last reminder. "The divine doctor is getting old. He should be enjoying his twilight years. But out of his good will, he came to this area to help you all. In the end, he was treated so inhumanely. The Empress Dowager is kind - hearted. She'll give you two days. If within these two days, you can show enough sincerity to move the divine doctor, the Empress Dowager is willing to help."
The villagers stood there for a long time, unable to understand what Shi Muyuan meant.
Inside the tent, Ze was a bit confused about his mistress's actions. "Mistress, didn't you already decide to forgive those people and let the divine doctor start researching the antidote?"
"Some people won't change unless they get a lesson. Besides, I'm not just trying to smooth things over. The divine doctor has suffered so much because of these villagers. It's time he got some compensation."
Hearing this, Ze seemed to understand but not quite.
Now, what Shi Muyuan was most curious about was what the villagers would do to make the divine doctor change his mind. She had already planned in her mind that if the villagers didn't prepare carefully, she would let them suffer more.
Two days passed in a flash. Early one morning, when Shi Muyuan was pulled out of bed by Xiao Xiao, she saw a large totem in the distance.
She glanced at it, surprise flashing in her eyes. "What's this? I remember there was no such thing on the table before I went to bed last night."
"Your Majesty, this is the Ten - Thousand - Happiness Diagram sent by the villagers early this morning."
Shi Muyuan blinked her eyes and it took her a while to come back to her senses. She had only heard of such things in novels and had never seen one in real life. She suddenly wondered if it was similar to the Hundred - Sons and Thousand - Grandchildren Diagram she had read about.
With this thought in mind, she got out of bed and walked around the table, looking here and there. When she saw the vivid figures formed by countless Chinese characters for "happiness", she couldn't help but sigh. "I never thought these villagers would be so thoughtful. They managed to make such an amazing thing in just two days."
Xiao Xiao rolled her eyes. She was a bit jealous that her mistress liked something from others. "If you like it, mistress, I can go out and find many. There are plenty more exquisite ones."
Hearing the grievance in her words, Shi Muyuan laughed. "Forget it. I'm just curious about such a thing. Since they've shown their sincerity, let's take this and go see the divine doctor."
...
Even before seeing anyone, San Qi's sensitive nose had already smelled a familiar scent. "It's rare that the Empress Dowager is so thoughtful. To be able to find such pure osmanthus wine at this time of the year."
Hearing this, Shi Muyuan had a helpless look on her face. "The divine doctor really has a good nose. I've just arrived and you've already smelled it."
She placed the wine in front of the divine doctor and sat down beside him. "How's the research on the antidote going?"
"Since the Empress Dowager has entrusted this matter to me, I won't let you down," San Qi said as he took out a medicine packet from the medicine chest beside him. "This contains the formula for the antidote and the first batch of the antidote I've developed."
Looking at what was in his hand, Shi Muyuan let out a long sigh of relief. "Now we just need to wait for the snake to show itself. I'm sure some people can't wait any longer. By the way, I've brought a special gift for the divine doctor this time."
San Qi raised his eyebrows, looking puzzled. "The osmanthus wine the Empress Dowager brought is already a special gift. Even if there's something else, it can hardly be better than this wonderful wine, right?"
Shi Muyuan didn't answer directly but asked Ziyi to bring the thing up.
When the Ten - Thousand - Happiness Diagram was unfurled in front of him, San Qi was so excited that he almost shed tears.
The divine doctor had traveled far and wide over the years, met all kinds of people. Enjoying his later years was his last wish, but he had been delayed because of his concern for the common people. Now, the appearance of this Ten - Thousand - Happiness Diagram became a kind of spiritual sustenance for him.
His old, bony, wrinkled hands gently brushed over it. Each time he touched the character for "happiness", his mood grew heavier and his hands trembled. "Why did the Empress Dowager think of giving me such a thing?"
"Pfft. Since the divine doctor likes it, keep it and cherish it. It's not from me."
"Oh? Is there someone else out there who would think of an insignificant person like me?"
"Not just one or two. Does the divine doctor still remember the common people he saved in the epidemic - stricken area?"
Bad memories were awakened in his mind. San Qi would never forget the aggressive looks on those people's faces and the insulting words they had said to him.
Hearing what Shi Muyuan said, he seemed to understand something. "So this Ten - Thousand - Happiness Diagram is from those villagers?"
"Yes."
As Shi Muyuan's voice faded, San Qi pulled his hands back. "In that case, the Empress Dowager should take this thing back and return it to them. How could a butcher like me deserve such a thing?"
The look of reluctance in his eyes flashed by. Shi Muyuan knew he was just being stubborn. She stepped forward to persuade him. "It's all the villagers' good will towards the divine doctor. I know that the divine doctor must still be angry about what happened before. But now that the villagers have made such a gesture, they must have realized their mistakes. Isn't the divine doctor going to give them a chance?"
San Qi turned his back. The surrounding made his back look even more desolate. "If it weren't for the Empress Dowager believing in me and protecting me this time, I might have died. They regret now only because I'm the only one in the world who can save their lives. What if the Empress Dowager had believed them back then and wanted to execute me with them?"
Even though he didn't finish the sentence, everyone present understood. If that had been the case, he would probably be dead by now.
Shi Muyuan sighed. After all, she wasn't the one who had been hurt, so she had no right to forgive the villagers on behalf of the divine doctor. "Then the divine doctor can decide for himself. If you don't want to accept it, I can register the names of those people. After you distribute the antidote, we can just let those people fend for themselves."