Legend: 乌梢蛇 = Zaocys dhumnades (Ie Dried Zaocys Snake)

  Jing Yun Zhao was the only one who continued writing without a single pause since she started, yet now she suddenly stopped writing. Of course everyone was curious.

  Collectively, they all were thinking, Did she stop writing because she couldn’t remember the contents anymore?

  Inexplicably, all of the onlookers had some sort of expectation towards what Jing Yun Zhao wrote on her paper……

  Sun Yan’s hands inadvertently shook as her imagination started turning wild when she heard Jing Yun Zhao stop writing, while at the same time, Ji Shan Shan was nervous to the point of exploding as she shouted, “Why did she stop? Hurry up and continue writing!? The competition still hasn’t ended!”


  “I feel like she’s done writing?” Tong Yan said with uncertainty in his voice.

  As he saw Jing Yun Zhao simply put down her pen, covered it with the pen cap, and started tidying the papers in her hands, before sitting quietly in front of the table with an upright posture and not looking around wildly, giving off a comfortable feeling as she slowly waited.

  Her posture caused mass confusion amongst the onlookers as they couldn’t understand her actions.

  A minute flew by quickly, however it was excruciating for Sun Yan. As it was already December, the days were getting colder and colder, and adding on to the fact that she was panicking, her hands were starting to get a little shaky.

  When the whistle was blown to signify the end of the competition, the noise scared Sun Yan and caused her to lose her composure as she dropped her pen and a flicker of panic flashed past her face before she composed herself. Yet that was all it took for people to start making comparisons between hers and Jing Yun Zhao’s behaviour, as they mentally placed Sun Yan below Jing Yun Zhao.

  Two girls that are placed together would naturally cause people to make comparisons.

  Although Sun Yan had a decent appearance, she looks dull when compared with Jing Yun Zhao as the difference between their temperament became glaringly obvious.

  Although Jing Yun Zhao was still young, she already had a tall figure; a sincere face; a generous demeanor and a firm gaze. On the other hand, Sun Yan had light make-up on and looked beautiful but when standing right beside Jing Yun Zhao, she appeared vulgar. Adding onto the fact that the onlookers still remembered her face of panic previously, their impression of her was lowered.

  When the competition ended, the papers on the two people’s tables were collected and placed onto the board in front of the judges for the judges and crowd to view.

  While on the side was someone who was responsible for reading out the contents of the original book the competitors memorised from.

  Jing Yun Zhao’s handwriting was clear, bold and had powerful strokes, totally unlike a woman’s handwriting. At the same time, her handwriting was rough, yet it also had hints of delicateness in it, causing the onlookers to take a few more looks at it.

  “Amomum Villosum, Fructus Psoraleae, Viola Yedoensis, Semen Euphorbiae Lathyridis…… Lignun Dalbergiae Odoriferae, Wu-Yang, Lei Wan, Sulphur, Sparrow’s Eggs, Swallow’s Nest……” someone started reading from the side.

  As they listened to the announcer, the onlookers were staring intently at the answers of the two people, and near the board was people dedicated to marking the papers, ensuring no foul-play in this competition.

  The herbs announced in the beginning were correct for the two of them.

  Everyone had long known that Sun Yan’s ability wouldn’t be poor, but they never thought that Jing Yun Zhao could also get so many of them right.

  Who knew that she wasn’t actually scribbling random things onto her paper previously, and that even after wasting two minutes, she was still able to recall and write down all the herbs correctly. It was truly unbelievable! Moreover, if they remembered correctly, when Sun Yan and Jing Yun Zhao were memorising the book in the first half of the round, Jing Yun Zhao’s speed was also pretty fast.

  “Wax, Lizards, Dried Zaocys Snake, Scabrous Patrinia Root, Freshwater Sponge, Hosta Plantaginea……”


  “Hold on, here’s missing the Scabrous Patrinia Root……” someone suddenly spoke up.

  Who?!

  Instantly, everyone’s necks stretched as long as they could to keep their eyes and ears out. Many people could practically imagine it being Jing Yun Zhao’s, but very few actually noticed that Sun Yan’s face had paled and her whole body started shaking.

  “It was Miss Sun,” they replied.

  Everyone’s heart lurched in disappointment, but they all thought that this wasn’t strange after some thought. There was a similar word in the middle of the Dried Zaocys Snake (乌
蛇) and freshwater sponge (紫
花) so it was easier to put them together. Missing out on a slightly difficult one in the middle like this was normal. 1

  There definitely wouldn’t be more mistakes at the back, or was it better to say that, the chances of it would definitely be lower than Jing Yun Zhao’s.