Huo Yao nodded as though she did not notice He Shu’s anxiety. She simply replied. “Sure.”


  He Shu was delighted. “Thank you so much.”


  Huo Yao replied. “Don’t mention it.”


  He Shu did not linger and quickly left with the prescription.

  **

  After Fu Cheng left the exam hall, Deputy Chairman Qin called him to his office. He stood in the office for a long time waiting for Deputy Chairman Qin to speak, but Deputy Chairman Qin said nothing and simply looked angry.

  Fu Cheng stood with his hands beside him, his head lowered. He felt terrible.

  “Are you an idiot?” Deputy Chairman Qin scolded him angrily. “I thought you asked me to change the Chinese herbs used for the exam because you wanted to make something that you were good at. I did not expect you to cheat and submit someone else’s pills. What were you thinking?”


  Fu Cheng said guiltily, “I did not expect the chairman to have the pills.”


  If he knew that the chairman already had those pills, he would never take the risk even if it meant he could not outdo He Shu this year.

  Now, his grand plans had backfired on him and he was demoted and banned from taking the exam for ten years.

  Deputy Chairman Qin laughed coldly. “Who do you think Chairman Wang is? Why didn’t it cross your mind that he is a very experienced apothecary? Why did you think you could pull off this stunt in front of him?”


  Fu Cheng pursed his lips and tightened his fists.

  Deputy Chairman Qin pressed his brow angrily. After some time, he finally asked. “What do you know about the girl? Since you could get your hands on her pills, I assume you know her.”


  The moment Deputy Chairman Qin brought this up, Fu Cheng looked annoyed. “I obtained the pills through other means, but I genuinely don’t know her. I also did not know she was an honorary deputy chairman in the association.”


  Although Deputy Chairman Qin was furious, he remained calm and collected. He narrowed his eyes and said, “You should think about it. Perhaps someone tried to play you.”


  Fu Cheng had cheated during the Apothecaries’ exam, but the pills were surprisingly made by some new honorary deputy chairman.

  He did not believe in coincidences.

  Fu Cheng thought about his cousin. Fu Ya had given him the pills, but they never got along with each other. If she had done it deliberately to get him in trouble, it made sense.

  She was very insistent about moving out quickly. From the looks of it, it was all part of her plan to get him into trouble.

  Fu Cheng looked even more annoyed.

  Deputy Chairman Qin glanced at Fu Cheng and said, “Do not blame me for not defending you earlier. What else could I say after the honorary deputy chairman suddenly showed up? The battle was already lost. Also, you are my disciple. I bet Chairman Wang had something to do with this. He was probably out to get me.”


  He could not help but feel suspicious about the entire event, especially the new honorary deputy chairman.

  She was very young, but she was able to produce S grade medicine. He naturally did not buy it.

  Was it a big deal if she could write a prescription? Anyone could produce dozens of prescriptions if they were prepared, let alone one.

  Fu Cheng inhaled deeply. He said softly, “I was overconfident and got careless.”


  Deputy Chairman Qin scoffed and said, “Well, it’s too late to say that now.”


  Fu Cheng’s face instantly turned ghastly pale.

  He was right. It was too late to say this now. He was demoted to a junior member. He had lost the basic rights in the association and was unable to refine medicine, so he was no different from an outsider.

  Deputy Chairman Qin rapped the table with his fingers gently as he pondered. After going quiet for a couple of minutes, he said mildly, “Why don’t you quit the association?”