Chapter 21 - Secret Ingredient.

"Chris..."

Ben flinched a bit when he made direct eye contact with that pair of icy cold eyes of the King, but immediately realized that he hadn't done anything wrong, he stood back at the spot and showed that tube of muddy concoction to the King.

"I know this might look disgusting but this is the only method I can figure out right now to press down the effect of the remaining venom in your body," said Ben as he briefly calmed himself down.

"I would never doubt you in such matters, but do let me know all the ingredients used if not I will not consume it." said the King with a firm attitude.

"Tsk... If you trusted me enough, you wouldn't have asked this question. Furthermore, if I would even want to harm you, you wouldn't even be able to..."

"You know I am not talking about that!"

The King shouted and sat up from the bed as he had seen through what Ben was trying to hide from him.

"Ah... I see. If you insist... Here, have a look, these are all the ingredients used in this concoction." said Ben as he took out all the herbs he had in his work trunk, including the dried crickets.

The King took a glance at all of the herbs displayed by Ben, obviously, he was not convinced at all.

"These herbs, I believe you should be very familiar with all of them, even these crickets, despite I seldom use it, it is not uncommon to be used in prescriptions, I know you might have problems accepting it, but..."

"And again, the dried crickets are the not problem here. There is one ingredient you are hiding from me, right?" The King asked in a stern tone.

However, instead of being angry, he looks more worried.

"No... I did not... Ah..."

Without any warning, the King rolled down Ben's left sleeve, on the inner side of his elbow was a fresh needle hole.

"Then explain this." said the King, referring to that needle hole on Ben's arm.

"Ah... I..."

Facing that question from the King, that genius doctor somewhat lost his words, he didn't know how should he find an excuse for himself anymore.

"The crucial ingredient for this concoction is blood, or to be more specific, your blood, right?" The King asked, his tone filled with concern and distress.

"Ah... You... You found out about that after all. But... Don't worry, the herbs I mixed in can completely cover the scent of blood, you wouldn't even be able to taste a single bit of it." said Ben, who pretended not to know what the King was concerned about.

"Benjamin Hua, you... Tsk..."

Slightly speechless due to Ben's words, the King moved his hand away from Ben's sleeve and lowered his head without saying anything.

Seeing the King's reaction, Ben pulled over a chair and seated.

"I am sorry. I know that you are worried about my health but this is not what you should be bothering right now and a few drops of blood wouldn't kill me. Furthermore, it is not easy to find a suitable and clean source of blood, thus, my blood is the best option at this moment." said Ben, patiently trying his best to convince the King to consume the concoction.

Hearing that, the King looked up and stared at Ben for a few seconds before accepting that test tube of muddy concoction from Ben's hand...

***

Later, Rei's room.

Rei just had her lunch with Holly and is currently having her after-meal dessert, a slice of steamed red date cake.

"How is it? Do you like the cake?" Holly asked, with an anticipating look.

"For a beginner, this is good enough," said Rei who gave a rather vague answer.

"Ah... I guess that means it is not good enough. Hah... I guess I can't make this for Dr Ben after all." said Holly as she sighed.

Rei patted Holly's arm with encouraging eyes without saying anything.

"To be honest, I would be happier if you could pay more attention in prescribing and decocting herbs," said Ben who suddenly appeared at the door which was wide open.

"Ah... Dr Ben!" Holly exclaimed in a surprised tone while Rei greeted Ben with a slightly awkward smile.

"I am here for Rei's routine health check-up. Holly, may I ask you to recuse yourself for a while?" said Ben.

"Heh?... Oh! Okay! Let me know when you are done." said Holly before swiftly walking out of the room.

After Holly left the room, Rei looked at Ben with eyes filled with suspicion.

"Hmm? What is it?" Ben asked as he noticed Rei's look.

"Dr Ben, you are not here just for my routine health check-up, right?" Rei asked, with no intention to hide her suspicion.

"Well, you are right, your routine health check-up is only one of my many reasons. Here, have a look at these," said Ben as he took out two envelopes from his work trunk.

"What are these?" Rei asked in curiosity.

"This thicker envelope is a report from our spy in Qin's Palace," said Ben as he handed the thicker envelope to Rei.

"Heh? A spy report?"

Slightly shocked by that information, Rei retracted her hands that were about to touch that envelope.

"Yes, a spy report. Do you still remember that day you told me you were worrying about your friend who worked as a gardener in the Imperial Garden?" said Ben.

"Yes, I did."

"Well, since we happened to have a newly trained spy in the Imperial Palace who hasn't been assigned any task yet, thus, I gave an order to the said spy to keep an eye on your friend. This is the report from that spy regarding your friend," said Ben, explaining the whole situation to Rei.

"I see..."

With that, Rei slowly reached her hand to the envelope but before she touched the envelope, she retracted her hand again.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Ben asked.

"Uhm... Have His Majesty seen this yet?" Rei asked.

"Nope. Or rather, would you want him to see it?" Ben asked.

"Well... I don't mind actually," said Rei.

"I see. I will present this to him after you finish reading," said Ben.

Rei nodded as she finally got her hands on that thick envelope and opened it...