The entire Zhou Fan Wang Guo was overjoyed. All problems had been solved properly. Zhu Su had known that everything happened between Hu Nayin and Yun was purely misunderstanding. Zhu Su's two daughters now lived in harmony not only with Zhu Su, but also with Hu Nayin and his son Zhu Youjue. They got along peacefully and happily because right now the princesses really loved Hu Nayin, and Hu Nayin herself loved them like she loved her own son. Even Zhu Su's formers enemies had become the very reliable members of the Team of Wellbeing. Yun was an expert of plant and animal science, and De Ta was brilliant at divination and geomancy. They gave lots of valuable suggestions, and the research project that had been very great from before, became even more perfect right now. The problem with Deng Linping and Mrs. Deng was also solved properly because Zhu Su used this excuse, "I accept all Bai Lian Jiao as my team, but instead punishing Deng Linping who has healed Nayin. That's not fair, right?" and this excuse was accepted by the officials willy-nilly. Not to mention the additional news of Wu Qi and Xue Mei's marriage. So, in such a blissful condition, who would think that Rumilie, Huan Shikang, Suo Junhuan, and the others were still plotting to destroy them?
The painters were painting plants in the botanical garden. Their paintings could even match the complex and intricate modern photos. Zhu Su did not want to be half-hearted in completing his project. He was a perfectionist. If the painter did not draw as expected, then they had to repeat it again, until the result was really similar, or arguably similar.
"I write this book for people with low literacy. Maybe they will not even look at my writing and only see the images. So pictures are the central components, very important. Don't let any mistakes in painting them. Otherwise, people will misidentify the plants because of the wrong pictures."
Not only perfectionist about the paintings, Zhu Su also sought perfection in his writing. Every time he described a plant, he described it in great seriousness. Although a plant had been explained in ancient books, he did not straightly believe it. And then, he found that there were many things out of sync with previous records, thus he updated them without hesitation.
"I am not impudent to the Seniors. Instead, I respect the knowledge, since then I make revisions and reforms. Times have changed, and the knowledge must also be revised in order to keep up with the times."
And at the same time, Zhu Su also demanded the job to be done quickly. Because it was urgent. Humans are made up of food, food is a vital issue for human civilization. Now, this vital issue is messed up, becomes big trouble. Whether the natural disasters and famine happened because of the Will of Nature as Gao Qing said, or because of Huan Shikang's job as he claimed, he did not care. He did not work to find the causes, he worked to find a solution. Now he had found that solution, he just needed to finish it while racing against time.
I can't let this prolong. Even one life is so important we can't let him die. It shouldn't be underestimated. I must save them all... I must!
Zhu Su was so eager to save the people from famine and illness that he even got courageous to imitate Shennong's way of recognizing new types of plants, that was, by tasting them one by one. This method has proven to be effective because in recognizing new plants, we can not only rely on sight or smell, sometimes we have to rely on the sense of taste. That is why we can know the taste of a plant, whether it is sour, or sweet, or bitter, or so on. For example, Fuzi (Prepared daughter root of common monkshood) is effective to help those who are stricken with Cold Syndrome * , even Fuzi becomes one of the ingredients in the concoction which is effective to resuscitate people from faint due to Cold Syndrome. On the other hand, Fuzi is very poisonous, and as we taste it even only a little, our tongue will immediately become stiff and numb, caused by Fuzi's strong poison. It clearly shows that experimenting with the sense of taste is a very risky act. But in order to help the people, Zhu Su was bold to take this risky action.
"Fu Wang! My God, why do you have to taste plants! What if you get poisoned?!" Zhu Su's older daughter asked in a panic. She and his sister were walking with Hu Nayin and Zhu Youjue when they saw Zhu Su was tasting a leaf.
Seeing his wife and children glaring at him with wide, worried eyes, Zhu Su soon assured them. "It'll be alright! I am not careless, I've already looked at the records about plants beforehand, so I know its limit of safety..."
"If you have read the record, then why do you still taste it?"
"Because I'm still not sure about its true usage."
"That means you'll not be really alright! My God, why do you have to do such a dangerous thing, anyway?" The younger princess also shouted. "After all, you are a Fan Wang. The ruler of a big city! The whole Kaifeng protects your life so much, why do you not care about your own life instead?!"
"Geez, what's wrong with you, if you don't protest me, will you be dissatisfied?! Okay, okay, just play somewhere else and don't bother me!"
These princesses indeed had a record of being very fond of criticizing him, so even though their relationship was more harmonious than before, Zhu Su could not help but feel angry about their criticism. However, this time Hu Nayin agreed to the two princesses. Not because she was much closer with them, but because he agreed that Zhu Su's action was very risky.
"Your Highness, I don't agree if you keep doing such a dangerous thing, either," Hu Nayin spoke out.
"Nayin? Why do you go along with them?! As an herbalist, you know clearly that Tasting is indispensable to study botany, right?"
"Because in the end, Shennong died from tasting the wrong plant."
Hu Nayin looked seriously, right into Zhu Su's eyes. "Don't follow Shennong even to such a miserable ending. Your Highness, we all really need you."
"But... but... after all Shennong dedicate so much for human civilization. For all of us! It is thanks to his sacrifice that we can eat everything safely, right? Some sacrifices must be made if you want to achieve something big!"
Hu Nayin gaped. "Your Highness! This time I totally disagree with you! This time you don't intend to help people, you are instead overpowered by lust! And that lust is leading you down the wrong path!"
...
* Cold Syndrome = a recessive condition resulting from exposure to exogenous cold or deficiency of Yang in our body. Its common symptoms are: preference for warmth, sensitivity to cold temperature, and so on. (www.shen-nong.com)