"If it works. There's still one more round after this." Zhu Su turned to other plants. "While we're waiting, it's better to examine the other plants. I'm really curious about this plant."
He pointed at a kind of legume named Shanlidou. The plant was unknown to him before, he knew about it simply after Zhong Xia introduced it to him.
Knowing that Zhu Su was interested in the plant he recommended, Zhong Xia said, "It is only one of many plants whose existence was not recorded all this time."
"But you said, you can't explain it any further?"
"This plant is still a mystery to us. I... dare not cross the line..."
Zhu Su glanced at other members. "Do you know any details about Shanlidou?"
"According to what I've heard, it's a poisonous plant. Your Highness, please be careful when using it," Chen Suibo spoke all of a sudden.
"Eh?! But our teacher said, this plant is not poisonous, we can even eat its contents immediately after removing the skin?" This time Du Qinfeng argued.
"Trust me, Boy. It's poisonous."
"But my Master is not just anyone!..."
Seeing that a long debate was imminent, Zhu Su hurriedly stopped them by trying to take a middle way, "Well then. Let's do an experiment to confirm which one is correct. First, I will boil Shanlidou first. We must be more alert with the extreme caution, it'll be bad if our test subjects get poisoned."
"How will you neutralize its poison?" Xiong asked.
"Using the most natural neutralizer," Zhu Su replied firmly. "Water."
"Do you need to soak it first?" Qing glanced at the basin where Shanglu was soaking in.
"It doesn't need to be that extreme. Believe me, my teacher often eats it. And he is in good health until he dies of old age."
Zhu Su thought for a while.
"Alright! We will just boil it. The people must get difficulty if they have to soak every new plant to process them. We also have to think of an efficient way for the people."
Having been observing in silence, Hu Nayin could no longer hold that question in her mind. "Your Highness... have you thought about, who will be the test subjects?"
Everyone looked directly at Hu Nayin. So did Zhu Su. This was a question that really puzzled him from the beginning. Every experiment indeed requires a tester. But since it was an experiment, it would not succeed at once. Failure must exist. The problem was, the failure will be very risky and may even kill the test subject's life. Being a test subject was even more terrifying than being a court food taster.
"Well ... of course we need someone to test it..." Zhu Su faltered.
"Alright, Your Highness. I'm ready!"
Han Zhong shouted in confidence. He soon became the center of attention.
"I am also ready!" Rui shouted.
"I am still young. I think my stamina is strong enough to withstand the ferocity of poison, so I am willing to do it," Xiong nodded in agreement.
Zhu Su blinked. On the one hand, he was impressed by his team members who had proven their loyalty by willing to become test subjects, but on the other hand, how could he assign them? If they died, he would feel guilty for the rest of his life. Moreover, they were the team members that had been with him since he was exiled to Yunnan for the first time, it had been sixteen or seventeen years. How could he have such a cold heart to be so cruel?
"No! I don't want you to do it!" Zhu Su refused.
Yet Zhu Su's refusal dissatisfied them. "Why, Your Highness?!"
"This experiment has a great risk of failure. You are at great risk of losing your life!"
"It's okay, Your Highness, we are ready! Really!"
"No, no!" Zhu Su kept shaking his head. "Never mind! Don't keep worrying about this! We'll think about it later!"
"But, Lady Hu is right. We have to think about this matter. Sooner or later, we have to find the right test subject to accomplish your research project. Without test subjects, it is even more dangerous. The lives of Kaifeng people are at stake!"
"Well, that's it, I don't get any idea now. So forget it! Let's just do something else, who knows we may suddenly get an idea!..."
"Actually you don't need to worry. We can test it on animals."
Everyone turned towards Liu Ku. Liu Ku himself, folded his hands in a relaxed manner. "When I was working as Fangshi for Xie Wang, I used to make many poisons or dangerous parasites. I couldn't test it on humans. So I used animals. The result was the same."
"How can it be?! The organs of humans and animals are different!" They protested. Because biology and anatomy in Ming Dynasty were still undeveloped, they did not know what animal's body structure was like. All they knew was that animals were different from humans. Humans have intelligence while animals don't. So how could humans be equated with animals?
"There are animal which are quite similar to humans. It is, monkeys."
Liu Ku's words sparked their tension even more. "What, monkey?! Gosh, that's crazy, Liu Changshi! How can you equate humans with monkeys?!"
"But the truth is, I often used monkeys as my experiments, and it really helped." Liu Ku ignored the ongoing protests, he focused on Zhu Su. "How about you, Your Highness? Instead of sacrificing the lives of good people who have helped you, or your servants or your people, would it be better to follow my advice? If this experiment fails, no life will be wasted, and you won't feel guilty. Because I know, you don't have the heart to see people die because of sacrificing for you."
"Of course! I'd better not write down Shanglu and Shanlidou and immediately label them as dangerous plants instead of sacrificing people's lives!"
"But if you can test it, why not?"
"Well... you're right." Zhu Su thought about it once again. "Very well, I accept your suggestion."
The protests roared even more blaring. Zhu Su exclaimed louder than them, "I believe in Liu Changshi! Not only he creates medicine, he has even made poison or disease contagion! He has been very experienced at this. Therefore, just go along and let us go to see the results!"
And Zhu Su turned to other plants to investigate it further.