As the sesame seed cakes at the Chang'an West Market wafted with oil fragrance, Su Wanyue's abacus beads snapped and flew onto the rumor notice, the herbal hairpins on her double buns trembling with anger: "Brother Fan! The apothecary is actually saying that 'Cyan Ox Seven' is just dried dogtail grass!" Zhang Yifan shook his abacus beads and tore down the notice, the beads bouncing into the character "Fool" over the words "fake medicine": "Dogtail grass? Then we'll let the abacus beads give them a lesson in 'Recognizing Herbs'."
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the "Abacus Bead Verification Stage" was set up in the center of the West Market. Huwa's carved wooden figurine held an abacus bead flag, where the beads bounced to form the character "True". Moli shook her wolf-hair brush as the master of ceremonies, the beads bouncing on her plain silk to form the character "Appraise": "Good elders and fellow townspeople! Today, see for yourselves how Qingniu Medical Hall uses abacus beads to tell truth from falsehood—" Before she finished speaking, a spy from a rival apothecary hurled a rotten egg, and the beads immediately bounced into the character "Filthy", rolling across the egg liquid to spell out "Righteousness defeats evil."
Zhang Yifan carried two bowls of medicinal soup onto the stage, the beads on his sleeves bouncing to form the character "Compare": "On the left is Cyan Ox Seven, and on the right is the apothecary's medicine—" The beads jumped into the right bowl, imm…
Chapter 184