This made Mu Nanyan start doubting the Demon Clan imperial physicians’ competence.

Making this medicine was simpler than the daily quests in a certain two-character game that sometimes launched to a white screen.

She hadn’t held anything back in the recipe, either. How could they possibly fail to reproduce it?

“That can’t be right. Make it for me, and let me see. Did you leave out an ingredient?”

Mu Nanyan shook her head. That was the only possible explanation she could think of. Could her handwriting have been so messy that they’d misread it?

That couldn’t be it, either. Mu Nanyan was the daughter of a farming family, but she had a steady hand and beautiful handwriting.

Mu Nanyan could read and write, and even knew a little about medicine. That showed she’d received some education. And if a farmer’s daughter could be educated, then it was clear her family hadn’t neglected her.

Her handwriting couldn’t have been the problem, and she’d copied every step of the process for the imperial physicians. How could they possibly fail to reproduce it?

“We didn’t. We followed the recipe you gave us to the letter.”

As she spoke, Lan Yu opened the enormous leather case in her hands. Inside was a dazzling array of herbs and tools for making medicine.

Even Mu Nanyan couldn’t recognize some of the tools.

Mu Nanyan watched Lan Yu carefully take out each item, as if she were setting up a stall at a market. Before long, all sorts of things were spread across the floor.

The herbs, too, had to be picked up a little at a time with tiny tweezers, weighed, and only then added to the pot.

Even the water had to be just right. The elegant bottle it came in made it clear this was no ordinary water.

Mu Nanyan was nearly falling asleep just watching. If Lan Yu made videos meant to put people to sleep, they’d be a huge hit.

After about an hour of work, the herbs finally went into the pot. From the moment they were added to the water until it came to a boil took less than ten minutes. But Lan Yu had spent over an hour on the preparations.

When Mu Nanyan made this before, she’d just grabbed the herbs with her hands and tossed them into the pot. As for the water, she’d used well water—with even a few fallen leaves floating on top.

It was going to be boiled anyway, so Mu Nanyan hadn’t cared about the details.

Lan Yu’s process was complicated, but the result was exactly the same as Mu Nanyan’s: boil the herbs in water, then let it cool.

But when Mu Nanyan tried it, it tasted the same, yet its effects were completely different from the batch she’d made before.

“You see… it really has no effect. It’s just a big pot of bitter water.”

Lan Yu lowered her head, looking a little dejected.

“Then let me try.”

Mu Nanyan found it strange, so she took the herbs Lan Yu had brought and made the medicine again herself.

Lan Yu watched from the side, nearly frantic with worry.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty, you can’t just grab the herbs with your hands! Ah! You have to weigh them before putting them in the pot… And you can’t use well water, Your Majesty!”

Mu Nanyan trampled all over Lan Yu’s standards as a doctor.

Mu Nanyan didn’t care about any of that. She was done in just over ten minutes.

Lan Yu eagerly took a small sip. The medicine’s bitterness made her delicate brows knit tightly. Then again, Lan Yu was still a child, and she couldn’t handle such bitter medicine.

“Here, have one of these first.”

The Empress took out a glutinous rice ball she’d made earlier for Liya and popped it into Lan Yu’s mouth.

The soft, chewy, sweet rice ball immediately washed away most of the bitterness in Lan Yu’s mouth.

Her Majesty really is so kind, and she’s so beautiful, too… Lan Yu thought to herself.

“Well? Did this batch work?”

“It did!” Lan Yu nodded quickly. “Could it be the water? I’ll try again.”

This time, Lan Yu followed Mu Nanyan’s example and skipped all the troublesome steps. She thought she was sure to succeed this time.

But ten minutes later, a pot of bitter water with no effect sat in front of a crestfallen Lan Yu.

Faced with the pot of medicine, the young girl couldn’t tell whether her expression or the medicine tasted more bitter.

“Just where did it go wrong? I followed the exact same steps.”