護花近衛 - 第120章 看看藥方 - 墨香閣

"Oh? Let me have a look at the prescription." At first Guan Xuemin had been somewhat worried that the prescription might contain contraband such as poppy seeds. If it did, a pronounced painkilling effect would be perfectly normal—but the harm to the body would be great. Then again, on second thought, Yang Huaijun was a policeman, a captain of the criminal investigation squad; how could he not know what a poppy was? How could he possibly touch such a thing? Besides, that sort of thing was not something an ordinary pharmacy could sell.

Since Yang Huaijun had filled the prescription at a pharmacy, the ingredients on it must all be quite ordinary, the sort any pharmacy would stock... At this thought, Guan Xuemin realized he had been overcomplicating things.

Seeing the somewhat startled look on Yang Huaijun's face, Guan Xuemin smiled wryly. Many prescriptions were closely guarded secrets. Take that Divine Physician Kang of our time—had he not, on the strength of a single formula for a wound medicine, built up a pharmaceutical group from nothing? He had even established a supply relationship with the military and turned the Kang family into a rising clan of note.

If Yang Huaijun's painkiller formula was truly so effective and had no side effects, then its value should be no less than that wound-medicine formula of Divine Physician Kang's...

To have blurted out a request to see the prescription—that really was putting him on the spot. So he hastened to explain: "Xiao Yang, don't read too much into it. I know many prescriptions are confidential. The reason I wanted a look was to see whether any of the ingredients might have side effects..."

"Grandpa Guan, though the prescription isn't easily passed around, there's no problem with you seeing it..." Yang Huaijun was taken aback for a moment, then said, "I'll take it out and show you right now. Only, until my friend gives his permission, I hope Grandpa Guan won't pass it on..."

"Naturally. I understand these rules well enough. Xiao Yang, rest assured, I won't make things difficult for you. Until your friend gives clear consent, I won't use this formula for anyone else either." Guan Xuemin was overjoyed at Yang Huaijun's words. Even if he could not use such a formula, a single look at it would give him much to ponder.

That day, after filling the prescription, Yang Huaijun had tucked it into his pocket. He took it out now and handed it to Guan Xuemin. Yang Huaijun knew Wei Zhao's character: if something was meant to be kept secret, he would say so plainly. Since he had not said so, it must not need keeping secret. Still, since he had not received Wei Zhao's explicit authorization, Yang Huaijun cautioned Guan Xuemin not to spread it.

Guan Xuemin took the prescription carefully and began to read... At first it was fine, but as he read out the names of the herbs one by one, the astonishment on his face grew thicker and thicker...

"This is a prescription?" Guan Xuemin was dumbfounded on the spot. The ingredients on it were as ordinary as could be; not one was particularly expensive. A few of them, such as gastrodia, did indeed have the effect of easing pain and calming the nerves—but those same medicines had been used on Yang Huaijun before, and their effect had not been very pronounced. Could it be that these few herbs, put together, produced some different, wondrous effect?

Astonished as Guan Xuemin was, he was also a leading authority in the world of Chinese medicine, and he knew that in many cases a formula differing by a single ingredient could produce effects worlds apart...

These medicines were all basically for treating neuralgia and muscular pain; there was nothing particularly remarkable about them. The one thing Guan Xuemin could be certain of was that this medicine was surely not toxic, and that it contained nothing as overbearing as poppy seeds...