I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

"Grandpa, you take a rest first. I'll prescribe a new prescription." Lin Fan said.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, little doctor." Old Master Liu nodded with a smile.

Lin Fan went to the study and wrote down a new prescription. This time, the prescription was more complicated and required more precious herbs.

Liu Hong looked at the prescription and frowned, "Xiao Lin, I'll ask someone to buy these herbs, but..."

"but what?"

"The quality of medicinal materials on the market nowadays is uneven, especially those artificially cultivated, which have much worse efficacy." Liu Hong said truthfully.

Lin Fan nodded. He had considered this question before. The current medicinal herbs market did have many problems. Artificially cultivated herbs often neglected quality in pursuit of yield.

"How about this, I'll ask someone to buy some and try it out first." Liu Hong said.

Two hours later, the servants returned with the herbs. Lin Fan carefully inspected them and, as Liu Hong had said, the quality was substandard.

"Dad, how about we go to the Chinese herbal medicine market?" Liu Ying suggested. "I heard there are a lot of wild medicinal herbs there."

"Right!" Liu Hong slapped his head. "There's a specialized Chinese herbal medicine market not far from here. I should be able to find better quality ones there."

"Then Yingying and I will go there." Lin Fan said.

"I'll go too." Liu Hong stood up.

"Uncle, don't go. Stay home and accompany Grandpa." Lin Fan stopped him, "Yingying and I can go."

The next morning, Lin Fan and Liu Ying drove to the Chinese herbal medicine trading market.

Located on the outskirts of the city, this market covers a vast area, with stalls displaying a wide variety of medicinal herbs as far as the eye can see. The air is filled with the rich aroma of herbs.

"Wow, this place is so big!" Liu Ying exclaimed.

"Let's go and take a look first." Lin Fan said.

The two of them started browsing from the first row of stalls. Lin Fan carefully examined each herb, shaking his head and sighing from time to time.

"What's wrong?" Liu Ying asked.

"The quality is still not good enough." Lin Fan frowned. "Although these look good, most of them are artificially grown and not old enough."

As he was speaking, a quarrel was heard from the front.

"Your medicinal herbs are not wild at all! They are clearly cultivated artificially. How dare you charge this price?" A middle-aged man pointed at the stall owner angrily.

"Customer, you are mistaken. These are all authentic wild medicinal herbs, absolutely genuine and at a fair price!" The stall owner was a bald man in his thirties with a smile on his face.

"Bullshit! This is what wild Polygonum multiflorum looks like? Do you think I don't understand?" The middle-aged man became even more angry.

A lot of people gathered around, watching the fun.

Lin Fan and Liu Ying also came over.

"Dear customer, if you don't want to buy anything, just forget it. Don't disturb my business here." The bald stall owner looked a little ugly.

"I'm going to expose you as a liar today!" the middle-aged man insisted.

Lin Fan walked over to the stall and looked at the herbs, then shook his head. These herbs were indeed artificially grown and of very poor quality, yet they were priced very high.

"Boss, your Polygonum multiflorum is definitely not wild." Lin Fan said.

The bald stall owner glared at Lin Fan and said, "Kid, what do you know? I dug this out myself from the deep mountains and forests!"

"Wild Polygonum multiflorum has an irregular shape, obvious wrinkles and scars on the surface, and is darker in color," Lin Fan said, pointing at the Polygonum multiflorum on the stall. "But yours has a regular shape and a smooth surface, clearly cultivated."

"Also," Lin Fan continued, "the cross-section of wild Polygonum multiflorum shows a brocade pattern, but yours doesn't."

Voices of approval were heard from the crowd.

"This young man is right!"

“It looks like it’s really a fake!”

The bald stall owner's expression became increasingly grim: "You...you're talking nonsense!"

"If you don't believe me, you can cut it open and see." Lin Fan said calmly.

"Cut it!" The bald stall owner gritted his teeth, picked up the knife and cut the Polygonum multiflorum.

Sure enough, the cross-section was plain and there was no brocade pattern at all.

"This..." The bald stall owner was suddenly speechless.

"And this ginseng." Lin Fan pointed at another herb. "You labeled it wild ginseng, but it's actually garden ginseng. Wild ginseng has a slender, densely ringed stem, while yours has a short, thick stem and sparse rings. It's obviously cultivated."

The people around nodded, and their eyes turned to the bald stall owner with contempt.

"Little brother, you are really an expert!" The middle-aged man said gratefully, "If it weren't for you, I would have almost been cheated."

"It's just a piece of cake." Lin Fan said calmly.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the bald stall owner packed up his things and prepared to leave in dejection.

"Stop!" the middle-aged man shouted, "You liar selling fake medicine, don't even think about running away!"

People immediately gathered around and the bald stall owner suddenly panicked.

"Everyone, everyone, it's my fault. I'm leaving right now, right now!"

Watching the bald stall owner's embarrassed back as he left, Liu Ying was curious: "How do you know so much about medicinal herbs?"

"A family heirloom." Lin Fan answered simply.

The two continued to move forward, but Lin Fan looked at more than a dozen stalls and did not find any satisfactory medicinal materials.

Just as they were feeling somewhat disappointed, they arrived at the last row of the market. The stalls here were obviously much simpler than those at the front, and some were even just a piece of cloth spread on the ground.

In a corner, Lin Fan saw an old stall. The owner was a man in his sixties with gray hair and simple clothes. There were several medicinal herbs on the stall.

Lin Fan walked over and took a look, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

**Chapter 19: Unexpected Gains**

"Old man, how much are these herbs?" Lin Fan squatted down and carefully examined the herbs on the stall.

Although these herbs looked unremarkable, Lin Fan recognized their value at a glance. Their quality far surpassed that of herbs sold at other stalls in the market.

The old man looked up at Lin Fan, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "Young man, do you know what's good?"

"I know a little bit." Lin Fan nodded. "This Ganoderma lucidum should be thirty years old, right?"

"Thirty-two years." The old man smiled. "It seems I've really met an expert."

Liu Ying was confused as she listened, but seeing Lin Fan's serious expression, she knew that these herbs were not simple.

"This ginseng is more than 20 years old." Lin Fan pointed to another herb.

"Twenty-six years." The old man nodded. "These are all wild medicinal herbs I dug up in the mountains. There's absolutely no problem with the age."

"Name your price." Lin Fan said directly.

The old man thought for a moment and said, "All these things together cost fifty thousand yuan."

When the stall owners around heard the price, they all showed mocking expressions.

"Old Zhang, are you crazy? You want fifty thousand for this crappy herb?"

"That's right, who would spend so much money on your junk?"

The old man ignored the ridicule from the people around him and just looked at Lin Fan quietly.

"Deal." Lin Fan nodded without hesitation.

Liu Ying was shocked. Fifty thousand yuan was not a small amount of money, but seeing Lin Fan was so sure, she did not object.

"Young man, do you really want to buy it?" The old man was a little surprised.

"Really?" Lin Fan pulled out his phone. "Bank transfer or cash?"