Heaven's Mandate Herbalist: Picking Up a Baby Girl Who Is an Empress

Chen Huian, a transmigrator from a traditional Chinese medicine university, finds himself in Chitian Prefecture’s Jiangling County. His father, a herbalist, fell to his death half a year ago, leaving Chen Huian as a lowly itinerant peddler. The world is rigidly stratified into three, six, and nine grades; he barely clings to the lowest tier of the sixth grade. He has no golden finger and sees little hope. His only consolation is his engagement to Wang Erhua, the fisherman’s daughter. In September, he enters Fulong Mountain to collect herbs. The outer ranges have been picked clean for centuries. After days of searching, he discovers a rare Seven-Leaf Lotus on a cliff face. He harvests it and spots a cave opening. Hoping for adventure or more herbs, he enters. Inside, he finds an abandoned infant girl. Despite the burden, he takes her home. The infant is Luo Yunshuang, the supreme Empress of Central State who was murdered and reborn using a forbidden secret method. She is furious at her condition but sees Chen Huian as her last lifeline.

Back at his mud-brick house, Chen Huian discovers the infant has eaten his dried provisions and soiled her wrappings. He cleans her and hangs the swaddling clothes to dry, including a jade pendant inside. Just then, Wang Fisherman arrives and breaks the engagement: he has sold Erhua into slavery due to taxation and poverty. Chen Huian accepts. After Wang leaves, Chen Erdog, a fellow herbalist, visits and tells him that the county magistrate is taxing itinerant peddlers—two hundred cash per entry into the city—to fund a campaign against bandits. Chen Erdog plans to take the riskier path to Ghost Cry Gorge for better herbs. Chen Huian decides to return to Fulong Mountain rather than lose money selling his Seven-Leaf Lotuses for scant profit after the entry tax.

The next morning, Chen Huian brings the infant with him. On the mountain, he spots a Purple Backed Heavenly Sunflower. Before he can harvest it, a white tiger spirit appears, its claws wreathed in blue flames. The tiger attacks, knocking over the herbalist basket and throwing the infant out. Enraged, the infant Luo Yunshuang unleashes her spiritual sense, terrifying the novice tiger into flight. The effort causes a backlash, and she faints. Chen Huian picks up the broken pieces of the jade pendant. Suddenly, he is transported into a cave containing a plowed plot labeled “Spirit Garden,” along with a pill chamber and scripture pavilion, both empty. He finds his collected herbs beside a stone tablet. He plants the Seven-Leaf Lotus and Purple Backed Heavenly Sunflower into the Spirit Garden and waters them. The herbs grow visibly: the lotus becomes a Nine-Leaf Lotus, and the sunflower matures to five years, multiplying their value several times. He realizes he can enter and exit this space at will, and that the power likely came from the infant’s jade pendant. He returns to the mountain, finds the infant sleeping peacefully, and now has much more valuable herbs.

Chen Huian then goes to Fengling County. At the East City Gate, soldiers demand the entry tax and extra payment for the infant. They try to confiscate his herbs. Chen Erdog appears and bribes the soldiers with some Rehmannia Root, explaining Chen Huian’s recent loss of his father. The soldiers let them pass. Chen Erdog advises Chen Huian to abandon the infant or sell her, but Chen Huian keeps her because he suspects the spirit garden and jade pendant are tied to her. They enter the city and separate, Chen Erdog heading to the dock while Chen Huian heads to Shilin Pharmacy in the South Market to sell his improved herbs and buy winter supplies.