From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

"Monsieur Bonaparte, cough cough."

A handyman from the Governor's Palace, carrying a full cloth bag, found Lawrence in the back kitchen of the restaurant and said breathlessly:

"I have gathered everything you asked for. I just found it from the market."

Lawrence nodded, and at the same time added a handful of firewood to the kitchen stove, set up the iron pan and began to preheat it, then took the cloth bag from the handyman and signaled that he could leave.

The bag was filled with roots, stems, leaves and other small items of various plants, and Lawrence patiently rummaged inside for a while and found the only material he needed:

Colchicum bulbs.

Specifically, what Lawrence needed was the colchicine found in the bulbs.

Colchicine is also known as colchicine. Although this organic compound is highly toxic, in later clinical medicine, it was found to have an excellent analgesic effect on acute gout.

Under the current crude conditions, Lawrence could not count on those organically synthesized analgesics, so he could only find a way to extract this natural organic substance from colchicum.

As for the other plants in the bag, they were requested by Lawrence in order to confuse Peter.

In this way, Peter could not know from the raw materials where this extremely effective analgesic came from.

Looking around at the utensils in the kitchen, Lawrence reluctantly began to look for a suitable extraction tool.

Due to the current environment, it was completely impossible to extract high-purity colchicine, so Lawrence had to use the simplest water extraction method.

The colchicum bulbs were cut into powder and soaked in water. Lawrence then used gauze to filter out the powder, then sprinkled a handful of plant ash into the solution to create an alkaline environment, and then filtered it again.

Next, organic solvents were needed for extraction. Lawrence rummaged around in the kitchen again, but there was no other way, so he had to scoop a spoonful of lard as the extraction agent.

After separating the oil and water, Lawrence finally poured the lard dissolved with various organic matter into a hot pot for evaporation.

"Ahem, cough, cough, finally."

Lawrence endured the discomfort of being burned by the oil smoke and set the iron pot aside to cool down. Then he carefully pulled off a lump of white powder stained with oil from the bottom of the pot.

High-purity colchicine should be in the form of flocculent crystals, and the powder in front of you doesn't know how many impurities it contains.

But Lawrence didn't care. As long as Peter could suppress the pain of gout after drinking these things, it had nothing to do with Lawrence as to whether he would have other health problems in the future.

Boom, boom, boom!

Several anxious knocks on the door suddenly sounded.

"Hey, Lawrence! Ahem, have you finished mixing your medicine?!"

I saw Governor Pauli push the door open impatiently, and he was immediately choked by the fumes that filled the room. He covered his throat and coughed and asked.

Lawrence nodded, carefully poured the extracted powder into a wooden cup, and replied at the same time:

"It's no problem anymore. How is Mr. Peter doing?"

"It happened several times in the past hour or so, and I didn't feel anything after applying ice."

Paulie said worriedly.

"Without further ado, I will give Lord Peter the medicine."

Lawrence said solemnly, casually disordering the messy materials on the table so that no one could see what was used, and then left the kitchen with Pauly.

When Lawrence saw Peter in the original room again, he was already exhausted and lying on the sweat-stained sheets.

Peter's right foot has almost lost its color, which is frostbite caused by long-term use of ice for pain relief.

Even though the soles of his feet were numb from the cold, the pain caused by gout was still not much relieved. Peter lay on the bed with a distorted face, rolling around and struggling regardless of his face.

After Lawrence entered the door, he immediately took out a small glass from the cupboard, then carefully poured a small layer of the prepared solution into the glass and handed it to Peter.

After all, colchicine is a highly toxic substance. Once overdosed, the consequences will be disastrous.

Lawrence was not sure what the purity of these powders was, so he had to ask Peter to take a small amount of the solution at a time, and then continue taking it after there were no abnormal reactions:

"Sir Peter, please take your medicine. If you have any discomfort in your abdomen, please tell me immediately."

The weak Peter stretched out his trembling right hand to take the glass, reluctantly looked at the water-like liquid inside, and drank it without hesitation.

Lawrence squatted on the bedside, silently watching Peter's reaction.

The atmosphere in the room seemed to be frozen and dull. Paulie stood nervously at the door, staring closely at Peter on the hospital bed.

Even Captain Moseley ran into the room curiously and worriedly when he learned that Lawrence had prepared a potion for Lord Peter, and frowned at the transparent liquid in Lawrence's hand.

Ten suffocating minutes passed, and Lawrence poured several more cups of solution for Peter and handed it to his hand to drink.

And just after Pete drank his fifth cup, the situation suddenly changed.

"Uh! Ugh!"

I saw that Pete had just put down the glass, and his whole body paused for an instant.

Then his eyes widened, he looked ahead blankly, and he couldn't help but let out two moans.

"Sir Peter!"

Paulie and Captain Morris exclaimed in unison, and before they finished speaking, they rushed to Peter's bed and supported him.

However, Peter slowly pushed away the two people who came to help him. His expression had not yet recovered from his confusion, and he murmured:

"My feet almost no longer hurt, but my stomach still feels a little uncomfortable."

"What?!"

Paulie and Captain Morris couldn't help but turn their heads and glance at Lawrence. Neither of them expected that those few small glasses of water-like things could actually solve Peter's illness for so many years? !

Even the servants in the house came over when they heard the commotion. When they saw that Peter, who was struggling on the bed just now, was sitting on the bed with a relaxed expression, they opened their mouths one after another in disbelief.

Even some servants who had served Peter since childhood could not help but burst into tears when they saw this.

"You! Your name is Lawrence, right, young man."

Peter excitedly grabbed Lawrence's hand and said with a bright smile:

"What is this potion? God, I can hardly feel the pain anymore. What is its formula? Dear Laurence, I would give a mountain of gold for it!"

Lawrence stood up slowly, curved the corners of his mouth secretly, bowed with full apology and said:

"Dear Lord Peter, for the sake of your health, I am even willing to offer you this formula for free, just..."

"Just what? Tell me, young man."

Peter waved his hand nonchalantly, gesturing for Lawrence to continue.

"It's just that the production method and process of this potion are extremely complicated."

Lawrence said with regret:

"Even if I give you the formula, it is impossible for a beginner to prepare the potion correctly. Moreover, if there is any mistake in the preparation, the final product will turn into a fatal poison."

After hearing this, Peter immediately looked a little disappointed, and then turned to look at the potions in the wooden cup. According to the frequency of his illness, the remaining potions would not last more than a few days.

Seeing that Peter was deep in thought, Lawrence then added insinuatingly:

"In addition, Sir Peter, this potion can only suppress your pain and has no therapeutic effect. If you want to delay the disease, you have to start with every detail of your living habits."

The implication of these words is already obvious: if you want to cure the disease, you must change your habits in all aspects. As for how to change, Peter can only know if Lawrence is with him.

Peter raised his head suddenly and asked:

"Do you know much about this disease?"

"Of course." Lawrence responded confidently with a smile.

"That's it"

Peter took a long breath, looked at his already somewhat deformed toes, then turned his gaze to Pauly, and said in a deep voice:

"Paulie, this young man is your subordinate, right? My old bones seem to need some recuperation, do you think?"

Although these words were asking for Paulie's opinion, there seemed to be no room for Paulie to refuse in Peter's tone.

"Haha, of course it's no problem, Mr. Peter."

Paulie gritted his teeth secretly and glanced at Lawrence, but on the surface he still managed a polite smile and nodded repeatedly.