“Impotent?”

“What do you mean impotent?”

“Who’s impotent?!”

Jin Xianrong’s mind went blank for a moment, and he reflexively said, “What nonsense are you talking about…”

The female medical official, as if afraid he wouldn’t understand, looked at him and said, “Doesn’t Official Jin know? Your illness isn’t a kidney abscess, it’s impotence.”

“Nonsense—”

These words were so shocking that his swarthy face turned pale, his broken eyebrows nearly flew to the sky, and even his voice changed pitch.

“Stop spouting nonsense!”

The young clerk at the door, hearing the commotion, rushed in frantically asking, “Master, what’s wrong?”

Jin Xianrong roared, “Get out!” frightening him away, and the door was shut tight.

Lu Tong, hand resting on her medical box, said coolly, “Official Jin, haven’t you noticed these days your yang qi is weak, your vitality insufficient, and you can’t perform in bed?”

“…That’s because of the kidney abscess!”

“Blood deficiency isn’t a symptom of kidney abscess,” she glanced at the blue-and-white porcelain bowl with lotus patterns on the table, picked it up and sniffed it lightly, then shook her head. “You were already yin deficient, and taking kidney-warming and yang-strengthening medicines will only further deplete your blood, making the impotence more severe.”

“How do you know these are kidney-warming and yang-strengthening medicines?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Jin Xianrong suddenly realized, “No, what right do you have to randomly claim this official is impotent? The Hanlin Medical Institute sent several officials to treat my illness, and they all said it was a kidney abscess. You’re just a young woman, inexperienced in medicine, yet you dare make such outrageous claims. Do you believe this official could have you removed from the Medical Institute?”

As he spoke, he gradually became more confident.

How could it be impotence? Earlier, so many medical officials had said it was a kidney abscess, and this female doctor had only taken his pulse and hadn’t even examined his body… Those symptoms she mentioned earlier must have been just lucky guesses, like a blind cat catching a dead rat!

Lu Tong frowned, “The previous medical officials all said it was a kidney abscess?”

“That’s right!” At this point, he had no interest in flirting with a beauty, focused only on proving her words wrong. He was still Jin, the Assistant Director, in his full vigor.

The female medical official pondered for a moment, showing a slight expression of realization: “I see.” But she didn’t continue.

The more she acted this way, the more it gnawed at Jin Xianrong’s heart, and he couldn’t help asking, “What do you see?”

“I mean, now I understand why Official Jin’s kidney abscess hasn’t improved.”

“Explain clearly!”

The female medical official paused, looked at him again, and spoke flatly: “You keep saying this official is inexperienced, and firmly believes the previous officials’ diagnosis of kidney abscess. May I ask, after these officials treated you for so many days, has your condition improved?”

Jin Xianrong was speechless.

Forget improvement he felt the situation was getting worse.

“Because your condition was never a kidney abscess, naturally treating it as one won’t work.”

Jin Xianrong gritted his teeth, still trying to struggle: “Then why did they lie to me?”

Lu Tong looked at him with pity, those deep cold eyes under long lashes were like autumn waters, enchanting, but her words were colder than winter snow.

“Because they didn’t dare.”

“You hold a high position and are in your prime. If word got out, it would not only hurt your pride but make future encounters awkward.” She spoke calmly, as if unaware of the mockery in her words. “Moreover, impotence is difficult to treat. Since the medical officials couldn’t cure it, they simply called it a kidney abscess, letting you maintain hope while continuing to collect consultation fees.”

These words were so direct they felt cruel.

Jin Xianrong didn’t want to believe it.

But…

He had asked around before – ordinary people with kidney abscesses usually recovered within a month or so. Yet in these two months, despite taking medicine, getting prescriptions, and seeing doctors, there hadn’t been the slightest improvement.

Though he kept calling the Medical Institute doctors incompetent, they were still Hanlin medical officials with some skill – how could they be stumped by a simple kidney abscess?

But if it was impotence…

He looked up at the person before him, his expression uncertain: “You say those medical officials deceived me, but you’re also an official, how dare you tell the truth?”

“Me?” Lu Tong thought for a moment. “Perhaps because I’m just a commoner.”

“I’m a commoner with no background in the palace, and no one told me about this beforehand. If I had known, perhaps for self-preservation I wouldn’t have said anything. Besides, the medical officials can only hide it temporarily, not forever. Perhaps they had already decided to find a scapegoat, so they chose me to tell you the truth.”

Jin Xianrong was stunned.

The woman before him spoke plainly, without a trace of resentment. Being in officialdom himself, how could he not understand these twists and turns? The Medical Institute pushing forward a common female doctor as a scapegoat was simply to avoid trouble. But to protect themselves they concealed his condition from him, not caring if it ruined his future life… these shameless wretches!

Impotence… impotence!

He suddenly thought of his deceased father, who also became unable to perform in bed after turning forty, suffering much mockery from the back courtyard, becoming depressed daily, and passing away early from accumulated melancholy after just a few years.

But he wouldn’t even be thirty-five for another two months!

Jin Xianrong collapsed powerlessly into his chair, no longer showing the vigor he had when Lu Tong first entered. Like a frost-wilted eggplant, his face pale, he spoke: “So you’re saying, this… this illness of mine is truly impotence?”

Impotence had always been difficult to treat, the path down the mountain was always harder than the climb up. Over the years, among those he knew, including his father, once yang deficiency set in, it was like a river receding thousands of miles, never to see flowering days again.

Besides… he knew his own body best.

“Your condition differs from ordinary impotence, presenting similarities to kidney abscess. Without timely treatment, as time passes, your organ will gradually become more swollen and inflamed, unbearably painful and itchy, until it festers. Eventually, to save your life, you’ll need to…” she turned around, her gaze like piercing ice and snow, slowly moving across his waist, speaking word by word: “Cut away the necrotic flesh—”

As she finished her last sentence, Jin Xianrong felt a chill below, as if seeing someone using a thin blade to slowly cut away the dead flesh below his body. He immediately sprang from his chair: “How can this be?”

He covered his lower body, as if already castrated, rushing around the room like a headless fly: “Find someone, I need to find the best doctor to treat me! No matter the cost!”

Lu Tong lowered her head, packing her medical box, speaking languidly: “The medical officials sent by the Institute would rather lie than tell you the truth, showing this illness is very difficult for them, otherwise they wouldn’t have sent so many different people to examine you.”

Jin Xianrong’s frantic shouting paused, his heart turning ice-cold: “Does this mean my illness can’t be cured?”

He was only thirty-five, must he follow his father’s path?

He hadn’t lived enough yet!

“It can be cured.”

Suddenly, he heard a voice like heavenly music.

Jin Xianrong abruptly raised his head to see the beautiful female medical official standing before him, giving him a slight smile: “Though it’s difficult for them, it’s manageable for me… while impotence is troublesome, it’s not unsolvable.”

“Really?”

“Of course, after all, I ranked first on the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring examination red list this year.”

Like returning from hell to the mortal realm, in an instant, Jin Xianrong looked at this young female medical official as if she were a fairy from the jade pavilions in the ninth heaven, her entire being radiating golden light.

If he weren’t concerned about his dignity, he would have knelt before this woman.

He collapsed into the chair, looking at her and speaking with a trembling voice: “Medical Official Lu if you can truly cure me, gold and silver treasures, take your pick.”

The woman nodded, her expression gentle yet composed, like a female Bodhisattva coming to save the suffering, looking down at her helpless believer from above, showing an unusual radiance in the darkness.

“Very well.”

She spoke softly: “However, you must do as I say.”

…

When leaving the Jin residence, Jin Xianrong specially had a new carriage prepared for Lu Tong, and respectfully saw her out the door, his proper behavior nearly making the doorman’s eyes pop out.

Lu Tong boarded the carriage with her medical box, and the carriage drove off into the street.

She had two house calls to make today – besides Jin Xianrong, there was also the imperial guard at the Palace Front Court.

Fortunately, the Hanlin Medical Institute wasn’t far from either Jin’s residence or the Military Commander’s mansion, so there was still time.

As the carriage swayed along, traveling through the capital’s streets, the noise of the marketplace drifted in from outside, and Lu Tong’s gaze grew distant.

Jin Xianrong indeed had impotence, though it wasn’t as severe as she had described – it wouldn’t reach the point of needing to cut away dead flesh. She had said that merely to frighten him.

When the spring examination results came out, before departing, she had promised to help Miao Liangfang take revenge on Cui Min and also asked Miao Liangfang for a favor.

She had asked Miao Liangfang to record everything he knew about the palace people he was familiar with – their circumstances, personalities, and even past illnesses.

Miao Liangfang had been a medical official in the palace for many years, once serving as institute director, and knew many palace people. Ten years had passed, and some old acquaintances were gone, but for those who remained, familiarity with their situations would help avoid many detours.

Jin Xianrong…

Miao Liangfang had told her that this man was lecherous and unrestrained, naturally promiscuous, and at a young age was obsessed with bedroom arts, often taking kidney-warming and supplementary medicines. Lu Tong still remembered Miao Liangfang’s contempt when speaking of him: “I dare say, if he continues his debauchery, within fifteen years he’ll become impotent and useless, just like his father!”

Miao Liangfang’s words proved correct; it hadn’t even been fifteen years before Jin Xianrong became unable to perform.

He particularly valued his male pride, and because of his father’s situation, was extremely fearful about this matter. Lu Tong only needed to frighten him a little, mixing truth with fiction, to easily gain control over him.

As long as she could control this person, she would have the opportunity to get close to the Ministry of Revenue…

Close to Qi Yutai.

The noise outside had quieted down at some point, everything becoming still. The carriage slowly came to a stop, and the driver’s voice came from outside: “Miss, we’ve arrived at the Commander’s mansion.”

The Commander’s mansion had arrived.

Lu Tong lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down.

Walking inside, a large open space gradually appeared before her.

Whether it was a training ground or something else, weapon racks full of arms lined the corners. Further back was a small courtyard, filled with phoenix trees, and directly facing the entrance stood a wisteria trellis. Rain-dampened fallen flowers carpeted the ground, their fragrance overwhelming.

Just as she reached the entrance, she ran into a young man wearing an imperial guard uniform, possibly a Palace Front Court guard, who was also startled to see her: “You…”

Lu Tong said, “I’m Lu Tong from the Medical Institute, here for the scheduled examination.”

The guard scratched his head, seeming to just now see Lu Tong’s face. Without saying anything, he turned and strode inside, calling out loudly: “Brothers, come out! The Hanlin Medical Institute doctor is here for examinations!”

Hearing the commotion, groups of two and three emerged from inside. When they saw Lu Tong, they all froze momentarily, then suddenly “whoosh” all crowded around, their enthusiasm almost overwhelming.

“Oh, is this a new medical official? How come we’ve never seen you before?”

“I’m surnamed Li, what’s your surname?” This was from someone cheerfully introducing himself.

“Surname Lu.”

Another person came forward, pushing aside the previous speaker, smiling: “So it’s Medical Official Lu… You’re so young, how did you end up at the Hanlin Medical Institute? You look younger than my sister… Are you engaged?”

“Get lost, Medical Official Lu, look at me!” The speaker had already rolled up his sleeves, whether intentionally or not revealing powerful forearms, raising them high before Lu Tong’s eyes, “I haven’t been feeling well these past few days, please take my pulse, am I sick?”

The usually quiet Commander’s mansion suddenly became lively. The Palace Front Court guards were all in their prime, yet they usually only saw other men. Suddenly seeing such a young and beautiful girl, they all showed off like peacocks. The shy ones stood far away stealing glances, while the bold ones were more numerous. This group surrounded Lu Tong in the middle, showing concern for her well-being. She was so slight and delicate that at a glance, one could barely find where she was among them.

Only the chattering noise could be heard.

This was the scene Pei Yunying saw upon entering. He frowned and asked Xiao Zhufeng, who was leaning against a corner drinking tea: “What’s going on?”

Xiao Zhufeng jerked his chin toward the crowd: “Your Medical Official Lu has come for examinations.”

Pei Yunying was stunned.

“Thanks to her, I now know what raising ducks in the Commander’s mansion feels like.” After this mockery, Xiao Zhufeng put down his teacup and left.

Pei Yunying: “…”

He walked to the middle of the hall. The guards were so enthusiastically showing their devotion that no one noticed his return. Lu Tong, sitting in the center, was lowering her head to take pulses, with dozens of bare arms thrust conspicuously before her, each deliberately flexed to show their muscular lines. As for those faces grinning foolishly, they looked exactly like Zhizi when begging Duan Xiaoyan for bones, licking her fingers with that expression.

It was an eyesore.

Unable to watch anymore, Pei Yunying stepped forward and tapped the table with his scabbard: “Quiet down.”

If this continued, others might think the Commander’s mansion had switched to raising ducks.

“Sir?”

The guards finally noticed him and hurriedly stood up and stepped aside. Someone, as if afraid he wouldn’t understand, voluntarily explained: “Sir, the new Medical Official Lu from the Medical Institute has come to examine us.”

He looked toward the person at the table.

Lu Tong sat in the great hall of the Commander’s mansion. The long wooden table was wide, and the chair was also heavy. Sitting there, she was incongruously delicate, though her expression remained characteristically calm, completely composed.

It made the group of guards look rather foolish in comparison.

Pei Yunying rubbed his temples and sighed.

“Come in, Medical Official Lu,” he said, “I have something to tell you.”

…

Lu Tong followed Pei Yunying into the inner room.

The room was empty.

This appeared to be Pei Yunying’s office for handling official documents. The furnishings were extremely simple, with a large purple sandalwood desk with black lacquer core beneath the window, and two huali wood chairs with brocade cushions on either side.

On the desk were an ink stone, several purple-tipped brushes hanging on an imperial kiln brush holder, and a black pixiu paperweight placed together with a white-glazed plum vase. The vase was empty, not a single flower in it, standing desolately in the corner.

Lu Tong put her medical box on the table, and seeing white paper on the long desk, walked over and sat down in the chair, reaching for paper and brush.

Seeing her sit in his place, Pei Yunying paused.

Lu Tong hadn’t noticed his expression, just lowered her head to write.

“I’ve checked the pulse, it’s just spring dryness causing blood deficiency. I’ll write a few prescriptions for nourishment to brew, and take a bowl morning and evening to maintain health. In a few days, I’ll come to change the prescription, sir need not worry.”

Lu Tong finished speaking but heard no response. Looking up, she saw Pei Yunying standing with folded arms at a distance, observing her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he smiled indifferently, pulled out the chair opposite, and sat down, looking at her thoughtfully before speaking: “You look well, you’ve come earlier than the appointed time today, did Jin Xianrong give you trouble?”

So it was about this.

Lu Tong put away her brush, picked up the written prescription to let it dry, and said: “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint Lord Pei.”

The ink was still wet on the white paper, showing hasty, wild handwriting that was little better than chicken scratches. Pei Yunying glanced at it, then smiled and spoke: “Jin Xianrong is lecherous and immoral, even if he’s unwell, he wouldn’t change his nature.”

He stared at Lu Tong, curious: “How did you persuade him?”

Lu Tong put the dried prescription aside and raised her eyes to look at Pei Yunying.

He sat right across from her. Usually when she saw him, he was often out and about, but sitting in this room he showed a somewhat serious appearance. Even that crimson official robe lost some of its gaudiness, gaining a touch of solemnity.

Presumably, this was where he usually handled official documents.

After a moment’s silence, Lu Tong finally spoke: “Because I promised to keep his secret.”

“Secret?” Pei Yunying casually picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup of tea, and pushed it toward Lu Tong, then poured one for himself and asked: “What secret?”

He asked so naturally, as if certain she would tell him.

Lu Tong remained silent.

The young man picked up his teacup and was gently blowing away the floating leaves on the surface. It seemed from when she first met him, regardless of the situation, even when injured and seeking help from others, he always maintained this eternally effortless, relaxed manner.

It was quite irritating to see.

Seeing Lu Tong’s silence, he glanced at her and smiled: “Not convenient to say?”

After thinking, Lu Tong said: “There’s nothing inconvenient about it.”

Her fingertip lightly brushed the pixiu paperweight on the table. The paperweight was exquisite, smooth, and black, giving off deep lustrous light when slightly turned, like a small, solidified black cloud.

“One and a half inches,” she said.

Pei Yunying lowered his head to drink tea, smiling as he asked: “What’s one and a half inches?”

Lu Tong withdrew her hand.

She raised her eyes and spoke in a cold, matter-of-fact tone as if discussing the weather.

“I told him that if he did as I said, I would keep secret the matter of his thing down there, altogether one and a half inches.”

“Pfft—”

Pei Yunying choked on his tea.