“Cough cough cough—”

Tea splashed out from his hand due to the violent coughing, and he frantically wiped the tea stains on his clothes. That face that was always calm and composed finally showed cracks, becoming unusually animated.

Lu Tong found this scene much more pleasing to the eye.

After Pei Yunying cleaned up his surroundings, he finally looked at Lu Tong and spoke incredulously: “What are you saying?”

Even though doctors don’t distinguish between men and women, and even though Lu Tong had never been associated with shyness or timidity, he was still a young man, and for her, a young woman, to speak so directly about such matters in a room with him was perhaps too shocking.

Lu Tong found his appearance quite interesting and asked curiously: “Lord Pei didn’t know? It seems it was a secret.”

“Of course, I didn’t know,” he awkwardly brushed off the tea dregs on his body, “How do you know?”

Lu Tong remained silent.

“You…”

“I use needles in my daily practice,” Lu Tong interrupted him, tapping her medical box on the table, “Seeing one more or one less needle makes no difference, Lord Pei need not make such an expression.”

These words were extremely cutting; if Jin Xianrong himself were present, he would likely have been angered to death, yet she spoke with complete seriousness. It was as if she didn’t notice the sarcasm at all.

Pei Yunying pressed his hand against his forehead: “Stop talking…”

Seeing him like this, Lu Tong found it rather novel. This Commander appeared to handle everything with ease, treating all matters lightly, but he couldn’t handle such talk, wasting that handsome exterior.

Truly, appearances can be deceiving.

After a while, Pei Yunying finally spoke, his expression somewhat complex: “Did you…”

It wasn’t that he had any prejudice against medical officials examining patients, but Jin Xianrong was of poor character, and Lu Tong was never one to submit meekly. If she had been taken advantage of by Jin Xianrong, something seemed off.

“Of course it’s false,” Lu Tong said.

Pei Yunying was stunned.

Lu Tong didn’t know what he was thinking and simply said: “Lord Pei also knows that for me, a man’s body is no different from dead pork, looking or not looking doesn’t matter. Moreover, though his illness is troublesome, it’s not difficult to treat. Lord Pei need not worry too much.” As she spoke, she placed the pixiu paperweight on the prescription she had just written: “The prescription is here, follow my instructions to brew the medicine for them to take, and I’ll return in seven days.”

At this point, Lu Tong paused, then silently looked at Pei Yunying.

Pei Yunying noticed her gaze and his expression froze: “What?”

Lu Tong nodded, speaking frankly: “Lord Jin’s condition is common among aging men. If Lord Pei ever encounters such troubles in the future and needs help, feel free to seek this official’s assistance. Given our friendship, I would keep Lord Pei’s secret as well.”

With these words, the room fell into dead silence.

For a moment, Lu Tong thought his handsome face had frozen, as if struggling to maintain his casual demeanor. After a long while, Pei Yunying spoke steadily: “Thank you, but I don’t need it.”

“Is that so?” Lu Tong then showed a regretful expression, “How disappointing.”

Just as she finished speaking, a cheerful voice came from outside: “What’s disappointing—”

Duan Xiaoyan poked his head in from outside, and was also surprised to see Lu Tong: “Doctor Lu, why are you here?”

Lu Tong said no more, shouldered her medical box and merely said quietly to the two of them: “I’ll take my leave now.”

She left carrying her medical box, and Duan Xiaoyan scratched his head watching her back, saying: “Strange, why do I feel Doctor Lu seems happier than usual today? Did something good happen?”

He turned his head, as if just remembering what he had seen earlier, and excitedly pointed at the chair Lu Tong had sat in: “But brother, you let her sit in your chair! Don’t you usually not let anyone touch your things?”

Pei Yunying was known for his cleanliness and particularly disliked others touching his belongings. No one dared sit in that chair except himself, yet today he had watched Lu Tong sit there, and if he wasn’t mistaken, Lu Tong had even used Pei Yunying’s paper and brushes.

Tsk tsk tsk, he was quite tolerant of her.

There was no response for a long while.

Duan Xiaoyan turned to see Pei Yunying sitting at the table, one hand supporting his forehead, looking like he had a headache.

The youth’s curiosity was piqued, and he moved closer: “What were you just talking about, what was Doctor Lu disappointed about?”

Pei Yunying didn’t raise his head, just reached out to push away the head that had come close, saying coldly: “Shut up.”

…

After leaving the Commander’s mansion, Lu Tong didn’t go anywhere else but returned directly to the Medical Institute.

In the main hall, Medical Director Chang Jin was instructing other medical officials about their duties. Seeing Lu Tong return, he quickly dismissed the others and walked over to ask: “Medical Official Lu, have you examined Assistant Minister Jin?”

Lu Tong nodded.

He looked her over: “Nothing happened, right?”

Lu Tong said: “No.”

Chang Jin let out a sigh of relief.

He was a kind person. During the spring examination, Lu Tong’s paper was the first perfect answer sheet he had graded, and he always paid special attention to her. When Cui Min ordered Lu Tong to examine Jin Xianrong, Chang Jin had worried for quite a while, given Jin Xianrong’s character… hardly anyone in the entire Medical Institute was willing to examine him.

He had prepared himself for Lu Tong to return crying, ready to humble himself and offer to take over the duty, but unexpectedly saw Lu Tong behaving normally, her demeanor no different than usual, which was quite surprising.

“Medical Official Lu,” Chang Jin said: “There’s something I need to tell you. Cao Huai suddenly caught a cold and is bedridden, he’s taken leave, so he won’t be able to accompany you to the Jin residence these days,” he watched Lu Tong’s expression, “I will report to the Institute Director to assign another medical official to go with you…”

Before he could finish, Lu Tong interrupted him: “No need.”

Chang Jin paused.

“I examined Lord Jin’s condition today, it’s not serious, one person is sufficient, another would just be troublesome. No need to waste everyone’s time for my sake.”

Chang Jin’s prepared words suddenly got stuck in his throat: “…Is that so?”

Even if it weren’t for Jin Xianrong, for routine examinations, having an extra person to share the burden would be good, yet Lu Tong had rejected his good intentions just like that.

She even seemed a bit disdainful.

Lu Tong nodded to him, then went into the courtyard with her medical box.

Chang Jin stood there, watching her back for a long while, muttering: “Worthy of being first on the spring examination red list, with perfect answers in diagnostics…”

“Truly not an ordinary person.”

Suddenly remembering the one who had taken leave, his face darkened.

“Not catching cold earlier or later, but choosing this time to be bedridden.”

He left with a sweep of his sleeves.

…

“Achoo—”

In the Cao residence, Cao Huai, lying in bed, suddenly sneezed.

The servant in the room saw this and worriedly spoke: “Young Master, you haven’t caught a cold, have you?”

“Get out,” Cao Huai’s expression was impatient: “Don’t bring bad luck.”

Early this morning, he hadn’t gone with Lu Tong for the examination, and after returning to the Medical Institute, he had taken leave with Cui Min. In spring, the weather was changeable, and many at the Medical Institute had caught colds, so Cui Min didn’t have the mind to investigate whether a new medical official was sick or pretending, and thus he smoothly returned home.

Cao Huai had done this deliberately.

He had never been particularly magnanimous since childhood. On the day of the spring examination, Lu Tong had humiliated him in front of their fellow examinees, and Cao Huai had harbored resentment for a long time. When Cui Min initially assigned Lu Tong to the Southern Pharmacy, he had secretly gloated, but who knew Lu Tong would somehow catch the eye of Imperial Pharmacy Director Qiu He, and through twists and turns return to the Medical Institute.

Cui Min, whether intentionally or not, had assigned him to examine Jin Xianrong together with Lu Tong. Honestly, Jin Xianrong was someone not only women avoided, but men also detested. In this month of examining Jin Xianrong, he was subjected to Jin’s sarcasm and nitpicking every day. The kidney abscess was particularly difficult to treat, showing no signs of improvement, and as Jin Xianrong’s patience wore thinner by the day, unexpectedly a scapegoat appeared, conveniently taking this hot potato off his hands.

So he had taken leave without hesitation.

This way, he escaped the troublesome duty and created difficulties for Lu Tong, truly killing two birds with one stone.

Cao Huai leaned against the headboard and snorted with laughter, his eyes full of disdain.

No matter how Lu Tong pretended to be aloof and above everyone else, she was still just a commoner without background or status. Who knew, after treating Jin Xianrong for a few days, she might end up like that previous female medical official from the Hanlin Medical Institute, becoming yet another of Jin Xianrong’s concubines, reduced to a servant.

Thinking this way, his mood seemed to improve considerably. Cao Huai lay back with his hands behind his head, staring at the canopy above, as if already seeing Lu Tong following behind Jin Xianrong, bowing and scraping. He sighed contentedly.

Seeing this, the servant carefully asked: “Young Master, how long do you plan to recuperate this time?”

“For a cold, one must rest for several days,” Cao Huai smiled, “Let’s wait a bit longer.”

…

Though it was just one visit to examine Jin Xianrong at his residence, it had stirred up various thoughts and undercurrents, but Lu Tong neither knew nor particularly cared about these.

At night, when everyone in the Medical Institute was asleep, Lu Tong and Lin Danqing walked in the long corridor of the medicine storehouse.

Though Jin Xianrong’s condition was clear, curing it wouldn’t happen overnight. Not only did she need to change prescriptions, but Lu Tong also planned to create a new medicine. Some herbs need to be allocated from the Imperial Pharmacy, while some common ones could be found in the Medical Institute’s storehouse.

Lin Danqing had thought Lu Tong’s visit to the Jin residence today would likely be unpleasant but unexpectedly saw her return with normal demeanor, and after asking a few questions, gradually felt relieved. When Lu Tong said she needed to get materials from the storehouse, Lin Danqing volunteered to go with her.

“That Jin fellow must have suffered from his kidney abscess, that’s why he’s not so arrogant anymore. I heard my father say that in the past when he was being outrageous, he would even try to take advantage of female dogs passing by.” Speaking of this, Lin Danqing whispered in her ear, “Perhaps even Heaven couldn’t bear to watch anymore, that’s why he got this illness. Honestly, if you weren’t the medical official treating him, I would hope he had become impotent, so he couldn’t harm people for the rest of his life.”

She spoke without restraint, while Lu Tong just smiled, lowering her head to select the herbs she needed from various medicine cabinets.

Lin Danqing helped her gather them while asking: “But Little Sister Lu, you also went to the Commander’s mansion today, how was it?”

Lu Tong: “How was what?”

“How were the imperial guards there!” Lin Danqing said: “I heard the imperial guards at the Capital Military Commander’s mansion all went through multiple rounds of selection, not just looking at martial arts skills, but also height and appearance. They say all the most handsome men in the capital are at the Military Commander’s mansion, you can see hints of this from their Commander. You went today, how did you find them, were they all handsome and valiant?”

Lu Tong closed the medicine drawer: “If you want to go, I can speak with Medical Director Chang, and let you take over my duty.”

She was focused on Qi Yutai from the Ministry of Revenue, running between two places was a waste of energy, and facing Pei Yunying’s probing each time was not pleasant. It would be better to give this task to Lin Danqing, doing her a favor.

Lin Danqing was stunned: “You’re too generous.” After thinking, she shook her head: “One of my ancestors said that for women, looking at handsome men is another kind of health preservation, making the heart open and joyful. After seeing Jin Xianrong’s face and suffering eye damage, looking at the men at the Commander’s mansion to repair the damage would balance things out.”

“Little Sister Lu, as your friend, I absolutely won’t steal your prescription!”

Lu Tong: “…”

Indeed, what’s honey to one is poison to another; what she desperately wanted to avoid had become others’ magical elixir.

After talking a bit more, all the needed herbs had been gathered in the bamboo basket. Lu Tong and Lin Danqing left the storehouse, planning to return to the dormitory. Just as they reached the storehouse courtyard gate, they suddenly heard footsteps approaching from ahead.

Then, a child’s voice suddenly rang out: “Who’s there?”

The two looked toward the sound.

Under the locust tree on the stone steps in the distance, in the yellow glow of lantern light, two long black shadows had appeared at some point.

One was shorter, trailing behind a young medicine boy in green clothes. As for the other…

It was a slender young man with refined features. He wore a light cyan brocade robe, his black hair bound in a topknot with a green bamboo hairpin. Like a lone crane among clouds or a solemn bamboo in the night, he had an air of distant elegance, slowly walking toward Lu Tong and her companion.

He stopped at the stone steps before the courtyard gate. Lin Danqing seemed to know him, and in the lantern light, after clearly seeing his face, quickly said: “Medical Official Ji.”

Medical Official Ji?

He sounded like a medical official from the institute, but his robes weren’t the blue of medical officials.

Lu Tong didn’t speak, just bowed her head in greeting.

The young man’s gaze swept over the bamboo basket in Lu Tong’s hand: “Why are you gathering herbs so late?”

Lin Danqing smiled: “Medical Official Lu’s patient has a somewhat tricky condition, she plans to use these herbs to research a new prescription and see if she can create some new medicine.”

The medical officials of the Hanlin Medical Institute always played it safe, rarely attempting new medicines. Hearing this, the man called “Medical Official Ji” was startled, looking at Lu Tong with surprise.

His gaze lingered.

The woman stood at the bottom of the stone steps in the medicine storehouse courtyard, the night wind stirring her light blue skirt, the blue as faint as her lowered eyebrows, quiet.

He suddenly frowned slightly.

Lu Tong could feel his scrutinizing gaze falling on her face, like the cool evening breeze, and then heard his cold voice.

“Haven’t we met somewhere before?”

Lu Tong suddenly froze.

Something gradually rose from the depths of her heart, like a not particularly beautiful dark stone hidden in black waters, unexpectedly seeing daylight again, causing ripples on the calm surface.

She slightly clenched her fingertips, pressing her lips together without speaking.

The man took another step forward.

Lu Tong’s body tensed slightly.

He frowned slightly while carefully studying her face as if trying to see her features clearly and distinctly. Looking straight ahead, one could see the delicate patterns embroidered on his collar, and the faint bitter medicinal fragrance.

He stared for a long time, so long that even Lin Danqing beside them sensed something amiss and was about to speak up when the young medicine boy suddenly seemed to remember something, his eyes brightening as he reminded: “Young Master, you have met this medical official before, earlier on Sparrow Street, that rainy day when someone’s umbrella got your clothes wet and made you late for the banquet… The one who got your clothes wet was this medical official!”

At these words, both people standing there were stunned.

The patterns on his collar seemed to blur in the night air, blurring and blurring until they became that dreary autumn rain on Sparrow Street.

The tribute case had just ended then, Liu Kun was dead, Wang Chunfang had gone mad, and two sons were locked in prison cages. She had witnessed the Liu family’s fate, yet when turning around was startled by the Qi family’s carriage, accidentally poking her umbrella tip into a passerby.

Lu Tong still remembered him standing there in the fine rain wearing pure white robes, distant like an indistinct pale shadow in an ink painting. He passed by her, gradually disappearing into the crowd, like a damp illusion after the rain.

Now the illusion had become reality, solidifying into a more silent shadow in the night.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Lin Danqing sensed the strange atmosphere, held back, but finally couldn’t resist tugging at Lu Tong’s sleeve, smiling at the young man, saying: “Medical Official Ji, it’s getting late, if there’s nothing else, we’ll take our leave.”

He finally came to his senses, said nothing more, and just nodded faintly to them before walking up the stone steps with the medicine boy.

After he left, Lin Danqing finally let out a breath.

Lu Tong asked as if casually: “Who was that just now?”

“Ji Xun.”

“Ji Xun?”

Lin Danqing was surprised: “You haven’t heard of Ji Xun? That’s strange. Those old men at the Hanlin Medical Institute have his name on their lips all day, saying things like ‘his medical skills surpassed others before he even came of age’ and ‘even though his family aren’t scholars, ordinary families could still become rich through medical practice’… I heard these words so much during my studies at the Imperial Medical Institute that my ears grew calluses,” she sighed again, “Such a fine young gentleman, yet the sight of his face just makes me feel annoyed.”

Lu Tong asked: “His family are scholars?”

“Indeed, his father, Lord Ji, is a scholar of the Guanwen Hall, his grandfather was a Hanlin Scholar, his elder brother is a scholar of the Fuwen Pavilion, a whole family of civil officials, but this genius medical official is obsessed with medicine, not following his father’s path in officialdom, instead coming to torment us.”

“Little Sister Lu, you don’t know, before there was no spring examination, I was always first at the Imperial Medical Bureau’s annual assessments. This year with the spring examination and your appearance, I became second. We two could be considered the twin talents of the Medical Institute, but him? He was summoned to serve in the palace by the Empress Dowager before even coming of age, holding a nominal position at the Medical Institute.”

“You and I are the ones answering questions, but he’s the one setting them. Those horrifying questions in this year’s Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination were all from this Medical Official Ji. Look at him, with such a tender face, how can his heart be so cruel?”

She finished this long string of words without seeming tired and sighed again: “I heard he had gone out some days ago, and thought he wouldn’t return for a while, didn’t expect him to come back so soon. Now it’s trouble, he’ll occasionally come up with strange questions to test people, I’m afraid the good days for us new medical officials are coming to an end!”

While she was lamenting, Lu Tong looked back toward the stone steps. In the night, the two figures could no longer be seen, only the swaying locust tree flowers trembling in the wind.

The night breeze blew gently, and a locust flower was knocked loose, spinning as it floated down, only to be stepped on by a green boot.

The walking footsteps suddenly paused.

“No.”

The young medicine boy walking ahead was startled, instinctively looking at the person beside him: “Young Master, what’s wrong?”

“The place is wrong.”

The young man stopped, frowning as he said: “The first time I saw her wasn’t on Sparrow Street.”