The wind and snow outside the door continued.

Her lost reason and clarity returned. With her embarrassment and secrets exposed, Lu Tong felt a flash of shame and anger, turning to leave.

But she was pulled back.

Pei Yunying gripped her wrist. The smiling, gentle gaze from before vanished instantly, as if suppressing fury, his expression gradually cooling.

“Why do you push me away?” he asked.

He had discovered all her secrets—the hidden silk cord and wooden piece, the deliberately distant coldness. He was always clever, and she had already revealed her hand in their recent confrontation.

She couldn’t hide from him anymore.

A son of heaven, pushed away again and again by her. If he hadn’t discovered the truth, he might still use excuses to cover it up, but once he realized it was all deliberate, he would naturally be angry.

He had every right to be angry.

Lu Tong suddenly felt a surge of guilt, which then turned to shame, shame became panic, and finally transformed into a bewilderment she herself didn’t know how to handle.

“Your Excellency.” Lu Tong steadied herself and looked up at him. “Between you and me, there is absolutely no possibility.”

Pei Yunying said calmly: “Why is it impossible?”

“I don’t like…”

“Excuses.”

Lu Tong paused.

He was shrewd and perceptive. Before, she had disguised herself well, but now that her disguise had been seen through, with his personality, he would pursue it to the end.

Struggling to remain calm, Lu Tong continued: “Our statuses are different. You are the noble and distinguished Commander of the Palace Command, while I am merely a lowly commoner and medical officer. No matter what…”

He snorted with laughter, as if mocking the absurdity of her words: “Lying.”

Lu Tong: “You…”

“Lu Tong,” Pei Yunying interrupted her words, staring into her eyes. “Your lying skills have deteriorated.”

His gaze was too pressing. Lu Tong found herself unable to resist and could only retreat, trying to escape.

The next moment, she was grabbed by the wrist and unexpectedly pulled close to him.

He was very close to her. Perhaps in extreme anger, dangerous intent flashed in his dark eyes. In their shared breath, Lu Tong saw his lowered long lashes, ambiguous and vivid under the lamplight.

“What exactly are you hiding?”

The cold wind outside howled over the mountain peak. The flame on the table flickered between life and death. The silver embroidery on the young man’s clothes shimmered with gorgeous cold luster under the swaying light, but even more dazzling were his eyes—like stars on a summer night on Luomei Peak, gentle yet sharp, leaving her with nowhere to hide.

Lu Tong remained silent.

Pei Yunying stared at her intently, his eyes already showing some annoyance.

He knew Lu Tong was always very good at hiding.

At their first meeting, he had seen that Lu Tong was not as docile as she appeared. Later, in their several encounters when Lu Tong was running the clinic at Renxin Medical Hall, each time he targeted her, she could cleverly handle it. Truth and lies were mixed together, indistinguishable, and each time she managed to escape.

In the Palace Command’s interrogation room, there were countless varieties of torture. He was always skilled at extracting confessions and had seen countless criminals, yet he was completely helpless against this most formidable one. He couldn’t beat her or scold her, and even when pressing to the very end, he was always the one who gave in.

Time after time, she had him completely figured out.

The elongated shadow of the oil lamp fell on the wall, lingering and melancholy.

Outside the room, the snow and moon were absolutely clear. In the dim light, the anger in the young man’s eyes gradually solidified, replaced by deeper waves, his gaze dark and unclear.

He stared at Lu Tong and suddenly leaned closer.

Lu Tong’s eyes widened slightly.

The two were very close.

In absolute silence, the other person was right before her eyes, within reach. The young man’s features were sharp and distinct, his bright eyes reflecting her image. She could feel his warm breath and the faint crisp fragrance from his body—cool, warm, gentle like a piece of moist cloud.

She froze in place.

Those red, beautiful thin lips gradually approached, almost about to land on her lips. The shadow of his thick, long lashes covered her like butterfly wings, slowly lowering his head toward her, leaving only the most subtle distance.

Pei Yunying’s gaze fell on Lu Tong.

She stared straight at him, seeming somewhat surprised, but surprisingly didn’t resist or retreat. In her usually calm and cool eyes, there were faint ripples, as if she was restraining herself.

It reminded him of that New Year’s night, when she had looked at him from the courtyard under the fireworks—stubborn yet solitary and brave.

A trace of reluctance suddenly crossed his heart. The man’s gaze remained fixed on the person before him, but he stopped the kissing motion.

In the end, he couldn’t bear to force her.

Lu Tong was stunned.

Suddenly, he released Lu Tong’s hand and straightened up, his Adam’s apple rolling slightly.

In the snowy room with its green lamp, like mountain children, the previous tenderness and warmth gradually faded. Both people came to their senses, each feeling somewhat subtle.

Lu Tong looked at him. While feeling relieved, a trace of very light disappointment also crossed her mind.

He turned back, lowered his head to stare at her, his expression no longer as pressing as before, but still carrying some coldness: “Still won’t speak?”

Silence answered him.

He stared at Lu Tong. After a long while, he said: “Fine, if you don’t want to speak, forget it. I already know anyway.”

Lu Tong: “You!”

He raised the silk cord in his hand.

Lu Tong was suddenly furious, trying to reach out and snatch it, but came up empty.

“I didn’t know your thoughts before, but now I do, and I’ll never let go.” He wound the silk cord around his fingertip, looked at her silently for a long time, then said word by word: “Lu Tong, no matter what reasons you come up with, I won’t believe them anymore.”

Lu Tong felt her head splitting with pain.

Pei Yunying was the most difficult person to deal with. When they had confronted each other before, he was like a shadow that couldn’t be shaken off. He was best at discovering people’s hidden flaws and deeply buried weaknesses, targeting vital points and pressing step by step. Previously, he had been accommodating and yielding to her, but now, in this confrontation, she had already revealed her hand. If he wanted to pursue the matter, she truly had no power to fight back.

After a long while, Lu Tong managed to squeeze out: “Conceited.”

“Dr. Lu.” Pei Yunying was unmoved, his dark eyes calm and deep like the night snow of Luomei Peak, showing a hint of coolness, deep and gentle.

“The matter of having feelings for someone is something you taught me. So you might as well teach me how to stay together with someone.”

Stay together.

Clearly spoken in a threatening tone, yet the words themselves were so moving. Lu Tong’s heart jumped, and she could only glare at him with effort, stubbornly saying: “Who wants to stay together with you?”

“You’ll admit it eventually.”

She was angry and frustrated, standing stiffly in place, feeling as if she had been split into two people. One hid in the shadows, moved by this clear, brilliant, and sincere affection, secretly delighted by this mutual love. The other stood higher up, coldly observing, mocking her for this fruitless, boundlessly endless conclusion.

Coldness came from beneath her feet. Earlier, when getting out of bed, Lu Tong had been too hasty and hadn’t put on shoes. The snowy night on Luomei Peak was icy cold, and now the chill gradually crept up.

While they were in a standoff, her vision blurred, and her body suddenly felt light. Lu Tong looked up in surprise to find that Pei Yunying had swept her up into his arms.

His movements were swift, but his embrace was gentle. He carried her effortlessly, extremely relaxed.

“You…”

“How long were you planning to stand there?” He carried her toward the bed. “If you catch cold, there might not be medicine.”

He placed her on the bed. Lu Tong sat up straight, watching him warily.

Pei Yunying scoffed: “What do you think I’m going to do?”

Lu Tong: “Stay away from me.”

Pei Yunying hadn’t done anything, but this was enough to make her nervous. She was afraid of being lost in those deep eyes. She had never known she was someone who couldn’t resist temptation.

Pei Yunying lowered his head and handed her a cotton handkerchief: “Not wiping off the sweat anymore?”

Only when he said this did Lu Tong realize that earlier he had been trying to get a handkerchief from the medical box.

She snatched the handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

She had just had a nightmare, and afterward had been pressed step by step by him, as if she had fought a fierce battle. Her heart was heavy and unsettled, and looking now, she had indeed broken out in a sweat.

The sweat from her forehead ran down her face to her neck and shoulders. She wiped down along her neck and shoulders. Where her collar was loose, her skin was white as jade, like transparent snow-white petals, showing faint traces of light under the lamplight.

Pei Yunying looked down, his eyes moving slightly, then suddenly turned around.

Lu Tong didn’t notice anything. Seeing him suddenly turn his back, she quickly wiped off the sweat in a few strokes, clutched the handkerchief in her palm, and said: “I’m going to sleep.”

He turned back around, looked at her and smiled: “Can you sleep now?”

In just one short night, there had been such ups and downs. Honestly, she indeed couldn’t sleep.

Thinking of what had just happened, she felt even more ashamed and angry about the embarrassment of having her thoughts discovered.

“I can sleep.” She said through gritted teeth. “Don’t trouble yourself about it.”

After saying this, she lay down fully clothed, just as before, turning the back of her head toward him.

Pei Yunying stared at her. The candlelight reflected in his clear eyes, but they were no longer as brilliant and bright as before, like a deep, quiet pool.

After a moment, he pushed the oil lamp further in and also lay down by the bed as before.

Outside the door, snow fell like flying sand, and the wind sounded like rolling waves. Inside the room, the lamplight flickered, illuminating the plum shadows outside the window in cold, quiet colors.

Lu Tong lay with her back to him, hearing his voice reach her.

“When Sunan’s epidemic ends, you won’t stay at the Medical Academy, will you?”

Lu Tong was startled.

She had entered the Medical Academy to get close to the Qi family. Now that her great revenge had been accomplished, staying longer would be meaningless. She actually didn’t like the Medical Academy. Life in the imperial city wasn’t free, and sometimes the more she saw, the more disappointed she became.

Pei Yunying spoke, his tone casual: “If you don’t want to stay at the Medical Academy, returning to practice at West Street wouldn’t be bad either. Or… if you don’t want to stay in the capital, returning to Sunan or Changwu County to practice medicine or do something else would also be a good path. I’ll accompany you.”

Lu Tong was silent for a moment, then said: “Are you crazy?”

He was the Commander of the Palace Command with a bright future ahead. Even with the Pei family dragging him down, the new emperor clearly favored and valued him. Giving up wealth and honor to do such a thing would be a losing proposition.

He smiled carelessly: “You have plenty of experience dealing with madmen anyway.”

Lu Tong didn’t respond.

Pei Yunying lay with his hands behind his head, as if making ordinary household conversation.

“The Liang Dynasty has more than just the capital’s prosperity. You’ve only been to Sunan and Changwu County. Taking advantage of now, you might as well travel more. It would be good for accumulating medical knowledge. I’ve finished my major business and have no ties. You shouldn’t mind taking me along.”

“I can accompany you back to Changwu County or Sunan. If you want to continue running a medical clinic, we’ll do that. We can buy another residence and plant some medicinal herbs in the courtyard like at Renxin Medical Hall…”

He spoke very calmly.

The wind howled outside, and the scene beyond the window was moon-white. Just listening to his words generated hope, like beautiful spring days, inspiring longing.

Lu Tong’s eyes slowly reddened.

She had done everything. She had walked step by step toward the quagmire, quietly waiting for the muddy water to slowly rise over her head and swallow her, only to see someone running toward her at the last moment.

He knelt down by the shore, showing her the flowering branches and lights along the bank, reaching out a hand from afar, saying to her: “Come up.”

She very much wanted to grasp that hand.

But she just couldn’t reach it.

Tears silently slid down her face, soaking the pillow. She lay with her back to Pei Yunying, suppressing the sourness in her throat, saying nothing.

The room fell silent.

With no more sounds around, Pei Yunying looked up at the bed: “Are you asleep?”

The person on the bed didn’t respond, as if fast asleep.

He lowered his eyes and closed them as well.

…

That night was very long.

Perhaps because of Pei Yunying’s interruption, or because her thoughts were occupied by other matters, after falling back asleep, Lu Tong didn’t have any more nightmares.

When she woke up, the sky was already bright.

Lu Tong got up. The oil lamp on the table had burned out, and there was no one else in the room.

She pushed open the door. The wind and snow outside had stopped.

Snow covered the mountains, bending the plum branches. Luomei Peak was covered in silver-white, but the sky was still dark, piled with countless heavy clouds, as desolate as always.

Lu Tong stood in the doorway, dazed for a moment.

She had stayed on Luomei Peak for seven years and had seen its snow thousands upon thousands of times. Yet after only two years away in the capital, coming back now, she already felt unaccustomed to it.

Habit was truly a frightening thing—it could change everything.

Lu Tong carried the medicine basket and walked toward the red plum tree.

Yunniang loved to plant poisonous flowers and grasses in the open space in front of the house. The area under the red plum tree had the most plantings.

Now that the chimuteng had withered, but having climbed Luomei Peak, returning empty-handed would be unfortunate. Lu Tong thought that if she could bring back some medicinal herbs from here, regardless of their toxicity, they might add some materials to the new prescription.

When she reached the red plum tree, the formerly flourishing medicinal plants had been scattered by the heavy snow, no longer showing their past prosperity, leaving only a few scattered clumps standing forlornly.

Lu Tong sighed in her heart.

Two years had passed. Even the most poisonous medicinal plants needed careful tending. Without anyone to care for them, they would wither.

She set the medicine basket aside, knelt halfway down, and carefully picked the remaining intact flowers and plants one by one.

There really weren’t many medicinal plants left here. She quickly finished picking them. Just as she was about to leave, her gaze suddenly caught sight of a bright color under the tree, and she paused.

In the scattered white snow, a hint of tender yellow faintly appeared.

This yellow color was very conspicuous in the snow. Lu Tong frowned slightly, took a few steps forward, bent down and brushed away the snow pile. When she saw clearly what it was, she was suddenly stunned.

“Golden mushroom?”

“How…” She couldn’t hide her amazement.

On Luomei Peak, Yunniang only planted poisonous flowers and grasses.

Non-poisonous medicinal materials were useless to her and didn’t need to be brought to Luomei Peak.

Once, Yunniang had obtained a batch of golden mushroom seeds. This flower grew in the Western Regions, was precious and non-toxic. On the contrary, it could neutralize heat toxins. Yunniang wanted to throw away those seeds, but Lu Tong secretly retrieved them behind Yunniang’s back.

She planted the seeds behind the house, watering them carefully, checking on them every day. But the golden mushrooms never sprouted. Puzzled, she dug up the soil and found the seeds had long since rotted in the earth.

Yunniang leaned against the doorway, coldly watching her actions, smiling as she said: “Golden mushrooms fear cold and love heat. Golden mushrooms won’t grow on Luomei Peak.”

“Little Seventeen, why waste your effort?”

Lu Tong pressed her lips together without speaking, becoming even more determined in her heart.

At that time, she was driven by stubbornness, always feeling that if she could grow detoxifying medicinal plants on Luomei Peak, it would somehow prove that people could reverse their fate. But later, no matter how many times she planted them or how carefully she tended them, the seeds never sprouted.

After Yunniang died, before leaving the mountain, Lu Tong scattered that bag of golden mushroom seeds under the red plum tree.

Yunniang was right—detoxifying medicinal plants wouldn’t grow on Luomei Peak. Sometimes, fate determined the outcome from the very beginning.

Lu Tong knelt halfway on the ground, reaching toward that cluster of beautiful small flowers.

They looked not much larger than winter jasmine, a beautiful golden yellow, exactly like those drawn in books. In the snow, the flowering branches were luxuriant, that bright color trembling lightly in the breeze, lighting up one’s eyes.

Lu Tong gently touched them.

This cluster of small flowers that she thought would never sprout had, after she left, after wind and snow filled the air, somehow bloomed on their own without anyone knowing, in the cold wind, under the accumulated snow, brilliantly and vigorously blossoming.

As she looked at them, for some reason, her eyes grew hot, and tears suddenly filled her lashes.

…

“Snap—”

A foot stepped on plum branches that had been broken by snow and blown to the ground, making a crisp cracking sound.

Someone walked through the grass behind the house, a silver blade gleaming coldly at his waist.

Lu Tong was still sleeping soundly in the room. Pei Yunying didn’t wake her and went out to survey the surroundings.

After a night of snow, Luomei Peak was covered in white. Looking from the mountain top, the area below was vast and boundless. Ordinary people entering the mountains could easily lose their way.

County Magistrate Li Wenhu’s strong opposition to medical officials entering the mountains wasn’t due to cowardice. In fact, even Palace Command guards would face great danger entering snowy mountains.

Yet Lu Tong was like a fish in water here.

Pei Yunying walked casually through the snowy ground.

Miss Lu San from Changwu County later became medical woman Seventeen from Sunan City. There seemed to be a missing section in between, but she protected that missing piece especially carefully, as if guarding a shocking secret, not allowing anyone to glimpse even a clue.

The desolate mountain, crude broken house, narrow bed, rope and finger marks—he had thought he understood her well enough, but now felt the mystery was even deeper. If she didn’t open up, he couldn’t enter. The invisible line between them was the crux that prevented her from facing herself honestly.

Pei Yunying stopped walking.

Before him was a large patch of wild grass.

The wasteland behind the house was chaotic, with heavy snow pressing the vegetation into disarray. However, in that patch of wild growth, rows of earthen mounds stood conspicuously.

Cold snow covered everything. Some fell on the earthen mounds, making the raised graves even more obvious, row after row, exceptionally clear in this wilderness.

Pei Yunying’s brows gradually furrowed.

This was the house where Lu Tong had once lived.

Behind the house, there were so many shocking graves.

His gaze fell on the foremost grave.

That grave was different from the others, obviously wider, with a stone tablet erected on top. The tablet seemed to have been randomly hewn from elsewhere, not very regular, covered with snow.

The young man composed his expression, walked forward two steps, and brushed away the snow from the stone tablet.

The white snow was brushed away, gradually revealing the carved characters on top.

Those characters were also carved roughly, with crude strokes but very familiar handwriting—exactly Lu Tong’s writing:

Tomb of my respected teacher Mo Ruyun.

Mo Ruyun?

Pei Yunying felt a strange sensation in his heart. This name sounded somewhat familiar.

He looked at the inscription for a while. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something and looked up sharply.

In a flash of lightning, someone’s voice rang in his ears.

“Although Miss Mo is exceptionally gifted, these children she treats as test subjects are the key to her repeatedly producing miraculous prescriptions. Those children suffer worse than death under her hands, extremely miserable. Except for the newly captured test subject, not one survived.”

…

Golden clusters of golden mushrooms were picked in large handfuls and placed in the bamboo basket.

Lu Tong picked the last cluster of golden mushrooms, feeling somewhat happy in her heart.

Where flowers are intentionally planted, they don’t bloom; where willows are carelessly inserted, they grow into shade. She hadn’t expected that the seeds she had casually scattered under the tree years ago would grow and flower many years later.

The chimuteng on the mountain had withered, but the golden mushrooms had become a new hope. The nature of golden mushrooms could neutralize heat toxins, actually more effective than chimuteng. Although she didn’t know if they could ultimately be used for the epidemic, having hope meant having everything.

She wanted to bring all these golden mushrooms back down the mountain, so this trip wouldn’t be in vain.

Lu Tong carried the bamboo basket full of medicinal plants back to the house and placed it with the medical box. Seeing that Pei Yunying hadn’t returned yet, she couldn’t help feeling puzzled. Just as she was about to call his name, suddenly, through the wooden window, she glimpsed a figure standing faintly behind the rear house.

That place…

Lu Tong’s heart began beating wildly.

In an instant, she forgot everything else and ran out the door, leaving the medical box behind.

In that snowy area behind the rear house, vegetation was covered with white frost. The young man stood in the snow, his back straight, yet in this vast mountain, he appeared somewhat lonely.

Lu Tong stopped behind him.

Hearing movement, he turned around.

Pei Yunying stood before her, his sharp, beautiful eyes quietly staring at her, as if hidden emotions were surging.

Lu Tong’s gaze fell behind him.

There, on Yunniang’s tombstone, the fallen snow had been brushed away, her crude handwriting particularly clear, like a poorly executed secret painting suddenly unveiled.

Pei Yunying stared at her fixedly, walking toward her step by step.

“Why are you called Seventeen?”

His voice was different from usual—calm, gentle, as if suppressing some emotion, making one’s heart tremble to hear it.

“Is this why you push me away?”

He walked up to Lu Tong, lowered his eyes, and spoke slowly.

“Are you Mo Ruyun’s test subject?”