Du Ruo is a medicinal herb that can treat head swelling and pain, eliminate bad breath, and also treat cholera and abdominal pain.

Whether because of that dream or because of the name given, Shen Du Ruo showed exceptional talent in studying medicine from childhood.

Her four elder brothers were far inferior to her.

Speaking of this, Pei Yu glanced at his own little rascal.

How hateful!

The little rascal completely failed to grasp the regret in his father’s glance and said admiringly, “So when Old Imperial Physician Shen said she knew the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles, he wasn’t bragging.”

Hearing this, Pei Yu really wanted to scold him soundly.

Thinking about it, he was his own flesh and blood—better not scold him.

Stupid is stupid then.

“How exceptional was her talent?” Yan Sanhe asked.

“At five she could identify a hundred herbs. At ten she could take pulses for people. By twenty, she had learned everything Old Imperial Physician Shen knew.”

Pei Yu sighed. “If only she had been a man, the top seat in the Imperial Medical Academy would be hers—no one else would have a chance.”

At this moment, Li Buyan thought of someone else who also had exceptional talent.

“Compared to Young Imperial Physician Pei?”

Speaking of his illegitimate son, Pei Yu’s face showed some comfort, but he still shook his head.

“Ten Pei Jings combined couldn’t match one Shen Du Ruo.”

Ten Pei Jings?

That impressive?

The four looked at each other, all thoroughly shocked.

“The Zhu family profession emphasizes spiritual aptitude. The medical profession requires not only natural talent and spiritual aptitude but also dedication and diligence.”

Once, Pei Yu’s father encountered Shen Wei at the Imperial Medical Academy and saw him looking deeply troubled, so he approached to ask what was wrong.

Shen Wei said his child had been tasting herbs and poisoned herself—this was already the sixth time. He couldn’t stop her no matter what. It was life-threatening.

After hearing this, Pei Yu’s father asked which young master in the household was so desperate.

Shen Wei’s troubled expression grew more troubled as he spoke two words: youngest daughter.

When Father returned home, he told Pei Yu about this matter.

After hearing it, Pei Yu was extremely shocked.

Those who study medicine know in their hearts which herbs are poisonous and which are not.

What did it mean that Shen Du Ruo had poisoned herself six times?

In other words, she had tasted at least several thousand medicinal herbs.

At this point, Father let out a cold laugh and said:

“No matter how well a woman studies medicine, what use is it? She can’t inherit the family business. At most she could enter the palace as a female physician to help the palace ladies regulate their gynecological conditions.

Never mind the nobility of the capital—even common people wouldn’t entrust their illnesses to a woman.

Furthermore, when women reach a certain age, they must marry and bear children.

Once they arrive at their husband’s family, bearing children, serving parents-in-law, managing the inner household—where would there be any opportunity to go out in public?”

After hearing this, Pei Yu quickly said, “If she’s going to marry anyway, what was Imperial Physician Shen so worried about?”

“Son.”

Father said, “The way the Shen family daughter conducts herself clearly shows she’s ambitious. For a young lady, having great ambitions is not good—it’s hard to be content. If she’s not content, she’ll easily cause trouble. Let’s just wait and see.”

Things turned out exactly as Father predicted.

When Shen Du Ruo reached sixteen, to avoid the matchmakers coming to propose marriage, she left a letter and secretly ran away with the Shen family’s herb gatherer.

Yan Sanhe asked, “Herb gatherer?”

“Miss Yan, medicine is three parts, herbs are seven parts.”

Pei Yu said, “Not only does the Shen family have dedicated herb gatherers, our Pei family does too.”

Young Master Pei interjected, “In our family it’s my uncle. His eye is sharp—he can tell which herbs are good and which are bad with just a glance.”

Pei Yu said, “The person responsible for gathering herbs for the Shen family was surnamed Bai, named Zhenshan. People in the trade called him Master Bai.”

Bai Zhenshan was a household servant born into the Shen family. The Bai family had gathered herbs for the Shen family for generations. They used to live in the same residence as the Shen family but later established a new residence beside the Shen residence.

Yan Sanhe said, “For this Bai Zhenshan to dare take away the master’s treasured daughter, he clearly wasn’t an ordinary person.”

“Bai Zhenshan was of course not ordinary. This man’s herb gathering relied first on his eyes, second on his connections.”

Pei Yu continued, “All herb gatherers have sharp eyes, but not everyone has connections. This person valued loyalty highly and could call everyone brother. Whenever Master Bai came around, those herb merchants all gave him the best goods.”

Yan Sanhe glanced at Xie Zhifei: Isn’t this just like you, Third Master?

Xie Zhifei modestly suppressed a smile: I’m still a bit lacking.

Seeing him smile, Yan Sanhe deliberately made her words more critical. “This only shows he was thorough in dealing with people—saying what people want to hear, saying what ghosts want to hear.”

“Miss Yan, being able to say what people want to hear and what ghosts want to hear is a great skill.”

Pei Yu sighed. “Being able to let go of pride and face—that’s not easy.”

Xie Zhifei looked at Yan Sanhe and smiled: Hear that? Not easy.

Yan Sanhe smiled ambiguously: Mm, great skill indeed!

“Didn’t the Shen family send people to chase after her?” she asked again.

“No matter who Shen Du Ruo ran away with, Shen Wei would chase after her. Only with Bai Zhenshan was Shen Wei at ease—he knew him too well. Think about it…”

Pei Yu spoke until his mouth was dry, picked up his wine cup and took a sip. “All the Shen family’s medicinal herbs were managed by Master Bai. If Master Bai didn’t agree, where could Shen Du Ruo go to taste herbs?”

Yan Sanhe said, “From this we can see their relationship was quite good.”

“This was also a strange matter.”

Pei Yu said, “Apart from her parents, Shen Du Ruo’s relationship with her four brothers was very ordinary, but she got along extremely well with Master Bai. She was able to learn the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles also because of Master Bai.”

Yan Sanhe said, “Oh?”

“Master Bai became acquainted with an itinerant physician while gathering herbs—they had some friendship.”

Pei Yu continued, “Supposedly, when that itinerant physician saw Shen Du Ruo, he insisted on taking her as a disciple. No one could stop him.”

Yan Sanhe thought this encounter seemed very similar to Geng Songsheng’s.

“What happened next?”

“I don’t know the specific details. The Shen family doesn’t talk about it publicly either.”

Pei Yu said, “In any case, Shen Du Ruo followed Master Bai for four years. When she returned, it was like she had been completely reborn. Some difficult and complicated cases that even Imperial Physician Shen couldn’t figure out—she could diagnose them with one pulse reading.”

“Four years?”

Yan Sanhe asked, “So when she returned, she was already twenty years old.”

“Exactly. Her parents were frantic with worry and quickly arranged for matchmakers to come calling. If they didn’t hurry, she truly wouldn’t be able to marry.”

Pei Yu continued, “Who knew that Shen Du Ruo still refused to marry? When pressed, she would run to Master Bai’s residence to hide. Press harder, and she’d threaten to hang herself. Tell me, wasn’t that worrying?”

He remembered it too clearly.

During that period, he had just begun working at the Imperial Medical Academy with his father and saw Shen Wei going around every day with drooping eyebrows, sighing left and right.

Once, he really couldn’t bear it and went forward to ask one more question.

That was a mistake.

Shen Wei looked at him the way a wolf looks at a sheep, even asking how old he was and whether he wanted to strengthen family ties through marriage.

From then on, he would take detours whenever he saw Shen Wei.

Young Master Pei teased, “Father, he wanted you to be his son-in-law.”

“That’s right.”

Pei Yu sneered, “If I’d become his son-in-law, there wouldn’t be you, this little bastard, constantly aggravating me.”

Young Master Pei was speechless.

Fine, pretend he said nothing.

Seeing Mingting eat humble pie, Xie Zhifei quickly changed the subject.

“Uncle Pei, what was her reason for refusing to marry?”