The snow in the capital had not stopped.

For seven or eight consecutive days, Du Changqing hadn’t come to Rixin Medical Shop.

Perhaps he was determined to stay angry with Lu Tong, for even on payday, he only sent A-Cheng to handle it.

Winter was already desolate, and without Du Changqing’s occasional jokes, the medical shop felt even more lonely.

Yin Zheng put the monthly wages A-Cheng brought into the box, turned around, and saw Lu Tong sitting behind the counter reading.

The spring examination was next February, leaving Lu Tong little time. She had no master’s, nor was she like the Imperial Medical Bureau students who had nine instructors teaching them personally. All she could do was read medical books.

The medical texts were brought by A-Cheng, who said: “Doctor Lu, I specially found these medical texts for you… I bought them with my wages, the owner doesn’t know!”

At the time, Yin Zheng had burst out laughing, whispering to Lu Tong: “Everything about Shopkeeper Du is stubborn except his heart.”

Since it was Du Changqing’s kind intention, there was no reason to waste it. During quiet times at the shop, Lu Tong would read these medical texts. The medical texts from Luomei Peak had been burned by Yun Niang, and in the capital, medical books were expensive. It wasn’t easy for Du Changqing to find these few volumes.

There weren’t many books in total, and Lu Tong read quickly. In just a few days, she had gone through all the previous volumes once. These medical classics and theories differed from Yun Niang’s methods, which made Lu Tong somewhat worried about the upcoming spring examination.

Yin Zheng was wiping the medicine shelves with a damp cloth when she saw Lu Tong reading intently, and couldn’t help but ask: “Miss read until midnight yesterday before sleeping, and today you’re still at it. Be careful of your eyes, why not take a rest?”

Lu Tong seemed not to notice.

Yin Zheng found it strange.

Lu Tong had an excellent memory and had previously browsed the medical books during quiet times at the shop, but since yesterday, she had seemed almost possessed, studying until late into the night. If not for Yin Zheng’s urging, Lu Tong might have read until dawn.

But since Yin Zheng couldn’t understand those medical classics and theories, she didn’t understand why Lu Tong was so fascinated.

Behind the counter, Lu Tong finished the last page of the volume in her hand, closed the book, and traced her fingertips over the flamboyant characters on the cover:

—Detailed Solutions to Past Imperial Medical Bureau Spring Examination Questions.

The title was almost laughably absurd, for everyone knew that the Imperial Medical Bureau’s annual spring examination papers were never leaked outside. Even if someone who understood medical classics and theory wanted to write “detailed solutions,” they would mostly be written by the Imperial Medical Bureau’s instructors or medical officials from the Hanlin Medical Academy.

For an outsider to brazenly write “examination solutions” like this, no wonder it hadn’t sold and had accumulated dust for years, to the point of being given away as a free extra like waste paper.

However…

Lu Tong stared at the volume before her, her gaze shifting slightly.

Yesterday she had read these “solutions” until midnight, and those few pages had been far more beneficial than the remaining thick medical texts. At first glance, what was written in this volume seemed wild and unfocused, but looking carefully, there were hidden mysteries, different from ordinary medical texts on the market.

She looked down again at the signature at the end of the volume.

—An expert who wishes to remain anonymous.

Lu Tong: “…”

This looked even more like a joke, perhaps even the author hadn’t expected this volume would be sold, let alone read through the night by someone.

“A-Cheng.” Lu Tong called out to the young apprentice.

A-Cheng, who was braiding grasshoppers, hurriedly turned around: “What is it, Doctor Lu?”

Lu Tong held up the book: “Thank you for the medical texts you gave me. I’d like to buy a few more volumes, so…”

“So?”

“Where is the bookstore?”

A-Cheng: “Huh?”

…

After being away for several days, the snow in the Palace Guard Command courtyard had accumulated more than three feet.

The black dog was awakened by approaching footsteps and joyfully bounded toward the person entering the courtyard, splashing snow all over them.

“Zhizi! Stop, don’t lick—” Duan Xiaoyan was licked all over his face by the black dog, awkwardly trying to dodge.

Several days ago, there had been an assassination attempt on the Eastern Palace, and His Majesty had urgently summoned all divisions of the Palace Guard Command to enter the palace under martial law. After being busy these days, today the various guard divisions finally had time to return to the command.

Pei Yunying had also finally gotten some free time.

In the room, having removed his official uniform and bathed, Pei Yunying had changed into moon-white underclothes and was sitting in a chair, one hand pulling open his shoulder garment, applying medicine to the wound there.

After doing it several times, the movements had become smoother. He skillfully removed the white cloth from the previous bandaging, cleaned it with a cloth, and sprinkled on medicinal powder.

This was the scene Xiao Zhufeng saw when he first entered the door. He paused, walked up to Pei Yunying, picked up the half-used medicine bottle from the table, and looked at it, speaking with some surprise: “This isn’t from the palace?”

All their Palace Guard Command’s wound medicine was distributed by the Imperial Medicine Bureau, and for someone like Pei Yunying who served in the imperial presence, the rewards he received included wound medicine personally prepared by the imperial physicians, with extraordinary effectiveness.

But this medicine bottle was ordinary-looking, clearly not from the palace.

Pei Yunying glanced at him, snatched back the medicine bottle, and snorted: “Fifty taels of silver, no need to waste it.”

“Fifty taels?” Xiao Zhufeng frowned: “Were you scammed?”

Pei Yunying couldn’t be bothered to explain to him.

Xiao Zhufeng didn’t mind, leaning against the table and watching Pei Yunying wrap the wound with fresh cloth again, commenting: “The stitching isn’t very good.”

Pei Yunying followed his gaze to his shoulder, where the new wound had scabbed over, revealing old scars beneath the covering, like a long centipede clinging to his skin, spreading backward, frighteningly grotesque.

Pei Yunying’s gaze gradually grew distant.

Years ago, when he was passing through Su Nan being pursued by assassins, he had hidden at an execution ground and met a strange girl among the corpses.

She claimed to be a doctor, yet collected from dead bodies. She seemed timid but dared to personally extract hearts and lungs from corpses. Afterward, she even deceived herself by bowing to the corpses, begging that since the debt had its owner, they shouldn’t come after her.

He had been stabbed by his people then, barely alive, as wary as a cornered beast, but couldn’t help laughing at her absurd actions. Later he forced her to save him, to stitch his wound. He vaguely remembered her unwilling expression, to the point where she deliberately—or perhaps not deliberately—left such an ugly scar on his shoulder and back.

Many details were unclear in Pei Yunying’s memory. He only remembered it was Su Nan City’s heaviest snow in ten years, with a lonely lamp glowing in the ruined temple. She asked him for a doctor’s fee, and he had only a silver ring left on his person, representing his mission identity.

She didn’t know the ring’s value but reluctantly accepted it, even forcing him to write an “IOU” on the temple wall.

He didn’t quite remember the specifics of the IOU, just something about owing her a doctor’s fee, and at the end, it was signed “Seventeen.”

Seventeen—not a real name.

A little girl who looked only eleven or twelve, yet had reasons to hide her identity, showing how difficult the times were.

He hadn’t asked more, just as she hadn’t investigated his origins. They were just passing travelers meeting by chance, no need to know each other’s past or future.

Someone speaking beside him interrupted his thoughts.

Xiao Zhufeng asked: “The night something happened in the palace, did Lu Tong help you?”

Pei Yunying’s movements paused slightly, and he made an affirmative sound.

“Too risky,” Xiao Zhufeng didn’t approve, “if she reported you to the authorities now, you’d be done for.”

Pei Yunying smiled: “She has enough troubles of her own, she won’t bring fire upon herself at this time.”

He remembered the two large vats of poison Lu Tong kept in the small kitchen, and her practiced handling when facing Shen Fengying, his eyes gradually growing cold.

This Doctor Lu seemed to have many secrets—she had killed before, framed others without changing expression, and even though he had come uninvited that night, forcing her to become his “partner in crime,” after the initial surprise, she had naturally accepted it.

As if immersed in her world, indifferent to everything around her.

Only people immersed in their world were that way because they had their tasks to accomplish.

What exactly did she want to do?

Xiao Zhufeng glanced at him: “But, I just heard some news.”

“What news?”

“A few days ago, the Minister of Imperial Warehouses’ servants went to make trouble on West Street, saying the female doctor at Rixin Medical Shop was seducing young master Dong.”

Pei Yunying laughed derisively, picking up the teapot from the table to pour tea: “The Dong family knows how to flatter themselves.”

Someone like himself was no different from “half a piece of pork buried under a tree” in Lu Tong’s eyes; probably Dong Lin was worth even less than pork to Doctor Lu.

“It caused quite a stir, many people on West Street heard about it. They say that female doctor Lu used Dong Lin to bribe people in the medical community so she could participate in this year’s Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination.”

At these words, Pei Yunying’s tea-pouring motion paused, and he looked up at Xiao Zhufeng: “Spring examination?”

Xiao Zhufeng shrugged, “Looks like that’s the female doctor’s goal.”

Participating in the Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination was only to enter the Hanlin Medical Academy as a medical official after passing. Being a medical official sounded prestigious, but in reality might not be as free as running a small medical shop on West Street. Lu Tong didn’t seem like someone who cared about fame and fortune.

The only possibility was that she wanted legitimate access to the palace.

Xiao Zhufeng said: “Previously you guessed she was the Third Prince’s person, but now we can rule that out. If she were the Third Prince’s, there’d be no need for such trouble to get her into the palace.”

If the Third Prince wanted to arrange for someone in the palace, why go to such trouble? It would just take one word, and certainly wouldn’t get tangled up in romantic rumors with the Minister of Imperial Warehouses.

He looked at Pei Yunying, fell silent for a moment, then said: “Could it be another prince?”

Pei Yunying shook his head.

The capital’s waters ran deep, and official circles were complex with human relationships, but one thing was certain—whether the Third Prince or other princes, none would make an ordinary woman their important piece.

This was the arrogance of those in power.

Seeing his friend’s cold expression, Xiao Zhufeng patted the table, “No need to overthink it, maybe it’s just a smokescreen. Every year in the Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination, besides the Bureau’s students, very few civilian doctors pass. Perhaps Doctor Lu is making a big show, only to end up failing to make the list, becoming a laughingstock.”

This was true—Lu Tong was just a civilian female doctor, and without any medical official’s guidance, the possibility of failing was very high. Probably for this reason, the Minister’s wife Madam Dong had allowed rumors to spread wildly—because she was certain Lu Tong would be the biggest loser in this romantic scandal.

The tea on the table was warm, the ink paintings on the porcelain cup fading in and out in the hot mist, unclear.

The young man lowered his eyes to look, saying: “That’s not necessarily true.”

…

The news that the civilian female doctor from Rixin Medical Shop, not knowing her limitations, wanted to participate in next year’s Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination, and had even sent people to buy large quantities of medical texts and theory books from the West Street bookstore, spread throughout the entire medical community overnight.

And not just the medical community—there were some rumors in the streets and alleys of the capital. After all, with “Spring Water” and “Slender” before, and the brocade carpet personally delivered by the Wang Princess’s team of strong men after, Rixin Medical Shop wasn’t exactly an unknown small clinic in the capital anymore.

Du Changqing heard the news from somewhere and hurried over early in the morning. Lu Tong had just opened the medical shop’s door when she ran into Du Changqing’s devastated face.

“I didn’t tell anyone!” Du Changqing defended with his neck stiff, “It must have been Big-Mouth Luo’s big mouth that spread it!”

While buying medical texts from a bookstore wasn’t something to be ridiculed about when spread, it did bring more spectators. Sometimes when the stage is built too high, you have to perform even if you don’t want to.

“I just went to buy a few books, barely said two words to him, who knew that tortoise wouldn’t keep his mouth shut?”

Yin Zheng came over with a grin: “Oh? But didn’t A-Cheng say those medical texts were bought by him, with no connection to you, Shopkeeper Du?” She had a sudden realization, “How did they become bought by you?”

Du Changqing choked.

Yin Zheng burst out laughing.

Du Changqing had spoken so righteously, stayed away for over ten days in anger, yet rushed back to explain as soon as rumors flew—he had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

After hemming and hawing for a moment, Du Changqing gave up and said: “So what if I bought them?”

He flung his sleeve and said with a cold laugh: “Doctor Lu is determined to enter the Hanlin Medical Academy through the spring examination, that’s great, my shop can save two taels in monthly wages, perfect for saving money.”

“Moreover, West Street producing a Hanlin medical official will bring glory to the medical shop too, of course, I should help make such a good thing happen.”

A-Cheng glanced at him: “But owner, didn’t you say you couldn’t bear to part with Doctor Lu?”

“Who can’t bear to part with her?” Du Changqing exploded in anger: “She has her affairs, I have my own life! Everyone goes their way, who can’t live without whom?”

Everyone in the room: “…”

Lu Tong put down her medicine pestle: “Shopkeeper Du.”

“What!”

“Thank you for the medical texts you sent me, they’re very useful to me.”

Yin Zheng hurried to help: “Yes, Miss has been reading them non-stop for several days, staying up late at night, definitely not wasting Shopkeeper Du’s kind intentions.”

Du Changqing glanced at Lu Tong and saw her calm expression, which made him feel like a restless clown in comparison, but thinking that Lu Tong would soon leave this place, he felt dejected again and spoke sarcastically: “That’s very good then, they say those unlucky in love are lucky in other pursuits. The Dong family’s shorty turned his back on you, maybe Doctor Lu will make a splash at the spring examination, and our West Street can produce a Hanlin medical official. In my life, I’ve never seen a living Hanlin medical official!”

Yin Zheng: “…”

Lu Tong lowered her head and smiled.

This smile made Du Changqing even more irritated, but before he could speak, he heard Lu Tong say first: “There’s one thing I’d like to ask Shopkeeper Du for help with.”

“What help? Why not ask your Commander Pei or Young Master Dong? Go ahead, say it!”

Lu Tong picked up the volume from the table: “I’d like to know where Shopkeeper Du bought this volume?”

Du Changqing turned his head impatiently, but when he glanced at the volume in Lu Tong’s hand, he paused. The volume was thin, just a few sheets, the paper yellowed and rough, somewhat wrinkled, looking more like waste paper at first glance.

Du Changqing was taken aback, asking suspiciously: “Isn’t that just the extra freebie?”

“Freebie?”

“Three medical texts for two taels of silver, with a few sheets thrown in as extra.”

He glanced at Lu Tong: “What, want a few more sheets?”