The snow in the capital hadn’t stopped.

For seven or eight consecutive days, Du Changqing hadn’t come to Renxin Medical Hall again.

Perhaps determined to maintain this quarrel with Lu Tong, even on payday, he only sent A’Cheng to handle it.

Winter was already bleak, and without Du Changqing’s occasional jokes and banter, the medical hall seemed even more desolate.

Yin Zheng put the monthly wages A’Cheng had brought into a box, and when she turned around, she saw Lu Tong sitting behind the counter reading.

The spring examination was next February, leaving Lu Tong little time. She had no master, nor did she have nine specialized teachers personally instructing her like the Imperial Medical Bureau students. All she could do was flip through medical books.

The medical texts were brought back by A’Cheng, who said: “Physician Lu, these are medical texts I specially found for you… I bought them with my own monthly wages – the shopkeeper doesn’t know!”

At the time, Yin Zheng had burst out laughing and whispered to Lu Tong: “Of Shopkeeper Du’s entire body, only his mouth is the hardest.”

Since it was Du Changqing’s kind intention, there was certainly no reason to waste it. During quiet times at the clinic, Lu Tong would flip through these medical texts. Those medical books on Luomei Peak had finally been burned to nothing by Yunniang, and in the capital, medical books were expensive. That Du Changqing could find these few books was already not easy.

There weren’t many books in total, and Lu Tong read quickly. In just a few days, she had already read through the previous few books once. These medical classics and theories were somewhat different from the path Yunniang had taken, causing Lu Tong to feel somewhat worried about the upcoming spring examination.

Yin Zheng was using a damp cloth to wipe the medicine shelves. Seeing Lu Tong reading earnestly, she couldn’t help but ask: “Miss stayed up reading until midnight yesterday and has been at it non-stop today. Be careful not to hurt your eyes – why don’t you rest a bit?”

Lu Tong seemed oblivious.

Yin Zheng found this somewhat strange.

Lu Tong had an excellent memory. She had casually flipped through the previous few medical books during free time at the clinic, but since yesterday, she seemed possessed, studying late into the night. If Yin Zheng hadn’t urged her, Lu Tong might have read until dawn.

It was just that she couldn’t understand those medical classics and pharmaceutical theories, so she didn’t comprehend why Lu Tong was so fascinated.

Behind the counter, Lu Tong finished the last page of the booklet in her hands, closed it, and traced her fingertips over the flamboyant characters on the cover:

— Capital Imperial Medical Bureau Spring Examination Historical Questions and Detailed Solutions.

This name was absurdly laughable. The Imperial Medical Bureau’s annual spring examination papers were never circulated externally. Even if there were people who understood medical classics and pharmaceutical theory wanting to create “detailed solutions,” most would be written personally by teachers from the Imperial Medical Bureau or medical officials from the Hanlin Medical Academy.

Yet an outsider dared to so boldly create “detailed solutions for examination questions.” No wonder it couldn’t sell and had accumulated for years, to the point of being given away as waste paper thrown in as a bonus.

However…

Lu Tong stared at the booklet before her, her gaze shifting.

Yesterday she had read this “detailed solution” until midnight. The few short pages were far more beneficial than the remaining thick medical texts. What was written in this booklet appeared at first glance to be flights of fancy, completely irrelevant, but upon careful examination, it contained hidden mysteries and seemed different from ordinary medical texts on the market.

She lowered her head again to look at the signature at the end of the booklet.

— A master who wishes to remain anonymous.

Lu Tong: “…”

This looked even more like a joke. Perhaps the person who wrote this booklet never thought it would be sold, let alone read through the night by someone.

“A’Cheng.” Lu Tong called to the young clerk.

A’Cheng, who was weaving grasshoppers, hurriedly turned around: “What is it, Physician Lu?”

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

“So?”

“Where is the bookstore?”

A’Cheng: “Huh?”

…

After several days away, snow had accumulated over three feet in the Palace Guard courtyard.

The black dog was awakened by the sound of approaching footsteps and joyfully pounced toward the person entering the courtyard, sending snow particles flying all over them.

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

A few days ago, the Eastern Palace was attacked by an assassin. His Majesty urgently summoned all Palace Guard battalions to enter the palace for martial law. After being busy for these days, today the various battalions finally had time to return to headquarters.

Pei Yunying also finally had some free time.

In the room, having removed his official robes and bathed, Pei Yunying changed into moon-white undergarments, leaned back in his chair, pulled open the clothing at his shoulder with one hand, and was applying medicine to the wound on his shoulder.

After doing it several times, the movements became more practiced. He skillfully removed the white cloth that had been bandaged before, cleaned it with a handkerchief, then sprinkled on medicinal powder.

Xiao Zhufeng had just entered the door when he saw this scene. He paused, walked to Pei Yunying, picked up the half-used medicine bottle on the table to look at it, and spoke with some surprise: “This isn’t palace medicine?”

Their Palace Guard’s external injury medicines were all distributed by the Imperial Pharmacy. For someone like Pei Yunying who walked before the emperor, the rewards he received included wound medicines personally prepared by imperial medical officials, with exceptional efficacy.

But this medicine bottle in his hand was ordinary, clearly not from the palace.

Pei Yunying glanced at him and snatched back the medicine bottle with a huff: “Fifty taels of silver – no point wasting it.”

“Fifty taels?” Xiao Zhufeng frowned: “You were cheated?”

Pei Yunying was too lazy to explain to him.

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

Pei Yunying followed his gaze to look at his own shoulder. Where the new wound had scabbed over, it revealed old scars underneath, like a long centipede clinging to his skin, extending backward in a terrifying mass.

Pei Yunying’s gaze gradually became distant.

Years ago, when he passed through Sunan and was being hunted, he hid at the execution ground where he encountered a strange girl child among the corpses.

She claimed to be a physician yet collected dead bodies. She didn’t seem very brave, yet dared to personally extract hearts and lungs from corpses. In the end, she would deceive herself by bowing to the corpses, begging that every grievance has its source and every debt its debtor, please don’t come after her.

At that time, he had just been stabbed by one of his own people and was dying, as wary as a cornered beast, yet couldn’t help but be amused by her absurd behavior. Later he forced her to save him and stitch his wounds. He vaguely remembered her reluctant appearance, resulting in her leaving such an ugly scar on his shoulder and back, whether intentionally or not.

Actually, Pei Yunying couldn’t remember many details clearly. He only remembered it was a once-in-a-decade heavy snow in Sunan City, with a solitary lamp flickering in the ruined temple. She asked him for medical fees, while all he had left on his entire body was a silver ring representing his mission identity.

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

He didn’t quite remember the specific contents of the IOU – nothing more than owing her however much in medical fees. In the end, the signature was “Seventeen.”

Seventeen – clearly not a real name.

A little girl who appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old actually had reasons to hide her identity, showing how difficult the world was.

He hadn’t asked more questions, just as she hadn’t probed into his origins. Travelers who met by chance didn’t need to know each other’s past or future.

Someone beside him spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

Xiao Zhufeng asked: “The night the palace incident happened, it was Lu Tong who helped you?”

Pei Yunying’s movements paused slightly as he hummed in acknowledgment.

“Too risky,” Xiao Zhufeng disapproved. “If she reports you to the authorities now, you’re dead.”

Pei Yunying smiled: “She can barely take care of herself and won’t set herself on fire at this time.”

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

This Physician Lu seemed to have quite a few secrets – she had killed people and could frame others without changing expression. Even that night when he invited himself over and forced her to become his “accomplice,” after the initial surprise, she had naturally accepted it.

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

People who were solely immersed in their own world were because they had things to do.

What exactly did she want to do?

Xiao Zhufeng looked at him: “However, I just heard some news.”

“What news?”

“A few days ago, servants from the Supreme Court Minister’s household went to West Street to cause trouble, saying the female physician at Renxin Medical Hall seduced the Dong family’s young master.”

Pei Yunying laughed scornfully and picked up the teapot on the table to pour tea: “The Dong family really knows how to flatter themselves.”

In Lu Tong’s eyes, someone like himself was no different from “half a piece of pork buried under a tree.” Dong Lin in this Physician Lu’s eyes probably wasn’t even as good as pork.

“It caused quite a stir – many people on West Street heard it. They said that Physician Lu used Dong Lin to bribe people in the medical profession so she could participate in this year’s Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination.”

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

Xiao Zhufeng shrugged: “It seems this is that female physician’s goal.”

Participating in the Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination was nothing more than wanting 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 working in a small medical hall on West Street. Lu Tong didn’t seem like someone who cared about fame and profit.

The only possibility was that she wanted to legitimately enter the palace.

Xiao Zhufeng said: “Previously you guessed she was the Third Prince’s person – now that can be ruled out. If it were the Third Prince, there would be no need for such elaborate schemes to send her into the palace.”

If the Third Prince wanted to arrange someone in the palace, why would he need such trouble? It would just be a matter of one sentence, let alone getting mixed up with romantic rumors about the Supreme Court Minister.

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

Pei Yunying shook his head.

The capital’s waters ran deep, with complex official relationships, but one thing was certain – whether it was the Third Prince or other princes, none would let an ordinary commoner woman be their important chess piece.

This was the arrogance of those in power.

Seeing his friend’s cold expression, Xiao Zhufeng patted the table: “Don’t overthink it. Perhaps it’s a smokescreen. The Imperial Medical Bureau has spring examinations every year. Aside from Imperial Medical Bureau students, very few civilian medical workers pass. Maybe that Physician Lu is making a grand show, but in the end will fail the exam and be left off the list, becoming a laughingstock.”

This was indeed true. Lu Tong, a civilian female physician without medical official instruction, had a high probability of failing. Presumably this was why the Supreme Court Minister’s Madam Dong allowed rumors to fly everywhere – because she was certain Lu Tong would become the biggest loser in this romantic scandal.

The tea on the table was warm, with ink paintings traced on the porcelain cups appearing indistinct through the rising steam.

The young man looked down and said: “That may not necessarily be the case.”

…

The news that the commoner female physician at Renxin Medical Hall didn’t know her place and wanted to participate in next year’s Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination, even sending people to buy large quantities of medical texts and pharmaceutical theories from West Street bookstores, spread throughout the entire medical profession overnight.

And not just the medical profession – there were quite a few rumors in the capital’s streets and alleys. After all, there had been “Spring Water Born” and “Xianxian” before, followed by Princess Wen’s personal delivery of brocade blankets by a team of strong men. Renxin Medical Hall wasn’t exactly an unknown small clinic in the capital.

Du Changqing learned the news from somewhere and rushed over early in the morning. Lu Tong had just opened the medical hall door when she ran straight into Du Changqing’s face, which looked like he was attending a funeral.

“I didn’t say it!” Du Changqing stretched his neck to defend himself. “It must have been that big mouth Luo Dazui who spread it!”

Although buying medical texts from a bookstore wasn’t exactly embarrassing, it certainly attracted more spectators. Sometimes when the stage is built too high, you have to perform whether you want to or not.

“I just went to buy a few books and didn’t say much to him. Who knew that bastard couldn’t keep his mouth shut?”

Yin Zheng came over with a smile: “Eh? But didn’t A’Cheng say those medical texts were bought by him and had nothing to do with Shopkeeper Du?” She had a sudden realization: “How did they become yours again?”

Du Changqing choked.

Yin Zheng burst out laughing.

Du Changqing had spoken so righteously, then disappeared for over ten days in a huff, but as soon as rumors flew, he hurried back to explain. He really was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.

After stammering for a moment, Du Changqing broke the pot and said: “What’s wrong with me buying them?”

He flicked his sleeve and laughed coldly: “Physician Lu is determined to pass the spring examination and enter the Hanlin Medical Academy – that’s wonderful. I can save two taels in monthly wages from this shop, which saves money nicely.”

“Besides, having a Hanlin medical official come from West Street would bring honor to the medical hall too. Such a good thing, of course I want to help make it happen.”

A’Cheng glanced at him: “But didn’t the shopkeeper say he couldn’t bear to part with Physician Lu?”

“Who can’t bear to part with her?” Du Changqing was furious: “She has her business, I have my life! Everyone goes their separate ways – who can’t live without whom?”

Everyone in the room: “…”

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

“What!”

“Thank you for the medical texts you gave me. They’re very useful to me.”

Yin Zheng quickly chimed in: “That’s right, Miss has been reading them constantly for several days, staying up late at night. She definitely hasn’t wasted Shopkeeper Du’s kind intentions.”

Du Changqing glanced at Lu Tong and saw her calm expression, which instead made him seem like a jumping clown unable to keep his composure. However, thinking that Lu Tong would soon leave this place, he inevitably felt troubled again and simply said sarcastically: “That’s great then. People say when you fail in love you succeed in gambling. That short guy from the Dong family turned his back on you, so maybe Physician Lu will make a splash in the spring examination, and our West Street can produce a Hanlin medical official. In my whole 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 speak first: “There’s one thing I’d like to ask Shopkeeper Du to help with.”

“What help? Why don’t you ask your Master Pei or Young Master Dong for help? Speak up!”

Lu Tong picked up the booklet on the table: “I want to know where Shopkeeper Du bought this booklet?”

Du Changqing turned his head irritably and glanced at the booklet in Lu Tong’s hand. The booklet was very thin, only a few thin pages, with yellowed rough paper that was also somewhat wrinkled – at first glance it looked more like waste paper.

Du Changqing was stunned and spoke suspiciously: “Isn’t this just a bonus item?”

“Bonus item?”

“Two taels of silver for three medical texts, with a few bonus pages thrown in.”

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