Miao Liangfang left with heavy worries on his mind.

Yin Zheng peeked her head out from the small kitchen and, seeing Lu Tong put the velvet cloth into her medical box, came over and whispered: “Miss, what Medical Official Miao said couldn’t be true, could it…”

She had just come out and happened to hear Miao Liangfang’s words, inevitably becoming worried for Lu Tong.

Setting aside what kind of dragon’s den and tiger’s lair the Hanlin Medical Academy might be, just considering this person Cui Min’s hatred and prejudice against commoners, Lu Tong’s spring examinations would face countless difficulties.

“Whether it’s true or not, we’ll know once we go,” Lu Tong said, picking up her medical box and rising to walk toward the house.

That night she slept quite soundly.

Early the next morning, when the sky was just growing light, Lu Tong finished washing and dressing.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Yin Zheng sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, yawning.

Hearing the movement, Yin Zheng turned her head, stood up and walked over, stuffing two pieces of warm white cake into Lu Tong’s hands: “Miss, have something to fill your stomach, we can eat on the way.”

Lu Tong was stunned.

The spring examination venue at the Medical Bureau was the same as the autumn imperial examinations—both were held at the Examination Compound. However, there weren’t as many examinees as those taking the autumn imperials, since medical officials, though they had the word “official” in their title, ultimately weren’t as respectable as real “officials.”

The examination started at the si hour (9-11 AM). Lu Tong had gotten up at the mao hour (5-7 AM), and the two hours in between were sufficient for the journey. Moreover, she wanted to go to the Examination Compound alone, not wanting Du Changqing and Miao Liangfang to see her off.

Alone—she was used to being alone.

Seeing her dazed expression, Yin Zheng revealed a pleased smile, came over to link arms with Lu Tong, and said with a laugh: “Miss, don’t think you can abandon me and go alone. Let me see you off too. I’ve never seen what the spring examinations in the capital look like! Let me broaden my horizons!”

Her slender fingers gripped Lu Tong’s arm tightly, as if afraid she might run away in the blink of an eye. The small patch of skin covered by her hand quickly warmed, seeming to dispel the cold of the early spring morning.

Lu Tong stared blankly at the hand resting on her arm. After a while, she lowered her head and said: “Let’s go.”

“Great!”

The carriage had been arranged the day before and was waiting early at the alley entrance.

From West Street to the Examination Compound wasn’t particularly close, but it wasn’t far either—less than half an hour. Lu Tong ate the two white cakes with Yin Zheng in the carriage and had some water. Before long, they heard the driver ahead say: “Young ladies, we’ve arrived.”

The carriage stopped.

Lu Tong and Yin Zheng jumped down from the carriage.

Having been in Shengjing for a year, this was Lu Tong’s first time at the Examination Compound. Before coming, Miao Liangfang had already told her about the spring examination procedures, and she had also learned about the Examination Compound’s layout from Scholar Wu, but when she was truly there in person, the feeling was different.

It was already early spring. The snow on Wan’en Temple mountain hadn’t completely melted, but Shengjing’s spring willows already showed swaying shadows.

Thin willows were planted around the Examination Compound, just sprouting green shoots in a patch of tender green. Because last year’s autumn imperial examination incident had caused quite a stir, the Examination Compound had been renovated once. Among those floating green mists, two enormous vermillion columns stood prominently at the entrance, with one side carved in black characters: “Treasured sword moves with connecting stars, golden saddle bids farewell to the neighing horse.”

The other side was carved: “Holding the five-colored brush, seize the champion’s name.”

The brushwork was vigorous and the spirit soaring.

This was the main gate of the Examination Compound.

There were patrolling examination officials and guards at the entrance. Lu Tong walked over and showed them her spring examination credentials. The official took the document, flipped through it twice, looked Lu Tong up and down, then waved his hand at her, indicating she could enter.

Yin Zheng couldn’t follow and could only wait outside the compound. She gripped Lu Tong’s hand somewhat forcefully.

Lu Tong patted the back of her hand reassuringly, shouldered her medical box, and walked inside.

…

At the entrance of the Examination Compound, some students awaiting the exam were currently standing there.

Since it was still early, the examination cell doors hadn’t opened yet. There was a large open space in front of the examination cells, with long pavilions set up using cloth curtains. Many bamboo stools were placed under the long pavilions for early-arriving examinees to rest.

Quite a few students who had arrived early sat under the bamboo pavilions. Some sat reviewing medical texts in their hands, hoping to get in a few more glances before the examination began. More gathered together, chatting about recent anecdotes.

The leading young man wore the distinctive blue cloth shirt of Medical Bureau students and was animatedly telling gossip he’d recently heard.

“I heard that among today’s spring examinees, there’s a commoner medical worker who’s also a woman. Have you all heard about this?”

A man sitting at the other end who was flipping through medical texts looked up with a grin: “I heard too. That woman was involved with Dong Lin from the Supreme Court Minister’s manor, and Dong Lin even had a falling out with his mother over it!”

“Cao Huai, is what you’re saying true?”

At these words, the surrounding people immediately exclaimed in amazement.

This young master of the Supreme Court Minister had been weak and submissive since childhood, treating his mother’s words as sacred law—no one in all of Shengjing didn’t know this. Now he had actually fallen out with his family over a woman, which was truly curious.

“What kind of stunning beauty could make Dong Lin rebel against his mother?”

Someone else answered arrogantly: “Just a country woman trying to climb above her station. To make Dong Lin completely devoted, she didn’t hesitate to participate in the spring examinations. What does she take the spring examinations for? We who study at the Medical Bureau should be ashamed to be grouped with such a woman!”

Medical Bureau students had always thought highly of themselves and looked down on commoner medical workers. Now hearing she was participating in the spring examinations out of spite over a man, they inevitably felt contempt.

Just as they were talking, someone ahead suddenly pointed: “Look… isn’t that the commoner medical woman?”

Everyone looked in the direction of his gaze.

A young woman was walking from the direction of the examination cells, wearing a somewhat worn deep blue dress, carrying a wooden medical box on her back, with her black hair half-pinned up and only a simple hairpin inserted in her hair.

Early spring’s chill hadn’t faded yet. The pale sunlight fell on her face like golden sun lightly sprinkling over an icy mountain’s coldness. Her features were beautiful, and she walked slowly and unhurriedly without speaking or smiling, her beauty surpassing the spring willows of March.

The young men who had just been mocking and ridiculing suddenly couldn’t speak.

Shengjing women were mostly tall and bright, but this woman was slender and delicate, more like a Jiangnan beauty, yet unlike the gentle and graceful Jiangnan beauties. She was like clear spring snow and melting autumn moon, with a few traces of cold beauty and proud self-admiration in her brows and eyes.

Without a trace of flattering or coquettish air.

Completely different from the frivolous person they had imagined.

Lu Tong walked to the front of the long pavilion and seemed to notice the many additional people around for the first time. She stopped and looked up at those before her.

This group all looked very young, with only one or two who were older. They all wore round-collared blue long robes, and even the medical boxes they carried were the same yellow wooden boxes with carved silk patterns. They seemed to know each other, with familiar attitudes.

After only a moment of confusion, she quickly understood.

These were probably the Medical Bureau students.

Commoner medical workers recommended by medical guilds and Medical Bureau students could be easily distinguished by their clothing alone, and there were no other people like herself around.

It seemed that among this year’s examinees, she was the only “outsider.”

Just as she was thinking this, a voice suddenly came from in front of her: “Miss?”

She looked up and saw a young man in blue robes and a scholar’s cap standing before her.

This young man was fairly handsome, but his eyes kept darting around when looking at people, appearing somewhat scheming. He looked Lu Tong up and down, his smile inappropriately intimate as he said: “Miss, are you also here to take the spring examinations?”

Lu Tong glanced at him and walked past him, showing no intention of conversing.

The surrounding crowd of onlookers immediately burst into laughter: “Cao Huai got snubbed!”

“Haha, his father is just a Deputy Director of the Palace Treasury—how could that compare to the Supreme Court Minister!”

The young man called “Cao Huai” also heard the surrounding mockery. His smile stiffened and his expression became ugly.

“I’m talking to you!” He dropped his smile, somewhat viciously stepped forward, intending to grab the hand of the person in front of him.

The next moment, someone passed by and swatted away his unruly hand, accompanied by a scolding voice: “What are you doing? Looking for a fight?”

The voice was crisp—it was a woman.

Lu Tong turned her head.

The speaker was a girl in blue robes, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with deep and bright features and a pair of lively, sparkling eyes that immediately made people like her. She wasn’t wearing a scholar’s cap, only using a matching colored hair ribbon to tie up her long hair, making her bright and beautiful face appear especially vibrant.

Looking around, there weren’t many women participating in today’s spring examinations. Including Lu Tong, there were only a few in total. This girl stood protectively in front of Lu Tong with her arms crossed, clearly in a protective posture.

“Lin Danqing!” Cao Huai was furious.

“Why are you shouting so loudly?” The girl called Lin Danqing blinked and revealed an innocent smile. “We’re about to have the spring examinations, and you, a grown man, are still making things difficult for a young lady here. Don’t you understand what it means to cherish and protect women?”

“With deities watching from three feet above, be careful that Wenchang Jun sees you being rude and makes you fail the exam.”

“You!” Cao Huai’s expression changed several times. Whether he feared this girl’s status or was wary of the curse in her words, he glared fiercely at Lu Tong and stormed off angrily.

Some of the surrounding onlookers also dispersed.

Lu Tong withdrew her gaze and looked at the girl before her: “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” the girl in blue smiled at her and extended a hand, “I’m Lin Danqing. Perhaps in the future we’ll enter the Hanlin Medical Academy together and work as medical officials.”

That hand was bathed in sunlight, looking bright and strong.

After a pause, Lu Tong extended her hand and lightly shook hands with Lin Danqing.

“I hope your words come true,” she said.

“Trust me, sister,” Lin Danqing said with a serious expression, “my mouth has been blessed—it’s very effective!”

Just then, long bells rang several times from outside.

“The spring examinations are about to begin,” Lin Danqing looked back, “let’s go over too.”

Lu Tong nodded, stood up, and walked toward the examination cells together with her.

In front of the examination cells, the chief examiner was checking credentials and calling names. Everyone found their assigned examination cells according to their names. Lu Tong was assigned to a cell in the middle—neither far nor near. She placed her medical box outside the door, took only her writing materials, and went directly into the examination cell.

Because of last year’s autumn imperial examination cheating incident, this year’s spring examinations were much stricter. The walls inside and outside the examination cells seemed to have been reorganized and renovated, appearing even more cramped and narrow. At a glance, they looked like small prison cells.

The examiner distributed the exam papers—a whole thick stack. The Medical Bureau spring examinations were like Shengjing’s autumn imperial examinations, just testing different content. Whether it was Lu Tong’s imagination or not, she felt that when the examiner distributing exam papers passed her examination cell, his gaze at her held some pity.

As if quite sympathetic.

She paid no attention, picked up the exam papers in front of her, and organized them one by one.

One, two, three…

The spring examinations tested nine subjects in total: Major Prescriptions, Minor Prescriptions, Cold Damage, Women’s Medicine, Sores and Ulcers, Acupuncture, Ophthalmology, Throat Medicine, and Orthopedics.

This was also how Miao Liangfang had taught her.

However…

…eight, nine, ten.

Lu Tong’s movement of checking through the exam papers suddenly stopped.

Ten copies.

The exam papers before her were a full ten copies.

She frowned slightly and picked up the exam papers to count again.

Still ten copies.

She hadn’t miscounted—there was one extra subject.

Lu Tong stared at the extra exam paper before her, remembering the strange look that chief examiner had given her earlier, and her heart sank slightly.

Why would there suddenly be an extra subject?

…

At the same time, standing under the long pavilion, the chief examiner who had just distributed exam papers to Lu Tong sighed: “I’m afraid not many will pass this year’s spring examinations.”

“That’s natural,” another chief examiner walked over, looking toward the distant examination cells with some emotion. “The questions that Master Ji Xun set—even medical officials from the Hanlin Medical Academy might not be able to answer them, let alone those young sprouts.”

This year’s Medical Bureau spring examinations had questions personally set by Hanlin Medical Official Ji Xun. Ji Xun was well-versed in medical principles and pharmacology, but was strict by nature. Previously, when he had given lectures to students at the Medical Bureau a few times, the students all complained afterward that the medical principles he taught were too profound and difficult to digest. This time he personally set the questions, and when the chief examiners glanced at them during distribution today, they all clicked their tongues. Apart from the regular Medical Bureau coursework, there were quite a few particularly difficult and obscure questions.

“More than that,” the chief examiner said. “This year they added a subject on forensic examination—it’s crazy. The government offices have specialized coroners; why is our Medical Academy getting involved?”

This year’s spring examinations had added one subject, changing from nine to ten subjects, adding forensic examination for inspecting corpse conditions.

Shengjing’s government offices had specialized coroner officials, which by rights had nothing to do with the Medical Bureau’s Medical Academy. However, because coroners had low status and mostly came from families dealing with coffins, butchering, burial preparations, and funeral services, and their descendants weren’t allowed to participate in imperial examinations, no one wanted to enter this profession. As a result, outstanding coroners in Shengjing’s government offices had become increasingly rare in recent years.

At the beginning of last year, the court had intended to add new coroner positions and raise the status of coroners in government offices, so they added forensic examination as a subject in the Medical Bureau. But because this subject required dealing with corpses, these Medical Bureau students, while not from particularly high-ranking families, had been raised in comfort and luxury since birth, never suffering hardship, let alone bothering to study corpses intensively. In the forensic examination subject, almost all their grades were poor.

No one had expected the Medical Academy to arrange “forensic examination” into this year’s spring examinations as well.

“Our Medical Bureau students are still fine—at worst, they’ve all learned a little. But that commoner medical worker will be miserable. She’s never learned it before, and suddenly adding this subject, she probably won’t be able to answer a single question.”

The chief examiner thought of the young medical woman sitting in the examination cell earlier and couldn’t help feeling somewhat sympathetic. The Supreme Court Minister’s affair—people in their Medical Academy had heard bits about it. He himself was also of commoner origin and had worked diligently for years to secure his position in the Medical Academy. Seeing that this year there was finally a commoner participating in the spring examinations, yet she would miss out on the Medical Academy due to sudden examination reforms, he felt it was quite a pity.

“Sympathizing with her? No need. Might as well tell you—the Dong family already came to greet the Medical Academy,” his colleague lowered his voice. “Never mind that she can’t pass—even if she could pass, she still couldn’t enter the Hanlin Medical Academy.”

The chief examiner was stunned: “Why?”

“Think about it—if she really entered the Hanlin Medical Academy, where would the Dong family put their face? We should just do what we’re supposed to do. Don’t inquire about the thoughts of those above.” His colleague patted his shoulder and went off to patrol with his water jug.

The chief examiner stood dazed for a long moment, sighed with fellow feeling, and followed toward the examination cells.