In the Hong Fang Garden, the sun gradually rose.
Golden sunlight drifted over from the distance like fine golden sand, sprinkling a thin layer across the medicinal garden. The large patch of crimson flower clusters shimmered with a misty haze in the sunlight, breathtakingly beautiful.
He Xiu sat on a bluestone at the garden’s edge, blankly watching the person harvesting herbs among the flowers.
Under the dense, vivid colors, the woman’s dull brown hemp clothing was like the soil buried beneath the garden – murky, muddy, unremarkable. Yet her eyes were clear, and as she bent to pick the bright flowers one by one, her expression was focused, her movements skilled, as if she had done this thousands of times before.
He Xiu felt as if she were dreaming.
Hong Fang Xu was poisonous.
The flowers were as alluring as a beautiful woman, living up to their name. Countless pink filaments grew on the branches and leaves, and when the wind blew, these filaments would fill the sky like layers of silken mist, firmly enveloping anyone nearby.
Then they would enter through the nose, travel down the throat, and into the body, accumulating day after day as the poison spread.
If that were all, it would be bearable, but the fragrance of Hong Fang Xu was also poisonous. The rich, fragrant scent that filled one’s nose would cause weakness throughout the body. Stay too long, and movements would gradually slow, eventually leading to bleeding from the nose and mouth. Without timely rest away from the garden, one might lose consciousness.
This was exactly what happened to He Xiu – after about half an hour in the Hong Fang Xu, she felt dizzy and immediately retreated to the garden’s edge. She had expected the same from Lu Tong, who was new to the garden, yet an hour had passed, and Lu Tong’s expression remained normal as she moved throughout the garden, selecting and picking mature Hong Fang Xu onto the wooden cart.
He Xiu felt bewildered.
Lu Tong picked quickly, much faster than He Xiu who had been in the garden for three years. She also picked cleanly, not wasting any branches or leaves. The rose-pink filaments had settled lightly on her clothes in the breeze, like flowers embroidered on rough cloth, making her features appear even more distinct.
She wasn’t even wearing a face cloth.
A person without a face cloth, yet completely unaffected by the garden’s filaments and fragrance, moving freely… Could it be, He Xiu wondered, that Medical Officer Lu had no sense of smell?
But could Hong Fang Xu’s poison be ineffective just because one couldn’t smell it?
He Xiu didn’t understand. She had been away from the Medical Officials’ Court for too long, picking and washing the same herbs every day, having long forgotten all medical theories and principles.
As she pondered this, the sound of cartwheels grinding against soil reached her ears. He Xiu looked up to see Lu Tong pulling the wooden cart toward the garden’s edge.
More than half the cart was already piled high with fresh Hong Fang Xu, stacked like a small mountain. He Xiu stared in amazement, stammering, “You… you…”
“I checked the register,” Lu Tong said. “This is enough for today’s quota.”
He Xiu felt at a loss.
Such a harvest volume would normally take her from morning until evening to complete. Even though there were two of them now, in reality, Lu Tong had done all the picking alone.
Lu Tong hadn’t even taken a break.
Lu Tong spread out a large cloth that had been on the cart over the harvested Hong Fang Xu to prevent the filaments from flying about and to contain the fragrance.
He Xiu hesitated before asking softly, “Do you want to rest a while?” Seeing Lu Tong look over, she quickly explained, “Usually I don’t finish until dusk. If we return too early, the Medical Supervisor will assign you other tasks…”
The Southern Pharmacy was always like this – people here weren’t treated as people, but as livestock, like donkeys pulling a millstone, existing just to work.
Lu Tong thought for a moment, then walked back to the front of the garden, found a stone to sit on, and said, “Let’s rest.”
He Xiu sighed in relief, then remembered something and pulled out a dry biscuit from her bundle, offering it to Lu Tong.
Lu Tong accepted it.
“We ate before coming to the garden, and usually I eat after finishing work in the evening. The day is long, and eating only two meals leaves one hungry, so I brought some dry biscuits,” He Xiu explained.
Lu Tong nodded and took a bite. The biscuit wasn’t large, only palm-sized, coarse and astringent, difficult to swallow, with a strange bitter taste inside.
Lu Tong paused: “Did you add medicinal herbs?”
He Xiu’s eyes lit up: “You can taste it?”
She seemed pleased: “I added detoxifying herbs. Sometimes when processing medicinal materials in the Southern Pharmacy, there are leftover branches and leaves. I picked out what was usable and borrowed the kitchen to make biscuits. Hong Fang Xu is poisonous, and while these medicinal biscuits can’t completely counteract the poison, they can help alleviate some of its effects.” She took out another one from her bundle, carefully taking a bite as if savoring a delicacy, then smiled sheepishly at Lu Tong: “They don’t taste very good, but they’re beneficial for the body. Medical Officer Lu, please eat more.”
Lu Tong looked down at the medicinal biscuit in her hand.
The bitter taste of herbs lingered on her lips. Perhaps because He Xiu couldn’t bear to waste those fragmentary leaves, some weren’t even fully ground up. But they were probably just some unremarkable, even inferior herbs with minimal medicinal properties remaining. Using them to counter poison was like a fool’s dream.
They probably couldn’t even alleviate the toxicity – it was just self-deception, a mere comfort.
Lu Tong glanced sideways. He Xiu ate very carefully, picking up even the smallest crumb that fell on her clothes and putting it in her mouth as if it were the finest delicacy in the world.
Because she was eating, she had removed the rough face cloth. She wasn’t young, appearing to be thirty-five or thirty-six, with withered, sallow features like old yellow paper, and the dense spots under her eyes added years of weathering and toil to that yellow paper.
Noticing Lu Tong staring at her, He Xiu became uncomfortable: “What is it?”
Lu Tong asked: “The spots on your face, are they caused by Hong Fang Xu?”
He Xiu was startled, instinctively turning away to hide her face, but quickly realized this was like covering one’s ears while stealing a bell. After a moment, she slowly turned back and gave a soft “mm” in agreement.
“Hong Fang Xu is poisonous. Breathing its toxic fragrance for too long not only threatens life but also ruins one’s appearance,” she said quietly. “None of the medical officers in the Southern Pharmacy want to come here. I’m here because…”
She was here because she had no money, her appearance was ordinary, and she had no background or connections to speak on her behalf. So for several years straight, the harvesting of Hong Fang Xu had fallen to her.
Lu Tong was the second.
Thinking of this, He Xiu became curious. Lu Tong seemed unaffected by the flower’s fragrance while harvesting. She asked: “Usually when picking Hong Fang Xu, one gets poisoned even wearing a face cloth. Why are you unharmed, Medical Officer Lu?” There was something else He Xiu didn’t say – Lu Tong’s manner of harvesting Hong Fang Xu appeared very practiced.
Lu Tong said: “I encountered these flowers in my childhood and took an antidote. Perhaps because of that, this flower’s fragrance doesn’t harm me.”
He Xiu exclaimed in surprise: “So that’s it!” Then added enviously, “How fortunate.”
No one would willingly have their appearance ruined and be poisoned for no reason, facing a shortened life. Lu Tong was beautiful, and it would be terrible if that flawless face were to develop dense spots as well.
Lu Tong lowered her eyes, silently taking another bite of the coarse dry biscuit.
Of course, she had seen Hong Fang Xu before, except back then it wasn’t called Hong Fang Xu, but E Xiang Guo.
Yun Niang had gone to great lengths to obtain E Xiang Guo seeds, having her plant them in the garden behind the house, all to create a single medicinal spice. She had tended them carefully every day, and back then, the Hong Fang Xu at Luo Mei Peak had been ten times more abundant than here, blazing like the evening clouds.
There, she had planted and nurtured them, then harvested them one by one.
Ordinary poisons couldn’t affect her body, and the garden’s toxic fragrance was just a normal flower scent to her. Those ugly spots wouldn’t appear on her face, and she wouldn’t get dizzy and disoriented like He Xiu after staying too long.
Lu Tong asked: “When did you come to the Southern Pharmacy? Is it impossible to leave here?”
As if surprised by Lu Tong’s question, He Xiu was stunned for a good while before stammering: “I came here three years ago. As for leaving… no medical officer who has entered the Southern Pharmacy has ever left.”
Lu Tong was slightly startled.
He Xiu’s face showed bitterness.
“The Southern Pharmacy doesn’t usually accept people,” He Xiu said, looking down. “Only when someone dies and they’re short-staffed do they let people fill-in? Usually, it’s medical officials who have fallen from favor after making mistakes. I was very ordinary in the Medical Officials’ Court, and when the Southern Pharmacy was short-staffed, they had me fill in.”
“There’s no logic in leaving once you’ve entered the Southern Pharmacy. In my three years here, not a single medical officer has left, except through death.” He Xiu looked at Lu Tong: “They say you’re a newly appointed medical official, but the Southern Pharmacy hasn’t had any deaths recently and isn’t short-staffed. For a new medical official to come here… Medical Officer Lu, did you make some mistake or offend someone?”
He Xiu asked carefully, but Lu Tong didn’t answer.
In others’ eyes, a new medical official being banished to the Southern Pharmacy meant offending someone – it seemed obvious, even without her saying anything, the other medical officers could guess.
He Xiu sighed and didn’t pursue the question further.
Lu Tong asked: “The medical officer who made me change beds when I first arrived at the Southern Pharmacy – who is she?” She still remembered that woman who had shown such hostility toward her.
“You mean Mei Er Niang?”
“Mei Er Niang,” Lu Tong pondered, “What is her relationship with Zhu Mao?”
He Xiu was startled: “How do you know?” She looked around anxiously: “Medical Officer Lu, you must not tell anyone!”
Lu Tong nodded.
“Second Sister is also a pitiful person,” He Xiu sighed. “I heard she accidentally damaged a ginseng root and was sent to the Southern Pharmacy. They say she used to be skilled in medicine at the Medical Officials’ Court and was young and beautiful. When she first came to the Southern Pharmacy, she was completely unwilling, always thinking she’d return one day.”
“Medical Supervisor Zhu coaxed her, saying he could help her return to the Medical Court, so she gave herself to him, but…”
But to this day, she still hadn’t left the Southern Pharmacy.
Lu Tong remained silent, then after a while asked: “If it’s been like this for so many years, she must have realized Zhu Mao can’t help her leave. Why does she still stay with him?”
Lu Tong had seen clearly – the hostility in Mei Er Niang’s eyes that first night at the Southern Pharmacy and when Zhu Mao spoke to her the next day wasn’t imagination.
“Medical Officer Lu,” He Xiu clutched her medicinal biscuit tightly, speaking dejectedly: “Sometimes, having hope is better than having none. While Supervisor Zhu coaxes Mei Er Niang, she has hope to live on. If he wouldn’t even bother to deceive her anymore, she’d truly lose all hope and die. Second Sister… chose to deceive herself.”
In bitter days, some choose clarity, others choose delusion, but perhaps the result is the same.
“Medical Officer Lu, I’m telling you this not to excuse Second Sister,” He Xiu chewed another bite of biscuit. “You’re beautiful, and Supervisor Zhu might set his sights on you. Don’t be deceived by him – he won’t help you leave the Southern Pharmacy.”
He Xiu looked at Lu Tong, concern flashing in her eyes.
Lu Tong had taken an antidote in childhood, so Hong Fang Xu did not affect her. This was good for Lu Tong, as she wouldn’t have to endure the poison’s erosion of her body or have her appearance ruined. But equally, this could be a disaster for her.
How could Zhu Mao resist when a beautiful woman was constantly before his eyes? He would surely make a move on Lu Tong eventually.
Lu Tong appeared so delicate and weak, and she had offended someone at the Medical Court – how could she protect herself here?
He Xiu shook her head slightly inside.
Perhaps she would become the second Mei Er Niang.
…
Lu Tong and He Xiu didn’t return to the Southern Pharmacy until evening.
Thanks to Lu Tong, He Xiu’s harvesting today has been much easier. In the past, collecting this much Hong Fang Xu would leave her cold and pale by the time she returned to the dormitory, the poisonous fragrance making her suffer all night. This was the first time she felt almost cheerful while pushing the cart back.
Of course, she felt deep remorse toward Lu Tong. Most of today’s harvesting had been done by Lu Tong, and although Lu Tong had repeatedly assured her that Hong Fang Xu wouldn’t affect her body at all, He Xiu still felt guilty.
Because of this guilt, He Xiu volunteered to help Lu Tong organize the medicinal materials in the storehouse. He Xiu said: “The recording and organizing will take a while. You should go to the kitchen first to eat something. They keep the day’s leftover food in the pharmacy kitchen. I have some steamed buns in my bag – you can find some leftovers and heat them.”
Unlike the Medical Officials’ Court, the medical officers’ meals were all in the kitchen. According to He Xiu, sometimes when they returned late, only cold porridge would be left.
Unable to refuse He Xiu’s earnest offer, Lu Tong agreed.
The kitchen was some distance from the medicine storehouse, intentionally built far away to avoid contaminating the herbs. Lu Tong walked through a long corridor, around an empty yard, before finding the kitchen.
It was night, with no one outside, only lanterns swaying by the courtyard, casting sparse soft light. Lu Tong pushed open the door and entered. There was a lantern at the kitchen entrance; Lu Tong took it and went inside, finding cold stoves and empty works, some bowls carelessly placed on the chopping board, but no sign of leftover food.
He Xiu had mentioned that the Southern Pharmacy’s medical officers lived poorly, with ordinary food, and because daily consumption was high, nighttime leftovers weren’t very good. But even so, there should at least be a bowl of cold porridge.
Lu Tong’s gaze fell on the large iron wok in the center of the kitchen.
The Wok was covered with a lid. Lu Tong lifted it.
The bottom was clean and clear, carefully washed.
No cold porridge, no steamed buns, not even a bowl of hot water.
Lu Tong set down the lid with a clang, frowning.
They hadn’t left her even a grain of rice.
…
Under the corridor outside the Southern Pharmacy’s medicine storehouse, two medical officers were walking toward the storehouse carrying empty bowls from delivering medicinal meals.
“I heard the people from Hong Fang Garden have returned. That one seems clear-headed, barely affected by the fragrant poison. Ah Xiu is quite caring toward her, voluntarily helping her organize the storehouse,” said one of the medical officers.
The other kicked away a small stone in their path and agreed: “It’s only the first day – who knows what’s ahead. Ah Xiu is just making trouble for herself. Who knows who she offended, but Supervisor Zhu gave orders, and I saw them take away all the food from the kitchen today. She’ll likely go hungry tonight.”
As they spoke, the kicked stone rolled forward, spinning along the ground until it stopped suddenly against a pair of boots.
Someone was approaching.
The two medical officers looked up, and upon recognizing the newcomer, quickly bowed: “Commander Pei.”
It was Pei Yun Ying, Commander of the Palace Guard.
Near the corridors, it was common for imperial guards to patrol at night, and occasional encounters were normal. This Commander Pei often attended the emperor, and even the Court Director had to show him respect.
The young man nodded slightly, his steps not pausing as he passed by them.
After he passed, the medical officer patted his chest: “That scared me! Surely he didn’t hear our conversation just now?”
“Even if he did, it’s just about a new medical official. Commander Pei doesn’t know her – why would he have time to care about such trivial matters?”
“That’s true…”
As their voices faded into the distance, Pei Yun Ying stopped.
The Southern Pharmacy’s dormitory gate was not far ahead, two dim yellow lanterns swaying in the night wind at the entrance, reminiscent of an old signboard shadowed by plum tree branches on a snowy night.
The same desolation.
Pei Yun Ying stared quietly at that blurry light.
He had finished his duties and was passing through the east corridor, by the medicinal garden, when the medical officers’ chattering voices had been impossible to ignore.
He suddenly remembered that this was the young medical woman’s second day at the Southern Pharmacy.
She carried a burden of vengeance, cold and resolute, seemingly rational yet mad. However, the imperial city was not West Street – here, hierarchies were strict, and people were separated by rank, status, and all manner of rules and etiquette. Being banished to the neglected Southern Pharmacy right after entering the Medical Officials’ Court, barring any accidents, she would never be able to get close to her enemy.
Perhaps before achieving her revenge, she would grow old and die in the palace.
Did she regret it now? Or had she thought of other methods?
As he pondered this, suddenly someone spoke behind him: “What are you doing?”
Pei Yun Ying paused and turned around.
On the cold spring night, the woman wore brown hemp clothing, her garments stained with mud and dust, yet her face remained clean and white as porcelain, her features sharper than the night’s chill.
Seeing him, surprise flashed in Lu Tong’s eyes as she said: “Lord Pei?”