In the Red Fragrant Garden, the sun gradually rose.

Golden sunlight drifted over from the distance like scattered fine gold, spreading a delicate layer over the entire medicinal garden. A large cluster of crimson flowers reflected a thin mist under the sunlight, magnificent and captivating.

He Xiu sat on a bluestone at the edge of the medicinal garden, staring blankly at the person picking medicinal herbs among the flower clusters.

Under the large expanse of rich, vivid colors, the woman’s dim dark brown hemp clothing resembled the soil buried underground in the medicinal garden—dull, muddy, and utterly unremarkable. Yet her eyes and brows were clear and pure. When she bent down to pick the brightly colored flowers one by one, her expression was focused and her movements skilled, as if she had done this thousands of times before.

He Xiu felt as though she was dreaming.

Red Fragrant Catkins were poisonous.

These flowers were as gorgeous and alluring as beautiful women. True to their name, countless pink fine catkins grew on their branches and leaves. When the wind blew, the pink catkins would spread everywhere like layers of silken mist, tightly enveloping anyone nearby.

Then they would fly in through the nose, following the throat into the body, accumulating day by day as the toxins spread.

This alone would be manageable, but the fragrance of Red Fragrant Catkins was also poisonous. The rich, aromatic scent would make one feel weak all over. After staying here for a long time, one’s movements would gradually slow, and eventually blood would flow from mouth and nose. If one didn’t retreat in time to rest, one might lose consciousness.

He Xiu was exactly like this. After entering the Red Fragrant Catkins area for about half an hour, she felt dizzy and disoriented, so she immediately retreated to the edge of the medicinal garden. She thought Lu Tong, who had just arrived at the medicinal garden, would be the same. However, an hour had passed, and Lu Tong’s expression remained normal as she moved through the entire medicinal garden, selecting and picking the mature Red Fragrant Catkins onto the wooden cart.

He Xiu felt somewhat bewildered.

Lu Tong picked very quickly—much faster than He Xiu, who had been in the medicinal garden for three years. She also picked very cleanly, without wasting any branches or leaves. Those rose-pink flower catkins were lightly blown by the wind, creating a layer on her clothing like rich and light flowers embroidered on coarse cloth, making her features appear even more distinct.

She wasn’t even wearing a face covering.

A person without a face covering was completely unaffected by the flower catkins and fragrance in the Red Fragrant Garden, moving freely. Could it be… He Xiu wondered, does this Physician Lu have no sense of smell?

But could the toxicity of Red Fragrant Catkins really be neutralized just by losing one’s sense of smell?

He Xiu didn’t understand. She had been away from the Medical Academy for too long. Every day she only picked and cleaned the same medicinal materials. Medical classics and pharmaceutical principles had long been cast aside.

While she was thinking, the sound of wooden cart wheels grinding over muddy ground reached her ears. He Xiu looked up and saw Lu Tong pulling the wooden cart toward the edge of the medicinal garden.

More than half of the wooden cart was already piled high with fresh Red Fragrant Catkins, stacked like a small mountain. He Xiu stared in amazement, stammering for a moment: “You… you…”

“I’ve read the manual,” Lu Tong said. “This is sufficient for today’s picking quota.”

He Xiu felt somewhat at a loss.

With this amount of picking, on a normal day, she would have to work from dawn to dusk to complete it. Even though they now had two people, in reality, all of this had been picked by Lu Tong alone.

Lu Tong hadn’t even rested once.

Lu Tong spread out a large cloth that had originally been placed on the wooden cart, covering it over the picked Red Fragrant Catkins to prevent the flower catkins from flying about and to block the floral fragrance.

He Xiu hesitated, then asked quietly: “Don’t you want to rest for a while?” Seeing Lu Tong look over, she quickly explained: “Usually I don’t finish until evening. If we return too early, the Medical Supervisor will assign other tasks to you…”

The Southern Medicine House was always like this. People here weren’t treated as people, but as livestock, as donkeys pulling millstones—as long as they were alive, that was enough.

Lu Tong thought for a moment, then walked back to the front of the medicinal garden, found a stone to sit on, and said: “Let’s rest then.”

He Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered something and pulled out a dry cake from her personal bundle, offering it to Lu Tong.

Lu Tong accepted it.

“We ate before coming to the medicinal garden. Usually I only eat after finishing work in the evening. The day is long, and eating only twice would make one hungry, so I brought some dry cakes.” He Xiu explained.

Lu Tong nodded and took a bite. The cake wasn’t large, only about palm-sized, coarse and dry, difficult to swallow, with a strange bitter taste inside.

Lu Tong paused: “You added medicinal herbs?”

He Xiu’s eyes lit up: “You could taste it?”

She seemed somewhat pleased: “I put detoxifying medicinal herbs inside. Sometimes when organizing medicinal materials in the Southern Medicine House, there are leftover broken branches and leaves. I pick out the usable ones and borrow the kitchen to make cakes myself. Red Fragrant Catkins are poisonous. Although these medicinal cakes can’t detoxify, they can alleviate some of the toxicity.” She pulled out another one from her pouch, carefully taking a small bite as if savoring a delicacy, then looked at Lu Tong and smiled embarrassedly: “It doesn’t taste very good, but it’s beneficial for the body. Physician Lu, please eat more.”

Lu Tong looked down at the medicinal cake in her hand.

The bitter taste of medicinal herbs lingered on her lips. Perhaps because He Xiu was reluctant to waste those broken leaves, some weren’t even completely ground up. But those were probably just some not particularly precious, even somewhat inferior medicinal herbs whose medicinal properties were already minimal. Wanting to use them for detoxification was like a fool’s dream.

In fact, even alleviating toxicity was probably impossible—it was just self-deceptive comfort.

Lu Tong turned her head. He Xiu ate very carefully. When a cake crumb fell on her clothes, she carefully pinched it up and put it in her mouth, as if it were a rare delicacy in the world.

Because she was eating, she had removed the coarse face covering. She should be quite old, appearing to be thirty-five or thirty-six. Her features were withered and sallow like an old piece of yellow paper, while the dense spots under her eyes added much weathering and toil to that yellow paper.

Seeing Lu Tong staring at her, He Xiu felt somewhat uncomfortable: “What’s wrong?”

Lu Tong asked: “The spots on your face—were they caused by Red Fragrant Catkins?”

He Xiu was startled and instinctively turned away, not wanting Lu Tong to see her face clearly. But soon, she realized this seemed like burying her head in the sand. After a while, she slowly turned her face back and quietly said “Mm.”

“Red Fragrant Catkins are poisonous. Breathing their toxic fragrance for a long time not only threatens one’s life but also ruins one’s appearance.” She said in a low voice: “None of the physicians in the Southern Medicine House want to come here. I’m here because…”

She was here because she had no money, her appearance was plain, and she had no background or acquaintances to help speak for her, so for several whole years, the picking of Red Fragrant Catkins had been completed by her.

Lu Tong was the second.

Thinking of this, He Xiu was also somewhat curious. When Lu Tong was picking in the medicinal garden, she seemed unaffected by the floral fragrance. She asked: “Usually when picking Red Fragrant Catkins, even wearing a face covering one would be poisoned. Why is Physician Lu completely unharmed?” There was another thing He Xiu didn’t say—Lu Tong looked very skilled when picking those Red Fragrant Catkins.

Lu Tong said: “I saw this type of flower in my childhood and took an antidote. Perhaps because of this, the flower’s fragrance is harmless to me.”

He Xiu was surprised: “I see!” She spoke enviously again, “How wonderful.”

No one would willingly disfigure themselves with poison and have their life shortened. Lu Tong was born beautiful—if that flawless face were also covered with dense spots, it would truly be a terrifying thing.

Lu Tong lowered her eyes and silently bit into the coarse dry cake in her hand.

She had indeed seen Red Fragrant Catkins before, only at that time Red Fragrant Catkins weren’t called Red Fragrant Catkins—they were called Evil Fragrant Fruit.

Yunniang had painstakingly obtained Evil Fragrant Fruit seeds and had her plant them in the field behind the house, just to make a medicinal ingredient for spices. She tended them carefully every day. At that time, the Red Fragrant Catkins on Falling Plum Peak were ten times more luxuriant than those here, gorgeously red like a stretch of evening clouds.

She had planted and cultivated them there, then picked them one by one.

Ordinary poisons couldn’t affect her body. The evil fragrance in the garden was just ordinary floral scent to her. Those ugly spots wouldn’t appear on her face, and she wouldn’t become dizzy and disoriented like He Xiu after staying too long.

Lu Tong asked: “When did you come to the Southern Medicine House? Can’t you leave this place?”

As if not expecting Lu Tong to ask such a question, He Xiu was stunned for quite a while before stammering an answer: “I came here three years ago. Leaving… physicians who enter the Southern Medicine House never leave.”

Lu Tong was slightly startled.

He Xiu’s expression turned bitter.

“The Southern Medicine House doesn’t usually take people,” He Xiu said with her head down. “Only when someone dies and there aren’t enough physicians do they have people fill in. Usually it’s medical officials from the Medical Academy who made mistakes and were sidelined. I was very ordinary in the Medical Academy. When the Southern Medicine House was short-staffed, they had me fill in.”

“Physicians who enter the Southern Medicine House also have no reason to leave. I’ve been here for three years, and not one physician has left this place, unless they died.” He Xiu looked at Lu Tong: “They say you’re a newly appointed Medical Official. But recently no one has died in the Southern Medicine House, and there are enough physicians. For a newly appointed Medical Official to come here… Physician Lu, did you make some mistake or offend someone?”

He Xiu asked carefully, but Lu Tong didn’t answer.

In others’ eyes, a newly appointed Medical Official being assigned to the Southern Medicine House and having offended someone seemed obvious. Even if she didn’t say it, other physicians could guess.

He Xiu sighed and didn’t continue asking.

Lu Tong asked: “The physician who made me change beds on my first day at the Southern Medicine House—who was she?” She still remembered that woman who had been quite hostile toward her.

“You mean Mei Erniang?”

“Mei Erniang,” Lu Tong pondered. “What’s the relationship between Mei Erniang and Zhu Mao?”

He Xiu was startled: “How did you know?” She looked around: “Physician Lu, you must never tell anyone!”

Lu Tong nodded.

“Erniang is also a pitiful person,” He Xiu sighed. “I heard she accidentally damaged a medicinal ginseng and was sent to the Southern Medicine House. I heard her medical skills were very good in the Medical Academy, and she was young and beautiful. When she first entered the Southern Medicine House, she was extremely unwilling and always thought she would return one day.”

“Medical Supervisor Zhu coaxed her, saying he could get her back to the Medical Academy, so she submitted to Medical Supervisor Zhu. But in the end…”

In the end, she still hadn’t been able to leave the Southern Medicine House.

Lu Tong was silent. After a while, she said: “Since things have been like this for so many years, she should have realized that Zhu Mao simply cannot get her out. Why does she still stay with Zhu Mao?”

Lu Tong could see very clearly that on her first night at the Southern Medicine House, as well as when Zhu Mao spoke to her the next day, the hostility in Mei Erniang’s eyes was no illusion.

“Physician Lu,” He Xiu tightly gripped the medicinal cake in her hand and spoke dejectedly: “Sometimes, having hope is better than having no hope. Medical Supervisor Zhu coaxes Mei Erniang, so she still has hope to live on. If he doesn’t even bother to coax her anymore, then Mei Erniang would truly have no hope left and would die. Erniang… chose to deceive herself.”

In bitter days, some choose clarity, some choose confusion—perhaps they all end up with the same outcome.

“Physician Lu, I’m telling you this not to make excuses for Erniang,” He Xiu took a bite of her cake. “You’re beautiful, and Medical Supervisor Zhu might set his sights on you. Don’t be deceived by him—he won’t take you away from the Southern Medicine House.”

He Xiu looked at Lu Tong with a flash of worry in her eyes.

Lu Tong had taken an antidote in childhood, so Red Fragrant Catkins were harmless to her. This was good for Lu Tong because she didn’t have to endure the toxins eroding her body or suffer disfigurement. But at the same time, this was also a kind of disaster for her.

With a beautiful woman constantly before his eyes, how could Zhu Mao restrain himself? He would probably eventually make a move on Lu Tong.

Lu Tong looked so delicate and fragile, and had offended people in the Medical Academy. How could she protect herself in this place?

He Xiu gently shook her head inwardly.

Perhaps she would become the second Mei Erniang.

…

Lu Tong and He Xiu didn’t return to the Southern Medicine House until evening.

Thanks to Lu Tong, He Xiu’s picking work was completed very easily today. In the past, to pick this many Red Fragrant Catkins, she would be shivering with cold and pale-faced when she returned to the quarters at the end, and the toxic fragrance of Red Fragrant Catkins would make her suffer all night. This was the first time she even felt lighthearted while pushing the wooden cart back.

Of course, she felt deep guilt toward Lu Tong. Because most of today’s picking had been completed by Lu Tong, and although Lu Tong had repeatedly told her that Red Fragrant Catkins wouldn’t cause any harm to her body, He Xiu still felt terrible about it.

Because of this guilt, He Xiu volunteered to help Lu Tong organize and inventory the medicinal materials in the medicine storehouse. He Xiu said: “Recording and organizing will take a while. You go to the kitchen and eat something first. The leftover food from daytime will be placed in the medicine house kitchen. I have steamed buns in my bag—you go find some leftover dishes to heat up and eat.”

The Southern Medicine House was different from the Medical Academy. The physicians’ meals were all in the kitchen. According to He Xiu, sometimes when they returned late, only a little cold porridge would be left.

He Xiu’s kindness was hard to refuse, so Lu Tong had to agree.

The kitchen was still some distance from the medicine storehouse. To avoid confusing medicinal materials, it was deliberately built far away. Lu Tong passed through a long corridor and went around an open space before finding the kitchen.

It was already night, and there wasn’t a single person outside. Only lanterns hung outside the courtyard, swaying back and forth, casting scattered soft light. Lu Tong pushed the door and walked in. There was a lantern at the kitchen entrance. Lu Tong carried this lantern inside—cold pots and cold stove, some empty bowls randomly placed on the cutting board, with no sign of leftover food.

He Xiu had said that although the physicians of the Southern Medicine House lived poorly and the food was mediocre, because they ate large portions daily, the food remaining at night wasn’t very good, but even if it was terrible, there would still be a bowl of cold porridge.

Lu Tong’s gaze fell on a large iron pot in the center of the kitchen.

The iron pot was covered with a lid. Lu Tong lifted the lid.

The bottom of the pot was clearly clean, having been carefully washed.

No cold porridge, no steamed buns, not even a bowl of hot water.

Lu Tong set down the lid with a “clang” and frowned.

They hadn’t left her a single grain of rice.

…

Under the long corridor outside the Southern Medicine House’s medicine storehouse, two physicians were walking toward the storehouse, carrying empty bowls from delivering medicinal meals.

“I heard the people from Red Fragrant Garden returned. That person seems clearheaded and doesn’t appear much affected by the toxic fragrance. A’Xiu is quite caring toward her, voluntarily helping her organize the storehouse.” This was said by one of the physicians.

The other kicked aside a small pebble blocking the path and chimed in: “This is only the first day—it’s far from over. A’Xiu is also being unnecessarily troublesome. Speaking of which, I don’t know who she offended. Master Zhu gave orders, and today I saw them have people take away all the food from the kitchen. She’ll probably have to go hungry tonight.”

While talking, the kicked pebble rolled along the road surface and suddenly stopped at a pair of boots.

Someone was approaching from not far away.

The two physicians speaking looked up, and after seeing the person’s appearance, they quickly bowed their heads in salute: “Commander Pei.”

Before them was Pei Yunying, Commander of the Palace Guards.

Palace guards often moved around the corridors at night, so encountering them occasionally was normal. This Commander Pei often walked before the Emperor, and even the Director had to show him respect.

The young man nodded slightly and continued walking past them without stopping.

After this person passed, one physician patted his chest: “That scared me to death. Our conversation just now shouldn’t have been overheard, right?”

“Even if it was heard, it’s nothing. Just a newly appointed Medical Official—Commander Pei doesn’t know her, so why would he have the leisure to care about such trivial matters.”

“That’s true…”

The voices gradually faded away. Pei Yunying stopped walking.

Not far ahead was the main gate of the Southern Medicine House quarters. Two dim yellow lanterns swayed in the night wind at the gate entrance, reminiscent of the old plaque obscured by plum tree branches on that snowy night.

The same desolate coldness.

Pei Yunying quietly stared at that vague light.

After finishing his duties, he was passing through the eastern corridor, traveling by the medicinal garden, when the chattering physicians’ voices were really too loud—it was hard not to hear them.

So he suddenly remembered that young female physician should be on her second day at the Southern Medicine House today.

She carried hatred, was coldly determined, appeared rational yet was mad. However, the Imperial City was ultimately not like West Street. Here, ranks were strict, and distances between people were separated by various official positions, identities, and all kinds of rules and etiquette. Having just entered the Medical Academy only to be assigned to the neglected Southern Medicine House, if nothing unexpected happened, she would never be able to approach her enemies in her lifetime.

She would probably die of old age in the palace before she could even seek revenge.

Did she regret it now? Or had she already thought of other methods?

While thinking, someone suddenly spoke behind him: “What are you doing?”

Pei Yunying paused and turned around.

The spring night was cold. The woman wore brown hemp clothing, her dress stained with much mud and grime, but only that face remained clean and porcelain white, her eyes and brows surpassing the night’s cold austerity.

Seeing it was him, surprise flashed in Lu Tong’s eyes as she said: “Commander Pei?”