Time passed quickly, and April arrived in the blink of an eye.

The closer it got to Qingming Festival, the more rain fell in the capital. It often rained at night, but the days began to feel warm. With cool mornings and evenings, people easily caught colds.

Many medical officials at the Medical Academy had also taken sick leave due to catching cold. In the room, Cui Min coughed a few times, picked up the medicinal tea on the table and took two sips, finally suppressing the itchiness in his throat.

Spring brought the easy outbreak of various illnesses, making Cui Min, as the director, busier than usual. Besides entering the palace for duty, the development of new prescriptions had also encountered difficulties.

Thinking of new prescriptions inevitably brought that new female medical official to mind.

Cui Min put down his tea cup and asked the person beside him: “How is Lu Tong doing now?”

That day he had assigned Lu Tong to treat Jin Xianrong but was blocked by Pei Yunying. He thought the matter would end there, but unexpectedly things took a turn, and Lu Tong actually requested to visit the Jin residence herself.

Actually, whether Lu Tong could cure Jin Xianrong or not didn’t matter to Cui Min. He only needed Lu Tong to stumble badly a few times at the Medical Academy. People who were arrogant about their talents were always difficult to control, and moreover… the Red Fragrant Catkins incident had already revealed the deeper thoughts beneath this woman’s gentle exterior.

The Medical Academy didn’t need scheming—it only needed people who would work.

The person beside him replied: “She continues as usual every day. Minister Jin’s side has said neither good nor bad things.”

Cui Min frowned slightly: “Nothing untoward has happened?”

“Nothing has been heard.”

Cui Min said nothing, his eyes darkening.

Jin Xianrong’s lustful behavior had always been hard to change. Even though he currently had kidney problems, he might not necessarily behave properly. However, Lu Tong had visited him for treatment several times without any romantic scandals emerging, which was already quite puzzling.

After pondering for a moment, he asked: “Where is Lu Tong now?”

“Today is the day to treat Minister Jin. Dr. Lu left early in the morning.”

…

On the other side, Lu Tong was stepping down from a carriage carrying her medicine box, looking up at the residence before her.

The Bureau of Ceremonies was located under the eastern corridor of the Imperial City, where Ministry of Revenue officials often worked to handle official documents. This place was quiet and not far from the Imperial Guard Commander’s residence, though it didn’t occupy as much space as the Commander’s residence. At first glance, one might mistake it for some wealthy family’s mansion.

As soon as Lu Tong reached the entrance, the hunchbacked servant beside Jin Xianrong came forward to greet her: “Dr. Lu has arrived! Please come in. The master has been waiting for you for quite some time!”

Lu Tong nodded and followed the servant into the Bureau of Ceremonies.

Though the Bureau of Ceremonies looked modest from the outside, the interior was decorated almost magnificently. The corridors were elaborate, the furnishings ornate, and a screen wall carved from a single piece of nanmu wood stood at the entrance, depicting a giant elephant symbolizing “peaceful prosperity.”

Inside was even more luxurious, with jade couches and fragrant tables, painting desks and golden platforms. Those who knew understood this was a place for handling official business, but those who didn’t might suspect they had wandered into some prince or noble’s residence.

Jin Xianrong stood beside Lu Tong with a beaming smile, his drooping broken eyebrows lifting again. He looked more spirited than before, with a much more ruddy complexion.

He said happily: “Dr. Lu, ever since using your medicine and receiving those needle treatments, I’ve felt my yang energy is abundant these days. The previous painful area doesn’t hurt much anymore. In the morning when I wake up, there’s some sensation there again. Has it improved?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Wonderful!” Jin Xianrong’s face lit up with great joy, extremely excited. “I said heaven never cuts off all paths—my luck shouldn’t run out.” He then praised Lu Tong: “Dr. Lu truly has exceptional medical skills, much better than those wastes at the Medical Academy before. I’ve only used a few doses of medicine and already see such miraculous effects. With such medical skills, it’s truly a pity for Dr. Lu to be just a small medical official at the Hanlin Medical Academy. I think that Cui Min is nothing special either…”

Lu Tong listened absent-mindedly to his flattery. Seeing that besides Jin Xianrong and his servant, there was no one else in the Bureau of Ceremonies, she asked: “Is Master Jin usually the only one on duty here?”

Jin Xianrong smiled: “Pretty much. Now that the Three Departments have consolidated power, the Ministry of Revenue is like decoration. Besides me, the other Ministry of Revenue people also just hold idle positions. Usually there are no official documents to handle here—we just sit around daydreaming, so not many people come. Today when Dr. Lu came, I told the others not to come over so as not to disturb your treatment.”

He was quite considerate. Lu Tong lowered her eyes to hide her expression, walked a few more steps, and happened to reach the innermost room. Glancing inside, she couldn’t help but pause.

This room was very exquisite.

Unlike the magnificent wealth outside, this room appeared more refined and scholarly.

A red sandalwood screen inlaid with gemstones stood at the entrance, opened halfway to reveal a deeper red sandalwood couch with cushions and fur rugs piled on it. There was also a purple bamboo fragrant table with various writing implements arranged on it. At a glance, it was exceptionally refined.

Lu Tong stopped and asked Jin Xianrong beside her: “Is this your room, Master?”

“How could it be?” Jin Xianrong said: “That’s Young Master Qi’s golden chamber.”

“Young Master Qi?”

“The son of Grand Tutor Qi!” Jin Xianrong sighed. “Look at that gemstone screen—it costs a full three thousand taels of silver. Even I couldn’t afford to use it, but he dares to place it in the Bureau of Ceremonies without fear of it being stolen.”

Lu Tong nodded: “Young Master Qi is quite particular about refinement.”

“Isn’t he particular?” Jin Xianrong, seeing Lu Tong seemed interested, led her into the room to show her: “For tea, he drinks only premium Jianzhou white tea. Ever since he came to the Bureau of Ceremonies, I’ve tasted quite a lot of good tea too.”

He pointed to the gold-plated double-moth pattern incense burner on the desk: “The incense he burns is Spiritual Rhinoceros incense. Smell it—one burner isn’t cheap.” After speaking, he casually picked up an incense pellet from a small box nearby and handed it to Lu Tong: “Dr. Lu, take one back to try. It calms the mind and focuses the spirit—you can’t buy this elsewhere.”

Lu Tong accepted the incense pellet.

“And the food he eats, the clothes he wears… honestly, the Ministry of Revenue’s salary isn’t even enough for his monthly tea expenses. When it comes to refinement, Young Master Qi is indeed outstanding.”

Perhaps somewhat envious of Qi Yutai, Jin Xianrong’s words of praise sounded rather sour.

Lu Tong smiled and looked around curiously: “Didn’t Young Master Qi come today?”

“He has business today and won’t come temporarily, but he usually does come other times,” Jin Xianrong said. “If he didn’t come, wouldn’t that be a waste of the precious incense and tea?”

Lu Tong nodded without saying more, then withdrew her gaze to look at Jin Xianrong: “Master Jin, let’s talk less and let me perform acupuncture on you first.”

Jin Xianrong was startled and shuddered: “…Oh, yes, yes.”

…

The acupuncture session ran later than usual that day.

Since Jin Xianrong’s condition had improved, the prescription had also been changed. The surface symptoms of the kidney abscess were cured, but he still couldn’t engage in intimate relations and needed continued treatment.

By the time she returned to the Medical Academy, the sky was approaching evening.

After several rainfalls, many leaves had fallen from the scholar tree at the Medical Academy entrance, while some tender green shoots had newly grown. In the distance, evening clouds slowly moved across the sky, casting a soft orange-red glow over the courtyard.

Lu Tong encountered Ji Xun at the entrance of the Medical Academy hall.

The young man wore a plain white robe with silver trim, his hair in a high bun. The courtyard’s rosy light fell upon him, making his features appear extraordinarily noble and elegant, like a hermit from the mountains.

The Medical Academy wasn’t lacking in young men, but those who had just graduated from the Imperial Medical Academy were inevitably somewhat restless. This person was very young but had no trace of frivolity, as calm as a piece of cold beautiful jade, always bringing peace to people’s hearts.

Lu Tong stopped and bowed to him: “Medical Official Ji.”

Ji Xun nodded.

Behind him followed that little medicine apprentice. They seemed about to go home. Just as they were about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and looked at Lu Tong to ask: “Has Minister Jin improved?”

Now the matter of Lu Tong treating Ministry of Revenue Minister Jin Xianrong was known not only throughout the Medical Academy but even to people at the Imperial Pharmacy.

“Minister Jin’s chronic illness is difficult to treat, but fortunately, after using medicine for a long time, there has been gradual improvement. Given time, he may not be unable to recover as before.”

Ji Xun nodded, pondered for a moment, then suddenly called her: “Dr. Lu.”

Lu Tong responded.

He said: “The day I encountered you before, when you went to the medicine storehouse to select medicinal materials, did you use Red Fragrant Catkins?”

Lu Tong paused.

She looked up to meet Ji Xun’s inquiring gaze.

Ji Xun was well-featured.

There was always a kind of aloof refinement between his brows and eyes, like a green crane passing through the forest, with a kind of aloofness incompatible with the mundane world.

He stared at Lu Tong, his gaze calm as water. Unlike Pei Yunying’s sharpness and keenness, Ji Xun’s eyes were lighter. When he looked at people seriously, it didn’t create a sense of pressure, but being gazed at by those clear eyes made the darkness in one’s heart seem difficult to speak of.

It made one aware of one’s own inadequacy.

Lu Tong paused slightly, smiled faintly, and said: “Medical Official Ji jests. Red Fragrant Catkins is exclusive to the Imperial Pharmacy. The medicinal material is precious, and the Medical Academy’s usage is regulated. Ordinary medical officials cannot obtain Red Fragrant Catkins.”

“I have never used Red Fragrant Catkins.”

She spoke very certainly. Ji Xun’s gaze lingered on her face for a while before he nodded: “I see.”

Lu Tong stood for another moment. Seeing that Ji Xun had nothing else to say, she bowed to him and carried her medicine box into the courtyard.

After she left, Ji Xun still stood in place, lowering his eyes in silent contemplation.

That night when he saw Lu Tong, he had accidentally glimpsed what seemed to be Red Fragrant Catkins remnants in Lu Tong’s bamboo basket.

Red Fragrant Catkins was poisonous. Besides Imperial Pharmacy medical workers, Medical Academy officials could not use it freely.

He knew Lu Tong was currently treating Jin Xianrong, but Jin Xianrong’s kidney abscess condition didn’t require Red Fragrant Catkins. This medicinal material was special—unless Lu Tong’s current method of processing medicinal materials could remove the toxicity from branches and leaves, Medical Academy officials were actually prohibited from using this poisonous herb.

Matters involving poisonous substances should warrant more caution.

But Lu Tong said she had never used it…

The voice of the medicine apprentice reminded him from beside: “Young Master, the carriage is waiting at the gate.”

Ji Xun came back to his senses and said: “Let’s go.”

Perhaps he had seen wrongly.

…

The encounter with Ji Xun at the Medical Academy entrance that evening didn’t weigh on Lu Tong’s mind.

After dinner, she went to the medicine room to make medicine.

The Medical Academy’s rear corridor had a row of empty medicine rooms for these medical officials to make medicine and develop new prescriptions.

However, few medical officials could make new medicine and develop new prescriptions, so except for brewing medicine, most of the time the medicine rooms were empty.

Since Lu Tong arrived, this row of empty medicine rooms would light up at night. The medical officials at the Medical Academy all said the newly arrived Dr. Lu was treating Ministry of Revenue Minister Jin Xianrong—she had taken on a difficult assignment and had to work hard every night. It was truly pitiful.

Lu Tong didn’t think herself pitiful.

She liked staying in the medicine room, liked keeping company with those bitter medicinal fragrances. Compared to dealing with all sorts of people at the Medical Academy, the quiet medicine room was more reassuring.

Gradually approaching one’s goal was always reassuring.

The clear night was bright, with a new moon hidden among layers of tree branches outside the window, casting bright clear light.

The bright moonlight lingered on the skirts of the person in the room, swaying into clusters of shadows on the ground. The shadows on the ground reached out, placing a large bundle of herbs mixed with red into the pot, and mysterious fragrance gradually overflowed from the pot.

Accompanied by layers of pink mist.

Lin Danqing came by once in the middle, looked from far outside the window, saw the swirling smoke and went back.

Lu Tong sat quietly in front of the medicine pot. The silver pot was filled with various brown liquids, heavy fragrance surrounding her, making her shadow appear and disappear in the smoke like an illusory painting. After an unknown period, the smoke gradually dispersed, and the muddy liquid in the medicine pot had somehow turned black, solidifying at the bottom of the pot.

She raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and turned to look out the window.

The moon had moved several feet away. The courtyard was completely quiet, with only a few soft frog calls drifting over with the wind.

It was already the third watch.

Lu Tong turned back. In the charcoal basin at her feet, the medicinal residue had been burned completely clean. Beside the silver pot, a few scattered flower branches were still scattered, their leaves emerald and lovely, dotted with red flowers as brilliant as blood.

She bent down, picked up the remaining branches on the ground, and threw them all into the dying embers of the charcoal fire.

…

The lamplight in the room flickered.

When Lu Tong returned to her dormitory room, Lin Danqing was still reading under the lamp.

Seeing her return, the girl stretched: “Finally back.” She then teased: “Sister Lu, you’re really hardworking. No wonder you could win first place on the red list in the spring examination.”

Lu Tong just smiled.

Though Lin Danqing spoke this way, she was actually quite hardworking herself. The two shared a room, and Lu Tong often saw Lin Danqing reading medical books until late at night.

Unlike Lu Tong, who entered the Medical Academy with ulterior motives, Lin Danqing came from a decent family background but was not lazy either.

Lu Tong sat at the table, untied her hair ribbon to comb her hair, and glanced at the medical book in front of Lin Danqing. It was the “Various Poisons” section from “Mingyi Medical Classic.”

Her gaze shifted, and before Lu Tong could speak, she saw Lin Danqing resting her chin on her hands looking at her: “Sister Lu, how do you make your medicines so perfectly?”

Lu Tong didn’t understand: “What?”

“‘Spring Water Life’ and ‘Xianxian’!”

The girl cupped her face as she looked at her: “After the spring examination, I was curious about you, wondering what genius could surpass me to get first place on the red list. Later I learned you worked as a resident physician at Renxin Medical Hall, and after inquiring about you, I had someone buy those two medicines.”

“I can’t identify all the components in these prescriptions, but just from what I can identify, I already find the combinations exquisitely ingenious.”

“To be honest, before that I was quite jealous of you,” Lin Danqing spoke frankly. “Later, after seeing those two medicines, I realized I was indeed somewhat inferior to you. And hearing you were a commoner… In our Great Liang’s medical field, medical texts are mostly managed by the Imperial Medical Academy. For commoners to get ahead in medicine, they either have years of clinical experience or are geniuses.”

Lu Tong remained silent for a moment: “I’m not.”

“You are!” Lin Danqing slapped the table. “That’s why I don’t feel wronged losing to you.”

Lu Tong said nothing.

She sighed again: “Later I gradually came to terms with it. I have a better background than you, my family treats me well, and I’ve never really suffered hardship since childhood. My family’s old ancestor said that all the good things in the world won’t be monopolized by one person.”

“One spring examination doesn’t mean everything. Maybe in the year-end official evaluation, I’ll surpass you again.” Though her words were full of fighting spirit, her tone was somewhat dejected. Not knowing what she was thinking of, her expression became somewhat melancholy.

People in this world, everyone has their disappointments. Even a seemingly carefree girl like Lin Danqing probably had troubles she couldn’t share with outsiders.

Lin Danqing yawned and looked back at the water clock: “Oh my, it’s already the third watch.”

“It’s getting late. We should sleep early—we have to get up early tomorrow.” She picked up her medical book and went to the outer room couch.

Only Lu Tong remained alone in the room.

In the copper lamp on the table, only a shallow layer of lamp oil remained, about to burn out. The flickering flame wasn’t bright enough, casting intermittent shadows of the person.

Lu Tong took out an incense pellet from the silver pot she had brought back.

It was a deep brown incense pellet. Even before bringing it close, one could smell a faint subtle fragrance.

During the day, Jin Xianrong had handed this incense pellet to her, telling her about Qi Yutai’s refined daily habits: “The incense he burns is Spiritual Rhinoceros incense. Smell it—one burner isn’t cheap.”

Spiritual Rhinoceros incense calmed the mind and focused the spirit. Regular use could soothe the mood and regulate emotions. That Qi Yutai didn’t use other incense but only loved Spiritual Rhinoceros incense was indeed different from other wealthy young masters.

However…

Lu Tong picked up the incense pellet. The lamplight shone through it, and looking closely, one could see a hint of red inside, not very clear—unless one looked this closely, it would be difficult to detect.

Matters of emotion were inherently subtle—a tiny deviation could lead to vastly different results.

In the late-night bedroom, the woman sat facing the mirror. Not knowing what she was thinking of, the corner of her mouth curved up in a somewhat mocking smile.

After a long while, she took her medicine box from the side and opened it, placing the incense pellet inside.