“Did you hear? Changchun Palace executed several maids by beating today.”

“Ah? What happened?”

“They say the maids were bribed and tried to harm the dragon heir in Noble Consort Zhen’s womb… Everyone in Changchun Palace is kneeling on the ground now. The Director of the Imperial Medical Academy rushed into the palace to help stabilize Noble Consort Zhen’s pregnancy…”

In the front hall of the Imperial Medical Academy, two medical officials were huddled together talking over their bowls. Lu Tong walked past them, and seeing someone approach, the two buried their heads in their meals and fell silent.

Besides serving in the Imperial Medical Academy, the medical officials spent most of their time visiting various high-ranking official families and noble houses, so they knew quite a few secrets from these prestigious mansions.

That Noble Consort Zhen had been quite favored lately. The current emperor was advanced in years, with four princes in total. Apart from the Crown Prince, the Third Prince was most beloved by His Majesty. If the dragon heir in Noble Consort Zhen’s womb turned out to be male, how the court situation might change in the future was still unknown.

Change always happened in an instant.

Lu Tong walked around the tables and chairs, went to the kitchen to take some leftover steamed buns and wrapped them up, then left the dining hall and headed toward the medicine rooms in the rear courtyard corridor.

This row of medicine rooms had always been empty year-round, but since Lu Tong arrived at the Imperial Medical Academy, they had rarely been put to use.

Lu Tong walked along the corridor deeper inside, all the way to the second-to-last room, and pushed the door open.

Inside the room, a medicine pot sat on the floor, “gurgling” and steaming hot vapor. Lin Danqing sat in front of the pot, her eyes slightly squinting from the smoke, with medical texts and pharmaceutical books scattered all over the floor.

In the cracks beside the medicine pot, several blue-shelled eggs were stuffed in, roasted until their shells were slightly blackened, squeezed under the medicine jar like a string of pebbles piled beneath the pot.

Lu Tong handed her the steamed buns from the bundle, and Lin Danqing smiled: “Thank you for specially bringing me food.”

“Only cold steamed buns,” Lu Tong sat down beside her. “Won’t you go eat in the dining hall?”

Chang Jin didn’t allow eating outside the dining hall, so Lu Tong could only bring out a few steamed buns for her.

“I’m in the middle of making medicine,” Lin Danqing casually picked up a steamed bun and bit off half of it in one go, nearly choking. She drank some water and swallowed before saying: “You know how it is – we doctors naturally can’t leave a medicine pot that’s actively brewing.”

Lu Tong remained silent.

Lin Danqing had little to do these past few days. The Imperial Medical Academy assigned her fewer duties, giving her plenty of free time, so she seemed to have developed an interest and was trying to make new medicines next to Lu Tong.

The originally empty medicine rooms were now occupied by the two of them – the last room belonged to Lu Tong, the second-to-last to Lin Danqing. Like competitors, each tried to outlast the other working late into the night.

Lu Tong lowered her head and gathered up the scattered medical texts on the floor. She noticed that the “Mingyi Medical Classic” by Lin Danqing’s hand was turned to the “Various Poisons” section, and she couldn’t help but pause slightly.

It seemed that previously, she had also seen Lin Danqing reading this section during her nighttime studies.

Lu Tong looked toward the medicine pot in front of Lin Danqing.

The medicinal soup in the pot was boiling with white foam, the herbs inside unclear, but she could smell a faintly familiar clean bitter fragrance that seemed to be from detoxifying medicinal materials.

After a moment of silence, Lu Tong asked: “Are you making antidotes?”

“You’re really amazing,” Lin Danqing said, half a steamed bun in her mouth, staring at her. “I used precious medicinal materials and deliberately removed some of their properties, yet you could tell just by smell?”

Lu Tong pointed to the “Mingyi Medical Classic” on the floor: “Wasn’t it turned to this page?”

Lin Danqing: “…”

After a moment of speechlessness, she said: “So you were just guessing.”

She closed the “Mingyi Medical Classic” in front of her and set it aside, her expression somewhat melancholy: “I originally thought the Imperial Medical Academy’s collection was rich. Medical Director Chang said that the ‘Mingyi Medical Classic’s’ record of poisons is the most comprehensive in our current Liang Dynasty, with over five hundred types. But I’ve flipped through this book several times and found it’s just so-so. There are many poisons that aren’t recorded here at all, which shows that the medical path is long and arduous.”

She seemed quite disappointed.

Lu Tong thought for a moment and asked: “The poison you’re looking for isn’t in there? What poison are you trying to cure?”

Lin Danqing’s gaze flickered.

After a long while, she sighed and used silver chopsticks to move the blue-shelled eggs from the medicine stove to one side, then poked at the eggshells with the chopsticks.

“Do you know about poisons from the Southern Border?”

Lu Tong: “I’ve heard of them.”

The Southern Border was a distant land naturally abundant with poisonous snakes, insects, and ants, with strange flowers and exotic plants everywhere. The poisons from this region were fierce, and being far from the Central Plains, what Liang Dynasty medical books could record was merely a drop in the ocean.

Lin Danqing rolled the roasted egg on the ground, tested it with her hand to see if it wasn’t too hot anymore, then cracked it against the ground. The blue shell scattered everywhere, and she peeled off the shell in a few moves, revealing the tender white egg inside.

These were free-range chicken eggs personally selected by Du Changqing, not large in size, but supposedly better than those sold at street stalls in the official quarter.

“Roasted eggs taste better than boiled ones,” Lin Danqing offered her one. “Do you want it?”

Lu Tong shook her head, so she ate a bite herself, her eyes lighting up: “So fragrant!”

Lu Tong waited quietly for her.

Lin Danqing took a bite of the roasted egg and said: “I want to find an antidote for a poison called ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes.'”

“Arrow-Shot Eyes?”

Lin Danqing sighed.

She said: “You know, the poisons of the Southern Border are fierce. I’ve never been to the Southern Border and don’t even know what this poison grass called ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’ looks like. Medical Director Chang said that the medical books in the Imperial Medical Academy’s library are the most complete, but I haven’t found any record of ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes.’ I’ve asked the Director and the Medical Directors, but none of them have heard of this poison grass.”

The girl smiled bitterly: “I’m starting to doubt whether ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’ is even real, or if it’s just a made-up name.”

She was usually carefree and cheerful, but now seemed somewhat dejected, sitting on the ground eating her egg bite by bite, looking rather bitter.

Lu Tong thought for a while and said: “Arrow-Shot Eyes – is that the poison grass that gradually blurs vision until blindness after consumption?”

“Cough, cough, cough—”

Lin Danqing began coughing violently.

“You, you, you… cough, cough—”

Lu Tong handed her the water bottle. Lin Danqing gulped down half of it and looked at her in shock: “How do you know!”

Poisons from the Southern Border were rarely encountered by Central Plains people. Just as she had spent years searching for records of this grass to no avail – not only at the Imperial Medical Academy, but even those respected, knowledgeable old doctors in the capital’s medical practices had never heard of this poison. Lin Danqing had almost given up hope herself, never expecting that Lu Tong would identify it in one go.

“How, how do you know about this poison?!”

In her excitement, the half egg she was holding got crushed, smearing egg yolk all over her hand.

Lu Tong handed her the damp cloth covering the medicine pot handle.

“I once saw records of this substance in my master’s notes.”

Yunniang’s medical books were all piled up at Falling Plum Peak. To be precise, there were few medical books but many poison manuals. Lu Tong sometimes didn’t even know where Yunniang had collected all these strange and unusual poisons – from the Central Plains to foreign tribes, from mountains to seas. Some were natural poison grasses growing in uninhabited places, others were new poisons created by her own hand, with even more fierce and ruthless toxicity.

Lu Tong had read through them all.

During those days on the mountain, she only regretted not reading enough.

Lin Danqing grabbed Lu Tong’s hand, her eyes flashing: “Sister Lu, where is your master? Could you take me to see her…”

“My teacher has already passed away.”

“What about the notes? Could you lend me the notes to look at?”

Lu Tong lowered her eyes: “The notes were burned together when my teacher was buried.”

Lin Danqing was stunned, disappointment showing on her face.

But soon, she rallied again and asked Lu Tong: “Sister Lu, since you’ve read your teacher’s notes, what were the records about ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’? What does it look like, and is there an antidote?”

Lu Tong shook her head: “No.”

Yunniang loved collecting the world’s poisons but didn’t like creating antidotes. Many poisons in those manuals were incurable. If a poison could be easily cured, it wouldn’t be worth Yunniang recording in her notes.

“Arrow-Shot Eyes” only recorded its name and effects, with no antidote formula.

“The notes wrote that if a person consumes ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’ poison, their vision gradually blurs, with pain like arrows shooting into the eyes. In as little as three to five years, or at most twenty years, they become completely blind.”

Lin Danqing stared blankly, murmuring: “Yes, pain like arrows shooting into the eyes…”

After a long silence, she smiled bitterly: “It seems the records of ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’ are still insufficient.”

She glumly picked up an egg and absent-mindedly tapped it against the ground twice, appearing very frustrated.

Lu Tong’s gaze swept over the medicine pot in the room and suddenly asked: “What you’re making now is an antidote for ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’?”

Lin Danqing nodded, then shook her head.

“I’ve used many detoxifying medicinal materials, but the resulting medicine’s effects are very ordinary, no different from common antidotes.”

“Why not try fighting poison with poison?” Lu Tong suggested.

Lin Danqing looked at her in surprise, then firmly refused: “When I first entered the Imperial Medical Bureau, the teacher said that in prescriptions, light is better than heavy, good is better than poisonous, and small is better than large. ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes’ is already an extremely poisonous substance. Using poison to counter poison – the patient wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”

The medical officials at the Imperial Medical Academy always used gentle medicines, also fearing accidents. Lu Tong usually appeared gentle and weak, yet she immediately suggested such an aggressive pharmaceutical approach, which also startled Lin Danqing.

“Medicines have seven relationships. Those that mutually oppose and destroy each other when used together represent the royal way of medicine. The Imperial Medical Bureau only teaches students to use mutually complementary medicines together. Though stable, it leaves too little room for choice. Better to find alternative paths.” Lu Tong didn’t mind and said calmly: “Some poisons, viewed alone, cause poisoning, but if combined with other auxiliary medicines that conflict with them, neutralizing the toxicity, they can also be used as medicine. Some medicinal materials appear unremarkable alone and are good medicines for treating illness, but if contained in special vessels or combined with other substances, good medicine can become dangerous…”

Speaking to this point, Lu Tong suddenly stopped, as if thinking of something, her expression somewhat dazed.

Lin Danqing didn’t notice her strangeness and seemed also influenced by her words, lowering her head in quiet contemplation, saying nothing for a while.

After a moment, Lu Tong stood up: “I’ve delivered the steamed buns. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go out first.”

Lin Danqing came back to her senses and looked up at her: “Aren’t you making medicine?”

Today wasn’t a day for treating Jin Xianrong. Usually when free, Lu Tong would stay in the medicine room, flipping through medical books and making new medicines – Jin Xianrong’s topical medicines had already been changed several times.

“Not today.”

After a pause, Lu Tong said: “I’m going to the Marshal’s Office. Today I should treat the camp guards.”

…

The Capital Camp Marshal’s Office was very lively today.

The young imperial guards heard Lu Tong’s name and emerged from everywhere, some who had been training at the martial arts ground couldn’t even be bothered to change out of their sweat-soaked clothes, shooting into the Marshal’s Office hall like arrows, rolling up their sleeves to intentionally or unintentionally show off their strong arms: “Medical Official Lu is here!”

The five hundred ducks of the Marshal’s Office began their clamoring again.

Chi Jian stood to one side, coldly observing.

He just didn’t understand how Lu Tong had won the favor of so many imperial guards at the Marshal’s Office. Obviously, the other girls who had visited the Marshal’s Office were enthusiastic, generous, gentle, and charming, while Lu Tong was always cold and aloof, yet she managed to capture the most hearts at the Marshal’s Office with that cold, indifferent face.

And his own master…

According to Qing Feng, Pei Yunying had pushed aside mountains of official documents and deliberately spent a whole day accompanying Lu Tong on a trip outside the city to visit tea gardens, causing him to work on documents until midnight that night.

Chi Jian glanced at the female medical official surrounded by the crowd, puzzled.

Could Lu Tong have put these colleagues under a spell?

He’d heard that women from the Southern Border were skilled with love spells, and when they saw handsome men from the Central Plains, they would secretly cast spells to trick both body and heart. If the men didn’t comply, they would suffer a fate worse than death, tormented daily.

Gu insects were truly terrifying.

He shuddered and quickly walked away.

Lu Tong was unaware of Chi Jian’s mental complaints and remained speechless while surrounded by the crowd.

Going to the Marshal’s Office for medical treatment was just an excuse – who knew there would actually be so many imperial guards at the Marshal’s Office seeking her medical attention. One after another, these strapping men with vigorous blood pointed to fingernail-sized scrapes on their arms asking for examination, their voices particularly aggrieved.

She was also puzzled.

Everyone said that the Capital Camp Marshal’s Office selected palace guards based on appearance and bearing, but if they only looked at appearance and bearing, with such delicate constitutions, was the capital’s security truly guaranteed?

If the guards at the Grand Tutor’s Manor were all this delicate, perhaps she wouldn’t even need to use poison – she could probably go on a killing spree at the Grand Tutor’s Manor with just her own strength.

Thinking this way, her hands moved even faster.

It wasn’t until the sun began to set that Pei Yunying came to disperse the crowd, and these guards reluctantly scattered.

Pei Yunying stood in the doorway and smiled at Lu Tong. Lu Tong then stood up, packed her medical box, and followed him into the room.

It was still the same room where he handled official documents. On the red sandalwood burl lacquered desk by the window, documents were piled thick. The purple hair brush hanging on the official kiln brush mountain had a moist tip, with an ink stone nearby, as if the occupant had just been writing diligently here.

He looked very busy.

The young man pointed to the rosewood chair, and Lu Tong sat down.

Pei Yunying also sat down opposite her.

He smiled and asked: “Why did you suddenly come today?”

Today wasn’t a treatment day.

Lu Tong reached into her sleeve, took out a letter, and pushed it over.

Pei Yunying glanced at it.

It was the familiar envelope – the letter he had given Lu Tong that day after visiting the tea garden, just before they parted.

The letter containing the “prescription.”

He reached out and took the letter, not rushing to open it, only raising an eyebrow to look at Lu Tong: “Doctor Lu has read it?”

“Yes.”

“Any problems?”

“Yes.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

He lowered his brow and thought for a while. When he raised his head again, he still wore a smile, but his gaze had suddenly turned cold as he asked: “What’s the problem?”

Lu Tong’s voice was calm: “They’re all tonics. The prescription is very skillfully made – at first glance it nourishes the body, but if mixed with one substance, the tonic becomes poison. Though it won’t cause immediate death, over time the body gradually weakens until finally dying of heart failure.”

Pei Yunying stared at her: “What substance?”

“Gold.”

He paused: “Gold?”

“Gold flakes are poisonous and can treat wind epilepsy and lost consciousness, calm the heart and settle the soul. Generally for upper respiratory coughing, typhoid lung damage with blood spitting, lung disease, and extreme exhaustion with thirst, small amounts can be added to pills and powders for consumption.”

After a pause, Lu Tong continued: “But if gold flakes were added to the prescription you gave me, the consequences would be endless.”

He said nothing, seemingly lost in thought.

Lu Tong continued: “The medicinal materials required by this prescription are expensive. The user must come from a wealthy family. If a gold bowl is used to hold the medicine…”

Pei Yunying’s expression changed slightly.

If held in a gold bowl, there would be no need to add gold flakes – the tonic would naturally become highly poisonous. Over years and months, it wouldn’t be discovered either, because both the prescription and medicinal materials were harmless, and the gold bowl was also harmless. However, when the two collided, the danger was indescribable.

Both concealed and brilliant.

Lu Tong lowered her eyes, her heart also unsettled.

After Pei Yunying gave her the prescription, she had carefully studied it for days, but after examining it many times, she found nothing wrong. She didn’t believe Pei Yunying would give her an ordinary prescription for no reason. After much puzzling with no answer, it wasn’t until today’s conversation with Lin Danqing about conflicting medicinal properties that she suddenly understood the key point.

If gold flakes were mixed into the medicine, it would be too obvious and easily detected at a glance. But if held in a gold bowl, though the effect wouldn’t be as fast as gold flakes, over years and months, it would still take lives.

She didn’t know whose hand these prescriptions came from or for whom they were prepared, but those wealthy households who could afford such expensive medicinal materials would naturally have luxurious and magnificent cups and vessels.

As for gold bowls…

Such materials were precious – ordinary families couldn’t afford them. Those with such wealth were inevitably either rich or noble.

Just as she thought of this, she heard Pei Yunying’s voice: “Doctor Lu’s medical skills are indeed superior.”

Lu Tong looked at him.

He put away the letter, again wearing that nonchalant expression that made his thoughts difficult to read.

“Thank you.”

“No need,” Lu Tong said. “You told me about the Painted Eyebrow case, and I verified the prescription for you. These were the agreed trading conditions from the beginning – very fair.”

Pei Yunying smiled: “Truly Doctor Lu’s consistent style.”

Always keeping public and private matters separate, afraid of owing others favors or being owed, always insisting on clear distinctions, as if after completing this transaction they would cut ties cleanly and never interact again.

He glanced out the window. The sun was setting in the west, golden-red sunset light filtered through the branches in the courtyard and reflected on the window. In the distance, half of the setting sun could be seen.

“It’s getting late,” Pei Yunying looked away and stood up, taking her medical box for her. “Let’s go, I’ll see you out.”

Lu Tong nodded.

When they left the room, few people remained at the Marshal’s Office. It was evening, and the guards had all gone to the dining hall to eat. The guards at the Marshal’s Office fought more fiercely for food than those at the Imperial Medical Academy – those who went late wouldn’t even get leftover steamed buns.

The sunset dyed even the banana plants in the Marshal’s Office courtyard with a smoky red hue. People walking among them were also touched by the rosy light with a soft, warm feeling. In the distance, spring swallows returning home circled the trees, and dusk showed several touches of gentle tranquility.

Lu Tong saw that the wooden shed under the flowering vines was empty, with cotton cloth carelessly piled inside and an empty bowl that had held clean water.

That was…

As if knowing her confusion, Pei Yunying suddenly said: “After you arrived, I had Duan Xiaoyan take Gardenia to the training ground.”

Lu Tong paused.

He said: “Don’t be afraid, Doctor Lu.”