The early summer rain was humid, pattering against the window and leaving heavy, wet trails.

Lin Danqing hugged her wine jar, resting her head on top of it, her gaze somewhat dazed.

She remembered that afternoon when she learned of the marriage arrangement – her first thought was: if she married out, what would happen to her concubine mother?

The “Arrow-Shot Eyes” poison grew worse each year. By the time she married in six or seven years, her concubine mother’s eyes might already be completely blind.

Father wouldn’t mistreat the concubine mother, but he wouldn’t pay attention to every detail either. If the servants at home didn’t care for her properly, if she was bullied by bad people in the mansion, if…

Countless thoughts swirled in her mind. The young Lin Danqing shuddered and didn’t dare think further.

“I thought I absolutely couldn’t marry, at least not before my concubine mother’s eyes were healed.”

But a person’s life was generally as the fortune tellers said – each had their own fate. Some were blessed with good fortune and lived without worry, while others had lowly fates with difficult paths ahead.

An unloved concubine and a concubine’s daughter living within the four walls of the compound – their destinies seemed already fixed within this circle, difficult to escape.

“To make my concubine mother’s situation better, I began trying to please him,” Lin Danqing said.

Her temperament was actually not like her concubine mother’s gentleness, nor like her father’s moderation – she was naturally strong-willed. Over the years, due to her father’s indifference, she harbored resentment and never took the initiative to approach him.

But for her concubine mother’s sake, she decided to learn how to please her father.

After all, she couldn’t protect her concubine mother forever.

She thought that as long as she pleased her father and made him truly cherish this daughter, perhaps after she married out, her father would remember their father-daughter bond and treat her concubine mother better.

So she began changing her nature, trying to speak carelessly and walk about cheerfully. She heard that everyone liked smiling, pleasing children, so she strived to make herself look like a radiant sun.

Her father’s attitude toward her indeed gradually changed, and sometimes he would even joke and play with her.

But what truly changed her father’s attitude was when one day in his study, she recited half a medical classic from memory.

After she finished reciting that half medical classic, the way her father looked at her changed.

Amazement, relief, excitement, and a trace of genuine affection.

Affection.

Lin Danqing suddenly smiled.

She held the wine jar with both hands, tilted her head back and took a big gulp, then let out a long sigh.

“My two legitimate brothers have mediocre talents – they stumbled through reciting one medical classic for several years, but I memorized it all at once.”

“My father asked how long I had been memorizing it. I said three days, but actually I had been memorizing that book for a full month – during the day and at night too. Yet I deliberately spoke casually in front of him, making him think I was a genius.”

Lin Danqing was thoroughly amused: “He really thought I was a genius!”

Being a medical official at the Imperial Medical Academy was a good position. Though the salary wasn’t as generous as high-ranking officials, the constant interaction with nobles and aristocrats provided many networking benefits.

Medical Official Lin’s health was poor, so he had left the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy, but he was reluctant to give up these connections.

He needed an heir.

The Lin family’s two sons weren’t cut out for medicine, but heaven didn’t cut off all paths – this concubine daughter seemed to be a medical genius.

“He sent me to the Imperial Medical Bureau,” Lin Danqing stopped laughing.

Most students at the Imperial Medical Bureau were children of medical officials and future candidates for new medical official positions at the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy. Lin Danqing realized that if she could excel at the Imperial Medical Bureau and eventually enter the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy to inherit her father’s legacy, she wouldn’t have to face early marriage and could always protect her mother.

That was another path.

She didn’t need to please anyone – instead, she could hold the initiative in her own hands. As long as her abilities surpassed her two legitimate brothers, even a concubine’s daughter could become like a legitimate daughter, and a daughter could become like a son.

“Sister Lu, that’s when I understood a saying.”

Lin Danqing said calmly: “Those without skills suffer most; with even a single skill, one can stand independently in the world.”

The rainy night was quiet. Lin Danqing picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of spicy pig’s trotter to eat.

The trotter was too spicy, making the girl’s face flush red all over, with bright, moist tears forming in her eyes.

“My father treated me very, very well after that.”

How ironic – all those years of being humble and cautious, or deliberately acting childish and pleasing, didn’t work as well as the praise from medical officials in front of her father after entering the Imperial Medical Bureau. Father appreciated her excellence, and even the servants in her concubine mother’s courtyard became more careful – father had specifically instructed them.

From worthless sand on the beach, she suddenly became a precious pearl in his palm.

Father showed her warm concern, had the teachers at the Imperial Medical Bureau take special care of her, and every time she returned from school, he sent large boxes of food. He asked after her welfare every few days, and father and daughter studied medical classics and pharmaceutical principles together.

Her classmates all envied her for having such a good father.

She smiled brightly and accepted everything gladly.

“Actually, when I told you before that I was jealous of you, that wasn’t false,” Lin Danqing looked up at Lu Tong seriously.

Lu Tong looked at her.

“Before you appeared, I had been studying at the Imperial Medical Bureau for three years, coming first in every examination. I thought the first place on the red list in the spring examination would surely be mine, but then you appeared out of nowhere.”

Lin Danqing’s tone was indignant.

Just because she hadn’t gotten first place on the spring examination red list, her father was quite critical of her. Though he didn’t say it outright, his gaze held hidden disappointment.

“Who cares about him,” Lin Danqing spat. Perhaps the green plum wine was going to her head, as her speech became increasingly bold. “During his own years studying at the Imperial Medical Bureau, he never got first place even once. And after working at the Imperial Medical Academy for so long, he hasn’t achieved anything notable. What right does he have to be disappointed in me? I’m not disappointed in him yet!”

Lu Tong couldn’t help but laugh.

Lin Danqing glanced at her and sighed again: “Alright, actually when I first entered the Imperial Medical Academy, I deliberately approached you. I wanted to see where exactly I fell short. As they say, know yourself and your enemy and you’ll never be defeated. You beat me once, but you can’t beat me every time.”

“Who knew—”

She drew out her voice: “Heaven have mercy, you’re even more miserable than me!”

She had actually approached Lu Tong with hostility, even though she pretended to be enthusiastic, generous, and helpful.

However, Lu Tong’s situation turned out to be unexpectedly terrible.

Just after entering the Imperial Medical Academy, she was assigned to pick red cotton floss in the South Medicine Room, and when she returned from there, she was assigned to that old lecher Jin Xianrong.

Anyone with eyes could see that Lu Tong was clearly being targeted.

So miserable that Lin Danqing felt too embarrassed to continue targeting her.

Even those hostile little thoughts became guilt-inducing.

“Later I thought, you’re being so suppressed by the Imperial Medical Academy that you’re no match for me at all. Why should I consider you an opponent? It wouldn’t be an honorable victory. Besides,” she blinked, “you told me about the antidote for ‘Arrow-Shot Eyes.'”

Lu Tong shook her head: “You created the antidote yourself – it has nothing to do with me.”

“But you showed me the direction!” Lin Danqing pushed the wine jar in front of Lu Tong closer to her. “So I’m treating you to wine to show my gratitude! Why aren’t you drinking?”

Lu Tong: “…”

She picked up the wine jar and also took a sip.

Very sour.

But Lin Danqing was satisfied.

On this windy, rainy night, with warm green plum wine and a table full of steaming drinking snacks, her usually tightly bound ponytail was completely loose, hanging over her shoulders. She leaned sideways against the low couch, like young sisters cuddling on a bed sharing whispered secrets.

She picked up a peanut and tossed it in her mouth: “Actually, I don’t like the monthly rest days.”

“If it weren’t for my concubine mother, I wouldn’t want to return to that home at all. I don’t want to see my father or my two legitimate brothers.”

“They always ask me irrelevant questions.”

What new people had come to the Imperial Medical Academy, whether she had met new official families during her duties, how close her relationship was with the Academy Director, whether she could gain favor from the palace ladies in the future…

The casual conversations after returning home weren’t casual at all – they were just another form of homework examination.

“Don’t look at how I return to the dormitory on rest days with big and small packages full of snacks and clothes – I think they’re not as good as your blue-shelled eggs,” Lin Danqing said, using her chopsticks to poke at the peanuts in the dish. The round peanuts scattered everywhere under her random poking.

“That day during rest period, when I said if you had nowhere to go, you might as well come to my house – actually, I was terrified you would agree.”

“You’re so smart that if you came to my house, you’d immediately notice I’m not as good as others say… How embarrassing that would be! Fortunately you refused.”

Lin Danqing hiccupped from the wine and looked at Lu Tong: “Sister Lu, after telling you all this, will you look down on me?”

The night rain continued outside. Lu Tong said: “No.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Lin Danqing was very happy and raised her wine jar to clink with Lu Tong’s: “Good sisters!” She tilted her head back and took a big gulp, grimacing from the sourness.

Lu Tong quietly watched her.

She knew Lin Danqing had always been clever.

Though this girl appeared bright and cheerful on the surface, seeming carefree, she was actually meticulous beneath the rough exterior, skillfully maintaining good relationships with everyone at the Imperial Medical Academy. Medical Director Chang Jin was rigid and proper by the rules, yet when Lin Danqing secretly bought late-night snacks behind his back and he caught her, he would only scold her verbally and never truly got angry with her. Even someone as dark and narrow-minded as Cui Min, after being pricked by Lin Danqing’s words a few times, had never truly made things difficult for her.

Lin Danqing skillfully navigated among these people, maintaining a balanced relationship. This made her boldness and cheerfulness seem somewhat subtly discordant, but tonight, the answer had been found.

Brightness and cheerfulness were her mask.

Behind this unrestrained smiling face, unwillingness and gloom were the reality.

This was the real Lin Danqing.

The green plum wine was nearly finished. She banged the jar on the table and looked at Lu Tong, mysteriously leaning closer: “Sister Lu, let me tell you – I have a wish.”

Lu Tong: “What wish?”

“I,” she pointed to herself and spoke with heroic spirit, “want to become Academy Director!”

“Academy Director?”

Lin Danqing chuckled, propping her face with her hand and speaking hazily: “Originally, I wanted to become Academy Director for my concubine mother’s sake. As long as I became a high official, my father naturally wouldn’t dare neglect me, and I wouldn’t have to marry. I could stay with my concubine mother for life.”

“But not anymore.”

“Now I want to become Academy Director for all the people under heaven.”

Her expression changed, and she suddenly slammed the table, making the wine and dishes shake three times, angrily saying: “Look at this group of people at the Imperial Medical Academy now – puffing out their chests and pointing fingers, acting like they understand everything, yet not writing medical cases seriously. Someone with real talent and learning like you gets sent to the South Medicine Room to pick poisonous herbs, while someone like Cao Huai who barely scraped by at the bottom of the Imperial Medical Bureau spring examination gets a good position.”

“What a messed up world! That Cui Min himself rose from commoner origins, yet he suppresses commoners like this.”

“If I become Academy Director, I’ll naturally employ people based on merit. Whether commoner or high official, I’ll treat everyone equally – let the capable rise! The Imperial Medical Academy is for saving people, not for networking and relationship building. I want to give all commoners under heaven a chance to fight for fairness!”

The rain kept falling, with only the heavy sound of rain between heaven and earth.

After finishing the last sip of green plum wine, Lin Danqing looked at Lu Tong. She was so drunk she could barely keep her eyes open, but her mouth still habitually curved into a smile: “If I become Head Academy Director in the future, Sister Lu, you can be Deputy Academy Director…” She shook her head again, “No, that’s wrong. Your medical skills are above mine – you should be Head Academy Director and I’ll be Deputy Academy Director…”

“We two will join forces and hold our heads high together.”

Her voice gradually became quieter.

“Is that good?”

Lu Tong: “Good.”

Lin Danqing gave her a thumbs up: “…Good sister.” She swayed as she picked up the wine jar, making a gesture to toast with Lu Tong: “Come, let’s toast to you and me becoming Academy Directors!”

Lu Tong lowered her head and had just grasped the jar’s mouth, not yet lifting it—

“Bang.”

Lin Danqing collapsed headfirst onto the table, unconscious from drink.

The wine jar rolled onto the mat at their feet with a gurgling sound, and the room fell silent again.

Lu Tong held that heavy wine jar for a long time, then lowered her head and silently took a sip.

The plum wine was sour and astringent, sweet upon entering the mouth, but bitter when swallowed.

Outside the window, the rain was sparse and the wind sudden.