The surroundings were utterly silent, without a single sound.

Drug tester?

What drug tester?

Lin Danqing looked toward Pei Yunying and asked in bewilderment, “What does Commander Pei mean by this?”

Ji Xun also frowned as he looked at him.

“Do you remember that at the celebration feast of Renxin Medical Hall, Miao Liangfang once mentioned Mo Ruyun, the daughter of the Mo family from the capital?”

He raised his eyes, looking over everyone in the room, and slowly said, “She was Mo Ruyun’s drug tester.”

These words were truly shocking beyond belief. Everyone in the room looked at each other in bewilderment, unable to comprehend what they had just heard.

After a moment, Lin Danqing spoke up in confusion, “Didn’t Mo Ruyun die? How could Sister Lu possibly be her drug tester?”

Everyone had been present at that celebration feast at Renxin Medical Hall. According to what Miao Liangfang had said, Mo Ruyun had been discovered keeping drug boys and had already died in that great fire in the capital. When she died, Lu Tong was still young and in Sunan. No matter how one looked at it, there was no reason for these two people to be connected.

“She’s still alive,” Pei Yunying fell silent for a moment, his voice hoarse, “right there on Falling Plum Peak.”

Third Miss Lu from Changwu County had disappeared during the great epidemic nine years ago, while Lu Tong, who appeared in the capital two years ago, had been ruthlessly and decisively seeking revenge for the Lu family along the way.

When a person’s temperament changes dramatically between childhood and adulthood, one could imagine what happened during those seven years in between.

When he had first learned of Lu Tong’s identity, suspicions had already arisen in his heart.

Lu Tong claimed she had been taken away by a passing master, but if it was to learn medicine, why didn’t she inform her family? Moreover, nine years ago Lu Tong was just a weak young child, and the Lu family had no medical heritage – what reason would there be to value her so-called natural talent?

Most likely, Mo Ruyun hadn’t given her the chance to say goodbye to her family back then, and taking her away wasn’t to teach a disciple, but to use her as a tool for testing drugs.

A tool for testing drugs.

He closed his eyes, his chest constricting for a moment.

Ji Xun stepped forward two paces and grasped Lu Tong’s hand. Before Chang Jin could stop him, he rolled up Lu Tong’s sleeve in one swift motion.

“Physician Ji…” Lin Danqing called out.

Ji Xun paid no attention, only staring intently at what lay before him.

The rolled-up sleeve revealed her arm to the elbow – there were no rashes, and the woman’s arm was quite slender, like a delicate plum branch, upon which a long scar bore horrifying testimony.

Ji Xun’s pupils contracted.

“The scar is still there…” he murmured.

The wound from when Lu Tong had been bitten by Qi Yutai’s vicious dog at the hunting grounds of Huangmao Ridge was still there.

In an instant, Ji Xun understood everything.

After Lu Tong had been bitten, he had given her much Immortal Jade Muscle Cream.

The Immortal Jade Muscle Cream was made by his own hands. He didn’t dare claim it would leave no trace of scars after use, but it would at least fade them considerably. Back at the Imperial Medical Academy, when he saw that Lu Tong’s scar wasn’t improving much, he had asked a few more questions. Lu Tong had told him the ointment was too precious for her to bear using, so he had made several more bottles to give her.

With so much medicine, it would have been enough for her to fade the wound completely. Yet now it was as obvious as ever, no different from when it was first made.

Now it seemed it wasn’t that she couldn’t bear to use it, but that those ordinary ointments had become useless on her body.

She had been a drug tester, which was why she had reacted so unusually and vehemently opposed it when Ding Yong had tried to test new medicine.

So this was the crux of the matter.

The room fell silent as death.

Being physicians, they could all see something was wrong with her wound. Lin Danqing asked in a trembling voice, “How… how long has she been a drug tester?”

Pei Yunying looked at the person on the bed: “I don’t know.”

Chang Jin walked to Lu Tong’s side and carefully examined her pulse again, his expression changing somewhat.

“Her pulse shows no problems whatsoever. If she truly has been testing drugs for someone for years, her body has grown accustomed to various drug toxins, making it difficult to locate the root of her illness.”

Like a tree that appears intact on the surface but has been hollowed out by ants within, only when it finally withers can anyone discover the signs.

“Chief Physician Chang,” Pei Yunying suddenly spoke.

Chang Jin looked at the man before him.

“Please save her,” he said.

Chang Jin was momentarily stunned.

He had seen Pei Yunying many times in the Imperial City.

No matter how witty, cordial, and approachable this Commander might appear on the surface, Chang Jin always felt somewhat intimidated whenever he saw him. Pei Yunying’s reputation had always been at two extremes. Those unfamiliar with him always spoke of his gentle and warm demeanor, while those who knew him said this man was perverse and terrifying.

It seemed no one had ever seen Pei Yunying truly bow to anyone. Even when performing court rituals in the Imperial City, there was a certain arrogance about him, let alone using such a pleading tone.

He was always in complete control of any situation.

Now, that composure had been shattered – for Lu Tong.

It appeared those rumors in the Imperial City weren’t false after all.

When one cares deeply, chaos follows.

“Even if you hadn’t said anything, we couldn’t possibly leave her untreated,” Chang Jin raised his head. “She is a physician of the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy. She was formerly a physician who saved people, and now that she’s ill, she is our patient.”

“Physician Lin,” he called to Lin Danqing, “except for the physicians on duty at the epidemic shelter, have all the other physicians come immediately. Physician Lu’s condition is different from ordinary cases. This difficult problem cannot be solved by one person alone – we all need to work together to find a solution. The Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy receives so much salary from the court. If we can’t even treat one of our own colleagues properly, we’d have no face to continue serving. From today forward, Physician Lu is our patient, and all physicians will work together in her treatment!”

“Yes, Chief Physician,” Lin Danqing hurried out the door to summon the others.

Chang Jin called Ji Xun over and was about to examine Lu Tong again when Pei Yunying spoke: “Chief Physician Chang.”

“Before coming down the mountain, Lu Tong asked me to bring the golden mushrooms from her medicine basket back to the epidemic shelter.”

Chang Jin and Ji Xun were startled. Only then did the two notice that the medicine basket Pei Yunying had brought back was packed full of medicinal herbs, most of which were clusters of golden flowers, gracefully welcoming spring with their tender, bright appearance.

Pei Yunying’s voice was calm: “She said these flowers can dispel heat toxins. If the red wood vine proves ineffective, Physician Ji might try adding these flowers to a new prescription, replacing two medicinal ingredients. They might be useful against the epidemic poison in Sunan.”

Both men were stunned.

Lu Tong had already fallen ill and appeared extremely weak, yet she was still concerned about the epidemic in Sunan.

It seemed her reason for braving the wind and snow to go up the mountain was for these flowers.

Chang Jin felt his throat tighten.

Lu Tong had always been reluctant to speak much, and even when at the Imperial Medical Academy, she treated people with cool detachment. The other physicians thought this was simply her nature – calm but lacking in warmth, and as a physician, she always seemed to lack that touch of compassion.

Now it appeared she didn’t speak because she could endure. Despite suffering from illness herself, she still risked danger to go up the mountain.

What a foolish child…

…

The medicinal fragrance outside the epidemic shelter began to waft through the air once again.

The red wood vine from Pingzhou was still on the road, but the golden mushrooms Lu Tong had brought back solved their urgent need.

The physicians gathered together, working through the night without rest to modify the new prescription. Though the golden mushrooms weren’t as potent as red wood vine, they were just right for the weakened bodies of those infected with the epidemic, not causing too great an impact.

Cuicui also drank the new medicine.

Since her father’s death, she had become much more silent, not as lively as before.

Lin Danqing was collecting the empty medicine bowls and was about to leave when Cuicui called out to her.

“Physician Lin,” the little girl hesitated before speaking, “is Physician Lu alright?”

Everyone at the epidemic shelter was saying that Lu Tong had gone up the mountain to pick medicinal herbs for the patients, and it was precisely because of this that the patients had received the new prescription. However, Lu Tong herself had suddenly fallen ill with an old ailment and was bedridden, having not appeared for several days.

Lin Danqing was silent for a moment, then said, “She’s fine.”

“Physician Lin, can I ask you for a favor?”

“What is it?”

Cuicui looked at her: “Could you please apologize to Physician Lu for me?”

Lin Danqing was stunned.

Cuicui lowered her head, twisting the corner of her clothes, and said in a low voice, “When something happened to my father before, I blamed Physician Lu… I know it wasn’t her fault. I was just too heartbroken…”

“Granny Hong at the epidemic shelter said that Physician Lu went to Falling Plum Peak to gather medicine for us. How dangerous Falling Plum Peak is in the snow – all Sunan people know this. I want to go apologize to her, but Chief Physician Chang says Physician Lu hasn’t woken up yet… When will she wake up?”

This little girl, who had lost both parents, timidly placed a grass grasshopper in Lin Danqing’s palm.

Lin Danqing looked at the grass grasshopper in her hand. After a moment, she crouched down and patted Cuicui’s head: “She was never angry with you.”

“Physician Lu is the most generous person who doesn’t like to hold grudges,” she said. “She’ll wake up soon, and when she does, she’ll come find you to weave grasshoppers together.”

Cuicui nodded. Lin Danqing felt her heart ache and didn’t dare to look anymore. She stood up and quickly walked out of the epidemic shelter.

Snow fell daily in Sunan, and the north wind made people’s faces hurt. Lin Danqing cleaned up the medicine bowls and walked back toward the physicians’ quarters, her expression somewhat dazed.

Lu Tong’s condition was very bad.

Initially, they thought Lu Tong’s old ailment had recurred due to weakness. Later, when all the physicians examined her together, Ji Xun and Lin Danqing questioned Pei Yunying about the symptoms Lu Tong had shown when she first fell ill. They gradually became certain that Lu Tong wasn’t just suffering from physical decline – she had been poisoned.

However, her long experience as a drug tester had made the symptoms of various poisons very unclear on her body. They had no way of knowing which poisons Lu Tong had tested, and naturally couldn’t prescribe the right antidote.

Lu Tong’s pulse grew weaker day by day. Previously she would occasionally regain consciousness, but now her lucid moments grew shorter and shorter. Compared to the patients at the epidemic shelter, she was in greater danger, like a flickering candle in an oil lamp, not knowing when it might be extinguished.

It was shocking. She had studied at the Imperial Medical Bureau in her youth, excelling in all medical subjects. Even though she hadn’t won first place in the spring examinations later, she was still confident and proud, believing that medicine was boundless and that young people had plenty of time to research everything in the future. Now, however, she deeply hated that her medical skills weren’t refined enough to save her own friend.

“Creak—” The door was pushed open.

Lin Danqing entered the quarters.

The quarters that had once housed both her and Lu Tong now held only her alone.

She entered the room, intending to take some new treatment plans she had thought of yesterday to discuss with Ji Xun and Chang Jin. Glancing aside, she noticed Lu Tong’s medicine box on the table in the room.

After coming down the mountain, Lu Tong had remained unconscious, and her medicine box had been left in the room for safekeeping. Lin Danqing looked at it and suddenly had an idea, walking to the table.

A physician’s medicine box was like a scholar’s examination basket or a warrior’s weapon – precious and private. The physicians of the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy always guarded their medicine boxes extremely well. Lin Danqing hesitated for a moment, then reached out and picked up Lu Tong’s medicine box.

Lu Tong had been a drug tester for many years. Though she never spoke of it, as a physician, she should have been aware of her own physical condition. Her medicine box might contain medications she normally used. Though this possibility was small, in such urgent circumstances, she couldn’t worry about other considerations.

Lin Danqing opened the medicine box.

The medicine box was quite old, even its straps showed signs of excessive wear and had been patched multiple times. It also seemed to have been dropped several times, becoming somewhat deformed and not quite square. When she lifted the lid, inside were just a few simple items.

Mulberry bark thread, wound medicine, charcoal pencils, and several medical texts.

Lin Danqing picked up those medical texts – they were all related to treating epidemics, which Lu Tong must have brought from the capital before departing for Sunan.

Lin Danqing examined them and noticed that beneath the medical texts was another book. This book had no title and appeared to be self-written. After thinking for a moment, she sat down at the table and opened the book in her hands. When she saw the writing clearly, she couldn’t help but be startled.

“‘Victory Over a Thousand Cups’: White angelica, pubescent angelica, sweet pine, cloves, benzoin…”

“When this incense is burned and its fragrance enters the nose, the body stiffens and the mouth goes numb, movement becomes impossible, consciousness remains clear, appearing as if intoxicated, surpassing the effect of drinking a thousand cups of strong liquor, drunk beyond recognition.”

This was…

A prescription?

Lin Danqing was puzzled.

She had never heard of this “Victory Over a Thousand Cups” formula. The ingredients and effects were written in extraordinary detail, looking more like a new prescription Lu Tong had developed herself.

She pondered for a while with furrowed brows, then lowered her head and continued reading.

The second page was still a prescription.

“‘Carefree Oriole’: Indigo, giant knotweed, sea holly, caper spurge, caesalpinia…”

“Colorless and tasteless powder, when inhaled in small amounts, causes unbearable itching and pain in the throat, like ten thousand ants stinging. The toxicity resolves itself after four hours, posing no threat to life.”

Lin Danqing’s grip on the book tightened, her expression growing increasingly grave.

“‘Cold Silkworm Rain’: Balsam, hook kiss, dodder, convolvulus, white bryony…”

“Red in color with a sour taste, within seven days of consumption, cold poison enters the bones, water must not be approached. After half a month, residual toxicity gradually lightens…”

“Child’s Sorrow…”

“Crossing Ant Formation…”

Lin Danqing turned page by page, her heart trembling with shock.

This book, more than half filled, was densely packed with prescriptions she had never heard of!

No, these weren’t prescriptions – they should be called poison formulas.

None of these formulas were meant to save people. On the contrary, they all contained great toxicity, though not enough to immediately claim a life. But looking at the recorded reactions after taking these poisons, the detail and variations were written to a degree that even the medical case studies in the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy’s library couldn’t match.

It was almost… almost as if the person who had taken the poisons had personally recorded everything!

Lin Danqing’s mind exploded with a buzzing sound.

For a moment, she suddenly remembered a certain summer afternoon at the Imperial Medical Academy. She and Lu Tong had sat in the medicine preparation room brewing herbal decoctions.

The sunlight was warm and gentle, shining through the small grove onto the two of them. At that time, her aunt’s “arrow-eye” poison was gradually being resolved. She lazily leaned against the wall, looking at the person before her, half grateful and half envious as she complained: “Sister Lu, you’re a genius. How do you know so many prescriptions?”

Lu Tong sat in front of the medicine furnace, using a fan to stoke the fire beneath. Hearing this, she smiled slightly: “Try a few more times and it’ll be fine.”

Try a few more times and it’ll be fine.

So that was it.

No wonder Lu Tong had so many endless, ever-changing prescriptions. No wonder her medical knowledge and experience surpassed students who had studied at the Imperial Medical Bureau for years.

It was because those unexpected prescriptions – she had personally tried every single one herself.

Victory Over a Thousand Cups, Carefree Oriole, Cold Silkworm Rain, Crossing Ant Formation…

She had personally experienced every pain, then would lightly write down the sources of these past sufferings in her book, never mentioning them to anyone again.

The book was only half filled – perhaps she had experienced even more.

Lin Danqing covered her mouth, her eyes immediately reddening.

A piece of paper fluttered out from the book. She bent down to pick it up, her gaze sweeping over what was written on it.

When she saw it clearly, her eyes were struck with shock.

The next moment, Lin Danqing suddenly stood up, taking both the book and the paper that had been tucked inside, and quickly left the room.

She pushed the door open and ran out, running straight to the adjacent room.

In the room, Ji Xun was picking medicinal herbs to put into a medicine pot, while Pei Yunying sat beside the bed. These past few days he had been constantly guarding by Lu Tong’s bedside, and despite Duan Xiaoyan’s repeated attempts to persuade him, he refused to leave.

Hearing the commotion, both men looked up.

Lin Danqing entered the room.

Lu Tong still lay on the bed, eyes closed and unconscious. She looked very thin and small, like a small animal in Sunan city’s caves, too frail to survive the harsh winter.

“I know which poisons Lu Tong has been affected by.”

Ji Xun and Pei Yunying both looked toward her simultaneously.

Lin Danqing handed the book to Ji Xun: “I found this in Sister Lu’s medicine box. The poison formulas recorded in it should all be prescriptions she tested on herself in the past. Physician Ji, with this, at least now we know Lu Tong’s past medical history. We have a lead and won’t be completely directionless.”

Ji Xun took the book and flipped through a few pages, his usually calm expression suddenly losing all color.

Lin Danqing then handed the paper to Pei Yunying.

“Lu Tong has been ill for a long time, and this isn’t her first episode in Sunan – it’s just that no one knew. That time I saw her having a nosebleed was also a toxic reaction, but she covered it up and no one noticed.”

Pei Yunying took the paper.

The paper was very thin, just one sheet. The handwriting recorded on it was hasty and simple.

“Second month, tenth day: abdominal pain and vomiting, sweating and palpitations, legs too weak to walk, resolved after half an hour.”

“Sixth month, ninth day: cold limbs, chills, dull pain, chest discomfort, resolved after one hour.”

“Ninth month, seventeenth day: dizziness and vertigo, unconscious all night.”

“Eleventh month, twenty-fourth day…”

“…”

“Twelfth month, third day: vomiting blood.”

His grip on the paper tightened, and Pei Yunying’s face immediately drained of all color.

This recorded her episodes of illness.

Whose illness, who was in pain – it was crystal clear, obvious at a glance.

The intervals between her episodes were getting shorter and shorter, but the duration of pain was getting longer and longer. What started as half an hour eventually became an entire night. What began as sweating and palpitations had progressed to vomiting blood in the most recent episode.

Pei Yunying’s gaze fell on that thin sheet of paper. Those hands that had once gripped a blade, that remained steady when danger was imminent, now trembled slightly, as if unable to hold this lightweight piece of paper.

At the top of the paper was written a line of text.

“Yongchang forty-second year, eighth month, twelfth day, chest pain, heart pain like being twisted by a knife, all night.”

Yongchang forty-second year, eighth month, twelfth day…

He suddenly remembered.

It was the day he had received a report from the military patrol post office, saying that Renxin Medical Hall had killed someone and buried the body.

Knowing her disguise and her cards, he had been very curious to see how she would escape this desperate situation once again. So he had brought his official tablet and arrived uninvited, watching with great interest as she remained calm and fought back, surprised by her courage and appreciative of her cunning. She had confronted him in the flower shade filled with osmanthus fragrance, wearing a mocking smile, pulling off a beautiful and brilliant comeback.

At that time, he had thought: what a formidable woman.

But he had no idea that after he left, she had suffered alone in pain for an entire night.

He knew nothing at all.

It was as if a hand suddenly seized his heart. In that instant, he felt the same pain she had felt, as if across the long passage of time, he was meeting the eyes of that woman curled up alone in her room.

The pain pierced to the bone and cut through his heart.

Lin Danqing saw his expression was strange and said in a low voice, “Commander…”

Pei Yunying lowered his eyes, his knuckles gradually turning white.

After a long while, he spoke.

“I deserve to die.”