Chapter 533: 189 Chapter Rodenticide_2
After a moment of silence, he lowered his head and pulled a scroll of paper from the drawer.
"Doctor Lu," he slowly spread the scroll on the table and said, "This is your examination paper from the spring test, the Verification Case Study of the Big Pulse category."
Lu Tong stepped forward, her gaze scanning over the scroll on the table, pausing slightly: "Yes, Envoy."
"During the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring examination, aside from the Verification Department, the form of your examination papers for the other nine categories were different from those in previous years, particularly in syndrome differentiation and prescription. Your prescribing was aggressive, truly unconventional."
"This subordinate is ashamed."
"Yet I still ranked you first on the honor roll. Do you know why?"
"This subordinate does not know."
Cui Min looked at her and said, "It’s not easy for commoner medical workers to study medicine without the guidance of medical officers. Although your prescribing was unconventional, you indeed have talent; you were already able to develop new prescriptions while practicing in the marketplace."
"I hail from a commoner background like you and appreciate your talent. I couldn’t bear to see a gem hidden in the dust. Despite opposition from everyone at the Medical Officer Institute, I still made you the top of the honor roll, in hopes that you will practice with benevolent heart and enhance the reputation of commoners in the future."
Lu Tong replied, "Your Excellency honors me; this subordinate is filled with trepidation."
Cui Min paused, his fingertips resting on the edge of the scroll on the table, and after a long while, said, "I have looked over all nine category papers, and it seems that you have quite some insights into developing new prescriptions. The final question for the ten categories has your description of a new prescription. This is very rare."
The final question in the examination papers of the nine categories of the Imperial Medical Bureau is a difficult question specially set by senior medical officers, which most medical practitioners do not answer. Only those who are exceptionally proficient in the medical arts and are talented geniuses would write an answer.
Like Miao Liangfang, the commoner medical worker from twenty years ago.
Cui Min looked at Lu Tong and changed the topic: "I have tried some of these prescriptions of yours; each has its insights and is truly effective. But there is one prescription I don’t quite understand, so I have come to you for clarification—"
He pushed the examination paper towards Lu Tong.
It was the examination paper of the Big Pulse category.
And the final question, clearly written, was about a patient’s condition–a disease marked by delusional vision disturbances and disordered perceptions.
Lu Tong was taken aback.
Cui Min stared at her eyes intently, not missing any slight change in her expressions.
The final question of the Big Pulse category in the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring substitution examination was written by him.
Years ago, he had been invited by the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion to diagnose Qi Yutai. Although Qi Yutai eventually regained his senses, Cui Min always felt uneasy.
A cure for madness treated only the symptoms, not the root cause. If Qi Yutai relapsed in the future, it was unsure whether the previous methods of diagnosis would still be effective.
Therefore, he took precautions and slightly altered the condition of Qi Yutai’s disease as the basis for the final question in the Big Pulse category of the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring examination every year, hoping to find inspiration in the candidates’ answers.
Disappointingly, geniuses are rare, and few in the spring examination would answer the final question correctly; even those who did often had prescriptions that, upon closer inspection, were flawed and full of errors.
He had originally forgotten about this matter until a few days ago when he returned from diagnosing the Qi Family, at his wit’s end, and suddenly remembered that this year, during the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring examination, there was one person who completed all ten prescribed remedies, even devising a new verification method for the Verification Department.
He had someone prepare a few doses, and although they couldn’t be said to be immediately effective, they were certainly not entirely useless. Precisely because of this, he realized that Lu Tong might have some genuine skills, and he was willing to offend the Dong Family to retain this commoner medical worker.
He hadn’t had the time to examine the prescription for the Big Pulse category properly; after all, Qi Yutai’s last episode had been many years ago.
Thinking of this, Cui Min went to the medical case archive overnight and found Lu Tong’s examination paper.
The final question was indeed a new prescription for treating the disease.
It was like finding a lamp in a dark room; with that new prescription in hand, as if he had grasped all hope, he first meticulously confirmed that the new prescription was harmless, then tested it on others for a few days, and finally used it in small amounts on Qi Yutai.
It proved to be effective.
Though it did not immediately restore clarity of mind, Qi Yutai was clearly less agitated than in the previous days, no longer experiencing hallucinations and confusion, just still frightened and dazed, unable to recognize people around him.
This prescription was useful.
But it wasn’t perfect; it seemed to be missing something to completely cure the madness afflicting Qi Yutai at the moment.
Cui Min himself had also tried to improve the prescription, to make it more complete. Unfortunately, after toiling in the pharmaceutical room for several days and graying his hair, he still couldn’t grasp it.
He couldn’t figure it out.
Out of options, Cui Min had no choice but to turn to Lu Tong.
If Lu Tong could come up with this prescription, perhaps she could also improve it.
"Doctor Lu," he pointed at the prescription and said, "Ophiopogon, Polygala, Salvia Miltiorrhiza, Anemarrhena... This prescription pacifies the soul and stops palpitations. But if the patient, in addition to this, appears deranged and agitated, experiencing irrational fears, and speaking incoherently, the efficacy of this prescription seems weak. Perhaps it may alleviate delusions and visions, but the state of the spirit not dwelling within and the heart and gallbladder being startled remain. How can it be improved?"