Chapter 414: Chapter 152 Night Encounter with the Marshal_5
Lu Tong: "..."
She found it somewhat amusing, but after Lin Danqing’s interruption, her previously somber mood had completely dissipated.
Lu Tong lowered her head, looking at the white paper on the table, and a trace of an unusual color flickered in her eyes.
Cold Food Powder, Spirit Rhinoceros Fragrance, Light-vented...
The secrets of Qi Yutai seemed even more bizarre than others might imagine.
...
Since she had returned early during the day, and there were no other matters at the Medical Officer Institute, Lu Tong went to bed earlier than usual that day.
At night, after looking through medical books with Lin Danqing for a while, Lin Danqing herself had gone to bed, and the residence was quiet.
Moonlight shone through the window, lighting up the desk clock; Lu Tong sat up on her bed, casually draped a garment over herself, picked up the lamp by her bed to light it, and fumbled her way out of the residence door.
Outside, everything was pitch-black, and night frost had formed dew; the pale moon was swallowed by wandering dark clouds, making the world seem like an endless abyss, with only the small flame in her hand as a solitary ray of light.
That light too was desolate, as though it too would be extinguished in the dense ink at any moment.
She walked around the veranda, passing a row of pharmacies in the woods; as she passed, the light flickered through the night, with the woods of the Medical Officer Institute resembling the Chaos Burial Mound at Luomei Peak, always with some ghostly glimmers.
Lu Tong stopped in front of a door.
She pushed the door and entered.
Upon entering, a scent of old dust mixed with a strong smell of ink hit her nose. She turned to shut the door, then carried the lamp further inside.
The feeble firelight illuminated the interior.
Shelves and wooden beams surrounded her, piled high with thick volumes; at a glance, dense and numerous.
This was the medical record library of the Medical Officer Institute, where the medical records of every patient were stored.
From the consorts in the inner palace to the officials of various ranks, after being examined by the Medical Officer Institute, all records were documented and saved here.
The medical record of Qi Yutai was also among them.
Lu Tong proceeded to a wooden cabinet with the lamp, took out a key, and opened the cabinet door.
The cabinet door swung open, revealing neat stacks of bound records inside.
Lu Tong’s gaze swept across the cover of each medical record and soon stopped, reaching out to forcefully pull a record from the shelf.
Under the dim light of the lamp, the three blurred characters could be seen on the medical record’s cover: Qi Yutai.
As an official of the Ministry of Revenue, Qi Yutai’s medical record was not supposed to be casually reviewed. Fortunately, Lu Tong was currently treating Jin Xianrong, another official from the Ministry of Revenue. Since the keys to the cabinet holding the medical records of Ministry of Revenue officials were in her hands, this made it convenient for her actions.
This was the medical record of Qi Yutai.
Earlier that day, she noticed that Qi Yutai’s pulse was strange. Compared to the symptoms of excess heat caused by Cold Food Powder, it seemed there was also the influence of prolonged use of sedatives. The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed, but as a Medical Officer, she could not casually review the records of patients she wasn’t treating, so she had to come here in the middle of the night when no one was around to search for Qi Yutai’s medical record.
Just as Lu Tong had closed the cabinet with the record in hand, she heard a "creak—" sound.
A slight noise came from the doorway.
Someone was coming!
In a flash, she blew out the lamp and silently concealed herself behind the stacks of bookshelves.
It was deep into the night, quiet inside and out; the clouds in the sky gradually dispersed, revealing a few faint strands of pale moonlight that stretched the shadows on the ground, then vanished again as the door was shut.
The person entered the room silently, moving to the front of the bookshelves as if familiar with the path.
Lu Tong held her breath, clutching the medical record tightly, and stood as still as one of the beams in the room.
"Tap, tap, tap—"
The footsteps were unhurried; Lu Tong felt the person approaching step by step, and instinctively reached for the Silver Needle in her sleeve.
"Tap, tap, tap—"
The sound grew closer and heavier; just one more step would reveal Lu Tong hiding behind the bookshelves.
She gripped the Silver Needle tightly.
Suddenly, the other person stopped moving.
What followed was a rustling sound, likely the turning of locks and keys, and then the sound of rifling through items.
With caution, Lu Tong stayed close to the bookshelf, listening to the person’s actions in the dark room.
After a while, it seemed the person had found what they were looking for and closed the cabinet door.
Lu Tong heard the receding footsteps, alongside the closing of the medical library door; silence once again enveloped everything, engulfed in utter darkness.
...Did they leave?
She stood in the darkness for a while longer, confirming she couldn’t hear any further sound before she finally relaxed.
They must have left.
With a silent sigh of relief, she took the lamp and medical record, and walked out from between the shelves.
Just as she took a step, a cold, sharp edge pressed against her throat.
Lu Tong’s brow twitched.
In the pitch-dark room, only a sliver of light entered through the window cracks, casting a silent shadow over the bookshelves and silhouetting the two hidden figures like a shadow play.
Someone was standing behind her, waiting for who knew how long.
A familiar scent of orchid and musk wafted from behind, accompanied by the calm voice of the other person.
He spoke, his tone markedly different from usual, indifferent, "Quite patient, aren’t you?"
Lu Tong was taken aback.
Hearing that voice, she relaxed instead.
The Silver Needle, coated with poison, was retracted into her sleeve; Lu Tong allowed herself to be held captive without resistance.
She said, "Lord Pei, it’s me."