Chapter 449: Chapter 164 Sisters
The early summer rain was moist, dripping steadily onto the window, trailing down with heavy wet streaks.
Lin Danqing hugged a wine jar, resting her head on it, her gaze somewhat distant.
She remembered the afternoon when she learned of the marriage arrangement; her first thought was, what would happen to her aunt if she were to marry?
The poison from the "Shooting Pupils" grew more severe with each passing year. Six or seven years later when she married, her aunt might well be blind.
Her father would not mistreat her aunt, but neither would he pay meticulous attention. If the servants were negligent in their care, if she were bullied by evil people within the residence, if...
Countless thoughts swirled in her mind, the young Lin Danqing shivered and dared not to think further.
"I thought to myself, I definitely cannot get married, at least not until my aunt’s eyes are better," she said.
But perhaps life really is as the masters of yin and yang say, each with their own fate. Some are born with good fortune and lead carefree lives, while others are born lowly with a difficult path ahead.
A concubine not favored, a legitimate daughter living among the four households—her fate seemed to have been confined within those bounds early on, difficult to escape.
"To improve my aunt’s situation, I began trying to ingratiate myself with him," Lin Danqing said.
By nature, she was not as gentle as her aunt nor as moderate as her father; she was born with a competitive spirit. Because of her father’s neglect over the years, resentment festered within her, and she never took the initiative to approach him.
But for her aunt’s sake, she decided to learn to ingratiate herself with her father.
After all, she could not protect her aunt forever.
She thought, as long as she could ingratiate herself with her father and make him truly cherish his daughter, perhaps once she was married, he would remember the affection between them and treat her aunt better.
So she began to change her temperament, trying to speak bluntly and move with a breezy cheerfulness. She heard that everyone likes children who are always smiling and pleasing, so she tried hard to seem like a radiant sun.
Her father’s attitude towards her indeed gradually changed, and sometimes he would even joke and play with her.
But what truly altered her father’s attitude was the day she recited half of the Medical Classics in his study.
After she finished reciting that half of the Medical Classics, the way her father looked at her changed.
Astonishment, relief, excitement, and a touch of genuine affection.
Affection.
Lin Danqing suddenly smiled.
Holding the wine jar in both hands, she tipped her head back and took a big gulp, sighing deeply.
"My two elder brothers by the principal wife, of mediocre talent, babbled through the Medical Classics for years, whereas I memorized it at once," she said.
"My father asked me how long I had been studying, and I said three days, but in fact, I had spent an entire month on it, both day and night. Yet in front of him, I made light of it, pretending it was effortless so that he would think I was a genius."
Lin Danqing couldn’t contain her joy: "He really thought I was a genius!"
Being a Medical Officer at the Medical Officer Institute was a desirable position. Although the salary was not as generous as that of higher officials, frequently moving among high officials and nobles brought its own connections and benefits.
Doctor Lin was physically weak and had left the Hanlin Medical Institute, but he was reluctant to let go of these connections.
He needed a successor.
Neither of the Lin Family’s sons was cut out for medicine, but heaven never seals all exits; this daughter from a concubine seemed to be a natural talent in medical theory.
"He sent me to the Imperial Medical Bureau," Lin Danqing’s laughter stopped.
The students of the Imperial Medical Bureau were mostly children of Medical Officers and were also the candidates for new appointments within the Hanlin Medical Institute. Lin Danqing realized that if she could excel at the Imperial Medical Bureau and later enter the Hanlin Medical Institute to take up her father’s mantle, she wouldn’t have to follow the destiny of marrying early. She could always protect her mother.
That was a different path.
She wouldn’t have to ingratiate herself with anyone but could take control in her own hands—as long as her abilities surpassed those of her legitimate brothers, a concubine’s daughter could become the legitimate daughter, and a daughter could take the place of a son.
"Younger Sister Lu, at that time I understood a saying," she said calmly.
Lin Danqing spoke with tranquility: "Those without skills suffer the most, while a single skill can establish oneself in the world."
The rainy night was silent; Lin Danqing reached out with her chopsticks to pick up a piece of spicy pig’s trotters to eat.
The trotters were so spicy that they turned the young girl’s face bright red, and her eyes glistened with reflective tears.
"My father was very good to me after that," she said.
Ironically, no matter how humble and cautious she had been in the past, or how deliberately affectionate and ingratiating, none of it was as effective as the praise she received in front of her father from the Medical Officers after she joined the Imperial Medical Bureau. Her father admired her excellence, and even the servants in her aunt’s quarters became more careful—specifically instructed by her father.
What was once mere sand on the shore had suddenly turned into a pearl in the palm.
Her father showed concern for her, instructed the teachers at the Imperial Medical Bureau to take special care of her, and whenever she came home from school, he had people deliver large boxes of food. Every few days, he would check in on her with warmth, and the two of them would delve into the Medical Classics and Pharmacology together.