Chapter 378: Chapter 143 Jin Xianrong
The night was advanced, and all was silent, the silver candle expelled smoke.
In the lodging, the wooden window of the chamber remained ajar, with the wind sending the medical prescriptions scattered all over the floor.
Lu Tong bent over to pick up the scrolls that had fallen to the ground as Lin Danqing walked in from outside.
During the day, Cui Min had assigned Lu Tong and Cao Huai to diagnose the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Jin Xianrong. Lin Danqing, still not giving up hope, found that Cui Min had gone to the palace for his official duties, leaving Lin Danqing no choice but to seek a favor from Chief Physician Chang Jin.
After much persuasion, Chang Jin remained resolute—he did not have the authority to change the decision.
Lin Danqing squatted beside Lu Tong, helping her to gather the scattered papers. While organizing them, he sighed deeply, "Younger Sister Lu, how could you think of diagnosing Jin Xianrong?"
Lin Danqing could not understand; Lu Tong had clearly escaped this dreadful task during the day. Pei Yunmeng had spoken, and Cui Min had also nodded in agreement. Yet at the last moment, Lu Tong had volunteered to diagnose.
Was his hint not clear enough? Was Lu Tong completely unaware of Jin Xianrong’s shamelessness?
He sighed again, his usually bright eyes filled with concern, "Before you were at the palace, you probably never heard of his deeds. Jin Xianrong is an old lecher; he harasses any pretty girl he sees, and getting involved with him never ends well. Even if nothing happens during your diagnosis, your reputation is likely to suffer."
Lu Tong neatly stacked the collected scrolls on the desk, placed a paperweight on top to prevent them from being blown away by the wind again, and simply said, "Envoy Cui did so intentionally. I could refuse once, but not a second time. Besides, if it wasn’t Jin Xianrong, it would’ve been someone else."
Lin Danqing stopped his movements.
That much was true.
Cui Min’s actions during the day, though impeccable on the surface, seemed deeper on closer consideration. Being assigned to the Southern Pharmacy immediately upon entering the palace, and then getting entangled with an old lecher upon return... it was hard to dismiss as mere coincidence.
However, without evidence, such conjecture seemed petty and baseless.
After pondering, Lin Danqing took a paper packet from his bosom and handed it to Lu Tong, "Here, take this for yourself."
"What is it?"
"A sedative."
Lu Tong looked up in shock, almost thinking she had heard incorrect, "What?"
"A sedative!" Lin Danqing explained matter-of-factly, "If he dares to lay a finger on you during tomorrow’s diagnosis, you can use this on him. This sedative is very effective; just a whiff of it and one feels dizzy... Keep it for self-defense, and make sure you don’t suffer any losses."
Such words coming from the mouth of a Medical Officer were rather unorthodox, and Lu Tong, staring at the medicine packet in her palm, was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Do not be merciful," Lin Danqing admonished as he saw her hesitate, "I heard my father mention that there once was a female Medical Officer in the Medical Officer Institute who went to diagnose Jin Xianrong, and somehow she got entangled in rumors. Not long after leaving the Institute, she became Jin Xianrong’s concubine."
"You are the top candidate from the spring examination. If you don’t stand out in the Imperial Medical Bureau but instead get entangled with Jin Xianrong, wouldn’t that be a terrible injustice?"
As he spoke, Lin Danqing’s expression turned increasingly agitated, "Or perhaps we should still plead with Envoy Cui? If that doesn’t work, I’ll go back and ask my father to speak on your behalf. How can the Envoy allow you to treat someone like Jin Xianrong?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than he moved to leave, only to be seized by Lu Tong.
Lin Danqing turned his head.
"No need to trouble yourself further. The words have been spoken; what’s done cannot be undone. Besides, as a person as common as I am, aiming to make a mark in the Imperial Medical Bureau, this was bound to happen sooner or later." Lu Tong let go of his hand.
A Commoner Medical Worker without any family or personal background faced more hardships than those students who graduated from the Imperial Medical Bureau. Not to mention others, just looking at He Xiu and Mei Erniang from the Southern Pharmacy was telling.
Lin Danqing thus heaved a sigh, his voice touched with melancholy, "It’s hard for a commoner."
Climbing up the ladder is difficult at every step.
Lu Tong murmured in agreement, "Indeed, it’s very hard."
Simply getting close to Qi Yutai required considerable effort and was often fraught with setbacks...
Revenge truly was hard to come by.
The sound of dripping echoed, signaling the raindrops outside hitting the branches and falling onto the stone slabs beneath the eaves.
Lu Tong turned her head to look outside the window.
It had begun to rain.
...
"It’s raining."
Within the quarters of the Imperial Guards, a young man hurried in from outside, bringing with him the chill of a deep spring rainy night.
A black dog took shelter beneath the eaves. Hearing movement, it lazily pricked up its ears for a glance, then curled up again, silently listing to the rain inside the courtyard.
Amid the light, relentless drizzle that shrouded the world in a curtain of rain, the young man stood by the window. In the dim light of the lamp, his silhouette appeared lonely and desolate.
As Duan Xiaoyan entered the room, shaking off the rain, he immediately brightened upon seeing the figure by the window, "Brother, when did you get back?"