Chapter 389: Chapter 145: Genius Medical Officer_4
She clenched her fingertips slightly, pursing her lips and remaining silent.
The man took another step closer.
Lu Tong’s body tensed subtly.
The other person frowned slightly, staring intently at her face as if trying to see her features clearly and distinctly. Looking straight ahead, one could see the delicate embroidery at his collar and the faint, bitter scent of medicine.
He stared for a long time, so long that even Lin Danqing started to feel something was off and was about to speak up. However, the Xiao Medicine Boy, seemingly having thought of something, eyes lighting up, reminded aloud, "Young Master, you have met this Medical Officer before, on Que’er Street, on the rainy day when someone dirtied your clothes with rainwater from their umbrella, delaying your banquet... It was this Medical Officer who wet your clothes!"
Upon hearing this, both standing individuals were momentarily startled.
The embroidery on the collar of the person in front seemed to blur into the night air, growing increasingly indistinct until it transformed into the dismal autumn rain of Que’er Street.
At that time, it was just after the tribute exams had ended. Liu Kun had died, Wang Chunfang had gone mad, their two sons were locked in cages, and she had witnessed the Liu Family’s downfall. But as she turned away, she was startled by the Qi Family’s carriage and her umbrella accidentally poked a passerby.
Lu Tong still remembered that the other person, dressed in pure white robes, stood in the light rain; he seemed a blurry silhouette, distant as if painted in watercolor, walking past her and gradually disappearing into the crowd, like a moist illusion after the rain.
Now the illusion had become reality, solidifying into a more silent shadow in the night.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Noticing the peculiar atmosphere, Lin Danqing couldn’t help but tug on Lu Tong’s sleeve, offering a smile to the young man and saying, "Doctor Ji, it’s getting late. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be taking our leave."
The other person returned to his senses and without saying anything more, nodded faintly to the two of them before leading the attendant up the stone steps.
After he left, Lin Danqing finally sighed with relief.
As if casually, Lu Tong asked, "Who was that just now?"
"Ji Xun."
"Ji Xun?"
Lin Danqing was surprised, "Have you not heard the name Ji Xun? That shouldn’t be. The old men at the Hanlin Medical Institute talk about him all the time, phrases like ’exceptional in medical skills even before his coming-of-age ceremony’ or ’though his family are not Scholars, any common family with his skills could amass a fortune’... I’ve heard it so often at the Imperial Medical Bureau when I studied there that I’ve grown callouses on my ears," then sighed, "Such a graceful Young Master, yet just seeing his face makes me feel annoyed."
Lu Tong inquired, "His family are Scholars?"
"Of course, his father is Master Ji, an Academician of Guanwendian, his grandfather a Hanlin Academician, and his elder brother a Scholar of the Fugwenge. A family of civil officials, but this genius Medical Officer, he takes delight in medical arts rather than following in his father’s footsteps in the civil service, instead coming here to torment us."
"Younger Sister Lu, you may not know, but before you appeared at this spring’s examination, I was always first in the verification at the Imperial Medical Bureau, but this year with you, I dropped to second. Our pair is considered the ’Twin Prides of the Apricot Grove’ at the Medical Officer Institute, but he, not even a capped adult and he’s already been summoned by the Empress Dowager to serve in the palace, holding a sinecure at the Medical Officer Institute."
"We are the ones answering the questions, yet he’s the one setting them. This year’s insidious questions in the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring exam were all from Doctor Ji’s hand. Just look, possessing a face gentle as water, but with such a ruthless heart."
She let out a long breath after saying all this in one go, not even seeming tired, then heaved another sigh, "I heard he left on a trip some days ago and thought it would be a while before he returned. Little did I expect him to come back so soon. Now and then, he comes up with these bizarre questions to test us, signaling the end of good times for us new Medical Officers, I fear!"
She lamented on her own while Lu Tong turned back to look towards the stone steps, where the shadows of the two men were no longer visible in the night, only the swaying branches of the locust tree trembling gently in the wind.
As the night breeze whispered through, a single locust blossom was knocked loose by the wind, fluttering unsteadily before floating down in front of someone, only to be trampled by a green boot.
Their steps suddenly faltered.
"Something’s not right."
The Xiao Medicine Boy walking in front paused, instinctively glancing at the person beside him, "Young Master, what’s wrong?"
"The location’s wrong."
The young man stopped walking, frowning and saying, "The first time I saw her, it wasn’t on Que’er Street."