Chapter 285: Chapter 117 I Help You_3
Those flattering advances, the endless stream of compliments, and the envious gazes of others—he had once accepted them all without reservation.
But then...
Miao Liangfang bowed his head, his gaze falling upon his own right leg that was completely numb.
The moonlight cast upon him, making the dirty patch on his trouser leg particularly visible, a stain of unknown origin—possibly oil—appeared even more sordid under the light, resembling blood seeping endlessly from within, causing him sudden difficulty in breathing due to the pain.
Suddenly, a jumbled chorus of jeers arose around him.
"Miao Liangfang, you stubborn fool, you deliberately misdiagnosed and caused Her Highness to be poisoned. You are heartless and devoid of morality, unworthy of practicing medicine, and you ought to be punished!"
He heard his own helpless voice, "I’ve been wronged, I’m wronged—"
Shadows of people passed before him; their official robes were neatly pressed and their boots were new, not a speck of dust on them, then they heavily trampled on his mangled leg, grinding it underfoot.
"Miao Liangfang, oh Miao Liangfang," he saw countless faces, joyful, triumphant, filled with condescension and malice, teasingly retorting, "Thinking just because your name is Liangfang and knowing a few prescriptions, you could act recklessly in the Medical Officer Institute?"
He disdainfully patted Miao Liangfang’s face and spat out two words, "Commoner."
Commoner...
Miao Liangfang sat by the window, his expression dazed.
His family had been doctors for generations. He compiled centuries of experience into a book, vowing to write "Miao’s Prescriptions" to benefit commoner medical workers.
But later, he was accused, driven out of the Hanlin Medical Institute, and that book "Miao’s Prescriptions" was still compiled by the Institute under another person’s name.
He had fought and protested, but in the end, it was like a stone sinking into the ocean, fading away without a trace.
He couldn’t safeguard the family’s prescriptions, and they became someone else’s wedding dress. He didn’t dare to return home, let alone face his ancestors. So, for decades, he wandered aimlessly through Shengjing, drowning his sorrows in alcohol. As time passed, he only knew himself as "Cripple Miao" from West Street, but he had forgotten that he was once "Doctor Miao," who had astounded everyone during the imperial medical exams and basked in success.
That female doctor, with her composed eyes and brows, seemed to see through the pain and anger in his heart, and the secrets and sorrow, telling him, "I can help you take revenge."
She didn’t even fully grasp what had happened.
Miao Liangfang laughed at himself mockingly.
He shouldn’t have expected anything.
In the years immediately following the incident, he had sought out all his old contacts. Past friends and colleagues recoiled from him, terrified of bringing trouble upon themselves. Those whom he had saved instead accused him of being ungrateful and spoke with righteous indignation, a sight that filled him with dismay.
No one was willing to help him.
Nobody would risk their safety to aid a commoner-born convict who had committed a grave offense. Moreover, ten years had passed, and the person who had caused his downfall now held a high position, unassailable in status.
She was just a resident doctor with an ordinary background, yet she brazenly offered to avenge him.
How laughable.
"Ridiculous..." Miao Liangfang hunched over, covering his face and laughing lowly.
"Truly ridiculous..."
As he laughed, clear drops of liquid fell through his fingers, moistening the moonlight by the window.
...
The winter night was cold, and the wind sounded like sobbing.
Yin Zheng stood at the table, leaning forward to forcefully close the window, thereby shutting out both the chill and the night.
In the dimly lit room, Silver Scissors snipped off a section of the wick, and the flame brightened.
Yin Zheng put down the scissors and turned to look at Lu Tong, who was tidying up medical books: "Miss, will that Mr. Miao really come back?"
"He might," Lu Tong said.
In truth, she wasn’t entirely sure; he had left decisively, without a word of farewell, and whether he would return depended on the persistence of his internal obsessions.
However, it had been twenty years since Miao Liangfang’s startling success in the spring examinations, and over a decade since he left the Hanlin Medical Institute. Time is a miraculous thing; it can change everything, wear down one’s ambitions, and turn heroes into mediocrities.
"However," Yin Zheng curiously asked, "how does Miss know that Mr. Miao was framed?"
This "Cripple Miao" had lived in West Street for many years, unfamiliar to all his neighbors in the four wards, and since he was slovenly and given to drinking, few inquired about his affairs. Yet Lu Tong recognized at a glance that he was not an ordinary person, uncovered his identity as a medical officer, and even proclaimed her intention to take revenge for him.
Lu Tong replied, "I don’t know."
Yin Zheng was taken aback, "But Miss said..."
"I only said I would avenge the one who made his leg lame, not that he was framed," Lu Tong put away the medical books, "Good or bad, I don’t care."
She was indifferent to whatever had transpired between Miao Liangfang and the Hanlin Medical Institute. She was only concerned with whether she could make use of Miao Liangfang. Just as Lady Yun had saved Lu Tong’s family on the condition that Lu Tong left with her, today’s agreement between her and Miao Liangfang was merely a transaction.