Chapter 298: Chapter 121 Miss Lu San_2
Du Changqing raised his wine bowl toward Lu Tong and said solemnly, "Doctor Lu, the host offers you a bowl in thanks for saving my father’s final wish. If it weren’t for you pulling us back from the brink, this medical hall would have sooner or later failed in my hands, and my father wouldn’t be at peace even in Hell."
"Thank you!" He clinked his wine bowl against Lu Tong’s and downed it all in one gulp.
Seeing this, Ah Cheng also stood up quickly, holding the small bowl in front of him with both hands.
As he was still a child and couldn’t drink alcohol, Yin Zheng had specially bought him fruit syrup.
The young lad, holding the fruit syrup, said to Lu Tong with a beaming smile, "Doctor Lu, Ah Cheng also toasts you. Ever since you and Miss Yinzhen arrived, the host has been visibly happier with each passing day."
"Ever since the master passed away, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the young master this joyful."
Du Changqing gave him a nudge with his foot, "When is the young master ever not happy?"
Ah Cheng, rubbing his behind, replied, "But now he’s even happier!"
Lu Tong lifted the wine bowl in front of her and had just taken a sip when Yin Zheng’s wine bowl was already close to her.
"Miss," Yin Zheng whispered softly in her ear, "this servant also thanks you, thanks for saving my life, and for letting this servant stay here and have a place to call home."
She was grateful to Lu Tong; if not for her, she would have long been reduced to a handful of yellow earth at the Chaos Burial Mound in Su Nan. She had never imagined she would have such a stable life now, looking after a small medical hall, listening to the neighbors’ idle chatter. And so the days passed by.
"What are you two whispering about?" Du Changqing frowned, "Is there something that the master of this house shouldn’t hear?"
Yin Zheng disdainfully replied, "It’s a quiet conversation between women, why should a grown man like the owner listen?"
Du Changqing sneered, "Who cares?" Then noticing Miao Liangfang sitting still as a mountain, he said, "Why don’t you give a toast?"
"Me toast for what?" Miao Liangfang proudly unfolded his sleeves, "Now that I am teaching Lu, I am also half a teacher to her. Students toast to their teachers, not the other way around."
He was dressed in a brand-new Yuan-color round collar jacket today, which Du Changqing paid for to be made at Ge Tailor Shop next door. He had also trimmed his beard, combed his unruly hair, and tied it into a round bun. Never mind the rest—along with his deeply grooved old face, this look of a venerable doctor was even more convincing to patients than Lu Tong’s beautiful appearance.
"Stop trying to freeload," Du Changqing said with contempt, "Our Doctor Lu’s medical skills surpass those of the officers at the Hanlin Medical Institute, creating masterful medicines that astound Shengjing City, evidently trained by an expert. She has a genuine teacher; why would she need an old, washed-up Imperial Physician to teach her?"
Miao Liangfang choked and glared at Du Changqing in anger.
Although annoyed, he couldn’t refute the statement.
During the days he spent with Lu Tong, Miao Liangfang could tell that she possessed genuine skills. The natural talent she demonstrated in diagnosis, the prescriptions she effortlessly produced, and the purity of her acupuncture techniques—each of these would astonish those old men at the Imperial Medical Bureau, though her approach was indeed a bit unorthodox.
She must have had a master with profound skills, whose medical expertise far surpassed that of the current palace physicians. Besides informing everyone that her master had passed away, Lu Tong never revealed any clue about him from beginning to end, perhaps to protect her master, for great talents often come with their quirks.
Miao Liangfang sighed, "Lu, your teacher was truly great, to have taught you so well."
So many prescriptions, so much knowledge of medicine—Lu Tong’s medical expertise surpassed many older doctors at such a young age; it only meant that her teacher had taught her everything he knew. Miao Liangfang thought to himself that he wouldn’t be able to teach without holding anything back. This showed the noble character of her teacher and the deep love he had for his disciple.
Lu Tong didn’t speak, and after a while, she lowered her head, took a sip of Tusuzui Wine from the bowl, and said, "Yes."
"She was very good to me."
Her voice was soft, like a cool breeze, only to be shattered the next moment by Du Changqing’s resonant voice.
"Let’s toast to this great teacher, to thank her for her meticulous guidance of our Doctor Lu, for having taught a divine female healer for our West Street—"
"Here’s to the great teacher!" Ah Cheng clapped in encouragement.
"Here’s to the great teacher—"
The sound of clapping almost drowned out the sound of firecrackers in the courtyard homes along West Street.
Ah Cheng jumped off his stool, bent down, and dragged out a large copper plate from under the table. A few red oranges and persimmons lay in the plate, nestled beside some cypress branches. He broke the cypress branches, tore open the persimmons and oranges, and shouted, "Everything will be auspicious!"