Chapter 559: Chapter 196 Lady Yun_4
"I, the top scorer in every Imperial Medical Bureau examination," she pointed at Lu Tong, "Younger Sister Lu, the top of the red list in the spring exam. With our strength, we should at least have our salary increased tenfold by the Medical Officer Institute to do us justice."
"Is that pittance meant to fob off beggars?"
"Day in, day out on duty, facing scolding every day, even the writers of storybooks are aware of the dangers of being buried alive with the dead, worse than cattle, absolutely worse than cattle!"
Zhu Ling quietly retorted, "But you can’t claim to be the best in the world. What about my Young Master?"
Lin Danqing paused.
That was indeed the truth.
She thought for a moment: "Your Young Master has the support of his family; can I and Younger Sister Lu compare with that? Moreover, it’s not an exaggeration to say that we are the two jewels of the medical field among female Medical Officers, right?"
The Imperial Medical Bureau only admitted a set number of students, fewer women than men. Moreover, due to practicing medicine publicly, families with good backgrounds were reluctant to let their daughters endure such hardship, hence fewer women studied and even fewer became Medical Officers.
"Indeed, indeed," Du Changqing supported her claim, "I think, among us, the first female Envoy of Da Liang could very well be one of you two."
Lin Danqing was proud: "I’ll take your auspicious words."
Miao Liangfang said with a smile, "Xiao Lu and Doctor Lin are indeed exceptionally talented. However, when it comes to female Doctors, I know someone even better."
"I have been practicing medicine for the better part of my life, seen many diseases, but that girl’s talent and skill in medicine are truly rare in my experience." He stroked his beard, looking at Ji Xun: "I fear even Doctor Ji would have to yield to her."
Ji Xun was startled.
When Miao Liangfang left the Medical Officer Institute years ago, Ji Xun was still young, and since he didn’t like socializing, he did not remember Miao Liangfang’s name. He only saw that the man was a lame, older Commoner Physician who had been invited by the Renxin Medical Hall to be their Resident Doctor.
Lin Danqing was surprised: "There’s such a person? Why don’t I know about her? Is she from Shengjing?"
"Yes."
Zhu Ling looked at Ji Xun and asked, "Young Master, have you heard of her?"
Ji Xun shook his head.
Not just Ji Xun, Duan Xiaoyan and Du Changqing also looked puzzled.
Miao Liangfang sighed, "It’s no wonder you haven’t heard of her, after all, it was a matter of twenty years ago."
"Twenty years ago..."
His tone was nostalgic, "Twenty years ago, some of you were just milk-fed babies, too young to remember, while others weren’t even born..."
Indeed, twenty years earlier, people like Lu Tong and Lin Danqing had not yet been born.
"Back then, I too was young and full of vigor, in my first year in Shengjing. I was working as an errand boy in a pharmacy there."
"One day, a mother came into the pharmacy with her child, saying her three-year-old daughter had accidentally ingested poisonous herbs and needed urgent medical attention."
"It was late, and there was only one Resident Doctor in the pharmacy. When I saw the little girl, with rolling white eyes, frothing at the mouth, stiff all over, breathing out much more than in, I knew she didn’t have much time."
"The Doctor said it was too late, and the mother, holding her daughter at the pharmacy’s doorstep, wept and begged for help. It was heartbreaking for all of us, thinking the girl wouldn’t survive the night."
"But fortune turned, just then a carriage happened to pass by in the street, and a young lady wearing a veil alighted, helping the mother and child."
Lin Danqing listened, captivated: "Did she save the little girl?"
"She did."
Miao Liangfang lapsed into silence, as though immersed in the critical moment of that year. After a short while, he slowly began, "I later found out, she was a young lady from the Mo Family Mansion in Shengjing, an Imperial Physician from within the palace..."
"... Mo Ruyun."
At these words, Lu Tong’s eyelashes quivered.
Her grip on the wine bowl loosened, and a few drops of sweet wine splashed onto the back of her hand, spreading a piercing chill.
She looked up, her face suddenly pale.