Chapter 256: Chapter 108: Bumping Into Him Again_4
After finishing, he clasped his hands toward Lu Tong, then left the medical hall as if fleeing.
After Official Hu left, Lu Tong stood at the doorway, turned around, and met Du Changqing’s questioning gaze.
Yin Zheng and Ah Cheng stood in the corner, not daring to even breathe loudly.
After a pause, Lu Tong walked past Du Changqing and headed inside. Du Changqing relentlessly followed her, questioning, "Tell me, when did you go behind my back to seek out Dong Lin?"
The look in his eyes was so full of anger, and his tone so full of resentment, he looked like a man who had just been cuckolded.
Seeing that Lu Tong did not reply, he raised his voice even higher and demanded, "Why did you secretly find someone to participate in this year’s spring exam?"
"Because I want to enter the Hanlin Medical Institute," replied Lu Tong.
Du Changqing was taken aback.
Lu Tong turned around to face him and spoke calmly, "Didn’t you say that I should aim higher, to earn the silver of those rich people? I’ve thought about it, and it’s hard to make a name for myself just sitting in the clinic on West Street. Once I enter the Hanlin Medical Institute and become a medical officer, serving the nobles and officials—if I can save one or two of them, perhaps I can rise swiftly."
Her words sounded quite callous and cold.
"You’re bluffing," Du Changqing scoffed contemptuously. "You expect me to believe you want to get ahead by entering the Hanlin Medical Institute? Don’t make me laugh."
He stared intently at Lu Tong, his normally languid eyes now showing a trace of sharpness.
"Out with it then, why do you absolutely have to enter the Hanlin Medical Institute?"
Lu Tong remained silent.
Yin Zheng hurried over with a smile, trying to smooth things over, "Shopkeeper Du also knows that our young lady came to the Capital City to find her fiancé." She concocted a few lies on the spot, "My young lady’s fiancé works in the palace. The only way to have the opportunity is to enter the palace, right?"
Du Changqing paid her no attention, still fixated on Lu Tong. Lu Tong met his gaze calmly, and after a while, she said, "I... "
"Forget it!" Du Changqing suddenly interrupted her, a look of irritation in his eyes, "Our relationship is merely that of a shopkeeper and resident doctor. Whether you’re looking for a fiancé or scheming to rise through the ranks, it has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to hear it!"
He flicked his sleeves and turned to leave, "The whole morning has been nothing but bad luck. I’m out of here!"
Ah Cheng, seeing him leave the medical hall, hurriedly glanced at Lu Tong and Yin Zheng, then chased after Du Changqing, calling, "Shopkeeper, wait for me—"
Yin Zheng walked up to Lu Tong’s side, watching the retreating figures with a trace of worry in her eyes, "Young lady, Shopkeeper Du seems angry."
Lu Tong lowered her gaze and said nothing.
She had come to Shengjing at the beginning of spring, met Du Changqing upon her arrival, and had been working as the resident doctor at the Benevolent Heart Medical Hall on West Street ever since. She had watched the medical hall grow from a dilapidated establishment to one that could now sustain its expenses.
People often develop a special kind of fellowship with those they endure hardships with.
Moreover, Du Changqing had always shown a sort of fledgling dependency on her.
If she truly passed the spring exam, the Benevolent Heart Medical Hall would be without a resident doctor, and for Du Changqing, it would leave him without direction for the time being. Even if a new resident doctor were to take her place, in Du Changqing’s eyes, her actions would be no different from betrayal.
That’s why he was angry.
Yin Zheng asked, "Young lady, are you set on taking part in the spring exam?"
After a long while, Lu Tong lightly hummed in affirmation.
The Grand Preceptor’s Mansion was out of reach, sealed tight as a drum, and the small medical hall on West Street was insufficient to provide her with the stepping stones needed to approach those in power.
But the Hanlin Medical Institute was different.
Those medical officers attended to officials from the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Privy Council... There would always be an opportunity for her to get close to them. As long as she could get close to them, she would find a chance to take action.
This was the most direct method.
Lu Tong lifted her hand, her fingertips slowly brushing over her heart where there seemed to be a lingering pain spreading out from within.
She could no longer afford to wait passively.
She didn’t have much time to waste.
...
Du Changqing did not return to the medical hall for the entire day.
The news brought back by the Minister of Imperial Treasury seemed to have truly angered him this time; he even forbade Ah Cheng from returning to the medical hall with messages.
After a busy day, Lu Tong and Yin Zheng closed the medical hall; it began to snow at night.
The snow in the small courtyard was getting thicker, and the sound of shoes crunching against the ground was clear. The lanterns hanging under the eave bathed the snowy ground in a faint red glow, as Yin Zheng placed the orange lanterns that Ah Cheng had entrusted her to make on the windowsill.
The well-made orange lanterns were neatly arranged in a row, their peels round and lustrous. Filled with grease and lit, they shone brightly in the snowy night, like jade lotuses unleashing flames, and golden grains glistening, finally adding some vivacity to the cold and silent winter night.
Lu Tong stood in front of the window, gazing into the distance.
In the courtyard, the snow flew gently, and the biting north wind cut sharply. Flakes of white fluff spiraled down from the sky, a few reaching inside the house only to melt into droplets on the fingers, vanishing like smoke.
Lu Tong pulled her hand back.
Yin Zheng stepped inside from the door, shaking the snowflakes off her body, and said with a smile, "The snow in the Capital City is so heavy; we in Su Nan rarely get to see snow throughout the year. I remember the last time it snowed in Su Nan was many years ago."
Lu Tong smiled too.
Indeed, in the warm south where Su Nan was located, it seldom snowed. However, Luomei Peak was different. With its high altitude, the mountain turned jade white during winter. After a night passed, when one opened the door in the morning, all would be a vast expanse of white.
"I wonder if Shopkeeper Du will come to the medical hall early tomorrow," Yin Zheng sighed, "I hope he doesn’t stay angry for too long, as the day after tomorrow is the day to distribute the month allowance."
Lu Tong’s smile then faded.
She had never intended to stay long at Renxin Medical Hall when she first arrived to serve as the resident doctor. It was merely a bridge on her path of revenge, it could have been Renxin Medical Hall or Xinglin Hall; as long as she reached her destination, which bridge it was made no difference.
Yet, unknowingly, she had stayed in West Street for far too long, so long that now, her sudden departure would upset Du Changqing and leave Ah Cheng feeling regret.
The bonds between people are always peculiar, but sometimes, entanglements are burdens.
And she didn’t need burdens.
Yin Zheng closed the window, and Lu Tong picked up an oil lamp from the table, getting ready to head to her bed, when suddenly, she heard noises from outside.
Thump thump!
Someone was knocking on the door of the medical hall.
Yin Zheng paused, exchanging a glance with Lu Tong, their expressions gradually becoming tense, "Who would come over so late?"
Ever since Meng Xiyang sent someone to assassinate Lu Tong the last time, Yin Zheng had been on edge. After all, two women living alone, despite the patrol of pawn shop soldiers in the streets, were still vulnerable.
"Could it be Shopkeeper Du?" Yin Zheng speculated.
Having stormed off in a huff during the day, could it be that Du Changqing had come to his senses, or maybe he couldn’t figure things out and decided to rattle the doors of the medical hall in the middle of the night?
Lu Tong reached out, picking up a hairpin from the dressing table, and walked towards the door.
"I’ll go take a look."
Yin Zheng instinctively tugged at her sleeve, but Lu Tong shook her head, "It’s okay."
They carefully approached the door of the medical hall, and as they did, the knocking suddenly stopped. Yin Zheng raised her voice and asked through the door, "Who is it?"
No one responded.
Lu Tong hesitated for a moment, gripping the hairpin tightly in one hand while she pulled the door open just a crack with the other.
In an instant, the cold wind burst in, bringing with it a flurry of snow.
The north wind whirled, and the entire street was blanketed with snow. A row of vermillion lanterns under the red eaves, battered by the wind and snow, swayed back and forth, their faint warmth nearly frozen as well.
There was no one outside, just the sound of the north wind snapping branches.
Yin Zheng peered out and said in confusion, "Huh, there’s no one?"
Lu Tong frowned, then quickly closed the door again.
There was no one outside, but the knocking they heard earlier was no illusion...
As she contemplated this, she suddenly felt a pat on her shoulder. Yin Zheng screamed out beside her, and Lu Tong’s heart sank. Without a second thought, she thrust the hairpin in her hand backwards!
A hissing sound.
The next moment, her hand was grabbed, and someone from behind held down her arm, rendering her unable to move.
"Shh—"
A familiar voice rose beside her ear.
"Don’t move, it’s me."