Chapter 90: Chapter 61 Visiting Fan Mansion_3
It seems this was precisely why, when Lu Qian went to Shangjing to seek justice, he sought the help of Fan Zhenglian’s door first.
Asking for aid from a "Lord Qingtian," who must investigate every injustice, sounds unproblematic. Moreover, Lu Qian spent most of his time in Changwu County, where it’s common for ordinary folk to seek fairness from an official when faced with injustice.
However...
Lu Tong lowered her eyes. For someone truly upright and incorruptible, why was his residence so luxurious? Even with Fan Zhenglian’s current salary, maintaining such an estate would not be easy.
Unless his wife brought a considerable dowry, but Fan Zhenglian’s wife, Zhao Feiyan, came from a family background not much different than his before his promotion.
As the head of Shengjing’s criminal court, if someone bribed him, it would only be to tamper with case proceedings.
After all, with the power of the Grand Preceptor’s Mansion, a mere nod is all it would take, and there would be no need to hand over silver coins for his subordinates to neatly handle things.
As she pondered, the servant girl leading the way stopped at the flower hall and said, "Miss Lu, we have arrived."
Lu Tong looked up.
In the sweltering heat of summer, the bamboo curtains in the flower hall were half-drawn. On the carved fine wooden couch, a young, beautiful woman was reclining.
This beauty wore a rose-purple gauze dress with wide sleeves, her face like the silver moon, her lips as red as lotus, with a single gold hairpin set with red jade dangling atop her loosely styled hair. It trembled delicately with her every movement, its countless charms enough to make the onlooker’s heart soften.
Lu Tong understood then and there that this was Mrs. Zhao, the wife of Fan Zhenglian.
She and Yin Zheng approached, politely greeted Mrs. Zhao: "I, Lu Tong, pay my respects to the lady of the house."
A moment passed without a response.
Mrs. Zhao, too, was sizing up Lu Tong.
She had heard from her servants that the resident doctor of Renxin Medical Hall was a woman, but initially, Mrs. Zhao paid it no mind.
Female doctors were rare, apart from those in the Hanlin Medical Institute within the palace. The female doctors in civilian medical halls and pharmacies were mostly from families in dire straits, forced to make a living.
Otherwise, why would any well-raised girl wish to come forth, show her face openly, and humbly serve strangers?
Mrs. Zhao expected to see a poverty-stricken woman with a sullen and timid demeanor. Hence, when Lu Tong and Yin Zheng stood before her, Mrs. Zhao was taken aback.
The pretty girl on the left, holding the medical box, was an assistant from the medical hall, looking even more capable than her personal maid, Cui’er.
As for the one on the right...
Mrs. Zhao frowned slightly.
The woman was much younger than she had imagined, appearing to be only seventeen or eighteen, very attractive, with a graceful figure, her misty black hair styled into twin braids that hung demurely in front of her chest. Her light green dress seemed a bit oversized, whether because it was made so or because the woman herself was too slender, which made her look fragile and exquisite, unable to support a luxurious dress.
She wore no jewelry, simply adorning her hair with fresh jasmine. The fragrance of the blossoms made the young girl look all the more graceful, inadvertently bringing to mind a line from a poem—
Born of snow and jade, made for tenderness near the locked window,
Scent returns from a clear dream when she wakes, the flowers open upon the beauty’s head.
Indeed, a beauty.
"You are the female doctor from Renxin Medical Hall?" After a while, Mrs. Zhao finally spoke.
"Yes, my lady."
"Rise."
Only then did Lu Tong and Yin Zheng stand up.
Mrs. Zhao watched Lu Tong, her expression somewhat unpleasant.
She had always valued beauty, allowing women to be smarter than herself but reluctant to see them more beautiful.
This healer was quite attractive, with a hint of scholarly air in her eyes, making her look gentle and refined. Standing in the flower hall, if one didn’t know she was a resident doctor, they might believe she was a young lady from a scholarly official’s family.
And that delicate figure of hers...
Truly incited jealousy.
Supressing the subtle envy in her heart, Mrs. Zhao spoke coldly, "I heard you wish to see me."
Lu Tong extended her hand, and Yin Zheng swiftly handed over the medical box. Lu Tong opened it and took out three white porcelain bottles, passing them to Mrs. Zhao’s personal servant.
The servant presented the bottles to Mrs. Zhao. On the porcelain, painted with pink paper, were a few pomegranate blooms—the mark of "Xianxian."
"Someone from your household had previously come to purchase medicinal tea; unfortunately, that batch was sold out. I’ve been improving the formula recently, and before confirming the effects of the new recipe, I dared not casually send it to you, lest it harms your delicate health,"
"Now that the Xianxian formula has been refined, but this has delayed you, I felt extremely anxious, so I took the initiative to visit and relieve your worries."