Chapter 354: Chapter 136 Night Meeting_2

Lu Tong lowered his head to look at the medicinal cake in his hand.

A bitter taste of herbs lingered on his lips, likely because He Xiu was reluctant to part with those broken leaves, some of which were even not fully crushed. But those were probably common, even inferior herbs, with very little medicinal effect. To expect them to counteract poison was as fanciful as a fool’s dream.

In fact, they probably couldn’t even relieve the toxicity. It was nothing but self-deception, a false comfort.

Lu Tong turned his head. He Xiu ate very carefully, catching every crumb of the cake that fell onto her clothes and transferring it delicately into her mouth as if it were a rare delicacy.

Because she was eating, the coarse cloth covering her face was pulled down. She must have been no longer young, looking about thirty-five or thirty-six. Her features were withered and waxy yellow like aged parchment, and those dense spots under her eyes added years of wind and labor to that yellow paper.

Seeing Lu Tong staring at her, He Xiu felt uncomfortable, "What is it?"

Lu Tong asked, "Are the spots on your face caused by Hong Fang Xu?"

He Xiu was startled, instinctively turning her back, not wanting Lu Tong to see her face clearly. However, she soon realized that this was like burying her head in the sand, and after a while, she slowly turned her face back, murmuring an acknowledgment with a low "hmm."

"Hong Fang Xu is poisonous. Inhaling its aroma for too long can be life-threatening, not to mention it can disfigure one’s face," She whispered, "No medical practitioner in the Southern Pharmacy wants to come here. I’m here because..."

She was there because she had no silver, her looks were plain, and she had no well-connected people to speak for her. Thus, for several years, she was responsible for harvesting Hong Fang Xu.

Lu Tong was the second one.

With this thought, He Xiu also became curious. When Lu Tong harvested in the garden, he seemed unaffected by the scent of the flowers. She asked, "Even wearing a cloth over one’s face when picking Hong Fang Xu can result in poisoning. Why are you, Physician Lu, unharmed?" There was something He Xiu didn’t say; Lu Tong looked very adept at picking Hong Fang Xu.

Lu Tong said, "I saw this flower in my childhood and had taken an antidote for it. Perhaps for this reason, the fragrance of this flower is harmless to me."

He Xiu surprised, exclaimed, "I see! That’s wonderful."

No one wished to be disfigured and poisoned without reason, facing imminent death. Lu Tong was born beautiful, and if her flawless face were to develop dense blemishes, it would indeed be a terrifying thing.

Lu Tong glanced down, silently biting into the coarse, dry cake in her hand.

Of course, she had seen Hong Fang Xu before, but back then, Hong Fang Xu was not called Hong Fang Xu; it was known as Acacia Fruit.

Lady Yun had taken great pains to obtain the seeds of Acacia Fruit for her to plant in the garden behind the house, just to produce a spice for medicinal purposes. She tended to them daily with great care. At that time, Hong Fang Xu on Luomei Peak was ten times more lush than it was now, resplendent like a stretch of sunset clouds.

There, she planted and nurtured them, and she harvested them one by one.

Ordinary poisons couldn’t affect her, and the foul fragrance of the garden was but an ordinary scent to her. Those ugly blemishes would not appear on her face, and she would not become dizzy and blurry-eyed like He Xiu after some time.

Lu Tong asked, "When did you come to the Southern Pharmacy, and can’t you leave this place?"

As if not expecting such a question from Lu Tong, He Xiu was lost for a good while before answering hesitantly, "I came here three years ago. Leave... Medical practitioners who enter the Southern Pharmacy never leave."

Lu Tong paused slightly.

A bitter expression showed on He Xiu’s face.

"The Southern Pharmacy doesn’t normally take in people," He Xiu said lowly, "They only recruit when someone dies and there’s a shortage of medical officers. Usually, it’s the neglected Medical Officers from the Medical Officer Institute who have made mistakes. I was very ordinary over there. When there was a shortage in the Southern Pharmacy, they had me fill in."

"Medical practitioners who enter the Southern Pharmacy have no reason to leave. In the three years I’ve been here, not a single practitioner has left, except in death." He Xiu looked at Lu Tong, "They say you are the new Imperial Medical Officer, but nobody has died in the Southern Pharmacy recently, and we have enough practitioners. For a new Imperial Medical Officer to come here... Physician Lu, have you made some mistake or offended someone?"

He Xiu’s question was tentative, but Lu Tong did not reply.

In the eyes of others, the new Imperial Medical Officer being sent to the Southern Pharmacy clearly suggested some offense, even if she did not say it, other practitioners could guess.

He Xiu sighed, not pressing further for an answer.

Lu Tong asked, "The medical practitioner who asked me to change beds on my first day at the Southern Pharmacy, who was she?" She still remembered the hostility from that woman.

"Are you talking about Second Mistress Mei?"

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read