At the residence of the Minister of Imperial Treasury, Lady Dong leaned against a soft couch, listening to the report from the maid in front of her.
"... A servant inquired with those from the dical profession, and they say that the newly added ’Verification Case Study’ is always considered difficult by the students of the Imperial dical Bureau. Moreover, this year’s questions were personally set by Master Ji. Lu Tong, being a young Doctor from an outside region, is definitely not going to pass. Madam need not worry," the attendant reported.
Upon hearing this, Lady Dong’s expression relaxed sowhat.
"Difficulty is good," she smiled, lifting the cover of her teacup to her lips and taking a leisurely sip, "Lu Tong has been so arrogant, thinking she’s sothing special just because she has so dical skills, as if she’s the only one in Shengjing capable of healing. The students at the Imperial dical Bureau are each more knowledgeable than she is, yet she’s so full of herself, even having the audacity to disdain..."
She suddenly stopped speaking at this point.
The servant girl hurriedly bowed her head, not daring to interject.
Everyone knew that Young Master Dong Lin of the household had been ensnared by the female doctor from Renxin dical Hall, to the point where he saw no one else and even had a big quarrel with Lady Dong. Lady Dong sent servants to the entrance of the dical hall to humiliate Lu Tong, hoping Lu Tong would back off after realizing her difficulty. But that female doctor did not know better; she argued back and forth with a bunch of lowlifes from West Street, suggesting that Young Master Dong was plain-looking and unimpressive in stature.
The implication was that she, Lu Tong, looked down on Young Master Dong!
When the servants relayed this back, Lady Dong was imdiately very upset.
If before she still rembered that Lu Tong had once saved Dong Lin at Wan’en Temple and had treated him well, now that these words had co out, any relationship between them was utterly severed.
Lady Dong cherished Dong Lin like a precious pearl; even a celestial being wouldn’t be deed worthy of her son, let alone Lu Tong, a lowly female doctor who dared to insult her son in public, which was tantamount to a blatant slap in the face of the Dong Family.
The Dong Family had so connections with Cui Min, the current Envoy of the Hanlin dical Institute. Lady Dong asked soone to ntion to Cui Min that this year’s imperial examination entry to the palace must not include Lu Tong’s na.
Cui Min, who oversaw the entire Hanlin dical Institute, saw gifting a spot as a re trifle. For a commoner with no background, their future destiny amounted to nothing more than the casual word of the powerful.
As trivial as dust.
Lady Dong asked, "How has the young master been doing lately?"
"He’s still locking himself in his room all day, paying no mind to others."
Lady Dong had forbidden Dong Lin from leaving the house. At first, he wanted to go on a hunger strike in protest, but having been pampered with luxury all his life, he truly could not withstand hunger and gave up after just one day. However, his heart remained uneasy, so he chose to resist his mother’s "tyranny" with silent defiance.
"Stupidly stubborn," Lady Dong scoffed coldly. "Let him be, we’ll see how long he can persist."
"Oh right," she suddenly rembered sothing else and instructed the maid, "Go to the storehouse and fetch two high-quality Tao Inkstones, and have soone deliver them to the hands of Officer Cui at the dical Officer Institute."
The maidservant complied, but then seed to ponder and spoke up, "Actually, those from the dical profession have already said that this year’s topics are difficult, and the competition among the students of the Imperial dical Bureau is fierce. Lu Tong will surely not pass. Since Madam has already sent silver before, why bother..."
"What do you know," Lady Dong sneered lightly. "That female doctor is not so simple."
Although she constantly referred to Lu Tong as "rabble" and "rustic doctor," deep down, she still rembered how Lu Tong had successfully treated Dong Lin’s lung disease.
Her son Lin’er had been suffering from the lung ailnt for years, with many renowned doctors at a loss, yet Lu Tong’s prescriptions had nearly cured him within a year. Then there was Princess Consort Pei Yunshu—suffering from that botherso "child’s anxiety." None of the physicians in the palace could diagnose it, yet Lu Tong spotted it at a glance, even ensuring the safety of Pei Yunshu and her daughter.
Even though she disliked Lu Tong, she had to admit that Lu Tong was no charlatan bluffing her way through.
Indeed, the students of the Imperial dical Bureau had been taught by renowned teachers, but who could predict an unforeseen turn of events.
Certain safety was still the better option.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry and go," she urged the servant.
"Yes, Madam."
...
After the spring examination at Shengjing Imperial dical Bureau, all student exam papers would be sent to the Hanlin dical Institute, where ten selected dical officers would review them.
During the seven-day review period, all examiners were not allowed to go out and had to eat and stay in the side hall in order to hasten the release of the successful candidates’ list for the spring examinations within seven days.
Today was the last day of marking.
Chang Jin was one of the chief examiners who was marking papers.
This year’s spring examination was different from previous years for two reasons. First, the questions were set by the notoriously strict Master Ji Xun. Students coming out of the examination rooms were wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves. Second, the addition of the "Verification Case Study" ant that these students, already struggling with this new dical science, might barely cope on normal days, but the pathetic quality of the exam papers submitted during the spring examination imdiately revealed their true abilities.
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