Chapter 362: Chapter 138: Shennong Shrine_3
This ant that, three days later, the beautiful young female physician would beco entirely at his disposal in the Southern Pharmacy.
Thinking of this, Zhu Mao’s desire was greatly aroused, and he couldn’t help but rub his fingers together as he slowly began to smile.
...
The dicinal garden in spring got dark later than in previous days.
In the dimly lit shrine, Lu Tong knelt on a grass mat. Above her, a towering statue of Shennong held a sprig of sacred herb, as he looked down at her, head bowed with a smile.
High up on the stone walls of the shrine, a crescent moon shone through a small window, its silver light cascading onto the floor, casting a chill over the spacious hall.
Lu Tong stretched out her hand and rubbed her stiff knees.
After Zhu Mao had visited during the day, she was taken to the shrine to reflect in solitude.
The shrine was damp and cold, and at night the usually benevolent statues took on an ominous appearance in the flickering candlelight. For a young girl to spend the night here alone was not only a test of her physical endurance but enough to unsettle her spirit.
However, for Lu Tong, who was accustod to wandering around Chaos Burial Mound, it made no difference where she stayed. In fact, the place was quieter than her lodging, so quiet that she had ample ti to think clearly about her next moves.
The candle fla on the table suddenly flickered, and a voice ca from behind her: "Physician Lu!"
Lu Tong turned around to see a familiar face peering through the bars of the high window, quietly calling her.
It was He Xiu.
Lu Tong stood up and walked towards the window: "What are you doing here?"
"I’ve brought you sothing to eat." He Xiu passed her a cold bun through the bars, "You haven’t eaten all day. You can’t go on like this. It’s too cold here; you’ll get sick."
Lu Tong took the bun from her hand, knowing He Xiu had saved it from her own al, and uttered a "Thank you."
"Don’t thank ," He Xiu said, dejected. "You picked so much Hong Fang Xu for , and now you’re locked in the shrine and I can’t do anything to help. I’m useless..."
"It’s just kneeling for three days, no big deal."
"This is not a trivial matter. i Erniang was also..."
She suddenly stopped, not finishing her sentence, but Lu Tong imdiately understood.
It seems that i Erniang, when she first entered the Southern Pharmacy, underwent the sa experience, with Zhu Mao finding excuses to lock her in the shrine to intimidate her, crushing her spirit until she finally willingly submitted to him.
He Xiu looked at Lu Tong, her eyes filled with profound sadness: "Physician Lu..."
She appeared as if she was watching a comrade about to sink into a quagmire, feeling anxious, pained, and powerless, consud by guilt.
Lu Tong was silent for a mont, then said: "Ah Xiu, can you take sothing to i Erniang for ?"
He Xiu was stunned, "What is it?"
Lu Tong took out a folded piece of paper from her bosom and passed it through the bars into her hand.
"This is..."
He Xiu, nervous, hid the paper in her chest.
"Give i Erniang a ssage for ." After Lu Tong finished speaking, she whispered a few words into He Xiu’s ear.
After hearing the ssage, the woman showed a startled expression: "Why would Physician Lu want to do this?"
Lu Tong didn’t reply, and simply took a bite of the bun.
The bun was cold and hard, rough in her throat as she swallowed. The food in the Southern Pharmacy was always like this, with all the silver going into Zhu Mao’s purse. The commoner dical workers here lived worse than Zhu Mao’s dogs.
But after all, people are not dogs.
After a while, she looked at the person in front of her.
"Because I want to leave this place."
...
These minor matters in the court’s inner garden didn’t take much ti to reach the three divisions.
When Duan Xiaoyan learned that Lu Tong was being punished to kneel at Shennong Shrine, it was late at night.
Everyone else in the guardhouse was on duty, and only Xiao Zhufeng was reviewing docunts at his desk. Duan Xiaoyan made rounds inside and outside the room and, seeing no trace of Pei Yunng, he inquired of Xiao Zhufeng sitting at the table: "Why isn’t Yunng here?"
"He went out of town." Xiao Zhufeng didn’t raise his head, simply asking, "What’s the matter?"
After hesitating, Duan Xiaoyan moved closer, leaned half over the desk, and lowered his voice: "I just passed by the Hanlin dical Officer Institute and heard sothing. Doctor Lu from Renxin dical Hall, who had previously gone to the Southern Pharmacy, seed to have committed so offense there and was locked in the Shennong Shrine for punishnt."
Xiao Zhufeng’s expression paused montarily and quickly recovered, simply uttering an "Oh."
He was always taciturn, so Duan Xiaoyan knocked on the desk, "Shouldn’t we help her?"
Xiao Zhufeng looked up, his face expressionless, and said: "Why should we help? Who is she to you?"
Duan Xiaoyan choked.
Before, Duan Xiaoyan had thought that he and Lu Tong could be considered friends. But after the frad incident with the purse on Mount Wangchun, it beca clear that this friendship was one-sided. Logically, what Lu Tong did in the palace had nothing to do with him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)