In the Red Garden, the sun gradually rises.

The golden sunlight diffused from afar, like a fine piece of gold, sprinkled all over the medicine garden. A large cluster of crimson flowers is illuminated by the sun and mist, which is beautiful and moving.

He Xiu sat on the bluestone on the edge of the medicine garden, staring blankly at the people picking medicinal herbs among the flowers.

Under a large field of heavy and bright colors, the woman's dull dark brown linen clothes were like those buried dirt in the medicine garden, dull, muddy, and inconspicuous, and her eyebrows and eyes were clear, and when she bent down to pick the bright flowers, her expression was focused and her movements were skillful, as if such a thing had been done a thousand times.

He Xiu only felt that he was dreaming.

Red flocculent is poisonous.

This flower is gorgeous and beautiful like a beauty, the flower is like its name, countless pink flocs grow on the branches and leaves, when the wind blows, the powder floc is overwhelming like a layer of silk mist, firmly wrapping people.

Then it flies in from the tip of the nose and down the throat into the body, accumulating over time, and the toxin spreads.

That's all there is to it, the floral fragrance of the red fragrance is also poisonous, and the smell of the fragrant aroma will make people weak, and if you stay here for a long time, your movements will gradually slow down, and your mouth and nose will bleed, and if you don't quit in time to rest, you may be unconscious.

He Xiu was like this, and after about half an hour of entering Hongfangxu, he felt that the sky was spinning, so he immediately retreated to the edge of the medicine garden. She thought that Lu Yu, who had just come to the medicine garden, was the same, but an hour had passed, and Lu Yu looked as usual, shuttling through the entire medicine garden, picking the ripe red floc and picking it on the wooden cart.

He Xiu was a little dazed.

Lu Yu picked it very quickly, much faster than He Xiu, who had been in the medicine garden for three years, and she picked it very cleanly, without wasting branches and leaves. The pink tidbits blew lightly on her dress by the wind, like thick and faint flowers embroidered on coarse cloth, tracing her eyebrows more and more clearly.

She wasn't even wearing a face toil.

A person who does not wear a face towel, but is not affected by the tidbits and aromas in the red garden at all, and moves freely...... He Xiu thought to herself, doesn't this Lu doctor have a sense of smell?

But the toxicity of red flocculents, can it be invalid as long as you lose your sense of smell?

He Xiu didn't understand that she had been away from the medical hospital for too long, picking and cleaning the same medicinal materials every day, and what medical classics and pharmacology had long been forgotten.

Just thinking about it, the sound of the wheels of the wooden cart rolling over the mud ground sounded in his ears, and He Xiu looked up and saw that Lu Yu was pulling the wooden cart to the edge of the medicine garden.

Most of the wooden cart has been piled up with fresh red flocculents, stacked into a small mountain, He Xiu was dumbfounded, and stammered a little for a while: "You...... You ......"

"I've read the booklet," Lu Yu said, "enough for today's picking." ”

He Xiu was a little overwhelmed.

Such a picking, on weekdays, she has to finish from morning to night. Even though there are two of them now, in fact, these are all picked by Lu Yu alone.

Lu Yu didn't even rest.

Lu Yu spread out a large piece of cloth that was originally placed on the wooden cart and spread it on the red flocculent that was picked, so as not to fly the tidbits and cover the fragrance of those flowers.

He Xiu snorted for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Do you want to rest for a while?" Seeing Lu Yu looking over, she hurriedly explained: "In the past, I only finished it in the evening, and I went back too early, and the medical regulatory committee ordered other work to ...... for you."

This is always the case in the South Pharmacy, people are not people here, they are animals, they are donkeys that pull the mill, and they just need to live.

Lu Yu thought about it, turned around and walked to the medicine garden, found a stone to sit down, and said, "Rest." ”

He Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, remembered something again, took out a dry cake from his baggage and handed it to Lu Yu.

Lu Yu took it.

"We ate before coming to the medicine garden, and in the past, I used to go back to eat at night after work. The day is long, and you will be hungry after eating two meals, so I brought some dry cakes. He Xiu explained.

Lu Yu nodded and took a bite, the cake was not big, only the size of a palm, rough and astringent, difficult to swallow, and there was a strange bitter taste in it.

Lu Yu was stunned: "You put the herbs?" ”

He Xiu's eyes lit up: "Did you eat it?" ”

She was a little happy: "I put antidote herbs in it, and sometimes there are some stumps and leaves left in the southern pharmacy when sorting out the medicinal herbs, so I picked out what could be used and borrowed the kitchen to make my own cakes." Red flocculent is poisonous, and although eating the medicine cake cannot detoxify, it can alleviate some toxicity. She took out another one from her bag, took a bite carefully, as if she was tasting a delicacy, and looked at Lu Yu and smiled embarrassedly: "It's not very delicious, but it's good for the body, Doctor Lu eat more." ”

Lu Yu looked down at the medicine cake in his hand.

There is still the bitter taste of medicinal herbs between his lips, perhaps because He Xiu is reluctant to give up those broken grass leaves, and some of them are not even completely mashed, but they are probably just some not very precious, and even some inferior herbs, the medicinal properties are already minimal, and wanting to use it to detoxify is tantamount to a fool's dream.

In fact, it is probably impossible to alleviate the toxicity, but it is a self-deceptive comfort.

Lu Yu turned her head sideways, He Xiu ate very carefully, a bit of cake crumbs fell on her clothes, and she carefully twisted it and sent it to her mouth, as if it was rare and delicious in the world.

Because of eating, the rough face towel was removed, she should not be young, looking at thirty-five or sixteen, her facial features were withered and sallow like an old yellow paper, and the dense spots under her eyes added a lot of wind and frost to the yellow paper.

Seeing Lu Yu staring at him, He Xiu was a little uncomfortable: "What's wrong?" ”

Lu Yu asked, "Are the spots on your face caused by red flocculents?" ”

He Xiu was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously turned her back, not wanting Lu Yu to see her face clearly, but soon, she realized that this seemed to be covering her ears and stealing the bell, and after a while, she slowly turned her face and let out a low "um".

"The red fragrance is poisonous, and the smell of poisonous incense for a long time not only worries about life, but also disfigurement." She whispered, "No one from the healers at the South Pharmacy wants to come here. I'm because ......"

Because she has no silver, her appearance is mediocre, and she doesn't have people with familiar backgrounds to help her speak, so for several years, she has completed the picking of red flocculents.

Lu Yu is the second.

Thinking of this, He Xiu was also a little curious, Lu Yu didn't seem to be affected by the fragrance of those flowers when she picked in the medicine garden, she asked: "Picking red fragrant flocculent on weekdays, even if you wear a face towel, you will be poisoned, why are you safe and sound, Doctor Lu?" There is another sentence He Xiu didn't say, Lu Yu's appearance of picking those red flocculents looks very skillful.

Lu Yu said: "I saw this flower when I was a child, and I took the antidote, perhaps because of this, the fragrance of this flower is harmless to me. ”

He Xiu was surprised: "I see! Then he said enviously, "That's good." ”

No one wants to be disfigured and poisoned for no reason, his life is short, Lu Yu was born beautiful, and if that flawless face also gave birth to dense markings, it was really a terrible thing.

Lu Yu lowered his eyes and silently took a bite of the rough dry cake in his hand.

Of course, she had seen Hongfangfu, but at that time, Hongfangfu was not called Hongfangfu, but Evil Xiangguo.

Yun Niang bothered to get the seeds of the evil fragrant fruit and asked her to plant them in the garden behind the house, just to make a medicinal herb with a spice. She carefully served every day, and at that time, the red flocculents of Luomei Peak were ten times more lush than here now, and they were as gorgeous as a sunset.

There she was, planting and nurturing them, and picking them one by one.

Ordinary poisons can't affect her body, the evil fragrance in the garden is just an ordinary flower fragrance to her, those ugly markings won't appear on her face, and she won't be dizzy like He Xiu after staying for a long time.

Lu Yu asked, "When did you come to the South Pharmacy, can't you leave here?" ”

As if he didn't expect Lu Yu to ask such a question, He Xiu was stunned for a while before replying: "I came here three years ago and left...... The healer who entered the South Pharmacy never left. ”

Lu Yu was slightly stunned.

He Xiu's face was bitter.

"South Pharmacy doesn't accept people on weekdays," He Xiu lowered his head and said, "Only when people die, if there are not enough doctors, people will make up for it." Generally, they are medical officers who make mistakes in the hospital and are left out in the cold. I was very common in the medical hospital, and at that time, the South Pharmacy was understaffed, so I was asked to make up for it. ”

"The healer who entered the South Pharmacy had no reason to leave. I have been here for three years, and no healer has ever gone out of here unless he dies. He Xiu looked at Lu Yu: "They said that you are a new medical officer, but there have been no deaths in the South Pharmacy recently, and the doctors are enough, and the new medical officer is here...... Doctor Lu, have you done anything wrong or offended someone? ”

He Xiu asked carefully, but Lu Yu did not answer.

In the eyes of others, it seems obvious that the new medical officer was assigned to the South Pharmacy and offended people, even if she didn't say it, the other doctors could guess it.

He Xiu sighed and did not continue to ask.

Lu Yu asked, "On the day I first came to the South Pharmacy, who was the doctor who asked me to change the bed?" She remembered the woman who was hostile to her.

"Are you talking about Mei Erniang?"

"Mei Erniang," Lu Yu groaned, "What is the relationship between Mei Erniang and Zhu Mao?" ”

He Xiu was taken aback: "How do you know?" He looked left and right again: "Doctor Lu, don't say it outside!" ”

Lu Yu nodded.

"Erniang is also a poor person," He Xiu sighed: "I heard that I accidentally damaged a medicinal ginseng back then and was driven to the South Pharmacy." I heard that she used to have good medical skills in the medical hospital, and she was born young and beautiful. When I first entered the South Pharmacy, I was reluctant to do anything, and I always wanted to go back one day. ”

"Doctor Supervisor Zhu coaxed her, saying that she could be allowed to return to the Medical Officer's Hospital, so she committed to Doctor Zhu Prison, and the result was ......"

As a result, to this day, she has not been able to leave the South Pharmacy.

Lu Yu was silent, and only said after a while: "Since it has been like this for so many years, she should have seen that Zhu Mao can't let her leave at all, why is she still with Zhu Mao?" ”

Lu Yu saw very clearly that the night he first arrived at the South Pharmacy, and the hostility in Mei Erniang's eyes when Zhu Mao talked to her on the second day was not an illusion.

"Doctor Lu," He Xiu squeezed the Chinese medicine cake tightly in his hand and said gloomily: "Sometimes, it is better to have hope than not to have hope. Doctor Zhu coaxed Mei Erniang, Mei Erniang still has hope to live, if he doesn't even want to coax Mei Erniang, Mei Erniang really has no hope and will die. Erniang...... It was he who chose to deceive himself. ”

In hard days, some people choose to be sober, some people choose to be ignorant, and maybe they all end up in the same way.

"Doctor Lu, I'm not telling you this, I don't want to excuse Erniang," He Xiu chewed a bite of the cake, "You are good-looking, Doctor Zhu may beat your idea, don't be deceived by him, he won't take you out of the South Pharmacy." ”

He Xiu looked at Lu Yu, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes.

Lu Yu had taken the antidote when she was a child, so Hong Fangxu was useless to her. This is a good thing for Lu Yu, because she doesn't have to endure the erosion of the toxin on her body, and she doesn't have to be disfigured. But again, it was a disaster for her.

A beautiful woman is shaking under her nose every day, how can Zhu Mao hold it, I am afraid that she will attack Lu Yu after all.

Lu Yu looks so thin and weak, and he has offended the people of the Medical Hospital, how can he protect himself here?

He Xiu shook his head lightly in his heart.

Perhaps, she will become the second Mei Erniang.

……

Lu Yu and He Xiu did not return to the South Pharmacy until the evening.

Thanks to Lu Yu, He Xiu's picking today was completed very easily. In the past, she had to pick so many red flocculents, but when she returned to the dormitory, she was always chilled and pale, and the poisonous smell of the red flocculent always made her uncomfortable all night. For the first time, she even felt brisk on the way back with a wooden cart.

Of course, she has a deep apology for Lu Yu. Because most of today's picking was completed by Lu Yu, although Lu Yu repeatedly told her that the red fang floc would not have any impact on her body, He Xiu still felt that she couldn't go.

Because of this, He Xiu volunteered to help Lu Yu go to the medicine warehouse to sort out and collect medicinal materials. He Xiu said: "It will take a while to sort out the name, you go to the kitchen to eat something first." The leftovers from the day will be put in the kitchen of the pharmacy, I have steamed buns in my bag, you go find some leftovers to eat hot. ”

The South Pharmacy is different from the Medical Officer's Hospital, where the doctors' meals are in the kitchen, and according to He Xiu, sometimes they come back late and can only have a little cold porridge left.

He Xiu's enthusiasm was difficult, so Lu Yu had no choice but to agree.

The kitchen is still some distance away from the medicine storehouse, so it is specially repaired far away for fear of confusing the medicinal materials. Lu Yu walked through a long corridor and bypassed the open space before finding the kitchen.

It was already night, and there was no one outside, only the lanterns hanging and swaying outside the courtyard, sprinkling a little soft light. Lu Yu pushed the door and walked in, a lantern was placed at the door of the kitchen, Lu Yu carried this lantern and walked inside, cold pots and cold stoves, and there were some empty bowls on the board, and there was no shadow of leftovers.

He Xiu said that the doctors of the South Pharmacy had a hard time, and the dishes were average, because of the large amount of food every day, the leftover meals at night were not very good, but even if it was bad, there was still a bowl of cold porridge.

Lu Yu's gaze fell on a large iron pot in the middle of the kitchen.

The iron pot was covered with a lid, and Lu Yu lifted the lid.

The bottom of the pot is clean and clear, and it has been carefully cleaned.

There is no cold porridge, no steamed buns, not even a bowl of hot water.

Lu Yu put down the lid of the pot and frowned.

They didn't have a grain of rice left over for her.

……

Under the long corridor outside the medicine depot of the South Pharmacy, two healers were walking in the direction of the medicine depot with empty bowls of medicinal food delivered.

"I heard that the people from Hongfangyuan have returned, and the one is conscious, as if he has not been affected by the incense poison. Ah Xiu took good care of her and took the initiative to help her tidy up the warehouse. It was one of the healers who spoke.

The other kicked away the small pebble in front of him and echoed: "It's only the first day, where is it." Ah Xiu too, why bother asking for trouble. I don't know who I offended, Lord Zhu ordered me to come down, I saw that they asked someone to take away all the food in the kitchen today, and I guess I will inevitably be hungry tonight. ”

As he spoke, the kicked pebbles slipped along the road, rolled to a pair of boots and came to a sudden stop.

Someone was approaching not far away.

The two doctors who spoke raised their eyes, and after seeing the appearance of the person who came, they hurriedly bowed their heads and saluted: "Pei Dianshuai." ”

In front of him was Pei Yunyi, the commander of the front division of the palace.

Near the corridor, the guards often walk around at night, and it is not uncommon to encounter them by chance. This Pei Dianshuai often walks in front of the emperor, and the envoy of the court must give three points when he sees it.

The young man nodded slightly, and walked past the two of them.

When the man walked by, the doctor patted his chest: "I'm scared to death, you and I shouldn't have been heard talking just now, right?" ”

"It's nothing if I hear it, it's just a new medical officer, and Pei Dianshuai doesn't know him, how can he have the spare time to take care of these trivial matters."

"That's what I said......"

The voice gradually faded away, and Pei Yunyi's footsteps stopped.

Not far away is the dormitory gate of the South Pharmacy, and the two dim lanterns at the entrance of the courtyard are swaying in the night wind, reminiscent of the old plaque hidden by the branches of plum trees on a snowy night.

It's the same cold silence.

Pei Yunyao stared at the blurred light quietly.

He passed by the East Corridor after his errand, passing by the medicine garden, and the voices of the doctors chatting were so noisy that it was difficult not to hear them.

Then I suddenly remembered that the young medicine girl should be the second day of coming to the South Pharmacy.

She is hateful, calm and resolute, seemingly rational but crazy. However, the Imperial City is not West Street after all, it is a place with strict hierarchies, and the distance between people is separated by a series of official positions, statuses, and various rules and etiquette. As soon as she entered the medical hospital, she was assigned to the unattended South Pharmacy, and if nothing else, she would never be close to the enemy for the rest of her life.

I'm afraid that before I get revenge, I will die of old age in the palace.

I wonder if she regrets it now? Or have you thought of something else?

Just as he was thinking about it, someone behind him suddenly spoke: "What are you doing?" ”

Pei Yun paused and turned around.

The spring night was cold, the woman was dressed in brown linen, and her dress was stained with a lot of mud and dust, but her face was still clean and porcelain-white, and her eyebrows and eyes were better than the cold of the night.

Seeing that it was him, a trace of surprise flashed in Lu Yu's eyes, and he said, "Master Pei? ”