The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Wu Xuancao reached out, as if bewitched, to lift the lid of the chest, but failed to move it a few times, only to discover that there was a copper lock hanging on it. She was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly stood up, rummaging the room for the key, not letting off the drawers, vases, and even floor tiles.

While she was rummaging through the bookshelf, Xue Jiming came back, frowned and said, "What are you doing?"

She immediately pulled out a medical book from the shelf, pretending to be overjoyed: "Jiming, look, the Myriad Medical Canon that I have been seeking for a while is here! Miss Lin's book collection is really extensive. I caught a few glances from outside the window, the tip of my heart caught fire, and I walked in. You also know that Physician Zheng and I are now studying your eldest brother’s pulse day and night, and we have a faint idea of what to do. After reading this book just now, I had some inspiration, and I know what method to use now."

"What method?" Xue Jiming's eyes lit up.

"Moxibustion, accompanied by acupuncture, should be able to cure your eldest brother's legs. Jiming, look, Miss Lin’s place is filled with books about moxibustion and acupuncture, more than Physician Zheng’s and my collection combined. If we could have the opportunity to study a few books, there might even be a breakthrough." Wu Xuancao said heavily, as if making an promise.

"Really? Then just go ahead and read them!" Xue Jiming waved his hand generously.

Wu Xuancao pointed to that chest and said, "Are there also medical books in here?"

"Yes, the medical books in here are the late Physician Lin's treasures. When I was young, I remember seeing him take them out to dry in the sun." Xue Jiming drew out his dagger and directly pried the copper lock open.

Wu Xuancao immediately crowded around it, feigning curiosity and flipping through the medical books, but her fingertips felt all around the bottom and top of the chest. She had clearly never seen this chest before, but she knew where the hidden compartment was installed, as if a supernatural force was guiding her to find what was originally hers. Very quickly, she found a double layer at the bottom of the chest, but pretended not to know, guiding Xue Jiming to discover it, then borrowing his hand to retrieve the Lin family’s ancestral medical books.

Looking at this set of medical books with covers sewn from blue silk, Wu Xuancao swallowed her saliva and felt her heart beating violently. Yes, this was it! The things that should have belonged to her since long ago had now returned to her hands! She couldn't wait to flip open the title page and was about to take a closer look, but, unexpectedly, Lin Dan came back early, throwing a pebble that hit her on the wrist and caused the book to fall.

"Who allowed you to touch my things?" She strode in, wrapping the whole set of medical books in fabric and holding them tightly in her hands.

"Miss Lin, you're back. Can you lend me this set of medical books to look through? I can just flip through them here and not take them away, is that okay? I promise to give it back to you after only taking a glance, a quarter of an hour is enough, really." Wu Xuancao tried to humble herself as much as possible.

"No." Lin Dan looked around at the overturned study with a frigid expression.

When Xue Jiming saw that Wu Xuancao's wrist was red and swollen due to being hit by the stone, he immediately became angry, stretching out his hand to seize the books and cursing: "Lin Dan, these books are worthless in your hands, so why can't you let Xiao Cao'er take a look? Don’t you remember that when we were small and didn't have the strength to chop firewood, you were going to burn these books and roast sparrows for me? If my father hadn’t scolded you, how could they still be here safe and sound? You never cared about them, so why are they so precious to you now? Are you deliberately making things difficult for Xiao Cao'er?"

Hearing that the original host had wanted to burn these books as kindling, Lin Dan's expression distorted for a moment. Wu Xuancao was also a little speechless, and her decision to seize control of the medical books became even firmer.

The two people began to fight in the study, but Xue Jiming was obviously not Lin Dan's opponent, and she shook his arm off two or three times, causing him to wail in pain. Lin Dan didn't even look at him, just glared at Wu Xuancao coldly and said, "Get lost!"

Wu Xuancao helped Xue Jiming out. Before leaving, she glanced back with a treacherous light in her eyes.

Lin Dan cleaned up the disheveled study and was about to find a new place to hide her family’s ancestral treasures, but she saw a maid walk in, saying that Old Madam was looking for her. She put the books in the basket on her back and strode over, passing through the Wisteria* Door.  From afar, she saw the main hall, doors wide open, only to find that Madam Xue, the old madam of the second branch, and several sisters-in-law were all there, as if they wanted to interrogate her.

*literally “drooping flower.”

Xue Jiming, arm drooping, said with conviction, "Grandmother, Mom, Xiao Cao'er is extremely intelligent and skilled in medicine. She already has a clue on how to treat Brother, and Lin Dan's medical books are exactly what she needs to make more headway. Lin Dan, that dead girl, said that she wanted to study medicine, going out to practice every day, but who knows what she can do messing around like that, and I’ve never heard anyone say that she has ever cured anyone. It can be seen that she’s dull and has no aptitude; she will never make any achievements. Those medical books are wasted in her hands anyways, so why can’t she lend them to Xiao Cao’er to take a look? If she can receive inspiration and find a way to treat Brother, wouldn’t that be an amazing achievement?”

Who knows when he had been invited, but Zheng Zhe, who was also there, stroked his beard and said, "I heard Physician Wu say that Miss Lin has an extremely extensive collection of books. If this old man may be allowed to read one or two, it will certainly allow me to make some progress."

"But those books are the treasures that the late Physician Lin left to the Lin girl." Old Madam said, in a difficult situation.

"Grandmother," Xue Jiming said resentfully, "What treasure or whatever? You don’t really think Lin Dan, that wench, treasures those books, do you? If it wasn't for her making the excuse that she’s studying medicine so that she could brazenly stay in our house, those medical books would’ve already been piled up in some storage room somewhere long ago, collecting mold! Have you ever seen her take care of them? Have you seen her study them regularly? When she was younger, she even tore those books to fold little origami stars!"

Zheng Zhe and Wu Xuancao frowned upon hearing this, their expressions filled with pain, and Old Madam finally seemed to soften.

Madam Xue considered it and said, "How about I make an executive decision to loan these medical books to the two honorable physicians? We can just make it so that you’re not taking all of them away; just borrow five copies at a time and send them back after you've finished reading them."

Old Madam finally nodded and said: "Let's do it like that. Which books do you two want to borrow? Give me a list. With my old face,* the Lin girl will not be able to disagree."

*face, referring to reputation, standing; old refers to her seniority. Together, it also refers to her authority.

They took it for granted that Lin Dan was still the same Lin Dan as before, placing no value on these medical books, so they thought it would be easy to persuade her. People were all selfish. If only this matter didn’t involve Xue Boyong's legs, they would just sit on the sidelines observing. But Zheng Zhe and Wu Xuancao kept saying that these medical books were useful for Xue Boyong, so they would make every attempt to get them for the two of them no matter what. In any case, Lin Dan didn’t have the talent to study medicine and the books would only be gathering mold in her hands, so why not give it to others?

Every person in the room had their own thoughts and calculations, but no one considered Lin Dan's feelings and wishes. Hearing up to here, everything Lin Dan wanted to say disappeared, and she silently walked in, kowtowed three times to Old Madam, and said, "Many thanks to Old Madam for disregarding past enmity and allowing me to stay in the manor. Now that my task has been completed, I will take my leave." Then she left Xue Manor with big strides, carrying only a bamboo basket and a small hoe, not even taking a change of clothes.

Old Madam and Madam Xue fell into a daze for a long time before their spirit returned to their bodies, and they quickly ordered people to chase after her. However, Lin Dan practiced medicine in the wilderness every day; her pace was fast and she had long since vanished into the street, leaving only an empty Xiaofeng Pavilion and a courtyard full of drying herbs.

Xue Jiming's dislocated arm had already been relocated by Zheng Zhe, and he sneered as he rotated his shoulder: "Why chase after her? She didn't bring a single penny and will come back by herself sooner or later. Do you really think she is willing to give up the glory and wealth of Xue Manor?"

"That’s enough, stop talking!" Madam Xue’s heart was in a mess and she didn't know how she would explain everything to her eldest son when he came back. She had no choice but to admit that the current Lin Dan was the apple of Eldest Son's eye, and he would be willing to lose anything in the world except for her. If he knew that people in the manor had joined forces to pressure Lin Dan until she left, who knew how furious he would be.

Old Madam clutched her chest and murmured, "How could the Lin girl leave so easily, without any compromise? I thought she had changed for the better, but I didn't expect her temper to be more stubborn than before."

A senior maid added fuel to the fire: "Old Madam, Miss Lin has had a good life. You used to be the one spoiling her; then, when she entered Xiaofeng Pavilion, Eldest Young Master also spoiled her. Naturally, this temper of hers became more and more headstrong, to the point where she refuses to listen to a single rebuke."

"Isn’t it just borrowing a few books, why be like this?" Old Madam sighed again and again, with a distressed and bitter look on her face.

However, Wu Xuancao did not care about the turn of events just now, and insistently said: "Old Madam, Madam, can we still borrow Miss Lin's books?"

"Borrow them, of course you can borrow them, you can just go find them yourselves. When you have picked them out, it would be better if you made a list of which ones you took. In the future, when the Lin girl returns, I will give her the list for her to check, or else she might lose her temper again. Don't worry, she won't be away for long. She has no money, no place to stay, no food to eat; she will be back in at most four hours."

If it had been the original host, Old Madam's analysis would be absolutely, 100% prophetic. But right now, the one who left was Lin Dan, and if they wanted her to come back, it would probably be impossible in this lifetime. The original host's debt had been paid off in full. She and Xue Manor owed nothing to each other, so if she could cast off those fetters, why wouldn’t she do so? When she leaves, there is a vast sky waiting for her, and she will naturally spread her wings and fly higher and higher.

After leaving Xue Manor, she picked out a few taels of silver from her purse, planning to conveniently find a cheap inn to stay in, and then make money practicing medicine. After she had saved up enough money, she would open a clinic and become an in-house physician. As soon as she walked out of the south side of the city, a fast horse rushed straight toward her. Seated on the horse was a young man with red lips and white teeth, extremely feminine-looking, who kept brandishing his whip and shouting, not at all concerned about the safety of pedestrians.

Seeing that the horse's hooves were about to trample a woman to death, Lin Dan hurriedly ran over and pushed the woman, but startled the horse, causing the boy to be thrown into the air. As Lin Dan subconsciously caught the other party, she accidentally put her hands on the boy's chest, and, feeling a soft, plump sensation, was momentarily stunned. Although the young man had an appearance as beautiful as a sunrise and a gentle and feminine temperament, he had an obvious Adam's apple on his neck. He was clearly male! Out of a doctor's intuition, she immediately put two fingers on the boy's wrist to check his pulse.

The teenager struggled as he got up, covering his chest tightly, and saying venomously, "I'm going to kill you! Come, someone tie her up for me and take her back to the manor!"

The several guards who rushed over behind him immediately whipped out their sabers from their waist and pointed them at Lin Dan's neck. Lin Dan originally thought about resisting, but her eyes turned* and she willingly froze, then obediently followed the group to leave.

*this turn of phrase means that a person has an idea or a sly or clever thought.