Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Apprentice (1)

Ye Zhen’s casual attitude exasperated Lu Jing. Her words were like junky swords, poorly sharpened, and futile.

Why is she not worried, even for just a little bit? Lu Jing wondered.

“Well, if you don’t listen to my advice, you’ll be humiliated and you cannot blame others.”

“Fourth Sister can rest assured that I will not blame anyone.” Ye Zhen calmly replied.

If she failed the exam, she might as well die again!

In her previous life, she had graduated from the Academy for Women with the first grade. Learning medicine would surely not be a piece of cake but given her intelligence, she would likely fare well enough.

Speechless, Lu Jing doubted the sanity of the girl in front of her, wearing a nonchalant smile. The gravity of what she was doing didn’t fit her confidence. It was like she was talking to an entirely different person!

If anything, Ye Zhen didn’t appear inferior at all.

In Lu Jing’s mind, the wild girl from the border town was ignorant, or perhaps, her dreams were just as wild as she was. The capital was nothing like the border town wherein she could do as she pleased!

Seeing that there was nothing she could do anymore, Lu Jing left with her maid hot on her trail. Lu Fang soon followed, but not before apologizing softly for her sister’s outburst.

“The Fourth Miss is getting too hot-tempered these days.” Dai Mei whispered beside Ye Zhen.

“Talented women have a somewhat strange temper, don’t you think?”

She had never regarded herself as a talented woman. As a matter of fact, she rarely showed her temper before, even when she was only a child.

It was etiquette for women of nobility; to be always calm and reserved.

*

Ye Zhen went to Pei Shi’s courtyard afterwards. Wearing simple robes that had seen better days and her hair in a neat bun, Pei Shi was sitting on a plush chair, sorting out dusty books on medicine that she had brought with her from the border town.

Ye Zhen couldn’t understand it, but the sight of this woman always calmed her. Like she was indeed her mother.

When he saw her daughter coming in, she welcomed her with her usual embrace and pulled an extra chair for her to sit.

“Have you just greeted your grandmother?”

“Yes, Mother.”

Ye Zhen was more careful in the presence of Pei Shi. Mothers and daughters are said to be linked together. They have a particularly strong bond.

No matter how the world changed, she was not Lu Yaoyao, she could never be. One suspicious move would make Pei Shi suspect her as a fraud.

“Grandmother said she would take us to a Flower Appreciation Meet in a few days.”

Pei smiled and looked at her daughter who was slender like a jade. “Well then, go and see if your temperament fits the capital. But remember dear daughter, in here, you can’t afford things that are arbitrary.”

Ye Zhen cleverly nodded. “Does Mother think that her daughter is still a wild girl?”

“You weren’t wild when you were in the border town. You just didn’t stay at home all day long because you love the wild too much,” Pei said with a chuckle.

Ye Zhen let out a long audible sigh. “I know the capital is not the border town, thus, I will be more obedient and behaved.”

She picked up a medical book and looked at it carelessly. Her sister’s understanding of these obscure medical theories had even led to the emergence of a lot of pharmacological knowledge inside her. The knowledge that she never knew before and the one that she pledged to learn would be put in good use.

Upon seeing her fascination with the medical books, Pei Shi smiled and said nothing.

“Mother,” Ye Zhen raised her head from the book she was reading and said, “Can I take these books with me to my study?”

“Oh dear, you really have changed! Whenever I asked you to read these books before, you always had your little excuses, telling me your eyes hurt or you suddenly have a headache. Why do you want to read them now?” Pei Shi asked in surprise.

“Grandmother urged me to go to the Academy for Women, saying that only the School of Medicine is the best place for me.”

Ye Zhen conjectured how Pei Shi would react, she thought she would be overjoyed by this.

But, looking at Pei Shi’s pursed lips, Ye Zhen realized that she was wrong.