Chapter 232 – An Apology (1)
As the carriage rumbled onwards, a heart was ruthlessly crushed in its wake. However, anger and humiliation far surpassed the hurt.
Left with no choice but to helplessly stare at the departing coach, Huang Fuxiang stomped her feet and glared daggers at Ye Zhen. She had been outrightly ignored and blatantly shunned and in the presence of this wretched girl. How she wished to wring her neck now.
Ye Zhen did not even deign to glance at her, she turned around and took her steps to leave.
“You stop!” Huang Fuxiang yelled at Ye Zhen.
“Quan Fu, take me to the School of Medicine.”
Seeing Ye Zhen had simply turned a deaf ear to Huang Fuxiang, Quan Fu immediately got himself ready to take her to the School of Medicine.
Such a response was out of Huang Fuxiang’s expectation. Ye Zhen was treating her like air. Her face turned red in anger. With quick steps, she grabbed Ye Zhen’s arm before she could get into the carriage.
“Yaoyao, come down. I haven’t finished yet.” She bellowed.
“Just because you’re not finished doesn’t mean I have to listen.” Ye Zhen looked at her coldly, waved her hand off, refusing her touch.
“Why did my cousin come to see you? Tell me. What is your relationship with him?” Huang Fuxiang demanded.
When she’d spotted someone resembling Tang Zhen and the academy gates, she thought she was mistaken. Upon a closer look, to her surprise, she discovered it was him! She was so delighted that she almost sprinted just to have a word with him.
Ye Zhen refused to answer, looked at her lightly, and ordered the servant. “Quan Fu, let’s go.”
Huang Fuxiang felt ignored, her cheeks trembling with anger.
“Lu Yaoyao, where are you going? I’m still talking to you.”
Quan Fu noticed that the young miss didn’t want to pay attention to Huang Fuxiang’s intentions. As soon as he swung the horse rope, the carriage sprinted. Dust rolled, and Huang Fuxiang ate a mouthful of soil.
Ptui! Ptui! “Lu Yaoyao!” Huang Fuxiang spat twice and screamed on top of her voice.
Ye Zhen was too lazy to look back. She had not forgotten how Huang Fuxiang had framed her. She refused to believe that Lu Qiongqiu had approached her and led her to the glasshouse on her own accord. It must have been orchestrated by Huang Fuxiang. It was not that she was incapable of fighting back, just that these last two days she had been quite busy.
Having returned to her dormitory, Ye Zhen asked a maid to fetch her hot water. She comfortably took a warm bath and settled with perusing the 《Qi Medical Classics》.
Unexpectedly, this was the only copy of the invaluable treasure singlehandedly written by Empress Qi Yanling. And all along she’d mistaken it for a transcript. All this time, she had been living in fortune without knowing fortune.
She had already finished reading the book. But after reading it a second time, she felt different. Apparently, Ye Zhen started to feel differently about the entire field of art of healing. In a previous life, she had hardly given this a thought despite her idol being a doctor. She had seemed to overlook the profundity of the woman she admired and wished to replicate. But now, she knew better… the woman who changed the course of women in history and the true essence of medicine.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Miss Lu, are you there?” A not very familiar voice called.
Ye Zhen put down the book and went to open the door. When she saw it was Lu Qiongqui, she didn’t invite the other party into her room. Flashing a smile, she asked, “Miss Lu, what’s the matter?”
“Yaoyao, I’m here to apologize to you.” Lu Qiongqiu whispered. “That day… I know it was my fault. But I didn’t mean to. Someone threatened me. I’m sorry.”
“You mean to say… you deliberately damaged the root of the fire lotus to frame me?” Ye Zhen grinned as her eyes looked squarely at the girl. “I thought I misunderstood.”
Hearing the sarcasm in the other’s tone, Lu Qiongqiu flushed. “Yaoyao, it’s not like I wanted to do it, I was really forced.” Her voice carried a hint of desperation.
Ye Zhen smiled faintly and decided against dragging this matter any further. “Well, I know. To be honest, I would also like to thank you. If it weren’t for you, Master Qin wouldn’t have given me the key to the glasshouse. Now I can go in whenever I want. Others don’t have such benefits.”
“Master Qin gave you the key to the glasshouse?” Lu Qiongqiu was astonished. She couldn’t believe that their scheme had ended up benefitting this girl and to such an extent. For a moment she thought the other was bluffing.
As if sensing her skepticism, Ye Zhen took out a key with a peculiar shape from her sleeve. “Yes, this is the key to the glasshouse. I will go to the glasshouse tomorrow. Do you want to go?”
Lu Qiongqiu shook her head awkwardly. “I won’t go, you go.”
“Well, then.” Ye Zhen put the key back, and with a smile on her face said, “You don’t need to feel burdened about this. I’m not angry with you.”
“Yaoyao, you are very kind,” Lu Qiongqiu said in a low voice. She lowered her head, hesitated for a moment, and whispered. “You still need to be careful. Someone asked me to spy on you.”
Ye Zhen took a measured glance at her. It was as she’d guessed!