Ding Xiang turned her head—and immediately felt both angry and disgusted.

The person approaching was the real eyesore of the village.

Lin Zhuang’s younger sister, Lin Ye.

When she was a child, she’d been stung by poisonous bees in the mountains.

Her face was left covered in dark, bumpy scars, like a toad’s skin—revolting.

She usually covered her face with a scarf whenever she went out.

Both Lu Qingqing and Ding Xiang had bullied her plenty in the past.

They’d called her “Toad Face” nearly every day.

“Lin Ye, are you out of your mind, lying for Lu Qingqing like this? Scared of her after she hit you, huh? Don’t worry—as long as you tell the truth, I’ll protect you from now on!”

Lin Ye shrank back timidly.

Head bowed, she quietly repeated herself, “It was Lu Qingqing who saved him. I saw it with my own eyes, behind the tree.”

“Lin Ye, think carefully before you speak. Your face still needs my help to treat,” Ding Hongshi warned darkly.

Lin Ye flinched again.

Her thin frame swayed like a bamboo stalk in the wind.

Then she bent down and picked up a sticky clump of half-digested elm seeds.

“I’m not lying. This is what was choking Baoshuan—Lu Qingqing did the thing where she jerked his body, and it flew out. It was after that that Doctor Ding arrived.”

Her voice trembled, but she didn’t stop.

It was like she’d built up all her courage just to say this in one breath.

When she finished, the crowd fell silent.

Then Baoshuan suddenly seemed to remember.

“When Uncle Ding came… I could already breathe again…”

So—it really was Lu Qingqing who saved him!

The crowd looked stunned.

Aunt Lin even let out a breath of relief.

Lin Ye was her own cousin.

Whether she was telling the truth or not, at least now they didn’t have to worry about paying Ding the doctor’s ridiculous “medical fee”!

“Did you all hear that? My sister saved him!” Lu Yun shouted loudly, afraid no one had heard.

“Some people just love stealing credit for others’ work, don’t they?”

Ding Hongshi’s face darkened.

“…Looks like I misunderstood,” he said, trying to save face. “I was just focused on helping the child and didn’t notice.”

Ding Xiang refused to back down. “She probably just got lucky. Probably hit the kid while bullying him and knocked the thing out by accident!”

What a load of bull!

You’ve got more nonsense in your head than Kublai Khan had titles!

Lu Qingqing sneered, “When stealing credit fails, you try to smear me with mud? Doctor Ding, maybe you and your daughter should try having a little broader vision. There’s more than one doctor in this world, and Liuyun Village won’t just die off without you!”

What a joke.

Ding Hongshi’s face went from red to purple.

He barked at Ding Xiang in anger, scolding her to stop.

At this moment, Father Lu stepped forward to address the watching villagers:

“My daughter only knows a few emergency tricks—can’t really call it medicine. It was just luck this time.”

“Well then, since the matter is resolved, we’ll be heading home.”

“Dad…” Lu Yun tried to speak, but Father Lu silenced him with a glare.

Lu Qingqing didn’t mind. The truth had come out—that was enough.

People’s perceptions wouldn’t change in a day.

As she was about to lift her basket, Lu Yun had already beaten her to it and slung it over his back.

“Thanks, Second Brother.”

“What are you thanking me for…” Lu Yun lifted his chin.

For once, he wasn’t having to hang his head for his sister’s behavior in front of the villagers. Instead, he actually felt… proud.

Lu Qingqing smiled faintly, then glanced back at Lin Ye, who was walking away with her head bowed.

She didn’t quite understand it.

After all, the original Lu Qingqing had bullied her often—there was even one time she forced Lin Ye to kneel in the mud and hop like a toad.

She should hate Lu Qingqing.

So why would she risk offending Ding Hongshi just to help her?

..

“Lu Qingqing!” Ding Xiang chased after her, face full of unwillingness.

“What now?”

“Lu Qingqing, once Ning Xiuwen passes the scholar’s exam, he’ll marry me! I’ll be the wife of a scholar, and you—you’ll be matched by a marriage broker to some widowed toad-faced man!”

Lu Qingqing finally understood.

So that’s why Ding Xiang was constantly biting at her.

The original Lu Qingqing had always been cowardly around her and never fought back. They hadn’t even interacted that much.

Turns out—it was about Ning Xiuwen, that bastard.

But what did that have to do with her?

Wasn’t it already common knowledge that she and Ning Xiuwen had had a falling-out?

“Oh,” Lu Qingqing replied lazily. “Best wishes then—may you soar high.”

Her nonchalant tone made Ding Xiang even angrier.

“Lu Qingqing! Ning Xiuwen said it was you who kept throwing yourself at him! The loan he took—that was you forcing money on him, just to make him feel indebted to you. His mother only accepted it because they had no choice—”

“Okay, okay, save it,” Lu Qingqing cut her off, bored. “I’ve got stuff to do. You done yet?”

She suddenly realized: Ning Xiuwen’s family didn’t have money, so that five taels he returned her—probably came from Ding Xiang.

Ah. So now he’d found a new fool to milk.

Honestly, Ding Hongshi was the wealthiest person in the village.

Marrying into Ding Xiang’s family meant never having to worry about money again.

Especially since exams needed plenty of “expenses.”

That widowed mother of his couldn’t possibly earn enough scrubbing laundry and socks for people day and night.

“Lu Qingqing! I’m warning you—don’t go sniffing around Ning Xiuwen again! He said you’re an unlucky woman now, with that scar on your face. I, on the other hand, am full of good fortune—I’ll help him rise to glory!”

Ding Xiang raised her head high, hoping to see shame in Lu Qingqing’s eyes.

But Lu Qingqing only nodded, calm as the sky: “Got it. Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder. Big face brings luck, right? Then I wish you and that idiot a long, blissful life together.”

“Oh, and stop calling yourself Ding Xiang. You don’t deserve that name. From now on, just go with Cluck Cluck—so much more fitting!”

She stepped around her and walked off.

From a hiding place nearby, Lu Yun grinned to himself.

His little sister was awesome!

Hmph.

That pale-faced Ning Xiuwen?

Can’t even leave the house now. Can’t strut even if he wants to!

What a beautiful day!

..

By the roadside, a chuckle came from inside a horse carriage.

“So this is what they call a fishwife’s scolding match? Rather amusing.”

“Master, that wasn’t a fishwife—just two village girls squabbling. If you visit a few more times, you’ll get used to it.”

“Coming here for a breath of air is fine. But a place like this? Won’t produce any real talent. Not worth the time.”

The young coachman stayed silent.

His master was still in a foul mood. He hadn’t gotten the fabric he wanted at the market.

..

Back at home, Lu Yun brought up what had happened earlier.

He asked Father Lu why he didn’t take the chance to tell the villagers that Lu Qingqing knew medicine—it could really help improve her reputation.

After all, being a doctor was impressive and rare. Everyone would treat her with more respect.

But Father Lu’s face turned serious.

The lines in his face looked like they were carved with a blade.

He called all three children over.

“Qingqing, I have something to tell you.”

“Go ahead, Father.”

“Qingqing, it’s a good thing you know medicine. But you don’t have a formal license. You can only treat our own family. Outside of that—don’t get involved. If something goes wrong, we’ll face legal consequences.”

“Then I’ll just get a license,” Lu Qingqing said.

This was her profession.

Her calling.

She would never give it up, no matter where or when.

“Qingqing, it’s much harder for women to become doctors. Even royal female physicians have less status than male court doctors. In our Da Qian kingdom, there are many ‘medicine women,’ but very few with proper licenses. I don’t want you walking that hard road.”

Father Lu’s tone was low and heavy.

The strange thing was—he spoke as if he’d lived through it, not like a simple village carpenter.

Royal court? That felt way too distant from their lives.

But Lu Qingqing wasn’t going to give up medicine just because of what her father said.

She asked, “Father, was my mother a physician?”

“You remember?” he asked hopefully.

Remember… what?

Did the original Lu Qingqing forget something?

Lu Qingqing thought about it. In her earliest memories, she had no mother—only the aunt who’d cared for her for a time.

Seeing the light in Father Lu’s eyes, she still shook her head.

“Sigh…” Father Lu sighed deeply, his gaze full of sorrow.

“You were still little then. It’s no wonder you don’t remember your mother.”

“There are some things even your big brother doesn’t know. Now that you’re all grown, I’ll tell you.”

“You probably remember—your mother was accused of malpractice. She was arrested and fell seriously ill in prison. That’s how she passed away.”

Lu Feng and Lu Yun nodded, eyes sad.

They remembered all too well.

That was when their family had left the capital and returned to Father’s hometown, Liuyun Village.

With their mother gravely ill and money tight, they had no time to care for Lu Qingqing—and she’d fallen into the river.

By sheer luck, their aunt had seen and rescued her. But the shock left Lu Qingqing with memory loss—she didn’t recognize her father or brothers, only her aunt.

They had no choice. Father paid the aunt to care for Lu Qingqing for a while.

And so… things turned out the way they had.

But all they remembered was that Mother hadn’t been licensed—she’d just been a folk healer.

If she had been licensed, she wouldn’t have been so easily framed.