Chapter 45 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

The Ghost of the Attorney General

Half a month has passed since Tinh Yen started her probationary job at the Department of Internal Medicine. Her life rhythm has gradually stabilized according to a new framework - in the morning recording documents, in the afternoon assisting in preparing medicine as assigned, in the afternoon monitoring outpatients, and in the evening reviewing the Bach Thao Chan Sutra in a small room in the guest house. The initial reticence of some Royal Physicians towards her is still there, but has become less harsh, largely thanks to the fact that she always completes assigned tasks accurately, without complaining, without competing for credit, even though sometimes she has to take on the most boring tasks that no official-born physician would want to touch.

One morning, while Tinh Yen was taking notes in the hallway of the Internal Medicine Hall, a clerk hurriedly ran over and announced that an old mandarin in the Royal Palace had suddenly fallen ill right at the dentist's office. He needed an emergency physician to come to the hospital urgently, but the royal physician on duty that day was dealing with a difficult birth at another palace and could not be separated.

"Isn't anyone free anymore?" The doctor asked, his voice urgent, looking around the office where there were only a few probationary students left.

"Sir, I can go." Tinh Yen spoke up and stepped forward. "Even though I haven't been officially licensed yet, if you come along and guide me, I can help with the initial treatment while waiting for the official Royal Physician to arrive."

Doctor Hou hesitated for a moment, but time did not allow him to hesitate any longer. He nodded in agreement, leading Tinh Yen and another medical student and hurriedly set out for the royal palace.

The old mandarin lay unconscious on a wooden shelf in his private office, his face pale, his breathing shallow and rapid, one hand twitching abnormally. Tinh Yen quickly felt the pulse, checked the pupils, observed the corner of the mouth slightly distorted to one side - familiar signs she had learned from Lieu Nguyen about stroke, a dangerous disease common in the elderly when blood vessels in the brain are suddenly blocked or ruptured.

"Hit the wind, sir." She spoke quickly to Doctor Hau. "Acupuncture needs to be performed immediately to save your life. If you delay, the sequelae will be very severe and can even be life-threatening in the next hour."

The doctor quickly checked again, confirmed that her diagnosis was correct, and nodded for her to get to work while he prepared the supporting medicine. Tinh Yen continuously punctured Nhan Trung, Thap Tuyen, and Bach Hoi acupuncture points in the correct order to treat a wind attack. Her hands were steady and did not tremble even though the person lying in front of her was a high-ranking mandarin in the royal court, completely different from the nameless soldiers she had saved on the border.

After nearly half an hour, the old mandarin gradually regained consciousness. Although his voice was still slurred and his left limbs were weaker than his right, at least his life had been saved, avoiding the risk of death in the most dangerous first hour. When the Royal Physician officially arrived to take over the case, he could not hide his surprise when he heard Doctor Hau recount the entire initial treatment process undertaken by a probationary physician.

News about Tinh Yen's successful treatment of an acute stroke case for an official in the Imperial Palace quickly reached Kinh Ba Van's ears that day. In the afternoon, she was summoned to the Main Hall again, her heart could not help but feel nervous, not knowing whether this was a reward or a punishment for acting beyond the authority of someone who was still on probation.

"You clearly know that you have not been officially licensed, so why do you dare to arbitrarily intervene in a medical case related to royal officials?" Kinh Ba Van asked, his voice was stern, but his eyes did not carry any real anger.

"I know I can be punished for overstepping my authority, Lord Chancellor." Tinh Yen replied, bowing her head but still maintaining a steady voice. "But at that time, the patient's life did not allow waiting another moment. I think, if I had to choose between strictly following the rules and saving the life of a person in danger, I would always choose to save the person first and accept all punishments afterward."

Kinh Ba Van was silent for a long time, his eyes looking at her with an unpredictable complexity. "That is also the answer someone who held the position of Chancellor before me gave, many years ago, when I was still a young medical student just entering this hospital." He spoke, his voice suddenly slowing down, carrying a rare tinge of nostalgia.

Tinh Yen raised her head slightly, her heart beating faster at that unexpected sentence. "Who are you talking about, sir?"

Kinh Ba Van seemed to realize that he had revealed more than he intended. His eyes flashed with confusion before returning to his familiar stern look. "It doesn't matter, it was a long time ago." He said, his voice decisively closing the topic. "What you did today, although reckless, had good results. I will not blame you. On the contrary, I decided to shorten your probationary period. From next week, you will officially be licensed as a third-class physician, allowed to directly participate in diagnosis and treatment under the supervision of senior physicians."

Tinh Yen bowed her head in gratitude, both happy at the new step and unable to stop thinking about Kinh Ba Van's unfinished words. The person who said that to him in the past - was it Lieu Nguyen? If so, that means that Kinh Ba Van not only knew about the existence of a royal physician who "died" twenty years ago, but also had a close teacher-student or colleague relationship with that person.

Leaving Main Street, Tinh Yen accidentally encountered Ngan Ba Thuyen standing under an old tree in the yard, holding an old book in her hand, looking like she was waiting for something. When he saw her, he did not avoid it like before, but nodded slightly, signaling her to come closer.

"I heard what you did today." He spoke, his voice hoarse, his eyes still maintaining a certain cautious distance. "The acupuncture method you just used to treat the wind, the order of acupuncture points you chose, is not a common teaching method in the institute's official books. It is a unique variation, only a few people have ever used it."

Tinh Yen paused, realizing that the old man was implying something important. "That's how my master, Thich Lieu Nguyen, taught me." She replied, deliberately emphasizing the name, carefully observing his reaction.

Ngan Ba Thuyen gently closed her eyes for a short moment, as if trying to suppress some intense emotion that flared up in her heart. "I can't say anything more right now." He said, his voice almost a whisper. "But you should be careful, Miss Do. There are walls in this courtyard that, seemingly just to block the wind, are actually built to bury things that people don't want anyone to bring up again. The more you demonstrate your outstanding talent, the more fragile those walls become in the eyes of some people — and those people, not everyone wants to see them fall."

Having finished speaking, he hurriedly walked away, not giving Tinh Yen time to ask anything more, looking rushed as if he had just said more than he allowed himself to say. Tinh Yen stood silently under the old tree, watching his fading shadow, both gaining more clues and feeling more clearly than ever the level of danger lurking behind the solemn, orderly appearance of the Royal Hospital - a place where medical knowledge and hidden secrets always seemed to go hand in hand, difficult to separate.

On the way back to the guest house, Tinh Yen passed by the medicinal garden planned in a straight line of the institute. Late moonlight spread a thin layer of silver across the beds of herbal plants still wet with dew. She stopped for a moment, lightly plucked a mint leaf and brought it to her nose to smell. The familiar scent reminded her of Mrs. Khue's small garden in Lach Dua, where everything in her life began many years ago. She thought about the journey that had passed - from a child following her grandmother to the forest to pick medicine, to a medical doctor in the middle of menstruation, standing on the threshold of a secret bigger than anything she had ever imagined when she was an innocent fishing village girl.

She also thought about Ngan Ba Thuyen's warning, trying to piece it together with the other disparate pieces of information she had gathered over the past weeks — Nhiep Dinh Toan's reaction last year, the gossip of the young doctors that first night, and now, Kinh Ba Van's own nostalgic statement. All the pieces of the puzzle seemed to be pointing in the same direction — that twenty years ago, there was a major incident that happened in this very citadel, serious enough to force a talented Royal Physician to pretend to be dead and leave, and sensitive enough that to this day, those who witnessed it still tremble when reminded of it even by a fleeting glance.

That night, she wrote a short letter to Nhuoc Lan at Long Mon Pass, briefly recounting what had happened, although she did not dare to write in too much detail for fear that the letter might be read by someone else on the way. After finishing writing, she sat quietly next to the oil lamp, her hand gently touching the half piece of jade talisman in the red cloth bag, silently asking - in the end, how many people in this large citadel are carrying in their hearts a part of the secret that belongs to her master, and how long will it be before she can piece it together into a complete truth.