In the afternoon, Lu Yan returned to master's house.
Once she had washed and changed her clothes, she went to find master.
He was talking to his aides while looking at various reports.
He looked up at her as she arrived, and gestured towards the side table reserved for her.
Lu Yan obediently sat, and began looking through the healing scrolls that had been placed there for her.
Finding one called 50 Herbs For New Physicians, she opened it up, and found many of the herbs junior physician Tan had brought from the medicine hall in the morning.
Gesturing for Luizhu to start grinding ink, she started copying down the information while trying to organize it. Eventually, she'd need to know all of this by heart.
She'd finished noting down the characteristics and uses of the first 10 herbs before master was finished with his business.
He stood up from his desk, stretching, and walked over to her.
Looking down at her diligently copying, he said, "Your chicken scratch doesn't seem to be improving."
Lu Yan pouted up at him, "It has improved."
He raised an unconvinced brow.
Lu Yan looked at her handwriting again, and said, "Not much, but it has improved. See how my horizontal strokes are better."
She looked up again, expectant, waiting for praise.
He wanted to laugh.
"Hmm," he said noncommittally.
After a pause, Lu Yan spoke again, "Master, today I realized how good you are at teaching."
"Oh?"
"Yes! Junior physician Tan just vomits information every time I ask him something. It's so hard to follow along."
He sat down, "Did he give you any trouble?"
Lu Yan shook her head, "No, I saw a lot of wounds and herbs today. Even if Tan is bad at teaching, just watching him is more useful than learning from scrolls alone."
She paused, suddenly remembering the physicians gossiping that master wouldn't have sent her to a junior physician if he valued her.
She said tentatively, "Besides, if there's something Tan cannot explain, I can ask you, right?"
He nodded easily, "Of course."
Lu Yan felt a rush of relief.
Master continued, gesturing with his chin the the 50 Herbs For New Physicians scroll, "I was going to ask you start memorizing those, but I see you've already started."
Lu Yan smiled, pleased, "I saw some of these herbs today and thought it would be useful."
He looked at her hand holding the brush, "How's your wrist?"
"Writing doesn't hurt. See? I'm keeping my wrist straight."
He nodded, "Don't overdo it."
He stood again, "I have some things to handle. We'll continue our lessons after I return." He glanced at Luizhu, "Don't forget to take regular breaks."
Luizhu nodded, "I'll remind Ayan."
Lu Yan watched as he left the room with his aides.
She continued her copying, trying to write more carefully.
The hall was quiet without master here. Outside, the sounds of people coming and going, voices rising and falling continued without pause.
Lu Yan felt calm and comfortable, studying and writing without pause, until Luizhu tugged gently at her sleeve, "Let's go outside for a bit."
She finished the eighteenth herb, then put her brush down, and stepped out into the yard followed by Luizhu.
Taking a deep breath of cold winter air, she looked up at the clouds. The sun would soon be setting. The clouds were dyed deep orange.
Every time the cold air entered her lungs, she remembered the times on the farm when she didn't dare breathe deeply or without a handkerchief covering her nose and mouth.
She placed a hand on her chest, and remarked to Luizhu, "My lungs have healed well. It doesn't hurt to breathe anymore."
Luizhu took her arm as they started walking, "Master's medicine really works well."
"Not just the medicine. The food always contains meat, and our room has a brazier burning throughout the day. Every time I enter, it's so cozy inside."
Luizhu nodded, "And these clothes," she tugged at the layers of shirts, and tunics they both were wearing, "Even though they're boys' clothes, they're so warm and soft."
"And the treats. Remember the savory spinach pastries? Crisp on the outside, and soft inside." Lu Yan felt her mouth watering, "Perfect for eating hot on a cold winter day."
"My favorite was the honey walnut cake," Luizhu said, "It just melts in your mouth. And then when you take a sip of tea- Ah, it's perfect!"
They both paused, seeing identical expressions of longing on each other's faces.
They burst into laughter.
Chatting and laughing, they walked a few times around the little yard.
Lu Yan said, "Let's go back. I want to copy more herbs before master arrives."
She was just starting the twenty-fourth herb when master arrived.
He took his outer robes off before looking at her work, and said, "Copy just ten a day. Once you memorize those ten, you can start the next ten."
Lu Yan handed her copy to Luizhu to dry and put away, and agreed readily.
Someone served tea.
"Let's start with an overview of what you've learnt so far about the qi."
Master took his cup and sipped slowly, while Lu Yan began talking.
"Qi is the animating force of life. It exists in multiple forms. Original qi is inherited from parents. Nutritive qi is..."
She mentioned everything she'd learnt so far about the nature and functions of qi.
Master had finished two cups of tea by the time she was done.
"Well done. It seems you've read the scrolls on qi I gave you."
Lu Yan nodded, "I have. I haven't memorized them completely yet, but I read them several times."
He nodded, "Good. Once you completely understand the functions of qi, it's easy to understand qi disturbances. You just told me that qi promotes the growth, development and normal functioning of organs. Then, what would qi deficiency in an adult result in?"
Lu Yan thought it over, "An adult's organs have already developed. So qi deficiency would prevent normal organ function. That would lead to weakness."
"You're right. It leads to weakness and fatigue. Depending on whether a specific organ lacks qi, there may be other effects as well. For example, in the liver..."
By the time the lecture was finished, the time for dinner had passed.
Lu Yan and the master ate together. This time, Lu Yan's soup contained some soft vegetables and rice.
Her mouth didn't hurt much by now, so she ate everything heartily.
After dinner, master had someone bring the go board out.
"Don't you have work today?" Lu Yan asked. Usually master was always busy in the evenings.
"I moved things around. Now I'll handle meetings in the morning when you're in the treatment hall."
"So we can have evening lessons?" Lu Yan asked.
Master gestured for her to place the first stone, agreeing wordlessly, "Hmm."
Lu Yan smiled, satisfied.
They played three games, before master said, "Go rest early today. We'll start evening lessons tomorrow."
Lu Yan wanted to stay and continue lessons, but before she opened her mouth, Gu Sheng had appeared in the room, carrying some scrolls.
Lu Yan bowed and left with Luizhu.
Back in her room, she removed her outer robes and tied her sleeves before saying to Luizhu, "Set up the table. Let's practice the calligraphy strokes."
"Miss, master said not to overuse your wrist."
"I can do it. The more I practice, the better my handwriting will become."
Luizhu wanted to protest more, but Lu Yan was determined.
"We don't know when we'll have more time."
Luizhu pouted and went to fetch the materials.
Lu Yan wrote stroke after stroke.
She had to reach a thousand dots, a thousand horizontal strokes, a thousand vertical strokes as fast as possible.
Luizhu watched as she wrote, almost obsessive in her drive. She sighed, and stood by, watching.