Chapter 1: The Broken Engagement — Dregs Reveal the Truth

Morning mist clung to the cobblestone path like a veil of gauze, the air thick with the smell of damp mold and the distant, muffled roar of the city markets. Before the vermilion gates of the Lu Manor, two eternal lamps flickered precariously in the gray light, their flames nearly extinguished by the wind and rain. Su Tingbai stood alone at the foot of the steps, her slender silhouette looking profoundly isolated amidst the fog.

Her fingertips trembled slightly within her sleeves—not from the cold, but from a surge of panic she couldn't quite suppress. Her expression remained as cold as frost, like a fragile ice sculpture; only her clenched fists betrayed the turmoil tearing through her.

She stared at the rain-soaked annulment letter in her hand. The edges of the paper were curled and yellowed, the ink bleeding into jagged black stains that looked like clutching claws, as if mocking the absurd conclusion to three years of her silent endurance.

Su Tingbai didn't look at Lin Wanrou. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the facade of hypocrisy before her, landing instead on a pile of discarded medicinal dregs by the threshold of the Lu Manor. The waste had swollen in the rain, emitting a stale, musty odor laced with a faint, strange fragrance.

To anyone else, it was just trash. But the moment Su Tingbai caught that fleeting, scorched scent, her heart leaped and her pupils contracted. The aroma wasn't pure; it was laced with a sickeningly sweet tang, like the flick of a viper's tongue.

"It's true," Elder Zhou said, turning his back to her to gaze at the hazy silhouettes of distant mountains. "Stay in the Lu Manor, and you are a bird in a cage. No matter how great your skill, you'll only ever use it to please commoners who know nothing of medicine, or to clean up the messes left by mediocrities like Lin Wanrou. Once this thread is cut, you are free.

From this day forward, the paths you walk, the illnesses you treat, and the people you save will truly belong to you—not to Lu Chengze, and not to this man-eating world."

Lu Chengze raised his hand and, in full view of the idling crowd in the street, ripped the marriage contract in half. The fragments fluttered down like snowflakes at Su Tingbai's feet, the harsh sound of tearing paper echoing like a blade scraping against bone.

A sneer curled his lips, his voice as cold and hard as iron, carrying an unquestionable authority: "Su Tingbai, three years ago you were nothing more than a discarded pawn. There is no longer a place for you in the Lu Manor. It's better that this engagement be ended cleanly."

Elder Zhou narrowed his eyes, a glint of sharpness flashing through his clouded gaze. He stepped forward slowly, his boots making a soft splashing sound in the puddles. He didn't ask about the history of the Lu family, nor did he offer comfort for her humiliation. Instead, he asked abruptly, "Trembling fingertips, rapid heartbeat, a pale complexion shot through with an unnatural flush.

Girl, you weren't just listening with your ears just now. You were using your pulse to 'listen' for poison, weren't you?"

Elder Zhou continued, "But I warn you, the matter of the Intestine-Cutting Grass is not that simple. For Lu Chengze to be poisoned, someone must have been pushing from the shadows. Intestine-Cutting Grass is volatile; it requires Cold Water Stone to be viable as medicine. Without the guidance of a master, it would be impossible to slip it into tonic supplements without being detected. This means that inside the Lu Manor, there has long been an eye watching him—perhaps even watching the very lifeline of the entire Lu family."

Su Tingbai instinctively clenched her fist, trying to hide her reaction. She knew all too well that until her medical arts were fully mastered, any leak of her secrets could lead to far more dangerous consequences. If the Lu family discovered she didn't just understand pharmacology, but possessed a unique ability to perceive the origin of a hundred poisons, they wouldn't just kick her out—they would imprison her or erase her entirely.

The butler stepped forward and roughly searched Su Tingbai. Her exquisite portable medicine chest was forced open, sending An'gong Niuhuang Wan and Borneol scattering across the cobblestones with a crisp, desperate clatter. The butler sneered, his eyes full of contempt: "Hoarding prohibited medicinal ingredients and committing fraud in public—your crimes are compounded. Young Master, her heart is crooked; she cannot be allowed to stay."

Looking at the scattered medicine, a cold curve touched Su Tingbai's lips—a smile that didn't reach her eyes, carrying a bone-deep chill. Ignoring the butler's tugging, she fixed her gaze on Lu Chengze, her voice ringing out clearly: "You've had frequent dizzy spells and heart palpitations lately. You think it's a deficiency of qi and blood? Those are the precursors of toxic gas eroding your heart vessels. If you refuse to listen, you will fall gravely ill within three months."

Deep in the shadows at the corner of the street, an old man in a grey cloth tunic quietly appeared. He didn't step forward, but simply watched Su Tingbai's departing figure, the pipe in his hand long extinguished. His gaze lingered on the lingering echo of medicinal aura on her fingertips; a ripple of emotion stirred in the depths of his eyes, as if a thousand words were dancing on the tip of his tongue.

The rain began to taper off, and the puddles in the alley reflected Su Tingbai's thin but upright silhouette. She didn't leave immediately; she stood her ground, her fingers curling slightly as she tried to suppress the burning sensation surging through her body—the price of forcibly activating the Spirit Herb Wind-Listening Technique. It was a minute vibration, like a lute string plucked by an invisible hand, the resonance lingering long after the strike.

In the distance, a long bell toll echoed from the depths of the Capital City, piercing the morning mist and shaking the surroundings. Su Tingbai began to walk. This time, her steps were no longer heavy, but light as the wind. She knew that from this day on, the timid Su girl no longer existed. There was only a healer who held life and death in her hands and measured the heavens with her eyes: Su Tingbai.

Su Tingbai offered no further defense and turned away with a flick of her sleeve. Her aura shifted instantly; the cold endurance vanished, replaced by a haughty arrogance that looked down upon the world like a sword unsheathed. Her stride was firm, each step crushing the humility of her past. The rain soaked the hem of her clothes, but she didn't notice, as if there was nothing left in this world worth clinging to.

Lu Chengze suddenly recoiled a step, a flash of panic crossing his eyes—the instinctive fear of having a conspiracy exposed—which was quickly overwritten by rage. He shouted, his face darkening terrifyingly, "Su Tingbai, have you gone mad? You dare frame the Lu family with such poisonous tricks? Men, detain this fraudster at once!"

Su Tingbai stood still for a long time. The morning breeze brushed past, drying the sweat on her brow and clearing the last trace of confusion from her eyes. She looked up toward the direction where Elder Zhou had vanished. In those cold eyes, the endurance and humility of yesterday were gone, replaced by a faint but steady flame.

"So, don't think you're safe just because you've walked out that door." Elder Zhou's voice faded, his hunched figure disappearing into the rain and mist. "The real storm isn't in the Lu Manor; it's in the unseen shadows. Girl, survive, grow strong, and then... rip away that veil of shame."

Elder Zhou's words were like a thunderclap, striking the secret she hid deepest. The Spirit Herb Wind-Listening Technique was a lost metaphysical art among healers, one that could only be practiced by those with extraordinary talent and a crystal-clear state of mind. If it became known, it wouldn't just be a threat from the Lu family, but a prize coveted by every medical sect in the imperial court.

Elder Zhou had been standing just three steps away, his faded grey tunic clinging wetly to his back, making him look somewhat bedraggled, but the sharpness in his eyes was as bright as a blade. He didn't speak, merely watching Su Tingbai, his gaze sliding from her brow down to her slightly trembling right hand.

As he looked at her, his scrutiny gradually shifted into a profound pity. He reached out, his withered finger pointing vaguely in the air. He didn't touch her, but a warm surge of energy passed through the air, flowing into Su Tingbai's arms and steadying her turbulent blood.

"Stop!" Su Tingbai snapped her head up, her face as pale as paper, large beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. Yet her voice was as steady as a rock, carrying a chilling, almost piercing calmness. "There is Intestine-Cutting Grass in those dregs! Lu Chengze, of the ten ingredients in the tonic you've been taking, three are laced with deadly poison!"

"A cold?" Elder Zhou scoffed, his laugh tinged with helplessness and heartache. "A cold wouldn't leave the distinct Golden Crow Aroma of Intestine-Cutting Grass on your fingertips, nor would it make your heartbeat mirror the 'Great Derivation' pattern. Girl, you're trading your life for the truth."

The pain and resentment she had carried for so long suddenly felt, to her, like another form of liberation. She remembered the decisiveness in Lu Chengze's sleeve-flick and the contempt in Lin Wanrou's eyes, and the long-suppressed knot in her heart seemed to loosen slightly in this moment.

The old man murmured to himself, his voice barely a whisper, yet it pierced through the curtain of rain: "To be able to hear the flow of the poison veins deep within medicinal dregs... the Spirit Herb Wind-Listening Technique has actually reached such a level. If this girl truly possesses such skill, then what the Lu family did today is a grave sin indeed."

Lin Wanrou took the opportunity to cover her face and sob, her voice choking and fragile. "Miss Su, I know you love Chengze, which is why you've resorted to such desperate measures. But to slander him and ruin his reputation... that is too heavy a crime. If word gets out, your purity will be destroyed for a lifetime."

"The Lu family broke the engagement and severed the ties today. It seems unfair to you," Elder Zhou's voice was low and slow, each word like a drumbeat against the heart. "But from the perspective of the medical path, this may be the greatest stroke of luck in your life."

Having been hit where it hurt, Lu Chengze's shame turned to fury. He waved his sleeve to sever their connection, his voice like ice, filled with resolve and cruelty: "Get out! From this moment on, the Su family and my Lu family have nothing to do with one another. Since you insist on being so aggressive, do not blame me for forgetting our old ties."

A raspy voice broke the silence. Su Tingbai stiffened. She didn't look back, but she keenly sensed a subtle change in the surrounding airflow. The shift didn't come from the wind or rain, but from the oppressive presence of the grey shadow behind her.

Inside the gates of the Lu Manor, Lu Chengze stood tall, his luxurious robes shimmering with a cold luster in the morning mist. There was no longer a shred of warmth in his eyes, only the arrogance and detachment of one in power, as if he were looking at a bothersome speck of dust.

"Butler, clear this filth out. Don't let it spoil the auspicious mood." Lu Chengze frowned, his brow furrowed as he signaled the old servant. The servant swung his broom, making a move to sweep the medicinal dregs into the gutter with rough, careless motions.

Su Tingbai fell silent. The post-rain air was damp and cold, seeping into her marrow. A wave of dizziness hit her—the price of forcibly suppressing the backlash of her spiritual energy. She braced herself, refusing to show a single hint of weakness in front of Elder Zhou.

The morning mist cleared, and sunlight pierced the clouds, a golden beam cutting through the grey sky to illuminate Su Tingbai's stubborn back. She knew that the annulment was only the beginning; the real storm was just beginning to unfold.

"Elder Zhou worries too much." Su Tingbai lowered her eyes, her long lashes trembling as she tried to use silence to mask the turmoil in her heart. "I've simply caught a cold and am feeling unsettled."

"Elder Zhou," Su Tingbai called softly, her voice so calm it didn't ripple, as if the harrowing confrontation of moments ago had never happened.

She clenched her fists tight, the sting in her palms reminding her that there was no longer any way back.

"Luck?" Su Tingbai asked back, a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

Silence returned to the surroundings, broken only by the sound of raindrops hitting the ground.

"Su girl, why are you standing there daydreaming?"

Su Tingbai's pupils contracted.

Su Tingbai's heart tightened.

Su Tingbai froze.

And on this road leading toward the unknown, the first enemy might already be lurking within that seemingly accidental "cold" from last night.