The practical exam didn’t involve examining actual patients but rather identifying and explaining the uses of medicinal herbs in front of the examiners.
It was a simple exam where answering five out of ten questions correctly was sufficient. Unlike the written test, the practical exam was conducted individually, and the results were immediately determined.
“It’s your turn, Countess Hydrangea of Mackein.”
This time, again, Count Memelt guided me.
Upon entering the practical exam room, I saw trays with herbs placed on a large circular table, each marked with a number.
“Tsk!”
I couldn’t help but click my tongue involuntarily. The condition of the herbs prepared for the exam was terrible.
Some herbs, which shouldn’t be stored in sunlight, were bleached white from improper storage, while others were so dry and hard like wood due to poor moisture management. There were even herbs with mold on them.
Despite these being for an exam and not for actual patient use, the carelessness in their storage was appalling.
‘How can they assess someone with herbs stored like this?’
Regardless of their condition, the exam started. It was a simple format: the examiner would call out a number, and I had to name the herb and its uses.
The questions were few and straightforward, so it ended quickly.
I was confident that I had answered all questions correctly.
“You got four out of ten correct. Unfortunately, you have failed.”
But the response from the bespectacled examiner was completely unexpected.
“What do you mean? Which ones did I get right?”
He repeated his statement with an expression that suggested I was being unreasonable. I couldn’t understand it. Four out of ten correct?
“I think there’s been a mistake in the scoring.”
He snorted derisively at my words.
“You don’t think you’ve studied inadequately and blame it on a mistake… Letting in someone unqualified was the real mistake. What’s a woman doing taking this exam anyway?”
He raised his voice as if wanting others to hear his disdain. It seemed he didn’t like the idea of me taking this exam in the first place, treating me as someone unable to accept the results.
I was angry. I hadn’t made a mistake. There was nothing in the questions to get wrong.
“I would like to check the answer sheet.”
“Ha! So bold! If you insist, check it yourself. See how wrong your answers were…”
He handed me the answer sheet, a paper with numbers, names, and uses of each herb.
“What’s all this commotion?”
Someone entered the exam room. It was an elderly man with a long white beard. As soon as the bespectacled examiner saw him, he bowed deeply.
“Count Ferman. This woman…”
The examiner explained that I had failed the exam and was being stubborn about it.
Count Ferman was someone I knew of. My grandfather often talked about him; a lazy person who, for some reason, still worked in the palace. Though not without skill – he wouldn’t have been a representative healer of the royal family otherwise – his laziness was legendary.
“Count Ferman, there seems to be an issue with this healer license exam.”
Ferman, stroking his well-maintained beard, looked at me curiously.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“See for yourself.”
I handed him the answer sheet that the examiners gave me.
After inspecting the sheet, he looked at me, puzzled. It seemed he found no issue with the answers on the paper.
“Don’t just look at the sheet. Compare it with the actual herbs.”
Upon my suggestion, he alternated between examining the herbs and the answer sheet.
Frustrated by his slow progress, I stepped in to clarify.
“This here is marked as ‘Luipheni’ on the answer sheet. But as you know, this isn’t Luipheni, it’s Mandragogen. I understand it’s easy to confuse the two since they’re both roots of plants that look similar…”
I pointed to the middle part of the root.
“As you can see, this root here is swollen at each node, like it’s holding an egg. This is a characteristic of Mandragogen.”
Ferman and the supervising examiner, who had announced my failure, leaned in to examine the root on the tray.
“Of course, if it had been stored properly, it would have a fragrance similar to mint. But it has lost its scent due to exposure. This herb should be kept in a sealed box with wax in a cool, shady place to prevent air exposure, but it’s been neglected.”
I didn’t forget to point out the storage issues. The bespectacled examiner’s face crumpled in response.
I meticulously pointed out each incorrectly labeled herb, indicating the mistakes in the answer sheet they had prepared.
As I identified each herb, the supervisor looked nervously at Ferman, who seemed intrigued.
After I finished pointing out the issues with all the herbs on the table, Ferman smiled, seemingly pleased. He looked at me with eyes twinkling as if he had discovered a treasure.
Being the object of a greedy gaze from an old man was far from pleasing.
“A minor mistake, it seems.”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
Link to read
