Chapter 200 Training Camp

Unfortunately, the peaceful days didn't last long.

That day, Ye Wanning was instructing her apprentices on identifying medicinal herbs at the training camp when a gorgeously dressed girl barged in, followed by several maids, exuding an imposing aura.

"May I ask who you are, young lady?" Ye Wanning asked calmly.

"I am Zhao Linglong, the daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites!" She raised her chin slightly, with a hint of pride. "You must have heard of my father, the Vice Minister of Rites, right? I want to join the training camp, so quickly arrange the best seat for me!"

“We have to pass an assessment to train revenue-generating apprentices; not just anyone can get in,” Su Xiao stepped forward. “Besides, there’s no best spot here; everyone starts from scratch.”

"An assessment?" Zhao Linglong scoffed disdainfully. "Me, the daughter of a Vice Minister of Rites, need an assessment? Are you looking down on me?"

As she spoke, she strode to the medicine basket, casually picked out a herb from it, and threw it on the ground: "Isn't it just about recognizing herbs and decocting them? What's so difficult about that? I think this lousy training camp of yours is just a bunch of women from the countryside filling in the numbers."

Upon hearing this, the apprentices present were so angry that their eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Miss Zhao, watch your words!" Ye Wanning's face darkened. "Our apprentices are all women from the common people, yet they possess a compassionate heart to heal and save lives. They diligently study medicine to repay the kindness shown to them. If you truly wish to learn, you are welcome; but if you're here to cause trouble, please leave now!"

"Making trouble?" Zhao Linglong's expression changed as well. "I came here out of kindness, and you're saying I'm making trouble? Let me tell you the truth, I came to this training camp to avoid an arranged marriage and just to have some fun. I might not even want to come to this dump!"

She said to the maids behind her, "Did you all hear that? Female doctors are low-class anyway, and those tricks of theirs are nothing serious. I'm just here to have some fun!"

Ye Wanning's eyes grew even colder: "Since you're just here to have fun, then you're not welcome in our training camp. Please leave and don't disturb the other students' learning!"

"You dare to kick me out!" Zhao Linglong's eyes widened. "Ye Wanning, I'm not leaving today! I'm going to go into your training camp and see what you can do to me!"

As she spoke, she rushed inside, knocking over the medicine basket and scattering herbs all over the ground.

The apprentices were furious, but dared not step forward to stop her—Zhao Linglong was the daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites, and they could not afford to offend her.

Ye Wanning was also furious. She hadn't expected Zhao Linglong to be so unreasonable, not even respecting medical skills, and actually resorting to cheating and making a scene.

"Zhao Linglong, you've gone too far!" Ye Wanning stepped forward to block her. "Medicine is sacred, not a toy for you to use to avoid an arranged marriage or to fool around! If you don't respect medicine or the training camp, then get out!"

"I'm not going out!" Zhao Linglong started to act spoiled. "I'm going to stay here! My father is the Vice Minister of Rites. If anyone disrespects me, I'll have him impeach you!"

"I practice medicine and save lives with a clear conscience, and I am not afraid of anyone impeaching me." Ye Wanning stood her ground. "You can stay here, but you must abide by the rules of the training camp, start from the basics, and not cause trouble. Otherwise, even if your father is the Vice Minister of Rites, I still have ways to get rid of you."

"I've always been a rule-abiding person, who's afraid of who?" Zhao Linglong didn't expect Ye Wanning to be so head-on, and she was a little scared, but she was unconvinced.

"It's just about recognizing herbs and decocting them; I guarantee you can learn that, sister."

Ye Wanning didn't bother with formalities: "Everyone, put away the herbs and continue the class."

The apprentices bent down to gather the herbs, their eyes filled with disgust for Zhao Linglong. Zhao Linglong stood there, somewhat embarrassed, but she still gritted her teeth and stayed.

She was thinking to herself: In a few days, I'll deliberately bump into Ye Wanning, make her angry and kick me out, then I can tell my father that the training camp is boring and I don't need to stay anymore.

Unexpectedly, Ye Wanning treated her like an ordinary apprentice, teaching her from scratch—identifying herbs, decocting medicine, without giving her any special treatment.

On the first day, Ye Wanning asked her to recognize ten common herbs. The pampered Zhao Linglong had no idea what herbs were, and after a whole morning she hadn't memorized more than a few. As a result, Ye Wanning exposed her on the spot and punished her by making her copy the names of the herbs one hundred times.

The next day, she was asked to decoct the medicine, but she didn't know how to control the heat and burned it, almost setting the medicine pot on fire. Ye Wanning criticized her in front of everyone and made her decoct it three more times.

The third day was a practical lesson, and Ye Wanning asked her to massage someone with a slight cough. Her technique was clumsy, and instead of making the person feel comfortable, it caused the person pain.

"Miss, you can't be serious, can you? Why don't you let Madam Ye come instead?" The man seemed a little displeased.

Zhao Linglong's face turned bright red instantly, both angry and anxious—she had never been treated like this before in her entire life.

"I'm not saying I can't!" she retorted stubbornly, tilting her head. "You're just being too sensitive!"

Ye Wanning walked over and personally pressed the acupoint on the person's neck. As she pressed, she said, "Pressing the acupoint requires attention to the strength and accuracy. You used too much force just now and found the wrong acupoint, which is why it hurts."

She turned her head and looked at Zhao Linglong coldly: "Medicine is not child's play; it concerns the lives of patients. If you're here to play around and not to learn seriously, you might as well go home early and not waste your own time and the lives of others."

Zhao Linglong felt wronged and angry, tears welling up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. She turned around fiercely and ran out of the training camp.

"Miss Zhao!" Su Xiao wanted to chase after her, but Ye Wanning stopped her.

"Let her go." Ye Wanning shook her head. "If she doesn't want to learn, even if you keep her physically, you can't keep her heart."

Zhao Linglong ran home, closed the door, and cried for a while. She hated Ye Wanning and resented the apprentices for looking down on her. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. But after calming down, she felt somewhat unwilling—from childhood to adulthood, she had everything she wanted. This time, her repeated defeats in the training camp only fueled her competitive spirit.

Ye Wanning thought she wasn't good enough? She was determined to learn medicine well and show everyone that she wasn't just a pampered child, but could also be a qualified female doctor!

The next day, Zhao Linglong actually went to the training camp, and she was much more serious than before, no longer spoiled and willful. She took the initiative to humbly learn from Ye Wanning and the other apprentices, and even stayed up late at night to memorize the names of medicines and acupoints.

Ye Wanning was somewhat surprised, but she didn't ask any further questions. She simply treated her with the same strictness as she would any other apprentice.

Despite her spoiled nature, Zhao Linglong was very intelligent. She grasped things quickly and was willing to put in the effort. Before long, she could basically identify common medicinal herbs and had also mastered the skills of decocting medicine and massage.

One day, an elderly woman with a persistent cough from a cold arrived at the training camp. Zhao Linglong proactively stepped forward to examine her, accurately identified her symptoms, prescribed medicine, and even gave the elderly woman a massage to relieve her cough.

After taking the medicine, the old lady's cough quickly stopped, and she praised Zhao Linglong highly: "Young lady, you are amazing! You are much better than the doctor I saw before!"

Zhao Linglong smiled happily. This was the first time she had used her abilities to help others, and the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction she felt was something she had never experienced before.