The Terminally Ill Youngest Daughter of a Medical Dynasty Is a Genius Physician - Chapter 41

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 41
The moment I climbed the stairs, the conversations scattered throughout the room fell silent in a deliberate way.
All eyes turned toward me at once.
“That’s Yeon Ryeong-hwa, isn’t it?”
“She really came to attend class.”
“They said she’s seven years old, but she’s even smaller than I imagined.”
“I wonder if she can sit properly at a desk.”
Whispers tickled at my ears.
There was less overt malice than there was curiosity and doubt.
Some of them looked at my small frame with expressions of genuine concern.
“They said she wasn’t in good health. Will she really be all right?”
“Even if she made it through the Entrance Examination, classes go on and on.”
“What if she collapses from overexertion?”
There was nothing entirely wrong with what they were saying.
To them, I was a sickly seven-year-old child.
One good result in the Entrance Examination wouldn’t overturn their perception of me in an instant.
‘I’ll just have to show them differently from today onward.’
I ignored the whispers and stepped into the Lecture Hall.
The first classroom was tall and spacious.
At the front, there was a raised platform for the Physician instructor, and below it, twenty low desks were arranged in neat rows.
The walls were lined with medicinal cabinets filled with dried herbs, roots, and fruits organized by name.
I found an empty seat at the very front and sat down.
A boy sitting next to me stiffened. He appeared to be about twelve years old.
He glanced at my face hesitantly, then opened his mouth with care.
“Um…”
The hesitant boy looked back and forth between the desk and chair in front of me.
“Should I bring you a cushion? The desk looks a bit high for you.”
“I’m fine!”
I shook my head and sat up straight in the chair, and the boy smiled with relief.
“Still, if it gets difficult during class, just say so. I’ll call the Physician for you.”
“Thank you.”
I understood that it was kindness.
But it was equally clear that he saw me not so much as a fellow Medical Student, but as a small child in need of care.
Just then, the classroom fell quiet again.
Creak.
The door opened and Yeon Hui-cheon entered.
He wore a well-pressed Medical Robe, and a Medical Badge and Needle Case hung neatly at his waist.
Even after the Entrance Examination ceremony, he still wore his characteristic gentle smile, though fatigue hung unmistakably beneath his eyes.
‘His complexion isn’t good.’
I observed Yeon Hui-cheon without thinking.
I had heard that he was called away privately by his mother.
I didn’t know what had happened, but with each step he took, his body seemed to stiffen slightly.
Then suddenly, the unease I’d felt during the Entrance Examination surfaced in my mind.
‘If someone tampered with the examination…’
The first person I suspected was Yeon Hui-cheon.
He had disapproved of me taking the Entrance Examination, and he’d been wary of me before that.
Of course, I couldn’t definitively call him guilty on that alone. There was no evidence.
‘But we’ll keep crossing paths from now on.’
It seemed it wouldn’t be a bad idea to watch him a little.
While I was thinking that, Yeon Hui-cheon’s gaze lingered on me for a moment.
His eyes seemed colder than usual, though that too passed quickly.
“Ryeong-hwa, you’ve come.”
He then sat in the seat behind me with a good-natured smile.
“You must be nervous since it’s your first class, but don’t push yourself too hard. If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.”
The Medical Students around us looked at him with admiration.
“Young Master Hui-cheon is always so kind.”
I didn’t respond and opened the textbook I’d been given earlier.
Moments later, the Physician instructor for the class entered the Lecture Hall.
He appeared to be in his mid-forties.
His neatly tied hair, formal Medical Robes, and stern face devoid of any smile made him look quite formidable.
His name was Jin Ha-rim.
He was a senior physician who taught foundational medicinal material studies at the Yakreung-ga Medical Hall.
When Jin Ha-rim stepped before the platform, the medical students rose from their seats in unison.
“We greet you, Physician.”
“Be seated.”
He answered briefly, then surveyed the lecture hall.
When his gaze reached me, it paused.
“Yeon Ryeong-hwa.”
At the sudden call of my name, I stood from my seat.
“Yes.”
“If you feel unwell during class, don’t force yourself to endure it—tell me at once.”
There it was—concern first.
Jin Ha-rim deliberated for a moment, then turned his attention to the boy seated beside me.
“Seo Jin-woo. Should Yeon Ryeong-hwa face any difficulties, look after her.”
“Yes, Physician!”
Seo Jin-woo’s overly booming reply drew muffled laughter from various corners of the lecture hall.
I kept my expression deliberately composed as I sat back down.
‘A guardian assigned on the very first class.’
At this rate, I’d be treated like an invalid for the entire day.
Jin Ha-rim waited for us to settle into our seats, then opened the lid of a large wooden box placed below the platform.
Inside, similarly shaped root medicinal materials lay jumbled together.
“Today’s lesson is Medicinal Material Identification.”
He withdrew three roots and laid them out on the table.
At first glance, they were all elongated roots with a yellowish hue.
Their size and shape appeared nearly identical.
“Huang Jing Root, Bai Shu Root, and Gou Ming Root.”
Jin Ha-rim pointed to each medicinal material in turn.
“These three materials look remarkably similar once dried. However, their properties are entirely different. In particular, if Gou Ming Root is mistaken for Huang Jing Root and consumed, it can cause severe abdominal pain and vomiting.”
The medical students’ expressions grew uniformly serious.
“Today, you will distinguish these three medicinal materials using sight and scent alone. Within the allotted time, classify all the materials in the basket correctly.”
Tension filled the lecture hall.
This was not a simple theoretical lecture—it was a practical exercise from the start.
When Jin Ha-rim raised his hand, servants placed small baskets containing medicinal materials on each desk.
Yellow roots spilled out before me all at once.
“Begin.”
The medical students immediately picked up the materials.
Some examined the surface wrinkles; others brought them to their noses and breathed in the scent repeatedly.
“Which one is the Huang Jing Root?”
“This one has a lot of fine rootlets…”
“Wait, didn’t Bai Shu Root look like this too?”
Confused murmurs poured from those around me.
Seo Jin-woo, seated beside me, was likewise sweating profusely, comparing two materials back and forth.
Noticing that I had not yet even touched the materials, he whispered with concern.
“Yeon Ryeong-hwa, are you all right? If it’s difficult, shall I tell you the distinguishing features?”
“No.”
I looked down at the materials in the basket.
It was not difficult—it was far too familiar.
In my past life, I had handled these three materials countless times.
In those days when there was no one to teach me properly, I had learned by tasting them myself.
As a result, I once mistakenly chewed Gou Ming Root and suffered from stomachaches for days.
Thanks to that, I could now distinguish them with my eyes closed.
I examined the materials not by their size or shape, but by their cross-section and scent in turn.
The one with a faint bluish tint was Huang Jing Root.
The one with tightly packed grain and a sweetly fragrant scent was Bai Shu Root.
The one with black specks scattered near the stem was Gou Ming Root.
My hands never hesitated once.
The materials divided into three groups on the table, one by one.
Around me, the sound of students pondering with materials still in hand continued.
Yet the basket before me was soon empty.
“I’m finished.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————