An Lingrong's Rebirth: The Lock of Qingqiu

An Lingrong squeezed into the crowd, her coarse cloth clothes became wrinkled, and she had no time to smooth out the wrinkles on her clothes.

"Please make way for me to go in and take a look." An Lingrong squeezed her thin body into the crowd. Someone in the crowd made way for her, revealing a plain-looking woman in coarse cloth. Many people couldn't help but show disdainful expressions on their faces.

"It seems that there has been no experience of women practicing medicine in Tongjitang! Let her in. If I'm not mistaken, she will be kicked out in less than a cup of tea." A tall young man probed and asked, causing another burst of snickers from those around him.

An Lingrong tidied up her appearance and demeanor, straightened her back, lifted the curtain in front of the door, and walked straight in.

"Boss, I'm here for a job interview. Please give me the honor of being here." An Lingrong said respectfully.

"Do you have ten years of medical experience?" The person asking the question was Xiao, the manager in charge of the interview at Tongjitang.

An Lingrong looked carefully at the furnishings inside Tongji Hall, then looked carefully at Manager Xiao's disdainful round face and shook her head.

Manager Xiao blinked his eyes until only a slit remained, shook his head and said, "You have to know that ten years of medical experience is just the entry level for Tongjitang. Without more than ten years of medical experience, it is difficult to squeeze into such an excellent team like ours. Go back!"

An Lingrong reached out from her sleeves. Fortunately, the sleeves of her clothes were loose, so she took out the remaining silver bag and stuffed it into the hands of Manager Xiao. She said, "Manager, all my family property is here. To be honest, if you don't give me this interview opportunity, I'm afraid my family and I will end up on the streets."

Manager Xiao picked up the silver in his hand and frowned secretly. This little silver was not worth mentioning to him, but to the thin and frail woman in front of him, it was her entire fortune. Manager Xiao returned the silver to An Lingrong, who was very anxious. Not accepting the silver meant that she would not even have the chance to interview.

An Lingrong was anxious and grabbed Manager Xiao's arm, saying, "Manager, you can't kick me out. I really need this job."

Manager Xiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, young lady. Seeing that you are very sincere, I decided to give you a chance for an interview. But you have to remember that in Tongjitang, you should spend money where you should, and never spend money where you shouldn't. Tongjitang emphasizes medical skills, and money alone can't get things done. For example, among the patients queuing outside to see a doctor, there are many powerful and wealthy people, but when they come to Tongjitang, they are treated equally, according to the first come first served, and according to the severity of the disease. Even if you give the most money, it will be useless. Do you remember, young lady? My last name is Xiao, you can call me Manager Xiao. This is your number, number 18, you can go inside to queue up!"

An Lingrong nodded seriously and said, "Thank you, Manager Xiao."

After getting the number tag, An Lingrong made a victory gesture to the emperor and Xia Qian who were waiting outside. The emperor then sat down on a round stone bench in the flower garden outside Tongji Hall, counting the people coming and going for interviews while waiting for news of An Lingrong's interview.

In terms of medical skills, An Lingrong's acupuncture points sealing skills with silver needles are superb, and in terms of pharmacology, she is the top leader in the Imperial Pharmacy.

Therefore, when she stepped into the inner hall and was stared at by more than a dozen interviewees and Tongjitang interviewers, she was not panicked at all and waited patiently. She also knew that she was 90% sure that she could be qualified for this position.

There were more and more people watching outside. As time passed, the waiting crowd became very uncomfortable and started chattering and talking.

In less than a cup of tea, Manager Xiao came out with a happy face and announced to the crowd: "Everyone, go away. Tongjitang has filled its recruitment quota as of today. Everyone should come back next year!"

"No way, they're full so quickly? We didn't even get a chance to interview, not even once. This isn't fair!"

"Manager Xiao, may I ask which talented people Tongjitang has recruited this year?"

"It's full so quickly? So many people came and went in the past few days and none of them were chosen, but it's full today! This is too fast!"

"Who is it? I really want to see who was admitted to Tongji Hall!"

The crowd did not disperse, but instead looked inside with greater curiosity. Manager Xiao walked up to the wall, tore off the recruitment advertisement written clearly in black on red paper, and walked into Tongji Hall with a smile on his face.

The emperor outside said to Xia Qian who was standing beside him, "Master Xia, do you think she can pass?"

Xia Qian pondered and said with some certainty: "Fourth Master, she will probably win!"

The emperor chuckled: "Hehe, I think the people from Tongji Hall are no match for her!"

The conversation between the two people caused the crowd watching in front to turn their heads and look at the two men, who were obviously talking about the weak woman who had just come in for the interview and was so thin that she could be blown away by the wind.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, two grown men like you, are not going to beg for food at the feet of a girl!"

"This guy can't be a good person?!"

"But look at that tall man, he has such a strong aura. This man in cloth clothes is very handsome and dignified, and he doesn't look like the son of a poor family!"

"It's out, it's out!" The emperor looked at An Lingrong holding a document in her hand, and quickly stood up and went to greet her.

"Did you win?" the emperor asked impatiently.

"Yes, that's expected. I have a nine out of ten chance of passing the interview." An Lingrong proudly raised the document in her hand. She had just signed a document with Tongjitang. The probation period was three months, and the monthly salary was three hundred taels of silver, plus an additional commission. With such a high salary, it's no wonder that everyone was scrambling to get in.

"That's enough. Three hundred taels is enough for the living expenses of the three of us. Let's go back!" The emperor opened and closed the folding fan in his hand and walked towards home.

An Lingrong smiled and followed closely behind.

"Rong'er, how did you defeat so many people and get the job at Tongjitang?" the emperor was curious.

"Fourth Master, when I went in, the manager asked some basic knowledge about the human body, then brought out a human body model and asked us to pierce the acupuncture points according to the symptoms. They gave one needle at a time, and I gave three needles at a time. All three needles were fired simultaneously, hitting the target accurately, at the same speed and at the same depth, so they attracted their attention." An Lingrong said.

"Three needles at a time? Empress Rong is really amazing!" Xia Qian couldn't help but praise.

"What's so great about it? It's just that Qin Sanyue uses pine needles as hidden weapons, practices acupuncture points, and techniques all day long. I was bored for a while, so I followed her to practice hidden weapon techniques. After a long time, I saw results." An Lingrong couldn't help laughing.

"So that's how it is. If Madam Rong uses pine needles as hidden weapons, she will probably be able to hit people's acupuncture points and hurt people from a distance." Xia Qian looked serious. He believed that An Lingrong must have learned how to find people's acupuncture points unintentionally through what she saw and heard, but she had never used this skill to hurt people. She was used to using the techniques she learned in medicine.

An Lingrong was half-believing and half-doubting. She picked up some dry pine needles from the roadside and murmured, "Master Xia is right. I have never thought of hurting anyone. I have used all my life's knowledge in medicine."