Judging from his back, he was not very tall, and he wore the clothes of an apprentice from their Medicine Department. But Senior Brother Yong Xing had always cleaned her courtyard. Why would he let someone else come in so freely?
He must have been badly startled by her, because he dropped the watering can in his hand.
Dongfang Minghui caught the medicinal herbs' complaints with her sharp ears. Holding Toothless under one arm, she picked up the watering can, which was still spilling water, and gave the boy a suspicious look. "Who are you? What are you doing in my courtyard?"
She was something of an old hand in the Medicine Department by now and had seen all its apprentices. But this boy looked unfamiliar. He had to be one of this year's new recruits.
He was a delicate-looking boy of about fifteen or sixteen. His face was abnormally pale, and even his lips were purplish. His frail appearance bore all the classic signs of a heart problem. He looked at her pitifully with watery eyes, a little frightened.
"I, I, I'm the—"
He stammered for ages without getting anywhere. Seeing him nervously clutching and rubbing the hem of his clothes, she said, "Forget it. This courtyard isn't somewhere you should be. Leave."
"B-but Senior Brother told me to take care of the medicinal herbs here."
So Senior Brother Yong Xing had sent him to help look after her courtyard. Dongfang Minghui crouched down and spoke to her medicinal herbs one by one. Only then did she learn that he was indeed a new apprentice. Apparently, he had applied to become a Potion Master but failed the examination. Wanting to stay at the Royal Academy, he had somehow caught Senior Brother Yong Xing's eye and been sent to her