The sun shone brightly overhead. Many ladies from wealthy households had gathered in the covered corridor beside the Academy, gazing toward the distant examination grounds.
As a female physician specializing in miscellaneous ailments of women and children, and the little lover of the newly prominent Danyang Marquis, Lin Wanyi was naturally surrounded like the moon amid a host of stars. Had the Academy not strictly forbidden loud conversation, they would probably already have been chattering away.
But even if they could not raise their voices, so many ladies gathered together inevitably meant whispered gossip. Even Li Jing, passing by on his examination patrol, came in for a few murmured remarks:
"Director of Studies Li must be seventy, right? Still no wife..."
"Apparently not. He used to be a young master of the Hualin Li Clan, too. That doesn't seem right..."
"I think old Mr. Li still has some charm left in him..."
Lin Wanyi stood among them wearing gold-rimmed glasses, her bearing intellectual, gentle, and graceful. She appeared to be listening to their gossip, but her heart had long since flown to the Capital City. After all, Big Pig Trotter was supposed to return today.
Besides, when she had gone to deliver the news last time, Miss Ye had even served her tea first!
As the eldest sister, how could she fail to show some consideration when a younger sister returned? Recently, she had even spent a hefty sum commissioning a Phoenix Immortal Gown, the kind that changed color with the degree of pleasure. She could not bear to wear it herself and had saved it especially for Sister Yun Chi.
However, the Academy's major examination at the turn of late spring and early summer was extremely important. New students took their entrance examinations at this time, while senior