Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

I never thought that I would travel through time, especially to the early Ming Dynasty.

What I never expected was that I would become the eldest daughter of an ancient official family.

Honestly, when I woke up, there was only one question on my mind: Can I go back to sleep?

Here's the thing, I was on night shift at the hospital last night, working overtime until two in the morning, and I clearly remember dozing off in the emergency room.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on a large carved bed, covered with a silk quilt that was probably more expensive than any quilt I had ever seen.

My first reaction was: "Is this an upgrade of the ward?" After all, as an ordinary doctor, I don’t have this treatment.

However, when I regained consciousness a little, I saw the antique furnishings all around me, plus the bright red and green bed curtains above my head, and I immediately realized—this is not a hospital ward, I’ve traveled through time!

"Miss, are you awake? Are you still feeling unwell?"

Just when I was about to collapse, a little girl dressed in ancient maid's clothes pushed the door open and looked at me anxiously.

"Who... who are you?" I asked subconsciously, still wondering, could this be a film crew? But this set is too real.

"Miss, what's wrong with you? I'm Xiao Cui, your personal maid."

Xiao Cui came up to me with a worried look on her face and reached out to touch my forehead, "Are you dizzy again?"

I dodged her hand reflexively. Why was she touching me when I hadn't figured out the situation yet?

"I... am dizzy? Me?" I was confused and tried to calm myself down.

Seeing my bewildered look, Xiao Cui panicked. "Miss, you didn't fall and became stupid, did you? Did you forget how you fell off the carriage yesterday and frightened the master and mistress?"

When I heard that, I almost jumped up: "What? Fall down?"

"Yes, young lady! When you left yesterday, the carriage was jolting and you lost your balance and fell off. You were unconscious for the whole day! The master even asked the doctor from the mansion to see you, but he said there was nothing serious and you just needed to rest for a few days."

Xiao Cui said this while trying to touch my forehead again.

I tried to stay calm and thought to myself: Now that I have traveled through time, I have to figure out the situation first.

"Then...what is this place?" I asked her tentatively.

Xiao Cui was stunned: "Miss, did you fall too hard? This is our Yang Mansion, and you are the eldest daughter of the Yang Mansion."

Yang Mansion? The eldest daughter? I quickly searched in my mind, and a name from the history book jumped out - Yang Shiqi, a senior official of the Ming Dynasty, who assisted Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di!

Oh my God, I can’t really become Yang Shiqi’s daughter, right?

Things are getting more and more outrageous, and even I can hardly believe it.

I tried to sort out my thoughts. After all, as a modern person, calmness is a basic quality of a doctor.

Now that I've traveled through time, I have to accept reality. I need to first understand my current identity and then find a way to survive.

"Xiao Cui, you said I was the eldest daughter of the Yang family, then tell me, which dynasty are we in now?" I decided to start with the most basic question.

"Miss, how come you even forgot the dynasty?" Xiao Cui looked helpless, but still answered me, "It's the Ming Dynasty now, the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang is on the throne, and our master is Yang Shiqi from the cabinet."

Sure enough, I really traveled back to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty that had just been established.

I took a deep breath and tried not to think about philosophical questions like "Why travel through time?", but instead started to consider practical issues.

As the daughter of Yang Shiqi, my identity and status should not be bad.

The good news is that I have a good father. The bad news is that I don’t understand the ancient customs!

Just as I was trying to digest this information, Xiao Cui suddenly walked to the door and said, "Miss, the master asked you to get up quickly. He said there was news from the palace that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is ill. Please go into the palace to see him."

I almost spit out a mouthful of water. "What did you say? The prince is sick? Let me see him?"

"Yes, Miss, haven't you been studying medicine recently? The master thinks your medical skills are good. The prince's condition in the palace seems to be very serious, and the imperial doctors are helpless, so the master recommended that you come to the palace and try." Xiao Cui said as if it was a matter of course.

I instantly felt like I was being ripped off. What the hell is this setting?

How come I, a young lady studying medicine, was pushed into the palace to treat the prince?

What's more, I just traveled through time and didn't even know who I was. How could I possibly go and save the prince?

"I..." I opened my mouth, wanting to refuse, but swallowed the words back.

Not going? No way! With my status, if I refuse, I might lose my head.

Taking a deep breath, I could only bite the bullet and agree: "Okay, I'll go."

On the way into the palace, I tried to recall the basic knowledge of modern doctors while thinking about how to deal with this situation in ancient times.

Although I have never seen a prince in ancient times, it sounds like an emergency that the prince is sick and the imperial doctors are helpless.

Fortunately, I am a doctor and I have some experience in emergency cases.

When I arrived at the prince's bedroom, I saw several imperial doctors gathered around the bed, all with furrowed brows, obviously at a loss as to what to do.

Lying on the bed was the Crown Prince Zhu Biao, his face pale, his forehead covered with cold sweat, and he looked very ill.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a high fever that won't go away. The imperial doctors have tried their best, but I'm afraid..." One of the older imperial doctors shook his head with a wry smile.

I walked forward, silently speculating on the cause of the illness while calmly observing the prince's symptoms.

As expected, the prince was breathing rapidly, coughing frequently, and had a dull pain in his chest. Isn't this typical acute pneumonia?

In modern times, pneumonia is not considered a serious disease, but in ancient times when medical conditions were backward, it was fatal.

"Have you prepared clean towels and cold water?" I turned to ask the eunuchs and palace maids beside me.

The palace maids were stunned for a moment, but quickly prepared what I needed.

While I was using cold water to cool the prince down physically, I took out the stethoscope I carried with me.

Although I didn't bring much with me when I traveled through time, I still brought small items like a stethoscope.

"Miss Yang, what is this instrument?" An imperial physician was surprised when he saw me take out the stethoscope.

"This is... a pulse listener." I made up a name, since they wouldn't know it anyway. This was my trump card in ancient times!

I gently placed the stethoscope on the prince's chest and listened carefully to his lungs. Sure enough, there were obvious moist rales in his lungs, typical symptoms of pneumonia.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is suffering from acute pneumonia. He needs to reduce his fever as soon as possible and receive medication." I said concisely and clearly.

The imperial doctors looked at each other, obviously having some doubts about my judgment, but they didn't dare to say it out loud.

"Then...Miss Yang, what good ideas do you have?" the eunuch beside her asked anxiously.

"Of course." I nodded and then named several medicinal herbs, all of which I selected by combining modern medicine and ancient herbal knowledge.

Although the imperial doctors did not understand why I chose these herbs, they did not dare to delay and immediately started preparing them.

After a few hours, the medicinal materials were ready and I personally fed the medicine to the prince.

His body temperature gradually dropped, his breathing became steady, and his condition improved significantly.

The imperial doctors were all stunned. They obviously didn't expect that the medical skills of me, the "eldest lady of the Yang family", would be so amazing.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is temporarily fine. He just needs to continue taking medicine and recuperating." I stood up and explained to the eunuch beside me.

The eunuch quickly thanked me: "Thank you, Miss Yang. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wakes up, the Emperor will definitely reward you handsomely."

I smiled and thought to myself: I don’t need a big reward, just my life will be fine.

I came out of the palace with mixed feelings.

I didn't expect to encounter such a big challenge on the first day after traveling through time. Fortunately, my modern medical knowledge came in handy.

It seems that in this ancient world, my "medical skills" will become my greatest and only reliance.

I hope the days ahead will be a little calmer...