Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

Not long after I lay down, I heard the news that the Queen Mother had "suddenly fainted", and my heart immediately tightened.

The recent events in the palace have been piling up, like a heavy stone weighing on my heart, and I can't shake them off. The Empress dreamed of snakes, the Concubine dreamed of snakes, the Emperor has a high fever, and now even the Empress Dowager has collapsed.

All these things are just too coincidental, aren't they?

"President Yang! Please hurry up!" The young eunuch outside the door urged again, his voice full of anxiety.

I quickly got out of bed, put on my coat and shoes, grabbed the medicine box and rushed out.

I muttered to myself: I hope this is not a big trouble. If something happens to the Queen Mother, I'm afraid my life will be gone with her.

When they arrived at the Cining Palace, they found themselves in a state of panic. The empress dowager was lying on the bed, her face pale and her lips chapped.

Several palace maids knelt beside the bed, crying bitterly, obviously frightened.

Doctor Li was already waiting on the side with a serious expression, while several eunuchs stood cautiously by, not daring to even breathe.

"Yang Yuanpan, you're here!" Imperial Physician Li saw me and immediately stepped forward, lowering his voice to say, "The Empress Dowager was just having dinner when she suddenly became dizzy and then fainted. We've tried several methods, but she hasn't woken up yet."

My heart sank, and I hurried forward to take the Empress Dowager's pulse. Her pulse was weak, seemingly due to a loss of Qi and blood, but it was still too weak to match her previous condition.

"Has the Empress Dowager been feeling unwell recently? For example, insomnia or loss of appetite?" I asked Doctor Li while carefully examining her.

Doctor Li pursed his lips and shook his head, saying, "Aside from feeling uneasy, the Empress Dowager seems fine. I took her pulse a few days ago, and while her Qi and blood are slightly deficient, she's not at the point of fainting."

I felt more and more that something was wrong.

The Queen Mother has always been in good health. How could she suddenly become so weak?

Coupled with the various strange things that have happened in the palace recently, all this seems to be more than just a simple coincidence.

I pondered for a moment, picked up the silver needles in the medicine box, and decided to use acupuncture to stimulate the Empress Dowager's acupoints to help her restore her qi and blood.

When the palace maids saw me take out the silver needle, they all looked at it eagerly, as if the silver needle in my hand was a life-saving straw.

"The Empress Dowager is weak. I will use acupuncture to stabilize her qi and blood. Don't panic." I comforted her, trying to appear calm.

After acupuncture, the empress dowager's breathing gradually stabilized and her face regained some color.

I breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

Although the Queen Mother's breathing has stabilized temporarily, I still feel that her condition is not simple and may require further treatment.

"Doctor Li, please pay more attention to the Empress Dowager's diet and daily routine these days. I have prescribed some medicine for her, please take it on time. Although the condition has been temporarily stabilized, the root cause of the weak qi and blood has not been completely resolved." I whispered.

"I understand, Court Judge Yang, I will personally take care of him in the Cining Palace in the next few days." Doctor Li nodded, his expression unable to hide his worry.

"Be careful." I patted his shoulder, but I couldn't stop thinking in my heart: Empress Dowager, Emperor, Empress, Concubine Shu... What is the connection behind these consecutive events?

After leaving the Cining Palace, I walked and thought, with a vague bad feeling in my heart.

Suddenly, Zhu Yuan jumped out from behind the pillar like a ghost, and I was so scared that I almost dropped the medicine box: "Why do you always appear so suddenly? You scare people to death!"

Zhu Yuan approached with a mysterious look on his face: "Yang Yuanpan, have you heard about the Empress Dowager fainting?"

"Nonsense, I just came out of the Cining Palace." I rolled my eyes helplessly, "You're too slow to share this gossip, aren't you?"

Zhu Yuan scratched his head and chuckled, "Okay, okay, it seems I didn't grab the headlines this time. But you know what, I just heard from the imperial kitchen, I think you might be interested in the news."

I narrowed my eyes, feeling vaguely that this kid was about to reveal some shocking news: "Tell me, what earth-shattering gossip is this time?"

Zhu Yuan lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Guess what? The Queen Mother's meals these past few days have suddenly added a new medicinal ingredient—Schisandra chinensis."

"Schisandra chinensis?" My heart moved.

This medicinal herb is warm in nature and nourishes the liver and kidneys. It is fine to use it to regulate physical weakness. However, if used inappropriately, it will cause blood stasis and even worsen physical weakness.

The Queen Mother has been weak in Qi and blood recently, so herbs like Schisandra chinensis should obviously not be added casually.

"Who added this medicine to the Queen Mother?" I asked quickly, feeling that something was wrong.

Zhu Yuan shrugged. "I don't know about that, but you know that the food in the imperial kitchen is inspected layer by layer. It's not easy to tamper with it."

"The imperial kitchen has always been very careful with its medicinal materials. How could such a low-level mistake occur?" I frowned, feeling that there was something strange behind this.

Zhu Yuan looked at me with a hint of worry in his eyes. "President Yang, do you think someone did something deliberately?"

My heart skipped a beat.

The struggles in the palace have always been complicated, and the problem with the Empress Dowager's diet is definitely not a coincidence.

Is it possible that someone in this palace is secretly plotting something, or even wants to harm the Queen Mother?

"You must not tell anyone about this." I warned Zhu Yuan seriously, and I had already started thinking about the seriousness of the matter.

The Queen Mother is the pillar of the harem. If anything happens to her, the entire palace will fall into chaos.

Zhu Yuan nodded. Although he looked curious, he also knew the seriousness of the matter: "Don't worry, I'm tight-lipped."

After returning to the Imperial Hospital, I sat at the table, staring at the prescription written for the Empress Dowager, and my heart was unsettled.

What happened in the past few days seemed unrelated, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that there was a dangerous clue hidden behind it.

Accidents occurred one after another to the Empress, Consort Shu, and Empress Dowager. The atmosphere in the palace became increasingly tense. A storm was approaching, and I, as the director of the Imperial Hospital, seemed to have been involuntarily involved in it.

"President Yang, are you okay?" Zhu Yuan couldn't help but ask when he saw my serious expression.

I looked up at him and felt a little powerless in my heart.

How can we, the imperial doctors, interfere in the affairs of the palace?

I just hope this storm won’t affect our Imperial Hospital.

"It's okay, it's just that there have been too many things going on in the palace recently, so everyone needs to be more careful." I sighed and patted Zhu Yuan on the shoulder.

Zhu Yuan nodded. Although he was usually careless, he obviously realized the seriousness of the problem this time.

The next morning, as I was preparing to see the Emperor for a follow-up consultation, I received an unexpected piece of news.

"Yang Yuanpan, the Empress summons you. Please come over immediately."

My heart tightened. The Queen summoned me? This wasn't a good sign.

Ever since the Queen had that nightmare, her mood has been unstable. Now she suddenly summoned me, which is probably related to that dream again.

"Is she dreaming about snakes again?" I muttered to myself, quickly picked up the medicine box and headed to the queen's bedroom.

When we arrived at the Queen's bedroom, the atmosphere was indeed a bit depressing.

The Queen was sitting by the window, her face pale and her eyes a little tired.

The palace maids around were all very cautious, for fear of angering the master of the harem.

"Your Majesty the Queen." I hurried forward to pay my respects, secretly guessing why she was looking for me this time.

"President Yang, there have been constant disturbances in the palace recently. I am very uneasy and often dream of strange things at night..." The queen spoke lightly, with a hint of anxiety in her tone.

I understood instantly, it was indeed another dream.

"My queen, what did you dream about?" I asked cautiously, mentally prepared to hear the word "snake".

The Queen was silent for a moment before she slowly spoke, "These past few days, I haven't dreamed of snakes... but of a huge fire. The blazing flames seemed to burn the entire harem to ashes."

My heart skipped a beat. Fire? That's scarier than a snake.

"Your Majesty, dreams are mostly caused by daytime worries and may not be related to reality. Have you been overworked recently?" I tried to comfort her with ordinary reasons and tried to make things seem not so serious.

The Queen frowned, clearly not completely convinced. "But this dream was too vivid. I have a feeling this flame symbolizes some kind of disaster, as if something truly terrible is about to happen in the palace."

My heart sank. There had indeed been a lot of turmoil in the palace recently. Although the Queen's dream was absurd, it made me feel a little uneasy.

"I will prescribe some tranquilizing medicine for you, Your Majesty. You just need to rest more and you will definitely feel better." I tried my best to remain calm, but I had already started to wonder in my heart, could the "fire" in the Queen's dream really be some kind of omen?

After leaving the Queen's bedroom, my heart became heavier.

Snakes, fire, coma, poison, the entire palace was like a huge net, and everyone was caught in it.

As the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau, although I am only responsible for curing diseases and saving lives on the surface, I obviously cannot stay out of it.

"Zhu Yuan, we have to be careful in the coming days." I said to Zhu Yuan, feeling a little nervous.

"President Yang, you are telling the truth. I haven't even dared to ask about gossip these days, for fear of getting into trouble." Zhu Yuan said with a wry smile.

I sighed helplessly: "You are smart. All we can do now is to focus on treating the patient and stay out of other things."

However, I know in my heart that this storm is probably unavoidable.