Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

The light in the imperial study flickered, and the night wind still did not stop.

I knelt on the ground. Although I felt relieved, the emperor's words "continue to assist" made me freeze.

Continue to assist? I've exhausted all my little ideas, how else can I continue?

If I were to take another stroll through the secret passages of the cold palace, I’m afraid I would lose my life.

"President Yang, what's wrong? Don't you want to?" The emperor asked lightly, but his eyes were a little dangerous.

I immediately perked up: "I dare not! I will do my utmost to serve the emperor!"

This made me feel a little bit weak.

The Emperor nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. I know you are a wise man. Although the remaining followers of Lord Zhao have been shaken, they will not give up easily. Next, I want you to continue to pay attention to the movements of Concubine De, who is a key ally of Lord Zhao."

Empress Defei?

My heart skipped a beat.

The eyes of Concubine De always make me feel like I'm being seen through.

Add to that her usual smiling face and hidden dagger, getting close to her is like dancing on the edge of a knife.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty will do your best." I agreed reluctantly, but I was making some calculations in my mind.

When I returned to the Imperial Hospital, I collapsed in my chair, feeling like I had just walked through the gates of hell.

Zhu Yuan came closer and asked cautiously, "President Yang, have we...succeeded tonight?"

I rolled my eyes. "Success? Look at me, I'm covered in cold sweat. I almost ended up in the coffin. The Emperor asked me to keep staring at Concubine De. Don't you think this is fatal?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuan's expression immediately turned as grim as mine: "Empress Defei? That...that Empress whose smile makes people feel creepy?"

I nodded, a look of despair on my face. "Yes, it's her. The Emperor now suspects she's an accomplice of Lord Zhao and has asked me to investigate her."

Zhu Yuan shrank his neck. "But what if we watch too closely and she finds us? If she gets angry, will we be able to keep our lives?"

I sighed, "That's why this is so difficult! But you know, the Emperor has spoken, how can I refuse?"

Zhu Yuan thought about it with a gloomy face, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "President Yang, I have an idea!"

I glared at him and said, "What good ideas do you have? Tell me about them."

Zhu Yuan chuckled, leaned in close and whispered to me, "We don't have to investigate Concubine De directly, but instead we can investigate through the people around her. There are so many palace maids and eunuchs around her, there are bound to be a few who are not tight-lipped. We can find out a little bit, maybe we can dig out some useful information."

My eyes lit up - yes, Concubine De must have many servants around her. It would be too risky to confront Concubine De directly, but finding out about the people around her is a relatively safe way.

"Not bad, Zhu Yuan, this idea is quite reliable." I patted his shoulder, feeling a little relieved. "Okay, let's start with the people around her and see if we can find a breakthrough."

Zhu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly: "Counselor Yang is wise! Let's take action now!"

The next morning, the morning sun shone through the windows of the Imperial Hospital.

While drinking my morning tea, I was thinking about how to start this "spy operation".

Zhu Yuanze was holding a scroll of medicine book and pretending to flip through it, but his mind was actually no longer on the book.

"Yang Yuanpan, should we go find some palace maids with whom we have good relationships? They usually serve Empress Defei, so they should be able to hear a lot of news." Zhu Yuan suggested in a low voice.

I nodded. "That's right. Let's start with the palace maids and see if we can pry open their mouths."

So we decided to try our luck in the Imperial Garden.

The Imperial Garden is the place where the palace maids usually go most often, especially those who have some free time after coming out of the master's room, who like to relax here.

Sure enough, we saw several palace maids in palace uniforms gathered together next to a bunch of crabapple flowers, chatting and laughing.

I signaled Zhu Yuan not to rush over, and I quietly approached first, listening with my ears perked up.

"Hey, have you heard? There seemed to be some movement in the cold palace last night." One of the palace maids whispered mysteriously.

"Noise? What noise?" another palace maid asked curiously.

"It is said that someone was arrested. I heard that it is related to Lord Zhao." The palace maid lowered her voice and looked nervous.

I was shocked. It seemed that what happened last night had spread quietly in the palace.

News spreads so fast in the palace!

At this moment, another palace maid suddenly approached them and whispered, "Don't talk nonsense. Concubine De has been in a bad mood recently. Anyone who talks too much and angers her will suffer the consequences."

Concubine De? I immediately perked up and continued eavesdropping.

When the palace maids heard "Empress Defei", their faces immediately became nervous and they looked around, afraid that they would be heard.

"Don't mention it. Empress Defei has been in a daze alone recently and sometimes doesn't even eat. I heard that she has something on her mind." One of the palace maids whispered.

"Are you worried about something? What could it be?" another palace maid asked curiously.

"Oh, don't ask nonsense! I heard... it seems to be related to the third prince." The palace goddess whispered mysteriously.

My heart moved. The third prince?

Could it be that Concubine De is really related to the Third Prince’s illness?

Just as I was about to get closer, my foot suddenly slipped, and with a "bang", I stepped on a wet stone and almost fell down.

The palace maids immediately turned around and saw me standing not far away. Their faces turned pale and they saluted hurriedly, "Greetings, Judge Yang!"

I smiled awkwardly and waved my hands: "Go on, go on, I'm just passing by."

Several palace maids looked at each other, obviously not daring to continue talking, and ran away in panic.

Zhu Yuan emerged from behind a tree and patted my shoulder. "President Yang, your eavesdropping skills... really need to be practiced."

I rolled my eyes at him: "How dare you say that? Why didn't you remind me just now?"

Zhu Yuan spread his hands innocently: "I didn't expect you to step on a stone..."

I sighed. "Forget it. I've heard enough. It seems that Concubine De has indeed been acting strangely recently. She is related to the Third Prince's illness. I'm afraid she is also part of Lord Zhao's plan."

Zhu Yuan's eyes widened. "So what should we do next? Should we report this to the Emperor immediately?"

I shook my head. "We can't alert the enemy yet. We don't know enough right now. We need to dig deeper and hopefully find some substantial evidence."

Zhu Yuan frowned: "But Concubine De is so cautious. Let's check her again. What if she finds out..."

"Don't worry, we won't contact her directly. We need to investigate the imperial physician who is related to the Third Prince's illness!" I suddenly had an idea. "Aside from the people in our Imperial Hospital, no one else can possibly know about the Third Prince's recent condition. If Concubine De is causing trouble, she will definitely do it through a certain imperial physician."

Zhu Yuan's eyes lit up. "Yes! Has anyone in our Imperial Hospital been in charge of the Third Prince's condition recently?"

I stroked my chin and thought for a moment: "It seems to be... Doctor Li."

So we went back to the Imperial Hospital and found Doctor Li who was busy.

Doctor Li was a man in his fifties, usually stern and serious-looking, and his medical skills were among the best in the Imperial Hospital. Upon seeing us, he immediately put down the herbs in his hand and saluted, saying, "Counselor Yang, what brings you here?"

I smiled and walked forward. "Doctor Li, I've been taking care of other matters these days. How is the Third Prince doing?"

Imperial Physician Li sighed, "The Third Prince's condition continues to fluctuate, sometimes improving, sometimes worse. Consort Shu is deeply concerned, and I've tried my best, but with little success."

I nodded and pretended to ask casually, "Has Consort De asked about the Third Prince's condition recently?"

Imperial Physician Li was slightly taken aback, then shook his head. "The Empress Defei didn't ask directly, but... a few days ago, she sent a palace maid to the Imperial Hospital, saying she wanted to bring supplements to the Third Prince."

Supplements? My alarm bells immediately went off – there was definitely something wrong with this “supplement”!

"Doctor Li, have you checked the tonic?" I asked, staring at him closely.

Doctor Li nodded and said, "I've looked carefully. They're just common tonic herbs. There's nothing special about them."

I frowned, my mind filled with doubt. Could it be that Concubine De had tampered with the supplement?

Or, is this just a trick on her part?

Things seem to be getting more and more complicated, but the clues are gradually becoming clearer.

Empress Defei, the Third Prince's illness, Lord Zhao's conspiracy...all these clues are converging in a certain direction.

I vaguely feel that the real mastermind behind this may not just be Lord Zhao.

"President Yang, what should we do next?" Zhu Yuan leaned close to my ear and whispered.

I took a deep breath, my eyes determined. "Keep investigating! There must be a bigger secret behind Concubine De. We can't act rashly, but we can't let go of any clues either."