Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

The atmosphere at this moment was so quiet that even the slightest movement seemed particularly harsh.

Zhu Yuan and I squatted outside the side door of Concubine De's bedroom, with our ears pressed against the door, afraid of missing a single word.

Empress Defei's voice was low and full of unquestionable majesty, as if she was announcing fate.

"Doctor Li must die," Empress Defei's voice came faintly, with a hint of cold cruelty. "Once he has confessed everything, let him die of illness. Remember, everything must be done cleanly and neatly, leaving no trace."

I was shocked. As expected, Doctor Li's life was in the hands of Concubine De.

Not only did she want to silence the witness, she also wanted to do it perfectly so that no one would suspect her.

Zhu Yuan's face was pale, his eyes filled with fear. "Yang Yuanpan, what...what should we do? If Imperial Doctor Li dies, we'll really..."

"Shut up!" I quickly covered his mouth and almost broke out in a cold sweat because of his voice.

This guy can't control his voice when he gets nervous. I'm really afraid that if he shouts out, we'll both be thrown into jail.

Zhu Yuan nodded to indicate that he should shut up, but his eyes were bigger than bells, and he was obviously very scared.

I took a deep breath and thought quickly.

Now we have confirmed that Doctor Li is still alive, but he may be killed at any time.

We must rescue people before Concubine De takes action, but how can we do this without alerting the guards in the palace?

"President Yang, we can't just go in like this, right?" Zhu Yuan asked in a low voice, with a hint of trembling in his voice.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" I glanced at him, feeling worried.

It is definitely impossible to break in directly. The palace is heavily guarded inside and outside, and any movement will alert Empress Defei's people.

At this moment, I suddenly thought of a bold plan - fire attack.

"Zhu Yuan, we need to create some chaos." I lowered my voice and said, "Go find some hay and tinder, and we'll start a fire outside the bedroom and rescue people in the chaos."

Zhu Yuan's eyes widened when he heard this. "Arson? Judge Yang, are you serious? If we get caught, it's a capital crime!"

"Don't worry, the fire won't reach the bedroom." I patted his shoulder. "We're just going to create some smoke to cause them some trouble and distract the guards. That way, we'll have a chance to sneak in and rescue them."

Although Zhu Yuan's face turned pale, he had followed me for so long after all, and he knew that I never fought an unprepared battle.

He hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, I'll go find some hay and tinder."

"Go quickly, don't waste time." I urged.

Zhu Yuan disappeared into the night, and I continued to guard near the side door, looking around from time to time to make sure I was not discovered by the guards.

A few minutes later, Zhu Yuan ran back panting, holding a pile of hay and a tinderbox in his hands.

He handed me the hay and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "President Yang, is this enough?"

I nodded and motioned for him to pile the hay in the corner on the other side of the bedroom.

After he arranged the hay, I lit the tinder, carefully approached the haystack, blew gently, and the flames instantly jumped up.

"Hide quickly!" I pulled Zhu Yuan and quickly retreated into the dark.

The flames burned more and more vigorously, thick smoke quickly rose up, and a pungent smell spread instantly.

The guards in the bedroom soon discovered something was wrong and ran out to check the situation.

"It's on fire! Come quickly! Come quickly to put out the fire!" The guards shouted and rushed towards the fire, and the scene suddenly became chaotic.

I took advantage of this opportunity and quickly pulled Zhu Yuan in through the side door.

Although there were still a few guards inside the bedroom, most of them were attracted out by the fire, and the remaining few were obviously a little panicked.

"Let's go." I whispered, and took Zhu Yuan to quietly avoid the guards and walked in the direction of the sound we heard before.

We walked through a long corridor and finally came to a remote little room.

There were two guards standing at the door of the room. I winked at Zhu Yuan, and he immediately understood. He picked up a small stone on the ground and threw it away.

"Bang!" The sound of the stone falling to the ground was particularly clear in the quiet night.

"Who's there?" The two guards were immediately attracted and drew their swords and walked towards the direction of the sound.

"Now!" I took the opportunity to pull Zhu Yuan into the room quickly and closed the door gently.

The room was dim, but one could vaguely see Doctor Li lying on the bed, his face pale and his breathing weak.

"Doctor Li!" I quickly ran over and shook him gently, "Doctor Li, wake up!"

Doctor Li slowly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was me, he was surprised and grateful. "Yang Yuanpan...you...quickly leave...De Fei will not let you go..."

"Don't talk, we're here to save you." I lowered my voice and said, "Can you still walk now?"

Doctor Li shook his head and said weakly, "I... was given a muscle softening powder, so I can't move for the time being..."

Zhu Yuan panicked when he heard this: "What should we do? How do we get him out?"

I frowned and cursed Defei's cruelty in my heart.

The drug Softening Muscle Powder can make a person feel weak all over and unable to move for a short period of time. It seems that Concubine De had already anticipated that Doctor Li would try to escape, so she gave him the drug in advance.

"There's no other way. I can only carry him on my back." I gritted my teeth, squatted down, and carried Doctor Li on my back. "Zhu Yuan, you stand guard in front."

Zhu Yuan nodded, quickly walked to the door, and gently stuck his head out to check what was going on outside.

"President Yang, there seems to be no one outside!" Zhu Yuan said in a low voice.

"Okay, let's go!" I carried Doctor Li on my back and quietly slipped out of the room with Zhu Yuan.

Along the way, we tried our best to avoid the guards and headed towards the back door of the palace.

Just when we thought we could escape successfully, suddenly, a sneer came from the front.

"Where are you going?"

I was startled and looked up. Concubine De was standing not far away, followed by several guards, looking at us coldly.

"Yang Yuanpan, I never thought you would be so bold as to break into my bedroom at night." Empress Defei's voice was as cold as ice, and there was a hint of mockery in her eyes. "Do you think that with your little cleverness, you can fight against me?"

Zhu Yuan was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He grabbed my sleeve tightly and said, "President Yang, we...we are finished..."

I was also nervous. I didn't expect that Concubine De was well prepared. It seems that she is not only meticulous, but also has endless ways of doing things.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind." I took a deep breath and pretended to be calm. "I was only worried about the safety of Doctor Li, so I dared to come and check on him."

"Oh, you're worried about Imperial Physician Li's safety?" Empress Defei sneered and took a step closer. "Yang Yuanpan, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? If you dare to barge in today, don't even think about leaving alive."

As she spoke, she waved to the guards behind her: "Catch them all."

Several guards immediately stepped forward, swords drawn, and approached us.

"President Yang, what should we do?" Zhu Yuan was so anxious that he was about to cry. Seeing the blade getting closer and closer, he was at a loss.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the distance, followed by a familiar voice:

"stop!"

I turned around and saw that it was the emperor rushing over with a team of imperial guards.

"Your Majesty?!" Empress Defei's face changed. She obviously didn't expect the Emperor to appear at this time.

The emperor frowned, glanced at me, and then looked at Concubine De: "Concubine De, what happened here?"

Concubine De instantly put on a gentle smile and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I am just about to catch these thieves who broke into the palace at night."

"Thief?" The emperor glanced at Zhu Yuan and me, clearly not believing what Concubine De said. "Yang Yuanpan, why are you here?"

My heart skipped a beat, knowing this was my only chance. I quickly knelt and said, "Your Majesty, we are not thieves. We are here to save Imperial Physician Li. He knew something important, but was secretly poisoned and nearly died. I was worried about his life, so I dared to come and save him."

The emperor frowned slightly: "De Fei, do you know about this?"

Concubine De's expression changed slightly, and she forced a smile, saying, "Your Majesty, I was simply worried about Imperial Physician Li's condition, so I ordered him to be brought back to the palace for care. I didn't expect Court Judge Yang to misunderstand and think I was going to harm him."

The Emperor gave her a cold look, clearly skeptical of her explanation. "I will personally arrange for someone to handle Imperial Doctor Li's condition. Come, send Imperial Doctor Li back to the Imperial Hospital and ensure he receives proper treatment."

The imperial guards immediately stepped forward, took Doctor Li from my back, and carried him away.

When Concubine De saw this, her face became even uglier, but she didn't dare to say anything more.

"President Yang, I know you are loyal, but if such a situation occurs again next time, you must report it in advance and never act on your own." The emperor said lightly.

"I obey your order." I kowtowed quickly.

Finally, the matter came to a temporary end, and Zhu Yuan and I were able to save our lives.

After leaving the bedroom, Zhu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief: "President Yang, I thought we would have to explain everything here today."

I patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry, we are lucky."

Zhu Yuan smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I'm really lucky."