Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

After returning from the palace, I originally planned to have a good sleep. After all, I had been torturing Concubine Shen physically and mentally for several days, and my own energy and blood were almost depleted.

However, not long after he lay down, thoughts about Lady Shen's illness began to resurface in his mind.

Is her illness really just a simple deficiency of qi and blood?

Or has the fighting among the imperial concubines in the palace subtly affected her?

Judging from the fact that Concubine Shen fainted when she saw the imperial concubine, things are obviously not that simple.

I turned over and secretly made up my mind: Palace fighting or not, I am a doctor and I have to find out the cause of her illness.

Early the next morning, before I had time to drink a sip of tea, Zhu Yuan came over with a mysterious look on his face.

This person is always elusive, as if his life goal is to cause trouble for me.

"Miss Yang, I heard a big piece of news!" His eyes lit up, as if he was about to tell some huge gossip.

I glanced at him and continued drinking my tea. "What kind of messy gossip did you hear in the palace?"

Zhu Yuan curled his lips in dissatisfaction. "What's with that attitude? I spent a lot of effort to get this information out of the young eunuch in the palace! Guess what? Lady Shen's illness is probably not just a simple deficiency of Qi and blood."

"Oh?" I put down my teacup, finally showing some interest. "Tell me about it."

Zhu Yuan approached me mysteriously and lowered his voice, "I heard that the Imperial Concubine has been having strange dreams lately, like ghosts and shadows, keeping her awake all night. And then, Concubine Shen's condition got worse! Do you think these two things are related?"

I was stunned for a moment, and modern psychology terms such as "psychological suggestion" and "collective unconscious" suddenly popped up in my mind.

The Imperial Concubine had a nightmare and Lady Shen's condition worsened. Could it be a psychological effect?

"Are you sure it wasn't the Imperial Concubine's nightmare that scared Lady Shen?" I asked half-jokingly.

Zhu Yuan nodded seriously. "Everyone in this palace knows that the Imperial Concubine is incredibly powerful. Even if Lady Shen is favored, she wouldn't dare act rashly in front of her. But the problem is, the Imperial Concubine's dreams are becoming increasingly bizarre, and Lady Shen's body is becoming increasingly weak. It's as if there's an invisible string connecting the two of them. Whenever the Imperial Concubine dreams, Lady Shen collapses."

I couldn't help but laugh and said, "You mean, the imperial concubine dreamed of some horror movie scene that frightened Concubine Shen to death?"

Zhu Yuan slammed the table and said, "Don't disbelieve me! I heard that the Imperial Concubine saw a 'black shadow' in her dream. The day Concubine Shen fainted, the Imperial Concubine had just dreamed of a 'black shadow' entering her bedroom the night before!"

I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Is there a ghost story script in this palace? Shouldn't the Imperial Concubine hire a psychologist to help her with some counseling?"

Zhu Yuan looked at me helplessly and said, "You really don't believe these things at all. But I heard that in the ancient palace, besides palace fighting, there were many such supernatural things."

I waved my hand. "Stop talking about ghosts. As a modern person, I don't believe in them. Their illness is probably caused by too much mental stress, so much so that they can hardly distinguish between reality and dreams."

Zhu Yuan looked skeptical. "What you said makes so much sense, but what are you going to do? Are you going to intervene in the Imperial Concubine's affairs?"

I sighed. "I'm a doctor who specializes in treating illnesses. If the imperial concubine truly has a psychological problem, I can only try my best to persuade her to relax and not get too nervous."

Having said that, I've actually begun to have a bold idea in my mind. Perhaps, Concubine Shen and Concubine Gui's illnesses are actually caused by some kind of psychological suggestion.

In the next few days, I continued to go back and forth to Lady Shen's bedroom. Every time I went there, Lady Shen's condition was always up and down.

Her face was still pale, and she felt dizzy and weak from time to time. She looked like she was about to be drained of energy.

"Doctor Yang..." Concubine Shen lay weakly on the bed, her voice so soft that it was almost inaudible, "Am I...about to die?"

I rolled my eyes in my heart: Why does Miss Shen predict her own death every day?

But on the surface, I still smiled and comforted her: "Don't worry, my lady, you just have insufficient energy and blood. You will be fine after a few days of recuperation."

She shook her head, her eyes filled with fear: "No... I always feel... that something is watching me in the dark."

I was stunned. "Staring at you? What?"

Lady Shen hesitated to speak, then shook her head gently. "I don't know either... but every night, I always feel a chill in the bedroom, as if there is something unclean..."

I was speechless: Why are all the people in this palace so superstitious?

"My Lady, you're experiencing hallucinations because of too much stress," I explained patiently. "You've been weak lately, and you're prone to wild thoughts. As long as you take good care of yourself, you'll naturally stop experiencing these feelings."

Lady Shen nodded, still a little worried: "Then... Doctor Yang, can you stay with me for one night?"

Accompany her? Me?! My jaw dropped. I'm a modern person who's traveled through time. How could I possibly stay with a patient overnight?

"Well..." I was just thinking about how to politely refuse when the eunuch suddenly rushed in and said in a panic, "Doctor Yang, something happened in the imperial concubine's bedroom!"

My heart sank. Something happened again? What on earth is going on in this palace? Why are there always incidents?!

When we arrived at the imperial concubine's bedroom, she was sitting by the bed, her face pale and she looked like she was seriously ill.

"Doctor Yang, please take a look at me..." Her voice was weak and trembling.

I quickly went over to check her pulse and found that while it was a little weak, there wasn't anything seriously wrong. Was she... scared?

"My queen, your pulse doesn't seem to be serious. Maybe you were frightened?" I asked cautiously.

The Imperial Concubine nodded, her eyes filled with fear: "Last night, I dreamed of that 'black shadow' again... It... It seemed to be getting closer..."

I was speechless: It was another dream! The dark figure in this dream had become big news in the palace.

"Your Majesty, this is probably caused by psychological stress from overwork these past few days." I tried my best to analyze it using modern medical thinking. "I suggest you relax and avoid excessive stress. I can prescribe some soothing herbal remedies to help you sleep."

The Imperial Concubine looked at me, half-believing and half-doubting: "Really? These dreams...are they really just because I'm too tired?"

"Of course." I nodded. "Your Majesty, think about it, what kind of 'dark shadow' could there be in this palace? This is just an illusion in your dream because you are too anxious."

The Imperial Concubine heaved a sigh of relief, as if she was truly convinced by me: "Okay, Doctor Yang, I'll do as you say."

I breathed a sigh of relief: I finally succeeded in fooling them again.

As I left the Imperial Concubine's chambers, I pondered: The conditions of Lady Shen and the Imperial Concubine are increasingly looking like psychological problems. Their illnesses seem to be related to mental stress.

Zhu Yuan appeared out of nowhere again and leaned close to my ear: "Miss Yang, do you think there really is something... unclean in this palace?"

I glared at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense! There are no ghosts in this palace! They are just scaring themselves."

Zhu Yuan scratched his head. "But I heard that recently the eunuchs in the palace also said that they saw some strange shadows at night..."

My heart tightened: No way, is there really some "supernatural event" in the palace?

But then I thought: Impossible, absolutely impossible! Someone must be behind this!

The more I thought about it, the more I felt something was wrong: there must be a secret behind this incident that I haven't discovered yet.

It seems I have to be more careful.

If there really is someone behind these ghost and god stories, then I, the "court doctor", will become the key figure.