Travels of a Female Physician in the Ming Dynasty

To be honest, after spending so long with Zhu Yuan, I have gradually gotten used to his elusive nature and his life attitude of always looking for delicious food.

Although he is often not doing his job, he is also a rare "happy guy". At least, every time he appears, he can always make me smile in the busy medical work.

But today is different.

I had just stepped into the house and was about to have a good drink of tea when Zhu Yuan came to visit me again.

This time, he wasn't just holding a candied haws in his mouth; he was also carrying several food boxes in his hands. With an expression that said, "Great news!" on his face, he cheerfully called out to me as soon as he entered the room, "Miss Yang! Come out! Something big is happening today!"

I took a deep breath and told myself to stay calm.

Is this guy here for food again?

I turned around, resisting the urge to close the door, and asked with a smile, "What are you doing here again?"

Zhu Yuan put the food box on the table with excitement, opened the lid, and saw it was full of various cakes and snacks, red bean cakes, osmanthus sugar cakes, fried crispy pork... Just looking at them made people drool.

"Look!" He pointed excitedly at the food box. "These are all new dim sum from the Imperial Kitchen. They're in limited supply! They made a few extra today, and I had a hard time getting them. I quickly brought them here for you to try!"

I looked at the fancy snacks and my mouth twitched. "You mean, you went to the imperial kitchen specifically to grab these snacks, and then you wanted me to eat with you?"

"Robbed? Miss Yang, that's too vulgar," Zhu Yuan corrected seriously, "I cleverly used my connections to get this. This isn't an opportunity that any ordinary foodie can get!"

I sighed helplessly, thinking to myself: This isn't a network of connections, it's clearly his foodie instinct.

"Zhu Yuan, you think about eating all day long. Aren't you afraid of getting an upset stomach?" I asked in a serious tone.

Zhu Yuan smiled brightly, "Miss Yang, eating, drinking, and having fun are the true meaning of life! Besides, if I get an upset stomach, don't I still have you? You are such a great doctor, and you will definitely be able to cure any problem I have."

I rolled my eyes and said, "You wish! I don't want to treat your 'overeating' problem every day."

Zhu Yuan didn't care at all and continued with a smile: "But then again, you must be exhausted recently, right? I brought you these snacks specially to relax you and let you taste the cooking skills of the imperial kitchen."

I stared at the snacks and couldn't help asking, "Are you sure these are okay? I don't want to eat what you brought and end up having to go see a doctor myself."

Zhu Yuan nodded seriously: "Don't worry! I've tried it myself, and there's absolutely no problem. Look, I'm fine now!"

"Are you sure you're fine?" I couldn't help but jokingly ask, "Your face is full of the word 'foodie'. Eunuch Liu and the imperial chefs will probably put you on the 'blacklist' later."

Zhu Yuan laughed heartily: "Then I really have to be careful. If I'm put on the 'blacklist', I won't be able to eat good food."

I smiled helplessly, but ultimately couldn't resist his enthusiasm, so I casually picked up a piece of osmanthus sugar cake and took a bite. It tasted really good, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a light osmanthus fragrance.

"How is it? Is it delicious?" Zhu Yuan looked at me expectantly, like a child who had been successfully fed.

I nodded and said with a smile, "It's delicious. It's really good. It seems your 'connections' are really useful."

Zhu Yuan raised his eyebrows proudly: "Of course! I'm not just fooling around."

Just as I was about to continue enjoying the snacks, I suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door.

"Doctor Yang! Doctor Yang!"

My heart suddenly tightened: Here we go again! Can't the people in this palace just leave me alone?

Zhu Yuan also heard it, and immediately put down the snack in his hand and turned to look outside the door: "Oh, what happened again?"

As soon as the door opened, it was indeed the palace eunuch who ran in breathlessly: "Doctor Yang, something terrible has happened! Concubine Xu in the palace is suddenly itchy all over, and the imperial doctors are helpless. Go and take a look!"

"Itchy?" I was stunned, and then thought to myself: Could it be an allergy?

Zhu Yuan came over and raised his eyebrows: "Miss Yang, it seems you have to take action again."

I reluctantly put down the snack in my hand and grabbed the medicine box: "Let's go and take a look."

Zhu Yuan quickly followed: "I'll go too. Anyway, I haven't had anything to do recently. I want to see how you treat it this time."

Arrived at Concubine Xu's bedroom.

Concubine Xu was sitting on the bed, scratching her arm with a look of pain on her face. Her whole body was covered with red spots, and she was obviously very itchy.

The palace maids beside her were at a loss, and the imperial doctors were all frowning, not knowing what to do.

As soon as she saw me, she immediately shouted anxiously, "Doctor Yang, please save me! I'm itching so much that I'm about to scratch my skin!"

I quickly went forward to check her symptoms, and sure enough, it was not a serious illness, but just a typical allergic reaction.

These ancient people had no idea what allergens were. I'm afraid they ate something they shouldn't have.

"Empress, your symptoms seem like allergies. Have you eaten any new food recently?" I asked.

Concubine Xu frowned, as if trying to recall something. The maid beside her quickly interrupted, "Your Majesty did eat a few pieces of freshly made osmanthus cake today. The imperial chef said it was made with fresh osmanthus flowers."

I slapped my thigh in my heart, it turned out that I was allergic to osmanthus.

I smiled and quickly took out some herbs to relieve allergies from the medicine box. "Don't worry, madam. I'll prescribe some medicine for you. It will be relieved soon after drinking it. Don't eat osmanthus products in the future, and you shouldn't have this reaction again."

Concubine Xu nodded helplessly, "I see... I never thought I'd be allergic to osmanthus."

Zhu Yuan, who was standing next to me, almost burst out laughing when he heard this. He quickly covered his mouth, his face flushing red. I glared at him: "What are you laughing at?"

Zhu Yuan quickly waved his hands and pretended to be serious and said, "No, nothing, I just think that this osmanthus cake is really 'powerful'. It can make people so embarrassed after eating it."

I shook my head helplessly, thinking to myself: This guy can find something funny everywhere he goes.

After curing Concubine Xu's allergy, Zhu Yuan was still excited on the way home.

"Miss Yang, you are amazing! Other doctors were helpless, but you solved the problem in just a few seconds."

I smiled helplessly and said, "It's just a minor illness, a common allergic reaction. It's just that the people in this palace don't understand these things very well, so it looks like some kind of difficult and complicated disease."

Zhu Yuan chuckled, "If you ask me, you should open a clinic in the palace to treat these 'difficult and complicated diseases'. I guarantee you'll be busy every day."

I glared at him and said, "Are you just hoping I'll die of exhaustion? You, on the other hand, eat and drink every day and still come to join in the fun."

Zhu Yuan smiled even brighter: "How could that be? I'm just trying to cheer you up! Besides, you look pretty good when you're healing people."

I almost choked on my own saliva. "Why do you sound weird?"

Zhu Yuan said seriously, "This is the truth! I, Zhu Yuan, never tell lies."

I sighed helplessly: "Alright, alright, just focus on eating your snacks and stop causing me trouble."

Zhu Yuan laughed heartily and patted the food box beside him: "Don't worry, I've finished my snacks. I'll take you to eat something better next time!"

I smiled and shook my head: "How much more can you eat? If you keep eating like this, sooner or later I will have to treat you!"

"That's perfect!" Zhu Yuan said proudly, "With you here, I don't have to worry about eating problems!"

I couldn't help but laugh: "You are so shameless."

Zhu Yuan came over with a playful smile: "That's right! You're thick-skinned and you eat a lot!"