Noble Lady

"This servant greets Miss Xue."

As soon as they met, Xiaocao bowed deeply to Xue Chenyu.

"What are you doing? You are pregnant. Get up quickly." Xue Chenyu helped the person up.

Xiaocao was not a stubborn person, so she sat down with her obediently.

"How have you been doing at the He family these past two months? Is everything okay?"

Xiao Cao stared at her intently, smiled and shook her head, then realized, "Yes, He Minzhi has returned safely. I also heard that he will be reinstated."

"I know." Xue Chenyu nodded.

Xiao Cao quickly said, "Yes, yes, Sister Su Ying has told Miss Xue, right?"

"Yeah." Xue Chenyu looked at her gently, "What about you? Did the He family give you any trouble because of me? I heard that the old lady of the He family is getting better again?"

Xiaocao's expression suddenly turned serious. "Miss, this is very strange."

Xue Chenyu only heard the word "strange" and didn't pay much attention to her name. She just asked, "What do you think is strange? Are there any clues?"

"Come to think of it, it happened last month. At that time, He Minzhi hadn't escaped from Jingzhao Prefecture Prison yet, and everyone thought his fate was sealed. The old lady was already in a bad condition, but unexpectedly, an imperial physician suddenly arrived at the house."

"As soon as he took action, the previously difficult problem that Dr. Chen had encountered was easily solved. The old lady also visibly improved."

Xue Chenyu's breath caught in her throat, as if she had vaguely grasped the tail of the conspiracy. "You, how do you know it's the imperial physician? Did that person reveal his identity and go to the He family?"

Seeing her expression change, Xiao Cao didn't dare to keep her in suspense and quickly said, "No, that man changed into ordinary cloth clothes when he came to the He family. But he forgot to change his boots."

"I saw He Minzhi wearing those boots. They were exactly the same, so I recognized them immediately."

"I remember you said, young lady, that officials' court boots are decorated with different colored piping and trimmings on the edges, according to the rank and color of the uniforms of civil and military officials, to distinguish them..."

"Third rank and above use purple piping, fifth rank and above use crimson piping, seventh rank and above use green piping, and ninth rank and above use blue piping. The boots of us common people are simpler, and there's no distinction between ranks."

Xue Chenyu was stunned and wondered when she had told Xiaocao all this.

Then she remembered something that was already very far away from her.

That was when she first married into the He family. Because they had bought a new batch of servants, as well as the He family's original servants, the staff were of varying quality.

She was only concerned about He Minzhi's official reputation and future, so she thought that at least the servants in the mansion should know how to distinguish obvious clothing such as official uniforms and court boots.

We cannot allow servants in our home to offend people who should not be offended because of some minor issues.

This is also a way of observing people's words and expressions, but it is a compulsory moment for servants in large families.

So he found an opportunity, gathered all the servants of the He family together, and gave them a good talk on what they should pay attention to.

But after He Minzhi and Liu Shi found out, He Minzhi in particular found her and scolded her in front of all the servants in the mansion.

"You've just married into the He family, and you've already revealed your true colors of being eager for quick success and instant benefits!"

"Our He family is a family of scholars and nobles. Our servants are not only well-versed in literature, but at least have been influenced by it. How could they not understand such a simple principle? Why do you have to jump up and down here to show your loyalty?"

"If your fawning face gets out, people will just laugh at me, the He family mistress, for being a narrow-minded, greedy, ignorant, and foolish woman!"

At that time, she really wanted to be a good wife and a mistress of the house. After being scolded by He Minzhi, she subconsciously reflected on whether she was too hasty.

Surrounded by so many people, he was blushing and unable to refute, so he could only leave in shame.

The matter was left unresolved after that.

I didn’t expect that Xiaocao remembered it at that time.

"He Minzhi is an editor in the Hanlin Academy, and is only of the seventh rank...." Xiaocao's voice brought Xue Chenyu back to his senses.

Xue Chenyu secretly laughed. After being scolded by He Minzhi, she actually thought that she was too hasty. How stupid.

He Minzhi has a very high opinion of himself. He thinks servants can learn without being taught. What is the difference between this and some parents who think their children can dress themselves, eat, and earn money as soon as they are born?

Well, when she thought about it, He Minzhi was simply hopelessly stupid and didn't even realize it. So she felt balanced and didn't argue with a fool.

Thinking of this, Xue Chenyu smiled and said to Xiaocao, "You have a good memory and good expression. Continue."

Xiaocao just saw Xue Chenyu's unfriendly expression, so she paused for a long time and didn't dare to continue.

After hearing what Xue Chenyu said, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that she did not say the wrong thing, nor did she remember it wrong.

She was right, and her confidence immediately grew. "He Minzhi is a seventh-rank official, and he wears the same court boots as him. That person must be at least a seventh-rank official. But if there was a fifth-rank official, he would definitely use crimson piping, not green."

Xiaocao was talking about human nature. A fifth-rank official was already unattainable for most people, and it was impossible for them to hide it and not show it off. "So, I concluded that the man was only a sixth or seventh-rank official."

"In the entire Great Sheng Dynasty, the only seventh-rank official with such superb medical skills and the ability to cure illnesses and save lives is the Imperial Physician."

Of course, the latter sentence was all her own guess, but Xiaocao quickly said other things to verify her own point of view.

"Once I had this suspicion, I watched him carefully. Doctor Yang seemed quite proud of his identity, having escaped discovery, but also felt quite regretful."

"Later, Chunhua heard him mumbling to himself while prescribing a prescription, and accidentally revealed her identity."

Xue Chenyu thought: "What did he say?"

Xiaocao glanced at Chunhua, who then took two steps forward and said, imitating the man's demeanor and tone, "It's truly a blessing for the He family to be able to hire this doctor to treat this old lady. She won't die for at least ten years."

After a pause, he looked at Xue Chenyu and continued in his own voice, "That's what that person said."

Xiaocao nodded beside her and said, "Chunhua told me the same thing when she came back that day." She was afraid that Xue Chenyu would not believe her.

"I didn't distrust Chunhua." Xue Chenyu smiled faintly, "You did a great job."

She never imagined that what she said out of concern for the He family would have such a big impact.

Ordinary imperial physicians generally do not call themselves medical officers. Medical officers in the court are a specific group of people.

Furthermore, since he cured Liu with one stroke, that medical officer surnamed Yang must be no ordinary figure. If we could confirm his identity, we might be able to follow the clues and find the master behind him.

Xiaocao immediately smiled happily, "I'm glad I can help the girl!"

Imperial physicians also had set rules for their attire. In the early Song Dynasty, following the Tang and Five Dynasties tradition, they were still permitted to wear boots in court. Civil and military officials were required to wear different colored piping and trims on their boots, based on their rank. For example, those above the third rank wore purple piping, those above the fifth rank had scarlet trimmings, those above the seventh rank had green trimmings, and those above the ninth rank had blue trimmings. Commoners wore simpler boots, regardless of rank.

这里借鉴的宋朝背景。其实读者朋友应该也发现了，这个故事虽然是架空，但蛮多地方都借鉴了宋朝的东西?1?2?6?1?5?2?7?5?5?2?6?2?3?8。