Noble Lady

"Han Hongyue didn't dare to kill me when you were here, but what if you were all gone? He has tens of thousands of troops under his command. It wouldn't be difficult for him to kill me and pin the blame on you. By then, you would have died in vain."

Moreover, the most important thing is that Han Hongyue must ensure the status of the crown prince. As long as he is alive, he is a threat to the crown prince.

Han Hongyue was not afraid to kill him, but had been waiting for a foolproof opportunity.

Situ Zhen's words touched everyone's heart.

It's not that Han Hongyue is incapable of doing such a thing.

The reason why he is besieging the valley without taking action is not because he really doesn't dare to do so, but because he is waiting for an opportunity. He will wait until they have no strength to resist and then take them down.

Marquis Xue's face darkened. "In that case, instead of waiting to die, we might as well give it a try."

……

In February, the temperature in Shengjing gradually warmed up, and after the Waking of Insects, the rain became more frequent.

There has been no news for several days from the people Madam Xue sent to the northern border. After Cai Jinxue and Xue Chenyu returned from the palace, there was no further news from His Majesty.

Now the whole mansion is in a state of gloom and sorrow.

There was a drizzle, and Xue Chenyu changed out of her thick winter clothes and put on her new willow-colored spring clothes.

She wore a fresh green chest-length skirt with a light apricot top underneath and a large-sleeved top in a slightly darker color than apricot on the outside. Her hair was simply tied up and fixed with a simple white jade hairpin.

The makeup on her face was lightly applied with powder and a touch of dimples and lipstick.

In a hazy state, she just sat by the window, watching the drizzling rain, lost in thought.

Outside the yard, Suying waded through the courtyard which was shallowly filled with rainwater with an umbrella and slowly came to the corridor.

Yuzhu, who was originally a little sad, saw that it was Suying and immediately smiled and handed her a handkerchief, saying softly, "The girl is sitting by the window."

Suying nodded, stood on the mat in front of the door for a while, letting the rain be absorbed by the mat, and then wiped the moisture off her body with the handkerchief handed to her by Yuzhu. After tidying up her appearance, she went in to see Xue Chenyu.

"girl."

Hearing the voice, Xue Chenyu slowly came back to her senses from the hazy scenery outside the window, "Su Ying is here."

"Miss, there has been some progress on the matter you asked me to investigate."

A hint of joy flashed across Xue Chenyu's brows, and she sat up straighter. "What's the good news?"

"Earlier, you asked me to investigate Imperial Physician Yang Kaitai to see if he had any connection to the Crown Prince. However, this man has no relatives or friends, no connections to any major family, and apparently, no contact with the Crown Prince at all."

Xue Chenyu listened patiently as Su Ying continued, "But I started from the events before he came to the capital and found out something quite special. Yang Kaitai was recommended to the capital."

"Recommend?" Xue Chenyu caught the key word, "Who recommended him?"

"That's the strange thing. We can't find out who recommended him." Su Ying said.

The mysterious Imperial Medical Officer, the mysterious recommender, this Yang Kaitai is truly unusual.

Imperial Medical Officer, rank seventh.

The original intention of establishing the Imperial Academy of Physicians was that the emperor wanted to recruit some medical geniuses from the public.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong, Emperor Renzong fell ill with a strange disease. The doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau were helpless, so the royal family posted an imperial decree to summon famous doctors from all over the world to treat the emperor. It was at that time that a medical genius stood out among the many doctors.

The doctor named Xie was originally an unknown rural doctor in Jiangnan. He took it as his mission to treat the people. He was proficient in medical skills, learned from the strengths of many schools, and had unique insights into difficult and complicated diseases.

After learning about the emperor's illness, he rushed to Shengjing without hesitation. At that time, medicine had not yet formed a complete system, and most doctors relied on experience and teachings from their teachers.

Although Doctor Xie is a country doctor, he has combined the strengths of many schools. He is not only good at herbal medicine, but also well versed in pulse diagnosis.

When many palace doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau were helpless, he took a unique approach and not only cured Emperor Renzong's strange disease, but also made Emperor Renzong determined to establish the Hanlin Medical Officer System.

From then on, country doctors like Doctor Xie, as long as their medical skills were good enough, could have the opportunity to serve as medical officers in the court through recommendation or passing examinations.

After two dynasties, this system has naturally been used to this day.

Many civilian medical talents have the opportunity to become medical officers, but not everyone has the opportunity to be recommended by a mysterious person.

Because the recommender must specify the name and family, those with a large family as a guarantor have a better chance of promotion. In the world of human relationships, these things cannot be avoided.

But the person who can cover up the recommender is definitely not an ordinary person.

"Are there any other useful clues?" Xue Chenyu asked.

"Yes," Su Ying replied, "After Yang Kaitai was recommended to come to the capital, he first worked as a handyman in the Imperial Hospital for half a year. Then one day, he suddenly became a Imperial Medical Officer, a position he has held until now."

Xue Chenyu knew all this, as Su Ying had reported it to her before.

Xue Chenyu looked at her without saying anything.

Su Ying quickly added, "According to the young lady's instructions, I later sent someone to Yang Kaitai's hometown."

"Yang Kaitai's hometown is in Huaiyang, only 400 miles away from Shengjing. He has returned and brought back absolutely shocking news."

"When the Queen was young, she traveled to Huaiyang and was unfortunately seriously injured. She was rescued by a village doctor and recuperated there for several months before being found by Han Hongyue, the late head of the Han family and the current General Zhenbei, and brought to the palace."

As Su Ying spoke, she took out a sachet from her bosom and handed it to Xue Chenyu with both hands.

Xue Chenyu opened the sachet, and found a folded piece of paper inside. When she unfolded it, she could see neat seal script writing about some things that happened to Queen Han when she was young in Huaiyang.

The name of Yang Kaitai, the successor of the medical clinic, was prominently listed.

But it was only limited to the fact that the queen was recuperating in the countryside, and no further information could be found.

"Suying, follow up on this clue. But be careful to be quiet and try not to be discovered."

"Understood. I will have someone follow carefully."

Xue Chenyu had a hunch that if she continued to investigate Yang Kaitai's clue, she might find an unexpected surprise.

If the former queen recommended Yang Kaitai to come to the capital to work as a medical officer just to repay him for saving her life, then there would be no need to hide it, and the identity information of the recommender could also be concealed.

There is a saying that goes, "The more you try to cover up, the more obvious it becomes," and there is also a saying that goes, "There is no silver here, but there are three hundred taels of silver." The more they try to cover up, the more it shows that there is a problem.

Xue Chenyu seemed to have seen another way out for the Marquis' Mansion, and her heart was filled with joy.

"Miss, there's one more thing. There's something going on with Sun Ping'an."

"What trouble has he made again?" Xue Chenyu said in a light tone.

Su Ying said, "Although Sun Ping'an was stripped of his official title, he was not driven out of the capital..."

"After returning to the small courtyard that Mother Xu had bought in the capital, he deliberately concealed this incident. He relied on his teaching experience at Yuelu Academy to make a fortune and even deceived several unsuspecting girls."

He won't cry until he sees the coffin.

Xue Chenyu knew what Sun Ping'an had done without even thinking. She clenched her fists and said, "Go and bring Sun Ping'an's wife from Yuelu Academy to Beijing. And by the way, give him some news about Mother Xu."

Bringing the academy principal's concubine's daughter to Beijing? That would be a big deal for Sun Ping'an.

Sooyoung almost laughed out loud, "Yes, girl."

The Imperial Academy medical officer system wasn't entirely fabricated. The Northern Song Dynasty, swayed by Emperor Taizu's coup d'état (the Chenqiao Rebellion), placed greater emphasis on civil governance, particularly medicine. Xie Tianshou, a commoner and prolific medical genius, also contributed to Emperor Renzong's establishment of the Imperial Academy medical officer system. Interested readers can learn more about him.