Transmigrated Female Official

Even at midnight, the Phoenix Palace was still brightly lit. Thunder rumbled outside, and raindrops pattered against the glazed tiles.

Several female physicians were anxiously waiting by the Empress's bedside, their expressions weary.

"My lord, how is Her Majesty?" Tonight, Ziyan was serving the Empress, his face filled with worry.

One of the female physicians bowed and replied, "This humble official has just administered acupuncture to His Majesty, which should provide some temporary relief..."

For two consecutive days, the Empress felt dizzy and unwell. However... there were no signs of poisoning or any serious illness, so the female physicians couldn't diagnose the problem and could only relieve her symptoms with acupuncture.

At this moment, the Eighth Princess's biological father, Jin Yu's male attendant, Rui'an, also rushed over upon hearing the news.

He was the only male servant to have enjoyed the Emperor's exclusive favor for half a year. His exceptionally handsome face was filled with anxiety, and there were traces of rain on his arms. Upon entering the inner palace, he forcefully shoved Ziyan aside, then knelt before the Empress's bed, his beautiful brows furrowed, and he cried out in a voice choked with sobs, "Your Majesty—"

The Empress glanced at him upon hearing the voice. He was already in his fifties, yet he was still the same as before; she truly couldn't do anything with him. "Hmm—" she murmured softly in response, then closed her eyes again.

Seeing that the Empress was listless and haggard, and that even he was too exhausted to pay attention to her, Ryan suddenly became furious and turned his anger on her, shouting, "You, Yan! Why don't you confess your crimes at once?!"

Startled by his sudden shout, Ziyan was taken aback. Completely bewildered, he quickly lowered his head and asked, "Lord Rui'an, what crime has Ziyan committed?"

Ryan glanced at Ziyan with utter disdain and scoffed, "You've only served His Majesty for a month, and you've already made him so weak! You must be an ominous person! How dare you still stay here?!" He had long disliked the Empress's new favorite, so every word he uttered was ruthless, determined to remove Ziyan, this thorn in his side, from the Empress's side in one fell swoop.

His eyes turned cold again, and without giving Ziyan a chance to breathe, he shouted, "Guards—drag him away!"

The male attendants in the outer hall hesitated, wondering whether to make a move when they heard the summons, but the Empress spoke first: "Alright!... It's not his fault." She disliked having people making noise in her ear at that moment, and her dizziness intensified slightly.

The Empress frowned, clearly impatient. Ziyan had always been dutiful and law-abiding, never deviating from the proper course of action. She knew this perfectly well.

Ryan, however, did not want to give up. He adopted a caring tone and urged, "Your Majesty! Why don't we have Lord Yu Fei take his birth date and time to calculate it? Maybe he really is incompatible with Your Majesty?" On the surface, every word he said was for the Empress's sake.

"..." Seeing that Rui'an's entanglement had some merit, the Empress finally acquiesced.

"Your Majesty?" Ziyan's expression darkened as he looked at the Empress with disbelief and unease.

The Empress sighed softly, "You should go back to the West Warm Pavilion first." She really didn't have the energy to protect him right now, and besides, divining wasn't really a punishment.

"Until Lord Yu divines the outcome, you are not allowed to serve him again!" Having succeeded, Rui'an uttered these words fiercely once more, then ordered Ziyan to be driven out of the Phoenix Palace...

The newly favored concubine, who had only enjoyed the emperor's favor for a few days, was suddenly banished from the palace.

This was unprecedented; such a massive gossip, like a raging storm, quickly engulfed every corner of the palace.

……

At noon on the second day, inside Guangrentang.

Ji Jie was extremely uncomfortable, so she specially sought out Chu Qingluo, hoping that her intelligence and talent could help her solve her problems.

"None of these physicians are reliable. None of them can share the Emperor's burdens. If this continues, I will be dragged down by them sooner or later!"

Logically speaking, if the medical officer was unprofessional, Ji Jie shouldn't be implicated...

Seeing Chu Qingluo's puzzled expression, Ji Jie explained helplessly, "The entry of female physicians into the court is different from that of us female officials. They do not need to go through Mingshuang Hall. Instead, they are reviewed and approved by Wu Lian, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and me."

The unified examination for female officials was conducted by Mingshuang Hall, while the examination for female physicians was conducted by Guangrentang Hall. Furthermore, there was no fixed examination time or number of examinees; everything was controlled by Ji Jie. Chu Qingluo was well aware of this.

What puzzled her was... why was Ji Jie so anxious? Could it be that she had received a lot of benefits from the female physician? Had she given her preferential treatment or opened doors for her? ...

She dared to desecrate such a sacred profession as a physician; truly, those who do many evil deeds will surely perish!

Chu Qingluo silently thought he deserved it, but on the other hand, she was worried about Ziyan, who was being implicated in this matter. But people in ancient times were deeply superstitious. If Yu Fei, a second-rank priest, made a distorted divination… and concluded that Ziyan was destined to bring misfortune to the Empress, wouldn't his own life be in danger?

Ziyan becoming a male servant was somewhat related to her. If what lay ahead was truly a pit of fire, and she was the one who pushed him into it... she absolutely could not accept such an ending!

But... how can I help him?

"What exactly are His Majesty's symptoms?" Although there is no good solution, we must find out first.

"He said he felt dizzy, depressed, and uncomfortable, and couldn't even sleep soundly."

Chu Qingluo naturally couldn't figure out what kind of illness it was, but seeing the words "come up with a plan!" written all over Ji Jie's face, she quickly racked her brains and said, "My lord, why don't we go outside the palace and find another good doctor?"

"Foolish! What if the doctors outside the palace cure His Majesty's illness? What would that mean? That the palace physicians are a bunch of useless fools? Wouldn't that be a slap in my own face?" After saying that, she glared at Chu Qingluo with displeasure: "I wanted you to come up with an idea, but you gave me a terrible one! Where did your cleverness go?!"

Even at this point, he still prioritizes his own interests. Truly, it's a case of "I'd rather the emperor die than let my minister live to a ripe old age"... What a corrupt official!

“What if…” Ji Jie suddenly had a flash of inspiration: “Maybe it’s not some intractable disease, but rather that he’s been cursed by that male servant named Ziyan?” As long as Yu Fei’s divination result showed this, then it wouldn’t be related to her at all.

What troubled her was how to win over Yu Fei, who was so stubborn and unyielding.

Seeing the glint of malice in Ji Jie's eyes, Chu Qingluo knew without guessing that she was plotting something... She cursed inwardly: You deserve to be torn to pieces! A black-hearted old fox, so vicious!

But on the surface, they still had to continue to deal with her: "But has Your Excellency considered that even without Lord Ziyan, His Majesty would still be suffering from unbearable headaches? What should be done then?"

“This…” Ji Jie hesitated again after hearing what Chu Qingluo said.

Taking advantage of Ji Jie's hesitation, Chu Qingluo continued, "Therefore, the key issue is how to cure His Majesty's dizziness." But then, remembering that Ji Jie refused to hire a doctor from outside the palace, she added, "Since ancient times, renowned physicians have always possessed extraordinary skills and lived in seclusion in the city. If a male doctor from outside the palace could truly cure His Majesty's illness... His Majesty would not pursue the matter; on the contrary, he would praise you, sir, for your tireless efforts in running around for this." She emphasized the word "male."

Since even the most skilled male physicians cannot become officials in the imperial court, Ji Jie doesn't need to worry about being outmatched by the female physicians. This is exactly what Chu Qingluo meant.

"What you say makes a lot of sense, but His Majesty has never summoned a male physician..."

"..." Oh my, that's really strange. In such an open-minded Chinese society, would there still be any taboo against male doctors? Chu Qingluo secretly rolled her eyes: "How would you know if you haven't tried it yourself?"

Ji Jie sighed and pondered for at least a quarter of an hour before deciding, "I will personally go out of the palace to invite them now. The affairs of Guangrentang will be handled by Li Yan... If there is anything important, tell her to wait for me to return to make a decision, understand?"

Ji Jie asked Chu Qingluo for help mainly because she thought Chu Qingluo had a lot of clever ideas and a quick wit, but when it came to matters big and small at Guangrentang, she still relied more on Li Yan, who had been working at Guangrentang for many years.

"Understood, sir." Chu Qingluo nodded obediently. Ji Jie had been persuaded and should not have any more wicked ideas to harm Ziyan for the time being, so she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

As Ji Jie walked out, she muttered to herself, "Looks like the matter of inviting the Fifth Prince to the gate is going to be delayed again, really—"

Finally, having gotten rid of this difficult person, Chu Qingluo could refocus. Even if she had to rack her brains, she had to come up with various ways for Ziyan to save himself...