The room finally fell silent.
The Emperor softly clapped his hands and rose to his feet.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty,” Cai Zhong choked out.
“Want to take a look?” the Emperor asked him.
Cai Zhong, his face pale, shook his head.
“Your Majesty, it’s all blood and knives—inauspicious…” Cai Zhong whispered tremulously.
“Look how scared you are.
Aren't the things your subordinates do much scarier than this?” the Emperor chuckled.
Cai Zhong raised a hand to wipe his sweat and swallowed hard.
The deeds done by the Emperor’s secret guards and spies were certainly varied in their methods; there was nothing they couldn't accomplish if you could think of it.
“I didn’t see it with my own eyes, after all…” he muttered under his breath.
The Emperor just laughed.
“So, you saw everything just now?” he asked softly, turning sideways.
Cai Zhong froze for a moment.
“Didn’t Your Majesty see?” he asked haltingly.
The Emperor smiled faintly.
“What I saw is quite different from what you all saw.” He spoke, his gaze sweeping back over the scene.
A disciple was reaching out to wipe the sweat from the woman’s brow.
The woman tilted her head up slightly, allowing the disciple to clean more thoroughly.
Her head and face were wrapped, revealing only half her forehead, a pair of eyes, and the bridge of her nose—the woman looked completely different from her usual self.
Following the Emperor’s gaze, Cai Zhong finally understood.
“His Majesty is indeed clever…” he couldn't help but laugh.
The Emperor also smiled, watching the woman finish wiping her sweat before lowering her head again.
The Emperor hesitated.
Was it really that terrifying?
He had seen pigs and cattle slaughtered; he had observed brawls.
Blood and wounds were just...
well, just what they were.
His gaze drifted from the woman’s face to her arm, then down to her hands… those hands reaching into a person’s abdomen… two strange iron clamps pried open the wound in the belly, exposing what lay within… The Emperor turned his head abruptly, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Oh, oh, I found it.” Qi Yue announced, reaching out.
A nearby disciple handed her forceps.
“Let me see, let me see.” Zhou Maochun was the first to step forward, but A Ru stopped him.
“Old Master, please wait a moment longer.” She said quietly, “No unauthorized personnel are allowed near the operating table.” Since he was not an assistant, Zhou Maochun, although permitted a close view, couldn't see to his satisfaction.
His hands were itching terribly to participate, but there was nothing he could do; since he had never assisted in an operation, Qi Yue absolutely forbade him from helping, not even in retraction.
“Retraction?
When I first started surgery, I watched for a whole year and only got to lay down the sterile sheets,” Qi Yue laughed.
“It’s impossible now; I can’t be that strict, or I’d have to perform this entire procedure alone…” As she spoke, she clamped out a piece of bone and placed it on a nearby porcelain dish.
It made a crisp clinking sound.
“A free-floating bone found in the abdominal cavity…” Qi Yue stated.
A Ru glanced at the bone and immediately began taking notes.
“…V-shaped, arms approximately 3cm and 2cm long…” Qi Yue continued, looking again at the bone, then giving Old Doctor An a thumbs-up.
“Impressive!” Old Doctor An laughed, feeling the tension in his heart ease slightly for the first time.
After suturing the final stitch, Liu Pucheng cut the thread with scissors, applied medicine, and bandaged the site.
Another disciple was already tidying up the records and checking all the instruments.
Qi Yue was no longer concerned with these matters.
She shook her stiff neck and glanced at the blood pressure monitor.
“Surgery complete.” She announced.
The disciples responded in unison with an affirmative cry, followed by, “You’ve worked hard.” Qi Yue shook her head while looking at the bone in the dish.
“What bone is this?” she asked.
“A chicken bone.” Zhou Maochun glanced at the Little Prince Sima, who was still under anesthesia, and muttered, “He’s so old already, eating so hastily; be careful you don’t end up becoming a dead horse for real.” Qi Yue smiled and reached for the dish.
“Let them see it.” She said, turning and walking a few steps, then pausing, looking at the surprised faces in the main hall.
Huh?
Everyone had run off!
As night descended, the Imperial Palace was dotted with lights resembling scattered stars.
The Empress Dowager was fed a couple of mouthfuls of ginseng soup by a palace maid and slowly regained her composure.
“Mother, how are you?
Do you still need the imperial physicians…” the Emperor asked solicitously from the side.
The Empress Dowager’s face turned pale again.
“Don’t mention that word to me again.” She said.
“Which word?” the Emperor asked, confused.
The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them, looking around.
The surrounding palace maids and female officials stood in a dense crowd, the hall brightly lit and full of life.
Only then did the Empress Dowager sigh in relief and lean back against her bolster.
“I am fine, Your Majesty need not worry.” She said.
A eunuch entered from outside at that moment.
“Your Majesty.” He said in a high, thin voice, “The imperial physician asks, where should the chicken bone removed from Little Prince Sima’s belly be sent?” Belly… removed… bone… The terrifying scene flashed before the Empress Dowager’s eyes again.
She reached up to clutch her chest, and a nearby maid quickly held out a basin; the Empress Dowager gagged violently.
“Get out, quickly!” the Emperor roared in anger.
The little eunuch scrambled out instantly.
The Emperor called for the imperial physicians, then urged the female doctors in the palace to come.
Hearing the word 'female doctor,' the terrifying image of that woman—the one in white, holding a knife—flashed before the Empress Dowager’s eyes again!
The commoner’s medical skills are not suitable for treating noble persons in the palace, the woman had said calmly.
At the time, it sounded utterly irritating; now, it was even more detestable!
Mingled with the disgust was terror!
How could such a woman exist!
How could such a doctor exist!
How could such terrifying medical skill exist!
She understood now; she knew; she realized.
“Send her away, send her away!
Do not let her step foot in the palace again!
Do not let her step foot in the palace again!” The Empress Dowager seized the Emperor’s sleeve and shouted loudly.
As they left the Empress Dowager’s palace gates, a night breeze had picked up.
The Emperor paused, looking at the brightly lit palace complex, and couldn't help but smile.
“Assign an imperial physician to wait here; Mother probably won’t sleep well for a few days.” He remarked.
“It’s not just the Empress Dowager; probably all the consorts in the palace won't sleep well,” Cai Zhong observed.
Saying this, he couldn't help but laugh again.
“But, the consorts didn't ask for the imperial physicians,” he continued.
The consorts, who usually made a fuss if they ate one grain less than usual and demanded the entire Imperial Hospital be brought over to inform the Emperor, this time—whether they had fainted or vomited bile—none of them mentioned calling for an imperial physician.
“They just requested extra candles and incense from the storeroom.” Cai Zhong finished his report.
The Emperor couldn't help but laugh, but quickly suppressed it.
His gaze swept over the surroundings; the layered palaces did indeed look much brighter than usual.
A eunuch approached them.
“Your Majesty, the Jingren Palace is ready; Lady Qi says she can move at any time.” He stated after bowing.
The Emperor smiled.
“No need to move them; let them stay where they are.
Mother likely won’t ever set foot in Jingren Palace again in her life.” He said, waving his hand.
He started walking forward, the night wind lifting the corner of his robe.
Noticing the Emperor was heading in the wrong direction, Cai Zhong couldn't help but remind him that it was getting late.
“Little Sima is in this state, and you still expect to sleep?” the Emperor frowned.
Cai Zhong lowered his head, stifling a laugh.
Little Sima’s state wouldn’t stop the Emperor from sleeping.
He merely wanted to go see someone.
Did he have to phrase it like that?
As they approached, that woman was standing outside the Jingren Palace.
The lights here were the same as always, neither amplified nor brightened; a soft, gentle light mingled with the starlight illuminated the woman who was speaking with several eunuchs.
In the shadows, the Emperor could see the woman handing some money to the eunuchs.
He scoffed softly.
“Lady Qi certainly has money,” he remarked.
Cai Zhong let out a low exclamation and quickened his pace.
The people over there were startled and only then realized the Emperor was approaching, hurriedly bowing.
“What do you want?” the Emperor asked directly, watching the woman hide something behind her back.
“Nothing much.” Qi Yue knew she had been discovered.
She simply smiled and said, “Your Majesty, this commoner merely wanted to trouble these gentlemen eunuchs to run a few errands.” The Emperor smiled and walked toward the palace gate.
Cai Zhong coughed lightly.
Qi Yue looked at him.
Cai Zhong shook his head at her.
Qi Yue understood immediately and hurried to follow the Emperor.
But Cai Zhong did not follow; instead, he stood at the palace entrance, watching the eunuchs begin to receive instructions.
“Your Majesty, this commoner wishes to send word home to report that we are safe, so they don't worry,” Qi Yue explained.
The Emperor had already ascended a few steps, then looked down at her over his shoulder.
“What is there to worry about?
Isn’t it just treating an illness?” he asked.
Qi Yue smiled, rubbing her hands together.
“I don’t know why, but every time this commoner treats someone, it turns into… well, something quite intense.” She said.
“What is ‘intense’?” the Emperor asked.
“It’s just… quite frightening.” Qi Yue replied.
This time, the Emperor couldn't help but burst out laughing.
“It was indeed quite frightening,” he conceded, turning and continuing his steps.
Qi Yue quickly followed.
“But I truly meant no harm,” she said.
“It’s just that my specialty is like this; surgery always looks terrifying.” “So, this is why you said you weren’t suitable to be a female doctor in the palace?” the Emperor asked, turning his head.
Qi Yue nodded.
“Your Majesty, I know your bodies, skin, and hair are incomparably precious.
I specialize in external injuries, severe trauma, or internal organ exploration.
Firstly, Your Majesty and the Consorts would rarely suffer such injuries, and secondly, operating on your skin would be an immense disrespect to you both.” She said, lowering her head.
She thought of that concubine in the Residence of Marquis Dingxi, who would rather die than undergo a Caesarean section.
The Imperial Palace was far more noble than the Marquis's Residence, and these consorts infinitely more noble than that minor concubine.
But they were all women, all relying on their beauty; if a scar were left on their skin, the choice for them all would likely be the same.
They would rather die than be disfigured.
Her medical skills were only truly useful when applied to those who wished to live, those who demanded survival no matter what.
Therefore, this time, everyone in the palace would understand that she didn't need to be this ‘female doctor’ after all.
A hint of joy crossed Qi Yue’s face as she looked up at the Emperor ahead of her.
The Emperor was turning back to look at her.
“Are you going to send word of safety to the Chen family?” the Emperor inquired.
Had the topic shifted?
Or had it circled back to the initial subject?
Qi Yue blinked, then quickly nodded.
The Emperor hummed and turned his head.
“Is there anyone else you need to inform?” he suddenly turned back to ask.
Qi Yue blinked her eyes.
“Yes.” She nodded without hesitation and said, “Chang Yuncheng of the Residence of Marquis Dingxi; this commoner also boldly requests Your Majesty instruct the eunuchs to pass on word.” Saying this, she bowed with a cheerful smile.
The Emperor looked at her.
“Shall I invite them in to witness it firsthand?” he asked.
Qi Yue’s eyes lit up.
“May I?” she asked.
“You may not.” The Emperor stated, then turned and stepped into the hall.
Qi Yue was left speechless by his response.
You may not!
Why ask then!
Ah, the update schedule is: if there is only one update today, tomorrow’s update will be at 8 AM; if there are two updates today, tomorrow’s update will be after noon; if there is an update in the morning, there might be a second update in the afternoon; if there is an update at noon, there will be no second update today.