This was ancient times.
Ye Shaohua quickly realized.
The door was shut again, and she heard the maid called “Dongxue,” who was sitting by the bed, quietly sobbing.
From the few words the wet nurse had just said, she had gathered some of the situation, so she had 008 transmit all the plot details to her.
This was a world where a woman named Liu Mingxin made her way through ancient times, rose above all the physicians in the Central Plains to become a legendary divine doctor, and even married Prince Duan—a story that spread far and wide.
The original host was also named Ye Shaohua. Her father, Ye Bozhong, was a renowned imperial physician in the Imperial Medical Academy of the Yu Dynasty.
Ye Bozhong’s fame spread across the land. With a family background like that, the original host should have lived well. But unexpectedly, her father made a misdiagnosis that nearly killed the Empress Dowager. The Emperor flew into a rage. When it was discovered that Ye Bozhong had supposedly poisoned the Empress Dowager’s medicine, he was denounced as a “quack” and the entire Ye family was beheaded in public.
Because Ye Bozhong held a death-exemption token, the original host was spared from death. Before he died, Ye Bozhong told the original host not to let the Ye family’s medical legacy die out.
The original host wanted to uncover the truth behind her father’s case. She did not want her family to die unjustly, and she wanted to clear the Ye family’s name.
However, without the guidance of her father or elders, she had to figure everything out on her own.
Fortunately, she was naturally gifted and had inherited some of Ye Bozhong’s talent. If things had continued that way, even if she could not clear her father’s name, she could still have lived a decent life.
The Ye family’s medical skills would have been passed down through her.
But—
She just had to run into the suddenly rising divine doctor Liu Mingxin. She became a stepping stone on Liu Mingxin’s path to success. In the end, she failed to carry on the Ye family legacy, and Liu Mingxin even publicly called her a harmful quack.
Not only did she fail to revive the Ye family’s name, she even ruined its reputation.
The original host was despised by everyone, and in the end, she was poisoned to death by the Demon Cult leader whom Liu Mingxin had saved.
When Ye Shaohua transmigrated over, it was right after the Ye family had been beheaded in public. The original host, heartbroken and consumed by rage, had been in a daze for over a month, surviving only on ginseng soup.
Meanwhile, Liu Mingxin’s Huichun Hall was already famous throughout Jiangnan.
“Truly miserable,” Ye Shaohua murmured.
Dongxue, who was beside her, saw that Ye Shaohua had opened her eyes and said in surprise, “Miss, you’re awake? Would you like some water?”
She bustled about and poured a cup of tea for Ye Shaohua.
Ye Shaohua leaned against the pillow and took the tea, drinking it slowly. She looked at Dongxue, who was gazing at her with joyful surprise, and sighed inwardly. This was a loyal girl. Unfortunately, in the original storyline, she had spoken up a few times in Ye Shaohua’s defense and was schemed into being sent to a brothel by Liu Mingxin.
Thinking of this, Ye Shaohua lowered her eyes and took a small sip of tea—in truth, to hide the sharpness in her gaze that did not belong to the original host.
Seeing that Ye Shaohua was silent, Dongxue assumed she was grieving, so she did not say anything more that might stir up painful memories.
“Miss, breakfast is ready.”
After resting for a day, Ye Shaohua’s energy and complexion had improved quite a bit, though her face still had that almost transparent paleness.
“The wet nurse and the others aren’t here?” Ye Shaohua looked at the breakfast that did not look very appetizing and knew that the original kitchen maid, the wet nurse, and the others had all left. Of all the servants in the Ye household, only Dongxue remained.
Dongxue looked at the breakfast she had made and lowered her head in deep shame.
Back then, the master and madam had picked her up half-dead on a snowy day. She had sworn to repay them well. Yet now that the young miss had woken up, she could not even give her a decent meal.
“It’s delicious.” Ye Shaohua finished it all.
Seeing this made Dongxue’s heart ache even more.
A knock came at the door.
Dongxue opened it and then said in pleasant surprise, “Miss, Prince Duan has come to see you!”
Ye Shaohua, dressed in plain white clothes, looked outside without any change in expression. She searched her memories and found the identity of Prince Duan.
Prince Duan’s mother had long suffered from a heart condition, and Ye Bozhong had been the one specifically treating her.
Ye Bozhong’s death actually had many hidden circumstances at court, but the implications were too great. The Emperor had no choice but to execute a physician whose death would not change the political situation much.
Prince Duan walked in and saw Ye Shaohua standing under a tree in the courtyard. Unlike the lively and clever girl he had seen before, she now carried an air of coldness.
He was somewhat taken aback, even pausing mid-step.
“Greetings, Prince Duan,” Ye Shaohua said calmly.
Prince Duan had his attendant Xiaofuzi hand over the precious medicinal herbs he had brought to Dongxue, then finally recovered himself. “I heard you were unwell, so I brought a century-old ginseng. I trust Imperial Physician Ye’s character. Miss Ye, the departed are gone—please take care of your health.”
As he spoke, he sighed.
In truth, with the Ye family’s current situation, everyone was avoiding them. He too had come only after deceiving most people.
“Thank you,” Ye Shaohua’s expression softened slightly. “How is the old princess consort’s health now?”
The old princess consort had been Ye Bozhong’s former patient. Now that Ye Bozhong was gone, if Ye Shaohua wanted to uphold the Ye family, she also needed to make sure Ye Bozhong’s former patients were well taken care of.
The original host had overlooked this, but Ye Shaohua would not.
She had not expected that after she spoke, Prince Duan would fall silent.
It was Prince Duan’s eunuch, Xiaofuzi, who spoke up. “Miss Ye, the old princess consort’s illness has already been taken over by the divine doctor Liu from Huichun Hall.”
Seeing Ye Shaohua narrow her eyes slightly, Xiaofuzi remembered that she had been unconscious for a month and did not know about this yet. He quickly explained, “Divine Doctor Liu is the resident physician at Huichun Hall on the street across from here. She only came to Jiangnan a month ago. Don’t let her youth fool you—she’s not much older than you, but she’s already a divine doctor. A few days ago, a woman had a difficult labor. The midwife said both mother and child would die. Guess what? That divine doctor Liu Mingxin actually cut open the woman’s belly and took the baby out. Both mother and child survived! A few days ago, someone even saw that woman’s family personally go to Huichun Hall to kowtow to Divine Doctor Liu. Now the common people are saying she’s a living immortal!”
Xiaofuzi was speaking when he suddenly paused and carefully glanced at Ye Shaohua.
After all, the old princess consort’s life had once been saved by Ye Bozhong.
Now that Ye Bozhong had just died, Prince Duan’s household had already found a new doctor for the old princess consort. When you heard it that way, it did carry a faint whiff of “the tea goes cold as soon as the person leaves.”
After all, the Ye family and Prince Duan’s household had over a decade of friendship…
No wonder Prince Duan did not say a word.
However, Ye Shaohua did not mind any of that. She was only thinking about what Xiaofuzi had said.
In ancient times, the mortality rate for difficult labor was indeed very high. But to cut open a pregnant woman’s belly, take the child out, and then stitch the wound closed with a needle…
Wasn’t that exactly a “C-section” from modern medicine?
In ancient times, this was an astonishing, world-shaking thing. If one was even slightly unfamiliar with human anatomy, both mother and child would die. This kind of surgery that would not appear until thousands of years later…
So, she was a transmigrator. No wonder she was so hard to deal with.
Tsk, Ye Shaohua pinched her fingers.
But it was fine. She had taken over now.
