Consort Xian had noticed earlier that Chu Yunmo had brought a pretty young woman with him, but she hadn’t paid much attention.
Over the past few years, she had seen through people’s hearts and lost the arrogance she’d had when she first entered the palace. Seeing Ye Shaohua, she shook her head. “I know my own illness. This long journey has been hard on me—I’m afraid I won’t make it through. In the past, only Imperial Physician Ye could ease it a little. Now that Divine Doctor Liu’s heart-saving pill would help somewhat, it’s just a pity…”
But before Consort Xian could finish, she was interrupted by her son.
When Sikong Mingchen saw Ye Shaohua, his eyes lit up. He sprang to his feet and grabbed her clothes. “Miss Ye, please save my mother! No matter the outcome, I will do my utmost to clear Imperial Physician Ye’s name!”
The moment he touched the hem of Ye Shaohua’s clothes, Chu Yunmo quietly brushed his hand away.
“All right,” Ye Shaohua said. She hadn’t expected Sikong Mingchen to help her, but with his help, some of her plans could be carried out more smoothly. “It’s not time yet. I’ll come here at midnight tonight.”
“No need…” Hearing Sikong Mingchen call her “Miss Ye” and mention Imperial Physician Ye’s name, Consort Xian began to guess at Ye Shaohua’s identity.
She had naturally seen Ye Shaohua at the Empress Dowager’s side a few years ago.
But the girl had still been a child then, and after several years, the changes were naturally great—no wonder she hadn’t recognized her.
There was another reason too: after this great upheaval, the Ye family’s orphan girl had become much more composed. You couldn’t tell that the person before her was the lively, lovely Miss Ye of the past.
Although she knew Ye Shaohua, she truly had no confidence in her medical skills.
She didn’t mean to discourage Ye Shaohua—it was just that she had suffered too many disappointments over the years, and now that the Duan Prince Manor had monopolized the heart-saving pills, she had fallen into a massive debt as well.
But the three people in the room had no intention of considering her opinion at all.
Her own son was already bustling about behind the girl, trotting after her and asking what she needed prepared.
Even…
Consort Xian glanced at Chu Yunmo with trepidation. Even he seemed very familiar with the girl, which left Consort Xian somewhat shocked.
In the end, she didn’t speak up to stop them. Forget it—let these three children make a fuss. So many years had passed anyway; one more time wouldn’t make a difference. She sighed and said to the palace maid beside her, “Let them be. It’s still uncertain whether I’ll even live to return to the palace.”
Hearing this, the palace maid’s eyes filled with tears.
**
Meanwhile, the old princess consort of the Duan Prince Manor was overjoyed.
She and Consort Xian had been rivals since their days in the boudoir. Who would have thought that one day her rival would come begging to her?
But the old princess consort wasn’t afraid of Consort Xian as she was now.
Her son was already a good-for-nothing, and although their Duan Prince Manor was now despised by the Emperor, with Sikong Mingxuan and Liu Lin around, their situation was much better than Consort Xian’s.
“But if we don’t let Miss Liu give her the heart-saving pill and something happens to Consort Xian, and she blames our Duan Prince Manor, what then?” the old nanny asked worriedly.
The old princess consort skimmed the foam off her tea with the lid. Hearing this, she said carelessly, “You don’t know—that son of Consort Xian’s will never have heirs in his lifetime. The throne will never pass to him.”
“Pick on the softest persimmon”—the old princess consort knew this principle all too well.
Thinking of this, she suddenly remembered what Consort Xian had said and summoned Sikong Mingxuan and Liu Mingxin.
“Consort Xian said the Emperor is looking for a divine doctor for the Empress Dowager,” the old princess consort said, looking at Liu Mingxin. “She said she came this time to take you into the palace to treat the Emperor. You are our Jiangnan’s number one divine doctor—whatever you do, don’t lose face for our Jiangnan Prefecture.”
Hearing this, Liu Mingxin was tempted.
She now had money and influence; the only thing she lacked was power. If she could cure the Empress Dowager and gain the Emperor’s protection, along with the money house and the Wunian Sect, she would have reached the pinnacle of this world.
The more she thought about it, the more excited Liu Mingxin became.
And the old princess consort was equally restless inside. Liu Mingxin would be her son’s principal wife. If she cured the Empress Dowager, wouldn’t the Emperor, pleased, release them back to the capital?
Ye Shaohua had no idea about the schemes brewing in the hearts of the Duan Prince Manor people.
She was preparing for the evening’s acupuncture.
The Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles—this type of acupuncture was not like the Nine Yin-Yang Needles; it was very strange and uncanny.
It could only be performed during a yin hour, which was why Ye Shaohua had chosen midnight.
Consort Xian sat in her chair. Because of the angina, she couldn’t sleep for a while, so she could only lean against the back of the chair while the palace maid stood beside her, gently rubbing her back to ease her breathing.
But there was a hint of despair in Consort Xian’s eyes. She had a premonition that she might not make it through this period.
She thought of when she first entered the palace—the Luohua Palace was magnificent and glorious, and as the first among the four consorts, how splendid her life had been.
But now…
She was nothing but a phoenix fallen to the ground.
Ye Shaohua had already inserted a needle into the back of Consort Xian’s neck. Each needle she placed was done with the utmost solemnity.
Both Chu Yunmo and Sikong Mingchen naturally noticed that the acupuncture Ye Shaohua was performing this time was different from last time—it must be another set of needle techniques. Though puzzled, they didn’t ask.
Because with every needle Ye Shaohua placed, the sweat on her forehead deepened.
One could imagine just how difficult this acupuncture was.
Consort Xian, who had been letting her thoughts wander at first, felt a warm current appear in her body. The feeling of angina slowly disappeared, and she felt as if she were floating on clouds, her body light and airy. Before long, she—who usually had trouble sleeping—had actually fallen asleep just like that.
The next morning, Consort Xian opened her eyes and noticed something different from usual.
In the past, because of her angina, she would feel palpitations every morning when she woke.
But today there were none. Not only that, but her headaches were gone too. If not for her memories, she would have suspected she had switched bodies.
The palace maid attending Consort Xian saw that she had gotten up on her own and that her complexion was excellent.
She couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed, unable to believe what she was seeing.
She stood at the door for quite a while before coming to her senses. “My lady, you’re well?”
The courtyard was small, and hearing the maid’s voice, Sikong Mingchen ran over too. Seeing his mother looking fresh and spirited, he was overjoyed beyond words. “I knew Little Divine Doctor Ye could cure you! But she said you still need four more sessions of acupuncture to fully recover.”
Being able to ease her angina was already good enough—and she could actually be fully cured?
Yesterday, Consort Xian had had no trust in Ye Shaohua at all, but waking up today, she knew she had been a frog at the bottom of a well.
Thinking of how the old Duan princess consort had acted yesterday, Consort Xian suddenly spoke. “Chen’er, your father sent me this time to find a famous doctor. What do you think of Little Divine Doctor Ye?”
She still remembered that the old Duan prince had been saved by Imperial Physician Ye himself.
Without Imperial Physician Ye, who knew whether the Duan Prince Manor would even still exist.
But now Imperial Physician Ye had run into trouble, and Ye Shaohua was living here alone. The Duan princess consort hadn’t even mentioned her—in fact, she spoke very favorably of Liu Mingxin.
Consort Xian couldn’t help but wonder: what would the old princess consort think if she knew that this orphan girl of the Ye family had inherited two great acupuncture techniques that no one had mastered in hundreds of years?
