Wang Daxia was like a child who exploited his illness to make endless demands, crying for candy. Children who knew how to act spoiled got candy, and Wei Caiwei, considering his injury, basically satisfied his requests.
Wang Daxia’s days during his illness were simply perfect—as happy as a god—if only Wei Caiwei hadn’t split her attention to care for Ding Wu as well.
Ding Wu woke up the afternoon of the second day with a swollen, painful throat, unable to speak. However, Wei Caiwei had lived with him for ten years and understood his meaning through eye contact and gestures. She said, “Your father is fine. The news of your kidnapping did reach him, but being suspicious by nature, he didn’t believe it.”
Being suspicious was good—suspicion could save lives.
Hearing his father was safe, Ding Wu relaxed and fainted again.
Besides dealing with the spoiled Wang Daxia, Wei Caiwei was treating Ding Wu. By the fifth day, Ding Wu could speak, though his voice was hoarse, and he could walk slowly with the cane Wang Daxia had given to Wei Caiwei.
He was originally a clerk who worked at a desk and knew no martial arts. At most, he might kill a chicken for cooking. After being tortured by the waterwheel, his originally healthy body had become thin and weak. Wearing a blue cloth robe and leaning on the cane, he walked like a willow swaying in the wind or Xi Shi suffering from illness.
Seeing the cane he had personally made in Ding Wu’s hands, Wang Daxia felt both proud and jealous. “I made that.”
Ding Wu said hoarsely, “It’s very useful.”
Wang Daxia reminded him, “I gave it to Doctor Wei.” Not to you.
Ding Wu said, “Then it must be her treasured possession, or she wouldn’t have given it to me to use.”
This response left Wang Daxia unsure whether to be happy or unhappy.
Ding Wu said, “Thank you for saving me.”
Wang Daxia scratched the back of his head embarrassedly. “I was just following orders. It was Commander Lu who saw through the deception with her sharp eyes, tracked you down all the way. I just provided some brute force.”
Ding Wu looked at his arm. “You were injured too.”
Wang Daxia couldn’t appear weak in front of Ding Wu. “Just a burn. Doctor Wei’s medical skills are excellent—it’s already starting to scab over. Actually, I could go back to work, but it’s so hot that I don’t want to get up early every day for roll call. So I’m pretending it’s serious to rest a few more days—preferably until this summer passes. When it’s hot, I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to stay indoors, enjoy the cool air, sleep, and eat watermelon.”
Ding Wu was struck silent by Wang Daxia’s “grand ambitions.” He had wanted to praise him properly, but with Wang Daxia being lazy, food-loving, and heat-averse, he didn’t know where to begin praising. He could only say, “At such a young age, you’re already indifferent to fame and fortune, seeking tranquility to achieve your goals.”
Wang Daxia chuckled, “Well, I get the same salary whether I work or not.”
At this moment, Lu Ying approached silently. Hearing Wang Daxia’s words, the temperature seemed to drop on the spot. Ding Wu frantically winked at Wang Daxia. “During illness, you should rest well. Only by recovering your health can you avoid delaying work.”
Wang Daxia shook his arm. “It’s fine, I’m tough. It’s actually mostly healed. I just want to rest a few more days, get a bit more medical compensation. The food during illness is different—it’s specially prepared, delicious and nourishing. No need to eat from the communal kitchen. Look, I’ve even gained a ring of fat around my waist recently.”
Ding Wu looked at Lu Ying’s increasingly dark expression and gave Wang Daxia a look of “caring for the intellectually disabled” sympathy.
Lu Ying said, “Is that so? Since you’re better, start working from tomorrow then.”
Hearing the voice behind him, Wang Daxia’s mind went blank with a buzz. Only then did he understand the intent behind Ding Wu’s earlier words. He slowly turned around, forcing a smile:
“How could it be that fast? Doctor Wei said burns are the hardest to heal, especially in summer. If sweat flows onto it and contaminates the wound, it could relapse repeatedly. Only when the scab falls off naturally can it be considered fully healed.”
Wei Caiwei came out carrying Ding Wu’s medicine. “Drink this.”
Ding Wu drank the medicine and took some preserved fruit from the plate to suck on. Wei Caiwei was about to take the plate back when Wang Daxia grabbed a handful of preserved fruit and put it in his mouth—he had just finished lunch and come to stroll under the cool grape arbor. He didn’t want preserved fruit; he just couldn’t stand that Wei Caiwei only brought medicine to Ding Wu.
Wang Daxia asked, “Where’s my medicine?”
Wei Caiwei reminded him, “You haven’t taken oral medicine for three days now. You only need external application.”
Wang Daxia slapped his forehead. “Oh, I remember now.”
Lu Ying was already beyond frustrated with this subordinate. “Your father sent Commander Mu to ask why you haven’t been home this whole time without even sending word. I told him you were away on a distant assignment and would return in about half a month. But seeing how you’ve gained a ring of fat around your waist, you should be fine by tomorrow.”
“I won’t be fine tomorrow. Let me rest another half month.” Wang Daxia looked at Wei Caiwei like grasping a lifeline. “We should follow medical advice. Whenever Doctor Wei says I can work, I’ll start showing up for roll call.”
Recently, Wang Daxia had been spoiled and demanding, like a troublesome little sprite. Wei Caiwei’s feelings were complex—sometimes pitying, sometimes annoyed. She wanted to immediately kick him out to work for some peace and quiet, but seeing Wang Daxia’s pleading eyes, she abandoned her medical principles. “About ten more days, I suppose.”
Wang Daxia said smugly, “Commander Lu, see? I wasn’t lying. The doctor has spoken.”
Wei Caiwei hadn’t expected to indulge him, spoil him, and even help him cheat for sick leave.
If I had known this would happen, I would have—actually, I probably would have made the same choice.
Wei Caiwei sighed deeply: When will he finally grow up and become less troublesome?
Lu Ying couldn’t be bothered with him and asked Ding Wu, “Are you feeling better today?”
Ding Wu couldn’t stand for long and sat in a chair under the grape arbor, leaning on his cane. “Much better than yesterday. I should recover in about a month. I’ll return to Tieling then. The journey is long—by the time I get back to Tieling, it will probably be snowing. If I delay further and heavy snow blocks the roads, travel will be difficult.”
Ding Wu had originally planned to leave a few days ago, but the kidnapping had disrupted his scheduled departure.
Lu Ying said, “Focus on recovering first. Don’t worry about travel plans. My father is still concerned about Minister Yan’s side. You’re safe at Jinyiwei headquarters. Tieling is far away—if anything happens there, we’d be powerless to help.”
Ding Wu stood up with his cane. “This commoner will follow Commander Lu’s arrangements entirely.”
Wang Daxia quickly asked, “Will Minister Yan really let this go? I don’t believe it either. It’s fine for me to recover at Jinyiwei, but my father knows nothing about my offending Minister Yan. What if Minister Yan goes after my father?”
When Minister Yan got vicious, he would destroy entire families.
Lu Ying said, “I don’t know either at the moment. My father has people watching anyway.”
With Lu Bing as his backing, Wang Daxia felt reassured—he was naturally carefree, and Lu Ying’s single sentence made all his worries evaporate.
After chatting for a while, the four dispersed. Lu Ying continued with her duties, Wang Daxia returned to his room for an afternoon nap—he would sleep until almost dinner time—and Wei Caiwei escorted the cane-dependent Ding Wu back to his room to rest.
Ding Wu lay on the daybed while Wei Caiwei performed acupuncture to clear his meridians. Ding Wu hesitated before finally asking in a low voice, “That Commander Lu… is a girl, right?”
Wei Caiwei was so startled she nearly inserted the needle in the wrong acupoint. “You… how do you know?”
Hearing Wei Caiwei’s reaction, Ding Wu immediately confirmed his judgment. “That night when she rescued me from Goldfish Pool, I had no strength and couldn’t breathe. She… gave me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. And later when I couldn’t walk, she basically carried me, and most of my body leaned against hers. I touched her… chest. That wasn’t a boy’s chest.”
“My mind was intermittent then, so I thought it was a hallucination. But these past few days, she often visits me. Even in this hot weather, she wears high collars so you can’t see her throat clearly. But listening to her voice… at her age, it should have changed, but it hasn’t. She still has that androgynous voice of a young boy. So I think she must be disguised as a man.”
Wei Caiwei said, “She’s the fourth miss of the Lu family, not an illegitimate son. Even Wang Daxia doesn’t know this—just pretend you don’t know either.”
Ding Wu recalled Wang Daxia’s “brilliant” performance under the grape arbor. “It would be strange if Wang Daxia knew. He’s probably the last person in Jinyiwei who would learn the truth.”
Wei Caiwei silently agreed with Ding Wu’s assessment—it was quite likely.
Fortunately, Ding Wu didn’t take Wang Daxia seriously. “In that case, I was improper.” Both kissing and embracing—Ding Wu had never been so intimate with a woman.
Wei Caiwei said, “You didn’t do it on purpose, and Commander Lu didn’t take it to heart. She was only thinking about saving you. You must never let on that you know she’s a woman. Just treat her as a man—this is a secret.”
Ding Wu made a sound of understanding. “I see. But since we’ve had physical contact, I can’t ignore the fact that she’s a woman. I must strictly observe the propriety between men and women, which might be hard to conceal.”
“What can be done about it?” Wei Caiwei said. “Are you planning to pledge yourself to her in marriage?”
Ding Wu quickly said, “How could that be possible? I’m just an exiled commoner, while she’s a daughter of a prestigious Beijing family.”
More than that—there was his mother’s tragic death. Now, to deal with Yan Shifan’s threats, he and his father had to set aside their past integrity and form a fragile alliance with Lu Bing. But this didn’t mean the Ding and Lu families had made peace.
Thinking of this, Ding Wu said, “I’ll try to ignore her feminine identity and treat her as a man.”
However, why did his heart feel so empty? Ding Wu tried not to think about Lu Ying, deliberately changing the subject to Wang Daxia. “That Wang Daxia is quite interesting—both righteous and roguish. Usually unreliable, but dependable at crucial moments.”
Wei Caiwei continued the acupuncture treatment for Ding Wu. “No one is perfect.”
Ding Wu said, “You care about him quite a bit.”
Wei Caiwei felt guilty, afraid Ding Wu would see that her intentions toward Wang Daxia weren’t pure. “He’s a half-grown boy who can’t take care of himself. I’m just being kind to him.”
After Ding Wu rested, one of Lu Bing’s trusted men came to request Wei Caiwei, saying Lu Bing had business with her.
Wei Caiwei went to see Lu Bing, who gave her a blank roster with spaces for name, age, place of origin, medical specialties, and so on.
“This…” Wei Caiwei was puzzled.
Lu Bing said, “Female physicians for the inner palace are all recruited from among the people. First, local government offices recommend female physicians proficient in pulse diagnosis, filling out rosters, then sending them to the Directorate of Ceremonial. After examination by imperial physicians, those who pass have their names registered in the inner palace for future summons (Note 1).”
“Female physicians registered for inner palace summons don’t have to live in the palace—they’re only called when needed. Even so, once you pass the imperial physicians’ examination and have your name registered in the inner palace with the imperial physicians’ approval, practicing medicine outside will be much smoother. You won’t have to work as a traveling physician going door to door so exhaustively. Wealthy officials will pay handsomely to request your services.”
Lu Bing pointed to the blank roster. “This is a recommendation form I obtained from the Shuntian Prefecture Magistrate. Fill it out along with your household registration and give them to me. After the Directorate of Ceremonial reviews it, they’ll arrange for you to take the imperial physicians’ examination at the Directorate of Ceremonial. Whether you pass depends on your abilities.”
Author’s Note: Note 1: The section about selecting female physicians comes from Ming Dynasty writer Jiang Yikui’s “Chang’an Ke Hua” (Chang’an Guest Talk). Simply put, Ming Dynasty palace female physicians were like contract workers outside the official system. They weren’t government employees supported by the state and had no official ranks. Imperial physicians were within the system—they were government employees with salaries and official ranks. After passing examinations, female physicians were registered with the Directorate of Ceremonial and had to be on standby for inner palace summons. They supported themselves through private practice and had much lower status than imperial physicians since they were outside the system. However, with the reputation of being palace female physicians, they could live quite well.