The Chief Eunuch’s face was full of anxiety, yet he didn’t dare rush in rashly. He could only look at Qing Ye and ask urgently, “Madam, what’s happened to her ladyship’s legs? Could you tell us?”

If he didn’t ask clearly now, by the time he got to the pavilion, he wouldn’t know how to report to His Majesty.

Right now, His Majesty was also frantic with worry, wanting to come over himself, yet knowing full well he would be refused.

What’s more, given how urgent the situation was inside, Emperor Qiwen, aware he might be in the way, could only say sternly before Feng Jiu went in: “If anything happens to her, you alone will answer for it!”

Qing Ye paid no attention to the Chief Eunuch at all. She yanked Feng Jiu inside and slammed the door shut with a bang.

To act this brazenly even in front of the Emperor’s favored physician—this masked lady truly was no ordinary person.

Feng Jiu composed herself as Qing Ye brought her before the masked lady.

Her ladyship sat on the bed tonight, her face pale, cold sweat at her temples. Though she was clearly trying her best to stay calm, a trace of suffering was still hidden between her brows.

Feng Jiu was momentarily stunned, hardly believing it. Wasn’t this the state that should only appear three days from now? Why had the symptoms already shown up tonight?

This masked lady’s constitution had completely exceeded her expectations!

Qing Zhi was so anxious she nearly wanted to kill someone, yet Feng Jiu was merely looking at her mistress, not even speaking.

Qing Zhi grabbed Feng Jiu’s collar and shouted angrily, “Speak! How did my mistress end up like this? What exactly did you give her? Why are her legs… why are her legs…!”

Feng Jiu pushed her away, but couldn’t manage to push her off.

Qing Ye also looked anxious and furious—her anger, of course, directed at Feng Jiu.

Feng Jiu pushed again, this time with more force, finally shoving Qing Zhi’s hands away.

She said, “Let me examine her ladyship’s legs first.”

Qing Ye said angrily, “If you’re incompetent, don’t touch my mistress! If you dare let my mistress suffer again, I will kill you!”

“These legs must suffer before they can recover. If you kill me, her legs will absolutely never heal.”

Feng Jiu’s expression also turned cold as she pulled back the blanket covering the masked lady’s legs.

Her ladyship wasn’t wearing trousers tonight, likely because her legs were simply too uncomfortable—aside from a blanket, only a pair of short undergarments remained.

Both legs were now exposed to the air, the veins on her legs bulging, both swollen and red, a rather distressing sight.

There was anger in the masked lady’s eyes, but strangely, no killing intent. Still, Feng Jiu could clearly sense that her ladyship’s pride had been wounded.

This lady was without question someone fiercely proud, and having this painful state seen by others left her feeling humiliated.

In truth, the pain right now was very hard to bear, Feng Jiu knew—not just pain, but an itch as well, an incomparable itch, one that gnawed at the heart and lungs.

Yet she was still managing to endure it, forcing herself to stay calm, unwilling to let anyone see her lose control.

She was, without doubt, an extremely disciplined person, exceptionally harsh on herself.

But none of this seemed fitting for a consort of the harem—the more Feng Jiu looked at her, the more she seemed like some formidable hero on a battlefield.

“Feng Jiu, think of something quickly!” Qing Ye had no patience left to argue with her now. Her mistress’s legs having turned out like this must surely be because Feng Jiu had used the wrong medicine.

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Though anxious and angry, she remained rational enough to know that the medicine had been injected into her mistress’s legs by Feng Jiu, and aside from Feng Jiu, probably no imperial physician could handle this.

To kill Feng Jiu, they would have to wait until she had cured her mistress’s pain first.

Feng Jiu, however, remained perfectly calm, not rushing to act, only looking at the masked lady and saying, “My lady, you must endure this pain—it’s the medicine’s effect manifesting early.”

“The medicine’s effect manifesting?” Qing Zhi’s eyes reddened, seeing her mistress suffer pained her even more than it pained her mistress. “My mistress’s legs are practically ruined!”

“Weren’t her ladyship’s legs already ruined to begin with?” Feng Jiu didn’t look at Qing Zhi, only stared straight at the masked lady. “Her ladyship’s meridians were severely damaged, but a trace of vitality still remains. This one’s medicine is meant to help her ladyship activate the meridians.”

“But this medicine’s effect should manifest gradually over these three days. Some redness and itching in her ladyship’s legs is to be expected, but it shouldn’t have erupted to this degree.”

“What does that mean? Is something wrong with the medicine?” Qing Ye looked wary.

Feng Jiu nodded, then shook her head. “The medicine itself is fine. It’s just that her ladyship’s body is stronger than I anticipated. Now that the medicine’s effect has concentrated all at once, the pain has reached its peak—but so has the medicine’s effectiveness.”

The masked lady’s hand suddenly shot up, gripping the carved wooden bedpost.

With a crack, the wood shattered to pieces in her grip.

“My lady, if it’s too much to bear, you may cry out,” Feng Jiu said.

“How dare you!” Qing Ye’s eyes blazed with fury. Her mistress had risked her life countless times over the years, and even when her legs were maimed years ago, she had never once cried out.

Now Feng Jiu wanted to make her mistress scream in pain—wasn’t that trying to utterly destroy her mistress’s dignity?

The masked lady’s hand instead gripped the bedding beneath her, her knuckles turning white—clearly, she was indeed close to the limit of her endurance.

The pain, perhaps, she could still bear somewhat, but this itch was truly like countless insects gnawing at her, making her want to hack off her own legs.

Feng Jiu actually had ways to ease her suffering somewhat, but whether by acupuncture or medicine, either would slightly hinder the recovery of her meridians.

In truth, letting the meridians recover in this wild, intense manner was actually best for the masked lady—it was just that ordinary people couldn’t endure such pain!

She kept watching, waiting to see when the masked lady would reach her breaking point, so she could immediately administer acupuncture to ease her.

“My lady, if you truly cannot bear it, just tell me, and I can give you medicine to suppress it.”

The masked lady stared at her, eyes bloodshot.

There was both delight and anger in Qing Zhi’s eyes. “Since you have medicine that can suppress this, why not give it to my mistress right away?”

“This medicine truly can ease her ladyship’s pain, but—” Feng Jiu stared at her legs. In truth, with her current identity as a man, staring this intently at her ladyship’s legs was already a crime worthy of death.

Yet these three women seemed to have no objection to this at all—could it be… they had already realized she was a woman?

Feng Jiu composed herself and said sincerely, “The medicine can ease the pain, but it would suppress the effects of the medicine already administered, delaying her ladyship’s recovery. My lady, do you still want this one to administer it?”

Qing Ye and Qing Zhi clenched their fists. Now, they truly didn’t know what to do.

The masked lady gripped the bedding tightly, nearly tearing through it with her fingers.

Her eyes reddened, as if fire could ignite within them, her pale lips trembling. Even through the gauze veil, one could see her weakness and exhaustion.

But she only stared fixedly at Feng Jiu’s face, staring intently—it seemed she truly didn’t want to use that soothing medicine after all!