“Noble Consort, please conduct yourself with dignity!” Feng Qingyin’s grip tightened on her chest, and Feng Jiu’s expression darkened — yet she dared not immediately push the woman away, for fear of injuring this exalted Noble Consort.

The palace maid rushed forward at once to support Feng Qingyin, who managed with effort to steady herself.

But staring at Feng Jiu’s chest, then glancing down at her own fingers, Feng Qingyin’s expression grew increasingly strange.

A man… how could he truly be… a man?

He ought to have been Feng Jiu’er. That sharp tongue just now, that fearless daring, that utter impertinence toward her — who but Feng Jiu’er would dare!

And yet… this divine physician Feng Jiu standing before her was genuinely a man.

She had deliberately stumbled into Feng Jiu’s arms a moment ago, covertly pressing her hand to his chest — precisely to unmask him on the spot as a woman in disguise.

No matter how tightly bound a woman was, the chest would still be unmistakable. Loose robes might obscure the eye — but a firm grip would expose everything.

She had gripped — and now she stood utterly stunned.

She had not found the soft flesh of a woman. She had found the firm chest of a man.

Feng Jiu was a man. Surprising? Startling?

Having convinced herself that Feng Jiu was none other than Feng Jiu’er in disguise, only to abruptly discover this person was actually a man — this was no pleasant surprise. It was a shock.

Feng Jiu hurriedly stepped back two paces, as though she too had received a fright, and kept well clear of Feng Qingyin.

Of course — if Feng Jiu was indeed a man, then what had just happened between them, falling into each other’s arms, was an unforgivable transgression against the imperial household. Touching the Noble Consort of the palace — was that not a crime punishable by the extermination of one’s entire clan? Who would dare!

“Noble Consort, your complexion appears quite well. This one is not especially skilled in performing precautionary pulse examinations — the Noble Consort ought to return to the palace and have the Imperial Physicians see to it.”

Feng Jiu had all but retreated to the doorway. Feng Qingyin stepped forward, and Feng Jiu stumbled in alarm, nearly tripping on the threshold.

Managing barely to steady herself, she immediately retreated outside the door, for fear of anyone saying she had been alone in a chamber with the Noble Consort.

She did not even dare glance at Feng Qingyin, head lowered, face flushed all the way to the ears. “Noble Consort, this one is of shallow learning and truly does not dare presume to examine the Noble Consort.”

“How audacious! The Noble Consort honors you by seeking your examination — do you know what that means!” Feng Jiu’s repeated deflections left Feng Qingyin’s palace maid thoroughly indignant.

But Feng Qingyin only waved a hand, her voice gradually settling back into calm. “Very well. In that case, this consort will return to the palace and have the Imperial Physicians perform the precautionary examination.”

And she truly left, just like that. Her arrival had been accompanied by enormous ceremony — she had required everyone to prostrate themselves, and had expected Feng Jiu to come out in person to receive her.

Yet her departure was marked by something altogether different — an air of preoccupation and troubled thought — as she hurried away amid her retinue of maids and guards without once looking back.

She could not work it out, truly could not. Could it truly have been nothing but her own overthinking, her own mistaken assumption?

But it had been plainly Feng Jiu’er, that wretched girl — she had clearly sensed Feng Jiu’er’s aura.

And yet, and yet — Feng Jiu was a man?

“Noble Consort.” As she ascended the carriage, the expressionless guard at her side glanced at her.

Feng Qingyin bit her lip and raised her eyes to look back toward the entrance of Tianji Hall. Feng Jiu and a few pageboys had also come out to see her off, bodies inclined slightly in a respectful farewell from a distance.

Looking at Feng Jiu now, somehow he looked less and less like her again.

Of course, everything came down to what she had done a moment ago — she had gripped Feng Jiu’s chest, and that… was truly just a chest, not the bosom of a woman.

Feng Qingyin seemed still not quite recovered from the shock — right up until the moment she had been absolutely certain she was about to expose Feng Jiu’er’s identity, only to plunge in an instant from heaven to earth, from elation to despair.

Such a violent swing of emotion had still not settled within her even now.

“Return to the palace.” At last, she stepped up onto the back of the small eunuch and boarded the carriage. The palace maid lowered the curtain, and the procession turned back toward the palace.

Xiao Yingtao had been standing slightly behind and to the side of Feng Jiu the entire time, watching Feng Qingyin’s procession depart from a distance. Only when the last of them disappeared at the far end of the street did she reach out and lightly tug at Feng Jiu’s hem. “Young Master…”

“What is it?” Feng Jiu did not look at her, watching the same procession as well, until the last trace of them vanished at the end of the street before turning to walk back into Tianji Hall.

All along the way, the patients showed her nothing but warmth and enthusiasm — greeting her one after another, each calling out “Physician.”

Because of her actions just now in punishing that palace maid, their admiration for her knew no bounds.

After all, Feng Jiu was of common birth — for a commoner to stand up for what was right and discipline a maid from the imperial palace, was that not proof that even people like themselves could hold their heads high?

Feng Jiu only gave a nod here and there, by way of acknowledging the greetings, then made her way into the inner hall.

Xiao Yingtao had not followed them into the room earlier, and had no knowledge of what had transpired between Feng Jiu and Feng Qingyin inside.

All she knew was that the two of them had barely gone in before Feng Jiu came back out — looking, to all appearances, flustered and shaken, as though she had fled in a panic.

What on earth had happened in there? Had Feng Qingyin learned something? And yet the Young Master’s bearing now was so calm and self-possessed — it hardly looked like someone whose identity had been exposed. What exactly was going on?

She dragged Feng Jiu by the arm all the way into the room and shut the door before rushing to ask: “Just now…”

“She found out I’m a man.” Feng Jiu’s lips curved into a faint smile.

It had to be said — when this person dressed in men’s clothing, that smile was truly the kind that could overturn all reason and leave hearts in disarray. Any woman who caught a glimpse of it would surely be completely undone.

“You…” Xiao Yingtao thought it through, and gradually understood. The Young Master must have been wearing the male body enhancement garment — but how had Feng Qingyin found out?

“Did she strip off your clothing?” How dreadful! That woman was already a Noble Consort — how could she still carry on so brazenly?

“Nothing quite so brazen and open about it.” Feng Jiu turned to sort through things on the medicine shelf, not wasting a moment.

“She only fell against me and, in the process, gripped my chest.”

Leave it to that scheming, calculating Feng Qingyin. It was fortunate she had worn that male body enhancement garment today — otherwise she would absolutely have been “caught” in the act.

But as things stood now, Feng Jiu found the whole affair quite entertaining.

On the one hand, she made no effort to conceal the traces of Feng Jiu’er that lingered about her, letting Feng Qingyin grow ever more convinced she was undoubtedly Feng Jiu’er.

On the other hand, she carried the outward body of a man — so that at the very moment Feng Qingyin believed victory was in her grasp, she was instead crushed in utter defeat.

It was a little reckless, perhaps. But when had Feng Jiu ever feared anyone?

This male body enhancement garment — the only place it made her feel anything less than fully confident was in front of the Ninth Imperial Uncle. Before anyone else, it gave her absolute confidence.

Going by Feng Qingyin’s intellect alone — she wanted to expose her identity? She was still far too inexperienced for that.

“Young Master.” From outside came Qiao Mu’s slightly urgent voice: “An imperial decree has arrived from the palace, summoning you to an audience with the Emperor.”