Pei Yu thought seriously for a moment and shook his head. “There weren’t any rumors.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Yan Sanhe said, “She saved someone the entire Imperial Medical Academy couldn’t save using the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles. Weren’t the people in your Imperial Medical Academy curious about such a person?”

Pei Yu’s old face flushed slightly red. “Why be curious about a woman? It’s not like she had three heads and six arms.”

Yan Sanhe said, “A female physician—how rare.”

Pei Yu replied, “Being rare can’t put food on the table.”

Yan Sanhe was speechless.

Fine, that retort shut her up.

“What about after the Crown Prince’s residence incident?”

“She was imprisoned.”

“Imprisoned where?”

“The Crown Princess set a fire that only burned half of the Crown Prince’s residence. She, along with those servants, was imprisoned in the other half of the Crown Prince’s residence, with Imperial Guards standing watch.”

“What was the reason for imprisoning them?”

“This…”

Pei Yu quickly drank another cup of wine to bolster his courage, his finger pointing upward.

“To be honest with Miss Yan, though our Imperial Medical Academy looks glorious, speaking plainly, we just treat people’s illnesses. How can anyone fathom the thoughts of those above? If he says to imprison, there must be his reasons for imprisoning.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “Those imprisoned people—did they all truly die later?”

Pei Yu replied, “Absolutely true. Not one was spared.”

Yan Sanhe’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed. “Why was she able to come out alive?”

Pei Yu leaned forward, covered his lips, and said mysteriously:

“I heard that Old Imperial Physician Shen went through Prince Zhao—oh no, His Majesty now—to secure her release.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “What happened after she came out?”

Pei Yu’s voice dropped even lower.

“No one in the capital ever saw her again until her coffin was sent back. Only then did we learn from Imperial Physician Shen that after leaving the capital, she had been working as an itinerant physician all these years.”

“I know what happened next.”

Young Master Pei took over.

“When the coffin was brought to the Shen residence, her sons and daughters-in-law made a huge fuss, refusing to let the coffin enter. They went through my connections to have the coffin placed in a temple outside the city, and she was buried from the temple.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “Where was she buried?”

Young Master Pei replied, “Most likely in the Shen family ancestral burial ground.”

At this point, the general trajectory of Shen Du Ruo’s life was roughly clear.

Brilliant in youth.

Obsessed with medical arts.

Apprenticed and learned the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles.

After saving the Grand Prince, entered the Crown Prince’s residence.

After the Crown Prince’s downfall, escaped unscathed and disappeared for over ten years.

Finally, her soul returned to her homeland.

In this timeline, the most vague part was the dozen-plus years she was missing, and the most crucial part was her years at the Crown Prince’s residence.

After pondering for a long while, Yan Sanhe said, “I heard from Mingting that she was actually driven out by the old imperial physician?”

That damned son!

Pei Yu wanted to hit someone again. Thinking about being in front of Miss Yan, he let it go.

“Regarding this matter, only Old Master Shen knows most clearly. Everything else is hearsay. Some say she was expelled from the family, others say she left of her own accord. True or false—impossible to sort out.”

He paused, then added, “She was the Shen family’s only daughter. The old imperial physician and his wife doted on her endlessly. To truly expel her from the family—that would only happen as an absolute last resort.”

A woman studying medicine.

Going out traveling for four years.

Moving out of the residence to live alone…

All signs indicated that even if her brothers didn’t like her and her sisters-in-law didn’t love her, Shen Du Ruo was truly doted upon by her parents.

Yan Sanhe asked, “What was the Shen family’s situation after she left? What is their relationship with His Majesty now?”

Pei Yu’s eyelid twitched, and he poured himself another cup of wine.

“Miss Yan, based on Shen Du Ruo’s temperament, if you say she was involved in the witchcraft case, I absolutely cannot believe it. But…”

The words stuck abruptly.

Pei Yu’s Adam’s apple moved up and down several times, hesitating to speak.

“Uncle Pei, just speak freely with confidence.”

Seeing his hesitation, Xie Zhifei said, “Once we leave this door, whatever you said, we won’t remember.”

Yan Sanhe added, “What Third Master says is what I say.”

Pei Yu gritted his teeth and went for broke.

“I mentioned earlier that the old imperial physician had four sons. Compared to Shen Du Ruo, they fell somewhat short. Actually, that statement was watered down—they weren’t just a bit short. It was literally heaven and earth apart.”

This wasn’t surprising. Five fingers have different lengths, let alone people.

But the Shen family was different from other families. Of five fingers, only one finger was especially long while all the other fingers were especially short.

Yan Sanhe asked, “None of Imperial Physician Shen’s four sons are capable?”

Pei Yu replied, “They’re not people who can settle down to study medicine diligently.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “What about the Shen family’s four sons now? Are they also at the Imperial Medical Academy?”

“The eldest and second are muddling along at the Imperial Medical Academy.”

Speaking of this, Pei Yu felt a fire burning in his belly.

“All they know is how to flatter and curry favor with the nobility. They don’t do any real work, yet somehow they’re thriving, more popular everywhere than this old man.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “What are their official positions?”

Pei Yu sneered coldly. “The Shen family’s eldest is Deputy Director.”

Seeing Yan Sanhe frown, Xie Zhifei quickly explained, “Simply put, it’s the third highest position in the Imperial Medical Academy—Uncle Pei’s direct superior.”

Young Master Pei spoke up for his father. “In terms of seniority and qualifications, my father should rank above him.”

Now Yan Sanhe understood. The Shen family’s eldest wasn’t particularly skilled in medicine, nor particularly senior in qualifications, yet he ranked above Pei Yu.

“What about the Shen family’s second son?”

Pei Yu replied, “He’s in the Pharmacy Storehouse.”

Young Master Pei explained, “The Pharmacy Storehouse manages the procurement of medicines—which family’s medicines to buy, at what price—it’s all controlled by the Shen family’s second son. The profit margins are frighteningly large.”

Yan Sanhe said, “In my view, the Shen family’s four brothers aren’t incapable—they’re very capable indeed.”

Pei Yu rolled his eyes to the heavens.

“Capable to the point where their eyes only see gold and silver. Capable to the point of being condemned behind their backs. Capable to the point where they’ve nearly ruined Old Imperial Physician Shen’s lifetime of good reputation.”

A physician’s compassionate heart.

Where was their compassion?

The two brothers joined forces to suppress capable physicians.

The medicines they procured—either this had problems or that had problems.

The entire Imperial Medical Academy was thrown into chaos by these two Shen brothers.

Thinking of what Young Master Pei said in the carriage, Yan Sanhe asked, “Is their backing for rising to these positions His Majesty?”

Pei Yu glared at Yan Sanhe, thinking—Young lady, such matters can only be understood implicitly, not spoken explicitly.

But Yan Sanhe wouldn’t let him off. “Imperial Physician Pei, give me a straight answer. Yes or no?”

How can we discuss His Majesty?

Pei Yu quickly dipped his finger in tea water and rapidly wrote on the table: Yes.

Yan Sanhe said, “Before today, you always thought the reason the Shen family prospered was by relying on ancestral blessings?”

Pei Yu replied, “I couldn’t think of any reason why the one on the dragon throne would protect them so much. I could only assume the Shen family had good feng shui and their ancestors accumulated virtue.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “Just now you hesitated because you feel this protection is excessive?”

“More than excessive! Several imperial physicians at the Imperial Medical Academy have jointly submitted memorials more than once to impeach the two Shen brothers. The memorials always sink like stones into the sea.”

Pei Yu sighed deeply. “His Majesty is considered a renowned ruler of his generation. How can he be so indulgent?”