Year 13 of the Yuanfeng Era.

After tasting a raw aconite root, I fainted from poisoning. This was my thirty-second time being poisoned from tasting herbs.

……

Year 17 of the Yuanfeng Era.

I began learning to use needles, but my wrist strength was insufficient. I devised a solution: carving wood.

……

Year 20 of the Yuanfeng Era.

I performed acupuncture on someone for the first time. My wrist strength was still insufficient.

Without adequate wrist strength, the needle’s effectiveness was poor.

……

Year 24 of the Yuanfeng Era.

I met my master. My master looked down on me.

……

Year 26 of the Yuanfeng Era.

Uncle Bai came to the mountain to fetch me. My master was reluctant to let me go.

……

Year 27 of the Yuanfeng Era, Fifth Month.

I entered the Crown Prince’s residence. The female physician’s official robes were both oversized and heavy. I wasn’t accustomed to them.

……

Year 27 of the Yuanfeng Era, Eighth Month.

The five-tone therapy method that Dong Chengfeng and I researched together was making progress.

……

Year 27 of the Yuanfeng Era, Tenth Month.

I used the five-tone therapy method to treat His Highness for the first time. There was a small effect.

……

Year 27 of the Yuanfeng Era, New Year’s Eve.

I spent the New Year alone in my small residence. Aunt Bai sent over the New Year’s Eve dinner.

During the day, my eldest sister-in-law came to invite me back to celebrate the New Year.

I refused.

My eldest sister-in-law sneered and said, “A young lady with such a stubborn temperament will suffer hardships for the rest of her life.”

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Qingming Festival.

I returned to the residence to tend the ancestral graves. At the graves, my eldest brother said that paper burned by women would not be accepted by the ancestors.

I turned and left immediately.

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Sixth Month.

I cured Consort Wang’s headaches using the five-tone therapy method. I decided to write a book on five-tone therapy while Dong Chengfeng was still here.

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Seventh Month.

On my way home, I encountered a young boy who suddenly fainted. The boy’s pulse was very strange, unlike anything I had seen before.

I searched through all the medical texts but could not find the source of this pulse.

Very intriguing. I needed to investigate further.

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Ninth Month.

Father forced me to do something for Prince Zhao. I refused. A few days later, he and Mother performed a show together.

I agreed, and repaid the debt of birth and upbringing with six kowtows.

After leaving the Shen residence, I went to see Uncle Bai and advised him to make plans early. The Shen family wasn’t worth following.

Uncle Bai looked at me for a long time before finally nodding.

In truth, with Uncle Bai’s abilities, he could have left the Shen family long ago to work independently. All these years he had endured out of consideration for the master-servant bond.

Returning to the residence, I felt quite heartbroken.

After sitting woodenly through the night, I made a vow that sooner or later I would take off these female physician’s official robes.

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Eighth Day of the Tenth Month.

Prince Shou forced me to perform the Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles on his male favorite. After diagnosing the pulse, I refused.

The Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles were for saving those who could be saved.

That person was beyond saving.

Between administering needles and death, I chose death.

The powerful of this world rely on the power in their hands, everywhere wanting to defy heaven’s will, yet they don’t understand that life and death are determined by fate.

Just then, he came and said something.

These words—every single one struck deep in my heart, yet I had never spoken of this to anyone. How did he know?

In that moment, my heart pounded like a drum.

My chest felt like it held a small rabbit that I couldn’t press down no matter how I tried.

Prince Shou let us go.

He helped me up, his hand very strong.

Because of my back injury, almost all my body weight was on him.

Xiao Ze came to support me, but he said it wasn’t necessary.

We traveled in silence.

Only at the entrance did he release his hand, and Xiao Ze helped me onto the carriage.

He followed and climbed in.

The carriage curtain fell. I said, “Many thanks to Your Highness for saving my life.”

He didn’t even lift his eyelids, saying coolly, “A small effort.”

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Fifteenth Day of the Tenth Month.

My back injury healed. I checked the pulse of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess asked about the incident at Prince Shou’s residence.

I answered everything.

After listening, the Crown Princess sighed and said, “At critical moments, Female Physician Shen must learn to weigh the pros and cons!”

I replied, “I cannot learn that. I only listen to my heart’s thoughts and desires.”

The Crown Prince looked at me with deeply furrowed brows.

……

Year 28 of the Yuanfeng Era, Twelfth Day of the Twelfth Month.

The Crown Princess caught a cold.

In the evening, upon learning that the Crown Prince was coming to see her and was already halfway there, she hastily ordered her maids to dress and make her up.

I ordered her not to move.

She wouldn’t listen.

The Crown Prince entered the hall. The Crown Princess wore a smile on her face, the rouge on her cheeks making her illness appear very faint.

A woman who dared not even show her sickly state before a man—how pitiful.

……

Year 29 of the Yuanfeng Era, Fourth Month.

After returning from a banquet, the Crown Prince fell ill.

I lifted his clothing to look—his skin was bright red all over with many small bumps.

The Crown Princess cursed Prince Shou furiously by his side. Knowing the Crown Prince was allergic to mushrooms, he still added mushrooms to the soup for flavor.

The source of this matter arose because of me.

After diagnosing the Crown Prince’s pulse, I said quietly, “Your Highness has suffered on my account.”

He waved his hand, dismissing me.

……

Year 29 of the Yuanfeng Era, Sixth Month.

The heir apparent had diarrhea.

After the poisoning incident on New Year’s Eve, the heir apparent’s stomach and intestines became very weak. This bout of diarrhea was caused by his gluttony for watermelon.

The Crown Princess and I took turns keeping vigil day and night.

At night, the Crown Prince came to check on the heir apparent.

The heir apparent had already fallen asleep. The Crown Prince made a silencing gesture to me before sitting by the bed.

After sitting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he tucked in the heir apparent’s blanket and left.

Before leaving, he said softly, “Father has wronged you!”

Looking at his retreating figure, my heart ached again.

……

Year 29 of the Yuanfeng Era, Tenth Month.

After three years were complete, Dong Chengfeng left the Crown Prince’s residence. Before leaving, he asked if there was anyone in my heart. I answered yes.

This person had been in my heart for a year.

What was good about him?

I couldn’t say.

But when he stood there, everything about him was good.

Physicians cannot heal themselves. I had contracted an illness. The name of this illness was—lovesickness!

I didn’t want anyone to see it, and even less did I want him to discover it.

No one in this world has decreed that if you like someone, you must let them know, or that they must like you back.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are normal states of being. So too is desiring but not obtaining.

At dawn, I saw Dong Chengfeng off to the alley entrance.

His brows were tightly knit, wanting to speak but hesitating.

With his intelligence, I thought he must have guessed who the person in my heart was. He refrained from saying so to spare me embarrassment.

This man was rough on the outside but attentive within—the only person I could talk to in the capital.

When he left, I would miss him!

……

Year 30 of the Yuanfeng Era, Third Month.

On the evening of the fifteenth, I checked Zhao Lin’s pulse.

After checking his pulse, he stopped me and asked me to sit.

I sat down.

After dismissing the palace attendants, he suddenly asked, “What plans does Female Physician Shen have for the future?”

“Yes, I have plans!”

I answered, “To see the world’s scenery and treat the world’s illnesses.”

He asked, “What about marriage and children?”

I answered, “I haven’t considered it.”

He asked, “Are you certain?”

I nodded. “Certain.”

He fell silent for a while. “If that’s the case, you need to be more natural when we’re together. Otherwise it becomes like protesting too much.”

My heart was greatly alarmed, and my face flushed red.

“I am neither a good person nor a gentleman.”

His voice was very soft. “If it were someone else, I would merely provide a small sedan chair, add a courtyard, and buy a few servants. You’re different.”

I looked at him anxiously.

“My inner residence doesn’t lack women, but the world lacks a good imperial physician, a good doctor. In another two years, you may leave the residence.”

I stood stunned for a long while, unable to speak.

After a long time, I stood up, bowed deeply to him, and said frankly, “Your Highness, you are worthy of my affection!”

That night, I slept peacefully, without thoughts or worries.