Chapter 592 The Imperial Physician Comes…
The imperial physician arrived at about noon the next day, followed by Nanny Sheng, the old maid serving Madam of Duke Xing, as well as a female physician brought by the imperial physician.
Knowing that he was going to treat Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s granddaughter, Imperial Physician Qu specially brought a female physician from the imperial palace.
In fact, female physicians were sent to the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine to learn medical skills from imperial physicians and serve imperial physicians when they were very young.
Not many female physicians could learn medical skills well, but their existence made the diagnosis and treatment much more convenient. In the imperial palace, almost all the patients of the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine were imperial concubines. Some diseases couldn’t be diagnosed without a look at the patient, and that was the reason for female physicians’ existence.
Nanny Sheng went to meet Shao Yanru first and then went to Shao Wanru’s silence room accompanied by Shao Yanru. But when they walked to the door, they were stopped by Yujie and Qu Le.
“First Miss, my master is still copying the Buddhist scriptures and can’t be disturbed at the moment!” After stepping forward to bow to Shao Yanru, Yujie said.
Shao Yanru frowned and said with a hint of displeasure despite her soft voice, “Didn’t I tell your master yesterday that I’ve asked an imperial physician to have a look at her foot today? Why is she copying the Buddhist scriptures now?”
“My master has begun since the morning and told us not to disturb her. First Miss, please wait a moment!” Qu Le also stepped forward to bow to Shao Yanru and then said with embarra.s.sment.
Shao Wanru had such a habit of not allowing anyone to disturb her when she was reciting or copying the Buddhist scriptures. The two maids as well as Shao Yanru knew it.
Was Shao Wanru worried that the imperial physician would find out that she actually didn’t sprain her ankle?
Shao Yanru sneered in her heart, but didn’t show any anger and said to Imperial Physician Qu behind her, “Imperial Physician Qu, please go to my place for a rest. I happen to have a few questions about medical skills to ask you!”
Imperial Physician Qu looked at the closed door of the silence room and then looked at Shao Yanru, who was so polite and tactful that she mentioned the problems about medical skills in order to avoid embarra.s.sment, thinking that the two Misses from Duke Xing’s Mansion were so different.
One of them was so arrogant that she even refused to meet the imperial physician from the imperial palace, while the other one was kind and decent enough to preserve everyone’s dignity. As expected, the First Miss Shao deserved her reputation in the capital city.
A group of people sat in Shao Yanru’s main room and waited.
Although they came for Shao Wanru, Shao Yanru was very polite. She asked Nanny Sheng to send her greetings to the elders in Duke Xing’s Mansion and then asked about her siblings and cousins. Hearing that everyone was doing well, she showed an increasingly gentle smile.
After that, she said to Imperial Physician Qu with a smile, “My Fifth Sister sprained her ankle yesterday. I don’t know how her injury is, and I’m really worried, so I have to trouble you to come here. If you can cure her injury, I’ll present a grand reward!”
“How did the Fifth Miss sprain her ankle?” Imperial Physician Qu asked with a smile.
“She said that she accidentally sprained her ankle, but I didn’t see how it happened. Two old maids, who quarreled and fought with each other yesterday, accidentally hurt my Fifth Sister. At that time, my Fifth Sister was very angry, and the officials of the Ministry of Justice happened to be there, so she specially asked them to take the two old maids back for interrogation.” Shao Yanru told him what had happened yesterday with a smile.
Of course, she didn’t mention anything about Qiu Yu and Chu Qing!
Imperial Physician Qu frowned and had a worse impression of the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion. He could see her character from her sending two pa.s.sers-by to the Ministry of Justice for a minor injury.
“First Miss, you didn’t see the Fifth Miss’s foot? She has been injured for a day. I’m worried that her injury will be worse.” Nanny Sheng said with concern.
“Don’t worry, Nanny. It’s nothing serious. The Fifth Miss could have a walk and enjoy the scenery soon after spraining her ankle. Moreover, she went out for another walk last night and even came back later than my master!” Shuqi spoke her mind.
“Stop talking nonsense. My Fifth Sister just went out for a walk after dinner because she was bored!” Shao Yanru scolded her in a low voice.
“Yes, First Miss. I’m wrong!” Shuqi lowered her head and said in an aggrieved tone.
Hearing their conversation, Imperial Physician Qu had a worse impression of the Fifth Miss, who was even more arrogant and wayward than the favored imperial concubines in the imperial palace.
She could have a walk around more than once after spraining her ankle. It seemed that she wasn’t seriously injured or she was not injured at all. Imperial Physician Qu suddenly felt that he came here in vain because the Fifth Miss Shao just feigned her injury.
This kind of thing had happened a lot in the imperial palace!
The ladies in the imperial palace did this to strive for the emperor’s favor, but he didn’t know why the Fifth Miss Shao did this. Could she do this in order to punish the two innocent old maids? If that would the case, she was way too narrow-minded! He even considered her a little vicious!
“Imperial Physician Qu, just ignore my maid’s nonsense. My Fifth Sister refused to show me her injury, probably because she’s not close to me. My Fifth Sister has stayed in the Yuhui Nunnery these years, so she’s not very close to other members of our mansion. The reason why I specially come up the mountain to accompany her is that I’m afraid that she will remain aloof from other members of our mansion after returning to our mansion later!”
Shao Yanru explained with a smile and looked sincere. Hearing her words, Imperial Physician Qu nodded repeatedly and thought the First Miss Shao deserved the reputation as a Miss endowed with both beauty and talent. She was so kind and considerate.
Seeing Imperial Physician Qu nod repeatedly, Shao Yanru felt complacent and picked up the teacup to cover the sneer on her face.
No matter how ravis.h.i.+ng Shao Wanru was, it was useless! The royal family wouldn’t think highly of a vicious Miss, who had always acted in an affected way and stirred up trouble.
As an imperial physician highly valued by the Emperor, Imperial Physician Qu was able to say something in front of the Emperor. She just needed to make what Shao Wanru had done known to the royal family rather than to make it known to many people.
In this case, it would be impossible for Shao Wanru to marry Prince Yue or Prince Zhou! Or even if Shao Wanru intended to marry into the royal family, she could only marry Commandery Prince Qing, who was not favored and isolated.
In fact, she expected to make Shao Wanru marry Commandery Prince Qing as a humble concubine. This was an important reason why she wanted to make Shao Wanru and Chu Qing fall in love with each other.
As a Miss, who had always stayed in the boudoir and seldom met a man, although Shao Wanru had some tactics, she would be deceived easily by a handsome man, who had an affection for her. As long as Shao Wanru fell in love with Chu Qing, she could make a lot of follow-up plans.
Thinking of this, she wondered if Shao Wanru had done as she expected yesterday. She waited in the corridor yesterday with the intention of hearing the news that Shao Wanru was caught meeting Chu Qing in secret. However, she got no news after returning. Could it be that although Shao Wanru went out, she didn’t meet Chu Qing and only instructed her maid to deliver a note to him?
If that were the case, it was good as well. Since Chu Qing happened to have some feelings for her, she would definitely persuade Chu Qing to seduce Shao Wanru. People didn’t think highly of Chu Qing’s t.i.tle of n.o.bility. If Shao Wanru married him as a concubine, she could even persuade Chu Qing to send Shao Wanru away.
A concubine was supposed to be a plaything, and Chu Qing seemed to be after something. If she promised him great benefits, it would be a piece of cake to persuade him to give away a concubine to someone else!
She would never let Shao Wanru live well!
At the first sight of Shao Wanru, she knew that Shao Wanru was her opponent. Shao Wanru’s gorgeous look was destined to bring disaster to others. She decided to make Shao Wanru lose the advantage to compete with her before Shao Wanru went down the mountain and end all these as soon as possible!
She didn’t care about making it significant but was just afraid that it was not significant enough…
She put down the teacup in her hand, wiped the corners of her mouth gently, and smiled slightly. When she was about to speak, she saw someone coming from the door.
“First Miss, my master has finished her work. Please come over!” Yujie suddenly appeared at the door, bowed deeply to Shao Yanru, and said.
“Okay, Imperial Physician Qu, please follow me!” Shao Yanru said with a gentle look. She stood up first without getting angry at Shao Wanru for making her wait a little longer.
She led a group of people to the door of the silence room, where Qu Le had been waiting. Seeing them come over, she made way for them after bowing.
Shao Yanru got in the room with Imperial Physician Qu. The huge screen was unfolded and divided the silence room into two parts.
“Big Sister, forgive me for being unable to get up because of my injury!” There came a girl’s gentle and pleasant voice, which was like a stream of flowing water across everyone’s mind, from behind the screen.
Imperial Physician Qu looked towards the screen in astonishment. Although he didn’t see the Fifth Miss Shao, he could tell from her voice that she should be a rare beauty. What was more, she didn’t sound like that kind of girl, who acted arrogantly on purpose.
“Fifth Sister, never mind. Imperial Physician Qu is the best at treating external injuries in the Imperial Inst.i.tute of Medicine. I sent someone down the mountain yesterday to tell my father to ask him to come here. I’m wondering if it’s convenient to show your wound to the female physician brought by Imperial Physician Qu?” Shao Yanru got in the area behind the screen and said softly to Shao Wanru, who was lying on the couch, with a magnanimous smile.
She said in an extremely polite tone and preserved everyone’s dignity. No one could find fault with her.
Shao Wanru showed a slight smile on her face but remained indifferent in her heart. The First Miss Shao, who always behaved perfectly whenever she was in front of others, indeed deserved the reputation as a Miss endowed with both beauty and talent.
“Big Sister, I’m not seriously injured. Just leave it at that!” Shao Wanru shook her head, retracted her foot, and refused euphemistically after touching it.
“Oh, how can you refuse to show your injury to the physician since you are injured? It has been a day since you sprained your ankle yesterday. I didn’t sleep well last night, because I kept thinking about your injury. Since the imperial physician has taken the trouble to come here, you can’t let him come in vain.” Shao Yanru said, “Fifth Sister, you can’t hide your sickness for fear of treatment!”
“But I’ve had it examined by Huiding Nun yesterday, so I don’t need to have it examined again today!” Shao Wanru said in a weak voice.
“Huiding Nun just knew a little about medical skills. How could she make a proper diagnosis?” Shao Yanru said in disapproval. When she was on the mountain, Huiding Nun was already in the Yuhui Nunnery. At that time, Huiding Nun was not Mingqiu Nun’s disciple and could only treat the nuns in the Yuhui Nunnery for some minor diseases such as a headache and a fever.
“But…”
“Stop it, Fifth Sister. Stop resisting. Imperial Physician Qu, can you ask the female physician to come in and take a look at my Fifth Sister’s injury?” Shao Yanru made the decision for Shao Wanru this time, and the latter sentence was said to Imperial Physician Qu, who was outside the screen.
Imperial Physician Qu nodded and motioned for the female physician to get in.
The female physician carried the small medicine chest for dressing wounds and got in the area within the screen…