Chapter 62: Wonderful, wonderful indeed

Under Eunuch Gao's guidance, Lin Jiaojiao walked under the high walls of the Huang Gong. She looked up at the square sky framed by the city walls, feeling a bit stifled.

But she quickly comforted herself: it's good that she's just waiting here for the investigation results, not living here for a lifetime. It's much better than those concubines who are trapped in the palace walls!

Eunuch Gao, who was leading the way, saw Lin Jiaojiao's appearance from the corner of his eye and couldn't help but pout: it's a commoner with a small-minded air, never having been to such a majestic Huang Gong.

It's really hard to understand, why would the Emperor be interested in this woman with a damaged appearance?

He brought Lin Jiaojiao to a quiet small courtyard.

This quiet small courtyard had three small houses, one was the main house, and the other two were side rooms. Compared with the magnificent palace, the layout of the courtyard was very simple. Only four locust trees and a few jasmine flower pots were planted in the courtyard.

The overall activity range of the courtyard was like a small quadrangle courtyard, less than fifty square meters.

On the plaque hanging at the entrance of the courtyard, the three characters "Qingju Pavilion" were written.

The courtyard was only equipped with a palace maid wearing grass-green clothes, responsible for daily cleaning, but two old imperial physicians with gray beards were already waiting there at the door.

"You will stay in Qingju Pavilion," Eunuch Gao directed, "This is Qingdai, you can order her if you have anything."

Qingdai looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a pair of slender phoenix eyes on her oval face.

She performed a salute towards them, "Greetings Eunuch Gao, greetings Lin Guniang."

"Hello, Qingdai." Lin Jiaojiao greeted her without being an outsider.

Qingdai bowed to her and curiously sized up Lin Jiaojiao from the corner of her eye. When her gaze fell on the palm-sized scald on Lin Jiaojiao's left cheek, she couldn't help but pinch her own thigh, only then resisting the exclamation.

"You let the imperial physicians check the injuries, if there is any progress in the matter, I will send someone to inform Lin Guniang," Eunuch Gao flicked his whisk, pointed at the two old imperial physicians with his orchid finger, "Physician Chen, Physician Jia, thank you for your trouble."

"Don't dare, don't dare, send off Eunuch Gao." The two imperial physicians bowed to send off Eunuch Gao.

Lin Jiaojiao led by Qingdai entered the main house, only then discovering that it was divided into an outer room and an inner chamber. The outer room had bookshelves with a few books, as well as chairs and a platform bed.

The inner chamber was separated by a screen, with a made red sandalwood bed and red sandalwood stools and chairs inside.

The whole room was lit with faint sandalwood, and this smell immediately made Lin Jiaojiao associate it with the smell of a modern public toilet——

Lin Jiaojiao really didn't like this smell. She tentatively looked at Qingdai and asked, "Um, Qingdai, can you extinguish the sandalwood?"

"Yes, Miss." Qingdai nodded and responded, bowed again, and walked towards the incense burner to extinguish the sandalwood.

During the time she was extinguishing the sandalwood, Lin Jiaojiao opened all the doors and windows to ventilate, and a fresh jasmine fragrance came, she nodded with satisfaction and muttered to herself, "This is more like it."

After speaking, she sat on the chair, stretched out her hand for the two imperial physicians to take her pulse.

The two imperial physicians knelt in front of her carefully, laid a silk scarf on her snow-white wrist, and began to take her pulse carefully.

Not long after, Physician Chen with a round face finished taking the pulse, and looked at the scald on her face before speaking unhurriedly, "Lin Guniang, you have just passed the full month, your body's qi and blood are deficient, so the recovery of the scald on your face is slow."

Lin Jiaojiao smiled and nodded, confirming the diagnosis of this Physician Chen in her heart. At this moment, she felt as if she were a teacher examining a student's medical skills, eagerly wanting to know the level of these imperial physicians.

Seeing Physician Jia with a long face not speaking, she turned and asked, "Physician Jia, have you finished taking the pulse?"

"Finished," Physician Jia said repeatedly, "My diagnosis is consistent with Physician Chen."

Lin Jiaojiao nodded and put on the posture of a mentor examining a medical student: "Then how do you think I should regulate my body?"

The two imperial physicians looked at each other, feeling a bit puzzled in their hearts: other women with scalds on their faces would worry about scarring at the first time, and most would desperately want the imperial physicians to come up with some scar-removing ointment to promote recovery.

But this woman didn't seem to care about the scald on her face, but instead asked how they should regulate their bodies.

That posture, rather than caring about her own body, was more like examining them.

Seeing Lin Jiaojiao ask like this, Physician Chen could only state the plan for regulating qi and blood.

Lin Jiaojiao listened and waved her hand, saying it was wrong, and suggested, "Ginseng should be reduced by 2 qian, angelica should be increased by 4 qian, donkey-hide gelatin can be added or not. I get nosebleeds easily if I eat too much donkey-hide gelatin. Red dates in medicine are no problem. Actually, it's not as good as me eating a few more pieces of pig liver."

"This..." Physician Chen was stunned for a moment. He took out a pen and paper to record Lin Jiaojiao's suggestion, and then compared it with his own prescription for a long time, suddenly letting out an exclamation, "Wonderful, wonderful indeed."

Physician Jia hurriedly leaned his head over to look. They had been prescribing for decades and had been imperial physicians for decades, but this was the first time they had encountered a patient modifying the prescription themselves!

If this matter were to spread, wouldn't it make people laugh their teeth off!

But the Emperor had ordered that this Lin Guniang was a distinguished guest in the palace, so they couldn't be negligent, and even ordered that if she wanted to write a prescription herself, they could listen to her.

Physician Jia felt that his authority as an imperial physician was challenged, but he dared not speak out, so he could only listen to Lin Jiaojiao.

Lin Jiaojiao pointed to the scald on her left cheek, "As for the scald on the face, I don't need any scar-removing ointment. You find me a small jar of badger oil, badger oil is the best for treating scalds. In addition, find me a pot of high-proof white liquor, I will clean the wound and apply medicine myself."

"However, I still have some scalds on my body," she looked at Qingdai who was standing by with her head down, and reminded, "It still needs Qingdai to help me handle it."

"Yes." Qingdai nodded.

"Then you

"Yes." Imperial Physician Chen agreed with a nod, not forgetting to ask, "Lin Guniang, do you have any other instructions?"

"Not for now, thank you both." After Lin Jiaojiao finished speaking, she yawned. For the past few days, she had been physically and mentally exhausted due to Bai Zhi being burned to death, and she hadn't been able to sleep well.

Added to that was her unauthorized action yesterday of bribing the cook at Xu Xiao's mansion to poison him with pufferfish toxin, followed by a whole night of tossing and turning. Then, as soon as dawn broke, she had come to beat the drum to plead her case. At this very moment, she felt extremely drowsy and was in urgent need of rest.

Yawning, she stumbled toward the bed. Seeing this, Qingdai hurried over to help her undress, undo her hair bun, and attend to her as she went to sleep.

Seeing that she was going to sleep and confirming there were no other instructions, the two imperial physicians withdrew from Qingju Pavilion.

"We've encountered an expert this time," Imperial Physician Chen whispered to Imperial Physician Jia as soon as they stepped out of Qingju Pavilion. "Badger oil for treating burns is recorded in ancient texts, but the nobles in this palace only care about their appearance; they never pay attention to what can heal wounds quickly, caring only about whether or not a scar will be left behind."

"Just a village doctor, yet she dares to show off in front of us?" Imperial Physician Jia felt displeased in his heart.

In truth, he knew clearly that the modified prescription was better suited to Lin Jiaojiao's current condition, but he felt deeply that his authority had been challenged—and by a young woman who had seen nothing of the world at that. A stifled anger welled up inside him, difficult to vent.

"What has made Imperial Physician Jia so angry?" At this moment, a lazy, noble female voice drifted from near to far. The two physicians looked up and saw the bejeweled and jade-adorned Imperial Yu Fei.

Imperial Yu Fei sat on her palanquin, wearing a green concubine's ceremonial robe. Her hair was decorated with gold-inlaid jade hairpins, and a white jade dangling hairpin was tucked into her bun, which matched her snow-white skin perfectly.

She had heard that the Emperor had just finished morning court, so she had her small kitchen prepare snacks to take to Yangxin Hall, never expecting to run into the two physicians halfway.

Especially Imperial Physician Jia, whom she had personally promoted to attend to her own illnesses. Seeing him so angry, he must have encountered something.

"It is nothing of importance, nothing of importance," Imperial Physician Chen said hurriedly, pulling Imperial Physician Jia to bow. "Greetings to Imperial Yu Fei. May Imperial Yu Fei enjoy good health."

"May Imperial Yu Fei enjoy good health," Imperial Physician Jia followed suit, though he still felt disgruntled at being overshadowed by his superior, Imperial Physician Chen.

But now, in front of Imperial Yu Fei, he felt as if he had found a backer and spoke directly, "We just came from Qingju Pavilion. That woman is from the countryside, yet she actually changed the prescription we imperial physicians wrote."

"Oh? How is it that I didn't know a newcomer had arrived at Qingju Pavilion?" Imperial Yu Fei sat up straight, her brows, painted like distant mountains, slightly furrowed, and her vermilion lips parted slightly. "When did the Emperor take in a woman?"