Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Yui Mei listened to the story of the physician as they made their way back to the clinic.

They didn’t have time to introduce themselves to each other earlier. The physician’s name was Chen Ziliang. Apparently, he received a notice that his patient, who had high fever, left the clinic the moment he took his eyes off her. He then rushed out to look for her and to give her medical treatment.

‘Maybe she was behaving abnormally due to the high fever, and then she fell into the stream.’

“Isn’t it the fault of the one who left her alone?”

Yui Mei unwittingly glared reproachfully. There were a lot of times when feverish people say or do some weird things out of confusion. Children were more prone to developing such conditions, but some adults experienced it too.

Why would they leave a fevered person by herself?

The woman’s drenched clothes were snagged in the small stones of the stream, and several places had been torn. Although they were in a wretched state, the designs were exquisite. Furthermore, it was made of silk.

That person must be a concubine.

In that case, she should have several attendants. Concubines were constantly accompanied by their maids. Lady Wang also had her attendant, and various matters were also handled by court-ladies and maids. Judging from her clothes, she must have a higher status than Lady Wang. She surely must have been surrounded by plenty of attendants.

“Yeah, that is correct.”

Ziliang nodded at Yui Mei’s dissatisfaction regarding the current situation. They reached the clinic while still in the middle of their conversation. The eunuchs who brought the woman had long been gone. They left the woman as she was. The woman was lying on the floor, without a single blanket to cover her.

‘I won’t forgive those bastards!’

Yui Mei’s anger returned. They did not even bother laying her on top of the wooden bed inside the clinic. She also wanted to know why those good-for-nothing eunuchs did not do their jobs.

“They’re probably too scared.”

Ziliang pressed his temples upon seeing the woman’s state.

“We must change her wet clothes immediately. Please give me some cloth.”

 “Will this washed sheet do?”

Ziliang took a sheet from the shelf and handed it to Yui Mei. He also gave her a few more sheets to wipe the woman’s body.

“Alright, can you please go out of the room? She has to change.”

“I’m glad I pulled you and took you with me.”

Ziliang praised his own decision as he closed the clinic’s door.

Even if Ziliang were to ask other court ladies and maids, judging from how they kept their distance, he doubted someone would respond immediately.

However, as a physician, there was no way he would have left the woman in her drenched clothes. If Yui Mei, that court lady, was not here, it would have turned into an extremely troublesome situation. 

It would be very dangerous for Ziliang to change her himself.

Even if the physician was a eunuch, he would not be able to escape unscathed should it be known that he saw the consort’s bare body, moreover if there were only the two of them. It was only natural that he would want to avoid being suspected with adultery.

By the way, the physicians had their own maid assistants in order to avoid suspicions regarding infidelity; unfortunately, they were few, since specialized knowledge was required. It was also for that reason that those few women became the imperial court physicians’ attendants, and they didn’t stay around the clinic.

Furthermore, there had been female doctors before, but in order to become one, they must undergo harsher trials compared to the men. Eventually, there were no female doctors anymore; thus, they were not seen inside the Inner Palace.

Setting aside the clinic’s circumstances, Yui Mei must first change the woman’s clothes. Yui Mei took out the mask cloth she always brought with her, and wrapped it to her face.

A mask was indispensable when nursing a person with high fever.

“Alright, let’s change you now.”

Although Yui Mei knew that the woman was unconscious, she still talked to her just in case.

She took off the eunuch’s robe and the soaked clothes. She must remove all the drenched clothes before placing her on the wooden bed so she wouldn’t wet it.

Thinking about it now, there was also some merit with the eunuchs’ actions. But those guys probably did not have the same reasoning when they left her on the floor.

Even if they couldn’t change the woman’s clothes, they could at least wipe her clothes. Those guys did not even wipe the woman’s hair, and the infuriated Yui Mei vowed to tell somebody about what they did.

She then set aside her grudges, and started to change the woman’s clothes.

It was unusually difficult prying the wet clothes off. Though they were already ripped, Yui Mei did not want to tear it further. After painstakingly removing them, Yui Mei wiped the woman’s whole body. She also respectfully wiped her hair.

She then spread the sheet, and arranged it so that no bare flesh could be seen. She then placed the woman on top of the wooden bed, and covered her with the blanket. Yui Mei’s body frame made it difficult for her to maneuver the woman’s body, but she already had the skill to do it. Her profession as a nurse in her previous world was not just for show.

Yui Mei mopped the floor. She then called out to the door.

“It’s alright now.”

“Then pardon us for the intrusion.”

A young-sounding voice answered. Yui Mei never heard it before.

‘Eh, who?’

As Yui Mei stood dumbstruck, a fascinatingly elegant man with smiling blue eyes entered. His long black hair flowed down his back.

A eunuch – his attendant, most probably – and Ziliang entered after him.

“Huh, huh, huh?”

Yui Mei’s head was spinning.

The Inner Palace was a woman’s place.

The only men who could enter inside were the emperor, and his heir, the crown prince.

The rest of the males were eunuchs.

Grasping that reality, Yui Mei stared at the man before her.

He was around 25 years old, and his clothes were obviously not a eunuch’s.

Again, there were only two men who could enter the Inner Palace, and the emperor should be a forty-something old man.

‘So this IS the crown prince!?’

The crown prince’s name was Liu Ming Xian, and he might be Yui Mei’s elder brother.

Yui Mei always thought that it would be nice if she could take a peek at the crown prince’s face, but never did she dream that it would be this soon. Yui Mei was stupefied, so she forgot to bow. She stared unabashedly at the crown prince, and that was how she noticed that they had the same blue eyes.

Rather than that, it was the first time she met someone with blue eyes, aside from her.

“Cough!”

The eunuch coughed intentionally, and Yui Mei returned to herself. She hurriedly bowed her head.

The crown prince was also staring at her, though.

“…Hmm?”

The crown prince muttered as he removed his eyes from Yui Mei, and he drew closer to the woman lying on the wooden bed.