Zhe Qing sat in a chair nearby, studying the software on the computer in her mind while Zhang Yushu performed surgery on a rabbit beside her.
Undoubtedly, Zhang Yushu’s information had already been added to the software.
Current Characters: Zhang Yushu, Medical Genius
Pharmaceuticals were handled by Imperial Physician Yu, while surgery likely fell to Zhang Yushu. The distribution of skills among the characters was quite balanced, with no overlaps so far.
Zhe Qing clicked around the software aimlessly, tapping here and there, but she made no new discoveries.
However, this Golden Finger software was giving her a headache. At first, it seemed great, but now it felt like a trap. It only told her which people had the talent to create things, but she still had to look up all the necessary information herself.
For example, how to extract penicillin in ancient times, what could replace syringes in ancient times, what the formula for Ma-fu Powder was, and what could be used as a substitute… and so on. The research left her dizzy, her vision blurring, and her whole body feeling unwell—she hadn’t worked this hard even during the college entrance exams.
But… watching Zhang Yushu’s skilled slicing and suturing techniques lifted her spirits. Once he finished the surgery, she walked over with light, satisfied steps.
“Doctor Zhang’s surgical skills are nothing short of miraculous. I would like to invite you to stay and serve as an instructor, teaching basic surgical knowledge to the students of my medical college.”
Though he still didn’t fully understand what “surgery” meant, Zhang Yushu had grown quite accustomed to the term. He immediately thought that the princess might want to promote this “surgery” and his “slicing” techniques. Tears of joy streamed down his face as he replied, “I humbly obey Your Highness’s command. I would gladly die ten thousand deaths for this.”
Was this the feeling of being acknowledged? Was this the feeling of being affirmed?
He cried and laughed at the same time. “Your Highness, does this mean I no longer have to steal corpses in the future?”
Zhe Qing: “…”
She gave him a deep look. “For now, practice on rabbits.”
Zhang Yushu, however, interpreted her response as permission to continue stealing corpses. He laughed and cried again, kneeling and kowtowing, his entire demeanor bordering on madness.
But the guards nearby were already used to such scenes.
Every day, one or two people would go mad like this. Sometimes, the princess would reveal a few medicinal formulas, telling them that these were things they could learn in the future. The physicians would recite the formulas over and over, growing increasingly frenzied, their gazes toward the princess almost reverential, as if looking upon a deity.
A young palace maid checked the hourglass and reminded her, “Your Highness, would you like to have your meal?”
In good spirits, Zhe Qing nodded. “How many more people are waiting?”
The young maid stepped forward and showed Zhe Qing the remaining resumes. “Only three more today.”
Zhe Qing said, “Then have all three come in.” She then turned to Zhang Yushu. “Doctor Zhang, please follow the maid to the guest room and rest. Settle in peacefully. In a few days, I will give you some books to use in your surgical practice. However, the content in these books is quite novel, so you may need to study them for some time.”
She paused briefly, then, to emphasize the importance, offered him a tantalizing prospect. “The knowledge in these books is comparable to that of Ma-fu Powder.”
Zhang Yushu felt so overjoyed he nearly fainted.
The Ma-fu Powder that Her Highness the Princess had just given him was already a miraculous medicine that could be passed down through the ages. Having studied and sliced it himself, he naturally understood how important a drug that could numb people and temporarily relieve their suffering truly was.
Thus, he cried even more intensely, laughed even more wildly, and stumbled out in a delirious state, startling the last three physicians who entered. When answering questions, they dared not stand out, sticking strictly to the rules and not daring to express any personal opinions, merely reciting from the book.
Zhe Qing: "…"
But they were all acceptable.
She glanced at the evaluations from the Imperial Hospital's first round of interviews on their resumes, all of which were positive, and nodded, saying, "Have the maids take you to the guest rooms."
After a month of busy work, the selection of talents was finally complete.
A total of one hundred people were chosen—a number even Zhe Qing hadn’t anticipated. However, upon careful consideration, it made sense. Since ancient times, there had been the concept of "students of the Son of Heaven." As a prospective Imperial Crown Princess, with Emperor Yu now backing her, the medical college she and Emperor Yu had established could essentially be considered as producing "students of the Son of Heaven."
But she wasn’t mistaken. Most of those who came this time had thought the same way—but only before they arrived!
After arriving, Her Highness the Fourth Princess casually revealed a few prescriptions, which delighted them immensely. Upon hearing that they would have the opportunity to learn even more prescriptions in the future, they couldn’t sleep that night.
"Three years ago, there was a great fire in the small study room of the palace," a bearded physician whispered. "The entire room full of books was burned to ashes. Now, thinking about the prescriptions Her Highness mentioned—my heart aches so much I can hardly breathe—so many medicinal formulas."
"Ah, fortunately, Her Highness still remembers them and wrote them down for us, allowing us to learn them together."
"I heard that when the great fire broke out three years ago, the Fourth Princess was reading in the small study room. Heaven and our ancestors protected her, and nothing happened—she was only knocked unconscious by the smoke and flames…" Otherwise, they would never have seen so many prescriptions.
As they were speaking, a young eunuch and a palace maid knocked on the door from outside.
"Everyone, it’s time to go to the dormitories and classrooms prepared for you by Her Highness."
Dormitories and classrooms—these were fresh terms, but they had heard many new words recently and accepted them quite naturally. A few even slipped silver to the young palace maid and eunuch, saying, "Please take good care of us."
The young palace maid’s face stiffened. "Gentlemen, everything has been arranged—classrooms and dormitory beds are all the same for everyone. There is nothing special to take care of."
With that, she turned away and led the way without another word.
The group exchanged glances, not daring to speak further. When they arrived at their destination, the first thing they saw was the plaque hanging above, inscribed with the three characters: "Medical College."
After leading them into the medical college, the young palace maid’s task was complete. She pointed to a piece of paper posted on the wall and said, "Your classes and dormitory numbers are listed here. Everything has been arranged. Please strictly adhere to the regulations for your accommodations. Otherwise, you will receive academic warnings."
Huang Youwei was thirty years old this year, already middle-aged. However, Her Highness the Princess did not restrict the age of applicants. After much deliberation, he traveled from Qing Province to Jing Du to participate in the selection.
His family, the Huang family of Qing Province, was a renowned lineage of medical experts, with a reputation at its peak. Yet, within the entire family, Huang Youwei was not particularly outstanding.
He came to Jing Du to seek another path, all for the sake of fame and fortune. Even now, that remains the case.
Some people study medicine to save lives and heal the wounded, but he truly does it to earn silver—he has been working hard to make money since childhood and has already amassed a considerable fortune over the years.
So while others were excitedly studying the new prescriptions given by Her Highness the Princess, he was already thinking about how to use these prescriptions to build his reputation and earn even more money!
He spent the entire night thinking about it—the princess’s status, the princess’s prescriptions, even the process of the princess interviewing them, that kind of resume—all could be turned into profit!!
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He was so excited all night that he couldn’t sleep, and today he showed up with dark circles under his eyes to check his class assignment and dormitory.
He was from Qing Province and knew several doctors from there. He called five acquaintances together, and they all gathered to check, but none of the five were assigned to the same dormitory, or even the same classroom.
“What basis was used for this assignment?”
Huang Youwei: “Who knows?”
There was no discernible pattern—it seemed like it might be based on surnames, but that didn’t quite fit either.
“Those with the surname Zhang and those with the surname Zhang are together—that makes a little sense—but before Zhang comes Yun, and before Yun comes Xiao… I don’t know, I don’t understand.”
He sighed and said, “Forget it, since we’re here, let’s make the best of it.”
This medical school provided free accommodation and food! This made Huang Youwei very happy—as long as it didn’t cost money, he was all for it.
—As the saying goes, not spending money is already earning it.
So he happily went on his way.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of another way to make money: directional signs.
On the left side of the road were the words “Dormitory Area,” and on the right side, “Teaching Area.”
Good heavens, that was so clear! Why hadn’t he thought of it before? He immediately decided that when he returned, he would divide his silk shop into sections.
Expensive ones, cheap ones! Two separate sections!
Delighted, he continued forward, first heading to the dormitory area to find his room. And then, he was utterly astonished!
The beds weren’t ordinary beds but two-tiered ones, with a bed on top and a strangely shaped desk below.
Oh, heavens! He wanted to sell this kind of bed-desk combination!
How much silver could this sell for? Your Highness the Princess, I’d like to have a word with you.
Then, like a treasure hunter, he explored the dormitory.
There was a toilet area, a washing area, and a place to hang laundry.
Except for the lack of a kitchen, it could practically be a small home.
And one home… well, he counted—it could house six people!
Besides the shared washing and toilet areas at the back, everyone had their own space.
How ingenious!
This model would work perfectly as an inn—much better than a large communal dormitory.
He could already see silver coins raining down on him.
If possible, he wanted to meet the Fourth Princess immediately.
“Brother—” another person walked into the room, also looking around curiously for a while before greeting Huang Youwei. “According to the rules here, from now on, we’ll be roommates.”
Huang Youwei was a businessman who knew very well that harmony brings wealth. He was always amiable with everyone, so he immediately struck up a conversation with this man named Mu Hua. Upon learning that he was from the Mu family of Qing Province, Huang Youwei became even more enthusiastic.
“I’m also from Qing Province. My surname is Huang.”
"You're actually from the Huang family? My apologies for the oversight. Although our Mu family doesn't interact much with the Huangs, we greatly admire the Huang family's medical skills."
After exchanging a few polite compliments, they discussed going to check out the teaching area.
"It seems only the two of us have arrived in the dormitory so far. The other four have probably already gone to the teaching area."
Upon reaching the teaching area, they saw many more people—clearly, everyone placed greater emphasis on learning.
The classroom style was also different from other academies, as a black board was hung on the wall. It was coated with something, making it very smooth. Not far in front of the blackboard stood a table, on which lay some items called "chalk." Writing on the blackboard with chalk felt somewhat strange, yet it was simple and convenient, quite different from using a brush.
These were all excellent innovations!
"I heard these things were conceived by the Fourth Princess, approved by His Majesty, and took the Ministry of Works over a month to complete."
Huang Youwei said sincerely, "We are grateful for the grace of His Majesty and the Fourth Princess."
He suddenly felt a genuine interest in the teaching that was about to begin from this day onward.