The apothecary’s shopkeeper sighed. “Master Xu, your mother’s illness… you should prepare for the worst.”
Xu Xiaozhi’s tall frame swayed. He dropped to his knees with a thud. “Doctor, please examine her again. Even if there’s only the slightest hope…” The shopkeeper shook his head helplessly, and Xu Xiaozhi walked away in a daze.
Zhao Yushu hurried after him. “Constable, wait. What illness does the Old Madam in your household have?”
Xu Xiaozhi looked down and saw a handsome young boy with delicate features. He impatiently waved him away. “Where did you come from, child? Don’t make trouble.”
“Constable, I’m a disciple of Divine Physician Gui Jiuling, and I’m out gaining experience on my master’s orders.”
Zhao Yushu looked up at him. “If there’s a patient in your household, why not let me try?”
The name Gui Jiuling made Xu Xiaozhi stop. He was doubtful about the little boy before him, but his mother had already been pronounced beyond saving.
He clenched his teeth and nodded. “If you dare deceive me, I won’t spare you my blade.”
A beggar by the roadside heard every word.
Prince Jin had searched everywhere for Gui Jiuling without success. If this boy really was the physician’s disciple, it would be a great achievement. The lead beggar signaled to the others, and the three quietly followed them.
The Xu household was modest. Behind a curtain, Xu Xiaozhi’s mother lay gaunt and sallow.
After taking her pulse, Zhao Yushu examined her chest by touch. Xu Xiaozhi roared and drew his sword to stop her. “Men and women must keep their distance! Don’t you dare be so disrespectful!” The blade flashed. Zhao Yushu nimbly dodged it.
“Something is obstructing the Old Madam’s throat. I need to examine her by touch to confirm the diagnosis. If you trust me, let me use acupuncture to clear the blockage.”
“Absurd! You’re clearly a man—”
Xu Xiaozhi brought his blade closer, but then Zhao Yushu suddenly pulled off her hair ribbon.
Her raven-dark hair spilled down like a waterfall, falling to her waist. “Constable, does this count as ‘keeping men and women apart’ now?”
Xu Xiaozhi’s pupils contracted. His sword clattered to the floor.
The young man’s masculine air vanished with the disguise. Every line of Zhao Yushu’s face, from her brows to the corners of her eyes, was delicately feminine. The tiny holes in her earlobes were unmistakable: she was a young woman who had yet to marry.
“I may be dressed as a man, but I’m doing nothing improper.”
Zhao Yushu’s fingertips remained pressed against the acupoint at the center of Xu Xiaozhi’s mother’s chest. “The Old Madam’s condition is critical. In half a day, it will reach her heart. Do you want to cling to propriety and the rules, or save your mother’s life?”
Xu Xiaozhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He bent down and picked up his sword. “…You should have told me who you were from the start.”
“People are prejudiced against women practicing medicine. If I’d claimed to be a female doctor, I might not even have been allowed through the door.”
Zhao Yushu’s fingertips moved quickly over Xu Xiaozhi’s mother’s chest. “Turn around. I’m going to administer the needles.”
As Xu Xiaozhi turned away, he heard fabric tear—
Zhao Yushu had torn open Xu Xiaozhi’s mother’s robe, exposing her prominent ribs. The silver needles gleamed coldly in the candlelight. Her fingertips fluttered like butterfly wings as she found the Tiantu, Tanzhong, and Yunmen points, then inserted all three needles at once.
“Cough—!”
Xu Xiaozhi’s mother suddenly convulsed and sat up, a sound like a broken bellows coming from her throat.
Zhao Yushu quickly held a spittoon to her chin. Blackish-red phlegm mixed with streaks of blood gushed out, filling the room with a foul stench.
By the time Xu Xiaozhi’s mother slumped back onto the bed, the ashen pallor had faded from her face, leaving a faint flush.
“Mother!” Xu Xiaozhi turned and saw her eyelashes flutter. He dropped to his knees. “Divine Physician, your great kindness—”
“Get up and talk.”
Zhao Yushu had already tied up her hair again and resumed her boyish appearance. “The blockage in the Old Madam’s throat is gone. Tomorrow, she can have some rice broth. If the coating on her tongue has lightened after three days, she’ll be out of danger.”
She paused while wiping down her silver needles. “I hope you’ll keep my identity secret. These are difficult times; a woman practicing medicine always faces extra complications.”
Xu Xiaozhi watched the ends of her hair fall against her shoulders, then suddenly cupped his fist. “I, Xu, swear on my life that I’ll never reveal your identity, Miss.”
When he looked up, his gaze was burning with sincerity. “If there’s ever anything you need from me, I’ll brave any danger for you.”
Zhao Yushu nodded her thanks and hurriedly packed up her medicine box.
Before leaving, she pulled a silver coin from her sleeve and pressed it into Xu Xiaozhi’s hand. “Tomorrow, go to the apothecary and get three qian of poria and five qian of dried tangerine peel. It’ll help the Old Madam sleep peacefully.” Before he could refuse, she slipped out the door.
Several little shadows dressed like beggars crept after Zhao Yushu.
“Are you sure? Is that boy really the Divine Physician’s disciple?”
“Absolutely. Xu Xiaozhi’s mother was already as good as dead. Even the best doctors said they couldn’t cure her. Then she went in, and that old woman came right back to life! Who else could do that except a Divine Physician with the power to bring the dead back?”
“Looks like this person really does have close ties to the Divine Physician! You two keep an eye on him. I’ll find a way to report this. Whatever you do, don’t let that boy get away!”
“Don’t worry. With the two of us on the job, even if she grew wings, she wouldn’t escape our sight!”
As the group whispered among themselves, Zhao Yushu, walking ahead, furrowed her brow.
Someone was following her? Who were they, and what did they want?
Her eyes flickered. She darted into a lane that branched in several directions, glanced at the three forks ahead, and turned down one at random.
In her previous life, she had served as a secret agent for Prince Jin, and he was always sending her out on assignments. She knew the streets of the capital better than she knew her own home.
After she turned through three lanes in a row, the beggars behind her were thoroughly confused.
A little later, she vaulted over a wall, and the tails had fallen so far behind that they disappeared from sight.
Zhao Yushu waited for a moment. When none of them appeared, she gave a cold snort, straightened her disheveled hem, and walked into a general store by the roadside.
The shopkeeper had been waiting for her for a long time. The moment she came in, the woman covered her mouth with a smile.
“Young Master, I’ve finished making the clothes and shoes you ordered. Have a look.”
At first glance, the two sets of underclothes looked no different from ordinary clothes. Only when the fronts were opened could one see that the fabric had been sewn in three layers, with the middle layer made entirely of storage pockets.
The shoes were two pairs of women’s shoes, one in Zhao Yushu’s size and one in Concubine Liu’s. Their uppers were plain, simple coarse cloth, like the shoes worn by servants who did rough work.
But the inside was lined with soft silk, and the soles were especially thick. In shoes like these, even walking on a gravel road would be light and comfortable, without rubbing the soles of one’s feet.
The shoes worn by noblewomen were made for softness and beauty, so their soles were usually soft satin. They looked fine, but weren’t suitable for walking.
In her previous life, she had been exiled. Before long, the women’s shoes had worn through at the soles. The guards escorting them didn’t care whether the prisoners lived or died, so the women had no choice but to walk barefoot for more than a month. It was summer, so the cold wasn’t a problem, but the roads were terribly rough. Their feet were covered in calluses and blisters.
They weren’t freed from that misery until they came across a corpse on the road, stripped the dead person’s shoes off, and put them on their own feet.
This time, Zhao Yushu didn’t want to suffer that ordeal again.
After checking the clothes and shoes and confirming that they’d been made exactly as she’d requested, with nothing wrong, she took out a tael of silver.
“Keep the change.”
The shopkeeper grinned from ear to ear, then insisted on giving her a small wooden hairpin as well.
“A little token of my appreciation, Young Master. Please accept it. If you ever need anything else, just come to me.”
The hairpin looked ordinary, but it had a clever design: it came apart into two halves, revealing a narrow slit inside.
It couldn’t hold much, but there was enough room for a few pieces of wire or steel needles.
It was a fine hidden weapon for killing!
Zhao Yushu recognized its true purpose at a glance and couldn’t help taking a closer look at the shopkeeper.
Then she noticed a small flame emblem in an inconspicuous corner of the shop.
By sheer coincidence, she had walked into one of Prince Jin’s businesses!
By her reckoning, Prince Jin hadn’t yet established a permanent faction at this point. He was short of people and eager to recruit capable talent.
Thinking of the beggars who had followed her just now, Zhao Yushu’s mouth twitched.
Could she have given herself away when she saved the patient, and Prince Jin’s people now thought she was someone worth recruiting?
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She didn’t dare linger on Prince Jin’s premises, so she grabbed her things and hurried out.
“Thank you for the gift, Shopkeeper. I have something to attend to today, so I’ll be going!”
Zhao Yushu was lucky she left quickly. Almost as soon as she disappeared from the alley, a man dressed as a beggar hurried into the shop.
“Master, we have the latest news. The disciple of Divine Physician Gui Jiuling has appeared in the capital. We’ve verified his identity. This person has the remarkable ability to bring the dead back to life. Here’s his portrait!”