Chapter 19: The Imperial Physician Takes Her Pulse

What she said wasn’t entirely a lie—when she was young, she had been beaten.
But Madam Wu never struck her directly. Instead, she constantly nitpicked and found faults, using those as excuses to punish her.

Her father would just watch coldly. And when Madam Wu brought her complaints to him, he would take action himself.

After being punished enough times, she got smarter and stopped letting others easily catch hold of anything they could use against her.

Ning Zhaorou never once called Madam Wu “Mother.” Even at home, she addressed her only as “Madam.”
She thought, If His Majesty thinks I’m pitiful, then maybe… he’ll treat me a little better.

“Your Majesty… was it just the forehead tap?”
Ning Zhaorou looked at his hand, then suddenly leaned forward and asked bluntly.

The tap earlier on her forehead hadn’t been harsh at all. She had thought the emperor had seen through her little lie and was giving her a subtle warning.

Yin Mingyu’s gaze fell on her reddened earlobes as she leaned in. He gently pushed her back and teased with a smile,
“What else? What more does Lady Ning want?”

Ning Zhaorou was pushed back slightly and shook her head.
“Nothing.”

Just then, she seemed to feel an itch in her throat and let out a soft cough.

Her frame looked even frailer than before. If she fell ill again, who knew how weak she might become?

Yin Mingyu called for someone to fetch the imperial physician.

Outside the tent, the rain still fell, though it had softened to a gentle drizzle—it looked like it would stop soon.

Ning Zhaorou instinctively looked toward the tent’s entrance.
She had been gone from the racetrack for quite a while now. It was raining this heavily—had anyone come looking for her?

Probably not.

But then again… would the incident of His Majesty carrying her out from under the curtain spread?

Did His Majesty want others to know?
Or not?

She slowly withdrew her gaze from the curtain. Just as she was about to lower her head, an arm wrapped around her waist, and suddenly—her entire body was lifted into the air.

“Ah—”
She let out a startled yelp and immediately braced herself against the emperor’s shoulder, afraid of falling.

Yin Mingyu carried her to the side section of the tent, into a space separated by sheer curtains. Inside, there was a small table. The gauzy drape blurred the outlines of anyone within.

He set Ning Zhaorou down on a soft mat and covered her with a nearby blanket. Seeing her still stunned, he gave a small smile and shook his head.
“You can’t sit in the main seat if you’re seeing the physician—how could he take your pulse properly?”

Ning Zhaorou finally understood. She looked quietly toward the sheer curtain in front of her, then turned to Yin Mingyu with a small smile.
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your thoughtfulness.”

Yin Mingyu had barely seen this girl smile more than a couple times, and now that he had, it stirred a strange tenderness in his chest.

He never denied that he had been drawn to her from the beginning. Otherwise, why would he have been so unusually patient with her, time and again?

But she truly had no idea how to win a man’s favor—ended up getting hurt all over instead.
And now, even under his very nose, she still managed to squeeze out a smile.

“Are your hands cold?” he asked.

Ning Zhaorou looked down and clasped her hands together.
“They’re not cold.”

Yin Mingyu chuckled and reached out his hand, clearly expecting her to place hers in it.

She flinched, nervously pulling her hands closer as if trying to warm them up, but with the emperor watching her so closely, she didn’t dare delay for too long.
Hurriedly, she extended both hands and placed them in his palms.

Another lie.

Yin Mingyu gently squeezed them, cupping her hands in his.
When he saw her bow her head in guilt, revealing the delicate curve of her neck, he didn’t scold her. He simply looked away toward the curtain, waiting casually for the physician to arrive.

Ning Zhaorou’s hands were being warmed in his, and soon, she could feel a light layer of sweat forming on her back.

Then—finally—there was movement outside the tent.

It was the imperial physician who had arrived.

Yin Mingyu released her hands and gave the order for him to enter.

Apparently, word of His Majesty carrying a young woman out from the racetrack hadn’t spread, because when Imperial Physician Chen entered, he bowed and nearly mistook the silhouette behind the gauze screen for a concubine.
But it was obviously not one, so he quickly lowered his head and dared not speak.

He heard His Majesty speak toward the curtain:
“Stretch out your wrist and let the physician take a look.”

The young woman replied softly, “Yes,” and a slender wrist extended from behind the curtain.

Imperial Physician Chen steadied himself, took a glance at the wrist, then draped a silk pulse cloth over it and began checking her pulse.

The reading confirmed that this young woman’s constitution was indeed quite frail. He furrowed his brow slightly and asked a few more questions.

“Your Majesty, based on this humble servant’s assessment, the young lady’s pulse is deep and weak. She has recently been affected by cold, and suffers from dizziness and fatigue. She must be carefully nursed back to health.”

“This servant will write a prescription shortly. She should take two doses daily, avoid exertion and overthinking. If she struggles to sleep at night, a calming incense may help.”

Ning Zhaorou withdrew her hand. She hadn’t even pulled her sleeves down yet when her hands were once again caught and held in a warm grasp.

She blinked and softly said to the person outside the curtain,
“Thank you, Imperial Physician.”

Yin Mingyu casually added,
“Go prepare the medicine—and keep your mouth shut.”

Imperial Physician Chen immediately understood the unspoken warning, bowed, and swiftly took his leave.

Outside, the rain was finally tapering off.

Inside the tent, the lighting was bright. Though the space was spacious, to Ning Zhaorou, it suddenly felt a bit… warm.

—

Meanwhile, inside Princess Rong’s tent, she was feeling rather pleased with herself.
With such heavy rain, she wondered smugly if that Lady Ning had been soaked like a drowned rat.

Just the thought of it made her want to laugh, but before she could enjoy it, a group of palace attendants entered.

The head among them was one of His Majesty’s personal senior palace maids.

Princess Rong’s smile froze. She shivered involuntarily and stood up, looking nervously at the maid.

Bai Shuang gave a respectful bow.
“Greetings, Princess Rong. His Majesty has issued an order: all palace staff serving the princess are to be replaced.”

Having said that, she straightened and signaled to the attendants behind her.
“Do it.”

Princess Rong had only brought a small entourage on this trip to Mount Eoming with Consort Liang.
The replacement of staff could have waited until they returned to the palace—but now, all her attendants were being taken away on the spot, leaving only a few unfamiliar junior maids in their place.

Princess Rong panicked immediately and clung to her personal maid’s arm, refusing to let go.
“I—I’ll go beg His Majesty’s forgiveness! Please, don’t take them away—”

Bai Shuang exchanged a look with the two older palace matrons behind her. One stepped forward and picked up the struggling princess, while the other dragged the trembling personal maid out of the tent.

“I’ll tell my mother! I’ll have her punish you! Ahhh—how dare you filthy slaves lay hands on me!”
Princess Rong flailed and kicked, her face flushing red with rage.

Bai Shuang merely nodded calmly and continued,
“His Majesty also said that since the princess refuses to learn her lesson, Consort Liang need not come visit her anymore, lest she feel distressed at the sight.”

Mother… Even Mother can’t come anymore?

Princess Rong suddenly froze.
Only now did she realize the severity of the situation.

Her mouth opened—and she burst into tears.

Bai Shuang ignored her. She simply left a few junior maids to serve the princess, then turned and walked out of the tent.