The princess's residence

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness! I brought the Imperial Physician Director. Let him examine Yin'er!"

In the eldest son's bedchamber, Princess Taiping was talking with her son when a booming voice suddenly rang out. Then the doors were thrust open, and her current consort, Wu Youji, strode in with a medical official in blue robes whose temples were lightly frosted with gray.

"Director Zhang is a direct disciple of the Medicine King. His treatment will surely cure-"

Before Wu Youji could finish, he saw Xue Chongyin sitting perfectly well on the couch. Princess Taiping was leisurely straightening her son's collar, while several maids silently wiped blood from the floor.

"This..."

Wu Youji was momentarily struck speechless. The eager smile froze on his face, making him look rather ridiculous.

Only then did Princess Taiping slowly rise. Her phoenix eyes swept over Zhang Shouzhuo, the Director of Imperial Medicine, and her tone betrayed neither pleasure nor anger. "Since you're here, Director Zhang, take Yin'er's pulse again. It will put This Palace at ease."

Although Zhang Shouzhuo had already anticipated the outcome, his instincts as a physician still drove him to step forward and take Xue Chongyin's wrist. The calm, firm pulse beneath his fingertips gave him a shock-the pulse was weak, but already steady, utterly unlike the "hysterical possession" Wu Youji had described on the way!

Having practiced medicine for decades, he naturally understood that his colleagues had likely misdiagnosed the boy...

"The eldest young master is no longer in danger. He need only rest and recuperate."

Zhang Shouzhuo withdrew his hand and delivered his report gravely, though waves were already surging through his heart.

A cold curve lifted the corners of Princess Taiping's lips. "Imperial Physician Director Zhang, you were the one who strongly recommended Zhou Ming as this household's Director of Medicine, weren't you?"

Zhang Shouzhuo's heart tightened. Bowing, he said, "Yes... I recommended him."

"He was incompetent and delayed treatment. This Palace has already dealt with him."

Princess Taiping's tone was mild, yet carried the scent of blood. "And Wang Zhen, the medical supervisor at the Imperial Medical Bureau—if This Palace remembers correctly, he also came from the Medicine King Valley and was your junior fellow disciple?"

Zhang Shouzhuo's face went white. Cold sweat seeped from his temples; he already sensed what she would say next.

"This Palace had him beheaded too."

Princess Taiping's voice abruptly sharpened. "They kept insisting Yin'er had offended the gods and that evil had entered his body! Now he's sitting here perfectly well. Is this how the Medicine King Valley deceives people under its illustrious name?! Had This Palace not been fortunate enough to meet someone with genuine ability, Yin'er might already have been at death's door! Everyone says the Medicine King Valley's medical skills are unsurpassed under heaven. From what This Palace has seen today, its reputation is nothing but an empty shell!"

Zhang Shouzhuo dropped to his knees with a thud, unable to answer.

If no one had managed to cure the patient, it would merely have shown a lack of skill. But now the boy had been cured, proving that the Medicine King Valley's disciples were quacks whose mistakes harmed others. Having recommended the wrong men twice, he could not escape responsibility.

Sweat broke out on Zhang Shouzhuo's forehead. "I... I failed to judge their character and supervise them properly. Please forgive me, Princess!"

Princess Taiping snorted coldly and swept her sleeve. "If you hold an office, fulfill its duties! This Palace doesn't keep useless men in my household! Go back and think long and hard. Don't let any more impostors filling seats sully the Medicine King's name!"

"Thank you for your mercy, Your Highness."

Zhang Shouzhuo kowtowed and rose awkwardly. His lowered face burned, humiliation and anger twisting together, but he dared show none of it.

Forcing his emotions down, he asked quietly, "May I ask Your Highness... which miraculous physician restored him with a healing hand and turned back the raging tide?"

Princess Taiping replied casually, "A young man named Lu Changfeng. This Palace has retained him as the household's Director of Medicine."

Zhang Shouzhuo's thoughts raced, and he immediately said, "Your Highness, according to regulations, the Director of Medicine in a Princess's Residence must be appointed and registered by the Imperial Medical Bureau. Since a new officer has been installed, I... must meet him and enter him in the records."

The justification was perfectly reasonable. Princess Taiping waved impatiently, granting tacit permission.

Zhang Shouzhuo bowed and withdrew from the chamber. The instant he turned away, his gaze grew sinister-he would see just where this unorthodox physician had crawled out of. Could someone have deliberately set a trap to smash the Medicine King Valley's reputation?!

Inside the chamber, seeing Zhang Shouzhuo leave, Wu Youji hurriedly forced a smile and approached, hoping to exchange a few words with the princess. Just then, the female official Jinghong stepped quietly forward and whispered to Princess Taiping, "Your Highness, our preliminary investigation of Lu Changfeng's origins and background is complete."

Princess Taiping nodded slightly. Without even looking at Wu Youji, she said indifferently, "Thank you for your efforts, Consort. Go back and rest."

"..."

Wu Youji opened his mouth. Looking at Princess Taiping's graceful, magnificent yet cold and distant profile, he felt an intense surge of resentment and humiliation. Still, he could only suppress it all and bow. "Yes. I... take my leave."

He withdrew from the bedchamber and turned to watch the doors slowly close, as though he had been shut out of another world. Inside his sleeves, his fists secretly clenched.

Princess Taiping looked at Jinghong, signaling her to speak.

Jinghong gathered her skirts and bowed. "Your Highness, we have established that the new Director of Medicine, Lu Changfeng, is eighteen years old and comes from Shengping Ward in Chang'an. He grew up alone and destitute. As a child, he was taken on as an apprentice by Chen Yunsheng, an itinerant physician in the Western Market. For ten years, he accompanied his master through the streets and alleys. His medical skills... according to the neighbors, were decidedly mediocre. He could only treat ordinary colds and injuries."

Princess Taiping lifted her teacup and waited for her to continue.

"However..."

Jinghong paused briefly, a trace of puzzlement entering her voice. "Our investigation found that three days ago, he made a mistake while testing medicine and was left barely breathing, almost beyond saving. Yet when he woke the following day, he was not only full of vitality, but his speech and manner while seeing his neighbors were markedly different. He also displayed insights into medicine he had never shown before. Shortly afterward, the household guards brought him here... Your Highness knows what happened next."

Princess Taiping set down her teacup and lightly tapped the table with a fingertip. A glimmer of understanding, along with deeper curiosity, passed through her eyes.

"An entirely different man after those three days... He returned from the brink of death and could suddenly cure a strange illness that left even the Medicine King Valley helpless?" she murmured. "...Was he concealing his talents before, or did he encounter some other opportunity? Could a master have awakened his understanding?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Mother?"

Leaning against the couch, Xue Chongyin listened to his mother's murmurs with a hint of worry on his face.

After hesitating a moment, he still asked softly, "This Mr. Lu... is his background clean? Could he have been planted here by the empress or the Prince of Liang, Wu Sansi?"

His words carried hesitation. After all, Lu Changfeng had saved his life, and he was grateful. He truly did not want his benefactor to harbor ulterior motives.

Princess Taiping turned toward her son. Seeing that, though his complexion remained weak, his eyes were clear, she smiled. "No. If they had someone that capable, they would have sent him to the emperor's side as their eyes and ears long ago. Why would they leave him among the common people and risk his life staging a 'miraculous cure' for your mother?"

Her tone was certain. Then her expression softened, and she reached out to tuck in his blanket, her voice regaining a mother's tenderness. "What matters most now is that you rest and recover. Don't let your thoughts run wild. Your mother will worry about these things."

Hearing such certainty from his mother, Xue Chongyin felt a great stone lift from his heart. A faint, relaxed smile appeared on his pale face. "I understand. Once I'm feeling better, I must properly thank Mr. Lu."

"There's no hurry for that..."

Princess Taiping shook her head, casting her gaze outside toward the Snow Listening Tower, and chuckled softly. "First, we must see whether he can hold on to that position."

"This job won't be easy."

Lu Changfeng finished cultivating and finally possessed "the strength to truss a chicken."

Though he was still far from the legendary feats of soaring through the heavens, burrowing through the earth, moving mountains, and overturning seas, at least he now had some strength to defend himself.

But against his present circumstances, it was still only a cup of water against a blazing cartload of firewood...

Whenever he thought about it, his temples began to throb. He simply relaxed his body, lay back on the couch, and stared at the ceiling, pondering silently.

In ancient times, medicine was a high-risk profession.

Bian Que's medical skills bordered on the divine, and his name rang through the various states, yet he was ultimately assassinated out of jealousy by Li Xi, Qin's Imperial Physician Director. Hua Tuo wanted to open Cao Cao's skull and spoke his mind without reserve, only to die in prison...

If even renowned and miraculous physicians met such ends, then he, a rootless apprentice to an "itinerant physician" who had suddenly been promoted, faced danger a thousand times greater!

This was Princess Taiping's residence, one of the very centers of Chang'an City's whirlpool of power.

Empress Wei, Wu Sansi, Princess Anle... every faction jostled and fought in the shadows here.

Practicing medicine here was nothing short of dancing on the edge of a blade!

If he failed to cure someone, his head would naturally roll. He had already witnessed that madwoman's patience and her butcher's blade.

But what if he succeeded?

If he interfered with someone's affairs or blocked someone's path, he could just as easily be erased without a sound. Curing Xue Chongyin today might seem glorious, but in truth, who knew how many people he had offended-the Imperial Medical Bureau, the Medicine King Valley, and all those factions that had hoped Xue Chongyin would never rise from his sickbed...

"Honestly... advancing or retreating, every path leads to death."

Lu Changfeng felt helpless, immense pressure settling over his entire body.

Had I known I'd be dragged here, I shouldn't have touched medicine again three days ago! Being a beggar would be better than being a doctor! Forget it. Things have come to this, and cursing heaven and blaming others won't help. Staying alive comes first...

He forced himself to calm down. His brain raced as it once had when planning major surgeries in his previous life, weighing advantages and disadvantages and searching for a way to survive.

His most pressing task was to learn medical techniques involving true qi as quickly as possible and establish himself, lest another emergency arise and that madwoman have him beheaded when he failed to save the patient;

But he could not study medicine alone. History's lessons dripped with blood-Cao Cao killed Hua Tuo out of suspicion, and King Min of Qi killed Wen Zhi because he had angered him. Entrusting his life entirely to a superior's "appreciation of talent" and "reason" was undoubtedly foolish!

He had already experienced Princess Taiping's madness and fickleness. He needed to change his standing, increase his own importance, and secure several more layers of protection!

That way, even if a treatment went badly, other considerations would keep her from killing him.

So what did Princess Taiping lack?

Lu Changfeng's thinking gradually opened up. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which he had studied in his previous life, now became the key to breaking out of his predicament.

Princess Taiping already stood at the top of the pyramid. Her wealth rivaled a nation's, she wore silks and feasted on delicacies, her power overshadowed court and country, and retainers flocked around her like clouds!

Without question, she had long since moved beyond dependence on material things and ordinary social contact. What she truly lacked, amid the utter loneliness at the summit of power, was fulfillment of emotional and spiritual needs no one could satisfy.

Emotional and spiritual needs...

Emotional value?

"Huh?"

Lu Changfeng raised an eyebrow as an idea naturally surfaced in his mind. Surely not. Could the way out of this predicament be... becoming her male favorite?!

Just as his thoughts were wandering wildly.

Knock, knock, knock.

A crisp knocking interrupted his thoughts.

The maid Qing Dai's cool voice came from outside the door. "Mr. Lu, the Imperial Physician Director, Zhang Shouzhuo, of the Imperial Medical Bureau is outside the courtyard. He says he wishes to see you."