Shen Bao didn’t want to go back to sleep anymore.
Those disgraced female familial didn’t deserve to die.
The Empress also intended for Shen Quan to educate them.
Naturally, Shen Zong didn’t dare to delay.
The weather was already cold enough that even Shen Yu, wrapped in a thick cloak, felt the cold biting her bones.
Those disgraced female familial were very likely only wearing thin clothes.
“Of course, of course. I’ll wait outside for you. His Majesty knew you would go to receive them, so I was specially ordered to prepare the imperial carriage for you. There’s a charcoal stove inside, so you won’t be cold on the way.”
Eunuch Li nodded, then retreated outside the courtyard to patiently wait for Shen Yu to get ready.
Shen Yu returned to the side room and changed her clothes.
Seeing that Yin Qiu was still sleeping, and thinking that the place she was going to wasn’t suitable for Yin Qiu to see, she didn’t wake her up.
She grabbed a few warm fur-lined coats and some snacks, then followed Eunuch Li to the carriage waiting at the entrance of Mu’en Hall.
All the way, Shen Yu thought about what would become of those disgraced female familial.
But when Shen Yi actually saw them, she felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
She stood frozen on the spot.
She saw several prison wagons holding a few dirty, disheveled women.
Although their ages were hard to tell, they were surely all young.
They were all thin as skin and bones, leaning against the prison wagons with hollow eyes, as if they had nothing left to live for.
Winter had already set in.
The temperature in the Capital City was below zero, but they were only wearing dirty, thin prison clothes, many of which had obvious holes.
“These are all female medical officers who know pharmaceuticals. In this prison wagon is the great-granddaughter of that corrupt official Cui Yuan, Cui Yujing.”
Eunuch Li led Shen Yu to the first prison wagon.
Inside were several girls.
One of them was slightly older, with bright eyes and pearly white teeth, a young girl with big eyes.
She was Cui Yujing, who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old.
Even though she was covered in dirt and filth, her facial features were still distinct and clear, and her figure was excellent.
She was clearly a little beauty.
A cold wind blew, and she, dressed only in thin prison clothes, shivered violently, but she was still tightly holding a younger girl in her arms.
Tears welled up in the younger girl’s eyes as she looked at Shen Qing with a terrified expression.
But Cui Yujing’s gaze towards Shen Yu was neither humble nor arrogant.
She seemed to know exactly who had brought her to such a state.
Her expression towards Shen Yu before her was very complex.
Once a proud daughter of heaven, backed by the Cui Clan of Yanghe, she had learned all the pharmacology and medicine passed down from her ancestors.
She had risen through the ranks through the Medical Recruitment Exam, becoming an Imperial Physician at a young age, reaching for the clouds.
It was a future without limits!
But… one wrong move, and everything was lost.
A little over a month ago, she was still that proud daughter of heaven, dreaming of using the Medical Recruitment Exam to realize her grand ambitions.
But now, she had fallen to being a prisoner in chains.
No matter how lofty her dreams were, they were just a fleeting cloud.
Now, she was even being scrutinized by those Fenglin Guards, like livestock for Shen Yu to choose from.
Cui Yujing’s heart was filled with resentment, hatred, helplessness, and despair.
All these emotions intertwined, along with cold, hunger, and fear, forming a symphony of suffering upon her, leaving her eyes empty, as if she couldn’t even find the meaning of her own existence.
She didn’t want to respond to Shen Yu’s scrutinizing gaze anymore.
Instead, she turned her face away, closed her eyes, and waited for fate to dispose of her.
Now she asked for nothing else, only a quick end for herself and a way for the little sister in her arms to live.
Then she would have no more desires or demands.
Just as Cui Yujing, with tears in her eyes and eyes tightly shut, was waiting for her fate, she suddenly felt a warmth on her shoulders.
The cold instantly vanished.
The feeling of warmth seemed to make her feel alive again.
She thought she was too cold and her senses were failing her.
How could there be warmth in the wintery Capital City?
But when she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that a fur coat had been draped over her.
The large coat wrapped her and her little sister together, warding off the piercing cold and covering their tattered, shameful undergarments that barely covered their bodies.
On the other side, Shen Ren Yi was distributing warm clothes and snacks to the other female prisoners.
“Sister.”
The little sister in her arms held out two pieces of pastry to Cui Yujing.
Although the pastries were already cold sweet pastries, to Cui Yujing, who had been hungry for days and had only eaten a few bowls of thin gruel on the road, these two crispy, sweet pastries were undoubtedly worth more than any delicacy.
“That beautiful lady just now gave them to us. Sister, please eat.”
Cui Yujing’s little sister, Cui Kexi, was only five years younger than her sister.
Enduring wind and dew, hunger and cold all the way, she had survived only because her sister had saved every bit of her own rations for her little sister.
That was how the two sisters managed to hold on until they reached the Capital City.
Little sister was young, at an age where she was naturally greedy and growing.
Seeing the pastries, she almost drooled, but she still insisted on giving the pastry to her sister first.
Seeing her little sister’s longing gaze, Cui Yujing could no longer hold back.
Tears as big as beans streamed down her eyes.
“Little sister… little sister, I’m sorry.”
“Sister has nothing to be sorry for. Sister is very good to me. Sister, eat the pastry.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
By now, Cui Yujing was already in tears.
Her little sister had been pampered since childhood, the apple of the family’s eye.
This sweet pastry was once the most common and most insignificant snack for her.
But now… it had become a rare delicacy.
Seeing how eager she was, Cui Yujing’s defenses completely crumbled.
“What’s all this crying for? I didn’t see you bawling like this on the road. You want a beating, don’t you?”
“Our Lord Shen has a kind heart. Knowing you haven’t had enough to eat or enough to wear on the road, she specially gave you these. You people have no self-awareness. If you want to eat, eat. If not, give it to the other female prisoners!”
The Fenglin Guards responsible for escorting this group of female prisoners already had no goodwill towards these disgraced female familial.
After all, the important figures in these disgraced female familial’s households had been bent on killing Shen He.
The Fenglin Guards knew best what Shen Fu meant to the Imperial Court.
She genuinely and wholeheartedly cared for the people.
The noble families wanted to kill Shen Yu, but Shen Yu put aside past grievances with these disgraced female familial of the noble families.
Not only did she, with a kind heart, give them warm clothes, but she also gave them sweet pastries.
Where else in the world could you find such a good person?
These disgraced female familial were still ungrateful, crying and wailing like that.
It was too disrespectful to Imperial Physician Shen!
They deserved a beating!
“Eunuch Li, the condition of these disgraced female familial is not good at all.”
Shen Yu distributed the fur coats and snacks she had brought, then furrowed her brow, looking troubled.
Under her examination, there were twelve female prisoners in total.
Of these, three were beyond help.
More than half of the remaining were on the verge of death.
The few who were still relatively healthy had also completely damaged their bodies from prolonged exposure to the elements and hunger and cold.
Shen Yu estimated that, at most, only about five were suitable to follow her and work at Mu’en Hall.
Mu’en Hall was, after all, an imperial institution.
As the Empress’s manager of imperial properties, Shen He naturally couldn’t just let anyone into Mu’en Hall.
“Imperial Physician Shen, please just make your selection. Pick as many as you want. Leave the rest to me to handle.”
Eunuch Li smiled coldly at those disgraced female familial.
Actually, he knew best in his heart that when His Majesty said their crime wasn’t a capital offense, it meant the Emperor wouldn’t kill them personally, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t be killed by other means.
From the Imperial Court’s perspective, it would be best if these disgraced female familial died.
If it weren’t for the fact that they could still be useful to Shen Yu, they would have been tortured to death long ago by other means.
Those who behaved might be sent to the Music Bureau.
But those who had been raided were not just the Cui Clan of Yanghe.
There were also the female familial of the Li Clan of Taoguan and the Wu Clan of Guangling.
The Music Bureau had limited places and certainly couldn’t support so many girls.
The extra ones, if they had nowhere to go, could only wait to die.
Shen Yu certainly understood the meaning behind Eunuch Li’s gaze towards those disgraced female familial…
Grandpa had told her early on that the Imperial Court was incredibly dark.
If she didn’t take them in, most of these girls would only have death awaiting them.
They wouldn’t even have the chance to go to the Music Bureau.
But these people, Shen Yu really couldn’t accept them…
“Eunuch Li, the Music Bureau… is there really no room left?”
“Imperial Physician Shen truly has a kind heart. If you ask, I can certainly make arrangements. If you are willing to give them a way to live, then naturally I cannot let you down, right? This old servant is just accumulating virtue and good deeds by following Imperial Physician Shen’s lead.”
Eunuch Li always accommodated any request Shen He made.
After all, they both served His Majesty and were of one mind.
“Then these girls…”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Just as Shen Quan was about to speak, asking Eunuch Li to send them all to the Music Bureau to find a way to live, Cui Yujing directly kowtowed three times to Shen Nian.
“Imperial Physician Shen, I, Cui Yujing, know that you are kind-hearted. Our family has wronged you, but… but my little sister is innocent. She is so young and doesn’t understand anything. I don’t ask you to take me in. I beg you to take in my little sister.”
“As for the others, I also beg you to keep as many as possible. They are all members of my Cui clan. They are well-versed in the pharmacology and medicine passed down from our ancestors and can help you. They never participated in plotting against you either! I am willing to atone for them and go to the Music Bureau…”
When Cui Yujing said the last three words, “Music Bureau,” she was almost gnashing her teeth.
She understood that once she entered the Music Bureau, her life would be completely plunged into endless darkness, with no hope of ever turning things around.
But her little sister had…
As long as her little sister could live a healthy life, she would have no other desires.
“I beg you to show mercy! I beg you to show mercy!”
Cui Yujing bumped her forehead until it bled.
A streak of crimson slowly flowed down her exquisitely featured face, like a trail of bloody tears.
Cui Yujing had completely given up.
She had given up her identity as a proud daughter of heaven, given up all her fantasies about the future.
She knew her life was over.
There would never be another dawn.
Cui Yujing knew very well that Shen Yu was not a bad person.
If she could have met her earlier, could she have persuaded her family not to act against Shen Fu?
Would her fate today have been completely different?
“Imperial Physician Shen, what do you think?”
Even Eunuch Li was a bit troubled.
“Forget it. Send them all to Mu’en Hall.”
Shen He ultimately couldn’t be ruthless.
“Imperial Physician Shen truly has a kind heart. I’ll make the arrangements now.”
Eunuch Li nodded and called out to the Fenglin Guards in charge of the escort.
The prison wagons headed towards Mu’en Hall.
After finally arriving at Mu’en Hall, several people had completely lost their breath.
Including Cui Yujing and her little sister Cui Kexi, five people were still conscious but suffering from severe malnutrition and frostbite.
The remaining three were in critical condition.
Shen Yu temporarily placed them in the West Wing.
Wait for them to wake up, give them warm water, sugar water.
All that was left was to hope they would survive.
During this time, although Cui Yujing was wearing heavy shackles on her feet and was very weak, she showed no signs of laziness.
She followed Shen Yi, helping Shen He arrange for those female familial of the same clan, bustling about, with no intention of resting.
All the while, she carefully watched Shen Fang, even suppressing the sound of her shackles clanking as she walked, afraid of accidentally upsetting Shen He.
At the same time, she was also worried that the female familial of her clan wouldn’t survive.
Seeing their suffering, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
She worked from morning until night.
Only then did Shen Nian and Cui Yujing finally get a break.
Having not eaten for a long time, coupled with intense mental strain, Cui Yujing was now completely limp all over.
Even taking a step forward was a huge effort for her.
“Sister!”
Just as Cui Yujing was about to collapse, the nearby Cui Kexi caught her in time.
Compared to the haggard-faced Cui Yujing, little sister Cui Kexiang seemed much more energetic.
It turned out that Yin Qiu took pity on the little girl and gave her a large bowl of noodle soup.
With a full stomach, the little girl was naturally more spirited.
“Sister, are you alright?”
Cui Yujing’s approach to first aid was basically disinfecting with strong liquor or scraping the wound and applying herbal medicine.
She had the concept of sterilization, but compared to Shen He’s strictly followed sterilization procedures, her methods were not as meticulous.
But for a female physician in an ancient setting, this was already commendable.
If Yin Qiu, with a little training, would become a very good female physician in the future, then for Cui Yujing to be a female physician would be a bit of a waste.
She was practically a born nurse, the kind who has perfect synergy with the attending physician in the operating room.
“Liuzhou is not at peace either. Everyone is having a hard time… As a family of Imperial Physicians with a physician’s benevolent heart, I naturally cannot ignore those in need.”
Cui Yujing was already panting just from speaking.
It was clear that her stamina was completely depleted.
“Drink this first, or your body will collapse.”
Shen Yu handed her a bowl of sugar water.
Cui Yujing hesitated for a moment before taking it.
Her pale lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to speak but stopped.
Through the sweet aroma emanating from the warm water, she recognized it as a bowl of sugar water, a bowl of sugar water that could save her life.
But she wasn’t in a hurry to drink it, because she understood the rules…
“Mm… Thank you, Lord Shen. I am forever grateful, and I will surely repay your kindness…”
Cui Yujing tried to hold back her tears.
With tears streaming down her face, she lifted the warm sugar water bowl to her lips.
Sipping little by little, she slightly lifted her head, forcing herself with all her might to straighten up and say these words with dignity.
She had completely accepted her fate in her relationship with Shen Yu.
“Drink up.”
Shen Yu sighed and looked at the heavy leg irons on the two sisters’ feet.
Their fair ankles were now chafed and bleeding.
But Imperial Court regulations stipulated that criminals like them could not have their leg irons removed.
The only way to get the leg irons off was either to die or to enter the Music Bureau.
However, the Music Bureau would remove the leg irons only to make it convenient for them to receive clients, not to make them comfortable.
The Music Bureau would brand special marks on their shoulders or backs with a branding iron.
To prevent the wounds from healing, they would be branded again almost every so often.
This was to proclaim to everyone that they were the property of the Music Bureau, that they were disgraced female familial, playthings, slaves, worthless things—in short… not human.
“Yin Qiu, later take them to wash up, make them clean, and find some clean clothes.”
“Arrange for them to sleep in the West Wing tonight. Give them enough firewood so they won’t freeze.”
“Yes, Sister. Little sister, little sister, come with me. I’ll heat some water and take you to bathe.”
Yin Qiu nodded in agreement.
She could see Shen Yu’s exhaustion and naturally wanted to share more of the burden for her sister.
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