Just as Shen Gui was muttering to herself, smugly satisfied with her plan, she caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye: Princess Yulan, lying on the bed, seemed to move slightly.
Shen La thought she was seeing things for a moment.
She instinctively rubbed her eyes and looked at Princess Yulan on the bed.
What shocked her was…
The little girl’s originally pale complexion was gradually regaining the rosy color of a living person.
At the same time, her fingers were trembling slightly.
It was clearly visible that she was recovering!
“What the… No way, she’s actually alive?!”
Shen Yu certainly didn’t believe in ghosts or monsters.
From the first day she transmigrated into this world, Shen He had always believed that practice was the sole criterion for truth.
All talk of supernatural forces was nonsense.
Only seeing is believing.
Only with hard evidence before her eyes could Shen He be truly convinced.
But this revival of the dead… was still far beyond Shen Qing’s knowledge.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Shen Qing would never have believed it.
Even now, she wondered if she was dreaming.
“This isn’t right. I checked her just now.”
Shen Yu quickly stood up and leaned over Princess Yulan’s bedside.
Looking at the little girl who had stopped breathing, her body now rose and fell slightly with her breath… Putting her hand on her pulse, it was completely the pulse of a living person.
Still not convinced, Shen Yu took out a few of the silver needles the Empress had just rewarded her with and tested several acupoints on Princess Yulan’s body…
Without a doubt, the Princess Yulan before her, aside from not being awake, was no different from a normal living person.
“How is this possible?”
Shen Yu couldn’t believe it.
She kept thinking about various possibilities.
Resurrection from the dead was absolutely against common sense.
So there was only one possibility left…
Princess Yulan had never died!
‘Damn… I’ve been tricked! I fell into the dog emperor’s trap.’
Shen He suddenly woke up.
She seemed to understand what the dog emperor was trying to do… but everything was too late.
She had once seen a poison from Su Lianyue that could bring a person infinitely close to death.
That poison was so potent that even Shen He asserted that, without modern monitoring equipment, it was impossible to tell whether the person who took it was dead or alive.
The political-religious sect under Su Lianyue often used this poison to pull off schemes like sloughing off the cicada’s shell, or making a target appear dead, then digging up the grave in the middle of the night to capture the person effortlessly.
The Empress summoning Shen E so hastily at night, combined with the fact that Shen Yu had only seen this poison at Su Lianyue’s place—it was property of the political-religious sect.
The imperial court and the political-religious sect were absolute opposites.
Shen Men subconsciously believed this poison could never appear in the imperial palace.
Adding to that, the other imperial physicians had all examined the princess.
Shen La, unable to concentrate due to the noisy physicians, might have inadvertently made a slight misjudgment.
But…
Shen He still found it unbelievable.
What was even more unbelievable to Shen Yu was that she had unknowingly walked into the dog emperor’s trap.
From start to finish…
Princess Yulan had never been dead.
This was a setup from the very beginning—a scheme devised by the Empress to turn the Medical Recruitment Exam into a god-making plan, all to open the seas.
This trap had not only tricked Shen Yi but also the esteemed officials in the imperial court.
In Shen He’s view, going to get the sea chart was a pretense.
The real goal was to give Shen Yu and Princess Yulan time alone.
The Empress had likely conspired with Princess Yulan to stage a seamless false death.
Then, she summoned Shen Yu to the palace at night.
After all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Academy of Medicine had confirmed the princess was beyond saving, she sent the physicians away, leaving the princess alone with Shen E.
Then, as the poison in the princess’s body gradually wore off, her body began to recover.
To outsiders, it looked like Shen He had cured the princess.
After all, only Shen He and Princess Yulan were there.
If Shen He didn’t cure her, could Princess Yulan have healed herself?
Thus, the Empress molded Shen He into a divine physician who surpassed the quacks of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, capable of snatching the dead back from the gates of hell.
At the same time, she could send a signal to the outside world: someone in the palace, to obstruct the Empress’s opening of the seas, had even dared to harm the Empress’s beloved little sister, as a warning to the Empress and the Earl of Guang’an, who supported her.
The imperial court was not a monolithic block.
They would truly suspect that Princess Yulan’s incident tonight was the work of a colleague.
After all, such things were not without precedent in past dynasties.
The dishonest elements in the court would feel threatened and start suspecting each other.
Those old foxes in the court, to stop the Empress from acting on her own, would certainly stir up trouble to make her abandon the idea of opening the seas.
But now, the Empress had preemptively staged this self-directed drama, killing two birds with one stone.
She had subtly elevated Shen Yu’s status while placing herself in the position of the victim.
From then on, promoting the policy of opening the seas would be much smoother.
Combined with the inseparable, confidential relationship between Princess Yulan and the Empress, it was perfectly reasonable for the princess to cooperate with the Empress, even sacrifice herself, to cover for the new policy…
Everything formed a closed loop.
Shen Yu felt she was truly foolish, realizing it only now.
She figured that soon, the news of Shen Qing saving Princess Yulan and her medical skills surpassing all the physicians in the Imperial Academy of Medicine would spread throughout the entire palace.
Sure enough, the next second, she heard a sharp smash from the doorway.
Shen Quan instinctively looked up and saw a group of palace maids and eunuchs carrying fruit plates standing frozen at the entrance, led by none other than Eunuch Li.
His timing was impeccable!
Eunuch Li’s tray of snacks had fallen to the floor, shards scattered everywhere.
A few pastries rolled in the dust, finally coming to a slow stop at Shen La’s feet.
His face was full of shock.
“Princess Yulan is alive! Minister Shen, Imperial Physician Shen, has brought Princess Yulan back!”
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Someone inform Your Majesty! Imperial Physician Shen performs miraculous cures—she’s pulled Princess Yulan back from the gates of hell!”
Listening to Eunuch Li’s sharp, high-pitched voice, Shen E felt utterly speechless.
A bit exaggerated, but the emotion was spot on.
If Eunuch Li had lived in the modern world Shen Yu once knew, he’d be prime material for a film emperor.
Eunuch Li rushed out in a panic, leaving countless palace maids and eunuchs frozen in place, staring at Shen He and Princess Yulan with disbelief.
The little princess was lying on the bed, her color fully restored, breathing steadily, looking as if she were simply asleep.
And Shen Yi stood by the little princess’s bedside, one hand still holding her pulse, while on the table beside her lay the silver needles the Empress had specially rewarded Shen Yu with.
Anyone could see the implications at a glance.
Who would have thought that countless imperial physicians from the Imperial Academy of Medicine had all concluded that Princess Yulan had no chance of survival?
But with Shen He, not only was she alive, she was visibly recovering.
These eunuchs and maids had witnessed Princess Yulan’s condition from critical to recovering.
They were the final piece of the Empress’s plan.
With this, the Empress was the victim, and Shen E was the divine physician.
An absolute favorable situation had been established by the Empress.
From tonight onward, anyone in the court who dared to oppose the Empress’s opening of the seas would have to think twice before speaking.
As for the Imperial Academy of Medicine… they were truly a bunch of incompetents.
Those court physicians, directors, and countless imperial physicians were all good-for-nothings.
Together, they couldn’t compare to a single Shen Yi.
Their status would inevitably plummet…
This also gave the Empress the perfect opportunity to amend the loophole in the previous version of the Medical Recruitment Exam, which prevented the arbitrary execution of physicians.
Back then, to promote the Medical Recruitment Exam, the Empress had granted the Imperial Academy of Medicine benefits like higher status and salaries, and immunity from arbitrary execution.
Now, all of that would be taken back.
Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
Shen La had once again become a key piece on the Empress’s chessboard.
Last time, Shen Yi had cooperated willingly.
This time, Shen Yu was dragged into the game completely unknowingly.
No wonder a woman like the Empress could become the emperor.
Indeed, anyone who could become an emperor wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
If Shen Yu hadn’t had complete confidence in Grandpa’s abilities, she would probably be suspecting that her identity had already been discovered by the Empress.
Just as Shen Gui’s mind was racing, the Empress returned with the sea chart.
Compared to Eunuch Li, the Empress’s acting skills left Shen La even more astonished.
The surprise and joy were so palpable, showing no signs of being a performance.
Moreover, Shen He discovered a pattern: when the Empress usually called her “Minister Shen,” nothing was wrong.
But if she suddenly called her “My beloved Minister” with great excitement, it meant she was definitely up to something.
To the point where Shen Yu started to wonder: if the Empress started calling her by her name, what should she do then?
“My beloved Minister! You are truly a divine physician! Princess Yulan is saved! This is a great joy!”
“A great joy!”
The Empress said this as she excitedly stepped forward, gripping Shen La’s hand emotionally, and discreetly slipped a gold sycee into Shen La’s sleeve.
Shen He, who had been somewhat reluctant to cooperate, suddenly had her eyes light up.
“Your Majesty, I didn’t do anything. It was Princess Yulan’s fate not to die. This is her destiny.”
Shen E spoke the truth.
If the other person was lying, then Shen Yi felt like she had stumbled into a liar’s party—666, a party and they didn’t invite her?
“Well said!”
“Guards! My beloved Minister Shen has rendered meritorious service in saving Princess Yulan. I must reward her! Grandly reward her!”
The Empress was emotionally stirred, gripping Shen He’s hand tighter and tighter.
At the same time, more and more gold sycees were stuffed into Shen Yi’s sleeve, weighing it down.
The smile on Shen Men’s face grew more and more obvious.
To outsiders, it was Shen Yu’s smile upon hearing the Empress’s promise of a reward.
At this point, even if Shen He was unwilling to act, her performance was no different from cooperation.
No choice.
The Empress gave too much.
“By Her Majesty’s decree! Imperial Physician Shen is rewarded for her merit in saving Princess Yulan!”
Accompanied by Eunuch Li’s announcement, the news of Her Majesty rewarding Shen Yu echoed throughout the imperial palace.
As luck would have it, because the Empress was conducting a thorough investigation into Princess Yulan’s death, those ministers who had opposed the Empress’s opening of the seas and opposed Princess Yulan’s maternal uncle, the Earl of Guang’an, for supporting the Empress, had also been summoned to the palace tonight to wait outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
They naturally also heard the news of Shen Yi’s meritorious service in saving the princess and receiving the Empress’s reward.
For a time, the court was in an uproar.
The ministers, who had spent the whole night arguing over accounts without clarity, could not understand that everything they had witnessed today was, in fact, a grand drama the Empress had staged for them.