“Father! Why are you telling Medical Officer Shen everything? This isn’t an illness she can treat… She is our benefactor; how can you let her wade into these muddy waters?”
Yun Xiang suddenly realized something, and the blush on her face faded, replaced by displeasure and shock.
Since childhood, Yun Xiang had been taught the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.
Even if she felt angry with her father, the pillar of the household, she could not show it too clearly and could only persuade him in a soft, gentle voice.
To be honest, this was the first time since she reached adulthood that she had interrupted him so decisively.
Because of this, Yun Xiang felt a hint of regret after speaking, fearing she had been disrespectful to her father.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her.
It seemed that, for Shen Yu’s sake, she had broken her own internal boundaries several times already.
She did not dare look at Shen Yu again, worried that if she did, she would lose herself completely.
‘If my eyes become filled with nothing but her, what will I do?’
“I—I meant…”
“I understand, I understand.”
Marquis Wuding understood what his eldest daughter meant and was not angry that she had interrupted him.
“I was just mentioning it in passing to Medical Officer Shen. With her skills, she will surely become an official in the future. The Medical Recruitment Exam is a major affair of the current dynasty, and she will certainly take the top spot.”
“I am telling her this not to have her treat those people, but to help her understand the situation in the Imperial Court.”
The Marquis knew very well that Shen Yu was a benefactor to the Yun family.
A debt for saving a life could never be fully repaid, no matter the amount of money.
However, the Marquis had his own advantages.
He was a nobleman with a very high status in the court, and he understood the political landscape perfectly.
Now that Shen Yu had saved him, she wouldn’t have to worry about the martial officials causing her trouble once she entered the court.
Once the story of how she pulled him back from Guimenguan spread, those old brothers-in-arms who had fought on the battlefield for years and were riddled with ailments would scramble to treat her like a precious treasure.
But against the civil officials, the Marquis was helpless.
In the Imperial Court, they were the ones most adept at stirring up trouble and framing others.
The Marquis wasn’t sure exactly what the treatment for the Medical Top Scholar would be, but it would likely be measured by the standards of civil officials.
Although the rank wouldn’t be too high, the game His Majesty was playing this time was far-reaching and profound.
The great clans’ control over the Imperial Court was deepening, and His Majesty urgently needed a way to break through.
In the court, even a senile old man in his sixties could become the Left Vice Minister of Personnel.
The power over appointments was held tightly by the Six Ministries and the Grand Secretariat.
This was one of the problems left over from the era of the Former Emperor.
No matter how many methods the Empress had, she was helpless against these rules that had been deeply rooted for decades.
Therefore, the Marquis boldly speculated that this Medical Top Scholar would not only need to treat the Princess’s illness but also help alleviate the Empress’s worries.
Her rank would likely not be very high, but she would definitely have the power to intervene in the core interests of the Civil Official Group—namely, their career advancements—in a regularized and institutionalized way.
At the same time, this power would be legally difficult to refute.
For example, she could strictly limit the physical condition of newly appointed officials, choosing any reason she wished.
Perhaps for local officials who must be close to the people, handling criminal cases, and finances personally—if they were weak and sickly, how could they manage ten thousand affairs every day?
Perhaps for border officials, or those responsible for water transport and mountain passes—tasks that could not be handled by anyone who wasn’t physically strong with sharp eyes and ears.
Perhaps officials were the parents of the people, and only those with a neat appearance and great vitality could manifest the majesty of the Imperial Court and put the commoners’ hearts at ease.
If these were listed out one by one, those civil officials who obsessed over rules and used them as weapons would have no choice but to accept the move.
The Empress’s actions even considered their health, so they would have to kowtow and thank her for her imperial grace.
With a Medical Top Scholar, a scandal like a senile old man being promoted to Left Vice Minister of Personnel would never happen again.
Furthermore, the Medical Top Scholar would not be appointed through the Six Ministries or the Grand Secretariat, nor would she have anything to do with the martial officials.
She would only receive the Emperor’s grace and serve only His Majesty.
As long as His Majesty said someone’s health was substandard, wouldn’t that completely extinguish the civil officials’ control over appointments?
Even if someone’s health was truly up to standard, what of it?
The Marquis had experienced Shen Yu’s skills firsthand; in the time it took to have a single nap, he had been pulled back from Guimenguan.
With that alone, Shen Yu could easily make even a healthy person appear unfit.
Combining Shen Yu’s skills with the Fenglin Guards, who monitored all officials, would be a fatal move against the Civil Official Group’s monopoly.
Though it was a bit like cheating, if one really wanted to talk about cheating, the civil officials had been the ones to do it first by relying on the Former Emperor.
However, after all these maneuvers, everyone’s attention would be focused solely on the new Medical Top Scholar.
The methods of civil officials were far more insidious and ruthless than those of martial officials…
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