“From now on, whatever I eat, you eat. Do you understand?”
Shen He had been trying her best to change Yin Qiu’s mindset.
Before this, Yin Qiu never ate with her.
Every time she finished cooking for Shen Nian, she would take whatever leftovers remained, then sit in a corner of the kitchen and eat by herself.
What made it worse was that she ate with such relish, with that innocent, blissful look on her face, as if being able to eat Shen Nian’s leftover scraps was the greatest happiness in life.
When Shen Nian first noticed Yin Qiu hiding by the stove, burying her head in leftover food, she went over and called out to her.
Seeing the little girl’s chubby cheeks dusted with rice grains, that innocent expression — Shen Yu’s heart nearly broke.
From that day on, Shen Nian insisted that Yin Qiu eat with her every mealtime.
Whatever Shen Yu ate, Yin Qiu had to eat too.
No more leftovers.
Now, Yin Qiu had indeed stopped eating Shen Yu’s leftovers.
But she hadn’t managed to shake off those frugal habits.
Any behavior she deemed even slightly indulgent was wasteful in her eyes.
Yet saving the good things for Shen Yu felt entirely natural to her.
This had created the current situation: Shen He feasting on meat and fish while Yin Qiu sipped plain broth.
“Sister, this is fine for me. It’s made from wheat flour! Back home, I’d be lucky to have white flour even once a year.”
Yin Qiu looked at the bowl piled high with noodles and shredded meat, silently marveling at how wonderful her sister was — always thinking of her when it came to good food.
Today felt like New Year’s again.
Yin Qiu didn’t understand Shen Yu, and Shen Yu understood Yin Qiu even less.
But deep down, they both genuinely cared for each other.
Yin Qiu thought that the more she saved now, the more money her sister would have when she needed it.
Every copper she pinched from her own expenses might help her sister just a little more.
And Shen Yu believed that Yin Qiu was still growing.
How could she develop properly without eating enough?
This was a true little beauty in the making.
If Shen Yu ruined her constitution through poor care, the guilt would be immense.
Neither would yield to the other.
Both were convinced they were right.
“Besides, sister pays you two taels of silver every month now. Little Yinqiu can be considered self-sufficient. You don’t need to be as frugal as before. Don’t worry — following your sister means you’ll never go hungry.”
Shen Yu’s greatest concern was Yin Qiu being too hard on herself, especially when it came to food.
“The silver you give me, sister, I’ve saved it all up.”
Yin Qiu licked the oil from her lips, speaking somewhat indistinctly.
The meat noodles had her completely enchanted — she’d never tasted anything so wonderful in her life.
“Saving is good. Don’t waste it. When you grow up, your sister will buy you a house in the Capital.”
Yin Qiu nodded silently.
She actually didn’t want a house.
She was saving money for a different purpose.
But that purpose… she didn’t dare speak it aloud for now.
She could only bury her flushed little face in her bowl, quietly shoveling noodles into her mouth.
“Oh! Who’s come with a marriage proposal?”
Just as Shen Yu and Yin Qiu were chatting idly, a commotion suddenly arose outside.
Huimin Hall hadn’t opened yet, but people were already gathering outside.
“Isn’t this Huimin Hall? Huimin Hall is a medical clinic, right?”
“Auntie, these aren’t betrothal gifts. I’m just taking them to visit relatives.”
Shen Quan went to the door and opened Huimin Hall’s courtyard gate.
Beyond it stood a procession of people, completely blocking the narrow alley.
Beside the queue were several burly men dressed as laborers, carrying large baskets tied with red ribbons on their shoulders.
Inside were all kinds of familiar gifts: bolts of cloth, brocade, tea, pastries, wine, gold ornaments, silver ingots, and… half a pig?
A large red ribbon was tied around the pig’s snout, making it look especially festive.
“Child, are you joking with your auntie? Look at that pig with its red ribbon — isn’t this a marriage proposal? This is even more generous than the betrothal gifts Cheng Yuanwai’s young master sent when he got married.”
“It’s really just visiting relatives. The administrator of Huimin Hall, Shen Yu… she’s sort of my aunt.”
Xiao Ban was currently chatting cheerfully with the gathered crowd outside, showing none of the airs expected of a young lady from a noble family.
Even when she spotted Shen He, she didn’t stop.
Instead, she emphasized the word “aunt” a few times more.
“Physician Attendant Shen!”
After finishing her chat with the commoners, Xiao Ban pretended she’d just noticed Shen Yu.
She rushed over in two quick steps.
“I brought you some things…”
“Why are you bringing me things again? These look familiar. Didn’t Yun Wei and you bring me the same stuff before?”
Shen He couldn’t understand it.
Why did all the rich people in this world insist on giving half a pig as gifts?
Was it some kind of obsession?
And more importantly… didn’t anyone feel sorry for the pig?
Dead and split in two, then into the oil pan, the steamer, the wok…
Just thinking about it made Shen Yu’s tears flow from the corners of her mouth.
“Don’t you like it?”
Xiao Ban blinked her big eyes at Shen Yu, her tone carrying a hint of playfulness.
“No… you’ve given me all this before as Huimin Hall’s opening gifts. Now you’re bringing it again — isn’t that wasteful?”
Xiao Ban leaned close to Shen Yu’s ear, lowering her voice.
“These are gifts from His Majesty.”
“I love them! Of course I love them! Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Now Shen Yu understood — the true value of things passed down from ancient times that were said to be delicious.
“Hurry, hurry! Thank you, everyone, carry them inside.”
“Cough, cough.”
Xiao Ban smirked smugly, then cleared her throat.
“Eunuch Li.”
“Yes, Miss Xiaoyue, this servant is here. I understand. I’ll handle it right away.”
“Eighth-Rank Medical Attendant Shen Nian, receive the Imperial Decree!”
Eunuch Li scurried obsequiously to Xiao Ban’s side, flattered her a few times, then dramatically unfurled a gleaming imperial decree.
The commoners queued in the alley immediately showed shocked expressions and knelt to the ground.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:”
“Shen Yu, selected through the Medical Recruitment Exam, is hereby promoted to Seventh-Rank Inner Court Physician, holding the concurrent post of Director of Huimin Hall.”
Eunuch Li’s pitch suddenly rose, startling the swallows nesting under the eaves.
“Promoted three ranks above her current station. Bestowed with a Purple Sandalwood Medicine Chest and a complete set of Imperial Silver Needles. The old plaque of Huimin Hall shall be removed and replaced with a golden plaque bearing His Majesty’s personal calligraphy, to be hung at the main entrance tomorrow at an auspicious hour.”
“Though you entered the examination as a commoner, you now don the Azure Phoenix Official Robe — you must remember the Emperor’s boundless grace, like moonlight shining upon a cold pool. You must remain vigilant day and night, never ceasing your silver needle work; through cold and heat without slackening, let the aroma of medicinal herbs forever linger. I have broken precedent to promote you before, and I shall keep my eyes upon you in the future. So decreed!”
The decree tilted slightly, the vermillion seal facing directly toward the kneeling commoners below.
A Heavenly Official from the Medical Recruitment Exam, jumping three ranks in a single bound — the Divine Physician who had caught His Majesty’s eye just days after arriving in the Capital.
This was no ordinary physician.
This was a Living Bodhisattva reincarnated!
Even the Emperor had acknowledged her medical skills.
Otherwise, how could she have been promoted three ranks?
As Eunuch Li finished speaking, the only sound in the alley was the sharp intake of breath.
Eunuch Li’s gaze swept over the trembling commoners, a barely perceptible smile flickering at the corner of his lips.
“Imperial Physician Shen, congratulations to you. I told you, you would soar to great heights.”
“When I arrived today, I saw the long queue of commoners before your Huimin Hall, all praising your excellent medical care. Your medicines are cheap yet effective.”
“This morning, Huimin Hall’s business has noticeably declined. You truly live up to His Majesty’s high regard.”
Eunuch Li respectfully handed the imperial decree into Shen He’s hands.
Only then did Shen Yu understand why the commoners were queuing outside.
They had come seeking her medical treatment.
But her Huimin Hall had just opened.
The plaque had only just been written by the Emperor and delivered.
How had these commoners found their way here?
“Auntie Li?”
Shen Yi was puzzling over this when she recognized the woman at the front of the line.
That was Auntie Li, the owner of a tofu shop on the west side of the city.
She and her husband woke before dawn every day to grind tofu, often hawking it through the streets.
They had a son who wasn’t in good health and had been under long-term care.
When Shen Yu was practicing at Huimin Hall before, she’d prescribed him some tonic medicine.
“Was that tonic effective? Has the child’s condition improved significantly?”
“Uncle Zhang? Grandpa Liu, Auntie Wu… you’ve all come.”
Shen Nian remembered every one of them.
These were the patients who had come to Huimin Hall seeking her treatment.
The commoners she called out by name were all stunned.
They’d never imagined that Shen Yu — whom the Emperor himself had personally decreed and promoted multiple ranks, who could well be called the Medical Top Scholar — would remember every one of them.
Though these commoners were residents of the Capital, not every Capital dweller had money or influence.
People like them, living on the fringes of the Capital, eking out a living through small businesses or manual labor for wealthy households — even meeting a Ninth-Rank Capital Official meant bowing their heads, terrified of offending someone important.
In the eyes of those big shots, they were nothing but lowly commoners, scraping by as small-time peddlers and laborers, not worth mentioning.
But in Shen Yi’s eyes, they were people — living, breathing people.
What illness they had, what medicine they’d taken, how effective it was, how much it cost — Shen Yu remembered everything clearly!
This completely shattered the worldview of commoners who had been brainwashed by the Capital’s various pharmacies and unscrupulous physicians.
So this was what the books meant by “a physician’s parental heart.”
So this was what being cared for felt like!
Was there really someone in this world who loved the common people even more than the Son of Heaven?
The Medical Recruitment Exam had produced a Physician Attendant Shen who devoted herself entirely to the people.
Could it be that the Medical Recruitment Exam truly was, as the Imperial Court claimed, for the sake of the nation and its people?
Not just to fill the Grand Princess’s medicine vat with the lives of the poor?
“Imperial Physician Shen remembers every patient’s name and condition so clearly?”
Xiao Ban watched Shen Yu with great interest.
Her curiosity about this little beauty before her only grew stronger.
The promotion decree had barely finished being read.
She had just been personally elevated several ranks by the Emperor — this was her moment of glory.
She held the promotion decree in her hands, standing at the peak of her life…
Yet she showed neither pride nor restlessness.
She held the imperial decree casually, as if it mattered less than the patients before her.
“I have to remember. Only by keeping medical records can follow-up treatments be more convenient.”
“Medical records?”
Xiao Ban had never heard of any clinic like Huimin Hall preparing such a thing when treating patients.
“Medical records are like a pharmacy or clinic’s ledger. Every time a patient comes in, the physician writes down symptoms, medications used, effects — just like a shopkeeper keeping accounts. Next time you come for treatment, flip through this ledger and you’ll know what happened before, without having to ask from scratch.”
“Oh.”
Xiao Ban nodded.
The Imperial Academy of Medicine did have something like that, but it was reserved for high-ranking officials, nobles, and imperial relatives.
And even then, it was just jotted down casually.
It was too troublesome and easy to lose, so no one really paid attention to it.
At the Imperial Academy of Medicine, treatment relied entirely on the physician’s skills and expertise.
Those old fellows all had an inexplicable confidence in their own medical abilities.
“Keeping records one by one — isn’t that exhausting?”
“Doing a little more is always better than doing nothing. My individual strength is indeed limited, but that’s no excuse for knowing I could help and choosing not to.”
Xiao Ban nodded and said nothing more.
Shen Yu was busy seeing patients, so Xiao Ban simply pulled up a small stool and sat beside her, watching curiously as Shen Yu treated them.
“Physician Shen, that medicine you prescribed last time worked on my child right away. It was miraculous! This time I’ve brought my child for you to check up — does he still need to keep taking the medicine?”
“Physician Shen, I’m nearly seventy years old, and I’ve never seen a doctor with such a compassionate heart. We commoners live frugally. One prescription in the city costs an exorbitant amount. Sometimes just a few doses can bankrupt a family. Whenever we fall ill, we dare only tough it out…”
“But the medicine you prescribe, Physician Shen, is not only cheap but also effective. And your consultation fee is several times lower than any officer on duty at Huimin Hall… What are you getting out of this? Don’t shortchange yourself.”
After receiving treatment from Shen He at Huimin Hall, those commoners genuinely hoped Shen Yu wouldn’t have to give up practicing medicine due to financial hardship.
The court-appointed medical officers already had meager salaries.
Shen He charged only two copper plates per consultation.
The prescriptions she wrote allowed them to take the medicine list and buy the herbs themselves elsewhere — she didn’t profit a single dishonest copper from them.
The commoners naturally understood the value of such a good physician.
They would instinctively support her, hoping she’d continue to thrive rather than suffer for their sake.
“Everyone, rest assured. There’s absolutely no need to worry about my livelihood. I am a court-appointed official, eating from His Majesty’s salary, entrusted with His Majesty’s mission. This golden plaque is personally bestowed by His Majesty. His Majesty asked me to rebuild Huimin Hall precisely to treat all of you.”
“After all, this is Huimin Hall — the Emperor’s own institution. His Majesty’s heart is with the common people. He is a ruler for the ages…”
Shen Yu began extolling the Emperor to the commoners: how good His Majesty was, how wonderful, how truly remarkable.
Kind, not irritable, generous, gentle, cultured, refined.
She went on so much that Xiao Ban nearly burst out laughing.
Nothing Shen Yu said bore even the slightest resemblance to her Mother Emperor.
But Xiao Ban hid her hands beneath her skirt, pinching the soft flesh of her thigh hard, using all her strength to keep from laughing out loud.
Xiao Ban knew full well who those words were for.
Huimin Hall’s little courtyard appeared calm on the surface, but the Fenglin Guards — the Emperor’s eyes and ears — were everywhere.
Shen Quan was putting on a show, and Xiao Ban was playing along.
She just wondered how her Mother Emperor would react upon hearing Shen Yu praise her so effusively.
After all, the Mother Emperor knew better than anyone whether Shen Yu was truly praising her or subtly mocking her.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.