After the emperor read her mind, the salted fish concubine effortlessly won the title of empress.

Chapter 399: Happy Enemies

Consort Jing felt a pang of pain in her heart, but Granny Qu was even more anxious than she was. "Is it serious? Has any imperial physician come to treat her?"

"Her Majesty the Empress has already ordered the imperial physicians to treat her."

Consort Jing gripped the bedsheets tightly, cursing, "That bitch Du Ruohua, she raised no better children. How could the Fourth Prince be fighting with the Seventh Prince too?"

Quan Degui recounted what happened, "To be honest, the fight started because Princess Xihe was trying to protect the Seventh Prince, and the Seventh Prince was also trying to protect Princess Xihe."

Granny Qu felt both distressed and heartbroken. "Shall I go and check on the Seventh Prince?"

Consort Jing nodded.

Consort Du was carried to Qian Yuan Palace in a half-carriage, but Li Yuanke really didn't want to see her. He couldn't forget Xihe's cry of "Old Granny," and couldn't help but complain to Shen Shixi, "How is she still alive?"

Shen Shixi looked up from the memorial and glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

[You scoundrel, do you expect me to deal with your concubines for you? Dream on! I'm not doing that kind of thing. Why didn't you complain when we slept together?]

Li Yuanke: ...

Is that what he meant?

He was just surprised.

Mad!

"Tell her to get back! Who sent her the carriage? Does the Imperial Household Department even know her identity? Is she still Consort De?" Li Yuanke roared.

The sound could be heard.

Lady Du sat on the palanquin, tears streaming down her face.

She had long known that emperors were ruthless, but to be ruthless to this extent was still incredibly chilling!

"Your Majesty, if you despise me, I can simply not appear. But the Fourth Prince is your own flesh and blood!" Consort Du said with all her might, her voice broken and scattered in the air by the wind.

The fourth prince desperately begged for mercy, his mouth stuffed with a rag, and could only struggle howling. Du Cairen was heartbroken and could not hold on any longer, so she collapsed.

She was carried away.

Even tigers don't eat their cubs, so Li Yuanke couldn't possibly have crippled or killed the fourth prince. He gave him forty lashes, leaving his buttocks bruised, but without causing any serious injury.

With the example of the Eighth Prince from last time, the Empress will not allow the princes to be truly harmed, and the nannies of the Imperial Prison will exercise restraint in their actions.

This beating taught the princes a lesson: if they fought with Dongjun Xihe, they would ultimately be the ones punished.

The fourth prince was carried back, and Shen Shixi instructed the Imperial Hospital to take good care of him.

The Imperial Hospital was also in a lot of trouble. With the New Year approaching, these princes were being beaten every few days, often with their skin torn and bleeding. If they were to get infected, they would die.

They also bear risks.

Jiang Lingyou regretted for the ten thousandth time that he shouldn't have listened to Shen Shixi's choice to become a royal physician. If he had chosen to work as a doctor in a clinic, he wouldn't have had to take this risk.

He ran into Bai Kui when he returned to the Imperial Hospital. He nodded and was about to leave when Bai Kui called out to him, "Imperial Physician Jiang, Her Majesty the Empress's medicine has run out. Shouldn't you prepare a few more doses for her?"

She was referring to birth control pills.

Jiang Lingyou was on high alert, asking, "Is His Majesty aware of this matter?"

Bai Kui glared at him. "What Physician Jiang said is laughable. How about I have Her Majesty the Empress request the Emperor's permission to say that the medicine Physician Jiang prescribed has run out and he needs to take another pulse and prescribe a new one?"

Jiang Lingyou was furious. "Miss, there's no need for this. My life is in Her Majesty the Empress's hands anyway, so I'll just obey!"

Bai Kui scoffed, "There's no need for that. Physician Jiang's life is your own. Her Majesty the Empress never holds anyone's life in her hands. If you're not willing, no one can force you."

After saying that, she tossed her head and walked away. With her slender waist and pert buttocks, Jiang Lingyou glanced at her, then quickly looked away, his face turning red and his heart pounding.

Do not look at what is improper!

Do not look at what is improper!

After muttering a few words, he hurried back to the Imperial Hospital.

Bai Kui came to the Imperial Hospital to see Jiang Lingyou. After returning, she exaggerated the conversation between the two and told it to Shen Shixi, feeling indignant.

"Back then, it was Her Majesty the Empress who pointed him in the right direction; otherwise, how could he have entered the Imperial Hospital? Hmph, he's clearly a heartless scoundrel. Now that he's gained a foothold, he wants to abandon us? Dream on!"

Bai Kui has a fiery temper.

Shen Shixi chuckled, "He might not even want to join the Imperial Hospital. Having a reputation isn't necessarily better than being a doctor practicing medicine outside."

Bai Kui exclaimed, "Ah! Then haven't we tricked him?"

Bai Kui felt a little sorry for her.

Shen Shixi laughed, "You could say that. Didn't you see how he always looked so miserable and resentful whenever he came to take my pulse?"

Bai Kui pouted, her faint sympathy gone. "That's only because Her Majesty thinks highly of him. If he thinks like that, he's ungrateful. Although it was good for Her Majesty to have an acquaintance in the Imperial Hospital when she first entered the palace, there are others who could have helped!"

Next time I see him, I must make this clear.

After Jiang Lingyou examined Shen Shixi's pulse, he adjusted the contraceptive prescription according to her current condition. When he was leaving the palace, Bai Kui stopped him, saying, "I'll escort Physician Jiang back."

Jiang Lingyou was very wary. A strong general has no weak soldiers under his command. Shen Shixi, a tigress, had maids who had traveled with her and were more knowledgeable than noble ladies. What kind of kind people could she be?

"You're too kind, young lady. You are the Empress's personal attendant, I dare not!" Jiang Lingyou said, backing away.

Bai Kui smiled, "Of course I have something to say to Physician Jiang. Does Physician Jiang not want to listen?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

Just outside the door was a hexagonal pavilion, where the two stood talking.

"Does Physician Jiang harbor resentment towards Her Majesty? When you first came to the capital, Her Majesty did suggest that you take a position at the Imperial Hospital, but it was just a suggestion, not a requirement. If Physician Jiang truly harbors resentment, then he is not a gentleman."

Jiang Lingyou was so startled that he took a few steps back, wanting to ask, "How did you know what I was thinking?"

Sure enough, the only woman walking beside a tigress would be another tigress, not some kind of bodhisattva.

Seeing this, Bai Kui became even more displeased and snorted coldly, "Does Physician Jiang really think that way?"

She thought to herself, "The Empress was right after all. This person really does resent the Empress."

Jiang Lingyou thought back to what Shen Shixi had said: that as an outsider, if he were to work at a clinic, he would easily be ripped off, and who knew how skilled he was? Without anyone's endorsement, no clinic would dare to hire him. He listed a whole host of disadvantages of working at a clinic and a whole host of advantages of being an imperial physician.

Shen Shixi has such a silver tongue, he can talk the dead back to life. He made being a royal physician sound like it was comparable to being a prime minister. It's my own fault for being young and ignorant, acting impulsively and going to the Imperial Hospital to ask. It just so happens that the head physician Zhang was an old acquaintance of his father, so he was hired on the spot.

Bai Kui returned in a huff and started nagging Shen Shixi, saying a lot of bad things about Jiang Lingyou. Shen Shixi found it interesting, and the two seemed like a pair of bickering lovers.

Shen Shixi frowned and said deliberately, "He is so ungrateful."

Bai Kui was afraid that her words would ruin Jiang Lingyou's future, so she quickly said, "No, Your Highness, he was worried about the Fourth Prince's injuries. If he were to get infected, it would endanger his life. He didn't really mean to blame Your Highness."

Bai Kui lowered her head and muttered, "As I said, it wasn't anyone who forced him to enter the Imperial Hospital. He himself said that his father and Imperial Physician Zhang are old acquaintances."

After Bai Kui finished her work, Bai Ping came over and said to Shen Shixi, "Your Highness, could it be that this little vixen Bai Kui has fallen for Physician Jiang?"

Shen Shixi smiled and shook her head.