Chapter 581 A Dream of Youth 113

Xie Ning bowed and broke the tense atmosphere, saying, "This humble woman's medical skills are still shallow and not enough to take the pulse of Your Highnesses. This is just Your Majesty the Empress's kind praise of my son. My elder brother is already waiting outside the palace, so this humble woman will not disturb Consort Jing any longer."

Although the Xie family was not powerful, both she and her father had made an impression on the emperor. If Consort Jing did not want to be known as an arrogant and domineering daughter of a lowly official, she should not have forced her to stay.

After a long while, a cold snort came from above, and the sedan chair slowly drove away.

Xie Ning helped Xiu Ling, who was still kneeling on the ground, to her feet. "Sister Xiu Ling, are your knees alright?"

"I'm fine." As a servant, these were all common occurrences.

When they reached the palace gate, Xie Ning stopped and said in a rather blunt and childish tone, "Sister Xiuling, you must talk to Her Majesty the Empress about what happened today. I'm a little scared."

Xiuling had her head down, so how could she tell whether Xie Ning was calm and composed or afraid?

Thinking that the little girl must have been frightened, he comforted her, "Don't be afraid, I will tell Her Majesty the Empress."

She also had her own ulterior motives. She must have offended Consort Jing just now, but she wasn't one of them. Perhaps she could use this to leave an impression on the Empress and get a promotion or something.

Seeing how cute Xie Ning was, Xiu Ling couldn't help but pat her little head. "Little Doctor Xie, you should be more careful with your words in the future. Consort Jing lost a son at the beginning of the year and was in a bad mood. It's also my fault for taking you on a shortcut, which led to us running into someone and bringing bad luck."

She was thinking of going back as soon as possible so she could pick some wild herbs to dry in the sun. Because of the hot weather, she was feeling a bit feverish and her ears were throbbing.

Unexpectedly, by taking a shortcut, they encountered Consort Jing.

"I understand."

Xie Ning carried the basket toward the guards. After they finished checking her things, she quickened her pace and ran toward the carriage not far away.

Because she was going to the Qiu residence to treat a patient this afternoon, Chen Wanniang was worried about her, so in addition to Qingli, she also asked Xie Qi to go with her.

Xie Ning told Xie Qi about what had just happened in the palace, which made Xie Qi very angry. "Bao'er, your mother always said that the palace is not good at all. You should go there less often in the future."

"His Majesty has assigned me a mission." At this point, she couldn't simply refuse to go.

"Sigh, there are so many imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital, why did they pick on a young girl like you?"

Xie Ning opened the small box next to her, which contained chilled two-tone mung bean cakes. They were soft, glutinous, and sweet, with a slight tea color. Some red dried fruit was also added, giving them a slightly sweet and sour taste, which was very refreshing.

"After all, this is for the Empress's medical consultation, and there are some things that the imperial physicians cannot do."

For example, touching the fetus. Of course, these were handled by experienced nannies, so she was just a figurehead.

But what she has shown these past few days should be enough to make the Empress value her even more.

Let's see how many palace maids come to her for treatment the next time she enters the palace. If there are many, it will prove that she has taken the first step steadily.

Xie Qi opened a folding fan to cool himself down. There was a small stove next to him with ice blocks emitting a cold air, but it didn't lower the temperature much. He was still very hot, and sweat was dripping from his forehead.

So he took another big gulp of his iced drink before continuing, "Then you have to be careful, but don't be afraid of trouble, your father will take care of everything."

He's not up to it anymore. His father still has to clean up his messes. Although he's usually very well-behaved, he's a teenager, and it's inevitable that he'll get into fights over minor conflicts.

In such a situation, the school official would naturally call the parents.

It seems he needs to be more mature. His father asked him if he would participate next year. Xie Qi originally wanted to wait, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

The two chatted for a short while before arriving at the Qiu residence.

To be honest, this Lord Qiu can be considered Xie Wangzhi's superior, although not a direct subordinate, because Xie Wangzhi is currently working at the pharmacy, while Lord Qiu is an official of the Imperial Treasury.

The pharmacy, which was established not long ago, is under the management of Taifu Temple.

There was a gatekeeper waiting outside the Qiu residence. As soon as he saw the Xie family's carriage arrive, he immediately removed the threshold to let them in, and at the same time sent someone to the backyard to inform the master.

After they went inside, Xie Ning was helped down from the carriage by Xie Qi, who stepped onto the carriage bench.

Xie Ning didn't bring the basket inside, because it contained rewards. She only carried a small cloth bag containing items such as a needle pouch, a pulse pillow, and some simple honey pills and ointments.

When she entered the palace, she basically didn't bring anything with her, only a needle bag and a pulse pillow, just in case something went wrong.

Soon, a maid came to lead Xie Ning to the backyard, while Xie Qi was led by a servant to the front courtyard flower hall to rest and wait. Unexpectedly, he bumped into his former classmate, "Feng Shu? What are you doing here?"

Upon seeing Xie Qi, Feng Shu was also startled. The two had been exchanging letters over the years, but travel was slow, so Feng Shu knew that Xie Qi was in the capital, but Xie Qi did not know that Feng Shu had also arrived in the capital.

"You two know each other?" Young Master Qiu, who had come over to greet the guests, looked them over curiously.

“We studied at the same county school before, we were classmates,” Xie Qi said loudly.

Feng Shu nodded and then answered Xie Qi's question, "My father went back to the capital to report on his duties, so I came back with him. This is my cousin."

It refers to Qiu, the eldest son of the first wife.

His mother is the daughter of the Qiu family, and she brought him back to her parents' home today to visit her relatives.

Xie Qi understood, and then asked about studying. Instead of going to the flower hall, the group went to the pavilion to chat.

Xie Ning, watching the patient's eyes slowly redden, coughed lightly and said, "Don't be afraid, it's not a big problem."

She was only fifteen and hadn't had her first period yet. From her pulse, she could tell that this Miss Qiu had some endocrine imbalance, but that wasn't the point.

Xie Ning observed her expression and asked, "Miss Qiu, have you been in contact with contaminated water?"

Miss Qiu looked bewildered, but Madam Qiu's expression changed.