Chapter 400 Pills
"Patient Physician Pei Xing'er greets Your Majesty the Empress!" Pei Xing'er bowed and greeted the Empress with an air of composure, appearing quite respectable.
Qi Yuxuan quickly woke her up and asked with a smile, "Xing'er, you were on duty at the Imperial Hospital, why didn't you tell me? Where is Doctor Pei?"
Pei Xing'er then got up from the ground and pretended to be serious as she said:
“My grandfather and I entered the Imperial Hospital through our own abilities. If I had told Her Majesty beforehand, wouldn’t we have been seen by those imperial physicians as those who climbed the ranks by currying favor with Her Majesty? I am currently Physician Pei’s assistant, and we take care of Her Majesty’s health together. However, Physician Pei was summoned by the Empress Dowager today, so only I have come here…”
Although she was young, she knew a lot. Seeing that there were other palace maids in the hall, she didn't mention their past relationship. She simply explained the cause and effect, picked up her small medicine box, and wanted to go forward to take Qi Yuxuan's pulse.
"Wait!" A second-class palace maid frowned when she saw Pei Xing'er intending to take the Empress's pulse. "A court physician is one rank lower than an imperial physician, and this court physician is so young. According to regulations, he is not qualified to take the Empress's pulse alone!"
Pei Xing'er was taken aback, clearly not having considered this aspect. She couldn't maintain her composure and secretly glanced at Qi Yuxuan.
"It was I who allowed her to take the pulse." Qi Yuxuan called out to the palace maid with amusement. Seeing that the other woman had an upright and righteous appearance, she knew that she was a person who valued rules very much. She remembered the palace maid's name, Fu Xuan.
"Fu Xuan, you may leave now. Lan Xin is sufficient to serve you here."
Fu Xuan glanced nervously at the other two and could only reply with a "yes".
Unless the master specifically orders that he wants to be alone, the palace cannot be without people. So as soon as Bi Sui left, Fu Xuan came in to serve. Unexpectedly, Aunt Lan Xin only brought a physician with her, but the Empress acted as if she knew her very well and even dismissed her...
Fu Xuan was nervous, but Qi Yuxuan was completely unaware. She looked at Pei Xing'er, who had become a little thinner, and waited until Pei Xing'er finished taking her pulse before saying, "You know about this too?"
Now that there were only the three of them in the hall, Pei Xing'er breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed completely: "Yes, Grandfather and I were so anxious just now, we were just thinking of taking this opportunity to see you."
"Thank goodness, the princess didn't eat much of the pastries—" She immediately covered her mouth after saying that, "I misspoke, it was Your Majesty who didn't eat much..."
Qi Yuxuan found her quirky and mischievous appearance amusing; sure enough, her serious demeanor earlier was all an act: "It's alright, I sometimes can't quite grasp things myself."
"Tell me in detail how that contraceptive works?"
If possible, she would like to brew some herself and take it.
It wasn't that she didn't want to have her own child with Qi Jun; it was simply that as the Empress, it was her responsibility to give birth to an imperial heir.
But she was only sixteen years old, which is a bit too early for her to get pregnant and have children.
She had heard in the Ye family when she was a child that many families would wait until sixteen or seventeen to arrange a marriage for a girl who was fifteen years old, and then marry her off at seventeen or eighteen.
It is because 60-70% of women who become pregnant and give birth at the age of 15 or 16 die in childbirth, while the number of women who give birth at the age of 18 or 19 drops by more than half. Qi Yuxuan really wanted to have children as early as possible, but she was not prepared to lose her life for her child.
Pei Xing'er was initially puzzled. Why did the Empress seem so interested, and not at all angry that the Empress Dowager had put contraceptives in the pastries?
But she quickly realized that perhaps the Empress also wanted to avoid having a child.
Putting aside other thoughts for the moment, Pei Xing'er said, "This contraceptive is different from the one used in the palace. Its contraceptive effect is secondary; the most important thing is... it can abort a pregnancy."
"Abortion?!" Lanxin exclaimed first, "Your Majesty was only on your wedding night last night, why would you need to—"
Her voice caught in her throat, and she felt it was improper for her to shout before Qi Yuxuan had even spoken, so she quickly apologized.
Qi Yuxuan: "It's alright, I understand."
If she didn't understand why before, now she understands everything.
Nangong Nian brought the Tongshi (a historical record) with her when she came to the court, and she said that the fact that she had lost her virginity in Yue must have been known by someone with ulterior motives, who then told the Empress Dowager.
Decades ago, the Qi Kingdom abolished the custom of examining a woman's virginity before marriage. That's why the Empress Dowager sent Yinling to guard outside the palace, hoping to take the opportunity to go in and serve her to see if she had bleed.
When one plan failed, she put abortifacients in the pastries, probably thinking that if she entered the palace with an illegitimate child, she could not confuse the imperial bloodline.
Then, Pei Xing'er saw the beautiful and charming empress on the daybed furrow her brows slightly, and then raise her hand to rub her brow.
Pei Xing'er asked, "Your Majesty, did the Empress Dowager hear some rumors from somewhere?"
Qi Yuxuan: "I'll handle this matter. Do you know of any other contraceptive methods that won't harm your body? I know you're not of marriageable age yet, so asking you these things might be a bit difficult..."
Pei Xing'er shook her head: "No way! My grandfather taught me this last year. He also said that if anything happens to me in the future... I must remember to use these medicines, otherwise I'll have to marry a bad man when I get pregnant, and I don't want that!"
Upon hearing this, not only Lan Xin but also Qi Yuxuan found it somewhat intriguing.
“This is something I’ve never heard before, but upon reflection, it makes some sense,” Lanxin said first.
"How much reason is there? It's absolutely the best way to stop the damage in time!" Pei Xing'er was also proud of what the imperial physician Pei said: "It's good for Your Majesty to take the contraceptive medicine. Your Majesty is still young. If you get pregnant and give birth now, it will be difficult. It would be best to wait a year or two."
She was only fourteen years old, but she spoke very seriously about the difficulties of childbirth, as if she had experienced it herself.
Lanxin was amused by her appearance and burst out laughing. "Little Physician Pei is a miracle doctor. He even knows these things. I was truly blind to his greatness before."
Pei Xing'er gave a soft snort, like a proud little peacock, then asked, "Your Majesty, at this moment... does His Majesty know?"
This has always been the case. Men don't need to get pregnant, nor do they know the difficulties of pregnancy and childbirth. Even if a difficult childbirth results in the death of both mother and child, they would simply settle down and marry someone to carry on the family line.
I'm afraid His Majesty won't agree to the matter of avoiding having a child.
Qi Yuxuan did not answer directly: "So please prepare some convenient medicine for me, preferably under the pretext of recuperating, so that no one else can find out."
Pei Xing'er immediately understood. She patted her small medicine box and then her small chest: "I guarantee with the good reputation of my Pei family's ancestors as doctors that I will keep this matter to myself and will not even tell my grandfather!"
"However, in this case, the medicine cannot be prepared using herbs from the Imperial Hospital, and Your Majesty will have to pay for it for me, hehe..."
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