Han Dan arrived at the Chuxiu Palace early the next morning when Shao Wanru just got up. Actually, she had been up early these days.

Although she didn’t want others to think that she had a good relationship with Shao Yanru, she had to show her the respect that she should show. Anyway, she could not let others gossip that she was indifferent to Shao Yanru and that it was all her fault.

As soon as she finished breakfast, Yujie came in with Han Dan.

“What could I do for my sister?” Shao Wanru asked. Han Dan didn’t come at this time for nothing. Shao Yanru had recently regarded Han Dan as her confidant. She put her in a more important position than she had put Shuqi.

“Fifth Miss, First Miss wants you to go to the Imperial Institute of Medicine early in the morning and fetch some doses of the painkiller for her. First Miss said that she couldn’t sleep well at night because of the pain!” Han Dan lowered her head and said.

“That’s all?” Shao Wanru asked calmly.

“There… there’s something else…” Han Dan trembled and hurriedly said, “First Miss said that on purpose… It seems she intends to get… Prince Xin…”

She didn’t dare to lie to Fifth Miss Shao. Besides, she also had a selfish motive. Fifth Miss Shao had not only deterred her but also seen through her selfishness.

“Prince Xin?” Shao Wanru raised her eyebrows. She didn’t expect that Shao Yanru now aimed to target Chu Liuxin. Compared with the others, Chu Liuxin was inevitably too childish. Unexpectedly, Shao Yanru aimed to target Chu Liuxin instead of the current emperor in the palace.

But after thinking about it carefully, she was not surprised. The emperor was old, the empress still ruled the imperial harem, and the emperor also had other favored concubines, who had given birth to many sons. If Shao Yanru really liked the emperor, it was hard to tell if she could see daylight someday.

Compared with the emperor, Chu Liuyue had at least a few advantages that the emperor didn’t have: he was young and had no princess.

Being young meant that he would have infinite possibilities!

“Yes, it is Prince Xin. She said… said that Prince Xin was coming in a while,” Han Dan answered gingerly and stole a glance at Shao Wanru.

Prince Xin seemed to have a good character and he had a good relationship with the Shao sisters. Every time he came to visit Shao Yanru, although Shao Wanru didn’t like to talk much, he would try to raise some topics and chat a bit with her. It seemed that he didn’t want to snub Fifth Miss Shao.

“Go back and tell my sister that I will go to the Imperial Institute of Medicine and fetch the medicine!” Shao Wanru pondered for a moment and said.

“Okay, I’m leaving then!” Han Dan replied.

Shao Wanru waved her hand and Han Dan left respectfully. Only when she had come outside did she turn around and go back.

In the room, Shao Wanru stood up.

“Do you really want to go and get the so-called painkiller, Miss? I think First Miss is quite healthy. Every time Prince Xin is here, she smiles happily. She doesn’t seem to suffer from unbearable pain,” Yujie said.

“I said I would go, so I have to go, right? Otherwise, people who see this will spread rumors!” Shao Wanru said with a smile and went out. Of course, she needed to go.

But she had the absolute right to decide how she got the medicine.

The Imperial Institute of Medicine was a little far from the Chuxiu Palace. Fortunately, there was a comfortable sedan chair prepared for her. She got on the sedan chair and went all the way to the Imperial Institute of Medicine. Then, the sedan chair stopped when it had carried her to the gate of the institute.

Yujie stepped forward, held the door frame of the sedan chair, and helped Shao Wanru get off.

But she frowned when looking at the plaque hanging over the gate of the Imperial Institute of Medicine and the opened double doors. At this time, it happened that the doors were open, but there was no one here.

The two of them walked in while a little eunuch was coming out. He was stunned when he saw Shao Wanru and her servant. Yet, he didn’t know her identity, so he didn’t dare to address her with any titles. But he was sure that she was a mistress.

“What can I do for you, mistress?” The little eunuch asked with a witty smile, looking so kind.

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“Aren’t there any imperial physicians in… the Imperial Institute of Medicine at this time?” Shao Wanru asked.

“Now is off-duty time. The imperial physician on duty last night has gone back. The imperial physician to work today will not come until a while later. Please wait a few moments. He will probably be here soon,” the little eunuch answered with a smile.

Hearing his words, Shao Wanru was stunned. She really didn’t know about it.

There were imperial physicians on duty in the Imperial Institute of Medicine. Even the palace heads knew it. There were people on duty here 24 hours a day, but how could there be a period of time without anyone on duty?

“The imperial physicians on duty should not go home until other imperial physicians arrive, should they?” Yujie looked curiously at the empty Imperial Institute of Medicine and asked.

Almost everyone in the palace knew it. If no one was in the Imperial Institute of Medicine, what if the masters and mistresses in the palace fell ill? Something sensational would happen. The imperial physicians were probably not so bold to do so.

Having learned what Yujie meant, the little eunuch shook his head and said with a smile, “There’re many imperial physicians on duty in the palace. Some are elsewhere, but those on duty in the Imperial Institute of Medicine can leave a little earlier. If something emergent happens to the masters or mistresses of the palace, we can go to other places to summon the imperial physicians on duty. Now there’re imperial physicians on duty in the Chuxiu Palace!”

His words were clear, and Shao Wanru immediately understood.

The Imperial Institute of Medicine was the headquarters of the imperial physicians, but not all of them were on duty here. Actually, some took duty in turns in other palaces in case something happened. For example, they might be needed if many people gathered in the Chuxiu Palace, and some should be around the emperor or in Empress Dowager’s place.

Even if there was a period of time when no physicians on duty were in the headquarters, it was fine to summon imperial physicians from other places if an emergency occurred.

“Why is there a period without anyone on duty?” Shao Wanru asked with a smile. “Actually, such a period can be avoided!”

Hearing these words, the little eunuch said with a bitter face, “There was no such period previously. However, since some imperial physicians began to have to take duty in turns in the Chuxiu Palace, the imperial physicians had become too busy with their work. Later, they reported it to the empress and the empress agreed to this adjustment. Only in this way can the Imperial Institute of Medicine operate normally.”

“This is the idea of the empress?” Shao Wanru thought of something.

“The empress has agreed. Mistress, do you have an urgent business? If you do, you can go to other places to summon an imperial physician,” the little eunuch answered casually. He found that the mistress was not on anything urgent, or she would not have wasted so much time on the explanation.

“I want some doses of the painkiller. My eldest sister is injured and she is in the palace now. She can’t sleep well at night,” Shao Wanru said vaguely.

Her sister got injured in the palace, and she was in a mistress’s clothes, so she didn’t look like a mistress living in the palace. The little eunuch thought that she was more like one of those ladies from aristocratic families in the Chuxiu Palace. The more he thought about it, the more he thought she looked like one.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Are you First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion?”

It was said that First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion was injured and she was now recuperating in the empress’s place. No one else seemed to have been heard injured. And she was injured so seriously that she even had to take the painkiller at night.

“Our Miss is Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion. She wants to get some doses of the painkiller,” Yujie took one step forward, raised her head, and said.

“Oh, you are Fifth Miss Shao. There are painkillers. Please come in with me,” the little eunuch said with a smile. Then he led her to a pharmacy.

The pharmacy was densely packed with medicine cabinets, which were many more than those in an ordinary pharmacy.

“Fifth Miss, I don’t have medical skills and I can’t read. Fifth Miss, please take a look and choose what you need!” the little eunuch said with a smile while pointing at a long row of medicine cabinets. Each medicine cabinet was pasted with a note, on which the name of the herb was written.

This was not difficult for Shao Wanru and her maid at all. Yujie stepped forward and was about to look for it, but Shao Wanru pulled her sleeve gently.

“You can’t read, little eunuch?” Shao Wanru asked softly.

“No, I can’t read. Almost all the palace servants in the Imperial Institute of Medicine can’t read, except for the disciples of the imperial physicians,” the little eunuch explained smilingly.

Shao Wanru had never had exchanges with those from the Imperial Institute of Medicine in her previous life. At least, she had no memory about the institute, so she didn’t know this rule of it.

But after thinking about it carefully, she thought that it was appropriate. In the Imperial Institute of Medicine, the medical records of the emperor and his wife and concubines were the most precious. Such things could not be peaked at by anyone at will, so the ordinary people who sorted out such things had better be illiterates. Only in this way could they ensure that the medical record information would not be spread out.

“Have you ever seen other imperial physicians take painkillers before, little eunuch?” Shao Wanru asked softly with a deep look in her eyes after thinking it through. Shao Yanru lived in the side hall of the empress’s Phoenix Palace, but she still knew such a thing. Obviously, someone was helping her secretly.

She must have had the intent toward Prince Xin when he came to visit her in her sickbed, but she had not found a suitable opportunity or made her decision yet. Now it seemed that it was time for her to take action.

And she, Qin Wanru, was probably that opportunity!

“Well… I actually know something about it, but I’m afraid that I can’t get the accurate doses.” The little eunuch was smart. Although he could not read, the nobles in the palace were very delicate. When they were sick, they would use painkillers, which were a kind of common medicine. The little eunuch had seen the imperial physicians take the medicine quite a few times, but he was prudent, afraid that he would make mistakes, so he said so deliberately.

“Can you take me to have a look, little eunuch?” Shao Wanru said with a soft smile.

Seeing that she had been calm and left a good impression on him, the little eunuch became bold. He took Shao Wanru to the medicine cabinet in the first row on the right, pointed to a medicine cabinet in the middle, and said, “Is this what you are looking for, Fifth Miss?”

This was the spot where the imperial physicians usually came most.

Shao Wanru looked up at the characters on the note. It was indeed a kind of painkiller.

“Okay, this one. Could you please get some for me, little eunuch?” Shao Wanru nodded and said.

Seeing that Shao Wanru had chosen this medicine, the little eunuch skillfully turned around, fetched a paper bag, put a handful into the bag, wrapped it up, and handed it to Yujie.

Yujie was about to take it, but Shao Wanru stopped her and asked, “Could you please put more paper bags outside of it, lest that the smell of the medicine should spread on the way!”

Shao Wanru’s attitude was gentle. This was not difficult at all, so the little eunuch nodded in agreement and put two more paper bags on the outside. Feeling that there was no smell of medicine, he handed the bags to Yujie.

After thanking the little eunuch, Shao Wanru left the Imperial Institute of Medicine with Yujie. They had not spent much time coming in and going out, and the imperial physician on duty had not come yet. It seemed that the Imperial Institute of Medicine had recently been a little short of physicians…