Reborn Divine Doctor: The Abandoned Girl's Legend
Chapter 172 - 42 The Imperial Palace Visit

Chapter 172: Chapter 42 The Imperial Palace Visit

Ye Lingyue had been appointed as Commandery Princess a few days ago, but after the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, the Empress Dowager had not summoned Ye Lingyue again.

After all, in Xia Capital, there were numerous Commandery Princesses given titles under various pretexts, not hundreds, then at least a hundred, and only a few could be remembered by the Empress Dowager.

This time, the reason why the Empress Dowager summoned Ye Lingyue was because she accidentally fell and didn’t feel well afterwards. The doctors in the palace had seen her, but they were clueless and even the Elixir Pills they prescribed did not help.

At this point, one of her old female officials remembered Princess Ye, whose massage skills had indeed won the approval of the Empress Dowager.

This time, only Ye Lingyue was summoned. After entering the palace, she was brought before the Empress Dowager.

In the Empress Dowager’s Bai Feng Palace, faint incense was burning. When Ye Lingyue entered, the Empress Dowager was napping. After casually talking with a female official for a few moments, she began to stroll around the Bai Feng Palace.

She happened to see a palace maid pruning a few peony plants; in the Bai Feng Palace, peonies were mostly planted.

"Sister, you are pruning the wrong part; you should cut those few dead branches." Ever since obtaining power from Hong Meng Heaven, Ye Lingyue had been gathering various Spirit Grass and Spirit Fruit, and her knowledge of flowers had greatly improved.

She stepped forward and helped remove a few unnecessary branches.

"Unexpectedly, Princess Ye has some knowledge of horticulture," commented the Empress Dowager as she walked over with the support of a few palace maids. Compared to a few days before at Mid-Autumn, the Empress Dowager looked somewhat haggard.

Ye Lingyue heard that the Empress Dowager’s fall was not light, but she had not heard exactly how it happened.

"Greetings to the Empress Dowager. I don’t really know much about gardening; I just like to fiddle with some flowers and plants at home," Ye Lingyue said with a smile.

The Empress Dowager had sharp eyes; her favorite were peonies. The peonies in this Bai Feng Palace were all personally tended by her. The cuts Ye Lingyue made just now seemed casual, but they removed the diseased parts, greatly benefiting the growth of the peonies.

"This palace happens to have an excellent peony plant; unfortunately, it has not been thriving. Have a look, is there still a chance to save it?" The Empress Dowager led Ye Lingyue to the side.

In a corner of the flower garden, indeed there stood a peony plant—it was the most precious one in the entire Bai Feng Garden. Unfortunately, it was afflicted with some unknown insect pestilence; almost all of its leaves had fallen. For some reason, the Empress Dowager had always been reluctant to throw it out.

Ye Lingyue walked up, touched the peony, and infused it with Cauldron Breath, discovering many tiny insect eggs inside the body of the peony.

These insect eggs were the culprits causing the peony to wilt, but as long as they were consumed by the Cauldron Breath and then nurtured in Hong Meng Heaven using Spiritual Energy for some time, she believed this peony would definitely revive.

Seeing that Ye Lingyue had inspected the plant and remained silent for a long time, the Empress Dowager could not help but ask.

"Can this peony be saved?"

"It can be saved. If the Empress Dowager trusts me, leave it in my care for a while. Within a month, I will definitely return a living, blooming peony to the Empress Dowager," Ye Lingyue confidently said.

"Empress Dowager, that peony was a gift from the Sixth Prince; giving it to an outsider might not be appropriate," a palace maid beside the Empress Dowager whispered.

Sixth Prince?

Ye Lingyue remembered that the current Crown Prince was the Fourth Prince, and the Sixth Prince should be the son of the Empress.

That Sixth Prince—was the same one that Lady Lan had previously wanted Ye Lingyue to help treat.

Emperor Xia had many imperial concubines and also over ten princes and princesses, but when it came to talent, the smartest was definitely the Sixth Prince, who also received the most affection from the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xia.

It is said that when he was very young, it was discovered that he could cultivate spiritual power. At the age of three, he was already able to recite the Daxia Chronicles, and at four, he could compose poems and make literary matches; everyone thought that the Sixth Prince would inherit the throne.

Unfortunately, when the Sixth Prince was five, his temperament suddenly changed drastically; he became extremely reclusive. He locked himself in his room, refusing to see anyone, even smashing everything inside, leaving the Empress unable to approach him.

Earlier, some people said that the Sixth Prince was under the influence of an Evil Technique, while others suggested the prince fell ill and mistakenly took Elixir Pills.

However, regardless of the reason, the condition of the Sixth Prince never improved.

It was also because of the sudden change in the Sixth Prince that the Empress and Emperor Xia fell out.

Time passed, and over several years, the Sixth Prince had become a taboo within the Imperial Palace; apart from a few people including the Empress and the Empress Dowager, no one could approach the Sixth Prince.

This time, the Empress Dowager’s injury was also related to the Sixth Prince.

When the Empress Dowager mentioned the Sixth Prince, her face showed a deeper sorrowful expression, and she sighed.

She looked at the peony that had lost all its luster.

"Without leaving the palace, its whole life will be like this, let’s give it one last chance. If it cannot be healed, then abandon it."

Ye Lingyue caught the hidden message in the Empress Dowager’s words, and her heart was slightly shaken.

It is said that the Heavenly Family has no kinship, but from the Empress Dowager’s words, she heard heartache and regret; this was not merely an ordinary peony, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager, it was the Sixth Prince.

"Ling Yue will definitely not fail the trust of the Empress Dowager. Seeing that the Empress Dowager is not feeling well, perhaps Ling Yue can help you with a massage." Ye Lingyue took the peony flower and began to treat the Empress Dowager.

Firstly, she used Cauldron Breath to check the Empress Dowager.

She found that due to the fall, there was a small bruise on her waist.

Due to the peculiar location of this bruise, the earlier imperial physicians had not discovered it; even if someone did notice it, they did not dare to administer acupuncture carelessly, but Ye Lingyue’s Cauldron Breath was different.

In just a few breaths’ time, that small patch of bruising disappeared under the influence of the Cauldron Breath.

"Little girl, you indeed have some skills. Those old imperial physicians in the palace tried all methods, acupuncture, cupping, none of them worked. But with your skillful hands, I feel much relieved." The Empress Dowager loosened her muscles and found her body felt significantly more flexible.

Previously, she had appointed Ye Lingyue partly because of Lan Yingwu’s influence, but after talking with Ye Lingyue today, she found herself genuinely liking this girl. They spoke until the evening, and the Empress Dowager even shared a meal with her before letting her leave.

"I have not had such an enjoyable conversation for many years," the Empress Dowager said, feeling somewhat tired after an afternoon of talking, "You are young, but you possess substantial knowledge. Here is a token, keep it with you, and with it, you may come and go from the Imperial Palace freely." She then ordered a palace maid to escort Ye Lingyue out of the palace.

"Just walk straight ahead to reach the palace gate. The Empress Dowager is waiting for me to report back, so I won’t accompany Princess Ye any further." The palace maid led Ye Lingyue to the gate of Bai Feng Palace and pointed to a palace gate not far ahead.

Ye Lingyue nodded and caught a glimpse of something peculiar on the face of the palace maid.

Ye Lingyue furrowed her brows, recalling if she wasn’t mistaken, this palace maid had followed Noble Princess Consort Luo during the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet.