Chapter 460: Princess Shu Discovers the Affair

Chapter 460: Chapter 460: Princess Shu Discovers the Affair

「At that moment.」

The Emperor was in the great hall, banqueting with his court officials, dignitaries, and concubines.

The Divine Doctor, Sima Han, made a belated entrance with a graying old man in tow.

As soon as they arrived, the Emperor immediately had seats brought for them.

The court officials all turned to look, murmuring amongst themselves.

"This must be the Divine Doctor’s junior brother, right?"

"That’s him. The doctor from the Jianghu known as the Ghost Doctor, the elder Xiang You."

"I hear he’s incredibly elusive and specializes in treating women’s ailments. He can’t be hired for any amount of silver, yet today we have the honor of seeing him as the Emperor’s guest."

"You probably don’t know this, but it’s all thanks to Chancellor Xie’s connections that we’re able to see him at all."

Just then, the Emperor announced, "I have invited the two esteemed doctors, Sima Han and Xiang You, to diagnose and treat the women of the court—My concubines, and the female relatives in each of your households. If any of you suffer from a difficult or persistent ailment, you must not hesitate to seek their counsel."

As he finished speaking, members of the imperial guard came forward carrying folding screens, which they used to create several small, private partitions.

Soon, the Divine Doctor and the Ghost Doctor would be inside those partitions, diagnosing and treating the concubines and noblewomen. This was a sign of special imperial grace.

The ministers were deeply moved, loudly proclaiming the vastness of His Majesty’s grace.

One official even stood and asked apprehensively, "Your Majesty, may I bring my eighty-year-old mother here? Her legs have been in terrible pain lately, and we haven’t been able to find the cause."

The Emperor burst out laughing. "Of course! Seize this opportunity and bring her to the palace at once."

A buzz of excitement filled the hall as everyone rose. The ministers who hadn’t brought their families with them hurried outside to dispatch their servants to fetch their wives and daughters.

Only Princess Shu remained seated, her expression puzzled as she stared in the Ghost Doctor’s direction.

’Elder Xiang You?’

She remembered her husband telling her before he left that morning that he was going to see Xiang You.

’So, if Xiang You is here at the palace for the banquet, where is my husband, King Shu?’

The noblewomen began to form a line for consultations at the partitioned areas.

After a moment’s thought, Princess Shu also rose and went over. She wanted to ask Xiang You whether, given her condition, it was still possible for her to conceive.

Finally, after a long wait, it was her turn.

The moment Princess Shu entered and sat down, she saw the Ghost Doctor, Xiang You, his lips pursed and his salt-and-pepper beard turned up slightly at the ends.

His gaze was sharp and he looked vigorous, but compared to the Divine Doctor, Sima Han, he seemed rather stern and unsmiling.

"What ailment do you wish to have treated, Madam?" he asked.

Princess Shu gave a faint smile. "My husband saw you just this morning. I simply wanted to ask... at my age, do you think it’s still... possible?"

She trailed off, a little embarrassed.

The Ghost Doctor’s brow furrowed. He looked her up and down, his gaze finally settling on her hair for a long moment.

"Your hair is thick and full, Madam. You seem to have abundant vitality. You don’t require treatment."

Princess Shu was taken aback. "I’m not here for my hair, Elder. You must have me mistaken for someone else."

The Ghost Doctor looked at her gravely. "I may be old, but my mind is not yet muddled. When King Shu came to see me today, he asked for a secret hair-growth formula. He stated quite clearly that it was for his wife."

THUD. It felt as if a heavy mallet had slammed into Princess Shu’s chest.

She stared at the Ghost Doctor in disbelief. "The formula I wanted was for bearing a child!"

’My husband said he was visiting a renowned doctor to fulfill my dream of having a child. How did that turn into a request for a hair growth formula?’

The Ghost Doctor said nothing more for the moment, merely taking her pulse with a grim expression.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand. "You can no longer conceive, Madam."

Princess Shu’s face went deathly pale. "Please, Ghost Doctor, be more direct."

The Ghost Doctor’s expression soured. "How much more direct do I need to be? Don’t you know the state of your own body, Madam? Your cycles are irregular, and while your vitality isn’t lacking, you have been taking birth control soup for a very long time. Your body has been damaged. You can no longer conceive."

’Birth control soup!?’

Princess Shu nearly collapsed from her chair.

She looked at him in a panic. "But I’ve never had any..."

Suddenly, she remembered. Every time she and her husband were intimate, King Shu would arrange for a servant to bring her a bowl of soup.

He always said it was a tonic to replenish her vitality, to help regulate her body so she could conceive as soon as possible.

Princess Shu never doubted him. For nearly twenty years, she had lost count of how many bowls she had drunk!

’So all this time, that was... birth control soup?!’

The Ghost Doctor had clearly lost his patience. He gestured for her to leave. "Madam, if you have matters to sort out, please do so elsewhere. Don’t hold up the next patient."

It was one thing for a Jianghu doctor to be disdainful of the nobility, but his attitude toward Princess Shu bordered on outright disgust.

Princess Shu rose to her feet numbly and began to walk out in a daze.

Suddenly, realizing something, she turned back. "Elder Ghost Doctor, we are strangers. As far as I can tell, I have done nothing to offend you since the moment I walked in. Why are you treating me with such coldness?"

She expected the Ghost Doctor to offer some kind of explanation, but instead, he just let out a cold snort.

"King Shu is of high and noble status. Naturally, he pays no mind to a commoner like myself. He clearly came to seek a diagnosis and a prescription, yet after he received his answer, he threatened me. He said I was not to speak of his visit to anyone, or I would be made to ’wait and see.’ With an attitude like that, what reason do I have to be pleasant to either of you?"

"Even after learning you were his princess consort, I still examined you out of my duty as a physician. That does not mean I will tolerate your behavior indefinitely! And please, relay a message to the Prince for me. I am merely a wandering practitioner, and I treat my patients according to my conscience. If he is so afraid of others finding out, then he shouldn’t have come in the first place!"

Princess Shu stumbled out of the partitioned room as if she were a ghost.

The woman next in line was Lady Ye, the daughter-in-law of Grand Tutor Ye.

Seeing Princess Shu’s deathly pale face and panicked expression, she couldn’t help but step forward in concern. "Your Highness, are you unwell?"

Lady Ye glanced around. "Where is His Highness, King Shu? Someone, quickly help Her Highness to a seat to rest."

At the mention of King Shu’s name, Princess Shu felt a chill of true fear for the first time, and she broke out in a cold sweat.

She shook her head. "I-I’m fine. It’s just... the Ghost Doctor was very blunt. I’m afraid I will never be able to conceive."

Lady Ye was taken aback for a moment, but then she understood.

The fact that Princess Shu had been trying to have a child was no secret in the Capital City.

As a fellow woman, Lady Ye sighed sympathetically. "Your Highness, forgive me for being indelicate, but having a child now... and then raising them... it would be so exhausting. By the time your hair is gray, they will only be in the prime of their youth. Why put yourself through that? If you look at it from another angle, it might even be a blessing in disguise."

Just as Lady Ye finished speaking, the elder Ghost Doctor’s impatient voice called from the partition, "Next one! Is anyone there?"

Lady Ye had no choice but to take her leave of Princess Shu for now.

Her mind a tangled mess, Princess Shu sank onto a nearby chair to rest.

’My husband asked the Ghost Doctor for a hair-growth formula. Who would need that the most?’

Her first thought was of Princess Consort Qi.

Then, she couldn’t help but remember the Twin Lotus Jade Pendant that Princess Consort Qi had worn around her neck at her own birthday banquet!

’If it was a gift from the Ninth Prince to his mother, why would he choose that specific design?’

She also recalled the hesitant look in Shen Ningning’s eyes recently, whenever she spoke of her husband.

An icy chill washed over Princess Shu.

’If it was true that King Shu was in love with Princess Consort Qi... and if it was also true that he had been secretly feeding me birth control soup for twenty years...’

’...then that meant the man she shared a bed with had never, ever wanted her to bear his child!’

’But why? We’re married! Even if his heart belonged to another, why would he prevent me from bearing the proper, legitimate heir to the Prince Mansion?’

’Unless...’

’He already has a child.’

As Princess Shu realized this possibility, her face turned ashen, and she felt as if she had been plunged into a freezing cellar.

’Thinking back on King Shu’s smiles, she now found them sinister, filled with a hidden malice.’

Princess Shu was terrified, feeling as though menacing shadows were closing in on her from all sides.

Just then, a hand settled on her shoulder.

Princess Shu let out a shriek and leaped to her feet.