YAT's Glossary

Characters

Miyabi: Main Character. She dies from a train's accident and transmigrates into a game named 'The wielder of Light'. The character she wakes up as is Yzaide Mitch née Node, mother of twins, one of whom is the villainess of the game.

Meirin: The villainess of the game. Affectionately called Ririn.

Hendricksen: The other twin, called Ricky for short.

Locations

Edmether: the world Miyabi transmigrated into

Magic

Elemental: fire, earth, water, wind

Rarity: light, darkness

Variances: Electricity, wood, ice, blood, etc

Betrayal Chapter 5: Be Kind. Always

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Shu Fen walked for a long time, following closely that black-clothed maid who never stopped glancing behind, checking that she was truthfully coming. They ended up in a desolate area. The garden in front of it was flourishing but the moment one walked past the garden and entered the walls of that yard, it became another sight entirely. It wasn't about the size for the place was actually quite grand, however, such a thing which should have been a luxurious place seemed quite desert. Shu Fen couldn't see any other maid at all, as if, the one in front of her was the only one assigned to this place. The inner garden was a contrast to the one outside. It was a mass of untreated vegetation. There were weeds growing everywhere, and the flowers were growing with no set patterns and with irregular sizes. As they kept on walking and closing in on the house, it appeared that the further they walked and the more tended the flowers became. Only that it was really a small portion.

The house itself too could have used some reparations. There were dangling windows, the woods that the house was made of had changed color and when the maid pushed the door, it made a creaking noise while grinding on the floor making Shu Fen's hair stand on the base of her skull.

Had it been tended to, this place could have been breathtakingly beautiful but instead, the inner garden was too much for just one person to attend to and though it was a vast courtyard, it wasn't all that much furnished. The same could be considered for the inside as well. There was barely any tapestry or types of furniture to sit on. 

The maid led Shu Fen inside the living room, letting her sit on the sole tapestry here, a faded green thing that had lost its original color due to time and rewashing. If observed closely, the patterns on the tapestry could be seen as trying to hide the holes there. Seeing that the apprentice didn't complain, the maid sighed from relief in her mind and went to one of the inner rooms, certainly to talk about it with her masters. Not long after, a woman came out, she was helped to walk by the maid. That woman had beautiful clothes they seemed to have had their colors washed away by the number of cleaning.

Between coughing and deep breathing, she presented herself as concubine Han. At first, Shu Fen had wanted to have little words and even share a prescription for her fits of coughing but the woman just smiled and said that she was alright, inviting her inside to see the real ailed person. Thus, the little girl could only shut her mouth and followed behind them.

In the eyes of both women, she was, of course, unqualified but the fact that her father was the head of an imperial physician was enough. So long as she pitied the twelfth prince, certainly, she would let her father do something. Even if he didn't come here himself and just sent some medicinal herbs through his child it was alright. They were willing to accept anything.

Shu Fen entered a dimly lit room that was tightly shut. Faints coughs and struggling breathing could be heard coming from under the piles of clothes on the bed. In that small room, the smoke of incense was thick and it was hot as if one was on fire. She, though a perfectly healthy person, was already feeling uncomfortable. How unbearable must it be for him?

The mother went to the child and uncovered his face. He was deeply flushed and coughed more than his mother did. 

The boy was around her age and she didn't have to touch him to know he was running a fever. A soaked cloth was on his forehead while tears were sliding down his closed eyelashes.

As his mother urged, the boy slowly opened his eyes to meet hers. There were traces of dried tears on his cheek while the fresh ones were running down the side of his face due to his sleeping position.

“Don’t lose your way and immediately ask around if you can't recognize your surroundings. Don't follow people I didn't personally send to you and don't do anything I wouldn't approve of!”

Those words she understood. Her father had repeated this sentence enough for her to recite it mentally. Actually, he had said far more. But at this time, looking at this pained child, she really couldn’t leave him alone, could she? Would her father be terribly angry with her?”

Be kind. Always. Another voice entered her mind. Those were the words of an elderly person in her head that she couldn’t ignore.

"Opened the windows and let some air in. The bedding is thoroughly soaked with sweat changes them and changes his clothes too. Snuffle out those incense..."

As she kept on talking and they did nothing, she turned to the concubine. What was she waiting for? 

Concubine Han was hesitant. After all, those incenses were her last medicinal possession, however, for the sake of having this child talk to her father, she still, with tight firsts nodded in direction of her last maid who executed her orders. 

As the windows were being opened and the incense snuffled out, Shu Fen came closer and opened the patient's upper clothes to check. Though she still couldn't read pulses, she could still try coming up with various diagnoses and eliminate them one by one by a thorough check.

Concubine Han, in order to let that child think she believed in her, anxiously asked,

"Is it poison?"

Shu Fen parted the boy's eyes to check, then his mouth,

"...It doesn't seem like it... Does it hurt when I press here?" she asked the child as she added pressure on his chest.

Slowly, the boy shook his head while coughing.

"Do you have headaches?... Does your head hurt?"

He nodded slowly.

She helped him turned on his stomach and, in order to relieve his headache and neck tightness, she located the gallbladder meridian acupuncture at the base of his skull, in the depression between his spine and lateral neck muscles. She gently massaged the point with her finger and could see his frowns ease a bit.

Still hearing him coughing, she took hold of his hand and located the lung meridian acupuncture. It was on the edge of the palm, midway between the base of the thumb and wrist. She gently massaged them for a time and could hear his coughing ease a bit.

"Do you feel better?" she asked gently and though biting his lips, he nodded slowly.

Concubine Han had a complicated look on her face as she gazed at that girl.

Shu Fen retreated and followed the concubine back into the living room to let the child change clothes.

"I'm not sure what he has but for his fever and coughing," hearing the concubine cough, she continued, "and yours too, I recommend to use in your food some perilla leaf or ephedra. If you don't have that then fresh ginger or peppermint could also do." Seeing the frown on the woman's face, she added, "even chrysanthemum and mulberry leaf can work just fine." Thinking more carefully, maybe it was difficult for them to order the food they wished, so she changed to beverages, "You can drink peppermint tea and eat cooling fruits like citrus... Either way, avoid sugar, sweets, and fried foods for the time being."

The concubine smiled wryly,

"That would be difficult. Can't an honorable apprentice recommend something else? Can't there be an herb honorable apprentice is willing to part with?"

Seeing as the child seemed to know what she was talking about, the concubine was willing to trust in the herb she said, only, with her shabby environment now, where would she be able to buy all these?

Though flattered to be called 'honorable' after having for days been insulted as useless whose opinion didn't matter, Shu Fen still remembered that the herbs in her pockets were the property of the medicine hall and she would be in trouble -and her father too- if she used it without approval.

As she was politely refusing, a servant entered the premises of the courtyard. He was clothed in green, the color of those serving in the medicine hall. It seemed her father was searching for her. Shu Fen could only be mentally prepared to be scolded.

***

Indeed, after being thoroughly scolded in front of everyone, she was made to kneel in the chief's private room for the rest of the day. Since she was out of the sight of the others and far away from their vocal abuse, the little girl was actually more at ease. Thus, from her corner, she stretched her little hand, took hold of one of her father's books,s and for once, read in silence.

Back at home, to appease her father's still lingering ire, she did all she could, serving him his food by herself, serving his tea, she wouldn't let any servant approach their dining table. Each time their gaze met, she would have a docile expression on, seemingly shouting 'forgive me'. With a sigh, the old imperial physician relented,

"Do you know how scared I was to return and hear that no one knew of your whereabouts? The palace isn't a place you can walk freely everywhere!"

"This daughter heard. The next time, I will definitely let someone know where I am going."

Looking a the prideful expression of hers as she came to such a conclusion the father roared again, 

"You! You understood nothing!: I said to go nowhere without my approval!"

"But then, I wouldn't be going anywhere...?"

The little girl successfully earned herself another punishment that night, forced to copy pages through the night.

***

Two punishments for one misdeed, Shu Fen thought the matter finished here. Neither she nor her father could predict that came the morning, the girl would once more be summoned by the emperor.

She was called after the morning court, in the emperor's left hall. It wasn't as grand as the court's hall but it was still impressive. The eunuch who led her there let her know that the empress and the crown prince had arrived before her it was to no surprise then that she entered to see three people seating on the elevated chairs. The emperor sat on the biggest one, his new golden robes had, like the previous ones, a long dragon sewn on it. The empress, sitting on his left wore vibrant red clothes with a phoenix hair ornament. Though she wasn't as young as concubine Han, she wasn't as old as the emperor either and the smile on her face was welcoming. On the left side of the Empress, sat the crown prince, in magnificent clothes that let people know of his status. And though he was the one closest to her in terms of age he was also the only one who wasn't smiling. Both of his parents abhorred easy smiles on their faces.

Though stumbling a bit on her etiquettes concerning the curtsying and bowing, Shu Fen still correctly salute every royalty member, sending thanks in her heart towards the eunuch who let her know how to address the crown prince, this one, neither her father nor her teacher had told her about it after all.

It was the emperor who talked first after her reverences,

"Bring a chair," he instructed and as she sat while thanking him, he said,

"We heard that you helped our son the twelfth prince. Aren't you quite really talented?"

The little girl didn't know how to respond. She had been told by her father the night before that imperial physicians couldn't go around providing their services to just anyone. They had to have either the emperor's approval or that of the empress. So, those words just now, were his majesty saying that she thought herself too talented and dared defy him, or was he, like his smile, suggested, sincerely praising her. Not knowing if she should receive those words and thank him or if she should kneel down and apologize, Shu Fen chose to stay silent and seated. If you don't know what to do, then don't do anything like to say her father. Though it was concerning the medicinal field, it could also be applied in this case, could it not?

"Without your timely intervention, we would never know of our dear consort's troubles."

At those words, the empress's fists tightened, though her smile never wavered,

"Yes, who knew that the servants were such a bully? Little physician, you are really a luck-bringer."

The empress's voice was soft and pleasing to the ears but still, Shu Fen kept her silence,

"How many patients have you already treated?"

"None your majesty... I didn't treat the prince either, simply gave some instructions."

"What are your conclusions regarding his illness then?"

"...It is curable. In father's hands, he would be back to his health most certainly."

"And in yours?" asked the empress

"That... it may take more time."

"Aren't you quite an honest child?"

When she heard that the Emperor had permitted a girl to be accepted to follow the imperial physician's courses, the Empress had been quite surprised and thought it to be a joke. Who knew that the child actually knew what she was doing and talking about. The girl seemed quite valiant too. She was talking to the Emperor and Empress yet she didn't stutter. She would have certainly liked this child better if only she didn't go there.

"Then from now on, why not let her be the twelfth prince's assigned physician? What do you say, your majesty?"

The Emperor passed his hands through his beard,

"This apprentice thanks her majesty's generosity but this apprentice has yet to have any practical lesson and is thus unable to."

"Oh, you don't follow your father to his rounds?"

"One year has still to pass."

"But aren't you the one who scored first in the last examination even surpassing those higher?"

"Is it? Really worthy of being the imperial physician's daughter." boisterously laughed his majesty. "We approve, let us see how talented you are!"

It was with those words that she was dismissed.

Though she didn't understand, once her father heard what happened, he had a strange expression on. No matter how proud he was of his daughter, it didn't change the fact that she was still quite young. Too young. The emperor actually gave his own son to be overseen by this newcomer. No matter how much praise he accompanied it with, for others the meaning was clear: the emperor could care less about the life or death of that child and be ready to treat him as a guinea pig. The empress, the one who suggested the idea was quite cruel, wasn’t she? 

***

Even until they came back home, the imperial physician Shun's face didn't clear itself from its frowns. Not that it alarmed his daughter that much; after all, she was used to seeing him like this. Every time he was deep in thought, he would always furrow his brows and sport a grave expression. As she sat there, gnawing on her food, she was absentmindedly thinking about her tools and experiments, far from understanding the delicate position she was in. Apparently, the emperor had said she couldn't ask her father about the prince and was to treat him by herself.

As they finished eating and revised a bit until she was said to go to sleep, her father still had that grave expression on. That was when she started to worry.

“Was it bad?” she finally asked her father in a small voice. Should she have never helped, even a bit?

The father looked at his daughter who had a wronged expression on her face and he sighed,

“No, you did well.” He finally said, touching her head.

Shu Fen then smiled radiantly, quite satisfied with herself and he could only sigh in his heart, wondering still, how to manage with this small but too intelligent person for her age.

"The Empress put me in charge, wasn’t it because she trusted me?"

She saw her father’s grim expression return instead of the smile she was convinced he would have. And then, it dawned on her that he wasn't happy about this, which meant it simply wasn't a good thing. The little girl stood there, thinking about her father's mood since hearing the news,

“Oh!” she slowly exclaimed then, her own smile dying and her father saw that she really did understand. 

The empress was hoping for her to fail.

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Betrayal Chapter 4: Unfortunate Prince

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Between her father’s disciples, five were recent newcomers and had ten years, four had eleven and two had twelve. The two oldest were the ones to whom people could ask questions when faced with difficult assignments. One of them had a round and short body, named Li Heng, the other was the tallest of their group, and went by Jin Pei. They were the ones mostly, who had something against Shu Fen and incited the other children to act in their stead.

Actually, in the imperial medicinal hall reserved for physicians, all the apprentices were children of either renown physicians of the capital or directly children of imperial physicians. In that case, most of the time the basics were learned at home and it was easier to enroll and pursue into the medical field. What annoyed those children were that the one who recently came was so must younger than them, yet had already been praised so, wasn't this bias only because she was the chief imperial physician's daughter? And another sore point was the very fact that she was a daughter! A girl!

Her gender didn't annoy only the youngest, even older imperial physicians, Shun Tao's colleagues were trying to dissuade him and also had some of their officials' friends write tablets about this, saying that mixing genders like this wasn't the best solutions. The emperor paid no heed at all and after a time, they stopped.

Though she was the youngest, she was by no means favored and was given what the other apprentices learned firsts, following those of ten years old. No matter what difficulties they put her way she would evade and actually didn't report to her father. The child was aware that it would just make her being more hated if possible. Since they weren't willing to talk to her, she was most of the time by herself and learned diligently without slacking off.

***

Not every imperial physician was authorized to teach them though they were free to ask questions to whoever they wanted more clarifications from. The one taking and teaching apprentices was the chief. He was meant to follow his disciple for ten years after which they would be set to travel all over the country for five whole years of experiences outside then come back to pass the ultimate test which would determine if they were accepted in the ranks of imperial physicians.

Following the chief imperial physician's teaching also meant to assist him practically when he was on duty. The apprentices would be the ones holding his tools and while examining people he would ask them questions to which only the exact answer was awaited; if one failed then that apprentice would be punished with copying or reading parts of books. Most of the time, it was only when they were already here for one full year that the following year they were expected to follow the chief to gain some practical experience. Thus, Shu Fen could only watch longingly as her father departed with his six oldest apprentices, leaving her and the five children of ten years behind.

It was true that she had already acquired the basics and knew them well, but her father had said it to be the best to wait a full year, lest she annoyed more people. She was already young enough as it was.

***

As she was always coming in the palace, though not the side reserved for the emperor and his family, Shu Fen got to know more about palace etiquettes and also the imperial family. If compared to the previous generation, the inner court of the emperor was almost empty. Beside the empress, there were two favored concubines, four other concubines who people rarely talked about and there was also one concubine in the cold palace. Though no one said anything about what she did to end there, however, from the tone of it, it seemed she committed a grave sin.

The emperor, as of now, had four sons and five daughters. It was a bit awkward in numbering them. A certain number of children had died in their infancy or before the age of five after all. It had always been said that life in the palace was quite unpredictable and flimsy. Between the sons, one had twelve years and was the third prince -but the first and second already died-, the one following him still alive was the sixth prince, who also was the crown prince, the empress's sole child. He was nine years old for now and his birthday was going to be celebrated in two weeks from now. Shu Fen, each time she wandered to the imperial kitchen, was given a taste of samples of the cake that were tried for the celebration. After the crown prince, there were two others who had six years and five years.

The daughters weren't much older and had their years ranging from thirteen to four. To this day, three months and a half since she started coming into the palace, Shu Fen had never met any of the imperial family. And how could she? They simply didn't use the same roads and the palace was so vast, even without considering the fact that the side for the imperial family was unauthorized to those without proper access.

Since the recent results of their monthly examinations, Shu Fen was even more ostracized than before. She had ranked first and, when the imperial physician in charge of the exams had wanted to make things difficult by asking questions of higher grade which even Li Heng and Jin Pei couldn't answer, she still correctly responded, effectively earning their scorn.

Out of the adults' sight, the children's mocking of her gender became more fierce than before. They tried to provoke her, saying that she should just learn things about being a mama to help with delivery no need for her around to boss them.

Shu Fen was, by no means, one to be bullied and since they only used words, she simply ignored them. Before, she used to think it normal to learn under her father; it was only when coming here and facing their hostilities that she understood her case to be special. Since her father had made her an exception, it was evident that she didn't want to complicate things for him by weaving conflicts left and right. To those children, she would simply go by her father's words: "idiots should be ignored". Of course, when they tried to harm her physically, she would always make sure that her father learned about it without opening her mouth to tell him. Letting him catch them red-handed was far more incriminating!

The her at the time really didn’t know about being reincarnated and starting a new life in another world. She was simply a child, though a bit special. Very much later, describing it more accurately, she would say that it was as if her brain was always six years ahead of her body's age. Her memories didn’t come in one stroke but in succession. So, those medical things she could learn so easily was because they were etched in her mind and she was just revisiting it.

***

Now that her father wasn't around and was yet away with his oldest apprentices to the residence of an imperial member, she wandered by herself a bit in the direction of the imperial kitchen. It was break's time after all and she didn't want to stay in that room with them. Those children wouldn't openly start to fight with her in front of others, limiting it to when they were in the training room. Thus, she simply stopped spending unnecessary time in that room.

Just as Shu Fen had successfully convinced one of the kitchen's chiefs to give her yet another cake, the anguished cries of a maid entered her ear. The said maid couldn't be older than sixteen and Shu Fen couldn't recognize her clothing's assignment. Each courtyard's maids had different colors of clothing and the shade let people know their ranks. The darker it was, the higher in rank those maids were. Since she liked taking refuge in the kitchen and could see the maids from each courtyards coming to take the foods, Shu Fen knew which color corresponded to which concubines or at the very least she was familiar which the color used. The emperor and empress each had their own personal kitchen so the maids and eunuchs needn't come here. However, it was her very first time seeing the dark clothing.

It was evident though, that the master of that maid wasn't favored, if not at all since the girl was harshly rebuked.

Shu Fen didn't pry and silently turned her gaze, walking away. She never imagined that the maid would actually chase after her once she saw her. That girl had exclaimed,

"Honorable apprentice, wait for this lowly one."

Each apprentice was effectively wearing a specialized cloth showing their status and it also served as access to some places. Shu Fen, instead of stopping actually urged her steps faster and the servant ran to her and unceremoniously banged her head in a kowtow, begging her to hear her out and help her masters.

Shu Fen was quite conflicted and was on the verge of crying. That woman was pleading with her with tears running down her cheeks and her forehead was bleeding with how much she had banged it on the floor. Though she really wanted to ignore that person, an elderly voice in her mind softly said to her:

Be kind. Always.

The little girl gave in and shuffled out a handkerchief from her clothes to wipe the blood away, trying to decline,

"No matter your troubles, I am but just a starter. It is impossible for me to help you."

"Just come and see my masters. The twelfth prince needs help. Please."

The maid was unyielding. Though she didn't hold much hope for this child, she hoped that she would tell her father about it, thus her masters could be saved. By now, the news that the chief imperial physician's daughter was training in the medical hall was unknown to no one in the palace.

Be kind. Always.

Those words would sometimes come to her mind and she wouldn’t recognize the voice of the one saying that but it was someone she knew for sure. It was a strange kind of certainty.

Biting her lips, Shu Fen turned to go but at the last moment, she changed her mind again and turned around. Be it. She would bear the consequences.

"Lead the way."

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Betrayal Chapter 3: Imperial Palace

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Being a matter talked about in whispers everywhere in the palace, it was not long before the emperor got wind of it and invited the child in the imperial palace. That night, the imperial physician came back home with a black face and many of the gossiping maids had been punished. No one had seen physician Shun so angry before.

Calmed down, he sat down by the table, sipping the tea his daughter just served. He was not in a great mood and Shu Fen could see it, so she was obediently silent, waiting for him to talk.

His cup finished, he sighed and turned to face his daughter.

"Tomorrow morning, you'll follow me to the palace to see his majesty the Emperor. Tonight, we'll rehearse your etiquettes."

Though she was being taught etiquettes assiduously by her female teacher, it wasn't as constraining as palace etiquettes. And these last months, she had complained about not really wanting to learn about dancing and he didn't force her. He hoped that come tomorrow, no one would make it difficult for her at the palace.

The morning before they took the road, he once more, urgently reminded her,

“Don’t go blabbering nonsense anywhere, and don’t talk if not asked!”

At home, he had let her be quite free-spirited. The moment she had an inquiry she was one to voice it and it was something he had actually encouraged, but at the palace, being blabbersome could lead to disaster. Who knew if one wrong word wouldn't offend someone?

What was supposed to be a little reminder became a long-winded speech and as her father kept on talking, the little girl couldn't help herself but think that he had already said so much she felt like giving him water for his certainly sore and dry throat!

***

Once they came to the palace, they were made to wait. Today, there wasn't supposed to have court in the morning. The emperor had them called in his study and the chief eunuch led them there.

Upon entering, Shu Fen saw a richly dressed old man with golden robes, and under the table, she could see his dark golden glibbed boots, behind a desk full of papers and folded reports. While she was dazed, the imperial physician presented his respects. Remembering her etiquettes, she hastily saluted, following her father's teachings. They were then invited to take place in the prepared seats in front of his majesty's table and Shu Fen helped herself to the pastries in front of her. She listened on as the emperor engaged in small talk with her father before bringing his attention to her.

"We heard that you like playing physician?"

She briefly glanced at her father who nodded, before bowing her head to the friendly emperor, 

"Shu Fen doesn't play. Shu Fen sincerely wished to learn."

The man laughed boisterously.

"Aye, aye. You are really your father's daughter. And how much did you learn already?"

"Shu Fen is still learning the basics of differentiating pulses... It is hard."

That was her weakest point so far. Though she couldn't say she had all the medicinal herbs in mind, at the very least, she could recognize the more commonly used ones, but since three months now that she started learning how to differentiate pulses, she still made no progress and the little girl was quite frustrated over this, even secretly crying at night because of it.

The emperor didn't really know the difficulty of it; this was a field he knew very little about, but he touched his beard and smilingly said,

"Maybe more time with your father will let you learn more. Little girl, do you want to become an imperial physician?"

Imperial physician Shu coughed, colored surprised. It wasn't that there weren't physicians who were women in the capital. But all these women were actually looked down upon and no matter how skilled they were, people would still feel safer when addressing male physicians; thus, females, if they weren't used when delivering babies would only serve when helping with small wounds and bandages; very rare were those who could prescribe. More so, there had never been a woman between the imperial physicians!

When he had let his daughter learn under him, physician Shun didn't think that far and even if he did, he would have just come to the conclusion that he would find a husband for her who wouldn't clip much of her freedom, letting her be a physician if she wanted, for those willing to let her prescribed medicine. And if she wouldn't become a physician, it was still best to have some medicinal knowledge just in case. He would be more assured for herself and her future children like that. He never expected that the emperor would actually go as far as proposing she became an imperial physician!

And look at that girl, her eyes were shining at the thought of following her father every day! Forget it, no matter what, this was his only child, if she wanted, he wouldn't mind. Even if she was an imperial physician, it didn't mean she couldn't marry in the future.

Reigning in her excitation, she approved of the emperor, her tone of voice one of pure joy though she didn't forget to say that she would obey her father's opinion in this matter. Saying such, she faced her begetter with the most pleading eyes he had ever seen her make. Imperial Physician Shun could only thank the emperor for his grace and like that, she became her father's twelfth current apprentice!

Between the apprentices, she was the youngest. After all, people usually entered here at ten to become apprentices, when they could perfectly read by themselves and had no problem with writing.

The next day when coming, Shu Fen saw that those boys' ages ranged from ten to twelve and though outwardly welcoming, when her father wasn't around, they made things quite difficult for her. After all, even before she came here, their master had been praising her and now even the emperor allowed her here. To be permitted to study there wasn’t an easy affair and even more so, she was a girl! Things like her books disappearing, her medicinal herbs being switched started to happen.

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Betrayal Chapter 2: A gifted child

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The death of the imperial physician's wife could have gone unnoticed by those not close to him. The man was reserved and never talked about his personal life. If known, the matter would have ended with some condolences given and not long after, no one would even remember about it. However, the very emperor actually briefly assisted to the procession and honored the dead. Thus, the event became famous through the whole capital; it was something that was talked long afterwards and those who didn't know the name of the chief of imperial physicians learned about it and how much he was favored by the emperor. The matter highlighted the status of the physician in people's eyes more than ever, which made others double their efforts to curry favor with him. It was quite headache-inducing for the man who wasn't really known for his sociability skills.

In a sigh, the emperor had said,

“We thought you, our gifted friend, would be able to cure her,…”

She was someone he, the emperor, had personally played the matchmaker for this friend of his after all. He had his servants looked for women interested in the medical field and between the gathered pages of numerous candidates, he had selected her. The Intel had said her character to be calm and she wasn't, by all means, ugly. The only fault was her sickness. However, he thought that with the two of them combining their medical expertise, they could come up with something. Alas. Havens's will was not something a mortal could bend.

"This humble one failed your expectations."

"Don't take it to heart. The Gods called her back. Let us see that child of yours."

A servant girl had brought the sleeping Shu Fen to the emperor and since a name had already been chosen he didn't insist on naming her but instead gifted her many things before going back.

Having had the emperor's blessing, the child was quite a celebrity on her own. Though both sides of the family had urged the physician to marry so that the child could have a mother, he remained wifeless and had the wet nurse and maids raised the girl.

Despite being the sole child of the big household, the little miss didn't grow up to be pampered into conceitedness. Actually, the little miss grew up quite sensible. Even while still a baby, she wouldn't be difficult at all and wouldn’t cry all that much. The times she did, it was when she was cravingly hungry. She was such a quiet baby that even when she was awake it was easy to believe her to still be asleep thus the wet nurse was sometimes late to nourish her. The baby would smile at people yet only babble to herself, with the exception of her father. She was most active at the sight of him.

It appeared that she could easily recognize the man and at the sight of him would start talking gibberish to have him hold her, after which she would be unwilling to be let down. Crying until falling asleep if he did. This was the reason why the imperial physician mostly visited this child of his when he returned from his workplace, during the times when the sun was setting. Otherwise, he would have to leave the house while she was crying fiercely and he was very reluctant then.

As the child grew up, she kept on clinging to her father. She would crawl to him whenever he was in the vicinity and even her first steps had been taken because she was trying to follow him out of the mansion. When he was home, the physician would let her stay wherever he was with him and when she fell asleep, the maids would carry her back to her room.

The child was also a quick learner. By the end of her first year her gibberish turned into words, six months later the words were more comprehensible and when she had two whole year,s the physician hired a female teacher to come and instruct her. Usually, daughters were taught by their mothers, be that words, poetry, calligraphy, dancing, music or calculus. Since he himself didn't have the time to teach -not that he would have been able to teach the whole of it even if he tried- he could only hire someone, not really reassured with the idea of letting his daughter spend the whole days with family members. What if she became reluctant in coming back home and forgot this father of hers? What would he do then?

By the time Shu Fen turned four, she could even read the names of the different medicinal herbs that were in his room in their jars and he discovered that she could even differentiate them. It turned out those things he would mumble to himself while she was doing her assignments in his room, she was actually paying attention to them. Amused, Imperial physician Shun also started to slowly teach her the basic of medicine.

What started as an impulse spiraled and amazed him later. This child of his had a good memory and as long as you said it once and show it to her, then she wouldn't forget. When she turned six and was, even more enamored than ever about learning from him, he unofficially considered her as his disciple, at the same level as those he took back in the imperial palace. Her pattern of learning had been changed then. Her usual teacher would be coming solely in the morning -instead of either morning or afternoon- while her afternoon would be occupied by assignments given by her father that he would correct upon coming back home at night.

***

The matter went on like that and some people got wind of it. After all, the imperial physician, when teaching his apprentices would always sigh and mumble 'not as talented as her' while correcting their misdiagnosis; though he was saying those words in a sigh, the pride in his eyes was clear for all to see and not long later, people learned just who that 'her' was: the imperial physician's daughter herself.

When his wife died, people had sighed and said regretfully that it was a pity it hadn't been a son born. He hadn't paid heed though quite annoyed by the remarks. Now, he couldn't be more proud. Who cared about a son to continue the name or take his legacy? There was this child who shared his and his wife's passion, what more could he ask for? The little girl was always eager to learn, making this father really proud. So what if he didn’t have a son, wasn’t this daughter perfect in every aspect that mattered? More so that between all of his apprentices considering their starting point, she was still the very best!

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