Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1459: Chapter 1560 Speaking by Strength_1

At that time, Bai Ruozhu was unaware of the slanderous rumors; she had already entered the Imperial Palace.

The Empress Dowager probably feared Bai Ruozhu was unfamiliar with the surroundings, so she had Hao Mu wait today at the Palace Gate specifically to escort her to the Imperial Medical Hospital.

”Sister Hao Mu, I must trouble you,” Bai Ruozhu said with a smile, handing Hao Mu a delicately made purse. Hao Mu accepted it cheerfully and joked, ”This really is an easy job I’ve got here.”

Bai Ruozhu knew the Empress Dowager was usually kind-hearted, and the elderly servants in Cining Palace were hard to impress. Hao Mu wasn’t saying this just because of the Red Envelope Bai Ruozhu had given her.

”You really helped the Empress Dowager vent some anger; we all felt much refreshed by it. I truly want to thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Hao Mu whispered when there was no one else around.

Bai Ruozhu laughed, ”It was just a small effort on my part, merely a momentary satisfaction; it really doesn’t have much effect in the long run.”

Hao Mu sighed silently, wondering when the Empress Dowager would not be so easily bullied. If the Former Emperor had not protected her so well in previous years, she would have found it difficult to survive in the Palace.

They soon arrived at the Imperial Medical Hospital. Hao Mu pointed and said, ”Chief Physician Bai, go greet the Hospital Chief first, and maybe visit the female doctors later.”

Bai Ruozhu was still unaccustomed to being called Chief Physician; it would probably take some time to get used to the new title.

She had done her homework in advance and knew that the Chief of the Imperial Medical Hospital was named Mao Xingcai and the Deputy Chief was named Wei Pengbo, both were nearly sixty years old. At that time, reaching sixty was considered a long life.

In Danliang Country, there were not many female doctors; even the ones officially registered in the Palace were only five. Previously, these five had been under the general management of the Hospital Chief.

Now that the Female Physicians Institution had been divided out, she was responsible for managing it, and these people would all be under her management from now on.

Bai Ruozhu walked in, dressed in the official uniform the Emperor had bestowed along with the Holy Edict, clearly indicating her rank as a fourth-rank female officer.

Her appearance immediately drew the attention of everyone at the Imperial Medical Hospital. Jiu Sheng, sitting not far behind, was visibly excited, and he was almost ready to stand up and call her Master.

Seeing the elder seated at the head, she guessed it was Mao Xingcai, the Hospital Chief, and went over to perform an Official Ceremony, saying, ”Is this Chief Mao? Bai Ruozhu offers her respects.”

The Hospital Chief was a fourth-rank officer, and she was actually a fourth-rank officer as well, so technically, neither had to perform any ceremony upon meeting each other. But she performed the ceremony anyway as a sign of respect toward an Elder.

To her surprise, Mao Xingcai continued reading his book as if he hadn’t heard her speak.

Jiu Sheng called out loudly from below, ”Mao Yanshi, Chief Physician Bai from the Female Physicians Institution has arrived!”

His voice was so loud that even if Mao Xingcai wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard, it was impossible.

Annoyance flashed across his face. ”What’s all the fuss about? What kind of place is the Imperial Medical Hospital? Is it a place where you can shout and make noise? Hmph, the morals of the time are degrading rapidly. Anyone is allowed into the Imperial Medical Hospital now.”

Bai Ruozhu realized that Mao Xingcai was targeting her, so she pretended not to understand and said, ”Elder Mao, your words are not correct. I see that all seated here are benevolent elders with compassionate medical skills; you cannot speak ill of the Imperial Medical Hospital.”

Jiu Sheng could barely contain his laughter, thinking to himself that the stubborn old man Mao Xingcai looking for trouble with Bai Ruozhu was probably not going to end well for him.

”Audacious!” Mao Xingcai really was direct, pointing at Bai Ruozhu and saying, ”I’m talking about you, a woman who does not stay at home to support her husband and teach her children, but runs here to become a female chief doctor? You merely understand some basic gynecology knowledge and dare to show off before the Emperor. All princesses and concubines in the palace are of noble status. If you were to misdiagnose someone, wouldn’t it damage our Imperial Medical Hospital’s reputation?”

”Elder Mao speaks sense. You also look no more than twenty years old. Even if you started learning medicine as a baby, how many patients have you actually treated? How much real experience do you have? Don’t end up dragging our Imperial Medical Hospital down in the end,” Deputy Chief Wei Pengbo also spoke up from not too far away.

Once these two began speaking, several other stubborn elders joined in, all criticizing Bai Ruozhu and even saying they would jointly submit a petition to the Emperor asking for the removal of Bai Ruozhu’s position as the female chief doctor.

Bai Ruozhu coldly looked at these self-proclaimed orthodox medical practitioners and said loudly, ”What’s wrong with being a woman? What’s wrong with being young? Doctors treat illnesses without discrimination towards the patient’s status; how can you, as doctors, despise others? You say I do not understand medicine, but who helped the concubine Yue with her pregnancy? Was it perhaps your so-called ’divine doctors’?”

Jiu Sheng also quickly said, ”Exactly, the concubine Yue’s several pregnancy complications were all handled by Female Chief Doctor Bai. Where does she lack actual experience? I have heard that she once treated hundreds of soldiers and, with this recent plague, she has treated even more patients.”

As he spoke, he walked up to Bai Ruozhu, greeted her with a ceremonial bow, and said, ”I admire Female Chief Doctor Bai’s medical skills and would like to become her disciple.”

Bai Ruozhu smiled and nodded at Jiu Sheng; the guy really had her back when it mattered, even if it seemed a bit odd for someone of his age to be her disciple.

”Jiu Sheng, you... you rotten traitor, you disappoint me greatly!” Mao Xingcai clutched his chest, looking utterly distraught.

”Elder Mao, Female Chief Doctor Bai’s medical skills are indeed much stronger than mine. What’s the harm in my humbly seeking to learn from her as her disciple?” Jiu Sheng was entirely calm, not caring in the slightest about the others’ pointing and whispering.

Wei Pengbo pointed at Bai Ruozhu and said, ”Her success with the concubine Yue was mere luck, and she also took advantage of being a woman. Wasn’t it still Divine Doctor Zheng Yourong who had to step in to handle the situation when the concubine Yue had complications?”

”That was because Bai had to... ” Jiu Sheng began to argue, but Bai Ruozhu interrupted him.

”No need to say more. After all is said and done, it’s just that the elders of the Imperial Medical Hospital look down on me for being a woman and young, right? If that’s the case, let’s let our skills do the talking. If you’re so confident in your superior medical skills, do you dare to compete with me?”

”Why would I not? How shall we compete? If you lose, you should resign from the position of female chief doctor yourself, so as not to tarnish the Imperial Medical Hospital’s reputation!” Mao Xingcai said, glaring intensely.

Bai Ruozhu laughed, her eyes brimming with confidence, ”All right, but if you lose, what then?”

”If I lose to you, I will voluntarily resign from my position as chief!” Mao Xingcai declared loudly, his face resolute.

”There’s no need for that. If you lose, all you need to do is apologize publicly to me, acknowledge that women can be doctors, and from now on, stop making things difficult for me,” Bai Ruozhu said, having no desire for power or to remove him from his office, as it wouldn’t necessarily benefit her.

Mao Xingcai hesitated, seemingly surprised that Bai Ruozhu’s demand was so modest, and even suspected for a moment that there might be some trickery involved.

”How exactly shall we compete? Do not play any tricks or use underhanded tactics,” Mao Xingcai said.