Duoduo smiled. She understood—who would believe that a child knew medicine?
But so what if she was a child?
Her father had said that some people could live their entire lives without ever understanding how to live.
They might not even be as wise as a child!
If it were not for the sake of her great-grandmother, she would not have bothered to help.
Duoduo gestured for Qingliu to pull the matron’s trousers up to her knees.
The matron was extremely uncomfortable and tried to draw back her leg to stop Qingliu.
But Qingliu held it down. “Matron, if you do this, the princess won’t be able to administer the needles.”
The Grand Empress Dowager saw how nervous the matron was and glared at her.
“When Imperial Physician Li treated you before, you said that men and women should not touch one another.”
“Changle isn’t even a man, so why are you still being so coy?”
“You’ve lived this long. Don’t tell me you still think of yourself as a young maiden?”
Hearing her mistress’s rebuke, the matron hurriedly explained, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. This servant only didn’t want to offend your eyes.”
The matron took the initiative and pulled up her trousers, revealing her lower leg.
A look of surprise flashed through Duoduo’s eyes.
The matron’s leg was covered in crisscrossing scars. In some places, the flesh was twisted like earthworms.
After looking at it for a moment, Duoduo remembered something Master Zhang had once said. There was a type of person whose skin healed into a state like this after being injured.
It was a special type of skin.
Duoduo now understood why the matron had resisted so strongly just moments ago.
She pinched a silver needle between her fingers and swiftly inserted it.
Beside her, the Grand Empress Dowager covered her mouth with a handkerchief in astonishment.
Qingliu was also stunned.
It was her first time seeing a woman’s leg that was so horribly disfigured.
The matron lowered her head in shame.
However, she could feel that as the needles were inserted, the places that had been hurting seemed to ease.
The matron secretly glanced at Duoduo.
She saw that Princess Changle was completely focused. With one hand, she searched for the acupoints, while with the other, she drove the silver needles in.
Her hand touched the ugly, scarred skin as if she felt nothing at all.
Princess Changle wasn’t afraid of her leg?
The matron remembered one day when the pain in her leg had become unbearable.
She had asked a palace maid to bring her hot water and placed her leg in it, hoping to ease the pain.
The palace maid had been filled with terror, as if she had seen a monster.
After that, the matron had never exposed her lower leg in front of outsiders again.
This Princess Changle truly had a kind heart!
Because of the crisscrossing scars on the leg, Duoduo was especially careful while administering the needles.
Although the acupoints would not shift, Duoduo was still worried that the scars might interfere with the depth at which the needles needed to enter.
By the time she finished, her face was covered in sweat.
Qingliu hurriedly took a handkerchief and wiped Duoduo’s brow.
Duoduo calculated the proper amount of time, then began removing the needles.
Once they were all out, Duoduo carefully examined the scars on the matron’s leg.
The matron fought the urge to flee and waited for Duoduo to finish examining her.
“Matron, I happen to have a prescription that can lighten these scars. Would you be willing to give it a try?”
As a physician, Duoduo possessed a compassionate heart.
The matron froze for a moment, then stood and bent her knees in a formal bow to Duoduo.
“This servant thanks Your Highness!”
“However, this servant is already old and no longer cares about such things. I wouldn’t want to trouble Your Highness.”
Duoduo tilted her head, a flicker of thought passing through her eyes.
When the Grand Empress Dowager heard this, she was very much in agreement.
“Changle, can your prescription really heal her leg?”
Duoduo shook her head.
“Great-Grandmother, I’m afraid it won’t be able to restore it completely.”
“But it should make things better than they are now.”
“Then treat it! Don’t listen to her. Changle, write out the prescription later, and I’ll have someone leave the palace to gather the medicine.”
The matron hurriedly knelt.
“Your Majesty! The palace is in turmoil right now!”
“This servant has grown used to her leg.”
“Would it be all right if this servant waited until Your Highness had finished treating my leg before treating anything else?”
Seeing the matron kneel again, the Grand Empress Dowager’s expression darkened with displeasure.
“You’re truly too stubborn!”
“I told you not to kneel, yet you’re always dropping to your knees at the slightest thing!”
“So what if the palace is in chaos? What does that have to do with me?”
“Do you really think those princes and imperial grandsons can eat me?”
Seeing that her great-grandmother was genuinely angry, Duoduo gave Qingliu a meaningful look.
Qingliu helped the matron to her feet. Duoduo stepped forward, took the Grand Empress Dowager’s hand, and gently shook it.
“Great-Grandmother, Duoduo’s medical skills aren’t very good.”
“Why don’t I just give Matron some acupuncture first? Once Imperial Physician Li and the others return, they can prescribe the medicine?”
Seeing Duoduo’s hint, the Grand Empress Dowager hesitated.
“If she refuses treatment, that’s her own loss,” the Grand Empress Dowager said, comforting Duoduo. “Forget it. You may go and rest. You don’t need to attend me today.”
She waved her hand at the matron.
The matron hesitated for a moment, then bowed to the Grand Empress Dowager and Duoduo before withdrawing.
The Grand Empress Dowager watched her closest attendant leave and let out a sigh.
“When I was still merely a palace attendant, I once accidentally offended a favored noblewoman.”
“The servant beside that noblewoman took the opportunity to make things difficult for me. She smashed a porcelain cup and made me kneel on the shards.”
“At the time, she stepped forward first and knelt on the scattered pieces herself.”
“I remember it clearly. Her blood dyed the snow on the ground red.”
“Back then, my rank was too low to summon an imperial physician.”
“All I could do was use crude methods to stop her bleeding.”
“She remained unconscious for two full days and nights before finally surviving.”
“Fortunately, my rank was low, and it was winter, so she wasn’t driven out.”
“However, she was left with a chronic illness from that day onward.”
“I have always felt guilty toward her. All these years, I’ve wanted to make it up to her.”
“Changle, if you truly can heal her leg, please help her. Consider it your great-grandmother begging you, all right?”
Duoduo hurriedly nodded.
“Great-Grandmother, don’t worry. If there’s anything Duoduo can do, Duoduo will certainly help.”
“It’s just that Matron doesn’t seem willing.”
The Grand Empress Dowager gently patted the back of Duoduo’s hand.
“I understand. She’s worried that now that the emperor is gone, those imperial grandsons will resent me.”
“She has followed me all these years, watching me rise from a mere palace attendant to the position of Grand Empress Dowager.”
“She understands all too well how difficult my life has been.”
“That’s why she is so strict with herself. She has never dared to make even the slightest mistake, for fear of causing trouble for me.”
“I’ve lived more than half my life. I understood these things long ago.”
“When a person is alive, if she cannot do as she pleases, is she supposed to wait until she’s dead before indulging herself?”
“Besides, I am the Grand Empress Dowager now. No matter which of my grandsons ascends the throne in the future, none of them can overstep me.”
“I’m already halfway into the grave. What is there left for me to worry about?”
“As a mistress, if I cannot even protect my own servant, wouldn’t that chill the hearts of everyone beneath me?”
Duoduo listened solemnly and nodded in wholehearted agreement.
“Great-Grandmother is right!”
“But Duoduo thinks we can take it one step at a time.”
The Grand Empress Dowager stared into Duoduo’s eyes. “You understand the principle of proceeding gradually? Then why did you sneak out last night?”
