Chapter 364 – Imperial Physician Examination (2)
Wen Xiu’s figure came out from the darkness, different from her usual listless appearance, her eyes were fierce, and her whole body exuded the breath of a strong martial artist.
The shadow that had left the academy was comfortably perched on a horse’s back. His eyes were condensed as he looked back at the Academy for Women.
“Your Majesty—” Eunuch Fu, who had been standing beside the horse, was somewhat surprised. Why did the emperor come out so quickly tonight?
Mo Rongzhan asked in a cold voice, “Tomorrow, have people check those that are in the School of Medicine.”
Mo Rongzhan believed that his martial arts were not bad. No one had ever noticed him when he walked at night. However, tonight, when he had not even gotten close to the student’s dormitory, someone noticed him. There must be someone excellent at martial arts keeping an eye on the student’s dormitory.
Eunuch Fu instantly understood the reason the emperor returned sooner today. Apparently, he couldn’t see Her Highness. Otherwise, why would he come back so soon? Are there people highly skilled at martial arts in the students’ dormitory?
Not being able to see Ye Zhen, Mo Rongzhan returned to the palace with a livid face.
The next day, Ye Zhen woke up with a refreshed spirit and began to return to her life in the School of Medicine. Sun Wen and Chen Jinru expressed their joy at her return. They held hands and chatted for a long time.
“Yes, Yaoyao. Jinru will also take part in the Imperial Physician’s Examination,” Sun Wen said.
Somewhat embarrassed, Chen Jinru lowered her head. In fact, she thought that Lu Yaoyao wouldn’t want to take the exam, so she just wanted to give it a try. Now that she was back, even if she(CJ) went to the exam, she wouldn’t be able to pass it.
Ye Zhen encouraged her with a smile.
♚
Two days later, it was the Imperial Physician’s Examination.
There were only about a dozen people in the junior grade, and more people in the senior grade, with a total of 50 students, all of whom were taking the exam in the examination hall.
This year, the palace had changed the previous regulations. The examination would pick out five best among the fifty to become imperial physicians. Indeed, this was such a rare opportunity.
The first round of examination was medical knowledge. For Ye Zhen, this was not a problem. She had a highly retentive memory and had read a lot of books on medicine. Even though she had not attended class for a month, it did not hinder her. Therefore, this round, she undoubtedly passed with ease.
♚
There were a total of three rounds in the examination. The second was for the participants to identify herbs. This round did not trouble Ye Zhen in the slightest, so she passed to the third round smoothly.
In the third round, they had to actually examine a real patient. There were only ten students who had made it this far. Besides Ye Zhen and Gao Xueping, there was also Chen Jinru.
Sitting before them was a woman. A careful look at her complexion and they could already spot her morbid pallor on her slightly sallow skin. She kept coughing from time to time. Just from sitting in front of this woman, even if they didn’t feel her pulse, they could already see that there was something wrong with her body.
The proctors of the third round were Qi Jin and Imperial Physician Huang. The latter took a look at the students in front of them. However, when she saw Ye Zhen, Imperial Physician Huang’s eyebrow imperceptibly wrinkled and her mouth moved as if she wanted to say something. But, in the end, she didn’t say anything.
“Each of you come up and feel her pulse. Then, write down her illness and treatment plan on the paper,” Imperial Physician Huang said before she added. “You aren’t allowed to whisper to one another, let alone read each other’s papers.”
With that, the first senior student went up and felt the pulse of the patient. It was just… As she felt the pulse, her eyebrows scrunched deeper and deeper, and her face became even heavier than that of the patient.
When it was finally Ye Zhen’s turn, she gently put her hand across the gauze on the patient’s wrist and felt the pulse. And she sensed that the pulse of the patient was fluctuating and intermittent. It seemed that she had contracted the disease in winter. However, this was only her conjecture as she could not open her mouth to ask the patient herself. Therefore, Ye Zhen could not ask her when she first started to have this symptom, and could only observe the condition as carefully as possible.
Once they were all done, they began to write down their diagnosis and treatment methods before submitting them to the proctors. Not wasting time, Qi Jin immediately picked out five papers and began to peruse.
“Aren’t all of you girls forgetting something when checking the patient’s condition? Remember, all of you will become imperial physicians, and the patients you are going to look after are all people of high rank or nobility. So, even if it is only an exam today, you all still need to pay attention to the details that should be taken note of. In particular, you should pay attention to your facial expression. As a medicine woman, no matter what kind of illness the patient has, you should not let your knowledge of it show on your face. You are not a barefooted physician who wants to fool people in the street, so, there is no need for you to show such a rich expression on your face.”
Qi Jin’s sharp words made several people bow their heads.
