Unfortunate Prince

Between her father's disciples, five were recent newcomers and had ten years, four had eleven years and two had twelve years. 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 renowned physicians of the capital or direct 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 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 solution. 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 them and actually didn't report to her father. The child was aware that it would just make her 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, but 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 teach 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 they would come back to take 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 assisting 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 best to wait a full year, lest she annoyed more people. She was already young enough as it was.

***

As she was always coming to the palace, though not the side reserved for the emperor and his family, Shu Fen got to know more about palace etiquette 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. 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 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!

At the time, she 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 were because they were etched in her mind and she was just revisiting them.

***

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 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 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 courtyard coming to take the food, Shu Fen knew which color corresponded to which concubines or at the very least she was familiar with which color they 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 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 from 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 slowly wipe the blood away. As her little cloth soaked and turned red, she tried hardening her heart as much as she could and tried to decline once more,

"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 them 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."