The Cold Minister and the Substitute Bride novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Pulse

The royal physician arrived at noon in a closed carriage, with a medicine chest carried by two boys.

He was a small man of sixty with a pointed gray beard, and he wore the green robe of the third rank.

Zhiruo watched him from behind the screen in the main hall with her heart in her throat.

Biyan sat at the head of the room in full court dress, her hat firmly on, her sleeves folded, her face carved from jade.

"Minister Xue," the physician said, and bowed. "By the Emperor's grace, I am here to offer your lordship a tonic and a brief examination."

"I am honored."

"If your lordship will extend his wrist."

Biyan did not move.

The hall was very quiet.

Beside the door, Steward Qin cleared his throat.

"Forgive an old man's interruption," he said. "But the Board of Rites has a rule on this matter."

The physician's eyebrows rose.

"Rule?"

"The red book of precedence." Qin crossed to the shelf, took down a thick red volume without searching for it, and opened it to a marked page. "A first-rank minister's wrist may be bared only to a physician of the second rank or higher. This is to protect the dignity of the office."

"I was not aware."

"It is on page forty-one."

The physician took the book and read.

His lips moved.

Zhiruo saw him go red, slowly, from the collar up.

"I am a third-rank physician," he said at last, in a stiff voice. "The Emperor's decree makes no mention of rank."

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