During the Yongchang era of the Great Zhou, Shen Zhiyi, daughter of a medicine merchant, possessed extraordinary medical skills, but her status as a woman kept her from fulfilling her ambitions. At a poetry gathering, her dashing figure in men's clothing caught the eye of the cold-faced Prince Xiao Jingheng, though their encounter only sparked a feud.
“Master Shen, you have quite the nerve, daring to make a fool of me?” Xiao Jingheng gripped Shen Zhiyi's chin. But when his fingers brushed the skin behind her ear, his gaze darkened. That delicate touch could only belong to a woman!
Fate had other plans. The emperor suddenly came down with a strange illness, and the Imperial Medical Academy was powerless to help. Ordered to find a renowned physician, Xiao Jingheng accidentally “invited” Shen Zhiyi into his manor. “If Physician Shen can cure my imperial brother, I will reward you with a thousand taels. If you fail...” He leaned close and murmured in her ear, “Your family's medicine shop will have to cover the debt.”
Shen Zhiyi gritted her teeth and accepted, unaware that she had already been swept into a shocking conspiracy. Beneath the court's surface, undercurrents swirled; war loomed at the border. And why was the famously cold and ruthless Prince Jing looking at her with an ever more smoldering gaze?
“Your Highness, please mind your manners!” Shen Zhiyi slapped away the hand at her waist, only to be drawn into his arms.
Xiao Jingheng inhaled the medicinal fragrance in her hair. “I have fallen ill with lovesickness, and only Physician Shen can cure me.”
When her identity was exposed and the conspiracy came to light, he took her hand. “I want both you and the empire.”
This is a story of medicinal scents and flashing swords, lies and sincerity. Watch as a clever female physician turns her medical skills into a blade and joins forces with the cold-faced prince to unravel one mystery after another, protecting a little sweetness of their own in a world of chaos.
Note: The medicines in this story are fictional. Do not try to imitate them!
