Springtime in the Apricot Grove

Her name was Shen Nian, the first female physician in the Imperial Medical Academy since the founding of the dynasty.

At twenty-two, this commoner in a blue cotton jacket, carrying an old medicine chest, made history by stepping through the Imperial Medical Academy's doors after curing the empress dowager of a stubborn illness.

Instead, she was met with the cold stares of the men filling the courtyard: "What makes a woman fit to practice medicine?"

She did not argue. She simply lowered her head and got to work.

After curing the Zhao family's young master's baffling illness, she won her first victory. In an epidemic-stricken region, she tested medicine on herself and burned with fever for three days and nights, saving 372 people. When she was falsely accused and thrown in prison, the people she had saved traveled from Jiangnan and cleared her name with a joint petition covered in their fingerprints...

From a village doctor to the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, it took her a long time to make her way there, but she never once backed down.

She spent her life showing us that prejudice is a mountain, but you can climb over it instead of being crushed beneath it.

Special note:

All the traditional Chinese medicine theories, prescriptions, dosages, acupuncture techniques, and other medical content in this novel are fictional creations. They do not constitute medical advice. Please do not imitate or use them in real life!

If you feel unwell, please go to a reputable hospital and follow the diagnosis and treatment advice of a qualified doctor. ♥️

A reader's guide:

After ten years away, this web-novel writer is back full-time~~ My novel "The Biography of Deng Sui," full of political intrigue and suspense, is still fresh off the press. If you like palace-intrigue stories, go add it to your list!

The "Twelve Flower Gods" series is updating steadily. The previous installment, "Camellias in Bloom," is next door, and the next one, "Peach Blossom Ferry," is coming right up~~🍵

Thesis: Shen Nian overcame many people in her lifetime, yet never treated anyone as her enemy. She chose to prove herself through her expertise and wear away prejudice with time. She believed that devoting your whole life to one thing, pursuing it into old age and striving for excellence, is the greatest meaning of all. And every bit of kindness we sow will surely take root somewhere, quietly growing into a flourishing canopy.