A Guide to Building a Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic

My new novel, Transmigrated into the Palace with Taobao, I Rose to Prominence, began serialization on December 3, 2025. The blurb is at the end. Feel free to click through if you're interested.

--- Blurb for this novel ---

After her death, Xia Mingsu, a physician from the Immortal Medicine Valley of the Song Dynasty, transmigrated to a new continent with an extreme climate and widespread disease.

Good news: She can grow medicinal herbs and build infrastructure at the same time.

Bad news: No one here has ever heard of traditional Chinese medicine.

What makes a baby who cries in the middle of the night break into a smile? What makes a husband who can barely get out of bed strong as an ox? What makes an old person at death's door look young again overnight?

Why did a colleague who came to challenge her break down in tears and kneel? How was the curse on a strange village suddenly lifted? How did long-sealed royal secrets become public?

For more stories, tune in to Learn Traditional Chinese Medicine with Master Mingsu.

*

Starting with a barren plot of land covered only in rocks and weeds, Xia Mingsu planted medicinal herbs and upgraded buildings as if she were playing a farming and construction game. She built the only traditional Chinese medicine clinic on the Empire Continent to earn the highest possible star rating.

Consultations, livestreams, medical forums, papers, competitions, textbook compilations, internal medicine, surgery, difficult and unusual cases, gynecology, pediatrics, beauty treatments... A wave of care known as the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Craze" swept across the entire era.

Old neighborhoods, chemical plant districts, medical universities, postpartum care centers, soccer teams, the imperial palace, medical elections... Xia Mingsu took one step at a time from the economically poorest Fifth District to the highest district's union. She built the continent's most comprehensive traditional Chinese medicine clinic, with the highest recovery rate, and won the election by a landslide to become chairwoman of the medical association.

People sent her countless flowers and blessings, praising traditional Chinese medicine as "the greatest divine revelation of this era." But she calmly replied, "Traditional Chinese medicine isn't a divine revelation. It's life science!"

*

A Day in Doctor Xia's Life

[Clinic Secretary]

Several thank-you letters have arrived from patients.

A certain noble VIP, whose name cannot be disclosed, has been waiting in your consultation room for some time.

XX Hospital would like to know if they can visit the clinic. You can set the fee.

[Land] Harvested 1 top-grade cordyceps, 4 jin of poria, 18 roots of sophora flavescens, 40 plants of bitter hemp, 200 g of vaccaria seeds...

[Mountains and Fields] Harvested 1 giant lingzhi mushroom, 20 farm-fresh chicken eggs, 6 wild ginseng plants, 30 scorpions, 2 copper ores...

[Waters] Obtained 15 top-grade pearls, 200 jin of lotus root, 20 jin of loaches...

[Buildings]

Your "dilapidated thatched hut" has been upgraded to a "basic wooden cabin." The "rest room" function is now available.

Your "basic wooden cabin" has been upgraded to an "intermediate wooden cabin." The "therapy room" function is now available.

Your "luxury clinic" has reached the highest level.

[Short Scene 1]

When Xia Mingsu first arrived on the continent, she met a six-month-old baby who suddenly began crying nonstop for no apparent reason. Nothing would soothe him.

Xia Mingsu first looked at the baby's tongue, then felt his pulse. "The bone in your arm is out of place. Luckily, it's not broken, so it's not a serious problem."

She put a toy on a certain spot above the baby's head and coaxed him to reach for it. "Try to reach the bracelet in my hand. Once you do, it won't hurt anymore."

The baby hesitated, then reached for it, and his crying stopped instantly.

Someone in the crowd exclaimed, "That's incredible!"

[Short Scene 2]

In the livestream, Xia Mingsu was showing off the enormous eggs from the chicken coop. As she picked up the smooth, huge eggs from the nest, she also plucked plump, golden-orange corn cobs from the field and rubbed the kernels into the feeder. "These chickens need to lose some weight. They can't eat so much!"

The chat was full of wails. "If they won't eat it, can I have it?!"

"Cluck cluck, cluck cluck! Master, I'm a chicken too. Let me have some!"

At the same time, the livestream platform's hottest trending topic was: "Don't Feed the Chickens, Feed Me"

--- Blurb for Transmigrated into the Palace with Taobao, I Rose to Prominence ---

[Historical transmigration + empress background + face-slapping villains + feel-good story]

Blurb One:

"Have you heard? These days, the maids in charge of the laundry room have been cooking noodles in their rooms every day!"

"What's wrong with cooking noodles? Buy a couple of liang of flour, and I can roll them out myself."

"They're not regular noodles. They're dried noodle cakes in red packages. You just toss one into hot water and it turns into a bowl of noodles. No kneading, resting, rolling, or making sauce needed. All it takes is one packet of noodles and a little hot water for a filling meal! And the broth smells amazing!"

"Good heavens, is that true? How could something so convenient exist? I've also heard those laundry maids have been finishing their work early and resting these past few days. It seems they used some kind of 'scrub board' to wash the clothes quickly and cleanly!"

"Have you heard? The Department of Imperial Garments is getting new clothes! There are more items than last year! The tops now have a lining called 'light feather,' supposedly made entirely from white peacock feathers. They're warm and light to wear. The bottoms have fitted pants called 'three-layer warmth.' They're so warm that even people with chronic arthritis aren't having flare-ups!"

"Have you heard? The Department of Imperial Bedrooms has bought a new square stove. Put cold soup inside, and it lights up. The soup spins around inside, and when you take it out, it's hot! It's so fast that it warms up while you're having a quick chat!"

"Have you heard?!..."

"Have you heard?!..."

"Have you heard?!..."

Blurb Two:

After transmigrating into the lowest-ranking maid in the Laundry Bureau, Liu Wandong only wanted an easy life as a worker. But she started off with a body full of ailments, and her prospects looked bleak!

Fortunately, she bound herself to the Taobao System. Food, drinks, and entertainment, if she could think of it, she could buy it.

Instant noodles, the palace workers' favorite carbs: quick and efficient, ready to eat in five minutes!

Electric scooters, the dream ride of morning court-goers: nimble, convenient, cool, and guaranteed to let you sleep in!

Tone-up cream, a favorite beauty product among the palace's female attendants: quick and easy, for a fresh, natural complexion!

...Liu Wandong only sincerely wanted everyone to lie flat and do their jobs at an easy pace, so how did she somehow become a first-rank female official?!

Liu Wandong: Listen up, everyone in the palace. You're surrounded by this official. Put down your tools and go rest!

The sun rises over the glazed tiles, the drums and bells fall silent. The complicated palace work has been modernized, and I'm lying flat today!

Short Scene:

The Emperor was unwell and had no appetite. Replacing 108 dishes in the imperial kitchen made no difference. The palace matrons were beside themselves with worry, and the imperial physicians were at a loss.

Liu Wandong was ordered to attend the Emperor. He was in the middle of a tantrum, with dishes of stewed lamb, braised winter melon, tremella soup, and more shattered across the floor. After a moment's thought, she placed an order on Taobao for a "nine-compartment hot pot," "spicy red-oil broth," "grassland lamb slices," and a "meatball and fishcake platter."

That evening, the Emperor was delighted in his palace, eating to his heart's content and unable to stop. He forgot the world around him and exclaimed again and again, "How could such delicious food exist in this world? Wonderful, wonderful!"

From then on, hot pot became the Emperor's favorite dish. Even the usually elegant female attendants shamelessly came by for a meal, and palace servants were proud to receive hot pot as a reward. The Emperor took Liu Wandong's hand and said, "That thing you called 'river snail rice noodles,' let me try it next time, too!"

Theme: Cultural confidence.