Conquering the Emperor

“Really?” I said in excitement after his words had sunk in.

He would really teach me all those things? To be honest, I didn’t quite know what those subjects entailed but I knew well enough that they would be useful and interesting. Most importantly, not that many people in the land would be as knowledgeable as Ren so this is a great opportunity.

“Yes…” Ren reaffirmed.

“Great!” I exclaimed excitedly. This is it!

Ren’s eyes narrowed at me as he watched how cheerful and excited I was. I doubt he understood how much learning new things appealed to me. This is an exceptional opportunity and I felt very lucky to be offer such a chance.

“So…how many days in a week will I get?” Ren asked, almost sounding a little grumpy.

“Are women allowed to study archery?” I asked, curiously.

“No…but if we keep it a secret no one will find out,” Ren replied, sounding a little annoyed.

“Ok…wow…that’s great!” I replied, unable to control the enthusiasm bubbling up inside of me.

“How many days?” Ren asked once more.

Oh right, I haven’t gotten back to him on that…

If I spend three days on medical training and if I can lower my training days with Jeely to one day, then I can offer Ren two days and I’ll be left with one day of rest.

“If you’ll allow me to lower my days of training in the inner court to one day then I guess you can have two days? Then my medical training will be three days and I’ll have one day left for resting. Oh, but if things get really busy in the medical ward, I might have to call off other trainings completly in some weeks…” I suggested after thinking for a while.

It would be sad to cut down my time with Jeely as I really enjoyed her company, but I would truly prefer to spend my time studying things that I was interested in.

“Deal,” Ren replied.

Finally, he seemed satisfied. I get to spend at least two days per week with Ren, that wasn’t a bad deal at all.

I blinked my eyes in surprise at Ren’s happily smiling face. It had been a while since I’ve seen him smiling so carefreely like this. Ren was usually so busy, so I doubt that he’ll really have two days a week to spend teaching me every week. We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes, perhaps, it’ll be possible in some weeks. A girl can always be hopeful…

…

A few days later, I received a letter from the Royal Medical Office that they were finally ready to receive me and to kick-off my training. I just couldn’t wait.

After a sleepless night of rolling around in bed from excitement, it was finally the first day for my medical study. Ren had volunteered to take me to the medical office on my first day and I had readily agreed. To be honest, I felt very intimidated by the royal doctors the last time that I visited, so having Ren with me might provide the mental support that I needed.

“Ready to go?” Ren asked when he came to pick me up.

I turned and smiled brightly at him then nodded. I was more than ready…although, a little nervous…

When we arrived at the Royal Medical Office, we were immediately greeted by a few senior royal doctors. The men seemed to be in their fifties at least and they all bowed respectfully to Ren.

“Welcome crown prince and Lady White Lotus. It is our honor to welcome you here today and to assist with the lady’s study,” one of the doctors, who I supposed was the most senior, said.

“Thank you. I highly appreciate your help in assisting My Lady’s learning. Please be patient with her,” Ren said, his tone quite serious.

The men seemed very nervous in the presence of the crown prince. I didn’t understand why Ren had to sound so cold towards them.

We were shown inside swiftly and led to a room where we could be comfortably seated. I couldn’t wait for my lessons to start.

“We are honored and delighted to impart our medical knowledge onto you; however, before we can start we will need to get a better understanding of the current level of your knowledge,” one of the doctors said to me.

“I agree,” I replied with a smile.

“Well then, can you please describe your level of knowledge to us?” the doctor continued asking.

“Sure. My father was a doctor and so I’ve studied a bit with him and watched as he treated the patients at his clinic. I can do basic things like dressing wounds and treating injuries. I can disinfect, stitch up, and dress wounds. For diseases, I can cure common diseases like the cold, stomach problems and the like. I know some basic medicine related to the common diseases and can prepare medicine for the patient based on medical formulas,” I explained briefly.

“I see. That is not a bad start, indeed. In order to understand more, we may need to observe your skills when you treat patients. If I may, I would humbly suggest that you start with treating patients with basic ailments and then observing other doctors take on more complex cases to learn from them,” the doctor recommended after some thought.

“That sounds perfect!” I replied excitedly.

The doctors looked anxiously in Ren’s decision as if seeking for his approval for their study plan.

“I’m fine with it if she is…” Ren said.

The doctors all breathed a sigh of relief at Ren’s words.

“If I may ask, Lady White Lotus, is there anything specific that you wish to learn? So that we can perhaps start or focus there…” the doctor asked.

I could tell that the royal doctors were treating my study very seriously and that only added to my own sense of determination. I’m going to succeed at this no matter what.

“Yes, I would like to learn how to treat wounds and other related conditions associated to battle so that I can save lives on the battlefield…” I replied with absolute determination.

--To be continued…