The Imperial Doctress Episode 1 Recap
> The Imperial Doctress Recap
During the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the strict moral codes of Neo-Confucianism led to a significantly diminished social status for women. Noblewomen were not permitted to appear freely in public, nor could they pursue careers as officials or physicians. Even when ill, societal norms dictating separation of genders prevented them from receiving timely treatment from male doctors, while common women engaged in midwifery or basic medical care were often disparaged as lowly busybodies.
Emperor Zhu Qizhen had ascended the throne at a young age, with Empress Dowager Sun assisting him in state affairs. However, she continually used the young Emperor's immaturity as a pretext to maintain her political power, much to Zhu Qizhen's discontent, as he trusted the eunuch Wang Zhen. Unbeknownst to the Emperor, Empress Dowager Sun secretly summoned Prince Cheng, Zhu Qiyu, to the capital with the intention of installing him as the new Emperor.
Fearing this change would jeopardize his own standing, Wang Zhen secretly ordered the Eastern Depot to assassinate Prince Cheng before he could reach the capital. Meanwhile, the Xu Manor was hosting a grand birthday banquet for Lady Xu, which also served as an occasion to select a daughter-in-law for the family. Among the guests, Shu Yue, daughter of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Du Chang, presented lavish gifts and wishes.
Hang Yunxian, daughter of General Xuanwu Hang Gang, also attended to deliver her father's more modest gifts of ginseng and ganoderma. She received a polite, if somewhat dismissive, reception from the Xu family, who considered her gifts rather shabby for a family of her father's junior fourth rank.
While other young ladies, like Princess Anhe Wang Meilin, captivated the attendees with their musical talents on the zheng, Yunxian's attention was drawn to a rare Dendrobium officinale plant growing in the manor's courtyard. She knew from the Shenong Compedium that it was a potent life-saving herb. Ignoring the ongoing festivities, Yunxian excused herself, feigning dizziness, to discreetly gather the precious herb with her maid Zisu.
As Yunxian was collecting the herb, a wounded man in purple robes suddenly appeared, brandishing a knife and seizing Zisu. Yunxian, realizing the man was poisoned and in critical condition, offered him the Dendrobium officinale she had collected. The man collapsed, muttering about the cold and his mother, and Yunxian, despite Zisu's pleas to leave him, found herself unable to abandon him. She quickly fetched wild goldthread to aid him and administered the detoxifying Dendrobium officinale.
She bandaged his wounds and urged him to remain silent, but Zisu reminded her of the dangers of being associated with someone being chased, especially since Yunxian was attending a formal banquet, which could bring trouble to her father. Reluctantly, Yunxian left him with a prayer to the Medicine Buddha. The injured man was, in fact, Prince Cheng, Zhu Qiyu, who was being hunted by the Eastern Depot assassins.
Soon after, Cao Jixiang, leading Eastern Depot agents, stormed the Xu Manor. He confronted Xu, who protested the intrusion on his mother's 70th birthday. Duke Wang, Princess Anhe’s father, intervened, reminding Cao Jixiang of the Empress Dowager’s displeasure with the Eastern Depot's arrogance and the impropriety of searching the women's quarters, which could ruin their reputations. Cao Jixiang retorted, suggesting Duke Wang knew who they were searching for. In the chaos, Lady Xu suddenly suffered a stroke.
Panic ensued as everyone called for a physician. Yunxian, recognizing the signs, advised against moving Lady Xu, explaining that it could worsen her condition due to stagnated blood flow. She offered to perform "releasing the ten fingers," a bloodletting technique to alleviate the stroke. While Yunxian struggled with the initial attempt, Duke Wang, quickly realizing that the Eastern Depot was hunting Prince Cheng, instructed his daughter, Wang Meilin, to feign a fainting spell.
As Wang Meilin was carried out in her sedan chair, she found Prince Cheng and hid him inside, successfully smuggling him out of the manor under the guise of her own recovery. Back at Lady Xu's side, Yunxian successfully performed the bloodletting, and Lady Xu regained consciousness, leading to profuse thanks and praise from the Xu family.
Yunxian, however, humbly stated she only knew the basics of medicine and asked them to keep her intervention a secret to avoid her family's disapproval. Unfortunately, the Xu family had already sent a letter to her father, Hang Gang, thanking him for his daughter's life-saving skills. Upon returning home, Yunxian faced her father, Hang Gang's, furious wrath. He forced her to kneel and recited the first family precept: "Keep to yourself, and do not attract attention.
None of our clan must become a physician." Yunxian admitted her wrongdoing but defended her actions, explaining that Lady Xu's life was in immediate danger. Angered by her defiance and believing she had "shown off her skills," Hang Gang began whipping her. Her grandmother intervened, confessing that she had secretly taught Yunxian medicine. She explained that their original surname was Tan, a family of imperial physicians.
Her husband, Yunxian’s grandfather Tan Fu, had been a supervisor in the Imperial Faculty of Medicine, but the family was implicated and imprisoned when safflower powder, an abortifacient, was found in rouge they supplied to Noble Consort Sun (now the Empress Dowager), leading to her miscarriage.
Her grandfather committed suicide to protect the family, and Yunxian's elder brother, Yunliang, died from severe wounds while escaping with her because she, as a child, didn't recognize the madder plant that could staunch blood flow. Before his death, Yunliang made Yunxian promise to learn medicine.
Yunxian tearfully confessed that she was responsible for the incident, as a child, she was tricked by a man with a birthmark into adding the safflower powder, thinking it would speed up the rouge-making process.
Hang Gang reiterated his reasons for forbidding medicine, explaining that even though their family had received a pardon from the Grand Empress Dowager and changed their surname to Hang with the help of Official Qian, he had joined the military to earn merits, hoping to wage war against the Kingdom of Li in An'nan, gain an Iron Plaque, and eventually clear their family name and avenge his father's unjust death.
He feared that Yunxian's public practice of medicine would expose their true identity to fickle court ministers and once again bring disaster to their family. He issued a stern warning that if his mother continued to teach Yunxian, he would disown his daughter. Meanwhile, an imperial physician, Liu, was summoned to the Xu Manor to check on Lady Xu.
Upon examining her and hearing about the earlier treatment, he recognized the prescription of antelope antler powder and abalone shell powder, marveling at the skill of the young girl who had administered it. At Duke Wang’s residence, Physician Cheng Shisan, the supervisor of the Imperial Faculty of Medicine and a trusted confidant of Empress Dowager Sun, was examining Prince Cheng.
He reported that Prince Cheng had sustained serious wounds but would survive thanks to the skilled individual who had detoxified him with herbal medicine and administered ginseng. Duke Wang, pleased, instructed Wang Meilin to diligently care for Prince Cheng, revealing his ambition for her to marry the prince and ascend to the empress's position, thereby securing his family's future.
He also confided that he had manipulated the Empress Dowager into believing the Emperor intended to depose her, which prompted her desire to install Prince Cheng as the new ruler. Back at the Eastern Depot, Wang Zhen chastised Cao Jixiang for his failure to kill Prince Cheng. He ordered all news of Prince Cheng’s escape be suppressed from the Emperor and commanded that all palace gates be sealed to prevent Prince Cheng from reaching the Empress Dowager.
Wang Zhen discussed with his subordinate the Empress Dowager's ambition, likening her to Empress Wu, and recounting her past attempts to undermine him. He concluded that the soft-hearted Emperor would never harm his own brother, so the Eastern Depot must eliminate Prince Cheng as soon as he appears.
Wang Zhen declared that by removing all threats to the throne, the Ming Dynasty would eventually fall under the control of the Eastern Depot, making him the most powerful man in the empire, second only to the Emperor.
