The Woman In The Palace

Phantom sickness

So, what's a confused girl need to do?

Fake a sickness!

In the next couple of days, I forced myself to cough during lessons that I thought for sure I was going to make my lungs bleed. I slapped heated towels on my forehead to raise my temperature and acted pathetic and sluggish that my instructors were so agitated and disgusted with my constant hacking and moaning during classes, they sent me away to my chamber to recuperate until I get better.

"E-eew! Master Bing scrunched her nose in disgust. "Get out of here! Shoo...shoo! You bacteria infested girl before you get me sick!" She's one to be overly dramatic.

I hacked another cough and made sure it grossed her out before shuffling on my feet, rushing to get out of her small classroom. I hated her lessons anyway, teaching me characters that I could barely remember. There's too many of them to remember that they started to look the same and confused me even more.

Master Bing found great joy throwing insults at me that if I had a coin for each time she called me stupid, I won't need to marry a prince anymore because I'd be already rich.

"Stupid girl. Beauty with no brains!" She would spat, and I'd try my dampness not to roll my eyes on her.

A meal was sent to my room three times a day and by the third day of me playing hooky, a doctor was summoned to my chamber without my knowledge.

A knock sounded from another side of the door, making Bailing and I jump like little children hiding from their parents afraid to get caught.

"Who is it?" I turned to Bailing, whispering in a panicked breath.

"How the heck should I know?!" She retorted. "Maybe, it's the third prince."

My heart pounded, and I began to run for the closet tucking myself in hiding. "Tell him I'm not here!"

She snapped her tongue. "And how do you want me to do that when I'm supposed to be your shadow?!"

I blinked, she's right, but right now, there's no time to think. "I don't know. Makeup something!"

Bailing glared at me, shaking her head with annoyance. She talked to the door opening it to a man we've never seen before. He's a man with skinny stature and a wide smile. He wore spectacles blowing his eyes three times bigger than normal, making him look like a human bug.

"Hello," he quipped, having the same energy of a ten-year-old child. The man seemed like the friendliest man I've ever seen in my life. "I was told the mistress is suffering some illness."

Bailing gave him a penetrating steady look, then after a while. "What do you want?"

"Welp, I'm the imperial herbalist, I was sent to check on her."

Bailing turned over her shoulder and shouted. "Hey, Jasmine, should I let him in? He doesn't look like the third prince to me."

I stepped out of the closet and peeked to get a look at our visitor. The herbalist gave me a friendly smile and waved once his eyes landed on mine. "Hello there."

"Hi," I said back.

"Sick?" He asked casually, his brimming smile never left his cheeks.

I nodded like child influenced by his enthusiasm.

"Wanna feel better?"

Not really, I'm quite enjoying my space away from everyone but..." Oh, please do come in, sir. I've been coughing for the last few days."

The imperial herbalist stepped in and asked me to sit on my bed. He did his routine checks listening to my breathing, feeling my pulse, and whatever it was these people do to determine sickness. After he finished his checks, he declared. "Nothing's wrong with you!"

Well, I knew that.

"You're healthy as a horse!" I began turning pale. If people were to find out I faked my sickness, I could get in a whole lot of trouble. "It's phantom sickness."

"Huh?"

"Don't worry, it's quite common especially in your case. Most concubines get them. I could imagine with you just moving in, it's got to be hard on your body. You're stressed out, your system began acting up trying to tell you something."

He bent over and began rummaging through the clump inside his bag. "Here, drink this tea, this is tea leaves with extract especially for de-stressing."

I breathe relieved, I was certain his appearance would get me in trouble.

"Imperial life was getting to you, eh?"

The thought never crossed my mind, but he was right. This new lifestyle had caused a great deal of stress upon me trying to fit myself into a custom I'm not familiar with. "It's overwhelming."

"A few days of rest is all you need and you should feel fresh like a baby." He grinned and picked up his bag filled with leaves, roots, and herbs. "I'll let the palace know of my finding."

The herbalist left soon after without having lingered too long.

Within the next few hours, after I thought I was let off the hook, the door opened without announcement. I jerked up from the bed while Bailing flew to her feet. A guardsman stepped into my chamber, and loudly, unnecessarily, announced the emperor's arrival.

I rushed, yanking the sheets over my chest, trying to cover my body. I wore nothing but a thin undergarment beneath the sheets and there are far too many guards and concubines tailing the emperor during his visit.

I felt exposed.