Chapter 766 - A Cold?
Will they figure it out? Will MR be called in to investigate? Translator: Iris, Editor: Aruthea
He was a young physician in his thirties and had a rather mature air. Despite his young age, he is not to be underestimated; he hails from a family of physicians and has learned dicine since a young age. Over ti, he has cultivated a strong set of skills and can treat any illness. Of course, he was not as good as Mo Ruo. He walked in with a dicine case, then kneeled in front of the Emperor. “Your Majesty.”
The Qizhen Emperor replied, “Imperial Physician Gao, I called for you to take a look at Concubine Xiao’s illness. What is she sick with? And why hasn’t her condition improved after such a long ti?”
“Yes.”
Imperial Physician Gao stood up and carefully walked to Concubine Xiao’s side. “If I may, Your Ladyship.”
Concubine Xiao held out her arm as she coughed. He pulled out a thin silk handkerchief and covered her wrist with the fabric as he asured her pulse. A short while later, his fingers lifted from her wrist and he removed the silk handkerchief.
The Qizhen Emperor asked, “So how is she? Is it serious?”
Imperial Physician Gao retreated a few steps and answered with his head bowed, “Your Majesty, Her Ladyship has a frail constitution and she caught a cold. Coupled with excessive worry, her circulation of blood and qi has beco sluggish. This is what caused her lack of energy and her persistent cough. It is not anything serious, so Your Majesty and Your Ladyship need not worry.”
“Then why has she not improved? Are the dicines that were prescribed working?”
“May I take a look at your dicine, Your Ladyship?” He suspects that there was sothing wrong with the dication.
The Qizhen Emperor nodded and ordered for them to bring the residue of what was left behind after brewing the dicine. Imperial Physician Gao sniffed the residue, then took a pinch and felt its consistency. Her dication...
The Qizhen Emperor pressed him, “What is it? Is there sothing wrong with it?”
Could there be sothing wrong with her dication? Concubine Xiao grew anxious. She had been taking that dicine for so ti, and it was truly bizarre that she has not improved a single bit.
Imperial Physician Gao set the pot of dicine residue on the ground and answered, “Your Majesty, this is indeed dicine to treat her cold and nurse her back to health, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Then why is she not getting better?”
“Her Ladyship’s illness may not be sothing serious. Injuries to the bones and tendons take a hundred days to heal; a chill that has set into the bones can take several years for her to make a full recovery. Her Ladyship needs to rest more, and drink more ginseng soup, nourishing dicine, and avoid overexertion. Over ti, she will naturally recover.”
The Qizhen Emperor’s worries eased after his diagnosis. “In that case, prescribed her so of that dicine you speak of.”
“Yes!” Imperial Physician Gao obeyed and returned to the Imperial Physicians’ Institute.
After the physician left, Concubine Xiao turned to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, I’ve already said that it’s nothing serious, even the Imperial Physicians agree with and said that it’s only a cold. You need not worry anymore.”
“Then you need to rest and not overexert yourself, just like what they instructed.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Qizhen Emperor ordered for a large heater to be brought in and set near her so it would keep her warm. He also chatted with her for a while, then instructed the eunuchs and maids in Zhangzhi Hall to take good care of Concubine Xiao before he left with a satisfied smile. Concubine Xiao laid on her bed, even though she was exhausted from her illness, she still smiled gleefully. After all that had happened, she still has a place in His Majesty’s heart.
......
Soon after, the other ladies from the different palaces heard that the Qizhen Emperor went to visit Concubine Xiao. They too flocked to Zhangzhi Hall with gifts in hand, practically wearing the door threshold down to nothing with their steps.
Before long, the hall was filled with all sorts of rare dicinal herbs. Tianshan snow lotus, lingzhi, ginseng and even sanguine bohdi [1]. Concubine Xiao glanced at the gifts and with a hmph, ordered, “Throw these out and burn them.”
Ah? All of these dicinal herbs are of the highest quality, each one boasts incredible properties and are extrely expensive. The cost of any one of them could feed a peasant family for their entire lives. She wants to throw all of them away and burn them? What a waste!
The eunuchs and maids dared not to complain and threw away the gifts as they were told.
......
Concubine Xiao rolled her eyes., “All of them would rather that I die from this illness, so they could climb to my position. They thought that His Majesty had grown tired of because he had not co to visit before. Now, after His Majesty’s visit, all of them rushed over with gifts. Utterly ridiculous.”
Her personal maid, Sang Lan, answered, “Your Ladyship is deeply blessed by the heavens, everything will be well.”
“Hmph, not even Yanluo Wang, the ruler of the underworld, can take my life just yet.” She scoffed. She was still waiting for the day when her son ascended to his throne, for the day she beca Empress Dowager! How could she bear to die so easily!
Imperial Physician Gao returned to the Imperial Hospital with a heavy heart. He was writing out a prescription for Concubine Xiao, but his brush paused mid-sentence for a long ti.
“Are you alright, Imperial Physician Gao?” A young eunuch who ca to fetch so dicine asked out of concern. The physician remained silent, too deep in thought.
“Imperial Physician Gao?” That eunuch called out to him several tis.
The physician finally snapped out of his daze, glanced at the eunuch and replied, “I’m fine.”
“Didn’t you go to see Concubine Xiao and check on her condition? Why have you been like that since you’ve co back? Is Her Ladyship...” Very ill? The eunuch’s voice reduced to a whisper.
Imperial Physician Gao shot him a glare. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. There is nothing wrong with Her Ladyship. If anyone else had heard your question, you would have lost your head.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The young eunuch imdiately slapped himself a few tis, “Thank you for the reminder, Imperial Physician Gao. I am too clumsy with my words.”
“Enough, let finish this prescription, fetch the herbs according to this and send it to Zhangzhi Hall as soon as possible.”
“Yes.”
Imperial Physician Gao quickly finished the prescription and passed it to the eunuch.
However, his brow remained furrowed, his heart uneasy. He sat at his desk for a long while before getting up to find Imperial Physician Chang, who was looking for research materials in the Imperial Hospital’s library. Just as Imperial Physician Chang was about to flip through a book he found, he heard soone call out to him. “Imperial Physician Chang.”
He followed the voice and saw Imperial Physician Gao rushed into the library. “Suwen?”
Imperial Physician Gao’s full na is Gao Suwen. He walked over and said, “I need to speak to you, Imperial Physician Chang.” He cut straight to the point.
The older physician closed the book in his hand, sat up straight and straightened his attire. He questioned, “What is it that put you into such a fluster?”
“I just ca back... from a consultation with Concubine Xiao.”
“Did she summon you?”
“No, it was His Majesty.”
Ah. Imperial Physician Chang flinched and his brows knitted together, adding more creases to his already wrinkled face. He asked, “So... what did you tell them?”
Yes, Imperial Physician Chang did not ask about his diagnosis, but questioned how he conveyed the news to them instead. In an instant, Gao Suwen understood the implications and sighed, “I did not dare to go into detail, as I’m still not quite certain. But according to the profile of her pulse, Her Ladyship is truly sick with a cold. But since she had been treated for such a long ti, there’s no way she would not improve, so...”
“You suspect that there are other complications.”
“Yes, but... it’s all speculation.”
Imperial Physician Chang squinted as he kept quiet. Then, he confessed, “Actually... I have also discussed with Imperial Physician Liu in private. Both of us agree that Her Ladyship’s illness is not as simple as a common cold. But we have checked many tis and found nothing, nor can we ask her out right. You must know, we may be officials and imperial physicians in the palace, but in truth, there’s hardly any difference between us and those eunuchs since our entire purpose is to just serve them. So, there are so things that can be said, and... there are so things that are better left unsaid.”
“Then, what do we do now?” The younger physician asked anxiously.
[1] Sanguine bohdi is a fictional herb from the manhua Fengyun, said to heal all ills, or boost the skills of those in good health. sbaike/wikiid/1225095726479136736
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