It was at this moment that an imperial physician rushed over and bowed before speaking. “Your Majesty, Prince Hao and the Western Region King have barged into the Imperial Physician Institute and taken away all of the warming herbs like mugwort leaf and Angelica Sinensis[1].” There was a troubled expression on the imperial physician’s face. The Western Region King was just like a bandit. It only took a blink of an eye for all the herbs to vanish!
Chu Xian pondered for a moment. “Dispatch an imperial physician to tag along. Perhaps they’re using the herbs to fume the body.” With Su Xi-er’s cold constitution, fuming the body is the best method.
“Your Majesty, Angelica Sinesis is extremely precious in Dongling; are you just going to let them take all of it away?” Angelica Sinensis may not be very precious in other countries, but its inability to grow in Dongling’s climate makes it a holy medicine. We can only import it from other countries.
“Dongling doesn’t lack this bit of herbs. Let them be.” Chu Xian walked out of the courtyard and headed for the repose palace.
It’s time for me to visit Chao Mu. As for Tan Ge, I will deal with her eventually; I’ll focus on Shi Mo first.
This mysterious man wants to lead me by the nose!
~~~
Meanwhile, Pei Qianhao and Du Ling were discussing the different methods of fuming the body with the herbs. There were two types: one was fire fuming, and the other was water fuming. The two decided to employ the second method. After boiling the water, they found a large round tub to pour it in.
It was at this moment that the imperial physician who previously took Su Xi-er’s pulse came to the repose palace. Hearing that they wanted to attempt water fuming, he immediately stopped them. “Don’t waste mugwort leaf. Only fire fuming will be effective.”
The imperial physician inwardly sighed. As an imperial physician of Dongling, I should only treat Princess Consort Hao’s external injuries and not concern myself with Prince Hao’s descendents. However, when I diagnosed her pulse, I found that her internal air is in an abysmal state.
Holding the principles of a healer, he decided that he should speak the truth.
In contrast to this cold constitution, her external injuries aren’t anything severe.
Once the imperial physician was ready, he immediately got to work preparing. Aware that fire fuming would be exhausting for the body, Pei Qianhao was afraid that Su Xi-er wouldn’t have the stamina to go through with it. With this in mind, he personally went to the kitchens and brought back some plain soup, feeding Su Xi-er until she couldn’t stomach another sip.
Su Xi-er was still unable to speak, so she could only stare at him as if asking what he and Du Ling were doing.
Pei Qianhao caressed her head. “Xi-er, we’ll be using mugwort leaves to fume the body so that you can warm your constitution.”
Su Xi-er had heard of this method. Emperor Father’s imperial consorts who couldn’t get pregnant also did this. After fuming for a period of time, their bodies indeed became warmer.
An hour later, the imperial physician was done with the preparations. Pei Qianhao had kept Su Xi-er company all this time, and he now carried her to the empty room they had decided to use.
The room was filled with the scent of mugwort leaf, a smell that some women disliked, but that Su Xi-er was neutral to.
Right after Pei Qianhao gently placed Su Xi-er on the bed, the voice of a Dongling’s guard rang. “Prince Hao, Western Region King, His Majesty summons you. There is an urgent matter he would like to inquire about.”
The two men inside the room exchanged glances with each other before Du Ling walked out. “Prince Hao has something important to attend to. This Emperor shall visit Dongling’s Emperor.”
The guard hesitated, but swiftly followed when he saw Du Ling walking away.
Determined to pluck out the thorn that was Shi Mo, Chu Xian understood that his strength alone wouldn’t suffice. Not only was he a new emperor, he had also just deposed Dignified Consort Liu, resulting in resentment from the powerful and influential Liu Family.
He felt that the mysterious Shi Mo would be the key to connecting all the eminent clans in Dongling.
Thus, he had to find some allies. Du Ling and Pei Qianhao were undoubtedly the best candidates.
However, what Chu Xian didn’t know was the extent of Shi Mo’s meticulousness; the latter would only ever take action after taking everything into consideration.
Night descended, and Shi Mo recognised that the lack of a pigeon returning to him was a sign of his falling out with Chu Xian.
A wicked smile curled up at the corners of his mouth as he let out a long sigh that seemed to carry traces of pity. “This new emperor of Dongling really doesn’t know what’s good for him. Forget it, since that’s the case, he can say goodbye to Chao Mu’s body.”
I have already tampered with this batch of ice blocks; they will automatically melt seven days later, and it will happen all that once. When that time comes, I wonder what expression Dongling’s new emperor will show.
1. Also known as ‘danggui’.
