News of the Empress Dowager’s severe illness was sent to Emperor Zongwen immediately. Emperor Zongwen, who was a filial son, immediately stopped his talks with his inner cabinet about the nation’s matters and went to Cining Palace. On his way, he met the Empress, who was hurrying in the same direction as well. Emperor Zongwen did not care that the Empress was still being punished and they went to Cining Palace together.
The eunuch guarding the door paused for a moment when he saw them entering together. Then, he quickly went up to them and knelt in welcome.
Emperor Zongwen got off his palanquin and rushed in while he asked, “The Empress Dowager was doing fine yesterday night. Why did she…”
The eunuch did not dare to hesitate when he saw the grave and angry expression on Emperor Zongwen. He ran behind Emperor Zongwen, wiping the sweat off his brows while he said, “Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager was still fine when she went to bed and she had a great half bowl of rice for dinner. We saw that she was fine so we left only a few people behind lest we make too much noise. We did not think that we would find the Empress Dowager ill this morning.”
The eunuch shook nervously. The Emperor was known to be filial to the Empress Dowager. If anything happened to her, everyone in the palace would have a bad time.
“You useless slave. If anything happens to the Empress Dowager, you all can only dream about staying alive.” Emperor Zongwen said coldly. There was a flash of icy coldness in his eyes. The eunuchs and palace maids who were standing by the side were all so frightened that they lowered their heads and knelt down.
They felt wronged though. Before the Empress Dowager fell asleep last night, she was still in pretty good health. She even ate more for dinner than she usually did. Then, she had told them to leave early to rest. The Empress Dowager had not been feeling well recently and she slept very early at night. As such, this was considered a regular occurrence and no one took extra note of it.
The other servants left after leaving the Empress Dowager with lit candles that she specially asked for. Only Eunuch Yu, the manager of the palace and also the Empress Dowager’s most trusted servant stayed behind. All was silent that night, but no one expected to hear that the Empress Dowager had fallen ill the next morning. Everyone in Cining Palace was afraid and filled with trepidation. They were all afraid that they might be beheaded if they were not careful.
There were a few imperial physicians outside the palace coming up with a prescription together. When they saw Emperor Zongwen, they knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed.
“How is the Empress Dowager?” Emperor Zongwen stopped to ask. His face was dark and grave.
“The Empress Dowager had a shock the last time and still has not recovered from it. Furthermore, she has a cold and due to her advanced age, she…” The imperial physicians did not dare to hide anything and they spoke truthfully.
It was spring and Cining Palace was deep inside the palace. There were so many people looking after the Empress Dowager, who was already ill, and they all did their best. Furthermore, she was not a child, how could they let her catch a cold? Emperor Zongwen’s eyes darkened and he pursed his lips. He looked menacing as he swept his gaze upon the imperial physicians, from the first man to the last and then back again.
The coldness in the air made them all stand frigidly as the Emperor looked at them. The imperial physicians felt sweat dripping down their backs and they could not speak.
“Is the Empress Dowager in danger?” He asked coldly.
“The Empress Dowager’s body is weak and she often catches colds. We are preparing medicine and do not dare to say anything for now…” The imperial physicians could not make their difficulty known. The Empress Dowager’s illness seemed grave but it was not really a big deal. However, because of her advanced age and the fact that she had yet to recover from her previous illness, they were afraid that something bad might happen to her.
The imperial physicians all did not dare to take responsibility for that. As such, they all treated the ordinary cold as a grave illness. They were all frightened when Emperor Zongwen stared at them coldly and they conveyed their message murkily.
“If you cannot cure the Empress Dowager, come back with your head in your hand.” Emperor Zongwen said coldly and strode into the palace with his robes swishing behind him.
The imperial physicians paled with fear. Two of the older physicians fell down, shaking so hard they could not get up.
A few of the younger physicians stood up and helped them to the side.
The Empress, who was surrounded by many palace maids and eunuchs hurried over then.
The imperial physicians had only just sat down but wanted to greet the Empress. She waved her hands to stop them and then brought her entourage into the palace hurriedly.
“Imperial Physician Wang, you are the eldest amongst us. What do you think?” An imperial physician saw how hurried the Empress was and asked Imperial Physician Wang after he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Earlier on, they had been hesitating about whether they should give a heavier dose of medication, afraid that the Empress Dowager would be thoroughly ill. Now that the Emperor said that they would be killed if they could not treat the Empress Dowager, they had to think up a new treatment.
The focus of the discussion turned from treating the symptoms to treating the root of the problem. It did not matter as long as they could cure the Empress Dowager. They could discuss whatever happened in the future when it happened. They had to get through this first. At the most, they could just find a way to resign after the Empress Dowager recovered from this illness. The imperial physicians all had this idea.
“Alright, we will use the third prescription that we discussed earlier. What do you all think?” Imperial Physician Wang gritted his teeth and set his mind to it. He was already quite old. After he treated the Empress Dowager from this, he would retire and return to his hometown.
This was no longer a matter of who was taking responsibility. If they did not manage to cure the Empress Dowager, they would die. No one dared to treat the matter lightly.
However, this was already the best plan. They could only live when the Empress Dowager was cured.
“I agree!”
“I agree!” The imperial physicians said one after another.
The third prescription was the one that they had the most dissensions about. It looked like it would treat the illness quickly and they might even be able to cure the Empress Dowager with a few medications. After all, the Empress Dowager’s illness seemed dangerous but it was not actually a big deal. However, they did not dare to dawdle since there was such a huge commotion in Cining Palace.
However, the greatest disadvantage of this prescription was that it would hurt the fundamentals of the body!
All medications were made up partially of poison and the third prescription had many effects that were nourishing. It seemed harmless, but the elderly should not receive too much nourishment or it would lead to problems in the future. If the Empress Dowager were to fall ill again, she would need even stronger medication. A person’s body could only hold that much medicine and it would affect the person in the future. If the Empress Dowager were to have a slight illness in the future, it might even endanger her life.
However, to stay alive, the imperial physicians could not care about that.
They examined the prescription again before submitting it.
Emperor Zongwen hurried into the inner hall. The Princess Royal and Duchess Ding were kneeling before the Empress Dowager’s bed in greeting.
A eunuch had already lifted the veil above the bed and the Empress Dowager’s face could be seen behind it. She was deeply asleep.
The Empress Dowager looked haggard and the flush on her cheeks was brighter than usual. Her lips were dry and cracked and her eyes were tightly shut. She was very drowsy and seemed to be unconscious. She did look rather gravely ill.
“Who was the one who served the Empress Dowager last night?” Emperor Zongwen stood before the bed and swept his eyes across the eunuchs and palace maids kneeling there. He was so sharp that even Duchess Ding, who had been glancing at him surreptitiously, lowered her head.
“Your Majesty, I did…” Eunuch Yu who was kneeling at the front of the bed scooted up forward on his knees. He cried. “Last night, the Empress Dowager was still well when she went to bed. She joked with me for a while and then fell asleep. I waited outside the entire night after Her Majesty fell asleep. Nothing happened all night. This morning, I went to rouse Her Majesty but she would not wake. I was flustered and caused Your Majesty to come.”
Even though Eunuch Yu was crying, he was very glib and managed to recount what happened in detail.
Nothing was said all night? A cold glint flashed through Emperor Zongwen’s eyes as he stared at Eunuch Yu coldly. Silence descended upon the hall immediately and the air felt so thick with tension that one could hardly breathe. The Empress, who arrived later, waved at the back and gestured for those behind her to remain silent. Then, she lowered her head and stood at the entrance, appearing to be very respectful.
Only the slight curl of her lips revealed her faint cold smirk.
She did not know what the old woman, who had pretended to be ill for a long while, was planning today.
“Men, take this useless slave down and beat him to death.” Emperor Zongwen said coldly after a long while.
Eunuch Yu was startled. Two guards took hold of his arms before he could even react and they dragged him out coldly. Eunuch Yu was flustered and he screamed in shock. “Your Majesty, please spare me, Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, please spare me!”
Eunuch Yu could not be bothered to reiterate how gravely ill the Empress Dowager was, just like she had told him to. The Emperor had not said anything else before deciding to have him flogged to death. This was something both he and the Empress Dowager had not thought of before. He was flustered now and screamed urgently as he rushed to the bed where the Empress Dowager was pretending to be unconscious.
Eunuch Yu screamed and struggled, trying to get out of the hold the two guards had on him. However, the Emperor’s guards were all highly skilled. How could an old eunuch be able to get out of their grasps? Duchess Ding who was kneeling by the side moved her legs. She looked up and wanted to say something to help Eunuch Yu. However, she had only looked up when she saw the Empress’ icy cold gaze turning upon her.
The Empress’ gaze was icy cold without a hint of warmth in them. They looked as if they were icy cold stars shining in them. Duchess Ding shuddered in fear and lowered her head, pretending not to hear anything.
The Ding General Manor was placed in a difficult position when the Empress and Empress Dowager fought. The two did not get along but they both came from the Ding General Manor. It was truly difficult to deal with, and if they were not careful, they would offend both parties. Duke Ding had complained many times to Duchess Ding that he only hoped that the two royals would let each other off seeing that they both came from the Ding General Manor.
Of course, Duke Ding supported his young sister more than the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager was, after all, just a distant relative. The Empress was much closer to him than the Empress Dowager. He hoped that the Empress Dowager would allow all of them to get out of the situation without much embarrassment since they were from the same family. However, the Empress was the one who was angry now…
It seemed that the chasm between the Empress and Empress Dowager had widened. It was not just that the Empress Dowager disliked the Empress, the Empress disliked the Empress Dowager greatly as well. Duchess Ding did not dare to provoke the Empress at this moment and she immediately behaved herself.
“Your Majesty…” Just as Eunuch Yu was about to be dragged out of the palace, the Empress Dowager moved on the bed. She breathed heavily and slowly opened her eyes, calling out for the Emperor with some difficulty. She pressed her hand on the bed, making the move to sit up. However, her hand was weak due to her illness and she fell back heavily onto the bed.
The Princess Royal, who had been kneeling by the bed quickly held her up so that the Empress Dowager did not fall too badly.
The Empress Dowager laid in the Princess Royal’s embrace and panted. Then, she said softly with some difficulty, “Your Majesty, release the servant… it was not his fault.”
“Empress Dowager,” Emperor Zongwen squatted when he heard the Empress Dowager. He leaned forward to help the Princess Royal prop the Empress Dowager up. He said, “It is all because those dratted servants were not careful and caused you to be ill. I have to punish them.”
“Your Majesty, it is I… I wanted to cool down, so I… caught a cold… It’s not their fault…” The Empress Dowager tugged on Emperor Zongwen’s sleeve urgently when she saw that he was determined to punish the servants. Her breath hitched and she almost could not catch her breath. She coughed violently but did not let go and pointed in the direction where Eunuch Yu was dragged off.
Eunuch Yu was her most trusted servant. How could she really allow Emperor Zongwen to kill him?
Those scripted lines and her illness were all planned.
“Men, he might be spared from death, but he still has to be punished. Flog him 20 times.” Emperor Zongwen patted the Empress Dowager’s back lightly, helping to ease her cough. However, he insisted on punishing the servant. Even though Eunuch Yu did not have to be killed, it was still 20 strokes of the cane. While that would not kill the old eunuch, he would lose a layer of skin from that.
The Empress Dowager caught her breath and panted heavily. There was a hint of viciousness that flashed through her murky eyes. However, she did not reveal anything. Instead, she tugged Emperor Zongwen’s hand weakly and said, “Your Majesty, I have enjoyed so many years of blessings, and that has to be because I prayed for it in my past life. I have many children and grandchildren, and even if I die, I have been blessed. You don’t have to worry about me.”
There was a slight smile on her lips and she seemed very gracious. However, there was a hint of bitterness at the corner of her lips. She made a move to speak but stopped herself.
“Why are you saying such things? You are healthy. I have already asked the imperial physicians and they said you are fine. You just have to rest and recuperate well.” Emperor Zongwen smiled and comforted her.
The imperial physicians had submitted the prescription and he had looked at it briefly. Then, he nodded and allowed the physicians to leave and get the herbs to make the medicine.
“Your Majesty, you are very filial, so is Zhu’er.” The Empress Dowager’s murky eyes slowly turned from Emperor Zongwen’s face to the Princess Royal’s. Then, she sighed contentedly. She held Emperor Zongwen’s hand again and said, “If I die, ask Zhen’er to come back and light incense for me. He is far away in Yan alone, and I worry for him.”
So that was what the fuss was about. There was a flash of ridicule in the Empress’ eyes, who stood not far away.
“Empress Dowager, do not worry. I will send an imperial edict to have King Ning return. You just have to recuperate.” Emperor Zongwen said immediately. He was known to be filial and he would not go against his mother’s wishes on her sickbed. He immediately announced his edict and had someone speed to the Yan Kingdom to bring King Ning back to the Qin Kingdom so that The Empress Dowager would not worry.
