"Sir, what should I tell Li Ji? What disease or symptom does it have? What medicine and medical equipment should I bring with me? Do I need to bring an assistant?" Hongwu asked outside the house.
Shang Rui pondered for a moment and glanced at Xia Yue again: "I'm afraid we'll waste time again if we go back and forth." After saying this, he pulled down a cloak draped over the screen and covered Xia Yue's head with it, "There is a shortage of medical care and medicine here, so why don't you come with me." The latter sentence was directed to Xia Yue.
Xia Yue's mind was all on Li Ji, so she asked again: "Who is Li Ji?"
Hearing her question, Shang Rui calmed down and looked at her slowly.
Li Ji
In a moment, Shang Rui had silently pondered over these two words, but could not find any clues in his mind, so he asked back: "He is the chief judge of the Imperial Hospital and also a friend of mine. Do you know him?"
"Is it really Li Ji, the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital?"
Shang Rui looked at her, his eyes wandering, and nodded and replied, "That's right."
"where are we going?"
"Go to his house."
When Xia Yue heard this, she was almost ecstatic. Without giving it any more time to think, she gathered her cloak, forced herself to cheer up and followed him out.
Tian Yuan found a carriage and said to Xia Yue, "The illness cannot be delayed. Miss Min will go first. I will ask Miss He Xiang to pack her things and will be there soon."
Xia Yue sat alone in the carriage, thinking of what the doctor in Jinluo had said before. She never expected that she would really meet Li Ji in the imperial capital. She was so excited that her hands were shaking, and she completely ignored the pain in her body.
She reviewed Zi Jin's condition in her mind, and then secretly thought about how to describe it simply and clearly if she saw Li Ji, so she silently organized her own words. She thought so hard that she even forgot the original intention of Shang Rui taking her to find Li Ji.
After she finished all this, before she reached Li Ji, as soon as she relaxed, she felt weak in her limbs and was very tired.
When they arrived at Li Ji's house, Ming Lian got out of the car to invite Xia Yue. He called her softly, but there was no response from inside, so he glanced at Shang Rui.
Shang Rui walked over and lifted the curtain.
The carriage was spacious, with a small table and cushions, but she didn't touch anything at all, curled up in a corner, hugged her knees and fell asleep, without even taking off her cloak.
He called her, but she didn't move.
The car was very spacious. He wanted to embrace her, but he couldn't reach her, so he lifted the corner of his robe and got into the car.
There was an elegant warm fragrance in the car, which was like two different worlds compared to the biting cold wind outside. Her face was turned to one side, her eyelids were tightly closed, and there was a sore on her brow bone, the color of which was dazzling red. Her complexion was very bad, almost as pale as earth, and her breathing seemed to be almost inaudible.
Thinking of this, he suddenly paused, and almost without thinking, stretched out two fingers to touch her neck pulse.
But just when his fingertips were about to touch her skin, she suddenly moved.
He suddenly withdrew his hand and stood up with a "swoosh". When he stood up, his head hit the roof of the carriage. With a "bang", the whole carriage shook.
Ming Lian was startled by the noise in the car and asked hurriedly, "Sir, what happened?"
Xia Yue was awakened from her sleep by the noise. She opened her eyes and saw Shang Rui in front of her, with sleepy eyes.
Suddenly, he felt a little ridiculous.
"Are we there yet?" she asked.
He did not answer anyone and got off the carriage without saying a word.
Xia Yue followed from behind, but as soon as her heels touched the ground, her vision suddenly went dark, and her knees immediately weakened, probably because of her weak body due to illness, and because she had been sitting in the carriage for too long, which blocked her blood circulation. Ming Lian saw this and hurried to help her, but before he could, the back of her head hit the edge of the carriage hard.
The people around exclaimed.
Shang Rui turned around when she heard the voice, but did not move when she saw this scene. She just quietly asked Li Ji to ask the maid in the mansion to carry her in, and then she took people back to the palace.
Because he had not slept all night, Shang Rui felt a little tired when he arrived at Kangning Palace. He ate something and lay quietly on the bed, actually thinking of old things.
When he was young, his mother often taught him secretly.
"For a monarch to control his ministers, it is easy for the prime ministers but difficult for the generals. There are two kinds of generals, wise generals and talented generals. A monarch should control the prime ministers with courtesy and control the generals with tactics. Rui'er, do you know how to do this?" asked the mother.
The young man replied: "The way to control a wise general is to be trustworthy, and the way to control a talented general is to be wise."
"So it's difficult to control a general, and it's even more difficult to control a talented general. So, does Rui'er prefer a virtuous general or a talented general?"
"I believe that when a monarch appoints a general to go to war, besides controlling the general, the most important thing is to have strong soldiers. But," he glanced at his mother and said, "Mother, I just want to be a wise general for Brother Ning and fight for him on the battlefield. I don't want to learn how to control people. In the future, would you like me to be a general guarding the frontier?"
As soon as he finished speaking, his mother angrily slapped him on the left cheek: "Look at what you have become!"
At that time, Shang Rui didn't know why he made his mother so angry, but he still endured the pain and smiled at Concubine Xu: "Don't be angry, mother, I will study hard."
After saying that, he quickly sat down at the table and read carefully what his mother found. Just after reading a few sentences, his mother suddenly hugged him tightly and said, "Rui'er, mother shouldn't hit you, shouldn't be angry, but in this deep palace, if you don't fight, others will fight with you, and then everything you want to have and want to protect will be trampled on the ground."
Now, Shang Rui wants to ask, what do I have now
Rich and able to take whatever you want
He smiled sadly.
Four
"what's your name?"
"Min Xiayue."
"Where's your father?"
"Daddy's name is Min Yi."
"who is he?"
"He is my brother."
"how old are you?"
She kept repeating these words in her dreams. That year, both her mother and father kept asking her to recite them and testing her from time to time, fearing that she would accidentally let it slip. So she kept repeating them and memorizing them again and again, until later she felt that these were the truth.
"Call Li Ji here, quickly." Shang Rui's voice suddenly popped into Xia Yue's mind.
Suddenly, Xia Yue sat up in shock and looked around in confusion: "Where is this?"
It was already midnight, and He Xiang had just taken a nap. She woke up suddenly when she heard Xia Yue's voice: "Miss, you're awake."
"What is this?" Xia Yue felt a splitting headache.
"This is the residence of Judge Li. Master Hong sent you here. He was worried about your illness, so he took you away first. I packed my things and followed Master Tian here."
He Xiang complained again: "I don't know how Master Hong took care of you on the way. You almost broke your head."
Xia Yue ignored him and just asked, "Li Ji? I want to see Li Ji, He Xiang, I want to see Li Ji."
He Xiang replied, "Yes, yes. Lord Li has just given you an injection and has been waiting. He told me that if you wake up, I should call him immediately." After saying that, she went outside the door to pass on the message.
After a while, Li Ji came.
Xia Yue looked at him. He was about forty years old, of medium build, with ordinary clothes and features. He was completely different from the sage-like appearance of the national player she had imagined.
"Li Ji, Lord Li?" Xia Yue asked.
"It's me." Li Ji nodded.
Xia Yue's heart was shocked: "Master Li, I have a favor to ask."
"Miss, there is no need to say anything. I, Li, have been entrusted by someone to do my best to treat you." He sat aside with a calm expression, answered indifferently, and stretched out his hand to check Xia Yue's pulse again.
"It's not for me, it's for someone else..."
Li Ji glanced at her calmly and interrupted her, saying, "The girl is in danger. Wait until you survive these few days before we continue."
With just one sentence, he revealed the severity of Xia Yue's illness.
"Is this black Yin Sha?" Xia Yue asked.
Li Ji nodded.
"Master Li, aren't you afraid that I might infect you?"
"So I heard from Lord Tian that you locked yourself up?" Li Ji asked her back.
"I… "
"In fact, people have misunderstood. This disease is not contagious unless it comes into contact with the pus inside."
After hearing what he said, Xia Yue felt relieved.
Later, Li Ji cleaned his hands and asked the medicine boy to open a black lacquer box. Inside the box, long and short silver needles were neatly arranged side by side. He lit a fire, took out a slightly longer needle, gently held it with two fingers, burned it twice over the fire, and then moved it in front of Xia Yue and pierced the Quchi acupoint.
He inserted the needle faster than most people and without hesitation. Xia Yue only felt a slight stinging pain when the needle pierced the skin, followed by a sour and numb feeling.
"This can relieve the pain in the girl's body."
Xia Yue suddenly said, "Adults should also be careful." What she meant was that Li Ji should not accidentally puncture those abscesses and get infected by herself.
"I'm a doctor and I know what's appropriate." Li Ji replied.
"By the way, how is Mr. Hong?" Xia Yue asked, "He was very close to me, I wonder if he ran into me."
Li Ji was preparing the second needle on the fire, but when he heard Xia Yue's words, he paused for a moment and asked, "The Master Hong who sent you to me?"
Xia Yue nodded, suddenly feeling a little worried.
"How close?" Li Ji asked.
Xia Yue had a carefree personality. Since her life was at stake, losing her chastity was no big deal. She said generously, "He touched my hand." After saying that, she rolled up her sleeves to show Li Ji.
The sore on that arm had now turned dark red.
Li Ji looked solemn, but he said nothing and continued giving acupuncture.
His acupuncture skills were extremely advanced. He was very particular about each acupuncture point and the depth of the needle, which impressed Xia Yue.
After the last injection, a fine layer of sweat appeared on Xia Yue's forehead.
After the acupuncture, Li Ji wrote a new prescription and asked the medicine boy to get the medicine. Then he gave a few instructions and hurried back to the palace.
When he arrived at Kangning Palace, Shang Rui had just changed his clothes and was about to have breakfast.
"It's rare to see you so anxious." Shang Rui said.
"Your Majesty knows that the Black Sha is so dangerous, why doesn't he avoid it and instead sets an example with his own body?" Li Ji said.
Shang Rui was slightly startled, and said slowly: "Didn't you say before that it is only contagious when it breaks?"
"But it is better to be safe than sorry. Your Majesty is the pillar of the country and the fate of the world depends on him. How can you be so careless?"
Shang Rui suddenly felt a headache, and took the initiative to stretch out his hand and said: "Then let me see if I can be saved."
Li Ji was choked by him. He bowed, walked up to him and silently felt his pulse. Then he asked the palace servants to burn all the clothes that Shang Rui was wearing yesterday, and even replaced the people he had contacted with.
Halfway through, Shang Rui couldn't help but ask, "Min Xiayue, how is she?"
"I will try my best."
Shang Rui asked slowly: "Is there any hope?"
"Everything depends on human effort, but Miss Min seems to be open-minded about it."
"Why?"
"Before I left, I told her that once the effect of the medicine wore off, she would have a high fever again, and she wouldn't have much chance of waking up by then. So if you have anything to say to your family, you can let me do it for you."
"You are very honest." Shang Rui said.
"The girl said she didn't have any wishes, except that she had a younger brother and wanted me to check his health."
Shang Rui's eyes darkened when he heard this, and he asked, "What's the disease?"
"She didn't say that."
"Then what?"
"She said that if she died, she asked me to fulfill her last wish."
Hearing this, Shang Rui suddenly sneered: "She is very calculating. She doesn't want to suffer any loss even if she dies."
Just then, Wei Chuang hurried over with a secret letter.
"Your Majesty, urgent news."
Shang Rui opened the package and quickly read it, frowning and saying nothing.
Besides Shang Rui, there were only Ming Lian, Yao Chuang and Li Ji in the hall. It was originally very quiet, and now everyone was concentrating and holding their breath, without making any sound.
Afterwards, Shang Rui said calmly: "The King of Liang surrendered to the King of Yanping."
five
Xia Yue woke up in the evening, ate some porridge in a daze, and barely had the strength to speak. Seeing this, He Xiang could only wipe away her tears secretly.
"We live in the city now, close to home, but you must not disturb my aunt and grandmother, lest they be sad and cause trouble for Lord Li." Xia Yue instructed.
"If anything happens to me..." She paused and said, "You just wait in Mingshan Hall. Don't go anywhere. Zijin will come to find you. When he comes, tell him."
He Xiang cried, "Miss, what are you talking about? Wait until the young master comes and talk to him yourself."
Xia Yue continued, "When he comes, tell him that I have hidden his things in a place he knows."
He Xiang cried, "Miss, please don't be like this, you will be fine, I will go and ask Lord Li, or I will go and ask Master Hong to see if he can find a better doctor."
Xia Yue smiled and said, "After you meet the young master, he will take good care of you. I just don't know what you are thinking."
"Also, that Mr. Hong... Although he saved me, he is not a good person. Tell Zijin to be careful of him." Xia Yue said again.
After saying these words, she felt exhausted, took the medicine and gradually fell asleep.
Li Ji came several times during the process, frowning and saying nothing, and gave her acupuncture and changed the prescription. He Xiang was anxious but didn't dare to act rashly, so she had to grab the little medicine boy behind her and ask him.
Li Ji turned around and said, "This disease is originally a terminal illness. I am just trying the method in the ancient book to see if she can survive these few days."
After hearing this, He Xiang almost burst into tears.
Li Ji stood at the door, glanced at Xia Yue lying on the couch, and said, "Life and death are impermanent in this world. Everyone lives one day at a time. Some people may suffer from incurable diseases but live to be sixty, while those who are strong and healthy may die unexpectedly soon. Just like the mutiny in the Southern Region and the Huai Wang faction, who knows their own fate tomorrow." Having said that, Li Ji sighed softly, turned around with his hands behind his back.
"But there is only one person in this world who can make clouds happen with just a flip of his hand..." He sighed to himself again, and it was unclear what emotion he was expressing, his voice was almost inaudible.
In the following days, the weather warmed up, but Prime Minister Wang Ji developed a cough.
His cough was a chronic disease. Due to his old age, there was no cure for it, but he was most convinced by Li Ji's prescriptions. After taking a few doses of the medicine, his condition would usually improve. Unexpectedly, he went to the Imperial Hospital twice and did not find Li Ji, so he came to the Jinde Palace to visit Wang Xiaoxiang.
"I heard that the emperor got angry today?" Wang Xiaoxiang asked after dismissing his attendants.
"Hmm." Wang Xiang took a sip of tea, "The rebels have already captured Yunzhong."
"In the clouds?" The farthest place she traveled in her childhood was there, a well-known land of fish and rice in the southern region.
"Xu Jingye is just stubborn and self-righteous."
"The life or death of our beloved son Xu Yang is still unknown. General Xu must be anxious to save him." The queen murmured.
"Although Yunzhong is not a fortress, it is the granary of the southern region. I guess Xu Jingye was determined to get it, but he didn't expect..."
"What about the food and fodder?" said Wang Xiaoxiang.
"It can only hold out for a few days, so we have to urgently allocate funds."
"How could such an important place like Yunzhong be easily taken by the rebels?"
Wang Ji put down his teacup and asked, "Do you know who captured Yunzhong?"
Wang Xiaoxiang shook his head in confusion.
"It's King Yanping."
"King Yanping?" Wang Xiaoxiang was surprised.
"The orphan of the previous Chu is Yu Ranyu." Wang Ji said again.
"That child, is he really alive?" She once thought it was just a cover for Prince Huai to cause rebellion.
"No one can confirm it without seeing it with their own eyes."
"More than ten years have passed. Even if I saw him, I might not recognize him." Wang Xiaoxiang sighed.
The father and daughter each had their own thoughts and did not speak for a long time.
Later, Wang Xiaoxiang said again: "Now that the Prince of Huai has become even more powerful, it's no wonder that Your Majesty is angry."
"Your Majesty rebuked Xu Jingye in the palace and sent Sima Lin to supervise the battle. You also know that Sima Lin was born a military general and has some prestige in the army. He was suppressed by Xu Jingye in the early years. Later, he was transferred to a sinecure due to injury. He has always been at odds with the Xu family, which has constrained Xu Jingye. This battle was not effective, and Yunzhong, a place that must be fought for, actually lost its way. It is natural for your Majesty to be angry, and Xu Jingye's party's arrogance has also been reduced. But..." Wang Ji looked at his daughter meaningfully, "I don't think it was real anger."
Wang Xiaoxiang knew that his father had been immersed in the court for many years and was very good at observing people's words and expressions, so he couldn't help but whispered, "Could it be that your majesty expected this?"
"After Prince Ping of Yan took Yunzhong, he did not hand it over to Prince Huai to merge with him, but instead kept his troops in place."
"Then why would the King of Huai allow him to do this?"
"Prince Huai started his army under the banner of restoring the legitimate wife. Many people went after the crown prince and Prince Ping of Yan. Later, Prince Liang suddenly rose up in rebellion, and Prince Ping of Yan joined forces with him to quickly seize Yunzhong. Now that Prince Ping of Yan has the support of Prince Liang, Prince Huai, despite having a large army, cannot do anything to him for a while."