Chapter 836: The Root of the Empress's Illness Is Found

ng bent down and carried her daughter on her back, pulling a straw basket from behind and binding her daughter to it. Then she started bustling about."I'm going to make a jar of preserved meat for you..."Go call the imperial physician! This palace has a terrible headache!" The Empress lay directly on the bed, her hands supporting her head, her brows furrowed, looking as if she was enduring unbearable pain.

The palace maid was stunned for a moment, a trace of helplessness flashed in her eyes, "Yes, Your Majesty, the servant will send someone to the Imperial Medical Bureau right away."

The Empress waved her hand, and said no more.

The maidservant quickly retreated and let out a sigh of relief.

Regardless of whether the master's feigned illness works or not, it's good enough that she won't be punished...

Unfortunately, the on-duty physician at the Imperial Medical Bureau wasn't so lucky.

For days, the Empress cried out in pain from her headaches, but doctors couldn't find the cause. They couldn't say she was healthy either.

In the end, they could only keep prescribing warming soups, hoping that one day the Empress would have a change of heart and stop using their checkups as an excuse...

Ideally, one would follow the traditional method of looking, listening, asking, and feeling to diagnose the condition, then prescribe and prepare medicine.

When the Empress got angry, she splashed the imperial physician with tea and berated him for half an hour straight before finally calming down.

In the dead of night, Kunning Palace was bustling with activity. Lamps were lit everywhere, illuminating the vast palace complex like a beacon in the darkness. It was impossible to ignore such blatant display of light and commotion.

Inside the palace, not to mention people, even a gust of wind carried moonlight and was adept at delivering messages.

Within the palace walls, even a lowly rat's hole would hold no secrets.

Thus, the Empress of Kunning Palace did not wait for the medicine to cool before the maidservants from each palace had already heard it clearly.

A concubine lay in her bed, whispering angrily to the maid attending her.

"Our Empress Dowager, I wonder where her wits went She's getting stupider by the day! "

Formerly, she was at most a bit arrogant, now she's added an "stupid" to her list. She longs for a prince, so much that even the stray dogs on the street know about it.

As a result, she still complained about being sick every day and drank medicine soup like water... What kind of good body would be so harmful to continue this way She wouldn't even be able to give birth to children.

“As the Empress said, Kunning Palace is filled with medicine. Anyone who goes there wants to avoid it!” A maidservant close to her laughed. “But being a little naive is also a good thing. This way, the Emperor will find that our mistress is intelligent and virtuous, and come visit more often. Who knows, maybe this time next year, our mistress will be holding a little prince.”

"Well said. Go to sleep now. I heard the Emperor has been coughing lately, so I'll make a snow pear soup tomorrow and send it over." The concubine happily planned this, then went to sleep contentedly.

But in the front study, the Emperor was wearing a bright yellow nightgown, holding a book in his hand, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

"The Empress called for the imperial physician again What is it this time" The Emperor was very impatient.

After all, life is good, but every day seeking medical treatment, who would find this pleasant

Yi Zongtang carefully poured the calming tea for the Emperor, saying, “I heard you still have a headache. The imperial physician prescribed medicine, and I assume Empress Dowager has already taken it and gone to sleep.”

"Humph!" The Emperor let out a cold snort, throwing the book in his hand aside and muttering in a low voice, "All medicine has three parts of poison. She's drunk it for several months straight, is she trying to poison herself to death!"

There are rumors of choosing a crown prince from time to time in the court, but he can still suppress them for now.

A healthy and vigorous dragon body, flourishing in its prime, would silence all critics.

But if the Empress wore herself out, there would surely be someone clamoring to install a new emperor.

And the new empress's children are legitimate, the undisputed heir apparent...

Another bloody storm is unavoidable, the court will be in turmoil!

The emperor grew increasingly agitated. He ordered, "Summon the imperial physician to Kunning Palace tomorrow and have him properly diagnose the Empress. Find the true cause of her illness and stop her from taking medicine indiscriminately!"

Yi Zongtang quickly obeyed and served the emperor a cup of calming tea, then rested.

Neither the master nor the servant had expected that, on the second morning, before the imperial physician even reached Kunning Palace, the root of the Empress's illness would be found...

The Emperor sat behind his desk and, seeing Li Lao Er and Jia Yin hurrying to pay their respects, was overjoyed. He beckoned them over and said, "Funiang hasn't come to see me in a long time, quickly, stand down!"

Jia Yin lowered her head and said cautiously, "I also want to see my Imperial Uncle, but my family won't let me go out."

She wore a light blue satin waistcoat today, paired with a white pleated skirt. She had her hair in two braids and simply tied them with two pearl hairbands.

And her ears and wrists were shiny, making her delicate face look even smaller. Her eyes were dark circles under her eyes, and her lips were slightly pale. Overall, she looked very haggard.

This is a far cry from her usual festive and elegant attire!

If she were a little sun on ordinary days, today she'd be like a withered wildflower swaying in the cold wind...

The emperor looked at her with growing concern and couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Fu Niang recover from her illness before How could she be unwell again"

"There's an old ginseng root still in the storeroom. I'll have Yi, the head steward, bring it out shortly and have it sent back with you..."

At that moment, Jia Yin's eyes turned red, and she choked out, "Imperial Uncle, I'm not sick. I'm just afraid!"

"I want to go find my godfather, and my father! Uncle Emperor, can you send me there, please"

The Emperor was completely confused, and seeing Jiayin's tears falling one after another, he felt even more heartbroken.

After all, she's the little girl he watched grow up. When his cousin went on a campaign, he also promised to take good care of her.

He quickly said, "Fu Niuer, don't cry. Why do you want to find your godfather"

Didn't you say when you were little that Emperor Uncle was the greatest in the world, even more powerful than your godfather

"Who bullied you Tell Uncle Huang, Uncle Huang will back you up!"

Jia Yin lowered her head, only wiping away tears without saying a word.

Upon seeing this, Yi promptly said to Li La Er: "Master Li, what grievance has the county princess suffered"

"The princess is a girl, she's timid. Please tell him quickly, don't make the Emperor anxious!"

To everyone's surprise, Old Second Li didn't hesitate. He ripped off his robe and immediately knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, Fu Niuer has always been a sensible child. She doesn't want to cause you any trouble, so she thought of going to find the Marquis and her father to avoid the disaster.

But she was still young and couldn't think too much. This day belonged to the Emperor, no matter how powerful or lawless anyone else was, they couldn't surpass the Emperor!

The Emperor nodded, at this moment he also guessed that the Li family had been bullied, but what Li Lao Er said reached his heart.

Tian Wu was his world, there wasn't anything he couldn't control.

He asked calmly, "Zhongshan Bo, tell me, what on earth is going on Don't hide anything! I want to hear it myself. Who dares to be so lawless!"

Jia Yin was a little anxious, she stepped forward and pulled the emperor's sleeve, her face full of worry, "Imperial Uncle..."

The emperor patted her back, comforting her: "Don't be afraid, your Uncle Emperor isn't angry."

"You are my personally appointed county princess, I want to see who dares to bully you, who has the guts to do so!"

Li Lao Er took a deep breath, as if trying his hardest to suppress the grievances and anger in his heart.

He began from the beginning, “Your Majesty, there was talk in Xindu before that Fu Niuer had great fortune. Our family felt that it wasn't good for a young girl to be talked about so much. So, Fu Niuer feigned illness to avoid the limelight, and I even went into the palace to beg for an old ginseng root, only then did we manage to smooth things over. You must remember this, right”

The Emperor nodded and replied, “Remember, I will send an imperial physician. You say this is a temporary measure for your family, so it’s acceptable.” and you can hold yourself over for a while."Old Mrs. Li let out a cold snort, "He's doing us a favor by going to jail, after all. We even have to prepare extra food for him."That being said, she adde...