Chapter 89 Section 89

People are busy with "non-urgent tasks", but the queen's heart is always hanging in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.She lived not far from the emperor, in the Tishun Hall to the west of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but she was close at hand, but as far away as the world. Due to the restrictions of etiquette, she could not come and go freely like ordinary couples.Moreover, he watched day and night, and could not say "private words" in front of a large number of eunuchs and court ladies.Therefore, she also heard more about the emperor's condition than she saw.

The most powerful person is a court lady named Erniu. She goes to inquire about all kinds of news every day and comes to report to the queen at any time.It is very suitable for her to do this job, because before she was selected to enter the palace, she lived outside Di'anmen, and had a neighbor who she often communicated with, who was a doctor. "The disease in the mouth of the Long Live Lord is not good." Er Niu said with a worried expression, "The imperial doctor said, I am afraid it is a 'frozen tooth malnutrition'." "Dental malnutrition?" The queen asked in surprise, "Isn't that a disease that only children have?"

"Smallpox too?" A rhetorical question made the queen stunned, and it took a long time before she asked, "Is it important?" Erniu didn't dare to say "it's important". Within a few days, the patient could be turned from unconsciousness to delirium to death. She just replied: "This disease comes very quickly, otherwise, how can it be called a 'walking horse'?" "What did the doctor say?" "It is said to be a warming and tonic medicine, so it must not be taken in. The poisonous fire in the Long Live Lord is extremely strong, so only a clear and beneficial prescription can be used to relieve the fire, but I am afraid that the Long Live Lord has a weak foundation." Therefore, two Niu was on the verge of speaking, unable to stop: "The imperial doctor is also very difficult."

The empress was well aware of the tone of speech in the palace. Such a statement meant that she was not sure about the illness. In a hurry, she got up and said, "I'll take a look." It was just after dinner, and the bell was striking five.In winter, the days are short and it is already dark, so it is not time for visual ailments, but since the queen ordered so, she had to obey, so she first sent someone to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to inform the chief eunuch, then summoned the deacons, lit the lamp, and led the queen to go straight to the Yangxin Hall. Go to the East Nuan Pavilion of the Heart Palace.

The hall was desolately silent, the lights were dim, the figures were quiet, and there was only a strong smell of medicine. With the sharp northwest wind spreading in the gloomy courtyard, the queen shuddered and asked Xiao Li tremblingly: "How is your majesty doing now?" ?” "I just rested now." Xiao Li replied while kneeling, "The situation today is not as good as yesterday. The hard lump on the left side of my face was scratched and bleeding. The doctor said that I am afraid I will wear my cheek." "Piercing cheeks?" The queen thought for a while before she understood, but she was shocked when she understood. Isn't piercing cheeks a hole in her cheeks?

"This, is it so powerful?" Xiao Li didn't answer, just kowtowed and said, "Queen, please go back to the palace!" This is to dissuade the queen, naturally because she is afraid that the queen will be sad when she sees the symptoms.Realizing this, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. But if she asked the queen to take a trip and go back, she couldn't bear it in terms of responsibility and emotion, so she refused Xiao Li's persuasion, and replied flatly: "No! I will wait here for a while." "Then please go in and have a look." "Also."

The "flower pot bottom" shoes made a sound of "knotting" when walking. The queen was afraid of waking up the emperor, so she held Er Niu's shoulders and walked on tiptoe. The East Nuan Pavilion is very large, with a hard brick floor. It is not a suitable place to set up a sick bed, and because the emperor is full of heat and poison, he specially removed the heater, making him feel more and more terribly bitter and cold.Every time the queen walked in, she always shivered from the bottom of her heart.It was a better day, because a new yellow satin curtain was set up to keep out the cold after all.But it is also because of this curtain that the smell is particularly unpleasant.

The carbuncle on the emperor's waist was constantly pus, and the bruises on the horse's teeth, due to the erosion of the mouth, made the breath very heavy, and it was hard to get rid of it because of the curtain. When the curtain was lifted, it was almost nauseating to smell it. The queen quickly let go, swallowed her saliva, turned around and said to Xiao Li: "How can I live here? Even good people can get sick! Don't even use some incense to diffuse it!" "Originally, it was scented with incense, but Long Live Lord said it smelled bad, so he ordered it to be withdrawn."

Although each other's voices were soft, the emperor was still awakened, and he asked vaguely, "Who is it?" Xiao Li hurriedly raised the curtain and entered the room, raised his voice slightly and replied, "The empress is here to see Lord Long Live." Before he could finish his words, the queen had followed into the curtain, still abiding by the rules, knelt down to say hello. The emperor turned sideways on the pillow, casting two blunt eyes on the empress, allowing the empress to see his face clearly under the dim and flickering candlelight, his face was full of fire, his cheeks were very swollen, and there was a hard lump on the left side connecting his lips , scratched and oozing blood, the upper and lower lips are bulging outwards, and the gums are black, swollen and rotten.

This terrifying description made the empress tremble in her heart. What made people shudder was the imagination, imagining the scene of the emperor ignoring him for a moment, and the scene of the six palaces, she almost couldn't bear it anymore. "Why don't you give the queen a stool?" the emperor said with difficulty. The empress didn't use a stool, but sat on the edge of the bed, watching the emperor hesitate to speak, so Xiao Li winked at Erniu, and backed out one by one. "Look at my disease!" The people outside the scene heard the emperor say: "I don't believe in myself anymore."

"Your majesty, please be at ease," the queen spoke very slowly, and she could hear that she was trying to stay calm, "'Illness comes like a mountain, and it goes like a thread'. Only by calming your mind can you recover quickly." "How can you calm down?" The emperor sighed, "Li Deli is nothing but a waste, the more he is cured, the more he gets sick..." His tone was not finished, but finally fell silent, followed by another long sigh. "I read the pulse case today and said that my waist is much better." "What's the matter?" the emperor replied, "I know it myself." "What does the emperor think of himself?" "Thirsty, chest tightness, it's like a fire here." The emperor paused and said, "I woke up more than ten times a night in the past two days, but I'm constipated again in the past two days." At this time, the emperor's spirit suddenly became better. He wanted to sit up and look in the mirror. He might as well sit up, but no one dared to give him the mirror.The acne scars have never been completely removed, the lips are swollen and the cheeks are swollen, and there are various ulcers on the face and mouth. This ugly description, if the emperor who usually pays attention to grooming, looks at himself in the mirror, I am afraid that he will be sad and horrified at that time fainted.Therefore, the eunuchs in the Hall of Mental Cultivation had long ago obeyed the decree that all mirrors should be collected, and those bulky and inconvenient to move full-length mirrors should be covered with red satin.At this time, the queen tried hard to persuade her, but she was inconvenient to tell the truth. She only repeatedly used the taboo that patients should not look in the mirror as a reason, and finally persuaded the emperor to stop in dismay. There is already a lot of time to stay, even if the emperor is ill and the empress must abide by the etiquette, it is not appropriate to delay for a long time.Find a gap between the conversations, intending to kneel down and withdraw, but the emperor does not allow it. "It's rare to be energetic today, why don't you talk to me!" said the emperor, "I can't sleep alone, thinking about the past and the future, full of things that I can't get rid of." The queen couldn't bear it, and agreed: "Yes!" Still sat down. "I have something to ask you while I can talk." The emperor lowered his voice and asked, "Empress Zhongcui Palace, have I asked you?" As soon as this matter was mentioned, the empress felt sad, and the sentence "I can still talk at this moment" felt even more ominous, so the empress refused to talk about this matter no matter what. "What's the point of mentioning it now? It's simply superfluous." "People without thought, he must worry about……." "Your majesty, please rest!" The queen hurriedly said, "Why bother?" At this moment, Xiao Li broke in, looked at the emperor with a wary look, then knelt down straight and said, "Long live Lord, it's time for porridge." "I can't eat it." The emperor shook his head. Xiao Li was looking for something to talk about, and his intention was to cut off the conversation between the emperor and the empress, because the Empress Dowager Cixi has many eyes and ears, and it is better not to talk about serious matters.The emperor didn't pay much attention to his intentions, but the empress understood very well, so she stood up again: "The key to the palace gate is about to be released. The emperor will rest, and I will come back tomorrow morning." The emperor felt lost, but he did not keep the queen.I was very excited that night, and I talked a lot, asking about Zai Li, about the new acting governor of Liangjiang Liu Kunyi, about the new governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Ying Han who just came to Beijing, and about Zeng Guoquan, Jiang Yili, Guo Songtao, etc. who were called to Beijing. people. These circumstances were spread the next day. Some people thought it was a clear proof that the emperor's condition had improved greatly, while others were skeptical and whispered in private, fearing that it was a "reflection".Unfortunately, this worry was not due to ignorance, the emperor's symptoms quickly turned bad, and the words "declining spirit, trance" appeared in the pulse case. On this day, Hanlin, Huang Yu, Pan Zuyin, Sun Yijing, Xu Yun, and Zhang Jiaxiang from the South Study Room were called to look at the disease, and went from Dongnuan Pavilion to Xinuan Pavilion. The empress dowagers of the two palaces were weeping and asked this group of literary attendants: "You guys read a lot, see if there is any way to recover it?" Because they were summoned together with the Minister of Military Affairs, the Hanlin in the South Study Room, except for Sun Yijing's suggestion to issue an edict to recruit famous doctors to Beijing, the rest dared not speak. "Sun Yijing's play is slow but not urgent." King Gong played Chen in this way: "Now it is more practical to ask Li Deli to serve him wholeheartedly." "Is Li Deli sure?" Empress Dowager Cixi said sadly: "We sisters don't quite understand what he said, so you should ask him carefully." So Meng Zhongji summoned Li Deli to enter the palace, and argued with the officials that it was difficult to question. In Li Deli, this month was really exhausting physically and mentally, he was thin and dark, and his expression was very ugly.The emperor's illness is unspeakable, and he did his best. As for saying that his ability is not good, that is helpless, so the two empress dowagers and military ministers did not criticize him.Sun Yijing naturally asked some questions, but he didn't understand the condition, and the question was almost scratchy, and the imperial doctor went to the palace to ask for the pulse. It has been a secret for many years, that is, to leave room for defense in the pulse case and prescription. Good at eloquence, so you can't ask him anyway. To put it bluntly, the emperor’s qi and blood are deficient, the heat and poison are deep, and the deficiency needs to be "lituo" to nourish the vitality, and the tonic is afraid that the yang will be hyperactive and the fire will be too strong, which will turn into a catastrophe.Li Deli cited Guangzong of the former Ming Dynasty as a lesson. Guangzong took the hot tonic "Red Pill" and caused a sudden collapse. This is one of the so-called "three cases". Sun Yijing explained the cause and effect of this serious case. Knowing more thoroughly than Li Deli, naturally he has nothing to say. "So," asked Empress Dowager Cixi at the end, "what should we do now?" "Only by nourishing yin and replenishing qi, eliminating fire and detoxification, trying to recuperate, first hold on, and there will be a turning point." "Can I use ginseng?" "I'm afraid that the deficiency will not be replenished." Li Deli said: "When it's time to use ginseng, I should ask the holy judge." "Look," the Empress Dowager Cixi whispered, "Is there anything else I should ask him?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an nodded, and after thinking for a while, she said, "Li Deli! The emperor has been asking for your pulse since he was a child. No one knows his physique better than you. You have to find a way to keep the emperor. Your credit is ours. You all know, now I say something in front of the prince, Jun Ji, and Mr. Nan Study, I will never let you down in the future!" When Li Deli heard the second half of the sentence, he bumped his head again and again, and when the Empress Dowager Ci'an finished speaking, he bumped his head again, and replied in a tone that was almost out of breath and didn't know how to express his gratitude and loyalty: "I admire you both. The empress dowager and the emperor's kindness are so generous that they can't repay them. Because of the emperor's unhappiness, the ministers are anxious day and night, wishing not to suffer the pain on behalf of the emperor. The emperor's blessings are thick, relying on the grace of heaven and ancestors, the two empress dowagers His shelter will definitely turn the crisis into safety." The last two sentences were very pleasant, and the empress dowagers of the two palaces kept nodding their heads.Naturally, there is no need for further discussion, Prince Gong took the lead, knelt down and withdrew.When he arrived outside the hall, he beckoned to find Rong Lu, and quietly told him to discuss the truth with Li Deli: Is the emperor's illness serious or not? "Why doesn't it matter?" Li Deli pulled Rong Lu aside and knelt down straight. "Hey! Why are you like this, please get up, please get up!" Rong Lu hurriedly pulled him with his hands, but Li Deli couldn't get up, saying that he had to state something first and get an understanding before he was willing to get up. "I want you to speak your mind. Please stand up! As long as you don't make any careless mistakes, the prince will naturally uphold justice." Rong Lu had roughly guessed what he was thinking, so he answered like this. "It's a big deal for Sheng Gong to violate peace, how dare I be careless?" Li Deli swallowed, and then said: "I'm afraid the two empress dowagers will know what is wrong with the emperor. Now Lord Rong is passing on the words of the prince. Ask me, I dare not tell the truth, the symptoms in front of the emperor are very bad. In case something happens, it is up to Lord Rong and the prince to speak for me." After speaking, he put his hands on the ground and kowtowed. "Get up, get up! You have something to say." Rong Lu reminded him, "Your business is a trivial matter!" It means that the emperor's illness is the major issue. The situation is urgent at this time. How can there be time to take care of his fame and fortune?Hearing this tone of voice, Li Deli didn't dare to talk about it anymore, even though it was still unpredictable because he didn't get his promise. "I'm telling Lord Rong the truth." He stood up and said in a low voice, "The emperor is afraid that he may be in danger." "Invasion!" Rong Lu was startled and confused, "Smallpox is invulnerable. Hasn't the smallpox scabbed off long ago?" "Otherwise, all carbuncles will sink in." Li Deli explained for Ronglu, how to call it "fire trap", "dry trap" and "virtual trap"?The general name of these three traps is inversion, and the symptoms are "seven evils overlapping", the last evil is also the most serious evil, "spiritual trance" has been found in the emperor. "Why is this! You didn't prevent it long ago?" This meant accusation, Li Deli hurriedly argued, he first read a passage from a medical book: "Although external symptoms have a certain shape, and the poisonous gas is widespread, there is no specific location, so the poison enters the heart and causes coma, and enters the liver and causes convulsions." Jue, when it enters the spleen, it causes abdominal pain and swelling, when it enters the lungs, it causes wheezing and coughing, when it enters the kidneys, it causes dark eyes and cold hands and feet. When it enters the six internal organs, each has its own variation.'" Then he tapped his forehead with his fingers, and lowered his Said in a low voice: "The heart is the brain. The emperor's poison has arrived here. There is one more thing I dare not say." "What else are you afraid to say?" "Master Rong, have you heard the phrase 'remorse goes crazy'?" Rong Lu didn't answer, but bowed his head and shouted.Then he asked in a hoarse voice, "Is there any help?" "It's very difficult." Li Deli said with difficulty: "It's just procrastinating." "How many days can it be delayed?" "It's hard to say."