The Princess Wei Yang

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Notes:

^[1]1 - 3am

Zhou Tian Shoustiffened, he could not shake off a sense of unease and alarm. He had alreadythought of the idea at all angles, polishing it like how a lapidarist polisheda gem with careful precision and mastery. The best idea was to offer a beautyto the Emperor to warm his bed. The lady had to have ethereal looks akin to afairy being sent from the heavens in order to be able to capture the Emperor’sheart. In the end, it boiled down to how the emperor had seen too many beautiesthat were like ethereal fairies. After all, if he wasn’t the emperor, how couldhe have such a marvelous predestined fate to meet these beauties?

Zhou Tian Shoumuttered, “The beauty of this woman is sufficient to pass off as an etherealfairy.”

Li Min De laughed inexaltation, asking, “Really?”

Li Min De smirked.This lady was painstakingly found after searching high and low-she wasspecially sent to learn etiquette, singing and dancing from the female scholarsreleased from the palace and even learnt bedroom techniques meant to please ahusband.

Not only could sheact gently, she could act coquettishly as well. Just a glance from her limpideyes could hook any men’s’ heart. She was so gorgeous, it seemed like she iscarved from jade. So pure, so virginal, unlike a seductress. Such a beauty sentto the emperor would naturally be pampered and spoiled by the emperor, gaininghis favor. One could liken her image to a reincarnation of a fairy-aninnocent whose virtue was as clean as jade, an incorruptible and virtuousethereal being. When you placed a muslin veil on her, it merely added to herimage of an ethereal fairy.

Zhou Tian Shouabruptly broke out of his reverie of the goddess and asked, “But what exactlydo you need me to do, my prince?”

The youth onlysmiled, “I have no need of you now. Until I need your esteemed help, I shallcall you. Be on standby for now.”

Zhou Tian Shousaluted, “I will fulfill my orders with utmost care sir”

When Li Min Dewalked out of the outer courtyard, the heavy snow had already stopped falling.

He softly commandedthe ethereal beauty, “Do you understand what you have to do when you enter thepalace?

“Nu bi understands”The ethereal beauty softly replied

Upon hearing this,Li Min De smiled gently and stepped into the carriage. In order to gain theemperor’s favor, he had to fight with the seventh prince to snatch Zhou TianShou over. Naturally he had to send over this beauty as a gift to the emperor.

Ruminating over thedifficulty over finding this beauty, Li Min De sighed. In order to find the beauty,he had to spend two full months searching. If one wanted to know how difficultit was to search, Li Min De would describe it as combing through the heavensand the sky.

This beauty wascalled lotus She too hated the Jiang household with vengeance. To find someonewho hated the Jiang household as much as he did was a bonus. If such a ladyentered the palace, it would cause the Jiang household a whirlwind of trouble,causing them to exert themselves to sort out the trouble. Thinking of it madeLi Min De smirk.

It was close toMidnight. All of a sudden, Tan Shi suddenly rushed into Li Wei Yang’s room. Herflustered expressions gave the staff a shock. Before Li Wei Yang could get outof bed and speak, Tan shi urgently grabbed onto her arm, ”Wei Yang, MinZhi...Min Zhi....he...”

Tears continued toseep down her face before she could finish her sentence. Wei Yang clasped hermother’s hand and asked, “Whatever is the matter?”

Tan Shi continuedweeping so hard she could barely utter a single word.

Seeing Tan Shi insuch a state, Bai Zhi hurriedly stepped in and said, “At midnight, 4th masterstarted to have a fever...he even vomited out the milk he drank.”

Wei Yang immediatelystarted getting dressed, and asked, “Has the senior physician been called?”

Holding back hersobs, Tan shi eked out, “It was so late at night, I didn’t dare to disturb thesenior physician or Lao Ye. I could only go to the normal physician who treatsthe Li family. But right now, Min Zhi is getting more and more serious. Hecan’t even respond when I call his name!”

In the midst of TanShi’s explanation, Li Wei Yang had gotten dressed. She ordered, “Zhao Yue,quickly go to Auspicious Courtyard to inform Father. Pay no heed to those whotry to block your path. Even if you have to use brute force, you need to seehim and tell him that 4th Brother is seriously ill! Bai Zhi, you and I must goto Li Xiang Courtyard”

Among themselves,the servants knew that this sort of situation was quite typical, but no onedared to utter a word. They could only hurriedly assist Wei yang in putting onher cloak. Upon walking out of the door Wei Yang abruptly stopped in herfootsteps.

She turned her head,looking at Tan Shen who was crying so much, she couldn’t even lift her head.“Niang, please pull yourself together and go back to take care of 4th brother.I’ll come back quickly!”

Once Lao Fu Renheard that Li Min Zhi was critically ill, she immediately climbed out of bed.Before she could even get dressed, she hollered, “Quickly! Go and call theimperial physician!”

Luo Mama hesitantlyasked, “Lao Fu Ren, I think it’s very hard to call an imperial physician atthis time of the night!”

Lao Fu Ren gazedout. It was just before chou shi¹. At this time, the imperialhospital still had imperial physicians on night duty. Unfortunately, thisservice was reserved exclusively for the royal family. The only hope was to goto the imperial physician’s own house to ask for people.

She said,” Get thehead housekeeper to personally take our family card and go to Imperial Wang’sfamily house immediately!” Luo Mama immediately acquiesced and rushed off torelay her orders.

If one were apasserby, one would be curious over the happenings that happened from 1-3AMthat night. The Li family’s door had burst open and one would have witnessedthe head housekeeper hastily getting on a horse. Likewise, the attendantsfollowed suit and galloped into the inky blackness of the night, leaving onlythe trace of the sound of the horse’s hooves behind.

Unfortunately, thehousekeeper was met by a dismal sight upon reaching the Imperial Physician’shouse. The door of the imperial physician was shut tight. Only with greatdifficulty could the housekeeper cajole the guards on duty to pry the largedoor open.

He was faced withthe devastating news that the Empress dowager was suddenly afflicted by an illnessand had recruited the entire team of imperial physicians for consultation anddiagnostics. Naturally Wang physician, being an imperial physician, had to goas well. The Li housekeeper pressed on anxiously and asked if the attendantsknew when the Wang master would be back. The attendants could only look at eachother mutedly, shaking their heads; after all who would know the innerhappenings of the imperial palace!

The Li housekeepercould only rush back to the Li household to report the circumstances. Uponhearing the news Li Xiao Ran was naturally extremely anxious.

He suddenly stood upand said, “I will go to the palace personally to wait!”

As the primeminister, a single weakness on his part would allow his enemies to pounce onhim. He could not tell the emperor words such as ,”my son had suddenly fallenill, could you ask your imperial wife to give me one of her physicians when sheherself was ill”

Hence Li Xiao Rancould only wait and hope the treatment to the imperial dowager would endfaster.

In actual fact, suchcalling a physician for a concubine’s son could be left to the Li Housekeeper,for a concubine’s son was of no significance. To actually call an imperialphysician was overstretching it, a mere doctor would suffice for a concubine son’streatment. But Li Xiao Ran was so agitated and anxious as he prized having ason. Given that Li Xiao Ran was one of the most senior ministers, the imperialphysicians did not dare to make him wait!

While Li Xiao Ranentered the palace, Lao Fu Ren anxiously waited for the news from Li Xiao Ran.

Jiang Yue Langravely said, “Lao Fu Ren don’t worry. Min Zhi will pull through”

Her face revealedtraces of sincere worries. Even though she had only taken care of this childfor a few days, she wasn’t a block of wood and would have formed an attachmentto the child. Moreover, unlike the Li Chang Le who was inwardly taking delightin the misfortunes of Li Wei Yang, she had no particular grievances towards WeiYang and her mother.

Rather, she had avague inkling that the current situation in the city was bad. In fact, the DongHe household ad recently lost their 4 sons prematurely and Jiang Yue was afraidMin Zhi would follow suit.

As Bai Zhi observedWei Yang she noticed that while Wei Yang’s facial expressions were serene andpeaceful, only her trembling fingertips betrayed her inner turmoil. In the end,Wei Yang had pinched herself and tightly clenched her fist to stop hertrembling.

Si Yi Niang surveyedthe gloomy atmosphere and gently advised, “Yes Lao Fu Ren, Mistress has advisedyou righty, Si shao ye will definitely recover.” As she finished, she caught aglance of Wei Yang giving her a glare. She immediately clammed up. Even thoughwhat she said sounded caring, she inwardly rejoiced and could not waitfor Li Min Zhi to die prematurely. Si Yi Niang’s gloating over someone else’smisfortunes were in part because she had not been able to give birth to a boyand had taken a lot of effort just to conceive a girl. All this was thanks tothe meddling of the now deceased Da Fu Ren. Naturally she hated that Da Fu Renwho she had suffered under, but right now with Da Fu Ren dead, she transferredher hate over to Qi Yi Niang. Originally Qi Yi Niang’s status could not compareto anyone in the Li Household and she was at the lowest rungs of the LiHousehold. Yet she had even managed to conceive a precious son and was nowbestowed a title and. Even if Qi Yi Niang never won back the favor of Li XiaoRan, the birth of a son would ensure that Qi Yi Niang would live her dayscomfortably without worries. With such developments, Si Yi Niang naturallyhoped Li Min Zhi would die prematurely so Qi Yi Niang would fall out of favor.

Who knew that her darkest thoughts werediscovered by just one sharp pierce of Li Wei Yang’s glare. Si Yi Niang wasdeeply flustered. To be discovered by Li Wei Yang of all people, no good thingcould come out of it!

Li Chang Le laughed,her laughter carrying like silver bells, “It’s a pity that Si Di has to sufferso much at such a young age. It must be due to him bearing the karma of hismother’s evil sins.”

Upon hearing her,Loa Fu Ren snorted coldly and drew a long-drawn sigh. Li Wei Yang suddenlystood up, her abruptness gave Li Chang le a start as she watchfully monitoredWei Yang’s reaction.

Contrary toexpectation, Li Wei Yang did not get angry and yet calmly said, “This room isgetting too stuffy, I’m going out for a breath of fresh air”

As Wei Yang walkedout of the door, she was greeted by Li Min De rushing towards her. His back wasdrenched with dew as if he had just come back home. Upon seeing Li Wei Yang, hesaid, “I’ve already prepared a carriage, let’s go!”)

Puzzled, Li Wei Yangasked, “Where to?”

“To just stand hereand dazedly do nothing is not helping! I’ve heard people saying that there is aMaster physician in Da Li. As long as the person has not drawn his last breath,he is able to save them from the brink of death! The only flaw is that hispersonality is rather quirky and he refuses to enter the palace to be animperial physician”

Is such a personeven real?” Startled, Li Wei Yang searched her recesses of her memory.

“Are you talkingabout Lu Xiao?!”

Wei Yang had beentoo frazzled and had even forgotten about Lu Xiao’s existence.

Lu Xiao, or as thepublic called him Lu Gong(“Gong” is ancient China was a title reserved forpeople of highest honors, for example, a duke) was indeed a gifted surgeon. Hisskills were not restricted to just the art of healing. He could accurately pinpoint the root cause to the patient’s illness. In fact, if he told you that hecould treat the illness, it was as good as any other doctor meaning you couldbe cured from your illness permanently.

There was a famouscase that Lu Gong had treated. The patient had complained he suffered from aheadache. After feeling his pulse, Lu Gong could accurately determine that theillness was too severe and could not be saved. He had told the patient’s brother,“Your brother has contracted a particular illness that will start showing itseffect in his digestive system. In 5 days’ time, his stomach would bloat and in8 days’ time, he will vomit out pus and die.”

There was anotheroccasion where he used TCM to treat a noble’s son. The son was only 17 yearsold and once Lu Gong saw him, he diagnosed and said, “Your inner organs areweak. You need to diligently take the medicine I prescribe to you for a year,or else your whole body’s hair will shed and drop off. The youth was ratherskeptical and did not diligently take the medicine. Indeed, by the age of 25,his hair, his eyebrows had dropped off.

The most famousexample was the Lu Gong and the Imperial Family. The Late Emperor’s cherishedConcubine Liu concubine fell ill. Using every possible way, the late Emperorsearched for Lu Gong to render his expertise.

With one look, LuGong diagnosed and said, “Your sickness has already taken root, we need to cutopen your abdomen to heal. However, it is the heaven’s fate that you can onlylive for two more years. Even if you do the surgery, it is pre-ordained thatyou can only live for those 2 years.” At the Emperor’s command, he commandedthat Lu Gong was to try every possible means to cure her anyway. But during thosetwo years, Liu Fei died.

Lu Gong’s accurate predictions was picked upspeedily by the locals and became sensational news. Due to Lu Gong’s stellarskills and his frank nature, he became Da Li’s star doctor with his nametravelling far and wide. However, the late Emperor continued to suspect Lu Gongwas not skilled enough to safe Concubine Liu. He thought Lu Gong had concoctedthe two-year death as a story and hence treated him as a wanted criminal andcontinuously hunted Lu Gong down. Lu Gong gradually turned against the royalthrone and decided to wander about, disappearing without a trace.

How exactly did LiMin De manage to find this elusive and mysterious doctor?

Before Wei Yangcould ask, Min De rapidly said this as he instructed Bai Zhi to saddle Li WeiYang up., “Because your body was weak the last time, I had already expended allmy efforts to procure this Master Physician Lu Gong. I found out he wasresiding in Kyoto Japan but I didn’t know the specific address. Half a monthago, I finally managed to find his residence. However, no matter how many timesI visited his residence, he was not around. Right now, we are at our witsend-If Min Zhi is meant to survive this, then by the grace of the heavens, wewill be able to find him this time!”

Once Li Wei Yang hadheard that Li Min De had previously searched for Lu Gong far and wide for hersake, she was stunned momentarily. However, the situation at hand was pressingand she did not want to tarry further. Her questions would have to wait. Wei Yangrapidly climbed up the horse saying, “Let’s hope we’re not going on a wildgoose chase.”

Li Min De nodded, his fine porcelain facerevealed a trace of determination.

The carriagetrundled on continuously for no less than 12 hours. Finally, it stopped at ahouse.

Li Wei Yang had notuttered a single word during the ride. She grabbed tightly to the handrail withsweaty palms. Li Min De could perceive that she was nervous and panicky.Wordlessly, he placed his palm on hers and patted it, wanting to give herreassurance and comfort. Only then did Li Wei Yang regain her resolutecalmness.

The house had a veryelegant exterior. Unfortunately, the gatekeeper arrogantly called out“I’ve already toldyou that my master isn’t in. Yet you’re coming back again at midnight.Are you crazy?”

Min De called out,“But this time, someone is very sick and needs help!”

The gatekeepercoldly said “ I don’t care what sort of illness he has. He’s not in!”

Li Min De lost hiscomposure and commanded, “Zhao Nan!”

Before the guardcould even react, a sharp blade was pressed at the gatekeeper’s throat. Thegatekeeper was scared out of his wits.

Li Wei Yang hurriedly intervened, “You knowthat even if we’re patient, the blade is never patient with its victims. I’ll betyou before your master can come back home, you would have been dead and even LuGong would not be able to revive you!”

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Translator: Jing Hui

Editor: Jing Hui

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