Their fate was like willow catkins, drifting with the wind
Dr. Hu’s legs went weak, and he almost fainted on the spot.
A stroke was not an easy illness to cure.
Some people, after an acute attack and failing to receive timely treatment, died on the spot. Those who had milder symptoms, even though they retrieved a life, had their limbs disobey them from then on, suffered half-body paralysis, spoke indistinctly, and appeared strange in shape and form, and in remote villages, they were even regarded as being possessed by evil spirits.
If the one who contracted this illness was an elderly patriarch in a noble family, the descendants, out of filial piety, would still pay respects morning and evening, and would have servants and maids serve him wholeheartedly.
What about the favored concubines in the palace?
They originally served others with their beauty, and now that they would lose even their normal appearance, how could they possibly retain the emperor’s honored favor and care?
Dr. Hu did not pity the unfortunate fate that awaited that noble person in the inner hall, but pitied himself.
King Ning was so anxious, it could be seen that he cherished this noble person dearly, and when he discovered that she had been saved but could not continue to be favored, would he not vent his anger on the physician?
Dr. Hu only married after he passed thirty years of age, and he could not rest easy about either his delicate wife or his young child at home. He had been inexplicably taken into the palace, and upon hearing that the noble person had suffered a stroke, even if he had confidence in his own medical skills, he felt a surge of despair at this moment.
There were truly very few who could recover completely after a stroke.
Thus, Dr. Hu’s face turned ashen, and he moved forward step by step into the inner hall.
Master Mingbian’s expression was solemn, he really was not too afraid of King Ning’s threats, he was a monk, and viewed life and death lightly, even if King Ning flew into a rage and had him executed, he probably would not shift his anger onto Jinggu Temple over there, after all, King Ning still openly professed faith in Buddhism.
What made Master Mingbian feel troubled were the “symptoms” described by King Ning and the Imperial Physician-in-Chief.
Most stroke patients were elderly, and the youngest patient Master Mingbian had ever seen was nearly forty years old.
For example, that middle-aged scholar who fell ill in Jinggu Temple today.
That scholar had a bad habit of heavy drinking, and when he had money, he stayed on flower boats all day long. When he had no money, he would come to stay in the side rooms of the temple. Because he could write some beautiful lyrics and tunes, he was actually quite flattered, and there were often people who invited him to drink. Whenever he drank, he would become thoroughly drunk, regardless of day or night, and it was common for him to remain drunk for a whole day and night.
Because he frequently came and went at Jinggu Temple, Master Mingbian had also advised that scholar a few times, but the other party obviously did not take it to heart.
The favored concubines in King Ning’s palace could not possibly be in their thirties or forties, nor could they possibly indulge in excessive drinking. Could it be caused by some other illness?
Master Mingbian became troubled.
The inner hall had curtains hanging everywhere, no incense was lit, the eunuchs and palace maids wore fearful expressions, and they did not know whether they feared that the repeated “evil encounters” among palace concubines would confirm that there were ghosts in the palace, or whether they feared that if the noble person they served unfortunately died, their own lives would also be in jeopardy.
A strong medicinal smell permeated the hall.
The Imperial Physician-in-Chief did not say much and first had them take the noble person’s pulse.
Everyone present was proficient in medicine, and at this moment, no one played any tricks like suspended silk pulse diagnosis, and even if it was once the top expert physician Qin, using a long silk thread would still not discern the pulse condition.
Master Mingbian went first, Dr. Hu refused to come forward, and Mo Li then became the second.
The palace maid lifted the curtain, and the person lying on the bed originally had a bright and captivating face, but now the corners of her mouth were slightly crooked, her consciousness muddled. Even if someone held a brightly lit lamp up to her face, she had no reaction at all.
Mo Li’s heart sank.
He believed that the imperial physicians here under King Ning’s command were not incompetent. They must have already used all the common needle techniques, yet seeing that her condition remained poor, it was likely that she truly could not be saved.
A pair of old, wrinkled fingers lightly placed themselves on the woman’s slender wrist, and Mo Li, under the gaze of everyone in the room, began taking her pulse.
Just like Master Mingbian, Mo Li also suspected that this stroke was caused by another illness. After all, there were many strange “poisons” in the world. It could not be said that none could cause a stroke, but every onset had its mechanism. To deceive the eyes of so many imperial physicians, that level of poisoning skill could probably rival that of Xue Lingjun.
Master Mingbian spoke quietly with the Imperial Physician-in-Chief.
The patient was unconscious, and it would be difficult to ask what she had done before falling ill.
Master Mingbian could only go and ask the palace maids and eunuchs beside the concubine, but since this involved palace affairs, it was inconvenient for him, so he could only seek out the Imperial Physician-in-Chief.
Dr. Hu resolved not to step forward, and remained silent in the back, acting like a quail.
Mo Li kept taking the pulse, and his frown grew deeper and deeper.
The sand rat in his arms quietly listened to Mo Li’s heartbeat. It noticed that Mo Li had remained silent for a long time, so it could not help but quietly climb upward, peeking out from a gap in the clothing.
“Fetch the silver needles.”
Mo Li suddenly looked up and spoke.
Everyone in the room was shocked and looked at him.
At this time, if one could move their mouth, they would never move their hands. Seeing that this noble person was in dire condition, whoever treated her would be even more unlucky. If King Ning insisted that you treated her poorly, causing her death, then no number of heads would be enough to behead.
Master Mingbian wanted to dissuade him, but upon seeing Mo Li’s focused look while taking the pulse, the old monk swallowed his words back down.
“This… old gentleman, how did you plan to administer the needles?” the Imperial Physician-in-Chief asked according to palace rules.
Once a treatment plan was proposed, it had to be sent to the side hall for other imperial physicians to review. At least half of them had to agree before it could be implemented.
Because no one wanted to bear the risk.
Mo Li did not answer. He took the brush handed over by the eunuch and quickly began to write.
The Imperial Physician-in-Chief was pondering over this piece of paper when King Ning unexpectedly entered.
“What illness did my beloved consort actually have?” King Ning firmly believed in the theory of someone secretly harming her, convinced that the palace’s imperial physicians were all useless, unable to see the real cause.
Mo Li was different from other doctors. He did not like to argue endlessly about medicinal principles with people, nor compare the pulse conditions against medical texts, unless he was teaching someone or learning from others. Perhaps because he had dealt with common folk for a long time, talking about all that was useless. The common folk did not understand, so it was better to directly say how serious it was, what medicine to take, and what taboos to observe.
Now there was even less need to speak. The woman’s pulse condition was very obvious, and the imperial physicians had probably said it four or five times already.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Master Mingbian quickly said, “Amitabha, there was evidence of qi stagnation and blood stasis, but…”
“But what?” King Ning pressed.
Mo Li had already seen that King Ning might not have truly cherished this woman lying in bed. His fury sprang more from fear, fear that the hidden “assailant” would target him and also turn him into a half-paralyzed figure with a crooked mouth and nose.
The so-called “if it could not be cured, then follow into the grave” was because King Ning had panicked.
Such incidents had happened several times already, and each time the imperial physicians could not find the cause.
The palace concubines were young and beautiful, and even if one had a congenital ailment that induced a stroke, it could not be that everyone had hidden ailments, right?
Master Mingbian had a severe headache. After finishing taking the pulse, he finally understood the difficulty for the Imperial Physician-in-Chief—after all, they were just doctors, not officials who solved cases, nor were they the Jinyiwei who could investigate secret matters. They themselves also found it strange what was happening to the patients!
“It’s just that the onset was too rapid. Logically, for someone as young as the noble person, even if there were signs of qi stagnation and blood stasis, it should not be like this.”
Master Mingbian left one sentence unsaid: logically, the palace usually had routine pulse examinations.
This rule was not exclusive to the palace; generally, noble families who employed doctors followed it too, once every ten days or half a month. How could it appear so quickly and the illness flare up so swiftly?
The problem that Master Mingbian could not comprehend also arose in Mo Li’s mind. The only difference was that he could use internal power (spiritual energy) to resolve the blockage in the woman’s heart meridian.
King Ning saw that these three people could say nothing useful. Mo Li sat there calmly. He was about to lose his temper when he suddenly met Mo Li’s gaze.
“……”
Those were not eyes of someone old and withered.
They seemed like an abyss, like an ancient well, impossible to fathom.
King Ning shuddered. When he looked again, Mo Li was once more an old and weak figure.
“Your Majesty! The Western Garden… something happened in the Western Garden!”
Outside, a eunuch staggered in, his face ashen, and knelt down, knocking his head on the floor.
This eunuch was very young, wearing ordinary gray-blue attire. At a glance, one could tell that he had been pushed out by others to take on this dangerous task of delivering bad news.
“Concubine Chen in the Western Garden suddenly became critically ill, urgently requested an imperial physician!”
“What?!”
King Ning suddenly stood up, glared with wide eyes, as if he wanted to devour someone.
In the height of summer, he actually broke out in a cold sweat. The hall was brightly lit, yet he felt as if a fierce ghost lurked in the darkness, spying on him.
“What illness was it, it was also… also…” King Ning’s voice trembled.
The eunuch who delivered the message nodded cautiously and was just about to continue, when King Ning, his face twisted, had already kicked out with one foot.
The eunuch did not dare to dodge at all, his entire body stiff——
“Thud.”
King Ning lunged forward.
He had originally raised his right foot high, intending to kick at the eunuch’s chest, but his supporting left leg inexplicably collapsed.
“Ah!” King Ning screamed.
With this move, he directly pulled a muscle and fell so hard that he could not even stand up.
The inner hall fell into chaos. Mo Li no longer wanted the silver needles. Instead, he first used true energy to infuse her acupoints, clearing the meridians for the unconscious woman on the bed.
Just one round achieved slight results, but to cure her required gradual progress.
Mo Li stood up and asked the stunned Imperial Physician-in-Chief beside him, “Where was the Western Garden?”
The Imperial Physician-in-Chief snapped back to his senses and hurriedly asked King Ning.
At this moment, another eunuch rushed in, weeping, “Your Majesty, Concubine Chen passed away!”
Master Mingbian closed his eyes and recited Buddha’s name.
King Ning, both enraged and distressed, cursed, “Useless trash, idiots! Did the imperial physicians not go?”
“The imperial physicians… the imperial physicians were all here with Beauty Zhu!”
King Ning choked. At this time, the Imperial Physician-in-Chief hurriedly volunteered to go and examine Concubine Chen’s corpse in the Western Garden, and the fearsome King Ning immediately agreed.
Mo Li spoke up at just the right time, saying that there were some clues and that it was necessary to observe more patients’ situations.
At this time, his elderly appearance proved advantageous. Remaining calm and unflustered, he wrote down a rather insightful needle technique. The Imperial Physician-in-Chief immediately agreed and even spoke in support of Mo Li.
King Ning had begun to suspect even the imperial physicians within the palace; otherwise, he would not have ordered bringing in outside doctors. Yet he also feared death, so he actually ordered someone to carry Concubine Chen’s corpse over.
Everyone looked at each other.
Even if she died suddenly, a concubine should still have basic dignity. What would become of her if they kept moving her around like this?
Yet they did not dare to contradict King Ning.
Mo Li spoke calmly without showing emotion, “Since Your Majesty wished to know the truth behind the consecutive sudden deaths of your concubines, you should start from their diet and daily life. A physician also needed to ask the patients these things. Now that a noble person had died of an incurable ailment, just by looking at the corpse, one could not discern anything. One must go and examine the places where they lived.”
King Ning sized Mo Li up suspiciously, “Are you a famous doctor in Ningtai City?”
“This old man came to Ningtai City from another place to visit a friend, but unfortunately the friend had already passed away. He wished to lodge at Jinggu Temple, and it just so happened that the palace came to ‘invite’ doctors.” Mo Li placed slight emphasis on the word ‘invite.’ He did not wish to argue with King Ning now; he only wanted to understand the cause of these women dying one after another.
Even though his back was hunched and his gaze was clouded, when Mo Li spoke neither humbly nor haughtily, a distinctive aura still emanated.
King Ning’s expression turned stern, realizing that this time he might truly have invited a reclusive divine physician or someone of that caliber.
Although he did not know Mo Li’s true identity, fear of death prevailed. King Ning immediately agreed and even sent someone to lead Mo Li over.
Upon exiting, they happened to encounter Vice Supervisor Xu, who looked like a toad.
Vice Supervisor Xu had brought two more folk doctors, thinking he had finished his errand, only to be once again tasked with going to the Western Garden. He almost sat down on the ground in despair.
Along with that, the look he gave Mo Li was not too friendly either.
Mo Li certainly did not go alone; Master Mingbian also followed, as well as two imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau.
The Western Garden was far away. This time, with King Ning’s order (King Ning saw that Master Mingbian was a monk and also believed Mo Li’s identity to be extraordinary), there were two small sedan chairs for them to ride.
They were the kind of sedan chairs with two carrying poles and a single chair, open on all sides.
It was better than nothing.
The sand rat took the opportunity to slip out from Mo Li’s collar. Mo Li’s position was high, so no one could see it.
It shook its head, and the wind blew its fur askew.
The sand rat folded its arms in thought. Actually, it also suspected opium poppy, but judging from Mo Li’s reaction, clearly that was not the case.
The Western Garden resounded with weeping. Without orders, no white banners could be hung nor mourning offered. King Ning had many concubines. When Mo Li entered, he vaguely saw under the lamplight a group of women retreating one after another. Presumably, these were the women living in the Western Garden.
The deceased Concubine Chen might not have had such good relations, and these women cried out of fear, afraid that tomorrow it would be themselves who died of a sudden illness.
Mo Li’s steps became heavy.
Concubine Chen’s corpse had not been moved. She looked very young, only in her teens, just like Beauty Zhu.
The palace maids had already wiped her face clean. She now looked as if she were asleep.
“Bring a handkerchief.” Mo Li indicated to the eunuch to wipe off the rouge and powder from Concubine Chen’s face.
Vice Supervisor Xu refused with a mocking smile, sarcastically saying, “It seemed that Commander Ma and the others handled matters thoroughly. The doctors they invited could not only treat the living, but could also examine the dead.”
Mo Li ignored him. His gaze suddenly fell on a certain spot inside the bed curtains.
Golden rings.
They looked like decorative fixtures on a luxurious bed, but unless one intended to bind someone to the bed, there was no need for such things.
Mo Li had not noticed at first, except there were also such things on Beauty Zhu’s side.
Mo Li frowned slightly. As a physician, he naturally had heard of certain “diseases,” but no matter what kind of eccentricities, they should not have caused strokes again and again.
Something was wrong!
Mo Li’s gaze stopped at Concubine Chen’s neck. There were several purple marks that did not resemble postmortem bruises.
He suddenly grabbed the curtain and wiped away Concubine Chen’s powder, only to see her face pale and her lips dark purple.
“What are you doing?” Vice Supervisor Xu shouted sternly.
Concubine Chen was already dead. Mo Li could not use his internal energy to check for blood blockages in the corpse’s meridians. He reversed his grip and lifted Vice Supervisor Xu up, asking in a cold voice, “Did King Ning stay here with Concubine Chen last night?”
“You asked this…”
Vice Supervisor Xu’s voice froze abruptly. Under Mo Li’s gaze, his mind went blank, trembling all over.
Master Mingbian stared dumbfounded at the “old doctor,” who had been wobbling with each step just a moment ago, suddenly becoming so formidable as to lift a big toad-like man with one hand. He stuttered, “Layman, please calm down. Did you discover something?”
Mo Li’s fingers fell on the side of the corpse’s neck. He spoke in a deep voice, “We physicians knew that the human neck was extremely fragile. Applying slight force could cause unconsciousness.”
People of the martial world were more accustomed to chopping at the neck to knock someone out.
The two imperial physicians and Master Mingbian stared at the corpse, vaguely realizing something, yet they could not grasp the fleeting thought.
“Were there any women in the palace who were prone to fainting? When it struck, they convulsed, their limbs grew cold, and their lips turned purplish?” Mo Li pursued.
The imperial physicians nodded, saying it was due to blood deficiency, most of them could be saved, only they could not find the cause.
Master Mingbian also saw clearly that Concubine Chen did not die of a stroke, but died because of blood deficiency and the lack of timely rescue since no imperial physicians were present.
This palace was truly strange and inexplicable.
Master Mingbian, like the imperial physicians, also entered a dead end. He understood all the illnesses and could treat them, yet he had no clue about the cause.
“Right here.” Mo Li lowered his head to look at the side of Concubine Chen’s neck. Previously, he had not seen it on Beauty Zhu because the imperial physicians had already used medicine for qi stagnation and blood stasis, and Beauty Zhu’s onset was not today. The bruises had long faded under blood-activating herbs and acupuncture, but Concubine Chen was dead. After death, the previously “injured” places became even more conspicuous.
“The one who caused everyone in this palace to be on edge was not someone else, but King Ning.”
King Ning had killed these young women in their prime.
Mo Li was not only a physician, but he had also studied martial arts.
Qin Lu once told him that when striking someone’s neck to knock them unconscious, one must pay attention to the angle and cannot repeatedly chop at the same person’s neck frequently. If that area became damaged, it would be fatal.
In his early years, Old Mr. Qin had treated a man of the martial world who suffered from this illness. That person loved to drink and behaved poorly when drunk. Each time he got drunk, he caused a big scene, and others had to chop him at the neck to quiet him. Over time, he eventually fell ill.
His limbs turned cold, his lips darkened purple, and his face turned pale.
Other physicians treated it as blood deficiency and could not find the cause. After several episodes, the man lost half his life.
Qin Lu had spent considerable effort to discover this and felt shocked.
As for the current situation, King Ning naturally did not enjoy knocking people unconscious on the bed. He was getting older and physically weak, inevitably lacking strength.
In recent years, perhaps he had learned some new tricks, lingering among his back courtyards.
Whether it was strangling with soft ropes or blood stasis caused by indulging in beauty and sucking on that spot, over time it would be deadly.
Those who were lucky would have the blood stasis dissipate, but still suffer damage, falling ill like that martial world man Old Mr. Qin had treated.
Those who were unlucky would have the clotted blood fall off in a chunk, flow within the body, and finally block the heart meridian or the brain…
Thus, the more King Ning favored someone, the faster she died.
Author’s note:
The carotid sinus was located on the inside of the jaw area. You could look it up online. Pressing there would cause problems.
If you repeatedly sucked there, giving “hickeys” and such, it might cause carotid sinus syndrome, so it was best not to do it.
Beauty Zhu suffered carotid sinus damage, and the “hickey” turned into a blood clot that fell off one day later. The blood clot flowed into her heart and brain, causing a stroke.
Another example was Concubine Chen, who developed carotid sinus syndrome and could not be saved in time.
The probability of a stroke was not that high; it was exaggerated in the text.
Actually, at the start, I wanted to write a story of a “serial death case of favored concubines” where the real culprit was not other concubines but the emperor himself.
——————
The sand rat took the opportunity to slip out of the collar. Mo Li’s position was high, and no one could see it.
It shook its head, and the wind blew the sand rat’s fur askew.
[I wanted to add one character in the second paragraph of speech]
It shook its head, and the night wind blew the sand rat’s fur askew.
