After quickly reading the secret letter in his hand, Zhang Zhiyuan was shocked: "Finally, the day I feared most has come. The Emperor has kept me here until today, truly wanting me to do this personally!"
From the very first day he became the judge, he seemed to have expected that he would receive this letter one day, but he never expected it to be tonight.
So many years have passed, and as the saying goes, serving a ruler is like serving a tiger.
Memories flooded back to me.
He would never forget what happened that year during the competition for the position of judge in the new term.
At that time, regardless of medical skills or background, Physician Yue, who had been working quietly in the Prince of Qin's mansion for more than ten years, far surpassed him.
He was merely a pharmacist with a rudimentary understanding of herbs, not even qualified to be an apprentice or do odd jobs for Imperial Physician Yue, who came from a renowned medical family in the capital.
At the age of 10, he was exceptionally allowed to enter the palace with his father, who was his predecessor as a judge in the Imperial Medical Academy, where he worked as an intern.
However, in the final and most crucial competition, Emperor Jing sent someone to secretly cheat him and frame him. In the struggle for the position of court judge, his father, who was also the court judge at the time, deliberately showed favoritism and protected him. When he was treating a palace maid for the most common cold, he made a mistake in the medication, causing the maid's death.
He immediately dismissed the judge from his post and threatened his father that if he did not plead guilty, the lives of his entire family would be in danger.
Left with no other choice, his father had to confess his guilt and was beheaded as a warning to others.
At that time, if it weren't for the strong support of Consort Chun and the young Prince Qin, who were both upright and incorruptible, Physician Yue, who was determined to seek justice for his father even at the cost of his life, would probably have lost his life.
Finally, the news spread beyond the palace and throughout the streets and alleys of Western Qin.
From that moment on, the once-renowned medical family was scorned by the entire city overnight, transformed into wolves in sheep's clothing, ruthless murderers.
Unable to bear the cold stares of the world, the family of Physician Yue all chose to die to prove their loyalty and followed their patriarch, which led to a tragic end.
In the end, only Physician Yue was left, and he was taken in by the Prince of Qin's mansion, thus escaping and surviving.
And I was the one who was blinded by lard, who fueled the flames and testified that the soup that was replaced with poison and given to the palace maid was the one that had been personally examined by the judge of the music academy.
Sure enough, with just this small gesture, he gained a lifetime of wealth and honor, and became prominent in front of others.
For so many years, I have served those so-called masters with trepidation and utmost care.
But in that sudden moment, Zhang Zhiyuan felt relieved.
Then he exclaimed, “Indeed, good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds are punished. It’s not that retribution won’t come, it’s just that the time hasn’t come yet.”
"Retribution! This is the retribution I deserve!"
"My lord, what's wrong? What happened? A message from the palace arrived in the dead of night!"
The butler, seeing that he had never been so happy in his entire life, wondered what had happened and asked.
Zhang Zhiyuan, however, continued to sigh to himself, "It's time!"
"It's time... What time is it? When is it?" The butler was clearly scratching the back of his head, completely confused.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Zhiyuan laughed loudly for a while and then walked out the door.
"What's wrong with the master tonight?"
The butler, equally puzzled, shook his head and followed him out.
Soon, Zhang Zhiyuan was blindfolded and led by the messenger to the gate of the villa.
As soon as he stepped off the carriage, he felt that he was in a particularly unfamiliar and quiet courtyard.
As he was helped through the door, he could tell from the strong breathing that two burly men were guarding the entrance on either side.
So he muttered to himself, "What kind of place is this? Who lives here? Why is it so mysterious? I've been blindfolded the whole way here."
He was momentarily distracted, and as he followed the guide across the threshold, he almost tripped over the high threshold.
The guide swiftly caught him as he tumbled to the ground, and whispered in his ear, "Lord Zhang, watch your step!"
Zhang Zhiyuan gasped in surprise, then tentatively asked, "Where is this place? What is the Emperor doing here? Is someone sick?"
The guide simply said, "Lord Zhang will know soon enough. The Emperor is still waiting inside, so you'd better hurry."
Zhang Zhiyuan explained, "Being blindfolded will inevitably make movement a bit inconvenient."
The guide said, "Once inside, I will remove the covering for you, sir. Please be patient."
Finally, as a ray of light came into view, the black cloth covering Zhang Zhiyuan's eyes was slowly untied by a young guard.
The bodyguard removed the blindfold from his eyes and hurriedly went out.
Inside the vast hall, only Zhang Zhiyuan remained standing there.
In an instant, Emperor Jing and the eunuch also appeared.
Without having time to observe his surroundings, Zhang Zhiyuan immediately knelt down and bowed to him.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"
As Emperor Jing sat down, he asked in a deep voice, "You've arrived!"
Zhang Zhiyuan respectfully bowed to him again and said, "Upon receiving His Majesty's summons, I dared not delay in the slightest and came immediately. I wonder why His Majesty brought me here to..."
Before he could finish speaking, the eunuch beside Emperor Jing spoke first, saying, "Your Excellency, over the years, His Majesty has treated you very well. Do you know that?"
Upon hearing the implication in the man's words, Zhang Zhiyuan dared not raise his head. He simply said, "Without Your Majesty, there would be no me today. Even if I were to die for Your Majesty, I would do my utmost to serve you faithfully."
The eunuch seemed satisfied with his answer and continued, "You know perfectly well, sir! As long as you remain as loyal to the Emperor as you were in the beginning, your future will be bright. In the Imperial Hospital, absolutely no one can shake your position."
Zhang Zhiyuan felt a cold sweat trickle down his forehead. He bent down and pressed himself against the cold floor, saying, "Your Majesty, thank you! Eunuch, thank you!"
Only then did the eunuch give the order: "Get up!"
Zhang Zhiyuan finally stood up shakily and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
The eunuch and Emperor Jing exchanged a glance, seemingly reaching some kind of consensus.
He continued, "Behind the screen on the couch, there is a woman who seems to be dead yet alive, having taken some kind of medicine. If Lord Zhang can wake her up, the Emperor will surely reward you handsomely."
Zhang Zhiyuan immediately replied, "No, no, Your Majesty has bestowed upon me numerous rewards over the years, which is already a great favor. Moreover, saving lives is the duty of a physician. I will go and see right away!"
As he spoke, Zhang Zhiyuan hurriedly picked up the medicine box at his feet and walked straight behind the screen.
"This...isn't this...that girl from Yi Shangkun's family?"
"I heard she had already won the favor of the King of Qin and become the esteemed Queen Consort of Qin. Why is she here now?"
"What is the Emperor's intention in bringing Princess Qin here?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhang Zhiyuan stepped over the screen in the hall and walked to the bedside, he was stunned to see the face of the unconscious woman lying on the bed.
Others wouldn't recognize Yi Shangyun because of her brief time in the palace; she was just a lowly figure. But Zhang Zhiyuan, who had fought alongside him for a long time, recognized her face immediately.
As he was pondering this, the eunuch helped Emperor Jing in. Noticing his hesitation, the eunuch asked, "Does Imperial Physician Zhang know this woman?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiyuan immediately snapped out of his daze and repeatedly denied it, saying, "Oh, no, no, no... This humble subject has also never seen this woman before and does not recognize her! However, this humble subject sees that this woman's complexion is no different from that of an ordinary person, and does not think she looks like she is already dead..."
The eunuch glanced at him and urged, "Since that's the case, why don't you hurry up and check what caused this person, who was perfectly fine before, to suddenly fall into a coma and not wake up yet!"
Zhang Zhiyuan hurriedly stepped forward and sat down. He examined her eyelids, then reached out to feel her pulse, saying, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty, I will carefully examine her pulse now."
Incense smoke rose gently inside the hall, and time passed second by second.
Emperor Jing and his servant stood by, eagerly awaiting Zhang Zhiyuan's diagnosis.
Seeing that she finally slowly raised her hand, she also removed the gauze scarf that was draped over her clothes and wrist.
The eunuch rushed forward and asked anxiously, "How is it?"
Zhang Zhiyuan thought for a moment and said, "This woman is indeed not dead yet!"
The eunuch's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at him again to confirm, "What? Are you telling the truth?"
Zhang Zhiyuan slowly explained, “Our judgment of a person’s death is definitely not as simple as breathing stopping, the heart stopping, the brain ceasing activity, and blood ceasing circulation. We believe that these characteristics alone do not mean that a person is truly dead. The criteria for a person’s death are recorded very clearly in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic…The mother is the foundation, the father is the shield; those who lose their spirit die, those who retain their spirit live!”
At this moment, Emperor Jing seemed to remember something and muttered to himself, "Take the mother as the foundation and the father as the shield. Those who lose their spirit die, and those who gain their spirit live!"
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "That's right, take the mother as the foundation and the father as the shield; those who lose their spirit die, those who gain their spirit live."
"This woman's breathing appeared to be very faint, much like death, yet her body still retained warmth."
As he spoke, he opened his medicine box, took out silver needles, and prepared to perform acupuncture on the patient, pricking the Baihui acupoint.
After that, he gave him another pill.
Sure enough, after a short while, when he took the pulse again, he could clearly feel that the pulse was beating much stronger.
The eunuch waited for a while, and seeing that she still hadn't changed at all, he couldn't wait to ask, "Why hasn't she woken up yet?"
Zhang Zhiyuan seemed to have some doubts as well: "How could this be? According to medical texts, she should be able to sit up by now!"
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