With the help of the connections that Eunuch Shou still had in the palace, the person that Long En found for Lanxiang from the Imperial Medical Academy was none other than Zhang Zhiyuan, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.
Following Long En's footsteps, they arrived at a secluded corner.
Upon entering the room and passing the screen, we finally met the patient in person.
The first thing that caught the eye after Lanxiang slowly removed the veil covering her neck was a shocking patch of festering sores.
Zhang Zhiyuan seemed completely taken aback. He was stunned to find that the patient he was to see today was so young yet already showing such obvious symptoms. He stood there dumbfounded.
In fact, even without taking her pulse, he already knew her condition.
However, to be considerate of the patient's feelings, he still lifted the corner of his robe and slowly sat down.
He took out a handkerchief and draped it over Lanxiang's wrist, then closed his eyes and carefully took her pulse.
Sure enough, her situation was exactly as she had imagined.
"It's ready!"
Finally, after Zhang Zhiyuan opened his eyes and said those words, he stood up, walked around the screen again, and went out.
Seeing this, Long En quickly told Lan Xiang, "Rest here for a while, I'll be right back!"
He then followed closely behind Zhang Zhiyuan and strode out.
Once they reached the outer courtyard, making sure Lanxiang inside wouldn't overhear their conversation, Long En asked, "How was it? I've heard that in the entire Imperial Medical Academy, only your medical skills, Dr. Zhang, are unmatched. I wonder if Dr. Zhang could cure her?"
Zhang Zhiyuan didn't speak, but instead raised his hand to stroke his short beard, as if he was thinking about something.
Long En immediately understood and promised him, "Rest assured, Imperial Physician Zhang, if you can cure her, I will grant you anything you desire in this world!"
Seeing this, Zhang Zhiyuan couldn't help but wonder: "As the Empress Dowager's new favorite, what exactly is his relationship with this woman? That he would go to such lengths to seek medical treatment for her, but alas..."
Seeing that Zhang Zhiyuan seemed lost in thought, Long En softly called out, "Your Excellency, the Imperial Physician..."
Instantly, Zhang Zhiyuan snapped out of his daze and said, "Too late..."
Upon hearing this, Long En stared at him for a moment, then repeated, "Too late?"
Zhang Zhiyuan shifted his gaze to Long En's face and said earnestly, "It's truly too late for you to come to me now! If treatment had started earlier, there might have been a sliver of hope, but now..."
Upon hearing this, Long En neither believed nor wanted to believe that this would be the outcome.
He refused to accept it: "No, this is impossible. She is so young. She cannot die. She absolutely cannot die! Your Honor, you must have a way. You must have a way, right?"
Clearly, this was his last hope. Thinking that perhaps the chips he offered weren't enough, he gritted his teeth and decided to increase his bet.
"Are you saying the offer isn't enough? Here's what we'll do: you save her. If you save her, I guarantee that one day the entire Imperial Medical Academy will be yours. I promise you, you believe me!"
He paused, then added, "If that doesn't work, how about I grant you a title and appoint you as prime minister?"
"ah?"
Please!
"I beg you, save her! She's just a child; this shouldn't have happened to her!"
"Please save her!"
Please!
"real!"
"I'll give you anything you want, just save her. She can't die. The one who deserves to die is me, it's me!"
"I'm the one who wronged her!"
"It's my fault!"
"It's my fault!"
"It's my fault!"
...
Finally, as if he had lost his mind, Long En kept repeating this sentence.
At this moment, every word that Long En said, who was on the verge of collapse, shocked Zhang Zhiyuan.
"Who exactly is he, and why does he dare to say such things! But in any case, his feelings for that woman seem genuine."
Seeing Long En's helplessness, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly thought of someone and murmured, "Perhaps there is someone..."
Upon hearing this faint voice, Long En immediately perked up and asked, "Who is it?"
Zhang Zhiyuan said weakly, "The Yi Mansion in the west of the city..."
He stopped speaking before he could finish.
Seeing Long En's puzzled look, Zhang Zhiyuan continued to explain, "She not only cured the Empress Dowager's incurable illness, which even I was powerless to treat, but also successfully cured the current Crown Prince's smallpox, a feat no one in the world could accomplish. Her medical skills are, arguably, far superior to mine. If she weren't a woman, I believe she would have achieved even greater things if we were both in the Imperial Hospital!"
Just as Long En was itching to ask where this person was, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly looked troubled and said, "Unfortunately..."
Long En hurriedly asked, "What's the pity?"
Zhang Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's just a pity that she passed away more than half a year ago..."
The glimmer of hope that had just been ignited was quickly extinguished.
After thinking for a moment, Long En could only plead with Zhang Zhiyuan again, saying, "Things have come to this point, so I hope that Your Honor can prescribe a treatment for her first, so that she won't be so desperate. Even if it can only alleviate her pain a little bit, it would be good!"
Zhang Zhiyuan pondered for a moment and then agreed: "I will do my best to help!"
"Thanks!"
After thanking him, Long En personally saw Zhang Zhiyuan out.
Little did they know.
Lanxiang, who had secretly followed them out, overheard their entire conversation from the side.
She never expected that Long En would actually care about her so much, willing to give everything to cure her illness.
Over the years, in this world, besides my grandmother, he was the first person who truly treated me well.
Upon realizing this, Lanxiang couldn't help but quietly shed tears.
He muttered to himself, "It's too late. If it had been earlier, would the outcome have been different? Why did you appear so late! Now that things are like this, how can I continue to hate you?!"
Just then, a creaking sound was heard.
Seeing that Long En had seen Zhang Zhiyuan off, he tightly closed the courtyard gate.
Lanxiang quickly wiped away the tears on her face, rushed back into the house, and sat down in her original spot.
A moment later, no matter how hard he tried to hide his inner emotions, Long En still entered the room with a somewhat melancholy expression.
Lanxiang pretended to know nothing and asked, "How is it? What did the imperial physician say?"
Long En replied, "Don't worry, those quack doctors in the village misled people before. I just asked them myself, and the imperial physician said your illness is not serious. They've already gone back to prepare the medicine, so don't worry! You'll definitely recover soon!"
Lanxiang smiled slightly and said, "That's good!"
Then, surprisingly, he said to Long En calmly for the first time, "Thank you!"
"What did you say?!"
Upon hearing this, Long En suddenly felt as if a ray of light had suddenly shone into his world, which had been shrouded in darkness for countless years.
It was so bright and warm.
But when he seemed not satisfied with just a word of thanks and reached out to touch her hair, Lanxiang suddenly dodged away.
And so, Long En's outstretched hand remained suspended in mid-air.
At this moment, Lanxiang changed the subject, saying, "I've been traveling all night, and I'm a little sleepy now. I'd like to rest for a while!"
Long Endon snapped out of his daze and said, "Oh, then you rest a little longer. I'll bring the medicine to you personally when it's ready!"
Lanxiang nodded.
Long En then turned and left.
At this moment, Lanxiang started talking to herself while shedding tears.
"Mother, did you see everything?"
Should he be forgiven?
Before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve.
The Prince of Qin's Mansion.
Consort Chun has fully recovered, but she has not made it public and still spends her days in Zihexuan.
Therefore, only Lu Tianjiao remained to represent the Prince of Qin's Mansion and attend tonight's palace banquet.
With Xuanyuan Han absent again, in order to prevent Consort Chun from feeling that the New Year was particularly lonely, everyone gathered at Zihe Pavilion, where they ate New Year's Eve dinner together, set off fireworks, and stayed up all night.
After the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, Consort Chun gave everyone in the entire household, from top to bottom, a thick red envelope.
Next, it's time to enjoy the fireworks.
Seeing the smile on Consort Chun's face, which she hadn't seen in a long time, Huan'er was so overjoyed that she blurted out something.
"Thanks to the Queen's Dendrobium King, our Queen was able to have a happy New Year."
Upon hearing this, everyone who thought of Yi Shangyun and the blissful smile on Consort Chun's face suddenly began to fade.
Granny Zhang glanced at Huan'er, who silently lowered her head and began to rub the handkerchief in her hand.
At that moment, a loud "bang" rang out.
The first dazzling firework of the night rose into the sky and exploded.
Then, Granny Zhang changed the subject, saying, "Your Highness, look! This year's fireworks were personally found by His Highness to please you!"
The fireworks seemed to turn the entire sky red the moment they exploded.
Even the surrounding mountains were illuminated and clearly visible.
Huan'er couldn't hide her excitement and said, "Could this be the legendary 'Prosperous Landscape,' a sight to behold that is rare and hard to come by? I've heard that even the royal family couldn't obtain it even with a fortune. Indeed, under the glow of the fireworks, the landscape appears even more magnificent. Don't you agree?"
"Yes, yes, yes..." The people around nodded in agreement.
Immediately afterwards, there was another "bang".
The fireworks burst into bloom high in the sky, illuminating the entire night sky. Then, countless colorful flowers fell like stars, creating a breathtaking spectacle!
Even the usually taciturn Imperial Physician Yue couldn't help but excitedly introduce, "This firework is called 'Spring Returns to the Earth,' doesn't it look just like the colorful flowers blooming everywhere in spring?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Next, one brilliant firework after another exploded in the sky, each one more dazzling and spectacular than the last.
Although Xuanyuan Han concealed his true purpose for going out from everyone in the household, Consort Chun knew perfectly well that the more tightly he kept it a secret, the more dangerous it was.
At this moment, gazing at the dazzling fireworks in the sky above, Consort Chun silently shed tears.
She silently prayed in her heart, "My son, you must come back safely! Your mother finally understands that in my heart, only your happiness makes me happy! Seeing you happy is more dazzling than any fireworks for me!"
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