Chapter 3251 Confidant
The emperor ordered someone to send Master Nar Luo away. After lunch, all the ministers took their leave. Only the crown prince and Zhou Manxiao were left behind.
However, only Zhou Man accompanied the emperor into the inner room, while the prince and Xiao Yuanzheng were left outside the emperor's bedroom.
The emperor lifted his robe and sat on the couch with a majestic posture. He looked at Zhou Man and said, "Speak."
Zhou Manchong bowed deeply to the emperor and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, you have been poisoned."
Gu Zhong, who was standing aside holding the medicine box, trembled slightly in his hand and looked at Zhou Man in shock.
The emperor remained calm and composed. He asked, "What kind of poison?"
"Erysalis poison," Zhou Man said seriously, "or rather, the purpose of this elixir is not for immortality, but for the poison it contains."
The emperor frowned and looked at Zhou Man suspiciously, "Could it be that you, like all the other ministers, are against me taking the elixir of immortality and are deliberately deceiving me?"
Zhou Man's eyes widened. "Your Majesty, am I that kind of person?"
She said, "This is medicine and pharmacy, which is my specialty. How could I use it to deceive people?"
Zhou Man paused and said, "Besides, you also said that you never thought that the elixir of immortality could make people immortal. You just wanted to prolong your life and live a few more decades."
"Actually, I have the same idea as you," Zhou Man said. "There may not be a drug in this world that can make people immortal, but there must be something that can prolong people's lifespan, adding decades or even centuries to their lives."
When the emperor heard this, he immediately sat down to the side, making room on the other side of the couch, and beckoned to her, "Come here and talk to me in detail."
Zhou Man stepped forward immediately, and the king and his minister sat cross-legged facing each other. Gu Zhong hesitated for a moment, but finally moved the small low table up and placed it between the two of them, then went to make tea and prepare snacks for them.
As Gu Zhong was leaving, he heard the emperor ask with interest, "How long do you think it is normal for people to live?"
Gu Zhong turned around and closed the door, then said to the Crown Prince and Xiao Yuanzheng who were waiting outside, "Your Highness, Xiao Yuanzheng, His Majesty is talking to Lord Zhou. I'm afraid he won't be summoned for a while. Your Highness, would you like to go sit in the side hall and rest first?"
The prince thought for a moment, nodded, and turned to go to the side hall.
Xiao Yuanzheng hurried to catch up.
The two guessed that the emperor met with Zhou Man alone probably to ask about his health, and felt that a short while, at most two quarters of an hour would be enough. As a result, they sat in the side hall and drank a pot of tea. As the sun slowly set in the west, Zhou Man still did not come out.
Prince: ...
If he didn't know his father and Zhou Man's personalities, he would almost have misunderstood what they were doing in there.
However, Gu Zhong stayed inside and didn't come out. A lot of tea was sent in, but no one knew what the two were talking about.
The two were talking about immortality. Of course, it was mainly Zhou Man who was talking and the emperor was listening.
Zhou Man believes that since the ancients believed that a hundred years is a person’s life span, then the normal human life span should be a hundred years.
The emperor sighed thoughtfully and said, "A hundred years old, but when people reach fifty, they already know their destiny, not to mention sixty or seventy. There aren't many old people in the Jin Dynasty who can live that long."
Zhou Man nodded and said, "This is because living in this world affects the body. A person's diet, daily life, and the illnesses and injuries suffered during growth will all affect their lifespan..."
Zhou Man had done research, and because she was speaking to the emperor, her language was more refined and easy to understand. She also loved to give examples, and in just a short while, the old wound on the emperor's body was brought up as an example three times.
Zhou Man picked up the teacup and took another sip of tea. He said to the emperor, "However, there are so many plants and animals in this world. Stones and bones can also be used as medicine. It may take hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years to develop a medicine that can prolong life."
Emperor: "...It's too long. I don't have that much time. Please give me a shorter time to achieve it."
"That is to improve everyone's living standards. If they have good food, good clothes, and don't go hungry or cold, their life expectancy will increase significantly. It's the simplest, most effective, and it directly addresses the issue."
Yes, they have already discussed the issue of life expectancy increase from individuals to the entire Dajin.
The emperor now had a more thorough understanding of "immortality" and knew that it was impossible to achieve it in the short term.
Gu Zhong was watching the time and felt that if the two of them continued chatting, it would be dark, so he hurriedly reminded them, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and Xiao Yuanzheng are still waiting outside."
The emperor then remembered the important matter and asked Zhou Man, "You said I was poisoned. Do you have any evidence to support your claim?"
He said, "Over the past few months, Dean Xiao has been checking my pulse. Apart from occasionally mentioning a slightly dry pulse, there's nothing wrong. I also feel much better than before."
Zhou Man said, "I didn't hear it at first. When I was about to withdraw my hand, I suddenly felt that the pulse was a little stagnant. Then I listened carefully again. After that, the pulse was normal. But after about eighty breaths, it would stagnate again..."
"I've calculated that the interval lasts between eighty and eighty-five breaths. It's a very brief stagnation, just a split second. Your Majesty won't feel it too deeply, and the imperial physician would hardly be able to detect it." Seeing the emperor's bewildered expression, Zhou Man knew he didn't know what these regular moments of stagnation meant. He looked around and saw a jade pendant on a nearby antique display shelf. It was tied with a long red rope, so he pointed at it and said, "Bring it here."
Gu Zhong glanced at the emperor, and after getting permission, he went over to get it.
Zhou Man took the rope and hung the jade pendant between the two of them. "Your Majesty, do you know that the rise and fall of the heart is to transport blood to all parts of the body?" She clenched her right fist and opened and closed it for the emperor to see.
The emperor actually understood and nodded, "And then?"
"Then..." Zhou Man scratched his head and began to swing the jade pendant. "Look at this jade pendant. It's like a heart, swinging back and forth. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow. But no matter how fast or slow it is, it's always within a certain range. That's normal."
"But suddenly, it paused for a moment, then continued to swing normally. After a certain period of time, it paused again." Zhou Man pinched the jade pendant and then released it, allowing it to continue swinging. "This pause is abnormal. It's not within the normal range. If it lasts for a short time, you won't notice anything, but if it lasts for a long time, it will cause serious problems."
"Is this poisoning?" The emperor understood, but frowned and said, "Couldn't it be illness?"
Zhou Man stepped back and stared at the emperor's lips carefully. "It's too difficult to explain clearly. I can only say that based on my experience, after eliminating all possibilities, poisoning is the most likely one."
"But if you insist on me producing evidence, it's your lips," Zhou Man said. "I think your lips are darker than before."
The emperor turned his head and looked at Gu Zhong.
(End of this chapter)
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