The hall was dark and gloomy. The once magnificent decorations were gone, and even the flowing gauze curtains had been torn into shreds.
Physician Fu walked nervously into the inner room and found Consort Shu in the corner of the bed.
"This humble official is Fu Zhuoyi, a newly appointed imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital, who pays his respects to the Noble Consort."
Consort Shu didn't move at all, as if she hadn't heard anything.
Physician Fu put his medical kit aside and then took out a jade pendant from his clothes.
"Your Highness, do you recognize this?"
Consort Shu glanced at it, then suddenly looked away.
Physician Fu smiled and took off the jade pendant.
"These are Madam Shu's things. I'm sure Your Highness is familiar with them. Your Highness can rest assured that my purpose in coming here is not to cure your madness."
He paused for a second, his smile deepening.
"After all, healthy people don't need treatment."
Consort Shu froze, but did not raise her head. Instead, she quietly reached her right hand behind her back.
Physician Fu acted as if he hadn't seen anything and continued speaking to himself.
"Let's not beat around the bush. Since Your Majesty is willing to abandon your dignity and feign madness, you must know who is after you. You are unwilling to die, presumably because you are worried about the Eighth Prince?"
"Has Your Highness considered that this man, who can be so ruthless even to a concubine like yourself whom you have favored for over a decade, would treat the Eighth Prince and the Shu family in a dangerous situation?"
Consort Shu's hand touched a shard of porcelain, but her wide sleeves concealed her movement.
Seeing that Physician Fu was rambling on and on, a fierce glint flashed in her eyes, and she suddenly pounced on him.
But Imperial Physician Fu seemed to have anticipated this. He dodged the shard of porcelain by sidestepping it, and at the same time grabbed Consort Shu's arm, twisted it backward, and then reached his other hand through her back to her front, pinching her wrist that was holding the porcelain shard.
In an instant, Consort Shu was subdued.
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