Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyuan immediately stopped him, "Absolutely not! How can we be so careless with the things His Majesty uses? Who will be responsible if something goes wrong?"
Otherwise, why would he have spent two hours giving away all those good-quality tools to others, just to avoid trouble as much as possible?
If we were in the palace, we could shift the blame to someone else if something went wrong. But now that there's no one to take the blame, we can only try to minimize the number of items we use to avoid any accidents.
“That’s true,” Qi Yong realized, “The things His Majesty uses are indeed not to be taken lightly.”
“It’s alright, no need to trouble yourself,” Ji Xuan shook his head. “I can handle nothing.”
In the face of life and death, these things are utterly insignificant.
As long as he can survive, how could he, as an emperor, not enjoy himself?
"The conditions are simple, Your Majesty has been wronged," Liu Zhiyuan said somewhat guiltily. "Once Your Majesty recovers and returns to the palace, you can do whatever you want."
"Um!"
"Oh, right," Qi Yong suddenly remembered something, "Where's the cook? I can't find her."
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyuan awkwardly wiped his nose, "Eunuch Qi, we have a small business with low profits, and we can't afford a cook."
"What about food?" Qi Yong's eyes widened. "We can't expect the servant to do it, can we?"
"Father-in-law can cook?" Liu Zhiyuan was secretly delighted. "To be honest, it was Yuzhu who cooked before. We were afraid of disturbing His Majesty's peace, so we went to the Huang family this morning. My master and I are not good at this. If you don't believe me, there should still be some rice left in the pot. You can go and take a look."
Qi Yong didn't believe any of this nonsense.
He scrutinized Liu Zhiyuan suspiciously for a long time before letting out a cold snort, "Don't let this humble servant know you're lying!"
As he spoke, he lifted the lid of the pot and was immediately dumbfounded.
Is this dark, sticky stuff stuck to the pot really food? Even pigs wouldn't eat it.
Seeing Qi Yong return with a dark expression, Liu Zhiyuan felt a surge of satisfaction. "Eunuch Qi, have I lied?"
"Is this all you eat on a regular basis?" Qi Yong looked at Liu Zhiyuan in surprise. "You're not sick at all. Lord Liu's medical skills are truly superb."
Of course not!
Although Yu Zhu's cooking skills were a bit lacking, he could at least cook it properly. Besides, most of them were eating at the Huang family's house. As for what was in the pot, it was a late-night snack he had made for himself the day before.
However, such a wonderful misunderstanding should be allowed to continue.
It's quite surprising that Qi Yong, that damned eunuch, can actually cook.
That's good too. It's always better to have someone cook than to mess around with everything myself. Plus, I can get the eunuchs to do things for me. It's really nice.
"You flatter me, Eunuch Qi," Liu Zhiyuan said, unusually setting aside his airs. "You have served His Majesty diligently and made great contributions."
“It’s not good to talk about this,” Qi Yong said with a smug look that turned sad. “I’m getting old and I’m afraid I won’t be able to serve His Majesty for many more years. Let’s not talk about this anymore. I’ll go and cook some porridge for His Majesty to soothe his stomach.”
"Thank you for your hard work, Eunuch Qi."
"It's just my job, I shouldn't have to work hard."
After preparing the necessary items, Doctor Gu brought them over to see Ji Xuan, saying, "This humble subject greets Your Majesty."
"No need for formalities," Ji Xuan nodded and then asked, "Gu Qing, when shall we begin?"
"The medicinal bath is ready. Please come in, Your Majesty. It contains nourishing and blood-activating herbs. The process is like being bitten by insects and ants, so please bear with it."
“It’s alright, I can bear it. Gu Qing, lead the way,” he said, then turned and called out, “Qi Yong, come and serve me.”
"Coming." Qi Yong hurriedly added fuel to the fire and jogged over.
"Go in later," Doctor Gu instructed earnestly. "No matter how uncomfortable His Majesty is, you must hold him down and not let him come out. There are towels prepared next to the bath tub. If he can't help it, let His Majesty bite them. It will be painful the first time, but he will get used to it."
Hearing what Doctor Gu said, Qi Yong was frightened and asked nervously, "Imperial Physician Gu, is His Majesty in danger?"
“No,” Doctor Gu said confidently. “I deliberated on this prescription for more than a year before finalizing it. I have also tried it myself. At most, I will only suffer minor injuries.”
"You can get hurt again?" Qi Yong exaggeratedly covered his mouth. "How can that be allowed!"
"Qi Yong, stop being unreasonable," Ji Xuan shook his head, "If even Gu Qing couldn't avoid it, then no one else in the world can!"
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty," Doctor Gu said, bowing slightly. "Please, Your Majesty, move to bathe."
"Um!"
When Ji Xuan entered the room, she saw that the bathtub was filled with brownish hot water, only slightly lighter than the water used for medicine. The whole room was filled with the bitter smell of herbs.
Without hesitation, I took off my clothes and sat in the bathtub.
The bathtub was a bit narrow but very deep; when you sat down, it only reached your chin, and if you lowered your head even slightly, you would choke on the water.
"Master," Qi Yong frowned, "does this feel like what Doctor Gu described?"
Before she could even utter the word "no...", Ji Xuan's expression changed drastically.
He felt the agonizing pain of ants gnawing at his bones, wave after wave, like a surging tide with no end in sight.
It was itchy with pain, painful with numbness, and there was also a faint feeling of blood vessels rupturing.
In just a moment, Ji Xuan couldn't help but let out a soft groan, and then, beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
"Master," Qi Yong hurriedly came over to wipe his sweat, "please bear with it for a moment. I will call Doctor Gu over to see if there is any way to alleviate the pain."
Just looking at it terrified him, let alone his master who was in the midst of it.
"Don't go! I can tolerate it!"
He is the emperor of the Great Zhou, the heaven of the Great Zhou, and must not be defeated by this pain. He must always maintain the demeanor of an emperor.
After saying that, he closed his lips tightly, straightened his back, and sat upright in the water.
Seeing this, Qi Yong became even more worried, fearing that his master was forcing himself to endure it.
Not daring to leave the bathroom, yet afraid that shouting would disturb Ji Xuan who was struggling to stay awake, he paced back and forth anxiously.
Just then, the door creaked open.
Seeing Liu Zhiyuan arrive with a tray, Qi Yong was somewhat disappointed. "Why is it you? Where is Physician Gu?"
"My master is preparing other medicines, so I'm here to administer acupuncture to Your Majesty."
Upon hearing this, Qi Yong's face lit up with joy. "Could this alleviate His Majesty's suffering?"
“No,” Liu Zhiyuan explained, “that’s how it is with blood circulation; there’s no way to avoid it. Even if Bian Que were alive again, he couldn’t do it.”
"Then why did you use acupuncture?"
"His Majesty's head was not immersed in the solution, so acupuncture was necessary to assist him."
After saying this, Liu Zhiyuan ignored Qi Yong and disinfected the silver needles with alcohol.
After a short while, he turned to him and instructed, "Hold His Majesty's head and don't let him move, otherwise it will be difficult to insert the needles."
These needles are meant to improve blood circulation and relieve stagnation, so they will definitely increase the pain.
With so many critical points on the top of the head, even the steadyest hand can make a mistake if the patient doesn't cooperate. We must be prepared for any eventuality.
Liu Zhiyuan didn't really believe in Ji Xuan's patience.
After all, only those who have experienced this medicinal bath know how painful it is.
And you have to endure it for a whole hour, it's torture... tsk tsk...
Anyway, after he tried it once, even though he knew the benefits were huge, he was unwilling to experience it again.
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