In his grief and anger, Liu Zhiyuan really wanted to take action.
Just then, Doctor Gu's leisurely voice rang out, "Zhiyuan, come in."
Liu Zhiyuan suspected that his master had done it on purpose, but he had no evidence.
However, she was still unwilling to give up, "Master, why do you insist on protecting Yuzhu?"
Is this what they call the special bond between grandparents and grandchildren?
She herself was scolded and punished a lot back then, but she's fiercely protective of her son.
"Why do you say that?" Doctor Gu asked, puzzled.
He felt that his eldest apprentice was really short-tempered today.
To be so petty about food is ungentlemanly.
Doctor Gu resolutely refused to admit it; between his apprentice and his virtuous friend, he chose to fill his own stomach.
“Master, jade cannot become a useful object without being carved,” Liu Zhiyuan said earnestly. “If you continue to spoil him like this, you will only spoil him badly. A gentleman should keep his word. If Yuzhu breaks his promise today for the sake of his appetite, he will do something against his conscience for fame and fortune in the future.”
For some reason, Doctor Gu felt a little guilty. He cleared his throat and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about these trivial matters. I called you here today because I have something to ask you."
"What's up?"
Cough cough...
Doctor Gu glanced around uncomfortably before casually asking, "When will His Majesty arrive?"
"Master, didn't you say you didn't care?"
"Just answer my question, why are you giving me this nonsense?" Doctor Gu said, slightly embarrassed and annoyed. "Who said I don't care?"
He is upright, but not stupid.
Even if things aren't good now, he's still the emperor. For an old man who has retired to live in seclusion to confront him head-on would be suicide.
"Didn't you say you didn't want to hide?" Liu Zhiyuan probed. "Could it be that Master has changed his mind?"
“Hiding is impossible, and returning to the capital is even more impossible,” Doctor Gu said with a stern face. “In short, I will absolutely not leave the territory of Ping’an County.”
"Then why are you asking these questions?" Liu Zhiyuan said helplessly. "It makes no difference whether you know or not."
Anyway, we'll meet again someday; there's no escaping it.
He only hoped that during this time, he could find a way to calm his master down and stop arguing with the current emperor.
Although he didn't know why he had fallen out with his master, he understood one thing: you can never win against your master.
"Are you out of your mind?" Doctor Gu looked at his eldest apprentice with exasperation. "How could there be no difference?"
Can a prepared response be the same as a hasty response?
"What's the difference?" Liu Zhiyuan muttered to himself, "Using an opportunity to escape?"
He felt that this method wouldn't work.
With so many bodyguards around me these days, if someone wanted to find me, they couldn't escape even if they had wings.
"Of course not," Doctor Gu glared at his apprentice. "Am I that kind of person?"
He has always acted uprightly and honestly, how could he behave so despicably?
"Then what else do you want to ask?"
“Just say it. Stop with all that nonsense. I didn’t see you recite the ancestral precepts of our sect.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyuan awkwardly touched his nose.
The ancestral precepts of the sect are added to by each generation, piling up into a huge stack. Who can memorize such ancestral precepts?
After a long silence, he spoke softly and hesitantly, "Master, I don't know when the Emperor will arrive. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, or maybe he has already arrived."
"You have no idea why you rushed over here and urged me to hide so frantically?"
Dr. Gu was completely speechless.
His eldest disciple rushed over so hastily that he thought the Emperor had already arrived, but it was uncertain whether he would even come.
It seems all his tension throughout the night and day was for nothing.
"His current whereabouts," Liu Zhiyuan said, blushing, "are not something I can possibly know. It would be normal if I didn't know."
"I knew you were more trouble than you were worth," Doctor Gu suddenly calmed down, slowly straightening his clothes. "You've scared yourself to death before you even understood the situation. How shameful!"
“No, Master,” Liu Zhiyuan said, feeling wronged. “Although I don’t know when he came to Ping’an County, I do know that he has already come to southern Henan.”
If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have skipped the Qingming Festival ancestral worship ceremony and come over hungry.
"You've arrived in southern Henan?" Doctor Gu straightened up and asked nervously, "How long have you been here?"
“At least two days,” Liu Zhiyuan said in a low voice. “The Emperor has been away from the palace for half a month now. He was in Jiangsu and Zhejiang before, and recently came to southern Henan. The court all thought he was recuperating at his villa in the western suburbs, but he has actually been away from the capital for a long time.”
“It’s not surprising that you’re not in the capital,” Doctor Gu raised his eyelids and asked suspiciously, “But how do you know my whereabouts so well?”
“Well,” Liu Zhiyuan lowered his head, “my apprentice only found out by chance.”
"What's going on?" Doctor Gu asked sternly. "Bribing palace servants is a serious taboo. Don't make a foolish mistake."
"No, I wouldn't dare to defy the world," Liu Zhiyuan said helplessly. "Even if we take a step back, the palace servants around me are not people that a mere imperial physician like myself can bribe."
"How did you know that?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyuan cautiously looked around before closing the study door. He then leaned closer and whispered, "It came from the pharmacy."
"Although he keeps his whereabouts secret these days, he goes to pharmacies every time and spends a lot of money on medical treatment. He is always very generous. The pharmacy drew up his portrait and asked me to find out his background."
But it turned out to be their own emperor...
Upon hearing this news, Liu Zhiyuan was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat all night. The next morning, he rode over directly.
"Go to a pharmacy to see a doctor these days?" Doctor Gu's eyes widened. "That's impossible, absolutely impossible."
How could he possibly see a doctor for such an embarrassing illness? He almost lost his life just by mentioning it once. How could he possibly reopen that wound now?
“Really,” Liu Zhiyuan raised his hand, “I swear on my ancestor.”
“No,” Doctor Gu said, turning his eyes around. “If someone really was taking your pulse, you must have heard some rumors.”
“This is what I don’t understand,” Liu Zhiyuan coughed twice, then continued, “When His Majesty diagnoses patients, he not only doesn’t describe the symptoms, but also chooses the hands of palace maids.”
He had to admit, this was quite a feat.
I don't know what people are thinking these days. Do they really think that if someone else is tied to the pulse, others won't be able to tell the difference?
That would be underestimating them.
If they can't even tell the difference between men and women, they won't be able to keep their jobs.
Cough cough...
Doctor Gu could no longer contain his smile. "So that's how it is! No wonder, no wonder!"
He said that such a hidden illness could not possibly be publicized everywhere.
"Master," Liu Zhiyuan asked curiously, "what exactly is wrong with your body these days?"
What hidden ailment could possibly enrage him to the point of driving away his master, a person with unparalleled medical skills?
"Don't ask," Doctor Gu's smile faltered slightly, "I just don't know."
He paused for a moment, then earnestly warned, "Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing."
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