A few days later, I resumed my work in the courtyard, drawing the bow and carrying the water bucket. While it took a while longer to completely eliminate my stomach cramps, I was finally feeling much better than before, and Imperial Physician Jiang no longer needed to come and check my pulse every day. I then took it upon myself to visit him at the Imperial Hospital every few days. After all, he wasn't my exclusive physician, and I also wanted to use this opportunity to visit the palace more often.
A few days ago, I stumbled upon the reason why Imperial Physician Jiang and Princess Rushuang could chat for so long. It turns out Princess Rushuang had long since secretly taken Imperial Physician Jiang as her apprentice, learning from him. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor, knowing Princess Rushuang's frailty, thought it would be beneficial for her to learn some medical skills, so they turned a blind eye. As a result, the two of them no longer needed to use my Chenshuang Pavilion as a "base for meetings."
The sudden silence in the courtyard was a bit strange, but I knew I had things to do. After flipping through the storybooks, I pulled out the atlas of the capital I'd received during my visit to my parents that day and carefully studied the various routes and locations. Song Heng, preoccupied with government affairs related to the recent unprovoked riots in the eastern city of Donglin, hadn't been to the harem recently, and the days passed like this.
Today I went to the Imperial Hospital to see Doctor Jiang as agreed last time. I was familiar with the route and didn't bother to ask Xiaotao and Xiaocui to follow me.
There were very few people in the Imperial Hospital today. I pushed open a door and found Doctor Jiang. He was boiling medicine in front of the stove. When he saw me, he put down the tile roof and asked me to sit on a chair beside him first.
After taking my pulse, he smiled and said, "Mu Jieyu has recovered well. It seems we won't be seeing each other again soon."
This really made me laugh and cry: "Isn't it okay for me to come to you even if I'm not sick? At worst, I can pester the princess to come to you too, and say I want to study medicine!"
"Mu Jieyu is right." He laughed softly.
"Why are there so few people in the Imperial Hospital today?" I asked casually.
"I don't know either," he replied as he boiled the medicine, "I just came in from outside the palace."
After becoming familiar with Doctor Jiang, we no longer cared about the hierarchy when we were alone, and we were both happy and comfortable.
A strange aroma gradually grew stronger in the room. I sniffed it and said, "Doctor Jiang, what are you cooking? It smells so good..."
He frowned slightly, lifted the tile cover and fanned the air gently with his hands: "Strange, why is there such a fragrance..."
Suddenly, there was a loud bang as the tile roof fell. I saw him fall to the ground and hurried forward to help him. "Doctor Jiang, what's wrong with you..."
Before I could even utter the word "了", I felt dizzy and about to fall. He pushed my hand away, breathing heavily: "Mu Jieyu, hurry, get out, get out..."
I subconsciously moved outward, feeling my feet were stepping on light cotton. After a few steps, I fell to the ground, and my lilac-colored gown was scattered all over the floor. When it touched the cold wooden board, I realized that my whole body was burning as if it was about to burn.
As expected, if life is too comfortable, the brain will degenerate. I actually fell for such a low-level trick...
My whole body was burning hotter and hotter, and I just wanted to untie my clothes. I was half asleep when I heard the intermittent voice of Doctor Jiang behind me: "Mu Jieyu...press...the point on the tip of your forehead...the Shenting point..."
I tried to press it, and it gradually eased a little, but suddenly a wave of heat surged over my body again: "No...", I stuck to the floor, trying to find a cool place inch by inch.
Suddenly, I heard a "clang" sound behind me, followed by an "ah" sound that the man tried hard to suppress, but I didn't dare turn around to look. I knew that the closer we were, the more dangerous it would be.
Behind him was the heavy breathing of Imperial Physician Jiang: "Mu Jieyu...don't worry...I can't get close to you now...this time...someone has set you up...wait...someone will come...it's okay..."
"I know..." I tried my best to spit out a few words to answer him, but what if someone deliberately made us stay longer?
What should I do?
Just when I felt the burning sensation inside and out, the door was pushed open with great force, and dazzling white light shone in - a tall figure stood with his back to the light.
If it’s not Song Heng, who else could it be?
This was all carefully planned for me and him by the schemer. He was to watch his "favored concubine," confused and embarrassed, sharing a room with another man.
In the last shred of sanity I still had, I wondered: Should I accept the white silk from my father-in-law? Or drink the poisoned wine? Or, perhaps, something even more drastic? Should I bang my head against the red-lacquered column and yell, "I am innocent"?
Before I could finish my thought, I was suddenly picked up in the air and left the floor that I had almost warmed up, but it seemed like I was touching another cold place - so comfortable.
I was already unconscious, and I kept rubbing against the inside. When I felt hot here, I would rub against another place. It seemed like many people were rushing into the room, anxiously calling out, "Doctor Jiang, Doctor Jiang..."
A glimmer of my consciousness was pulled back. Yes, Doctor Jiang, what was that painful and suppressed cry he just made? Would he be given a white silk scarf? No, no, he should be sent to the guillotine... Thinking of this, I suddenly wanted to cry, and I called out softly, "Doctor Jiang..."
The cold place seemed to freeze for a moment, and the scenery around me seemed to stop changing. Then the scenery became faster, and I was held so uncomfortably that I couldn't move around anymore.
There are red and green flowers and willows everywhere, but the scenery around me is so unfamiliar. Where is this road...
The curtain was opened, and my body seemed to be placed on a large soft cloud. At this moment, I felt that my whole body was about to be burned to ashes. I held tightly to the piece of ice that felt like it was going to peel off me and refused to let go.
Suddenly I felt a shadow covering me, and the scene in front of me became much darker. I tried to open my eyes but all I could see were a mixture of gold, black and white blocks of color, and I couldn't see anything clearly.
The clouds beside me collapsed, and waves of warm air hit my face, making me feel even hotter. I frowned and tried to pull open my long gown to breathe.
It suddenly became bright again, but the ice seemed to have disappeared. When I was about to reach out to grab it, something covered it up. Then I felt myself being wrapped up in darkness and completely unable to move.
I vaguely heard the word "antidote"... and then "Chenxiang Pavilion." Actually, it was two sentences, but I couldn't really grasp them... I just wanted to break free from this sweltering heat.
After that, I seemed to be fed a few pills, and I heard the familiar crying voices of Xiaotao and Xiaocui. I wanted to ask them what they were crying about, but I was completely powerless and fell into a deep sleep.
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