Chapter 233 Who can I tell my innermost thoughts to?
The next morning, before dawn, a strongly worded impeachment memorial was delivered to the emperor.
The impeacher was none other than Censor Wang, who had a long-standing grudge against Lu Baohua and whose family held differing political views from those of Grand Tutor Liu.
In his memorial, he used sharp language, directly accusing Lu Baohua, the chief judge of the Imperial Medical Academy, of the following crimes:
He criticized Lu Baohua for neglecting his duties. At a time when the Empress Dowager was seriously ill and the palace needed to be on high alert, Lu Baohua acted mysteriously and repeatedly left his post without permission, which could easily spread the disease to the common people and cause harm to them!
Furthermore, he formed cliques for personal gain, ostracized and suppressed upright colleagues within the Imperial Medical Academy, leading to the unexplained disappearance of Imperial Physician Pei Jichuan, who is suspected of being murdered by him!
The memorial arrived suddenly and did not attract much attention from the court officials, who assumed it was just a case of a censor surnamed Wang making trouble for no reason.
After all, the court officials have not yet fully confirmed that the Cining Palace is suffering from an epidemic, and only believe that it is a common cold.
As for Pei Jichuan, mentioned in the impeachment, no one cared about him. After all, ever since he entered the Imperial Hospital, he had been a complete oddball who couldn't fit in with the other imperial physicians.
However, although Emperor Zhaoheng was still attending to his ailing father in Cining Palace, the Grand Eunuch Feng Shunxiang kept a close eye on the affairs of the court. He saw that the impeachment involved Pei Jichuan of the Imperial Medical Academy and the Empress Dowager of Cining Palace.
He dared not delay and immediately tried to deliver the message to the side hall of Cining Palace.
Emperor Zhaoheng had just finished administering medicine to the Empress Dowager when he heard this news and flew into a rage!
"Lu Baohua! How dare he!"
Emperor Zhaoheng knew that Pei Jichuan was the only trusted physician in the Imperial Medical Academy, and that he had personally promoted him and exceptionally admitted him to the Imperial Medical Academy.
As an emperor, he naturally had to care about the safety of his subjects.
Personally, Pei Jichuan had already saved Shui Xian several times; how could he stand idly by and watch Pei Jichuan disappear?!
Emperor Zhaoheng immediately issued an edict, ordering the Prefect of Jingzhao to work with the Imperial City Guard to thoroughly investigate the Lu family residence!
Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!
Upon receiving the imperial edict, government troops quickly surrounded the Lu residence.
Lu Baohua was still dreaming when he was dragged out of bed by burly soldiers and chained.
He panicked and cried out that he was innocent, but no one paid any attention.
Among the soldiers searching the residence were agile eunuchs whom Shui Xian had arranged beforehand. Dressed in military uniforms, they mingled with the ranks and, taking advantage of the chaos and panic in the Lu residence, made a clear move and headed straight for the abandoned cellar in the northeast corner of the backyard.
Sure enough, the entrance to the cellar was guarded, and they even planned to kill Pei Jichuan to silence him when the soldiers broke into the Lu residence.
Fortunately, the people from the Narcissus family arrived suddenly and in time. Before the servants of the Lu family could make a move, they saw several menacing soldiers (in disguise as eunuchs) coming. Upon seeing their official robes, the servants of the Lu family were instantly terrified and were subdued after a little resistance.
The people from Narcissus personally opened the heavy wooden door of the cellar, and a foul air mixed with the smell of dust and blood rushed out.
Deep inside the cellar, Pei Jichuan was chained to a corner, his clothes tattered, his body bearing obvious whip marks and stains, and his lips cracked, clearly indicating that he had been tortured and had not eaten or drunk for a long time.
All of this was achieved through Lu Baohua's actions and words in recent days in an attempt to extract information from him regarding the treatment of the epidemic.
However, even after enduring this series of inhuman tortures, his eyes remained clear. When he saw that the person who came was not a henchman of the Lu family, a glimmer of hope instantly shone in his eyes.
"Imperial Physician Pei, Her Highness the Imperial Noble Consort has sent us to rescue you!"
The man sent by Xiaolizi whispered and quickly stepped forward to cut the chains.
Pei Jichuan nodded weakly, trying to stand up, but staggered due to exhaustion.
The person immediately carried him away and quietly evacuated the Lu residence amidst the chaos. Following Shui Xian's instructions, they placed him in a completely safe secret residence and immediately summoned a reliable doctor to treat him.
In the Lihe Palace, Shui Xian soon received news that Pei Jichuan had been safely rescued and Lu Baohua had been imprisoned.
She sat on the soft couch by the window, gazing at the withered plants in the courtyard, a cold smile curving her lips.
"Lu Baohua, you covet power, harm your colleagues, and even use the plague to kill people... Those who do many evil deeds will surely perish!"
——
The crisis on Pei Jichuan's side has been temporarily resolved.
However.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the cellar of Dengdi Inn remained heavy.
The cellar at Pei Jichuan's place was temporarily converted for carrying out private punishments, while the one at Dengdi Inn was where Zhou Yan stayed alone to prevent the spread of the epidemic.
Aside from the occasional food and supplies brought to him, Zhou Yan lives alone here.
Zhou Yan had recurring fevers. At first, he could still manage to get up and move around, but later he was so feverish that he couldn't move at all while lying in bed. His mind became confused, and he didn't know how long it would take before he could regain some clarity.
When Yinzhu arrived, she saw a man on the bed who was almost half-dead from the burns, yet he insisted on isolating himself.
Yinzhu wore a thick face mask, wrapping herself up tightly. This was a preventative measure suggested by Pei Jichuan after he heard that the Empress Dowager might be suffering from an epidemic.
Ignoring the advice of others, she stayed by Zhou Yan's bedside day and night in the days that followed.
Zhou Yan had a persistent high fever, sometimes falling into a coma, and sometimes uttering incoherent babbling due to pain.
His body was burning hot, and even in his coma, his brows were tightly furrowed, as if he were fiercely battling an invisible disease.
Yinzhu repeatedly wiped his forehead and neck with a handkerchief soaked in cool water to cool him down physically.
She strictly followed Pei Jichuan's previous predictions on how to prevent the epidemic, fumigating the room with mugwort and repeatedly washing, soaking, and disinfecting all items that had come into contact with the virus.
She brewed the herbal soup that Pei Jichuan had initially developed to clear heat and relieve fever, carefully blew on it to cool it down, and then used a small spoon to pry open Zhou Yan's tightly closed teeth little by little and patiently fed it to him.
Often, the medicine would drip from the corner of his mouth, but she would wipe it away without getting discouraged and feed him again.
Zhou Yan's condition fluctuated several times. At one point, he experienced shortness of breath, and his lungs seemed to have turned into broken bellows, making an unpleasant sound. His condition was extremely dangerous.
Yinzhu held his frighteningly hot hand, feeling the fragility of his life. All her usual silence and restraint crumbled at this moment.
“Zhou Yan…”
She choked back tears, her voice low and hoarse, trembling with sobs, "You promised to protect Her Majesty, you promised... to stay safe. Wake up, look at me... If anything happens to you, who will I... who will hear the words I've kept hidden all these years, the words I dared not speak?"
Hot tears finally streamed down her face, landing on their clasped hands.
Perhaps it was her call that had an effect, or perhaps it was Pei Jichuan's incomplete prescription that finally had some effect.
In the middle of the night, Zhou Yan's high fever miraculously subsided a bit, and he slowly woke up. Although he was still weak, his mind had regained some clarity.
In the dim candlelight, the first thing he saw was Yinzhu's haggard yet determined eyes, hidden behind a cloth.
Her hand gripped his tightly, and the cool yet firm touch felt like a spring of sweet water flowing into his parched heart.
Zhou Yan was deeply shocked. He weakly moved his fingers and grasped hers in return.
He didn't ask her when she arrived, nor did he ask if she cared about him.
At this moment, Zhou Yan disregarded his own feelings and only wanted Yin Zhu to be safe and sound.
"Yinzhu...you...I'm sick...you should leave quickly..."
Upon hearing him speak, Yinzhu's tears instantly burst forth. She nodded vigorously, sobbing uncontrollably.
As Zhou Yan watched her shed tears for him and worry about him, her usually calm and composed eyes were now filled with affection for him.
His heart softened completely. Though weak, his gaze burned as he looked at her with unprecedented solemnity: "When I recover... Yinzhu... there are some things I... I want to tell you in person..."
Their hands were clasped tightly, their eyes met, and a thousand words were unspoken...
......
After rescuing Pei Jichuan, Pei Jichuan recovered a little and sent a prescription to Zhou Yan.
Perhaps because Zhou Yan was young and strong, after taking medicine and suffering for a few days, he began to show signs of improvement.
When Narcissus received the letter from Yinzhu outside the palace, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It's good that you're alright.
The anxiety and worry in my heart had just subsided.
Two hours later, a message from the Qianqing Palace shattered Shui Xian's rare tranquility like a bolt from the blue.
Three days ago, Emperor Zhaoheng had just come out of Cining Palace to attend to the ailing Emperor.
His heart was with Shui Xian and the child. After leaving, he did not go to Lihe Palace immediately. Instead, he heard the advice he had previously sought from Pei Jichuan and decided to go to Qianqing Palace to stay for five days before seeing Shui Xian and the child.
That afternoon, Emperor Zhaoheng's forehead became burning hot; he had developed a fever without any warning.
When the news reached Lihe Palace, Shui Xian's teacup fell to the ground with a "crack" and shattered into pieces!
Emperor Zhaoheng... he actually fell ill!
Narcissus abruptly stood up, suppressing the sadness in her heart, and gave the order in a clear and calm voice:
"Prepare the sedan chair! I am going to the Qianqing Palace!"
Perhaps at this moment she is still unable to fully discern whether she is mostly using Emperor Zhaoheng or has truly fallen for him.
But she knew she couldn't, and would never, let him face this dangerous disease alone.
No matter what lies ahead, she will stay by his side.
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