"Your Majesty, the prescription I gave the young prince was indeed a targeted one," said Physician Huang.
"If the medicine is administered directly, then why is Hongli's condition getting worse and worse?!" Kangxi almost roared.
"That's impossible," said Physician Huang. "Two days ago, I took the pulse of the young prince, and he only had a cold caused by internal heat and external cold. So the prescription I gave him was to clear the internal heat and expel the external cold."
"But why did the young prince not only fail to improve after taking the medicine you prescribed, but instead his internal heat increased?" Fourth Prince couldn't help but ask.
"Your Majesty, may I have that palace maid bring over the prescription I wrote again for me to take a look at?" said Physician Huang.
"Alright, Liang Jiugong, bring that palace maid in!" Kangxi ordered.
A moment later, Liang Jiugong brought Xianhui in. Xianhui first greeted Kangxi, then stepped aside.
"Doctor Huang, is this the prescription you wrote?" Liang Jiugong handed a note to Doctor Huang.
Physician Huang took the prescription and examined it carefully. It was very similar to the prescription he had given to Hongli that day. However, several of the ingredients were not the ones he had written that day. Physician Huang looked at it again and again in disbelief, and finally he said to Emperor Kangxi, "Your Majesty, this prescription is not the one I wrote for the young prince that day! If he takes the medicine according to this prescription, his condition will not only not improve, but may even worsen!"
When Xianhui heard him say this, she hurriedly said, "Imperial Physician Huang, this prescription is clearly the one you gave me that day! How can you say it isn't!"
Seeing that they were arguing incessantly, the Fourth Prince said to Emperor Kangxi, "Father, you can have someone examine the handwriting on it to see if it was written by Physician Huang!"
Upon hearing what the Fourth Prince said, Physician Huang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty! This handwriting is quite similar to my own, but it was definitely not written by me!"
Seeing that they were arguing endlessly, Kangxi slammed his hand on the table and said, "Liang Jiugong, immediately send someone to the Imperial Hospital to get the prescriptions written by Physician Huang in the past for comparison!"
Liang Jiugong hurriedly went out and instructed the eunuch to go to the Imperial Hospital to find Physician Huang's prescription.
Both Xianhui and Physician Huang felt that the other was suspicious, so they kept quiet and waited for the Emperor to send someone to verify the notes!
Looking at their expressions, the Fourth Prince pondered for a moment and said to Emperor Kangxi, "Father, we must quickly summon another imperial physician to examine Hongli again!"
Kangxi nodded and said to the Fourth Prince, "Fourth Prince, go and fetch the imperial physician. You take care of Hongli for now."
The Fourth Prince immediately bowed and went to Hongli's side.
Meanwhile, the eunuch sent by Liang Jiugong returned with a stack of prescriptions written by Physician Huang.
Kangxi personally picked up the prescriptions he had previously written and then the prescription he had written for Hongli, looking at them word by word!
"Imperial Physician Huang, come and see for yourself!" Kangxi threw down his brush, having just circled the same characters on those old prescriptions!
Seeing Kangxi's expression, Physician Huang felt a pang of unease. He walked over, straightened himself, and picked up the prescriptions to compare them with the one he had prepared.
The more Physician Huang looked at the prescription, the more incredulous he became, as the handwriting on it was almost identical to his own.
"Your Majesty! I am innocent! The handwriting on this prescription is very similar to what I wrote, but I really did not write down these ingredients!" said Physician Huang.
"Huang Chenyi, how dare you! You dare to plot against Hongli! Confess immediately, who ordered you to do this?" Kangxi roared. He had always kept a close watch on Hongli, precisely because he feared someone might try to assassinate him.
"Your Majesty! I beg your mercy! I truly did not do these things! How could I possibly do something so punishable by death!" Imperial Physician Huang was already in tears, terrified. For imperial physicians, this was the worst fear. Back then, when they wrote prescriptions, it wasn't like now, where prescriptions are written on photocopies and there's a record to check!
"Huang Chenyi, it seems you won't talk unless you're tortured! Guards, take him to the Imperial Prison. Just let him talk!" Kangxi said.
Physician Huang cried out his innocence on the ground, knowing that those who entered the Department of Penal Justice were almost certainly going to be disemboweled.
But Emperor Kangxi was furious and wouldn't listen to his defense!
Meanwhile, the Fourth Prince had already summoned Physician Yang from the Imperial Hospital for Hongli. After examining Hongli's pulse, Physician Yang immediately wrote a prescription and ordered it to be prepared. He personally led the team to fetch the medicine. A lesson learned from Physician Huang's experience!
After guarding Hongli's room for a while, the Fourth Prince went to check on Kangxi.
"Father-in-law, is it really Physician Huang who did this?" Fourth Master asked doubtfully after hearing Liang Jiugong's account.
"I don't know. The person is already in the Imperial Prison. The Emperor is furious," Liang Jiugong said.
"Where is Father Emperor?" the Fourth Prince asked.
"His Majesty is resting in the West Warm Pavilion," Liang Jiugong said.
Fourth Master nodded, then went back to Hongli Lane and summoned Xianhui for questioning.
"That day, after that Physician Huang gave you the pharmacy, did you go to get the medicine?" Fourth Master asked.
"Yes, that day I took Physician Huang's prescription and rushed to the Imperial Hospital. On the way, I even bumped into someone. I was so worried." Xianhui felt relieved after dealing with Physician Huang.
"Wait, you said you bumped into someone?" Fourth Master noticed the problem and asked with a frown.
"Yes, she suddenly appeared from around the corner and bumped into me. I fell to the ground, and she even picked up the prescription I was holding and gave it to me," Xianhui said.
"Do you remember what she looked like?" Fourth Master asked, staring at Xianhui.
“This servant doesn’t know her. However, I do remember what she looks like,” Xianhui said quickly, realizing the seriousness of the situation.
"Alright, you can go now," Fourth Master said.
Liang Jiugong, who had been listening to the conversation between the Fourth Prince and Xianhui, asked after Xianhui left, "Does Your Highness think that the palace maid switched the prescription in Xianhui's hand?"
Fourth Master nodded and said, "If Imperial Physician Huang really tampered with Hongli's prescription, that would be incredibly foolish. It would be easily discovered. Unless he's courting death."
Liang Jiugong nodded. So, the Fourth Prince immediately went with Liang Jiugong to see Emperor Kangxi and told him his suspicions.
Kangxi saw that the Ministry of Justice had not responded, which meant that Physician Huang had never confessed.
"Liang Jiugong, go and bring Physician Huang out quickly. This matter needs to be investigated thoroughly! Let Physician Huang go back to recuperate first," Kangxi said. This man has been inside for over an hour; he's probably been skinned alive.
"Fourth Prince, in your opinion, who was the one who deliberately bumped into Xianhui?" Kangxi asked.
"I don't know about that. But there's a certain number of palace maids who frequent that area. Father Emperor, you just need to gather those maids together and have Xianhui identify them, then you can find her," the Fourth Prince said.
"Very well, Liang Jiugong, I'll leave this matter to you. Take my imperial edict and thoroughly investigate this matter. Fourth Prince, I will definitely give Hongli an explanation," Kangxi said.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
