Chapter 75: Concubine De punishes Qi Buchen. He got up early that day, but...
Qi Buchen got up early that day, but instead of going out of the city as usual, he went straight to the palace.
It's time to pay respects again.
Qi Buchen was a little nervous. The last time he asked Concubine An De to give someone to her, Yinzhen went to ask Kangxi to cancel the matter a few days later. Concubine De must have known about it, and it was hard to say what attitude she would have towards her today.
Arriving at Yonghe Palace, the senior maidservant accompanying Concubine De warmly received her and took her to the warm room to wait. "Your Majesty woke up twice last night and is still asleep. Please wait, Fourth Lady."
Qi Buchen said he understood and waited obediently in the warm room, waiting for an hour.
The sun gradually rose higher. It was July, the hottest time of the year. There was no ice basin in the warm room. Qi Buchen was still wearing heavy court robes and gradually felt sweat crawling up his back.
Her heart sank, realizing that Concubine De was quietly punishing her. It seemed that canceling the gift must have caused Concubine De to lose face, or worse, to suffer a fate in the eyes of Emperor Kangxi.
But she couldn't rush it, so she could only endure it.
Another hour passed, and Qi Buchen felt like his whole body was smoking. His undergarment was soaked and stuck tightly to his back.
Because it was inconvenient to use the toilet here, Qi Buchen didn't even dare to drink water. Now he just felt dry mouth and tongue.
Half an hour later, Qi Buchen felt that he might have heatstroke. He felt dizzy and could hardly sit still.
At this time, the senior palace maid who received Qi Buchen appeared, still smiling and talking: "I have kept the Fourth Lady waiting for a long time. The Empress is calling you over."
Qi Buchen's heart trembled, knowing that the drama was about to begin. He curled his hands into his sleeves and pinched himself hard. Using the pain, he regained control of every part of his body. He stood up steadily, the smile on his face unchanged: "Please lead the way."
Walking into the main hall, Qi Buchen didn't bother to peek at Concubine De's expression. She used all her strength to control her body, and bowed steadily, "Your son greets mother, may mother be blessed with good fortune."
Defei didn't say anything, so Qi Buchen maintained the posture of Fuli and kept squatting.
After an unknown amount of time, Qi Buchen felt that his body was shaking so much that he could hardly control it. Concubine De finally spoke in a cold tone, "Get up."
Qi Buchen took a deep breath, pinched himself, and then stood up steadily.
The hall fell into silence for a moment. Qi Buchen no longer had the energy to start a conversation. She felt so weak in her limbs that she could hardly stand.
In the end, it was Concubine De who spoke first, and said in a bad tone, "I have heard from the Imperial Concubine that the Fourth Prince went to tell the Emperor that he was in poor health and could not bear the concubines. Now the Emperor has ordered the Imperial Concubine to withdraw them."
"Ulanara, I want to ask you, how did you manage to be a consort? I never heard of any problems with the Fourth Prince's health before, but how come he's been sick every three days and every five days since you married him? And now he's so weak that he's been ruined by it?"
"It's fine that you've harmed the Fourth Master's health, but you should at least put in some effort and think about how to restore his health! But I've heard that you've been away from home all day lately, running out of the city every day! Is there some rare treasure out there that worries you, the Fourth Master? Hmm?"
Facing the questioning, Qi Buchen said nothing, but slowly leaned over and said: "I know I am wrong, please punish me, mother."
"Punish you? Humph, not only will I punish you, I will also tell you clearly that if you don't want to be the Fourth Lady, then you should resign as soon as possible, otherwise you will lose face for the Ulanara family!" Defei warned coldly.
Qi Buchen knelt down slowly: "I will follow my mother's instructions."
"You must be confined to your home for six months. You must copy two volumes of Buddhist scriptures every day and offer them to the Buddha." Concubine De stopped talking nonsense and said, "Go back and reflect on this carefully."
After saying this, he stood up and went into the inner room. The senior palace maid came forward and said with an unchanged smile, "This servant will escort the Fourth Lady out."
"Thank you." Qi Buchen slowly got up from the ground, thanked him, and followed the people out slowly.
Baozhu was waiting outside the palace. She had noticed that Qi Buchen was in a bad condition a long time ago and she was worried that Fu Jin would be impolite in front of Concubine De and make the already unhappy Concubine De even angrier.
Now that she had finally dealt with Concubine De, she didn't care about what punishment her wife had received. She immediately went up to support Qi Buchen and said to the head maid with a smile, "Don't bother me, sister. Please stay."
The senior palace maid was not polite and smiled as usual: "Take care, Fu Jin."
The master and servant walked out of Yonghe Palace slowly. Baozhu wanted to help Fu Jin hide in the shade, but the sun was shining brightly and there was no shade to be found in the long alleys sandwiched between the palace walls.
Baozhu was sweating anxiously: "Fujin, can you still hold on?"
Qi Buchen held her hand very hard and shook his head to sober himself up: "It's okay, let's go."
He walked all the way from Yonghe Palace to Shunzhen Gate in this way before getting on his own carriage.
After getting on the carriage, Qi Buchen said, "Don't make it known, don't call a doctor," and then fainted.
Baohuan, who was waiting in the carriage, was almost terrified. Tears streaming down her face, she asked Baozhu, "What's going on? What happened to Fu Jin?"
Baozhu was also worried, but she came out with Qi Buchen, so she was calmer: "It's okay, Fu Jin just had a heat stroke, it's okay, she will be fine."
She rode back to the mansion at top speed and immediately sent for a doctor. She was worried that calling a doctor right after returning from the palace might lead to gossip, so Baozhu specifically instructed, "Don't say anything about the wife, just say that it's the servants in the mansion who are not doing well."
Xie Hanshan was smart enough not to go by himself. He was now a favorite of the concubine and many people outside knew him. If he had gone, it would have been difficult for others not to think of the concubine.
He ordered a young eunuch, who was unfamiliar to him, to invite someone, and told the public that he was ill. That way, even if he invited a famous doctor, it would not attract attention. After all, he was a seventh-rank official in the prime minister's family, and he was a favorite of the prime minister's wife. What was wrong with being arrogant and domineering and asking a famous doctor to treat him?
Anyway, he doesn't need to care about his reputation outside, as long as his master understands his loyalty.
The doctor was quickly summoned, but he didn't say anything when he saw the patient had changed. For a somewhat reputable doctor like them, they had seen a lot of dirty things in the inner chambers. So, he just did nothing but feel the patient's pulse and prescribe medicine.
"The patient is suffering from excessive heatstroke. Judging from his pulse, the condition is not very serious. I will prescribe a prescription. Please take three doses first to see the effect." said the doctor.
Although the doctor said it wasn't serious, Xie Hanshan still said just in case, "Sir, please stay in the mansion for half a day and check the patient's pulse after he has taken the medicine. Don't worry, we will make up for the consultation fee you missed today."
Xie Hanshan's attitude was somewhat offensive to the doctor. After all, it represented a lack of trust in his ability. However, the doctor was able to prescribe medicine and was very good at socializing, so he did not get angry and stayed.
Xie Hanshan went to decoct the medicine himself, and Baozhu and others were also busy, using physical methods to cool down Qi Buchen. This method was the same one Qi Buchen had used when Yinzhen had a fever earlier.
After the medicine was ready, they fed it to the dazed Qi Buchen. Seeing that her expression had eased a little, Baozhu and the others breathed a sigh of relief and went out to tell Xie Hanshan and others.
While Xie Hanshan was happy, he suddenly remembered something: "Oh no, I forgot to send someone to inform you." As he said that, he was about to go to the front yard.
"Come back." Baozhu stopped him and said, "Fujin said before that we shouldn't make any announcements. Master is busy at work now, so it's better not to tell anyone yet. You'll know when he comes back in the evening. There's no rush."
With Qi Buchen's order, Xie Hanshan gave up the idea of notifying his prince.
An hour after taking the medicine, the doctor took the patient's pulse again and said, "Much better. Two more doses should be enough." Heatstroke is not a serious illness, but wealthy families always make a fuss about it, and doctors are used to it.
Only then did Xie Hanshan let the doctor leave with peace of mind.
After taking the second dose of medicine, Qi Buchen woke up and his dizziness was gone, but his limbs were still weak and he was sweating all over.
"Prepare water." She couldn't stand the sticky feeling on her body, and insisted on taking a bath despite the obstruction of Baozhu and others.
I felt much more relaxed after taking a shower. I lay on the couch feeling listless, thinking about what happened today.
Qi Buchen was definitely angry. It was impossible for anyone not to be angry when being punished like this for no reason. But she felt more sad and powerless.
Sadly, she endured it all so obediently, not daring to resist at all. Ultimately, she was still afraid, still cowardly, afraid of the imperial power, afraid of the rules of this era, afraid of the unknown blows that would come if she resisted Concubine De, afraid of death, afraid that there would be no place for her in the world.
She was powerless to compromise, because she knew that there would be many more such compromises in the future; she was even more powerless because she didn't know how to resist. No, perhaps she knew how to resist. After all, the dragon-slaying technique was clearly there. If she released the beast, she might be able to overturn the world.
But she didn't dare. She was not sure whether she really had the ability to release it, and whether the current level of productivity was capable of giving birth to this monster.
What she feared even more was that this era could not provide the nutrients it needed for growth, and instead it would grow into a deformed form, which would bring about a greater catastrophe and devastate all living things on this land.
She didn't have the courage to bear the consequences of that.
Qi Buchen smiled bitterly, inwardly mocking his own self-righteousness. Ask yourself, have you ever seriously studied the art of dragon slaying? Just by occasionally hearing a few words from others, do you think you've mastered this powerful weapon? Don't be ridiculous. Even the great men of the past wouldn't dare claim to be able to wield this weapon with such ease.
So, Qi Buchen, recognize yourself. You are just an ordinary timid and cowardly person. Just stay put and hang on to your life. Maybe you can find the way back. Otherwise, you will be reduced to ashes.
Maybe one day, when you are really not afraid of death, you can act impulsively again.
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