The imperial physician said with some difficulty, "The Fourth Prince has developed excessive liver fire due to prolonged lack of relief. If this continues, it may affect his future sexual life and even his ability to have children."
Everyone understood what the imperial physician meant; he was saying that Yinzhen was sleeping with too few women.
Emperor Kangxi frowned and asked, "Su Peisheng, how many people are in Yinzhen's harem?"
"Your Majesty, there are three people in the master's backyard."
Kangxi then asked, "How many times a month does Yinzhen go to the backyard?"
Su Peisheng was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to answer this question? He didn't have the guts to lie to His Majesty, a lie that would be so easily exposed. So he could only answer truthfully: "Your Majesty, the master... the master usually rests in the front yard and doesn't go to the back yard."
Upon hearing this, Kangxi's first reaction was that Yinzhen might really want to become a monk, something he would absolutely not allow. He had seen Yinzhen's behavior firsthand, and if such an outstanding son were to convert to Buddhism, he would be furious.
Emperor Kangxi then asked the imperial physician, "Is Yinzhen simply suffering from excessive liver fire, or is he unable to engage in sexual intercourse?"
He had just realized that it might be because of his poor health. After all, Yinzhen was a prince, so why should he suffer?
The imperial physician understood Kangxi's meaning and immediately said, "The Fourth Prince is in good health."
That's good.
Then Kangxi said to the imperial physician, "I do not want anyone to know the true condition of Yinzhen's health. As for this fainting spell, you can decide how to record it in the medical record yourself."
Upon hearing this, the imperial physician felt utterly helpless; how was he supposed to decide what to do?
However, thinking that at least his life had been saved, the imperial physician left to return to the Imperial Hospital to consider the matter further.
After the imperial physician left, only five people remained in the room: Yinzhen, who was lying down; Kangxi and the Crown Prince; Liang Jiugong and Su Peisheng.
Kangxi then asked, "Does Yinzhen usually go to Tanzhe Temple?"
"Your Majesty, the master goes once a month."
Kangxi frowned even more deeply.
He hadn't taken it seriously at first, but unexpectedly, Yinzhen didn't go to the inner courtyard. It's acceptable for a man not to be tempted by beautiful women, but it's a bit unreasonable for a prince to be averse to them. In addition, Yinzhen spends all his time studying Buddhist scriptures, so Kangxi was really worried that one day he would suddenly kneel in front of him and say that he wanted to become a monk.
The crown prince, listening from the side, was also taken aback.
"I do not wish to hear any rumors or gossip about Yinzhen."
Emperor Kangxi did not want his son's refusal to go to the inner courtyard to become common knowledge.
If word gets out, who knows what will be said about Yinzhen!
He suspected that Yinzhen wanted to become a monk, but others who heard this would only doubt that Yinzhen was capable.
He absolutely refused to allow that.
Neither becoming a monk nor a nun is permitted.
The royal family would not allow such rumors to circulate.
Emperor Kangxi still had some state affairs to attend to, so he instructed Su Peisheng to take good care of Yinzhen before leaving.
The crown prince stayed for a while, then left as well.
The imperial physician who examined Yinzhen's pulse returned to the Imperial Hospital and began to "deliberate" on how to write the pulse record. After much "deliberation," he finally wrote "insufficient qi and blood" on the pulse record.
The gist of it is that he fainted due to anemia.
Yonghe Palace naturally received the news as well. Upon hearing this, Consort De merely frowned and did not intend to go and see for herself. She only instructed a nanny to go there, and then, upon learning that he was simply suffering from anemia, she had someone take some unused tonics from the storeroom and send them over. After that, she did nothing more.
When evening came, Yinzhen woke up.
He opened his eyes and called out, "Su Peisheng."
"Your servant is here."
"water."
Su Peisheng brought over a bowl of water.
After drinking some water, Yinzhen's mind cleared up a bit. He asked Su Peisheng, "What time is it now?"
"Your Majesty, it is now 1:15 PM. The kitchen has been preparing food. Would Your Majesty like some?"
Yinzhen was indeed a little hungry: "Prepare some."
"yes"
Su Peisheng went out to give an order, then returned to continue serving Yinzhen.
Yinzhen, recalling his sudden fainting, asked, "What happened after I fainted?"
Upon hearing this, Su Peisheng stiffened slightly. He felt a little guilty, as he had told His Majesty everything that had happened that day and was genuinely afraid that his master would be angry with him.
However, he dared not hide this matter, and then told him everything that happened after Yinzhen fainted, without missing a single detail.
After listening, Yinzhen noticed that Su Peisheng's expression was not good and said, "What you did in front of Father Emperor was not wrong."
Su Peisheng breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
It's good that I didn't blame him.
In fact, for Yinzhen himself, knowing that Su Peisheng had told him everything that had happened that day while he was unconscious was not necessarily a bad thing.
If he simply ignores the matter between his adoptive mother and his biological mother without investigating, he would be truly betraying his adoptive mother's kindness in raising him. But if he does investigate, Consort De is his biological mother. In the end, does he have to "put righteousness before family"?
Even if he were willing to "sacrifice his own family for the greater good," what if his father, the Emperor, found out? Would he think he was a heartless person?
Neither way is right, so fainting and having Su Peisheng say it isn't such a bad thing.
Furthermore, there's the matter of his abstinence from women. Although it's somewhat shameful, that's just how his body is. His father, the Emperor, will definitely ask about it later, and he can just say that he feels nauseous when he sees women.
He didn't know what his father would think at the time, but he was sure he wouldn't be punished for this.
Yinzhen is now so consumed by that bad habit that he's almost given up on everything.
Given the current situation, it's quite nice for a child without a mother's love to share a man's little "worries" with his imperial father.
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