The emperor stayed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple for seven days. When he came out, he was much thinner and had lost his pretense of being a cultivator. He returned to the mortal world and to the previous dynasty.
His first act was to seal off Qingdan Palace from the outside, imprisoning all the alchemists inside, including the new national advisor who had taken office three years earlier. They were to refine elixirs day and night, and could only be released after refining ninety-nine pills.
The second thing he did was issue an edict of self-reproach and order the cessation of construction on the imperial palace, and even the construction of the mausoleum was temporarily halted.
His edict of self-reproach was sincere, and his appearance of sudden repentance immediately caused an uproar in the court and among the people. Based on what they had heard, they suspected that it was the spirit of the founding emperor.
The emperor resumed morning court sessions, heeding the teachings of the "Grand Ancestor," and reorganized the court. All the alchemists he had specially promoted were dismissed, and some treacherous officials had their property confiscated and their families imprisoned.
Many seats in the imperial court were empty.
The Hanlin Academy, serving as the emperor's "think tank" and a "reserve force" for court officials, was immediately filled, but some positions remained vacant.
It was the end of the year, the autumn imperial examination held every three years had just ended, and the spring imperial examination would follow, so these vacancies would remain temporarily vacant.
The candidates, who were initially unsure of their chances and planned to study for a few more years before taking the exam, saw an opportunity and immediately packed their bags and came to the capital. As a result, the inns were overcrowded. The emperor ordered the Ministry of Works to convert the residences of those treacherous officials into residences for the students.
Xu Liang and Xu Chengzong also came.
001 was bored in the capital. When she found out they were coming, she immediately perked up. Then she remembered that the current situation was completely different from the timeline. Xu Liang was already married, and the second young lady of the Grand Commandant's family had died of illness. Besides, there was nothing to look forward to about killing one's wife.
Xu Liang was serving as the county magistrate in Tong County. He was under the supervision of the county magistrate, who wanted to serve the people. However, the magistrate was obstructing him because he had threatened the magistrate's interests.
Unwilling to rot there, he came to the capital three years ago to participate in the imperial examination, but failed to make the list.
Three years later, he decided to fight again, so he said goodbye to his mother and his new wife and came here again, his face full of melancholy.
Xu Chengzong came with his wife and children.
Six months after their marriage, Meng Liniang was diagnosed with pregnancy. He wanted to give his wife and child a better life, so he continued to take the imperial examination. He took it twice, and this time he actually passed the autumn examination.
He heard that there were many vacant official positions in the court, so he had a wicked idea to come and test his skills. He brought his wife and children with him. If he failed the exam, he would just consider it a chance to broaden his horizons and have some fun.
...
Before the imperial examinations even began, Qingdan Palace was finally reopened.
Those remaining in the imperial court and harem felt a chill, worried that the emperor would once again act impulsively and take elixirs. However, they were surprised to see the emperor ordering the alchemists to consume all the elixirs they had concocted.
Those who refused to eat were put to death, those who developed problems after eating were put to death, and those with minor problems were sentenced according to the circumstances. After looking around, the emperor found that there were only seven people left who were completely fine, and they were all people that "Divine Physician Hu" used to associate with.
Di Xiu was not a sorcerer, nor had he given the emperor any random medicine. He was not imprisoned in the Qingdan Palace with the emperor. When the palace was sealed off, the emperor granted him a mansion in the city, which was very close to the palace. This was because he felt that his body might have been damaged by the elixirs, and being close by would make it easier to summon him to the palace frequently.
At first, the emperor talked to him about alchemists and alchemy. As the conversation progressed, it turned to astronomy and geography, and then to people's livelihood and government affairs. The emperor discovered that this man was quite talented, but he was stubborn and only wanted to be a doctor. He refused to enter officialdom, which really annoyed the emperor.
When he discovered that he could actually distinguish between genuine and fake sorcerers, he was so angry that he had a headache. He scolded him, but then told the latter frankly that he was afraid of death and had no words to say.
Di Xiu originally planned to wait until the health of the Sixth Prince and the Emperor was restored before passing on his medical skills and leaving. His next plan was to learn about Miao medicine.
However, 001 was curious about Xu Liang and Xu Chengzong's performance in the imperial examinations, so he stayed and organized and compiled medical books.
He had previously carried three notebooks with him. One contained information about herbs, including the uses of different parts of the herbs, where various herbs were abundant, and the differences in medicinal properties between different regions. Another contained various prescriptions with numerous annotations. The third recorded the difficult and complicated illnesses he encountered on the road.
His memory was simple and sloppy, but when he wrote it down, there was a lot more content. Thanks to his excellent memory, it was still clear and organized, without the slightest error.
The imperial examinations began and ended, and 001 finally got the results. Neither of the other candidates passed, but one had work experience and was very pragmatic, while the other was quick-witted and wrote imaginative essays. Together with a dozen other candidates, they were exceptionally admitted to the Hanlin Academy.
Emperor Xiu left the capital with 001 without anyone stopping him. However, the emperor specially sent someone to chase after him out of the city and give him a token. It wasn't very useful; it was just to let officials in various places know that he was under the emperor's protection.
He traveled all over the country in search of Miao medicine, but at that time the Miao people were very xenophobic.
After realizing he couldn't be accepted, Di Xiu went to find out why. He then sent a letter to the emperor in the capital, subtly suggesting that the emperor could intervene and offering his own suggestions.
It took him more than a year to enter the Miao territory, and then he expressed his desire to learn Miao medicine, offering to exchange his knowledge for it.
This made things even more difficult, and Di Xiu was almost beaten out.
The process was fraught with difficulties, taking him seven years to complete his studies, after which he continued to travel the world.
Twenty years later, he returned to the capital. The emperor was still on the throne, and his princes had all grown up.
After being awakened by the "Grand Ancestor," he emulated the Grand Ancestor, working diligently and tirelessly to govern the country. He also fought back angrily when neighboring countries invaded, gradually expanding the territory by more than double.
Hearing that the Emperor had returned to the capital, he summoned him to the palace. However, upon seeing that the Emperor's skin still looked as youthful as ever, he was slightly taken aback and asked after a long while, "Where is your son?"
Emperor Xiu: "..."
The "son" got tired of running with him and didn't want to run anymore.
Seeing that he was unwilling to say more, the emperor glanced at his exposed skin, which still looked like that of a young man, and asked, "Who exactly are you?"
Di Xiu looked at him and replied, "Vixen."
The emperor was slightly taken aback, then chuckled, "You little devil, you live more like a human being than many others."
"I am just me."
The emperor nodded slightly, had a chair brought over for him to sit down, and asked, "How is your medical training going?"
I feel I've reached my limit.
"Then why have you returned to the capital this time?"
"Publish a book."
Besides medical books, he wrote down everything he saw and heard that he could.
The emperor looked at him, laughed, and said "Good" three times.
The emperor and the imperial empress quickly reached an agreement. The latter would provide the funds and manpower to handle the compilation and publication of the book, as it would benefit everyone. The emperor had no reason to disagree.
...
Merit can never be fully earned; Emperor Xiu roughly calculated that he should have accumulated quite a bit.
He glanced at Meng Liniang one last time and said to 001, "Let's go."
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