Chapter 517 He didn't want twenty strokes of the cane, but insisted on thirty.
Shen Wantang stood up and, amidst the pitying gazes of the crowd, calmly walked towards Granny Fu.
Granny Fu reached out and rolled up her sleeves.
Shen Wantang placed her fingers on Granny Fu's wrist and began to carefully take her pulse.
Before long, the Empress Dowager lost her patience: "Are you done examining me? Why is it so difficult for you to take my pulse!"
Shen Wantang released her hand, her tone calm: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Granny Fu is generally in good health, but..."
"Just what?"
"I only suffer from occasional migraines, which is probably a lingering effect from a cold I caught when I was young."
The Empress Dowager was taken aback, then sneered: "Nonsense! Granny Fu is perfectly fine! She doesn't have any migraines at all. I can tell you don't know anything about medicine. You just made up a diagnosis and dare to try to fool me! You're really courting death! Guards, drag her out and give her twenty lashes!"
Just as the eunuchs were about to pull Shen Wantang away, Shen Wantang raised her voice and said, "Wait!"
The Empress Dowager looked at her disdainfully: "What else do you have to say?"
"Whether Granny Fu suffers from migraines or not, the Empress Dowager should have several imperial physicians examine her. In addition, the Empress Dowager should also ask Granny Fu herself whether she is tormented by headaches. She herself knows best."
The Empress Dowager frowned and looked at Granny Fu: "This ignorant fool insists that you have migraines. Come here, tell her, do you actually have this disease or not!"
Granny Fu hesitated. Looking at the Empress Dowager's confident expression, she really didn't know whether to tell the truth or a lie.
She had served the Empress Dowager for so many years, yet she still couldn't figure out what the Empress Dowager was thinking.
However, having stayed by the Empress Dowager's side for so many years, she naturally had her own ways of dealing with things. She hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty is wise. This servant does not have migraines. I just occasionally feel a bit stuffy and uncomfortable. Everyone has these minor ailments, which are nothing to worry about. This is not a migraine at all!"
The Empress Dowager was very satisfied with her answer. She looked at Shen Wantang and said, "Did you hear that? Granny Fu didn't have a migraine at all! You're just a self-proclaimed fraud, claiming to be knowledgeable in medicine. You're nothing but a liar! Now, what do you have to say?"
Shen Wantang remained calm: "Granny Fu's headache and discomfort already indicate the problem. The Empress Dowager colluded with Granny Fu to insist that this is not a migraine, and there is nothing I can do about it."
"The Empress Dowager had already decided on the answer and condemned me long ago, so I have nothing to say."
"If the Empress Dowager wants to hit me, she should just do it directly. Why go through all this trouble and pin a crime on me? It really damages the Empress Dowager's reputation."
The Empress Dowager glared at her, enraged by her words: "You sharp-tongued, despicable thing! Who are you accusing Fu Mama of conspiring with you? I, the Empress Dowager, have no interest in such despicable and vile acts!"
Shen Wantang looked up at her: "Then why didn't the Empress Dowager have the imperial physicians examine Granny Fu's pulse? Is the Empress Dowager afraid? Afraid that I really know medicine, afraid that the imperial physicians' pulse diagnosis will be exactly the same as mine?"
The Empress Dowager was so angry she nearly fell over: "Who do you think you are? How could I be afraid of you?! I didn't realize you were such a stubborn, inflexible person. You don't want twenty strokes of the cane, you insist on thirty!"
The rest of the people in the room didn't quite understand why Shen Wantang wanted to provoke the Empress Dowager just to prove that her pulse diagnosis was correct.
You should know that the Empress Dowager just said that if there is any mistake in taking the pulse, the person will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane, but if there is no mistake, the person will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane!
Does the Crown Princess have no math skills? In this situation, she should definitely have deliberately made a wrong diagnosis!
However, Shen Wantang stood straight and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Then please ask the Empress Dowager to order the imperial physicians to also examine Granny Fu's pulse. I don't believe that the imperial physicians have already colluded with the Empress Dowager."
The Empress Dowager was absolutely furious; she hadn't encountered anyone who dared to provoke her like this in a very, very long time.
But she couldn't let her reputation be ruined here. She said sternly, "All of you, come and take Granny Fu's pulse! Take a good look at it for me. If you make any mistakes, you will all be punished along with Shen Wantang! Anyway, you're all a bunch of useless good-for-nothings who can't cure my son. Let's just beat you all to death!"
The imperial physicians, including Qin, quickly stood up and took turns checking Granny Fu's pulse.
After everyone had finished their examinations, the Empress Dowager coldly asked, "How was it? Did Granny Fu have a migraine?"
The physicians looked at each other, none of them willing to speak first.
"Speak! Are you all mute?!"
The Empress Dowager was extremely agitated. She picked up a teacup and threw it at several imperial physicians: "Can't you hear me when I ask you questions?"
Physician Qin was the first to be hit. He dared not dodge, but he swiftly caught the teacup and then habitually knelt down.
As soon as he knelt, the other imperial physicians quickly followed suit, fearing that if they were too slow, they would be noticed by the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager was furious: "Qin Fangming, tell me what your pulse diagnosis results are! If you can't answer, I'll have your hand chopped off, so you can never take pulses again and can never be a royal physician again!"
Physician Qin couldn't help but shrink his hand inside his sleeve. He prostrated himself on the ground, his tone as respectful as could be: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, Granny Fu does suffer from migraines."
The Empress Dowager's face changed: "What?! There really is one? You diagnosed it correctly? I think you're getting old, your eyesight is failing, you even misdiagnosed a migraine! Come here, examine me again!"
Physician Qin did not step forward. What a joke! He can't even diagnose a migraine. What kind of physician is he?
What will his colleagues say about him? He needs two consultations to diagnose a migraine, and Shen Wantang, a young woman, can diagnose it faster and more accurately.
While he may be smooth and shrewd in his dealings with others, he still cherishes his reputation when it comes to medical ethics and skills.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. There is no mistake. Granny Fu does indeed have a migraine."
"impossible!"
Seeing that the Empress Dowager was about to get angry again, Imperial Physician Qin hurriedly said, "However, there are many kinds of migraines. Just now, the Crown Princess said that Granny Fu's migraines were caused by a cold she caught when she was young. I think we should not make a hasty judgment on this. I think that Granny Fu's migraines may also be caused by washing her hair with cold water."
The Empress Dowager's expression softened slightly: "So, Shen Wantang made a mistake in his diagnosis?"
"Well... it's not entirely wrong; catching a cold can indeed cause migraines."
The Empress Dowager waved her hand irritably: "Get out of my way! You never have a moment of peace. I get annoyed just listening to you talk! Zhou Guangzheng, you tell me, what's wrong with Granny Fu?"
The imperial physician, Zhou, was quite old, with a white beard and drooping eyelids, but he was just like his name, upright and honest. He said frankly, "I believe that the Crown Princess's diagnosis is correct. Granny Fu does have migraines, and the cause of her migraines is caused by wind and cold."
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