Emperor Longqing held Gao Gong's hand tightly. Gao Gong had no choice but to plead guilty and followed the emperor to the golden platform, standing beside the throne with his body half bowed.
The eunuch then lifted the imperial sedan chair and walked along the imperial road into the Huangji Gate.
Longqing's lips moved from time to time, and he sat quietly on the throne. When the imperial carriage passed through the long palace gate, the surroundings suddenly became dim, and he suddenly grabbed Gao Gong's hand, seeming a little frightened.
When the imperial chariot left the palace gate and the surroundings became bright again, Longqing heaved a long sigh of relief and sighed, "My ancestors have lived for 200 years until today, and I cannot afford to lose anything. It is said that a country has a long-lived monarch, which is a blessing for the country, but the East Palace is still young..."
Every time he said a word, he would pause and clench his hands, as if he found it difficult to accept his own premonition and needed to find strength to support himself.
"Your Majesty, may you live a long and healthy life. Why are you saying such unlucky words?" Gao Gong hurriedly advised, "When a person is sick, he will inevitably have wild thoughts. When he recovers, he will laugh at himself. Your Majesty, please do not be pessimistic. Your body will recover soon."
"Someone bullied me..." Long Qing said in a shocking tone.
Gao Gong was horrified when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, half comforting and half asking, "Who dares to bully the emperor? Our ancestors will punish him severely! Your Majesty, tell me that I will punish him severely!"
"There are two in the Yikun Palace, one in the Qianqing Palace, one in the Huangji Palace, and also in the Silijian, the Imperial Horse Bureau, the East Factory, the Wine, Vinegar and Noodle Bureau. There are bad guys in all of them who want to harm me!" Longqing grabbed his hand in panic and complained: "Master Gao, take people to arrest them all!"
"Yes, I will go and check it out later." Gao Gong said helplessly and tried to comfort Longqing: "Your Majesty is not fully recovered from his illness yet, please do not get angry, so as not to hurt your majesty."
Longqing sighed again and said, "Everything is caused by the eunuchs, how do you know, sir?"
Gao Gong knew that the emperor didn't want him to lift up his fur coat to avoid revealing the lice underneath.
So he stopped asking questions.
~~
He accompanied the emperor back to the Houyuan and entered the circular city built beside the North Sea.
Entering the "city gate" made of blue bricks and inscribed with the words "Qinghe County", you can see that the city wall is slightly oval, and the streets in the city are vertical and horizontal, like a cross. The north-south distance is relatively close, and the east-west distance is relatively far.
There are restaurants, tea shops, grocery stores, gambling houses, brothels, and theaters on the North and South Streets. There is everything available.
The East and West Streets are inhabited by residents. The difference is that the West Street is full of small courtyards made of blue bricks, while the East Street has two large mansions facing each other.
After entering Qinghe County, Longqing regained some spirit and said to Gao Gong, "I feel a little relieved."
"Thank God, the emperor is okay." It was the first time that Gao Gong stepped into this place. He was stunned and thought to himself, "Fuck, this place is really fun... Oh no, he wanted to tear this place down to prevent the emperor from leaving behind a ridiculous reputation.
He suddenly remembered that Longqing never allowed outsiders to come here, so he wanted to leave, but the emperor still held on and said, "Send me away."
"Yes." Gao Gong had no choice but to respond.
Longqing sat on the imperial carriage and enthusiastically introduced to Gao Gong what happened here in the book, and that brothel was Zheng Aiyue's place and so on.
"As for that West Street, it's Lion Street. Hua Zixu and his friends all have their houses there..." He was talking with saliva flying all over the place, and suddenly his face darkened and said, "Where are the people? Where did they go?"
Meng Chong, who was following beside him, was so shocked. Since the emperor fell ill, he has been recuperating in the Qianqing Palace and has not come here. Are those eunuchs and palace maids stupid? They are still role-playing here all day long?
"This, this..." He wiped his sweat and quickly made up a story: "I don't know if the emperor and Master Gao are here, so you all avoid them?"
"Call them out and do what they need to do. I've said it so many times that everyone who enters Qinghe County is a book person. There are no emperors, concubines, or ministers anymore." Longqing's expression eased a little, and he said to Gao Gong, "Master Gao, you should also play an identity."
"This..." Gao Gong could only muffle his voice and said, "I have never read that book."
"Is that so? Then I'll think of one for Master. You can be the Immortal Wu." Long Qing thought carefully.
"..." Gao Gong was speechless for a while. What on earth was going on? He really wanted to persuade the emperor not to do such absurd things again, and to return to the Qianqing Palace to recuperate.
"Then which role should I play?" Zhang Juzheng's voice was heard. It turned out that Prime Minister Zhang had sent away all the officials and hurried over.
"Master Zhang has such a handsome appearance, it is obvious that he is the Taoist Master Pan from the Five Mountains Temple." Long Qing said with a smile.
"Then I will find a bronze sword with horizontal stripes and put it on my back, and also find a five-pointed ghost-subduing fan and hold it in my hand." Zhang Juzheng said with a smile on his face.
Gao Gong thought to himself, well, the two grand secretaries, one became a fortune-telling Taoist priest, and the other became a ghost-catching Taoist priest, they are really a perfect match.
"Master Pan, you've come just in time. Please help me check if there are any ghosts in the house." Long Qing immediately got into the mood and pointed at two large houses facing each other on East Street. "The one on the north is the ancestral home of the Ximen family. Later, they spent 500 taels of silver to build a garden, and then spent 540 taels to buy the house of the Hua family next door. The north of the street is mine. The one on the south was originally the old house of the Qiao family. I spent 700 taels of silver to buy it two years ago. So the whole street is mine. How about it, isn't it amazing?"
"Your Excellency is really good at managing the household. I admire you very much." Zhang Juzheng flattered him seriously.
It was good enough that Gao Gong didn't curse out loud, so he just kept his mouth shut.
As they were talking, the imperial sedan chair was carried into Ximen Mansion. It did not go north, but went directly from the small door on the west side of the front yard, passed through an alley, and entered the large garden next door.
In the book, this garden is also the most beautiful place in the entire Qinghe County, and it is also Ximen Qing's masterpiece. Longqing said proudly: "This was originally the house of the eunuch Hua. Later, Hua Zixu sold it to me. I connected the two courtyards and made a big garden. I built three flower pavilions in the back. After I married Li Ping'er, I lived there with her..."
When Li Ping'er was mentioned, the emperor's face suddenly changed. His face, which had just regained some color, suddenly became gray again. His eyes gradually became dull and he whispered, "Ping'er, Huahua, Huahua, Ping'er..."
As he spoke, he let go of Gao Gong's hand, jumped off the imperial chariot, and stumbled along the lotus pond. However, perhaps because he had not yet recovered from his serious illness, his feet were weak, and he fell forward heavily after running only two steps.
"Sir, Sir..." Meng Chong and others rushed forward anxiously and helped the emperor up, but they saw that he had fallen and was bleeding from his mouth and nose and had fainted.
"Imperial Physician, call the imperial physician quickly!" Gao Gong stamped his feet anxiously.
~~
The eunuchs hurriedly and carefully carried Longqing into the nearest Jujing Hall. The imperial physician also rushed over upon hearing the news and went in to treat the emperor.
Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were standing outside the hall, their throats hoarse with anxiety.
It was not until noon that he was summoned. The two university scholars hurried in with the eunuchs and saw that Longqing had taken off his dragon robe and was lying on a sandalwood bed in a white silk shirt.
"Your Majesty." The two men kowtowed in front of the couch and looked at the weak emperor with tears in their eyes.
Longqing stretched out his hand. Gao Gong understood and quickly knelt forward and shook the emperor's hand.
His warm big hands made Longqing's troubled heart feel a little calmer. The emperor and his subject looked at each other for a long time, with a warm and affectionate feeling.
Long Qingfang said slowly: "I was in a trance for a moment..."
"It's okay, it's just a common symptom of the disease." Gao Gong said with red eyes.
"Since ancient times, the emperor's funeral arrangements have to be prepared in advance to avoid sudden collapse of the mountain and tomb, which would shock the court and the people. Masters, please consider carefully before proceeding..." Longqing gave the instructions slowly.
"Your Majesty is in the prime of life. It is not the time to consider these things." Gao Gong said with a smile.
"I don't think so, but it's better to be prepared." Long Qing smiled with difficulty and closed his eyes tiredly.
Seeing that the emperor had fallen asleep, the two grand secretaries tiptoed out of the hall and waited for his orders in the courtyard.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gao Gong called Jin Yuanpan from the Imperial Hospital and questioned him in a stern voice, asking him what disease the emperor had.
It's like this, it's obviously not just a cold as claimed before...
"Well..." Judge Jin took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, and after a long pause, he said, "Based on your Majesty's symptoms and pulse diagnosis, the Imperial Hospital believes that your Majesty is suffering from rickets."
"There are so many kinds of rickets." Scholars read medical books to prevent themselves from being deceived by quack doctors when they get sick. Gao Gong was well-educated and no exception. He waved his hand and said, "There are blood rickets, wind rickets, tooth rickets, chancres, etc. Which one does Your Majesty have?"
"This... seeing that the rickets that the emperor suffers from are unpredictable, it is probably... blood rickets, which is caused by the weakness of the internal organs, the invasion of pathogenic heat, and the invasion of the flesh between the flesh, and the occurrence of it on the skin." Judge Jin whispered: "It was treated for this disease before, and it improved for a period of time, but it relapsed again. I am afraid I dare not make a final conclusion."
Well, after talking on and on for a while, it’s like saying nothing.
Gao Gong was so angry that he just rolled his eyes and wanted to continue questioning him, but Jin Yuanpan just kept repeating the same old things. Even when Gao Gong asked him when the emperor would recover, he was vague, saying it would take at least ten days and a half months, or at most a year and a half, like a quack doctor.
"Go away first." Gao Gong had no choice but to let him in to continue his treatment. He then asked Zhang Juzheng, who had remained silent,
"Uncle, what do you think?"
"I think he is either incapable of governing or he dares not tell the truth." Zhang Juzheng said calmly, "Judging from his evasive words, I'm afraid he is more afraid to take responsibility."
The Imperial Medical Bureau ruled that a great Chinese physician could not be a mediocre doctor.
"The prescriptions of the Imperial Hospital are really well-deserved." Gao Gong snorted coldly and said solemnly: "You mean, there is something you can't tell?"
"I'm not a doctor, and I haven't read the medical records of the Imperial Hospital. I'm just guessing." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand and said, "But the Imperial Hospital has been keeping it a secret since last month, which makes people feel uneasy."
"Who allowed them to hide the truth?!" Gao Gong stomped his feet angrily.
"I asked before, it's the Imperial Household Department." Zhang Juzheng said softly.
"Oh?" Gao Gong's expression changed and he stopped talking.
The two waited until dusk, when a eunuch came out and said, "Tell the two ministers not to leave."
"Please inform the emperor that neither of us dare to go." Gao Gong responded quickly. Well, I have to sleep in Ximen Mansion tonight.
p.s. Write another chapter.