Chapter 318: Equally Tragic

In Ci'an Hall.

Lan Ying was holding a basin of water. As she approached the palace door, she heard an inarticulate roar from inside: "Get out! I said I don't want to eat. Don't you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think you just want to make fun of me, get out, get out!"

When Lan Ying heard the voice, she immediately walked in quickly and happened to run into the empress coming out with a tray in her hand.

"My lady, are you okay?" she asked hurriedly.

The queen shook her head slightly, walked outside, and put a tray with a bowl of porridge on the table.

Lan Ying noticed that the back of her hand was red, so she quickly put down the basin and asked, "What happened, Madam?"

The queen lowered her eyes to glance at the back of her hand and whispered, "I was feeding porridge to the queen mother and she waved it away. She must have accidentally got scalded at that time."

"My lady, why are you doing this?"

Lanying quickly wrapped a cool handkerchief and put it on the back of her hand, sighing.

"She is my aunt after all. If I stay away from her now, it would be a waste of her love for me for so many years."

The queen glanced into the inner hall and sighed softly, "In the past, my aunt was very gentle. When I was a child, she often held me on her lap and let me play with her swings. I don't know when she became like this..."

She sighed again and said to Lanying, "Don't go in either. The Queen Mother is getting upset when she sees other people."

Lan Ying nodded, but still worriedly asked, "Madam, do you want me to get some burn ointment?"

"No need." She extended her hand to Lanying and said, "Staying here will only make the Queen Mother more angry. Let's go back and see Zhaoning first and come back in the evening."

"Okay, Your Majesty didn't sleep well last night, so it's a good opportunity for her to sleep with the princess." Lan Ying said.

Speaking of Zhaoning, a gentle smile flashed across the empress's face. She nodded and was about to walk out when she saw a palace maid coming in with a middle-aged man with a mustache.

He was carrying a medicine box on his back, which was sent to the palace by the Fang family. They said that the doctor was a miracle doctor who specialized in treating stroke.

"Your humble servant pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress." When he saw the Empress, he immediately bowed and saluted.

The queen looked him over, then sat back down again and said to the maid in a low voice, "I have a few questions for you. Please go and do something else."

The palace maid hesitated for a moment, but thinking that they were all from the Fang family, she said nothing more, and left after saying yes.

The Queen then looked at the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground and asked, "You have been in the palace for a few days, why doesn't the Queen Mother's condition improve?"

The private doctor's name was Zhou Quan. He lowered his head even more when he heard the voice. "To answer your Majesty, the sequelae of a stroke need to be treated slowly. No, the effect will not be seen so quickly."

"Does it take time to recover, or do you simply not have the ability to do it?"

My father was also confused. With Jiang Yuan in the palace, there was no need for a common doctor. He was in such a hurry to send someone in. Aren't they afraid that the person might be a scammer?

Facing the Queen's question, Zhou Quan, who had been lowering his head, raised his face and looked at the Queen, "Your Majesty, in fact, in addition to stroke, I am also best at women's medicine, and I am best at recuperating for women."

His expression was clearly filled with awe, but his eyes were full of flattery, which was uncomfortable to watch.

These words surprised both the Queen and Lan Ying.

"You are so brave!" Lan Ying scolded immediately.

"No, I am brave. This, this is what Lord Fang told me to do." He lowered his head again and kowtowed a few times on the ground.

"Father?"

The Queen's expression changed several times, and finally she was cold, "Tell me, what did your father tell you?"

"Fang, Lord Fang said..." Zhou Quan did not forget to look around. The inner hall was inside and the sand partition door was tightly closed.

After making sure that no one could hear him, he continued, "Lord Fang said that the Empress Dowager has arthritis left over from her stroke, so I can only do my best. I still need to find a chance to talk to Her Majesty."

Zhou Quan knelt down and took two steps forward. He was blocked by Lan Ying, so he stepped back and gave her an awkward smile.

"It's your turn!" the queen said coldly.

Zhou Quan then lowered his voice and said, "My Lord wants me to tell you that the Empress Dowager can no longer be relied upon now that she has fallen. The only one the Fang family can rely on is you. You must take good care of yourself and give birth to the Emperor's legitimate son as soon as possible."

After hearing this, the queen slammed the table with her hand, revealing an uncontrollable look of anger.

She originally thought that even though her father was utilitarian, he still cared about her aunt in his heart. However, she didn't expect that he was so anxious to send someone in because he had already figured out that her aunt had no hope and had set his sights on her!

Before, she thought her aunt was an exception, but she didn't expect that as a woman of the Fang family, she was as pathetic as herself!

"You, pack your things immediately and get out of the palace!" the queen shouted.

Zhou Quan didn't expect her to react like this. He thought she didn't believe him, so he said quickly, "Your Majesty, everything I said is true. If you don't believe me, I have a handwritten letter from Lord Fang in my room. You can take it to the Empress for review."

Ever since Huo Jinchi began to be wary of the Fang family, the Empress' correspondence with them was almost always through the Empress Dowager. No wonder she sent a doctor to deliver the letter.

The Queen's expression became even uglier. She glanced at Lan Ying and said, "You can go with me. There's no need to show it to me. Just burn it!"

"yes!"

Lan Ying lowered her eyes and glanced at Zhou Quan, "Why don't you come with me!"

Zhou Quan really didn't understand why the Queen still had this attitude if she believed what he said, but he was a lowly person after all, and the Queen had already given the order, so he didn't dare to disobey and could only stand up.

But unexpectedly, at this moment, the gauze door of the inner hall suddenly opened, and Nanny Sun walked out.

When he saw the three people, he was a little confused.

"Why is Nanny out? What does Aunt need?" asked the Queen.

Nanny Sun smiled and said, "It's nothing else, it's just that the queen has been asking why the miracle doctor Zhou hasn't come yet." She glanced at Zhou Quan and smiled at the queen, "So he's here."

The Queen remained calm. "I asked him a few questions about my aunt's health."

"So that's how it is." Nanny Sun said with a smile, "The Empress is very filial."

"Since my aunt is asking, I won't ask any more questions." The Queen glanced at Zhou Quan and said, "Why don't you go in with Nanny Sun? The palace is different from the outside. You must be careful to serve the Queen Mother. If anything goes wrong, no one can save your head!"

Zhou Quan shuddered and said quickly, "Yes, yes, I will obey the Queen's order."

"Go ahead."

Nanny Sun glanced at the empress again before leading Zhou Quan away.

Afterwards, the Queen also held Lanying's hand and walked out of the hall.

"Your Majesty, that letter..." Lan Yingcai asked in a low voice after walking out.

"Wait till evening, then go get it."