Yang Yanzong stood up suddenly, his eyes as sharp as an eagle staring at the end of the vermilion palace corridor.
Snowflakes were flying, and the empty white marble square bore traces of the years. This ancient and majestic palace was filled with a suffocating sense of tension in the biting cold wind. In the silence of the birds, even the slight sound of soap boots landing on the ground became extremely clear.
Again and again, it's like stepping on a person's heart.
Su Ci was a little nervous, so she stood up as well, looking out carefully, holding his waist with her hand, and hiding behind Yang Yanzong.
Yang Yanzong grabbed her hand with his sword-calloused palm and said in a deep voice, "Don't be afraid."
...It’s hard not to be afraid!
When the time came, Su Ci was still nervous, because this scene was not in the original book. She was really afraid that her butterfly wings would flap and cause some consequences that would affect the final outcome.
Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Yang Yanzong’s success is due to this person. This person is alive and can adapt to circumstances. It is the final outcome that makes him what he achieves, not the outcome that makes him. His character and ability are the key to determining the final outcome. He is not an NPC, so it is impossible for him to collapse just because of deviation from the fixed plot.
That’s right!
Su Ci licked her lips and stared at the door for a while without blinking. The footsteps were approaching the door. A eunuch wearing royal blue eunuch clothes embroidered with silver four-clawed dragon patterns strode to the door.
This was a middle-aged man with a white face and no beard. His eyes were sharp and he stood outside the threshold, looking down at the two people in the room. He spoke in a feminine voice that was unique to eunuchs: "Xuan Zhenxi Xuanfu Envoy and Mingwei General Yang Yanzong, I am here to see you—"
The voice was not loud, but it carried a kind of commanding aura. Su Ci was not very good at identifying the grade of eunuchs' clothing, but she could tell at a glance from the unusually delicate and intricately embroidered eunuch uniform that the man was definitely of high rank - he was the head eunuch, very likely even the head eunuch around the emperor.
Su Ci was not wrong at all. This was a fourth-rank eunuch, the highest rank of eunuchs. The person who came was none other than Sun Shiping, the emperor's chief eunuch!
Su Ci couldn't recognize him, but that didn't mean Yang Yanzong couldn't recognize him. When he saw this person, he was startled and immediately stepped forward and leaned forward: "Your Highness Yang Yanzong, I obey your order!"
"General Yang, let's go now."
Sun Shiping flicked his whisk, glanced at Su Ci, and without stopping, turned around and left.
Then, Yang Yanzong followed Sun Shiping.
Su Ci: “…”
The cold wind was blowing and she was the only one left. What was going on? Why did the emperor ask Yang Yanzong to go alone?
This operation made her feel uneasy.
But there was no place to ask, and she didn't even dare to ask. Su Ci paced back and forth in the room, hoping that Yang Yanzong would come back soon.
Another footstep.
She quickly looked up, but instead of Yang Yanzong coming back, she saw another eunuch.
This eunuch was in his forties, and his attire was not as elaborate and imposing as Sun Shiping's just now, but it was not the standard robes of the young eunuchs either. When he reached the threshold, he glanced at Su Ci and said indifferently, "Your Majesty has summoned you, Su, please follow me."
Su Ci swallowed and had to follow.
This eunuch arrived one after Sun Shiping, but the old emperor did not summon her and Yang Yanzong at the same time, but separated them. It must be said that this move was very powerful.
Su Ci followed the strange eunuch along the palace corridor, turning constantly and going through side doors, but the direction was facing Shangyang Palace, the tallest building in the imperial city. Guards holding spears and wearing armor stood solemnly along the way, with a guard every three steps and a sentry every five steps. The tips of their blades shone coldly under the daylight, and a sense of eerie murderousness arose spontaneously.
Su Ci suddenly realized very clearly that she had stepped into the center of power of the dynasty, which controlled the life and death of the dynasty and where the emperor's anger could result in millions of deaths.
The emperor is high above everyone else, holding the power of life and death over the entire world.
One single word can kill anyone, like her.
Su Ci took a few deep breaths and exhaled slowly to stop herself from shaking. This invisible power was simply too much and the pressure was enormous.
She lowered her head and stared at the tip of her toes. This was something she had learned from observing the people along the way. As she walked up the steps, even the eunuch in blue shirt in front of her didn't dare to look up. With his chest hunched, Su Ci was stopped outside the palace gate. When he stepped over the threshold, Su Ci heard him say from inside: "Your Majesty, Su is here."
I don’t know what was said inside, but then the eunuch turned around and said, “Call the daughter of Captain Su Di, Su, to see you!!”
Su Ci looked at her nose with her eyes, and her heart with her nose. She lowered her head slightly and stepped into this solemn and magnificent palace.
…
Su Ci saw Yang Yanzong at first sight.
He had probably just finished his audience with the old emperor. I don't know what he said to the old emperor, but he was now kneeling in front of a large square gilded bronze tripod three meters in front of the jade steps, with his head slightly lowered. He looked respectful and solemn, but he was a warrior who came from the battlefield, with a very straight back. His back was completely different from those eunuchs and maids with hunched backs.
Su Ci took small steps to his side and knelt down together: "Your Highness, your servant Su is here to pay respect to you!"
Since they were under each other's roof, she kowtowed obediently.
Her posture and voice were honest enough, but she was a brave person after all. Taking advantage of the opportunity of leaning over, she glanced upward with her big eyes and saw an elderly man leaning on the throne in the middle of the jade steps. He was wearing a golden dragon robe, and the soles of his intricate dragon boots of the same color were so white that there was not a trace of dust on them.
Because of the angle, she didn't see the old emperor's face, only the hem of his robe hanging from the dragon throne. But just with this casual leaning posture, she felt a sense of awe-inspiring power and oppression, which was so strong that it was almost tangible. Even Su Ci, who was lowering her head, could feel it clearly.
He is indeed worthy of being the supreme ruler who has been in power for more than forty years!
However, even if he is the emperor who controls the world, he still has to suffer from injuries at this moment.
The old emperor was very old and had not slept for many days, so his eyes were bloodshot. Otherwise, he would not have summoned Su Ci into the palace so easily and summoned her so quickly.
Just like a tiger, even if it is injured and sick, it still has a majestic tiger power. Su Ci did not dare to look up. After greeting Yang Yanzong, she bowed her head and knelt beside him. She felt a very strong and cold gaze falling on her head. After a moment, a low but obviously old and majestic voice came from above, "Are you the Su who made a new medicine and learned a lot of extraordinary medical skills from a strange master?"
“…”
I don't know what Uncle Kun said, Su Ci also saw him now, he was standing under the jade steps, but no matter what he said, Su Ci could only bite the bullet and admit it now. She whispered: "It's a strange and skillful skill, I dare not praise myself."
She was under a lot of pressure. She could guess the old emperor's seriousness from the fact that they were summoned so quickly. When I entered the palace just now, there were a row of imperial physicians kneeling outside, and on the other side of the palace there was also an old man with white hair and beard kneeling with a medicine box beside him. According to the usual probability that medical skills are proportional to age, as well as the style of his clothes, this old man is most likely the Chief Physician of the Imperial Hospital, who treats the emperor.
It was a cold day and the old man was sweating profusely, even his collar was wet, and his hands and jaw were trembling.
——Then, can Su Ci reasonably guess that the emperor’s condition is already very bad, and even the chief imperial physician says he is powerless?
Su Ci swallowed and said, "No, don't do this to her. She doesn't want to lose her head!"
No matter how scary it is, it will happen!
The old emperor didn't say much nonsense. He asked a few simple questions and immediately asked Su Ci to come forward to check the injuries.
When Su Ci stood up, her feet felt numb. Yang Yanzong supported her. No one said anything, so he simply stood up and helped Su Ci move forward step by step.
As they got closer, Su Ci finally saw the full view on the jade steps. The emperor was half-lying on the dragon throne. The wide dragon throne was padded with brocade cushions and pillows. Seeing the palace eunuchs skillfully adjusting the angle of the pillows, the old emperor must have maintained this posture for a long time recently.
Su Ci secretly glanced at the old emperor's face. He was over seventy years old and suffered from injuries, illness and fatigue. The muscles on his cheeks were loose and sagging, his face was dark and his eyes were red. He looked like he was suppressing his discomfort and irritability.
All in all, his condition was really bad, but his eyes still looked unfathomable.
A wounded and dying tiger is still a tiger. As long as it is still alive, it can still easily bite off the invader's throat.
This was Su Ci’s first impression.
Also, at just one glance, she was frightened, because the other person's face looked so bad, with a faint blush in the darkness. She was so familiar with this blush that she could tell at a glance that the old emperor was even having a fever.
When they reached the jade steps, Yang Yanzong was stopped by someone. He let go of her hand, and Su Ci followed Sun Shiping and the old imperial physician who had just been dragged up and walked up the steps. The latter was trembling and staggering. Su Ci was really worried that he would lose his balance and fall down with a broken head, but she didn't dare to help him.
The thick gorilla wool carpet absorbed all the footsteps, and there was a suffocating silence above. Except for the old emperor, she could not hear anyone breathing.
Sun Shiping knelt on the ground, gently lifted the quilt covering the old emperor's lower body, and then lifted the hem of his dragon robe. He could hear the sound of him undressing. Su Ci tilted her head to listen to the old imperial physician's detailed explanation of the old emperor's current condition in a low voice.
"…I fell off a horse and injured my leg in the autumn. I was also wounded by an arrow, but fortunately the latter was not serious. It took more than two months to recover from both injuries. However, within half a month of recovery, Your Majesty felt a dull pain in the healed part of the leg wound. The pain relief was ineffective and the condition got worse. So far, pus has been seen inside the wound. It has not healed despite repeated drainage…"
The old imperial physician knelt for who knows how long, his legs still trembling, as he described the emperor's medical history to Su Ci in a trembling voice. Su Ci listened carefully with great concentration - she knew very well that once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. If the patient cannot be cured, she and Yang Yanzong will not have to go back. The same fate will befall the other imperial physicians outside, who are now largely missing and under strict supervision.
The dragon chair had been cleaned up. Sun Shiping turned around and whispered, "Miss Su."
Su Ci took a deep breath and stepped forward to diagnose the injury.
The skin of one leg is already a little wrinkled and dry. It is the left thigh. There is a large, red, swollen and bright area above the knee. There is a newly healed scar on it, and the skin is intact. This is a typical case of subcutaneous suppuration.
Su Ci washed her hands and slowly pressed and examined for a moment. As soon as she touched it, a low, hoarse sound of pain came from the top of her head. Sun Shiping said anxiously, "Gently, gently!"
Come on, be gentle!
Su Ci said it in her heart, but of course she didn't dare say it out loud, so she had to slow down her movements a little bit, and while pressing, she whispered to the old imperial physician and the emperor himself about their feelings.
"…Does it hurt here? Is there a spot that's particularly painful? Where did the pain start?"
Although Su Ci was young, she was skilled in technique. Just looking at her pressing posture, one could tell that she had real skills. Sun Shiping couldn't help but feel a little hopeful and hurriedly tried to recall the answer.
"How was the bone broken? Who treated the wound? Can you ask him to tell me?"
Sun Shiping immediately called a kneeling middle-aged imperial physician outside, who told him the details of the situation and how he handled it.
"What about this part? How does it hurt now? Is it a sharp pain? A dull pain? Or a sharp pain that comes and goes?"
Sun Shiping looked at the emperor immediately. The old emperor said, "It hurts like a needle piercing my bones. It comes and goes in waves, but I can always feel it inside, and the pain is even more severe."
Sun Shiping hurriedly asked in a low voice: "How is it, Miss Su, do you have any plan for His Majesty's injury?"
Of course Su Ci had the rules. After on-site examination and combining them with the words of the old imperial physician, she had already made a clear diagnosis of the disease.
——In fact, it is not complicated. It is just subcutaneous suppuration caused by inadequate treatment after open fracture.
The old emperor's leg injury from falling off his horse was quite serious. The Imperial Medical Bureau was not without talented people. The middle-aged imperial physician just now specialized in bone injuries. Without X-rays, he successfully repositioned the old emperor's fractured area with his naked eyes and experience, and continued to take care of him until the wound healed. The old emperor was already at this age, so he could be said to be very capable.
If it weren't for the subsequent situation, the old emperor would at most have difficulty walking as well as before and would have leg pain on rainy days, but he was already in his seventies, so the treatment could be said to be very successful.
Unfortunately, there is no if. This imperial physician was unlucky and encountered a type of injury that is most difficult to treat and most likely to go wrong.
This type of open fracture is often prone to producing bone fragments. In later generations, hospitals must take X-rays to ensure that the bone fragments are cleaned up.
The fundamental reason why the old emperor's injuries recurred was that the wound was not cleaned thoroughly enough and bone debris remained. Su Ci judged that there were three specific reasons. Inflammation recurred after the injury healed, and the situation had become extremely serious as time went on.
——No wonder the old imperial physician was powerless. This kind of inflammatory infection was a fatal disease in ancient times!
The fact that the old emperor could delay for so long was a result of the profound skills of the Imperial Hospital.
Sun Shiping said: "Miss Su, I heard that your new medicine can bring the dead back to life!"
“…”
Su Ci: "...How is this possible? To bring the dead back to life requires an elixir."
Sun Shiping couldn't suppress the disappointment in his voice. He suppressed his anxiety and said, "Then Miss Su, do you have any treatment for your Majesty's injury?"
This one, “Yes.”
Su Ci felt that more and more eyes were on her, and she felt a great pressure. The old emperor couldn't wait any longer, and he even sat up straight: "What method? Tell me quickly!"
"Well, we need to use a knife and acupuncture to make an incision, remove the remaining bone fragments, and remove the root cause. Then we can use debridement and drainage. We also have new medicines. The new medicines are very effective for pus and blood diseases."
Su Ci honestly needed surgery. Really, at this moment, she couldn't help but think of the poor Mr. Hua Tuo in the novel.
A glimpse of the whole picture can reveal a small part. Although it is just a fiction, it shows that the ancients were extremely averse to surgery. The gradual decline and loss of the art of acupuncture can actually prove this point.
Su Ci spoke carefully, and as soon as she finished speaking, she clearly felt the restlessness in the air suddenly subside, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy and depressing.
She shrank her neck. If they used a knife on the dragon's body, they wouldn't drag her out and chop her up, right?
But there is no other way, the old emperor’s injury can only be cured by surgery!
Medication alone is not enough, it only treats the symptoms and not the root cause.
When she saw clearly the old emperor's injuries, her heart was lifted. Fortunately, it was okay. Although it was a little troublesome, it was still curable through surgery.
The old emperor is just too old, and has been tortured by injuries for so long, his physical condition is so poor, even Su Ci doesn't dare to guarantee that he can undergo surgery at this age and in this environment.
In the huge palace, one could hear a pin drop, but Su Ci still said, "Your Majesty is already old, and your body is not as strong as it was when you were young. You have been suffering from injuries and illnesses for a long time, and you are exhausted and weak... With the combination of acupuncture and acupuncture and the new medicine, there is a 70% chance of recovery."
The air pressure dropped even further, and even Sun Shiping didn't dare to speak anymore.
Su Ci didn't dare to look up at the old emperor's expression. She just lowered her head and secretly glanced at Yang Yanzong out of the corner of her eye.
The suffocating low pressure lasted for about a quarter of an hour, which seemed like a lifetime. The old emperor at the top said calmly, "Take the man away."
Su Ci and Yang Yanzong were taken away from Shangyang Palace and placed in a remote small palace room.
The old emperor didn't say whether it was good or bad, so he just left it there.
It’s so stressful!
Now the two are only a step away from death. If the emperor refuses surgery, the two people who are already aware of his injuries will be silenced.
To be honest, the feeling of hovering on the edge of death was really uncomfortable. Before the second boot fell, it was already dark. A palace servant brought some simple, half-lukewarm meals. Su Ci cheered up and heated them up with a tea stove, ate them in one gulp, then went to bed feeling tired.
This small side room was very old, with most of the curtains removed and only a small bed. They didn't know if they would have their next meal after the last one, so they definitely couldn't ask someone to add an extra bed, so the two of them just slept on one bed.
The cold wind was howling, the mattress and quilt were very thin, and the bed was very small. Su Ci couldn't help but shrink towards the heat source. Finally, Yang Yanzong turned sideways and she curled up in his arms.
It was warm, but Su Ci tossed and turned, whispering, "I can't sleep."
"sleep."
The voice of Yang Yanzong above her head was still so concise. He touched the back of her neck and rubbed a certain acupuncture point for a while. Su Ci's consciousness became a little fuzzy, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.
The breathing of the person in his arms became slow and long, and calmed down. Yang Yanzong released his kneading hands and sat up.
The old window screen trembled, the cold and lonely night, the snow was falling, and the big red palace wall was lonely.
On this cold night when he might be torn to pieces tomorrow, Yang Yanzong felt a surge of ruthlessness in his heart. Thinking of the Crown Prince Ji Yan, his brows became cold and sharp. The other party had better pray that he can't get through this! Otherwise - he would use facts to tell him that it is not enough to rely solely on conspiracies and tricks to survive!
He gave an extremely cold and bloodthirsty smile.
…
The pressure was so great that even the food she ate tasted bland. Su Ci said, "No wonder others don't give you good food. Maybe they know that it doesn't matter what you eat."
They felt lost and worried that someone would push them out of the Meridian Gate and chop them to pieces at the next moment.
On the contrary, Yang Yanzong was on the verge of life and death, and it was inevitable that he was nervous, but this man remained calm from beginning to end and did not panic, and his psychological quality was excellent.
Yang Yanzong held her hand with his backhand, squinted his eyes, stared at a certain point in the flying snow outside the old window screen, and said: "Things may turn around."
As time went by, although no one was interested, Yang Yanzong keenly sensed a sign.
"Really? Really?"
Su Ci was cheered up. You know, this man was a leader among conspirators. She believed in his judgment very much and was overjoyed when she heard the words.
Under heavy pressure, the familiarity between the two of them has increased by leaps and bounds in the past two days. Yang Yanzong didn't say anything, but she didn't mind and paced back and forth in the room. Yang Yanzong sat still, closing his eyes to rest.
When Su Ci walked around the house a thousand and eight hundred times and almost wore out the soles of her shoes, things finally took a turn for the better at dusk the next day.
There were the sounds of hurried footsteps moving along the red corridor, and with a "creak" the half-worn red door was pushed open!
The emperor announced again!
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