Consort Ping's face turned pale and then flushed.
The palace maid helped her up in a panic, inwardly groaning. Her mistress had kept her pregnancy a secret so she could choose an auspicious day to announce it, a sign of good fortune, but now…
Consort Ping's temples were throbbing.
Because Yinzhen was born during the mourning period for Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, she didn't even have a full-month celebration, and the Emperor was indifferent to her. She also had some thoughts in her mind when she finally became pregnant with her second child.
But...but...
If rumors spread that she was unwilling to serve the Emperor, how could she possibly survive in the palace? Would she have to spend her days in the Cold Palace? Consort Ping's lips trembled, and she felt waves of cramping pain in her stomach.
Upon seeing this, the Empress frowned slightly.
She gave Consort Xuan a light rebuke, then turned her head and instructed the maid beside her to take Consort Ping to a side hall to rest, and asked the imperial physician to examine Consort Ping.
After sending Consort Ping away, the issue returned to the selection of a replacement.
The Empress did not choose Consort Qi, but instead instructed Consort Hui and Consort Duan to pack their luggage and depart early the next morning.
Wan Anran was very depressed.
The Empress even kept her behind to comfort her: "Consort Hui is steady and mature, and Consort Duan is meticulous and conscientious. The two of them will surely take good care of the Emperor. You've been feeling guilty and restless lately, so why don't you accompany the Empress Dowager to the Buddhist hall to copy some scriptures and calm your mind?"
Wan Anran looked dejected.
She never imagined that it was because of her troubled mind during this period that the Empress would give up her idea of going.
Wan Anran was completely deflated.
After calming down, she thought about how emperors in history lived for a full sixty-one years, and she calmed down again.
Good news should be coming soon... right?
Wan Anran patiently waited, but at the same time, she was worried about Emperor Kangxi in the distance.
Contrary to her expectations, after Consort Hui and Consort Duan went to take care of her, no good news came back.
On the contrary, judging from the letters sent back by the imperial physicians, the Emperor's illness seemed to be getting worse. Kangxi was experiencing high fever and low fever, sometimes lucid and sometimes unconscious, and he also had rashes all over his body. The imperial physicians tried several different prescriptions, but to no avail.
The only good news is that this doesn't seem to be an epidemic.
How could this be considered good news? As the Emperor's condition worsened, the atmosphere in the court and the palace grew more and more somber each day. Many officials even felt that the Emperor had been on the throne for twenty-nine years, and perhaps, perhaps, perhaps it was time for him to pass away...?
Such rumors could occasionally be heard in the imperial harem.
Not to mention the Empress Dowager and the Empress, even Wan Anran, sitting in the courtyard, was filled with unease. She felt that she had heard of those symptoms before, but no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what they were...
What exactly is it...?
Another person with a grim expression and anxious mind was Yinzhen. He had clearly made preparations long ago, with his uncle Tuoheqi taking the medicine to the front lines. However, things did not go as planned. Not long after leaving the capital, Tuoheqi was assigned by his father to the army of Prince Yu. This was undoubtedly a promotion and an important task, but it also created a major problem: the medicine had also been taken to Prince Yu by Tuoheqi!
Yinzhen never expected such a huge blunder to occur!
Prince Yu's army is in Ulan Butong, while the Khan is still in Chengde... Not to mention the distance between the two, how can he tell the Khan, and the imperial physician, about the miraculous effects of the European medicine that Tohchi is carrying?
Then ask the missionary for medicine.
As Yinzhen was assisting the Crown Prince in handling affairs, he naturally saw the letter in advance: His father's condition was getting worse and worse, and in the past two days he had been mostly unconscious and rarely awake. Today, he even ordered the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince to rush to Chengde. Under these circumstances, no imperial physician dared to prescribe medicine for his father, let alone use missionary drugs of unknown origin.
Despite all his calculations, Yinzhen never expected things to turn out this way. Even now, he couldn't help but feel despair. Could it be that his father, the Emperor, would pass away so early in this life? Thinking of the Crown Prince, whose temperament remained exactly the same as in his previous life despite repeated admonitions, Yinzhen's temples throbbed.
He stepped heavily into Chuxiu Palace.
At that moment, Wan Anran finally remembered the name of the disease. She murmured, "This is...this is clearly...malaria! Artemisinin, artemisia...and quinine...yes, it's quinine!"
Wan Anran suddenly stood up.
Yinzhen stared at his mother in astonishment, a storm raging in his heart.
How did Mother know?
The doubts from his childhood resurfaced at this moment, but before Yinzhen could ask, his mother summoned Leng Xia and said a few words to her, ordering her to do something while she left Chuxiu Palace and headed straight for Kunning Palace.
Wan Anran requested to go again.
Several reports of the Emperor's critical illness reached Wan Anran, and even the Empress couldn't sit still this time. She nodded to Wan Anran: "I will go with you."
The Empress paused, then added, "A royal decree has been sent back; the Emperor has summoned the Crown Prince—"
Wan Anran's heart skipped a beat.
The Emperor is summoning the Crown Prince at this moment—could it be the Emperor himself?
She dared not let her mind wander any further, and simply bit her lip.
The Empress held Qi Fei's hand tightly, as if to comfort Qi Fei, and also to comfort herself: "The Emperor is protected by Heaven, so he will surely be alright."
Wan Anran responded softly, "Yes."
She turned around, pulled Yinzhen aside, and gave him a long lecture, instructing him to take good care of Yintao before hurriedly preparing her luggage.
This time, they set off even more urgently than Consort Hui and Consort Duan.
Having decided to leave in the morning, Wan Anran paced back and forth outside Chuxiu Palace until Leng Xia rushed over.
Wan Anran looked at her with expectant eyes.
Leng Xia nodded emphatically, and Wan Anran's unease lessened slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief and, along with Aunt Hai, Haitang, and Leng Xia, hurried to the palace gate and boarded the carriage bound for Chengde. Once the carriage started moving, Wan Anran composed herself and asked, "Where is what I asked for?"
Leng Xia took out a package of oil paper from her bosom.
She carefully opened the paper; inside was white powder, weighing about three or four ounces.
Wan Anran asked in a trembling voice, "This is quinine...?"
Leng Xia nodded in agreement, but her eyes were filled with worry: "Master, this is a miraculous medicine in the mouths of Europeans, but... but no one has ever used it before."
I wouldn't have known if my master hadn't mentioned it.
A hint of doubt flashed in Leng Xia's eyes, but her years of experience living in the palace told her that she should keep these things to herself.
Wan Anran breathed a sigh of relief.
She had confirmed the list of medicines, and artemisia was indeed among them. However, remembering that Emperor Kangxi had fully recovered thanks to quinine, Wan Anran ultimately decided to bring it along as well. But since quinine came from missionaries, Wan Anran's suggestion seemed somewhat unusual. Therefore, she sent word to Leng Xia, who had some medical knowledge, to fetch it.
Although she didn't know how long she could keep it a secret, she figured she could at least keep it a secret for a while longer. Wan Anran lowered her eyes and looked at the powder for a long time before carefully folding it up again and putting it back in her bosom.
All we can do now is offer our blessings.
The carriages and horses did not stop, and they rushed to Chengde overnight.
What should have been a three- or four-day journey was shortened to two days by the group. When they arrived at Chengde Mountain Villa, Consort Hui, Consort Duan, and the imperial physicians were quite startled.
The Crown Prince was out arranging affairs and summoned officials and guards.
The Empress and Wan Anran hurried in, intending to check on the Emperor's condition first.
Surprisingly, only Consort Duan came to greet them.
Consort Duan looked extremely unwell, having been unable to eat or sleep properly for several days. Her mouth was full of sores, and she was suffering from severe internal heat. She answered softly, "Consort Hui fainted from exhaustion yesterday and suddenly developed a high fever last night. She is still resting now."
What Consort Duan didn't say was—
Consort Hui's high fever almost made the imperial physicians think that they had misdiagnosed the emperor and that he had contracted an epidemic. The emperor had been restless all night, and Consort Duan, the only one who could take responsibility, had been busy all night without sleep.
Consort Duan is still very uneasy today.
Upon seeing the Empress and Consort Qi arrive, she felt as if she had found her pillar of support, and her voice choked with emotion as she recounted the Emperor's condition.
Wan Anran and the Empress hurried inside.
The Empress lifted the curtain and entered, while Wan Anran immediately asked the imperial physician, "How is His Majesty?"
The imperial physician replied respectfully, "His Majesty awoke today, but vomited a great deal..."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard the Empress's exclamation.
Without asking any questions, Wan Anran hurriedly lifted the curtain and entered. A strong smell of medicine hit her, and she couldn't help but cough softly. Then she looked up and saw what was happening.
The empress stood frozen in place.
She stared straight ahead, large tears rolling down her cheeks.
Wan Anran followed the Empress's gaze.
Her pupils contracted slightly, and she opened her mouth but couldn't speak; a soreness welled up in her nose.
Wan Anran could hardly recognize that the person on the sickbed was... Emperor Kangxi.
After being seriously ill for more than ten days, Emperor Kangxi had become as thin as a skeleton. His emaciated face was ashen and his breathing was so shallow that one would think that his chest would not rise and fall at any moment.
Wan Anran stood frozen in place.
After a long pause, she choked back tears and asked, "Your Majesty, what medicine have you been taking lately?"
The imperial physician answered in a low voice, offering several options.
While Wan Anran was relieved, he was also a little worried. He was relieved because the imperial physicians had confirmed that the emperor had malaria, but he was worried because there are many types of malaria, and the imperial physicians still could not determine which one it was. Previously, they had tried Xiao Chai Hu Tang, Changshan, and Shu Qi, but all of them were ineffective. Now they tried using Ma Bian Cao, but it did not seem to be very effective either.
The imperial physicians were in an uproar, none of them able to make a definitive judgment.
Therefore, upon seeing the Empress and Consort Qi arrive, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy was extremely excited. He said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, the Emperor's condition has not improved after taking the medicine. If a decision is not made soon..."
In short, they wanted the Queen to make the decision.
The Empress's vision blurred, and she nearly fainted, only to be caught by Wan Anran. The Empress understood perfectly well what the imperial physicians meant; it seemed the Emperor was now at a critical juncture of life and death!
The Empress was completely bewildered and speechless.
Consort Duan remained silent, only following behind and silently shedding tears.
Wan Anran was prepared, but her face still turned pale.
She forced herself to stay alert and gestured for the palace servants to help the Empress and Consort Duan aside. She asked in a deep voice, "I remember there is a prescription in 'Emergency Prescriptions for the Elbow' that uses a handful of Artemisia annua, mixed with two liters of clear water, to extract the juice and drink it all... Have you tried it?"
It's not really the right time to say this.
It's like a family member or relative asking a doctor if they've used this folk remedy... but at that time, imperial power was above all else.
Although the imperial physicians were somewhat surprised by Consort Qi's question, they quickly replied, "No, nothing."
The imperial physicians also knew this prescription.
Since Consort Qi had made the suggestion, the imperial physicians also included it in their options, and then several imperial physicians began to argue again.
Which formula is best?
As time ticked by, the imperial physicians still hadn't come to a conclusion, and Wan Anran's face darkened.
The Emperor is so ill, why are you still discussing that?
She had no time to discuss with the imperial physicians which prescription to use. Wan Anran slammed her hand on the table, interrupting the physicians' discussion, and coldly ordered, "Since you can't come up with a solution, let's start with the prescription I suggested."
"But--"
"His Majesty's condition is worsening; can you handle the responsibility?"
After hearing just that one sentence, the imperial physicians dared not utter a word.
To put it bluntly, if anything goes wrong if we follow Consort Qi's instructions, it won't have much to do with the imperial physicians.
Thinking of this, the imperial physicians gritted their teeth.
Let's do it!
Kangxi awoke from his drowsy state.
He felt his stomach churning and collapsed by the bed, vomiting violently.
This is... disgusting.
Kangxi looked at his withered and thin fingertips with disgust, never imagining that he would have such an ugly day.
A clean towel was presented to Emperor Kangxi.
Kangxi looked astonished. After his outburst of rage, Consort Hui and Consort Duan had not appeared before him for a long time, only entering when he was asleep or had closed his eyes.
Who... is that?
He struggled to look, but his body was subtly pressed down by those hands.
Kangxi tried to struggle...
He was so weak from his illness that his struggles, though seemingly full of strength, amounted to nothing more than a trembling of his fingertips.
Even Wan Anran didn't notice.
Ignoring the filth on the floor, she bent down and reached out to touch Kangxi's bedding. Noticing that it was damp, Wan Anran immediately had a palace servant come forward. She lifted Kangxi's body slightly, and the servant took the opportunity to quickly remove the bedding and replace it with clean ones.
Kangxi: …………
His mind was jolted awake. Kangxi felt the warmth on his waist in disbelief, then looked at the person and belatedly realized—Qi Fei had picked him up?
Empress: …………
Her worries about the Emperor vanished in an instant, and she couldn't help but whisper, "Consort Qi... Your Majesty, it seems the Emperor has woken up."
Wan Anran: …………Oh, this.
She was about to let go when she remembered he was a patient, so Wan Anran gently placed Kangxi back on the soft bed and tucked the blanket around him before lowering her head and stepping back: "Your Majesty is awake. Should we inform the Crown Prince?"
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