Since discovering the shocking secret of the "Heartless Grass" that night, Lin Wanwan's world has been shrouded in an invisible gloom.
She could no longer stay peacefully in Kunning Palace, making snacks for Xiao Che and massaging his shoulders and neck as before. Because she knew that these small favors could not save his life, which was being slowly eroded by the poison day by day.
She had to take action.
Her first target was the Imperial Hospital, a place that seemed to be dedicated to healing the sick but might actually harbor deadly dangers.
To find the person who poisoned the body, we must start from the source.
Who wrote the emperor's prescriptions? Who recorded the emperor's medical records? Any clue, however small, could be the breakthrough point for her to tear apart this web of conspiracy.
That morning, Lin Wanwan dressed up carefully.
She didn't choose the empress's formal attire, as that would be too ostentatious. Instead, she wore a simple, elegant lake-blue palace dress and a few simple hairpins, making her look both worthy of her status and understated and gentle.
She requested permission to go to the Imperial Hospital to "care about the Emperor's health and wish to research dietary supplements and medicinal cuisine for His Majesty, which requires reference to His Majesty's daily medical records and medications."
This reason is perfectly reasonable and beyond reproach.
The Empress was concerned about the Emperor's health and wanted to cook for him herself. This was a model of "virtue" in the harem, and no one could say a word against it.
When the imperial physicians on duty at the Imperial Hospital heard that the Empress was coming to visit, they were all filled with trepidation and welcomed her in with the highest honors.
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy, with his white hair and beard, personally came to receive them.
"I was unaware of Her Majesty's arrival and have failed to greet you properly. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me." The Imperial Physician bowed deeply, his attitude extremely respectful.
"Your Excellency, there's no need for such formalities." Lin Wanwan's voice was gentle, with a faint smile on her face. "I've come today to ask you for a favor."
She slowly delivered the speech she had prepared beforehand.
"Your Majesty works tirelessly day and night for the affairs of the state, yet your health shows no improvement. I am deeply concerned for you. A few days ago, I came across an ancient book containing several recipes for nourishing medicinal diets, which may be beneficial to Your Majesty's health. However, these medicinal diets must be tailored to the individual, and the principles of combining the ingredients are crucial. Therefore, I would like to review Your Majesty's medical records from the past year to be well-informed and avoid doing anything that may backfire."
Upon hearing this, the Imperial Physician immediately understood and said, "Your Majesty's benevolence is a blessing to His Majesty and to our Great Zhou. Please sit for a moment, Your Majesty. This old minister will go and fetch His Majesty's medical records for Your Majesty's consideration."
After he finished speaking, he turned and left in a hurry.
Soon, the abbot returned carrying a thick stack of books carefully bound with yellow silk covers.
"Your Majesty, this is all of His Majesty's medical records from the past year. Please take a look."
Lin Wanwan nodded and took the medical record.
She carefully turned the pages one by one.
The pulse records were extremely detailed. They specified the date, which imperial physician took the pulse, the nature of His Majesty's pulse (whether it was deep or superficial, slow or rapid), the results of the four diagnostic methods (inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation), the color of the tongue coating, and the patient's complexion. Finally, they detailed the prescription given and the dosage of each herb…
Everything was recorded clearly and plainly.
The handwriting is neat and the wording is precise.
The entire medical record looked flawless and perfect... as if it had been rewritten specifically to pass an inspection.
Lin Wanwan's heart sank.
She knew it must be a copy.
The original records could never be so clean and tidy, without any trace of alteration.
The person behind the scenes had obviously anticipated that someone would investigate, so they made preparations in advance and presented a flawless "perfect medical record" to everyone.
If she gives up now, then this investigation will end here.
But how could Lin Wanwan give up so easily?
She continued flipping through the pages, her face expressionless, but her mind racing as she considered a solution.
She couldn't directly question the authenticity of the medical records, as that would be tantamount to accusing the entire Imperial Medical Academy of fabrication, which would immediately raise everyone's alarm.
She had to find a seemingly absurd yet clever excuse that suited her status as a "woman in the inner palace" to force them to produce the real manuscript.
Finally, her gaze settled on one of the medicinal herbs on one of the pages—Poria cocos.
This is an extremely common herb that strengthens the spleen and calms the mind; it appears in almost every prescription Xiao Che has.
This is it.
Lin Wanwan closed the medical record, looked up, and showed a somewhat embarrassed and embarrassed expression.
She looked at the Imperial Physician and hesitated before speaking, "Imperial Physician, I... have a request."
"Your Majesty, please speak. This old minister will gladly die for you," the Imperial Censor hurriedly replied.
"It's like this," Lin Wanwan gently covered her mouth with a handkerchief, lowering her voice as if she were revealing a secret that was difficult to say, "Before I entered the palace, I consulted a highly skilled Taoist priest to calculate my birth chart. The priest said that my destiny is inherently incompatible with this 'Poria cocos'. I must never touch it in my daily life."
The academy president was stunned when he heard this.
Are their birth charts in conflict?
What... what kind of logic is this? This is simply unheard of!
He practiced medicine all his life and believed only in pharmacology. He had never heard of medicinal herbs clashing with a person's birth chart.
He had a wry smile on his face and was about to explain.
Lin Wanwan, however, spoke first, continuing in that tone characteristic of a woman confined to her home, tinged with superstition and stubbornness:
“I know this sounds absurd. But Your Majesty and I are now one. Your Majesty takes medicine containing Poria cocos every day, and I serve you by your side. It is inevitable that I will be affected by its smell. I am afraid... afraid that this will offend Your Majesty’s health and be unsightly.”
"So," she finally revealed her true intentions, "I would like to take the liberty of looking at the original draft of this prescription. I simply want to confirm which master hand wrote it, so that I can... so that I can avoid mentioning it in the future. After all, different handwriting brings different fortunes."
These words are utter nonsense and full of fallacies.
Anyone with a modicum of knowledge would find this absurd and laughable.
But ironically, these words, spoken by a "woman in the inner palace" who was "devoted to her husband" and had little worldly experience, seemed...so reasonable.
A bead of cold sweat appeared on the envoy's forehead.
He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he had no way to refute it.
Trying to explain pharmacology to an empress who believes that "handwriting affects one's fortune"? Isn't that like casting pearls before swine?
If he refused, it would be "unsympathetic to the Empress's good intentions," and he couldn't bear the responsibility if the Empress went back and whispered something in His Majesty's ear.
But if we agree... those original drafts are stored in the archives, which are strictly off-limits to anyone but the magistrate and a few judges.
Seeing the troubled expression on the academy director's face, Lin Wanwan knew that her "twisted logic" had worked.
She sighed and said softly, "Fine, I suppose I've been making things difficult for you. In that case, then I..."
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" The headmaster panicked immediately upon hearing her words.
He gritted his teeth and finally compromised.
"Your Majesty's deep love for the Emperor is truly admirable. Please come with me, Your Majesty, but... the archives are a sensitive place, so please... enter alone."
“Of course.” A triumphant smile flashed in Lin Wanwan’s eyes.
The academy envoy personally led Lin Wanwan through several corridors to the door of a secluded, heavily guarded room.
He unlocked the brass lock on the door, and a musty smell of paper and ink wafted out.
“Your Majesty, His Majesty’s medical records from the past year are all on the third bookshelf on the east side. Please make yourselves at home. This old minister will wait outside the door.” The Imperial Physician bowed and said.
"Thank you for your trouble, Your Excellency."
Lin Wanwan nodded and walked alone into the dimly lit archive room filled with files.
The door slowly closed behind her.
Lin Wanwan immediately took action.
She walked quickly to the third bookshelf on the east side and found the file box with the character "上 (Emperor)" printed on it.
She opened the box, and rolls of yellowed paper bound with thin string appeared before her eyes.
This is the real original record!
The handwriting on it is bold and unrestrained, with many traces of corrections, full of the feel of life.
Lin Wanwan's heart was in her throat. She flipped through the pages quickly, one volume after another.
Her fingers brushed over the sheets of paper that recorded Xiao Che's physical condition.
Sudden!
Her movements suddenly stopped.
Her gaze was fixed intently on the end of one of the volumes.
She discovered a startling detail that sent chills down her spine!
Between the last record of that volume and the first record of the next volume...
The handwriting is completely different!
Not only the style of the font, but also the strength of the writing and the habits of using ink are completely different!
The previous handwriting was vigorous and powerful, penetrating deeply into the wood.
From the next volume onwards, all the handwriting changed to a more neat, yet also more rounded, font.
It seems that from that day on, the people who recorded the emperor's pulse and prescribed medicines were... changed!
Lin Wan-wan immediately looked at the date on the last volume of the medical records before the handwriting changed.
—In the fifth year of the Qianyuan era, in autumn, on the seventeenth day of the eighth month.
She memorized that date firmly and deeply.
She knew that from that day on, the emperor's prescriptions began to be tampered with!
She suppressed the turmoil in her heart, pretended to continue searching for a while, and then casually pulled out a neatly written manuscript and walked out of the archives.
"Thank you, Your Excellency. I have found it." She gave the Your Excellency, who was waiting outside the door, a grateful smile.
The envoy felt as if he had been granted a pardon and immediately bowed in respect.
Lin Wanwan, with graceful bearing, left the Imperial Hospital amidst the respectful farewell of the crowd.
As she boarded the sedan chair returning to Kunning Palace, she lifted the curtain and glanced back at the solemn "Imperial Medical Academy" plaque, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
In her mind, a huge, dark conspiracy network was already taking shape.
She needs to find out the truth.
What exactly happened at the Imperial Medical Academy on August 17th a year ago? Who replaced the previous imperial physician and began to prescribe "death warrants" for the emperor?
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