The Lonely City Closed

Chapter 60

“I’m not sick!” he said angrily and impatiently.

The Empress remained silent, not bothering to change her clothes for the time being, and simply signaled to her maid to remove the medicine.

Miao Shuyi stepped forward tremblingly, bowed, and begged for forgiveness on behalf of her daughter. The Emperor glanced at her briefly and replied with only two words: "That's enough." He then looked at me and asked, "Did you tell Huirou about me?"

I think he was referring to the incident of fainting outside Yifeng Pavilion, so I replied, "After His Majesty left, the princess lay down to rest again. I intend to tell her about this when she wakes up, at which time she will surely come to apologize to His Majesty."

The Emperor shook his head and said, "Tell her to take good care of herself and don't tell her."

In the days that followed, the Emperor continued to refuse to take the medicine, and his complexion and spirits deteriorated further.

Not long after, the New Year arrived again. As was customary, when an ominous event occurred in the court, the reign title was changed the following year. "Zhihe" now seemed like an inauspicious reign title. The two years since the change began with the death of Consort Zhang and ended with the current emperor's unwell state. Therefore, this new year had a completely new reign title—Jia?

However, the new era name did not immediately bring good fortune to the emperor; his illness actually worsened after the new year.

On the first day of the first year of the Jiajing reign (1721), the Emperor ascended the throne in the Daqing Hall to observe the grand court assembly. After the officials had taken their positions, the eunuchs rolled up the beaded curtain in front of the throne to allow the officials to see the Emperor. At this moment, the Emperor suddenly felt dizzy, his crown tilted, and he fell to one side. The onlookers were greatly alarmed, and the attendants on either side quickly lowered the curtain again and pinched the Emperor's philtrum with their fingers, which finally brought him back to consciousness. The curtain was then rolled up again, and after he hurriedly completed his rites, the eunuchs helped him back to his sleeping quarters.

After the New Year's greetings, the Khitan envoys arrived to bid farewell, and the court, as usual, held a banquet in the Zichen Palace. However, when the envoys entered the courtyard, the Emperor suddenly shouted, "Summon the envoys to the palace immediately! I almost missed seeing them!" He then spoke incoherently. The court officials knew that the Emperor's illness had relapsed, so they immediately helped him into the palace. The chief minister, in the Emperor's name, issued an edict to the Khitan envoys, saying that they had drunk too much in the palace the night before and could not attend the banquet in person. Instead, a minister was sent to the post station to host the banquet, and the Emperor's letter was still presented.

From that day on, the Emperor was bedridden and unable to attend court. At the request of the chief ministers, the officials of the two ministries were relocated to the small hall near the Inner East Gate, the closest to the Forbidden City, where they would meet the Emperor once a day in the morning.

The princess's condition was also dire. She was still in a state of semi-starvation, and Han and I could only coax her to drink a little porridge when she was delirious. As time went on, she seemed to be seriously ill. Consort Miao summoned the imperial physician, who prescribed some medicine, but the princess would rather die than drink it. She spent her days either crying or sleeping, without any spirit.

In my desperation, I suddenly remembered Mr. Zhang's acupuncture treatment for Qiuhe. Although the princess's condition was different from Qiuhe's at the time, acupuncture might be able to restore some of her spirits. Moreover, Mr. Zhang had been in the Imperial Pharmacy for many years and his medical skills should be quite excellent. It would be good to ask for his opinion.

For two consecutive days, I searched several times, from the Imperial Pharmacy all the way to the Funing Hall, but I still couldn't find Mr. Zhang. Later, I found it strange and asked a junior eunuch from the Imperial Pharmacy where Mr. Zhang was. He didn't recognize me, looked me over warily, and asked, "Are you Shi Duzhi's subordinate?"

Shi Duzhi refers to Shi Quanbin, a confidant of Consort Zhang. After Consort Zhang's death, the current emperor promoted him to deputy chief.

Although I have known Mr. Zhang for many years, we don't interact much in private unless there are important matters, so not all of his eunuchs may recognize me. Faced with this question from the junior eunuch, I shook my head and denied it, telling him, "I am Liang Huaiji."

"Oh, it's Liang Gaopin. I know you." He was immediately relieved and told me with a smile, "Mr. Zhang has left the palace."

I pressed further, "Where to?"

He replied, "I don't know either. He'll be back before the palace gates close. Come back then."

I returned at dusk and indeed found Mr. Zhang there. He looked travel-worn, his eyes bloodshot, likely from recent exertion.

When he saw me, he led me into his private room where he conducted official business and asked, "Is it about the princess?"

I nodded and described the princess's condition to him, asking if acupuncture could be used. He said, "The princess's illness is psychological, and acupuncture will not be very effective... Go back and tell her that she will definitely have a chance to see Cao Ping again, so she needs to get better now. Eat more, and she will naturally recover."

"Is this... a lie to her?" I asked doubtfully.

He smiled faintly: "It's not like I'm lying to her. They won't get what they want, but they'll definitely have a chance to meet again."

Seeing that he had no intention of explaining in detail, I didn't ask any further, but I couldn't help but express my curiosity about the reason for his departure from the palace: "Is your departure from the palace related to the Emperor's illness?"

After a long silence, he finally revealed something to me: "I went to see the Thirteenth Militia Commander and Master Fu."

The current prime ministers are two ministers who were previously sent to other posts: Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo.

Six months ago, Chancellor Chen Zhizhong was impeached by the censor. First, he was accused of allowing the posthumous conferment of the title of Wen Cheng beyond the prescribed limit. Then, he was accused of condoning his concubines to beat a maid to death, being "lacking loyalty and diligence in public service and lacking family virtue in private service." There were even accusations that he had an affair with his own daughter. Whether these shocking allegations were true or not, the combination of various reasons ultimately led to Chen Zhizhong's dismissal as chancellor.

At that time, almost everyone thought that the current emperor would take this opportunity to promote Wang Gongchen. Because he advocated posthumously honoring Wen Cheng, he was promoted by the current emperor to the position of Minister of the Three Departments. As the censors had said in the past when they impeached Zhang Yaozuo, the position of Minister of the Three Departments was only one step away from the position of Minister of the Two Offices.

However, the current emperor made an unexpected decision, announcing that Fu Bi and Wen Yanbo would be appointed as prime ministers, and that Wang Gongchen would be transferred to the position of Xuanhui Northern Court Commissioner and Prefect of Bingzhou.

Fu Bi was already known for his virtue, and if we disregard the Lantern Brocade incident, Wen Yanbo was also a good minister. Therefore, when the officials heard this news, they all rejoiced in the court.

Now, hearing Mr. Zhang mention the Thirteenth Regiment and Prime Minister Fu, I can already guess the reason: the Emperor is unwell, and the Empress and the ministers must consider the matter of the Crown Prince. However, the Thirteenth Regiment's status as a prince is not yet established, and if things change in the future, he will need the Prime Minister's support to ascend the throne. Therefore, Mr. Zhang's busy schedule these past few days must be to convey the message to the Empress, asking Fu Bi to agree to the Thirteenth Regiment's future ascension to the throne, and at the same time to let the Thirteenth Regiment prepare for his enthronement.

"Is this the Empress's intention?" I asked tentatively.

“Both the Prime Minister and the Empress share this view,” Mr. Zhang said, pausing before adding, “In fact, if His Majesty could make the decision himself now, this would be the only outcome.”

The Lonely City Closes (The Princess Who Fell in Love with the Eunuch) Falling Flowers and Wind Play with Clear Autumn Rain 51. Acupuncture

Chapter word count: 3150 Update time: 08-08-21 17:04

Upon returning, following Mr. Zhang's advice, I told the princess that she would have another chance to meet Cao Ping. She immediately reacted, asking hopefully, "Really?"

I nodded: "Mr. Zhang told me this... it must have been the Empress who told him."

These words were like a mirror on her dressing table, reflecting the light from outside the curtains into her long-dimmed eyes. She opened her eyes wide and asked me if I knew when the opportunity would come, then felt shy and quickly lowered her eyelashes to hide her gaze.

I handed over the bronze mirror and said with a slight smile, "Even if the Empress allows Young Master Cao to come and see the Princess tomorrow, would the Princess be willing to see him like this?"

She saw her haggard face in the mirror, screamed in fright, and pushed the mirror away, too afraid to look at herself again.

I brought her the food and medicine at the right time, and this time she did not refuse. After eating and taking her medicine with unprecedented seriousness, she fell into a deep sleep, her heart filled with beautiful dreams about the future.

At the fourth watch, someone knocked on the palace door. I had already woken up, so I went to see what was happening and found it was a eunuch sent by the Empress to deliver a message.

"The Empress requests that Lady Miao come to the Funing Palace immediately, as there are important matters to discuss," he said, his face flushed from running. The eunuch also seemed very nervous.

Miao Shuyi came out upon hearing the sound, and we exchanged a glance, her eyes filled with panic.

"Is it...the Emperor?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"His Majesty has fainted again in the palace," the eunuch whispered. "The imperial physicians have tried medicine and moxibustion, but they have failed to revive him."

Miao Shuyi became increasingly panicked and said to me, "Huaiji, quick, come with me to take a look."

When we arrived at Funing Palace, the hall was already full of people. In addition to the Empress and the imperial physicians kneeling on the ground, there were several chief physicians, deputy chief physicians, Mr. Zhang, as well as Lady Zhou of Anding County and Lady Zhang of Qinghe County, who had been serving the Emperor for the past two years.

I also spotted Qiuhe. She stood behind the curtain in the hall, far away from the others, her demeanor as unassuming as ever, like a shadow sketched in light ink.