Chapter 190 This is an Incurable Disease

As a reward for Ice from the South, Spirit Beast Egg added (4.30)

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By the time Lu Yunqi returned, the sky had already darkened. The inner residence was brightly lit, but it seemed deserted due to the overwhelming silence.

He paused momentarily before stepping through the gate.

Underneath the eaves, the red lantern illuminated the figure of Princess Jiuli, wrapped in a cloak and obviously having stood outside for a long time.

Seeing Lu Yunqi approach, she did not seem dispirited, nor did she appear angry or anxious, but simply took a step forward.

"How is he?" she asked with a calm and gentle voice.

Lu Yunqi looked at her.

"Not too good," he said.

Princess Jiuli uttered an "Oh."

"Not too good, huh," she said, as if in contemplation or resignation.

There was no sadness or anger, nothing at all.

But to Lu Yunqi, accustomed to the familiar pain, rage, and sorrows of others, found this one utterance unbearable.

"Princess, you can go see the prince," he said.

A momentary brightness flashed across Princess Jiuli's soft face, and she took another step towards him.

"May I?" she asked, a hint of excitement finally in her voice.

Lu Yunqi nodded at her.

"Yes," he said, his voice barely hoarse.

Princess Jiuli smiled.

"Then that's wonderful," she said, "I'm truly grateful to you. Regardless of everything, everyone must eventually find their final resting place. Having loved ones by one's side at the end, is ultimately a great happiness."

Is it happiness to see loved ones before dying?

Then the person last year, at this time, was so very unfortunate.

Lu Yunqi turned and strode out.

............….

As dawn was breaking, Fang Jinxiu didn't hear the usual sound of punching the wooden pile. When she got up and came out, she saw Miss Jun standing in front of the wooden pile.

Miss Jun, standing motionless with her back to Fang Jinxiu, seemed to be lost in thought or perhaps frozen.

Dressed so lightly and standing still so early in the morning, Fang Jinxiu frowned slightly.

"If you're tired, stop practicing," she said.

Miss Jun turned around and smiled at her, then raised her hand to strike the wooden pile.

The familiar sound of hitting resonated in the yard.

Fang Jinxiu walked around the yard in circles, stopping when Miss Jun stopped and stretching her body.

"Are you going out again today?" she asked.

Miss Jun wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and shook her head.

"Not going well?" Fang Jinxiu asked again.

It was not that it wasn't going well, but rather that it was impossible.

In the past few days, despite discussing Prince Huai's illness with several households, they only spoke a few words and then abandoned the topic.

No one thought to recommend her for Prince Huai's treatment.

No, that wasn't correct. Plenty must have thought of it, but they wouldn't and didn't dare to propose such a thing.

Prince Huai was taboo, an untouchable subject.

Miss Jun hummed in acknowledgment.

"So I'm not going out today," she told Fang Jinxiu.

Her response did not just answer the question of going out today but also addressed the lack of success, and acknowledged that there was a reason behind her regular exits.

Fang Jinxiu wanted to ask more but ultimately felt there was nothing to ask.

"Don't rush; think of another way," she said.

Miss Jun nodded slightly.

"I have thought of a method," she said.

A method?

Fang Jinxiu looked at her.

................

Although it was just dawn, the Imperial Hospital was already bustling with people going back and forth. A group entered from the outside, showing signs of weariness.

Leading them was Imperial Physician Jiang, his expression grave, his mood evidently not very good.

Several apprentices hurried forward to attend to them.

In the room, everyone wiped their hands and faces with hot towels and drank hot tea to relieve some of their fatigue.

"I really didn't expect Prince Huai's illness to be this troublesome," one imperial physician said.

"We've tried all we could think of; the medicine just isn't working. What else can we do?" another imperial physician said, unease on his face, "I think, it's just a matter of days now."

As soon as these words were spoken, the apprentices in the room hastily retreated out and stood guard by the door.

Imperial Physician Jiang set down the teacup in his hand.

"Let's all think about it some more," he said, "because losing a life over a simple cold is not only embarrassing for us to speak of, but it also does not look good for us."

A few imperial physicians exchanged glances.

"There are plenty of people who die from a cold," said an imperial physician.

"But this man is Prince Huai," said Imperial Physician Jiang, looking at him.

Others may die, and nobody cares except for their own families, but when Prince Huai lives, no one cares, yet when he dies, the whole world can see it.

Without a reasonable explanation, who knows how much gossip and speculation it would cause.

Although the Empress Dowager has already spoken out to protect the imperial physicians, this is a situation where the emperor and his mother are playing "good cop, bad cop," and ultimately, their fates are still unsure.

They might end up being the scapegoats when the time comes.

If they didn't want to be the scapegoats, then the illness that afflicted Prince Huai had to be plausible and not merely attributed to a simple cold. While there are many types of colds that are indeed fatal, this would still be too difficult to explain and accept for the common people.

One of the imperial physicians stopped twirling his mustache.

"I think this is not a cold," he said.

---

In Prince Huai's mansion, there were noticeably more people than before. Palace maids and eunuchs were bustling in and out of the bedrooms with hot water and medicinal soups.

The room was filled with the heavy scent of medicine.

Princess Jiuli wrung out a washcloth from a water basin held by a palace maid and carefully placed it on Jiurong's forehead.

Compared to before she left for marriage, Jiurong had lost weight, his complexion was pale, his eyes were tightly shut, and his breathing was rapid.

"Princess," a palace maid brought over a bowl of medicine.

Princess Jiuli stood up and carried Jiurong in her arms to the bed, taking a spoon to feed him the medicine.

Jiurong did not open his mouth, and the medicine dripped down the side of his face. The palace maid hurried to wipe it clean.

"Princess, this won't do, we should use a jug to feed the medicine," she said.

Just yesterday Jiurong could swallow the medicine, but today he couldn't. Princess Jiuli looked at Jiurong's pale face in her arms and gently stroked it.

"Okay," she said softly.

No matter how serious Jiurong's illness appeared to be, ever since Princess Jiuli had arrived, she had not cried, panicked, or questioned the imperial physicians. She simply stayed by Jiurong's side, feeding him medicine, wiping his body, and changing his clothes without leaving him day or night.

The imperial physicians were just in the adjacent room. The palace maid hurried to get the crane beak jug for feeding medicine, while Princess Jiuli cradled Jiurong in her arms, tenderly caressing his face.

Moments later, there was the sound of chaotic footsteps from outside the door, and several palace maids ran in, their expressions panicked.

"Princess, it's not good," they said, "The imperial physicians said that the prince has caught smallpox."

Smallpox?

Princess Jiuli's hand paused for a moment as she looked at Jiurong in her arms.

Although Jiurong's face had lost weight, his skin was fair and unblemished, and not just on his face but his body too.

Smallpox.

A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Princess Jiuli's mouth as she continued to stroke Jiurong's face and forehead.

"Don't worry, don't worry, your sister is here," she said softly.

In Prince Huai's mansion, countless eunuchs covered their noses and mouths with white cloths, carrying buckets of medicinal water and splashing it around. Many eunuchs and palace maids were also scattered, with crying and shouting voices ringing out, noisy and chaotic.

"Quickly inform the palace..."

"The princes, princesses, and princesses of the administrative region should no longer come to visit..."

"We must inform those who have visited to take medicine quickly..."

Lu Yunqi stood outside the main gate, watching as people continuously streamed out past him, standing motionless.

---

"So it's smallpox," someone said.

"No wonder we couldn't cure the cold, with the high fever not subsiding; it turns out to be smallpox."

"This is it then, we're doomed, there's no cure for that."

The Imperial Hospital also received the latest news, and a few gatekeepers were discussing it in low voices in front of the gate. Suddenly, the clear sound of bells approached, and although they initially paid no mind and were engrossed in the latest news, the bell sound grew closer. They looked up to find its source and saw two people walking slowly toward them before stopping in front of the Imperial Hospital.

The gatekeepers looked at her, scanning over the medicine box on her back, the bell in her hand, and the flag held by the young girl beside her, and they immediately realized.

This was the bell healer from Jiuling Hall.

While the common people and doctors throughout the city held her in high esteem, the Imperial Hospital certainly did not.

"What are you doing here?" the gatekeepers said with a mix of disdain and arrogance, waving their hands impatiently, "Go on, go on, there's no one here who needs you to see any bad omens."

"I'm not here to see bad omens," said Miss Jun, "I'm here to find Imperial Physician Jiang."

The gatekeepers were taken aback.

"What do you want with Lord Jiang?" one of them couldn't help but ask.

Miss Jun smiled slightly.

"Imperial Physician Jiang made a bet with me. He said if he couldn't cure someone, I would try," she said, "Now I am here to fulfill the bet."

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Thank you to Bing from the South for the generous reward to Xianba Yuan.

Thank you to VampireQueen, ?The Last Shot?, Zhaojing, md12 for the reward of He's Bi.

Many thanks.