Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 384 Falling into the water
The lake was sparkling, and the boat was moving towards the lotus flowers, arriving nearby in a moment.

Emperor Tianqi stretched his neck to take a closer look. Although it was early summer, there were some lotus pods. However, the lotus pods had not yet grown solid under the blooming lotus flowers and looked very green.

He asked the eunuch to move closer, and Emperor Tianqi picked one and plucked it off. Then he opened the lotus pod, took out a lotus seed inside, peeled it, and put it into his mouth.

After tasting it, he found that although the lotus pod had not yet fully grown, it was still edible, and a fresh fragrance filled the mouth. Emperor Tianqi immediately smiled happily.

"Come, help me pick a few more to go with the wine later." The Tianqi Emperor pointed forward, and the two young eunuchs quickly agreed. The three of them began picking them. After a while, they had picked a lot, and it looked like they were almost done. The Tianqi Emperor clapped his hands and said it was enough. He asked the young eunuchs to row the boat back to the shore. He wanted to take these lotus pods to find Keshi and Wei Zhongxian to continue drinking.

Holding the oars, they slowly turned the boat towards the shore. But at this moment, for some reason, perhaps the two eunuchs were not skilled in turning the boat, or perhaps Emperor Tianqi was fiddling with the lotus pods a little too much, the boat suddenly began to sway from side to side.

The boat suddenly shook, and the Emperor Tianqi was startled. He quickly dropped the lotus pod and grabbed the edge of the boat with both hands, trying to steady himself. Who would have thought that the boat not only failed to stabilize, but also shook even more violently. The two young eunuchs tried to stabilize the boat with oars in a panic, but they did not coordinate well with each other, and not only did they fail to stabilize it, but the whole boat shook more and more, and the Emperor Tianqi was so scared that he couldn't help but screamed loudly.

On the boat, Wei Zhongxian was talking to Keshi about love. They were a couple and behaved like a married couple. When Emperor Tianqi was here, she was quite serious. But when he left, she naturally lost her worries and said some cheesy and provocative words. Keshi was so amused by Wei Zhongxian that she trembled and blushed.

Just as he was talking happily, he suddenly heard screams and shouts coming from afar. The voice was so familiar that Wei Zhongxian was stunned for a moment. He stood up and looked in the direction where the voice came from.

This sight frightened Wei Zhongxian so much that his face turned pale. He actually saw Emperor Tianqi and two young eunuchs on a boat in the lake. The boat was swaying violently from side to side, and the three people on the boat could not even stand steadily.

"Your Majesty!" Wei Zhongxian suddenly came to his senses, shouted loudly, and called the people around him to run towards the lake, shouting as he ran: "Someone come! Help! Help! Your Majesty, don't move! Stay still! Stay still! I'm coming right away..."

Before he could finish his words, the boat of Emperor Tianqi capsized, and the three people on the boat, including the Emperor, fell into the water. They struggled desperately in the water, floating up and down.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian was so frightened that he shouted for people to go into the water to rescue him. He didn't even bother to take off his outer clothes and jumped into the lake without hesitation.

A quarter of an hour later, the Emperor Tianqi who had fallen into the water was finally rescued. He was wet all over, and the crown on his head was nowhere to be found. His hair that was originally tied up was all loose, and there were some water plants and leaves hanging on his face and body. He looked extremely miserable.

Fortunately, the lake was not deep, and it was just an artificial lake, so there were not many waves. Otherwise, how could the Emperor Tianqi be rescued so quickly? But even so, the Emperor Tianqi was frightened first, and then fell into the water. The weather was not cold in early summer, but his whole body was wet. When the wind blew, the Emperor Tianqi couldn't help but tremble, and his lips were a little purple.

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly wrapped Emperor Tianqi in a clean gown. At this time, Keshi also rushed over. Seeing that Emperor Tianqi was so embarrassed, she hurriedly asked someone to call the imperial physician.

"I'm fine, I just choked on a few mouthfuls of water." Seeing Keshi and Wei Zhongxian in a panic, Emperor Tianqi felt a little embarrassed. If he hadn't been so playful that he suddenly got on the boat, this situation wouldn't have happened.

Although he fell into the water, Emperor Tianqi did not blame others, but comforted Keshi and Wei Zhongxian who cared about him. Moreover, Emperor Tianqi felt that he was fine, his health had always been good, and he had not been in the water for a long time. He just choked on a few mouthfuls of water in a panic. He would just change into clean clothes and drink some hot tea. Why did he need to invite a doctor?
But how could Keshi and Wei Zhongxian be willing to do that? In their eyes, Emperor Tianqi was as important as God. The emperor had fallen into the water, so he had to be carefully examined. If there was something wrong with his body, it was not a trivial matter, so they naturally had to invite the imperial physician.

They hurriedly brought Emperor Tianqi to the nearby palace and found a place for him to be wiped and changed. After all that, Emperor Tianqi, who had been like a drowned chicken just now, finally returned to his normal state. It was just that after falling into the water, Emperor Tianqi's face turned pale and his lips turned purple, but he was in good spirits and there was nothing unusual in his speech.

Emperor Tianqi also asked Wei Zhongxian about the two young eunuchs who accompanied him. When he learned that the two eunuchs could not swim and had drowned, Emperor Tianqi was still a little sad. He said that it was all his fault. If he had not suddenly wanted to go boating, he would not have fallen into the water and would not have killed two lives in vain.

Emperor Tianqi instructed Wei Zhongxian to bury the two young eunuchs who drowned and send some silver to their families as a token of his thoughtfulness.

Wei Zhongxian agreed immediately and told Emperor Tianqi that he would make proper arrangements for this matter. But at this moment, Wei Zhongxian was gritting his teeth at the two eunuchs who had drowned. Even if these two slaves were not dead, he would never forgive them. They were allowed to serve the emperor. When they saw the emperor going to row a boat, they not only did not dissuade him, but also accompanied him? Didn't they understand the rules of the palace? Didn't they know that the emperor should not be put in danger no matter what?

It is their luck that they drowned now. If they don’t die, Wei Zhongxian will make them know what it means to be worse off than dead!

A moment later, the imperial physician arrived, looked at the Emperor Tianqi's condition, and after checking his pulse, the imperial physician said that the Emperor Tianqi was fine, but just frightened by falling into the water and catching a cold. He prescribed a few doses of medicine and he would be well in a few days. Hearing what the imperial physician said, everyone felt relieved and immediately asked the imperial physician to prescribe a prescription and boil the medicine. Not long after, the medicine was served. Looking at the black, steaming, and unpleasant smell of the medicine, the Emperor Tianqi was extremely resistant in his heart, but Keshi and Wei Zhongxian both persuaded the Emperor Tianqi to drink the medicine. Although the imperial physician also said that the Emperor Tianqi had no major problems, it was a fact that he fell into the water after all, so it was better to drink the medicine. If there was a disease, it would be treated, and if there was no disease, it would be prevented. The emperor's dragon body was important!
Seeing their concerned expressions, Emperor Tianqi's heart softened. He smiled bitterly and drank the medicine with gritted teeth.

After drinking the medicine, they observed for a while and saw that Emperor Tianqi did not seem to be in trouble. So Wei Zhongxian and Keshi escorted Emperor Tianqi back to the Qianqing Palace to rest. How could they have the interest to continue sightseeing?
Everything was normal that day. In the evening, Emperor Tianqi had his meal as usual. After the meal, he read memorials for a while and drank a bowl of medicine before going to bed.

Unexpectedly, the next day, Emperor Tianqi felt weak all over, his spirit was not as good as usual, and he suddenly started coughing for some reason. When Wei Zhongxian learned about it, he hurriedly called the imperial physician to treat the emperor. After the diagnosis, the imperial physician said that the emperor had caught a cold because of falling into the water yesterday, and now he has a cold, but the problem is not serious. He just needs to adjust the prescription he wrote yesterday, and he will recover after taking it a few more times.

Since the imperial physician said so, Wei Zhongxian naturally believed the doctor. After writing the prescription and getting the medicine, Wei Zhongxian personally cooked the medicine for Emperor Tianqi, and then served Emperor Tianqi to drink the medicine.

I don't know what happened, but if a normal person fell into the water and was healthy, they would go home to dry themselves, change clothes, drink a bowl of ginger soup to sweat, and then sleep for a night, and they would be fine the next day. Even if they were weak, they would ask a doctor to prescribe two doses of medicine and they would be fine after taking it for a few days.

But after Emperor Tianqi fell into the water, everything seemed normal. Except for his pale face and blue lips due to the cold and shock, he looked no different from an ordinary person. Moreover, Emperor Tianqi was usually very healthy. You should know that he had to do carpentry work for a while every day. Carpentry is a physical job. For example, pulling a big saw is not possible without some strength in the arms. But Emperor Tianqi was very good at it when he was a teenager. Sometimes he would work for half a day, sweating profusely and shirtless. With such a strong body, it would not be a big problem even if he fell into an ice hole in the middle of winter, not to mention falling into the water in early summer.

But a strange thing happened. Emperor Tianqi, who obviously should not have been in trouble, suddenly fell ill. His condition was sometimes better and sometimes worse. For a month, he had to drink extremely unpalatable medicine every day, but it didn't help at all.

He kept coughing, his complexion became worse and worse, and he had no appetite. His originally healthy body had become a sickly one.

"Your Majesty, it's time to take the medicine..." One day, Wei Zhongxian brought the medicine into the side hall and spoke softly to the Tianqi Emperor who was lying on the couch.

The Emperor Tianqi coughed violently, his face flushed red, as if he was going to cough out his lungs. He looked up at the medicine in Wei Zhongxian's hand, and smelled the faint nausea of ​​medicine in the air, feeling annoyed.

"No! I don't want to drink!"

"Your Majesty, you must drink this medicine. How can your body get better without it?" Wei Zhongxian said with a bitter face. It had been more than a month since the incident of falling into the water, and Emperor Tianqi's illness had not only not been cured, but had become even worse. This made Wei Zhongxian helpless.

Wei Zhongxian had asked the imperial physician a long time ago, and the physician said that the emperor's illness was caused by the cold that damaged his lungs after falling into the water. He had typhoid fever and there was no better way to treat it now. He could only rely on medicine to control it and take care of himself slowly. Perhaps he would get better after a while. After all, the emperor was still young and his health was not bad.

"I said I won't drink it!" Emperor Tianqi felt annoyed, especially when he saw Wei Zhongxian walking towards him with medicine. He was so angry that he raised his hand and threw the bowl of medicine to the ground.

With a clang, the porcelain bowl containing the medicine fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. The medicine inside spilled out and covered the ground. The air was filled with a strong smell of medicine.

"Wei Zhongxian!" Seeing Wei Zhongxian in a daze, Emperor Tianqi pointed at him and said, "I know my body well. No need to send me these crappy medicines. Imperial physician? Haha! The imperial physicians of my Ming Dynasty are all incompetent. They can't cure me for a cold after so many days of treatment. Could it be that these imperial physicians are disciples of the Imperial Medical Bureau during the reign of Emperor Wuzong?"

"Go! Find another famous doctor outside the palace to come in for consultation. I will never drink the medicine from the Imperial Hospital again!"

"Your Majesty..." Wei Zhongxian was stunned. He didn't expect that the Emperor Tianqi, who rarely lost his temper, would suddenly become so angry. He even expressed suspicion about the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau and wanted to seek medical treatment directly from outside the palace.

This has never happened before, and the emperor's treatment is not like that of ordinary people. How can a doctor from outside the palace enter the palace to treat the emperor? This is not in accordance with the rules.

When Wei Zhongxian was hesitating, Emperor Tianqi shouted again, which made Wei Zhongxian come back to his senses. Seeing the Emperor Tianqi's resolute attitude, Wei Zhongxian had no choice but to agree and quickly retreated.

(End of this chapter)