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

Chapter 401 Spiritual Dew Drink

Wei Zhongxian got an idea from Keshi and began to look for a folk remedy to cure Emperor Tianqi's illness.

This news quickly spread through Wei Zhongxian's party, and many people in the eunuch party offered their own folk remedies. These remedies were of various kinds, and some were even unheard of. However, after Wei Zhongxian heard them and asked others to try them, he felt that they were unreliable. In addition, there were too many remedies, so it was really difficult for him to choose.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed, and the Emperor Tianqi's illness was still getting better and worse. The recurring illness made the Emperor Tianqi's mood much worse. From time to time, he would call Wei Zhongxian to scold him, which made Wei Zhongxian very anxious.

One day, Huo Weihua, the left vice minister of the Ministry of War, suddenly found Wei Zhongxian and told him that he had a very effective folk remedy called Lingluyin. It sounded good, but it was actually a very common thing among the people. In layman's terms, it was rice soup.

However, this rice soup is different from ordinary rice soup. It needs special utensils to be steamed and cooked to separate the real Linglu drink. According to rumors, Linglu drink has miraculous effects, and its ingredients are all from grains, without any danger at all.

Didn't Wei Zhongxian ask Emperor Tianqi for a folk remedy? You can try this Linglu drink. Even if it doesn't work, it won't be a problem.

Huo Weihua and Wei Zhongxian are old friends. Huo Weihua's brother-in-law is also a eunuch in the palace. When Wei Zhongxian dealt with Wang An, his brother-in-law stood on Wei Zhongxian's side and made a lot of efforts. Although Huo Weihua is not a core member of the eunuch party, he is also considered a member of the eunuch party. In addition to the old friendship between the two sides, Wei Zhongxian still trusts Huo Weihua more.

Since Huo Weihua offered the Spiritual Dew Drink, and this thing seemed more reliable than other strange folk remedies, Wei Zhongxian asked Huo Weihua to try it first. After the test, it turned out that there was no risk at all. So Wei Zhongxian first had someone make a special refining vessel according to Huo Weihua's prescription, and then told the Emperor Tianqi about it, suggesting that the Emperor could try this prescription.

The Emperor Tianqi, who was suffering from illness, heard that there was such a "magic recipe" and decided to try it without hesitation. Wei Zhongxian asked the imperial physician of the Imperial Hospital to help extract a dose of Linglu Drink, and then personally served it to the Emperor Tianqi.

Seeing the bowl of milky white, fragrant spiritual dew drink, Emperor Tianqi put some in his mouth with a spoon. After tasting it, his brows instantly relaxed and a smile appeared on his face.

This Linglu drink tasted really good, with a strong rice aroma and sweet taste, and it was many times stronger than those crappy medicines in the Imperial Hospital. Moreover, Emperor Tianqi had a poor appetite due to his long-term illness, and drinking this stuff actually whetted his appetite. He drank the whole bowl of Linglu drink in a few gulps, and subconsciously licked his lips after drinking it, looking like he was still not satisfied.

"Your Majesty, how do you feel?" Wei Zhongxian asked hurriedly when he saw Emperor Tianqi finish drinking.

"It tastes good. Give me another bowl." Emperor Tianqi said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, although the elixir is good, it is still medicine after all. You cannot drink too much of it at will. You must take it three times a day as prescribed by the doctor. It should not be less or more." Wei Zhongxian could not help but advise.

"Okay then." Emperor Tianqi thought about it and nodded slightly. He didn't ask for more. Anyway, the next meal would not take many hours. Since the elixir is also medicine, he still had to listen to what he should listen to. He understood the principle that too much is as bad as too little.

On that day, Emperor Tianqi took Linglu Drink once at noon and once at night. No one knew whether Linglu Drink really had miraculous effects or what, but Emperor Tianqi had a rare sound sleep that night without dreams. He even did not cough twice, which he could not stop on normal days. When he woke up the next day, he felt particularly energetic, as if the illness that had tormented him for many days was completely cured overnight.

This made Emperor Tianqi very happy. He not only praised Wei Zhongxian, but also remembered Huo Weihua who offered the Linglu Drink. He was thinking about finding an opportunity to promote Huo Weihua. Such officials who were dedicated to serving the emperor and father must be promoted.

Emperor Tianqi, whose health had improved, picked up his carpentry tools again. It was the first time he had done carpentry work since he fell ill.

After an hour's carpentry work, Emperor Tianqi felt relaxed all over. After drinking a bowl of Linglu Drink, he was so happy that he rewarded Wei Zhongxian and others with a bowl as well. Everyone thanked Emperor Tianqi and drank with him. It must be said that the drink was really good. The Linglu Drink tasted really good, sweet and refreshing, with a strong rice aroma. It was really a top-notch drink!
Unfortunately, Emperor Tianqi had no idea that although the thing he drank was not problematic, his life would enter a countdown after drinking the spiritual dew.

Linglu Drink is actually a kind of rice soup. Drinking rice soup will definitely not cure diseases, but it will not harm the body. Moreover, Huo Weihua never intended to murder the emperor when he presented this thing. He just wanted to flatter the emperor. Huo Weihua also learned about Linglu Drink through his housekeeper. For safety reasons, Huo Weihua drank it himself when he presented it. After making sure there was no problem, he presented it to Emperor Tianqi through Wei Zhongxian.

But Huo Weihua didn't know, and he didn't ask carefully where his housekeeper got this secret recipe from. More importantly, the biggest difference between Linglu Drink and ordinary rice soup is that it requires special metal utensils to cook and separate, and it is precisely because of this that the biggest problem with Linglu Drink arises.

If it was just an ordinary metal container, it would be fine, but the container of the Linglu Drink that the Imperial Hospital helped to brew contained a different metal, which was lead. In addition to lead, there are some other "heavy metals" that are extremely harmful to the human body. Intake of a small amount will not cause too much problem, but long-term intake of large amounts is different. Under the damage of heavy metals, people will have symptoms of heavy metal poisoning, and thus become weaker and weaker, and eventually cause irreversible consequences.

In addition, heavy metals such as lead do taste sweet after being decomposed and dissolved in rice soup, which is why Linglu Drink has a different sweetness from ordinary rice soup. As for why Emperor Tianqi's physical condition improved after drinking Linglu Drink? In fact, it is also very simple. This is because the Imperial Hospital used the correct prescription at the time, and only two doses cured most of Emperor Tianqi's original illness.

Since the illness was mostly cured, the cough and other symptoms naturally eased a lot, which actually had nothing to do with Linglu Drink. But Emperor Tianqi didn't know. He thought that it was because of Linglu Drink that his health improved, so he subconsciously gave the credit to Linglu Drink. In addition, Linglu Drink was really delicious, and it was very good even if it was not used as medicine but as a drink. So Emperor Tianqi soon developed the habit of drinking Linglu Drink three times a day, but he never expected that it was because of this action that the heavy metals in his body continued to accumulate, and eventually it could not be saved.

When the news came, the bearded man and the slightly fat man smiled at each other, and they finally felt relieved. The Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian had fallen into their trap without knowing it. Even if something happened to the Emperor, it would have nothing to do with them. The only problem was Huo Weihua and Wei Zhongxian. It had nothing to do with them. They had already cleaned up the mess.

Judging from the time, Emperor Tianqi's current recovery is very short-lived, and it won't be long before his condition deteriorates sharply. It's different from the previous illness, which was just a delay and would not take his life for the time being. And if there were famous doctors who used medicine boldly, Emperor Tianqi's illness could still be cured, but now it's different. The metal and stone poison has penetrated deep into the bone marrow and cannot be cured. At that time, even if there is a golden elixir of the Daluo Jinxian, it can't save the emperor's life.

As long as Emperor Tianqi died, Wei Zhongxian would become a toothless tiger, and the arrogant eunuch party would be like a rootless duckweed and would no longer have the power they have today. The day for the Donglin Party to turn over would come, and the sword hanging over their heads would be gone, and all dangers would no longer exist.

However, there is one most crucial issue to achieve this, and that is the selection of the next emperor.

Emperor Tianqi had three sons, but none of them survived, and the eldest son was stillborn.

Once the emperor passed away, the empire needed an heir. The Tianqi Emperor had no sons, so according to the law, the throne could only be passed on to the younger brother. The Tianqi Emperor had only one brother still alive, the sixteen-year-old Prince Xin Zhu Youjian, so the one who could inherit the throne was probably the Prince Xin.

Prince Xin did not have a strong presence in the court, although Emperor Tianqi had a good relationship with this half-brother. After he ascended the throne, he not only named him Prince Xin, but also built the Prince Xin Palace for his brother in the capital.

It stands to reason that Prince Xin is now sixteen years old, and should be sent to his fiefdom. Except for the princes who stayed in Beijing, all other princes of the Ming Dynasty had to go to their fiefdoms at the age of fourteen, but Prince Xin did not go to his fiefdom at the age of sixteen, which was enough to show the preferential treatment that Emperor Tianqi gave to his younger brother.

As the emperor's younger brother, Prince Xin Zhu Youjian seldom left the palace on weekdays. Even though Emperor Tianqi favored his younger brother, the Ming Dynasty's control over the princes was extremely strict. In addition, Wei Zhongxian was watching over the court, so Prince Xin stayed at home in the palace and seldom showed up in public, let alone contacted outsiders.

Now that it has come to this, the bearded man and the slightly fat man have to consider the next emperor. No matter from which perspective, once Emperor Tianqi dies, Prince Xin Zhu Youjian will be the successor of the empire. Now is the best opportunity for them to contact Zhu Youjian privately and exert influence on him. More importantly, they need to find a way to instill in Zhu Youjian the idea that eunuchs are unreliable, that the eunuch party is a disaster for the country and the people, and that the Donglin party is the real patriot. Only in this way, when Zhu Youjian succeeds to the throne, will he listen to the arrangement of the Donglin party and take action against Wei Zhongxian, thus completely overthrowing the eunuch party in one fell swoop and allowing the Donglin party to make a comeback.

However, they were all foreign officials, and it was very difficult for them to contact Prince Xin Zhu Youjian. In addition, Prince Xin Zhu Youjian had always been cautious and never overstepped the line, so it was even more impossible for them to have any dealings with Prince Xin Zhu Youjian openly.

After thinking about it, the bearded man suddenly thought of someone, and that person was none other than Queen Zhang Yan. If he could influence Prince Xin Zhu Youjian through Queen Zhang Yan and make his political attitude closer to the Donglin Party, it would be great. Moreover, Queen Zhang Yan and her father, Earl Taikang Zhang Guoji, have long been of the same kind as them. If it hadn't been for their help on the spot, the subsequent planning would not have been so smooth. Now it's most appropriate to support Prince Xin Zhu Youjian in advance and instill these ideas into him, and let Queen Zhang Yan take action.

(End of this chapter)