Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 188 The Rise of Factory Guards
The 15th day of July is Ghost Festival. The weather is dry and hundreds of ghosts roam at night.

The Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot have been very active these days. It seems that overnight, the people in the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot suddenly turned into ghosts and began to arrest corrupt officials in the capital.

Moreover, the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot would arrest people only when there was solid evidence.

This move caused the entire civil service political arena to begin to shake. The civil servants in the capital were all in danger. The anti-industry alliance gathered again. The Censorate and various censors wrote to the Qianqing Palace, asking Emperor Hongzhi to reprimand the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot.

Memorials were sent to the Qianqing Palace one after another, but in the end there was no news, which made the civil servants worry whether Emperor Hongzhi was deceived by treacherous officials.

After the Ghost Festival, the arrest operation by the Censorate had not yet ended. Every day in the capital, a group of civil servants could be seen being detained in the imperial prison.

……

East Palace.

Liu Jin went to find Zhu Houzhao early in the morning and said anxiously, "Sir, Prince."

"I have found out that there are Taoist priests in Qingliang Mountain who are curing illnesses and performing rituals."

"That Taoist priest said he could cure any disease."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said calmly: "You wild Taoist priest, you are taking you for a fool."

"He claims to cure all diseases. Why doesn't he say he is a god?"

Although Zhu Houzhao really wanted to cure Chen Ce's illness, he was not stupid enough to pin his hopes on a mysterious Taoist priest.

Isn't this pure self-deception?

Liu Jin said quickly, "No, sir. Zhengyi Sect has a branch sect in Qingliang Mountain. I have checked the historical records in detail. It was an old Taoist priest from Zhengyi Sect who came to Shuntian during the reign of Emperor Taizong and cured Empress Zhang of her difficult and complicated illness. Emperor Taizong personally established a branch sect for them outside Shuntian Prefecture."

"These Taoists have been living in seclusion for many years and rarely see outsiders. Even the emperor cannot see them."

"Now there are Taoist priests from the Zhengyi Sect coming down the mountain to treat illnesses. Who knows, maybe they can really cure Master Chen's illness."

Zhu Houzhao was immediately interested after hearing Liu Jin's words and asked, "Are these things you found true?"

“Are the historical materials reliable?”

Liu Jin said: "They were all checked out from the Imperial Academy. They are all true records and must be credible."

"I have previously sent people to Qingliang Mountain in the name of the Eastern Palace. Those Taoist priests didn't give face to the Eastern Palace at all, let alone us. They have the imperial edict in their hands, and I'm afraid they won't even give face to the current emperor."

"Well, I have been paying attention to them for a long time. I heard that there was a Taoist priest coming down the mountain to treat illnesses, so I came to tell you."

Zhu Houzhao was no longer sleepy. He got up immediately, changed his clothes, and went to Huaihua Hutong with Liu Jin.

Chen Ce got up early and was having breakfast when he was dragged out by the impetuous Zhu Houzhao.

"Brother, what on earth are you going to do?"

Chen Ce finally struggled to get away from Zhu Houzhao, and then was stuffed into the carriage by Zhu Houzhao. He ordered Liu Jin outside, "Hurry, drive the carriage!"

He sat in the carriage panting and drank a sip of tea, then explained to Chen Ce: "Get in the car first, otherwise it will be too late."

"Little brother, your illness can be cured."

Chen Ce: “…”

You brought me out in such a hurry, just for this?
Chen Ce had long lost hope.

He said nonchalantly, "How to save him?"

Zhu Houzhao told Chen Ce all the information Liu Jin had found out.

Chen Ce was stunned for a moment, and a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart. Is this really possible?
Zhu Houzhao said: "Let's go find that Taoist priest first. He finally came down from the mountain to do good deeds. He is currently providing free medical treatment in a village outside Shuntian Prefecture. He can help you with the diagnosis."

"Little brother, these Taoists are really powerful. Even if the current emperor goes to see them, they may not meet him."

Chen Ce: “…”

You bunch of powerful Taoist priests, aren't you afraid that the emperor will exterminate your Taoism?
But no matter what, it's good to go and have a look, maybe there really is hope.

After a bumpy ride, we soon arrived at the entrance of a village outside Shuntian Prefecture.

The front of the village was crowded with people, several young Taoist priests were maintaining order, and the villagers were queuing up to wait for treatment.

There was a Taoist priest in charge of registration. Zhu Houzhao pulled Chen Ce and hurried over to queue up to wait for registration.

When it was Chen Ce's turn, the waiter in charge of registration asked, "What's your name?"

"Chen Ce."

The little Taoist boy gave a look to the Taoist priest next to him. The Taoist priest flipped through the book in his hand but couldn't find the name Chen Ce after searching for a long time.

"Let's go."

The Taoist boy said to Chen Ce cruelly.

Zhu Houzhao was anxious and said hurriedly: "We are here to see a doctor, too. Why don't you give us a diagnosis?"

The little Taoist boy said, "My master believes in fate when diagnosing a patient, and you have no fate with Taoism."

Chen Ce: “…”

Yeah, a bunch of liars.

Chen Ce said to Zhu Houzhao, "Let's go."

When he stood up, Zhu Houzhao calmly gave the other party a silver ingot.

The Taoist boy nodded casually, and then said to Chen Ce with a cheerful face: "Tell me about your situation first."

Chen Ce finally understood.

They collect the patient's medical information in advance and then give it to their so-called master, who then diagnoses it, and there will basically be no mistakes.

So this is what they call a cure-all. I can do it too.

However, when he saw Zhu Houzhao giving the other party the money, Chen Ce still sat down quietly and said to the Taoist boy: "At a fixed time every month, the amount of bleeding is relatively large."

The Taoist boy wrote quickly and recorded Chen Ce's symptoms.

"My stomach still hurt a lot during those days."

The little Taoist boy once again wrote down the record.

Zhu Houzhao wanted to correct Chen Ce, you clearly don’t have these symptoms, why are you talking nonsense?
Chen Ce motioned for him not to speak.

The little Taoist boy asked Chen Ce, "Are there any other symptoms?"

Chen Ce said: "It's gone for now, is this serious?"

The little Taoist boy shook his head and said, "I don't know. We'll know after the master takes your pulse. Okay, for your piety, go to that line and line up."

Chen Ce said "oh", then stood up and left, waiting in another queue.

Zhu Houzhao whispered to Chen Ce, "Little brother, this is not your symptom."

Chen Ce said to Zhu Houzhao speechlessly: "Haven't you figured out that they are a bunch of liars?"

"Cheating the villagers' money."

Zhu Houzhao said: "How is it possible!"

He had spent so much effort to find this hope, how could the other party be a liar?

Chen Ce said: "You will know in a moment."

When it was almost Chen Ce's turn in the team, the old Taoist sitting in the front had already reviewed the information of everyone behind him.

Soon, he saw the old Taoist priest sitting there with his eyes closed, looking quite impressive. He tapped the table, motioning Chen Ce to put his wrist on it to take his pulse, without opening his eyes.

The people who had finished the diagnosis started to go to the side to buy medicine, muttering: "What a living god! My child can be saved, he can be saved!"

"This medicine... three taels of silver? Can it be cheaper?"

"Okay, okay, three taels of silver, I'll buy it, I'll buy it."

Looking at the devout people standing by, Chen Ce sighed inwardly.

(End of this chapter)