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Chapter 375 Detailed Diagnosis and Treatment

The Empress had another nightmare; in her dream, she still smelled the fragrance of cold plum blossoms.

When she woke up, she could still feel a faint fragrance in her nose, which made her unable to distinguish between a dream and reality.

The candle on the table was still half lit, and a young palace maid was dozing off beside her. Even though the Empress was awakened from her dream, she remained asleep.

A sudden surge of malice arose in the Empress's heart. Why could such a lowly person fall asleep even while kneeling on the ground, while she couldn't even get a good night's sleep?
With a "smack," the little palace maid was slapped to the ground.

"You wretched woman! I told you to stand guard at night, and you're sleeping so soundly!" The Empress's eyebrows shot up, her face contorted with rage. "Drag her out and make her kneel outside. Let's see if she can still sleep then!"

Yu Lu rushed in and scolded the palace maid, "Are you out of your mind? Why are you asleep?!"

He then comforted the Empress, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't take her to heart. Be careful not to upset yourself."

The poor little palace maid was dragged outside and made to kneel in the cold rain, not daring to cry for fear of angering the Empress and incurring even harsher punishment.

It was midnight, and even if the Empress woke up, she had to find a way to go back to sleep.

“I will stay with Your Majesty for the rest of the night,” Yu Lu said. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving anyone else with me.”

The next day at lunchtime, the Emperor came to the Empress's palace.

"Why didn't Your Majesty inform us beforehand? I could have asked them to prepare lunch." The Empress rose to greet her.

"I have already sent word over here, so there's no rush to eat," the Emperor said. "Yesterday I heard that the Grand Tutor has been feeling unwell lately, so I plan to send an imperial physician out of the palace to examine him."

"Really? I haven't heard about it yet." The Empress couldn't help but feel a little anxious. "I've been thinking about my father these past few days. He's getting on in years, and with all the rain these past few days, I'm afraid his back and leg pain will flare up again."

"He's getting old, that's inevitable," the Emperor said. "Usually, it's Physician Wu who examines the Grand Tutor, but he's been on leave these past few days. Who should we send instead?"

"There's a young and promising man named Su Qingyun in the Imperial Medical Academy. He's very skilled in acupuncture. Why don't we ask him to examine the imperial physicians?" the Empress said after thinking for a moment. In her view, Su Qingyun was one of her subordinates.

When Princess Zhao poisoned Ying Bai, the palace servants accidentally ate it. Su Qingyun noticed the trick at the time, but the Empress decided to let him go in the end, but also implied that he could only be used by her from now on.

Su Qingyun would certainly not refuse, otherwise he would face exile, and his whole family would be implicated.

“Promoting younger talent is only right. The imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital are all quite old, and many will probably retire in a few years. If we don’t train successors in these few years, what will become of us?” The Emperor smiled. “Since the Empress thinks he’s good, then let him go!”

Su Qingyun went to the Grand Tutor's mansion as ordered, and Grand Tutor Dong was resting in bed.

The servants were worried that the palace had sent such a young imperial physician, fearing that he lacked experience.

"Greetings to the Grand Tutor. I have been sent by Her Majesty the Empress to come out of the palace to examine you," Su Qingyun said, bowing.

"Please sit down, Physician Su. Don't rush to examine the patient. Have some tea first." Grand Tutor Dong glanced at Su Qingyun without making a sound.

Why did the Empress send out such a young person? Was she worried that the older imperial physicians were unreliable?
"This humble servant is not thirsty; it is more important to treat the Grand Tutor's illness first." Su Qingyun's attitude was very humble. "Relieving the Grand Tutor's pain as soon as possible will also relieve Her Majesty the Empress's worries."

"Very well! Thank you for your trouble, Physician Su." Grand Tutor Dong extended his hand. Su Qingyun carefully took his pulse and said, "This humble servant will go to the outer room to consider the prescription."

I never discuss the illness or prescription with the patient in front of them; I always talk to the family outside.

"No need, Physician Su, you can talk to me here," said Grand Tutor Dong.

But Grand Tutor Dong was different from others; he wanted to be the first to know about his own illness.

“Uh…” Su Qingyun hesitated for a moment, then said, “In my humble opinion, the Grand Tutor’s illness is caused by catching a cold. His lower abdomen is cold, his legs and back are sore, and his qi is not rising, which is why his appetite is also affected.”

"Physician Su's medical skills are superb. I do indeed have these symptoms. In your opinion, how should I be treated?" Grand Tutor Dong asked Su Qingyun.

"Well, in my humble opinion, medication would be somewhat harmful to the spleen and stomach. Acupuncture would be more effective," Su Qingyun said. "Her Majesty the Empress specifically instructed me before sending me out of the palace to avoid medication as much as possible. She said that Your Majesty's spleen and stomach are somewhat imbalanced, and autumn and winter are the time to nourish the stomach. If you take medicine, I'm afraid it won't be able to heal properly."

“Acupuncture is fine too.” Grand Tutor Dong nodded. “Then I’ll have to trouble Physician Su.”

Su Qingyun responded and took out acupuncture needles from her medicine box.

He had already received instructions from the Emperor to find a way to kill Grand Tutor Dong.

Of course, this had to be done extremely discreetly, because Grand Tutor Dong's achievements were so great that they threatened the emperor's power, and his death was of paramount importance.

The reason why Grand Tutor Dong refused to take the medicine was because he was afraid that someone would plot against him. At this time, he was already very wary of the emperor.

What he didn't know was that Su Qingyun had been diligently researching many methods to avenge Consort Shen over the years.

Just like how poison powder was put on green tangerines to poison the empress, this acupuncture is the same thing.

The human body has acupoints that are considered beneficial and ineffective. Some acupoints are very close together, and if you insert the needle slightly off-center or one inch deeper, the effect will be very different.

However, this was his first time administering acupuncture to Grand Tutor Dong, so he naturally had to make sure that it was effective.

It took a full hour for Su Qingyun to finish the acupuncture.

"Ah, I feel much better now." Grand Tutor Dong stretched his legs and was very happy.

"This acupuncture treatment will take at least seven days. I will come again tomorrow. However, Grand Tutor, you must also take care to keep warm, especially after the acupuncture treatment," Su Qingyun instructed while packing his medical kit.

"Steward, escort Doctor Su out properly." Grand Tutor Dong winked at the steward.

The steward understood and accompanied Su Qingyun to the outer room, handing him a purse.

"This humble servant cannot accept it," Su Qingyun hurriedly refused. "This humble servant is here on Her Majesty the Empress's orders to treat the imperial physician; how can I accept a gift of thanks?"

"Dr. Su, you're too kind. This is a kind gesture from the Grand Tutor. The roads are slippery from the rain, so please buy me a hot drink!" The steward insisted on stuffing the purse into Su Qingyun's hand. "We'll have to trouble you to come to our residence every day for the next few days, Dr. Su."

"This is what I should do, and it is also because Her Majesty the Empress appreciates me." Su Qingyun's words revealed his boundless respect for the Empress. The more he acted this way, the easier it was for the Dong family to lower their guard against him.