Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 680 Emotional Injury, Overwork Leads to Illness

While Li Tinggui and Xue Jiliang were talking, a hundred miles away on the riverbank, the vanguard of the Shenji Fourth Battalion also crossed the undefended Han River under the cover of warships.

Meanwhile, in the Simindang Hall of Changdeok Palace in Hanyang, Crown Prince Yi Chok, his face breaking out in pimples and his eyes darkening with anxiety, sat anxiously behind his desk, fidgeting with his fingers. The three Changs had arrived and were seated on the left side near the window, but the chair on the right, opposite them, was completely empty.

"Why isn't he here yet? Why isn't he here yet?" Li Chu was getting impatient. "Pei Ji!"

"Your Highness!" Upon hearing the call, Pei Ji, the eunuch who was waiting for orders, immediately walked quickly to the door and knelt down.

"Go urge them, go urge them, quickly send someone to urge them!" Li Chu said in a low voice, his breath trembling.

The panic of those in power easily spreads to those in lower positions. Pei Ji trembled with inexplicable fear, but still forced himself to ask, "May I ask, Your Highness, who...who are you trying to urge?"

thump.

Li Chu clenched his fist, restraining his strength, and lightly slammed it on the table. But his voice couldn't be stopped. "Do you even need to ask? Of course, who didn't come to urge whom!" Li Chu's eyes widened as he pointed at the empty chair opposite San Chang and roared.

"Yes!" Pei Ji scrambled away.

“Your Highness,” the Imperial Uncle Liu Xifen advised softly, “the more critical the moment, the more you must remain calm!” Liu Xifen’s expression was calm, but his fists were clenched tightly under his sleeves.

“Your brother-in-law Liu is right,” Li Erzhan immediately agreed. “If someone saw you looking so flustered, they might have some ulterior motives. Don’t you think so, Minister Park?”

"Hmm," Park Seung-jong nodded blankly, his head hanging low. "You two are right."

"Calm down, calm down! How can I calm down!" Li Chu's eyes were unfocused, his face flushed, and he looked both exhausted and excited. "Vice Judge Zhang left the capital yesterday, and this morning the Ming army started crossing the river? What on earth is he doing!"

Neither Park Seung-jong nor Lee Er-chan responded immediately. Only Yoo Hee-fen, who had recommended Zhang Wan to go to the outskirts of the capital to welcome the Ming army, awkwardly tried to save face for Zhang Wan: "Your Highness, if that Admiral Shen has his own plans, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Judge Zhang to change anything."

“Even if nothing can be changed, shouldn’t he at least try to send someone back with a note?” Li Chu’s head throbbed, his eyes darted around, and his teeth chattered. “Now that the Ming army has suddenly crossed the river, we don’t even know what that Shen guy is up to!”

“Zhang Wan should indeed send a note, but once he’s inside the Ming army’s camp, many things are no longer up to him to decide,” Li Erzhan chimed in from the side.

"You mean," Li Chu's face showed even greater fear, "that Admiral Shen won't let Zhang, the Assistant Magistrate, return to report?"

Liu Xifen glanced at Li Erzhan. Then he changed his tune, trying to calm Li Chu's panic. "It's possible that they just don't have enough time. Although Incheon and Hanyang are close, a normal march would take at least a day. If they meet on the way, it's normal that they wouldn't have time to send a message, especially since the Han River is in between."

“Your Highness.” Li Erzhan looked at Li Chu, but his gaze met Liu Xifen’s. “What’s done is done, there’s no point in dwelling on these things anymore. Let’s think about how to deal with it.”

"How to deal with it? Yes! We need to think about how to deal with it!" If Lee Cheok could figure out how to deal with it, he wouldn't have rushed to summon Lee Il-chan, Park Seung-jong, and the other three judges for a meeting after Yoo Hee-bum reported the news. "Gentlemen, what are your thoughts? Please share them!"

“Your Highness, please calm down first.” Li Erzhan’s ears twitched, and he deliberately lowered his voice to say, “The three of us will certainly support Your Highness without reservation, but some people may not be so.”

As soon as Li Erzhan finished speaking, Jin Liu, the current judge of the Ministry of Justice, was led over by Pei Ji, the eunuch who had just left.

"Your Majesty, I am Jin Liu, the Judge of the Ministry of Justice," Jin Liu said, his heart pounding as he entered the Shimin Hall. He knelt before Yi Chu, lifting his robe. "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Li Zhu looked at Jin Liu, then gave Li Erzhan a deep look. No matter how confused he was, he couldn't possibly not understand what Li Erzhan had just meant.

Were those words specifically directed at Kim Ryu? Or were they just a general reference that Kim Ryu happened to overhear?
If "some people" doesn't refer to Kim Ryu, then who does it refer to?

What are these "some people" up to? What does it have to do with the traitor who kidnapped Li Erzhan?
In an instant, all sorts of complex and confusing thoughts flooded into Li Chu's mind, making his already unclear thoughts even more chaotic.

In a daze, Li Zhu actually forgot to wake Jin Liu.

"Your Highness." Park Seung-jong raised his head, which had been bowed since he entered, and called out softly to Lee Hyuk.

"Huh?" Lee Jo-wang looked at Park Seung-jong in the direction of the voice, his haggard face filled with blankness and unease. Only the corners of his eyes and mouth that twitched from time to time showed a slight trace of remaining life.

Lee Joo's distraught appearance startled Park Seung-jong. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation and the need for someone to take charge, he would have advised Lee Joo to go and rest.

"Your Highness, Kim Hsieh has arrived." Park Seung-jong gave Kim Ryu, who was kneeling on the ground, a heavy look, then added, as if trying to save face, "Do you think we should ask Eunuch Bae to urge Kim Hsieh and Jeong Gung-seo to hurry up with them?"

"Huh? Oh!" Li Zhu mustered his remaining strength, forcibly pulling his soul out of his chaotic thoughts, and called out towards the door, "Pei Ji. Pei Ji!"

Pei Ji had been remembering Li Zhu's earlier shout of "Whoever didn't come to urge whom," so before Jin Liu could even enter and kneel down, he had already left Shimin Hall to continue searching for Zheng Jingshi, the Minister of Works, and Jin Jinguo, the Minister of Revenue.

Thinking is difficult, but losing one's temper is easy. Li Chu called out a few times, but Pei Ji didn't respond, and his temper immediately flared up. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly under San Chang's astonished gaze. But before Li Chu could even roar out his words, his vision went black, his body went limp, and he fell backward.

Boom!
Li Zhu fell heavily to the floor, knocking over the chair in his haste.

"Your Highness!" Liu Xifen rushed forward and picked Li Chu up from behind.

"Your Highness!" Park Seung-jong was a beat late, and helped Yi Yeok up from the side.

"Your Highness!" Li Erzhan also stood up, but he only took one step instinctively before turning and running towards the door, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Summon the imperial physician! Summon the imperial physician quickly!"

In the last moments before he fainted, Lee Chu heard all sorts of voices. Without exception, these voices were filled with concern, but Lee Chu always felt that these concerned voices also harbored some kind of selfishness and treachery.

--------

The imperial physician on duty today was still Xu Shoutian. He had just entered the Shimin Hall's sleeping quarters with his medicine chest when he was taken aback by the scene before him.

The Crown Prince was accompanied not only by Queen Liu and Crown Princess Park, but also by all the chief officials of the six ministries of the royal court. The last time Xu Shoutian had seen a similar scene was in the thirty-sixth year of the Wanli reign when King Seonjo entrusted his son to the emperor on his deathbed.

"Imperial Physician Xu, Imperial Physician Xu!" Princess Liu's eyes were filled with tears, her voice trembling, yet she refused to let go of her son's hand. "Come quickly, see how my son is!"

"Gentlemen, please make way. Let Physician Xu come over." Crown Princess Park's eyes were dark-rimmed and red-rimmed, her entire face displaying a sickly agitation. Park was King Yeo's bedmate, and their schedules closely overlapped. When King Yeo suffered from insomnia, she couldn't rest either. "Everyone, please make way." Chief State Councilor Park Seung-jong was the first to rise and move aside. Subsequently, Minister of Justice Kim Yu and Minister of Public Works Jeong Kyung-se also rose and walked to his side.

The Minister of Revenue, Kim Jin-guk, did not move until Lee Er-chan got up and walked to the opposite side of Park Seung-jong, at which point he also got up and walked over.

Liu Xifen did not get up. He glanced around, and after a brief hesitation, crawled to his sister, Princess Liu, and continued to kneel beside her.

Li Erzhan kept glancing at Liu Xifen, and a subtle smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The atmosphere in the bedchamber was so oppressive it seemed to solidify. The imperial physician, Xu Shoutian, could not bear the stares of everyone and could only lower his head and hunch his body as he quickly walked to Li Chu's bedside.

“Please make way for me, Your Highness,” Xu Shoutian said in a low voice. “This humble subject is unable to take your pulse.”

"Huh? Oh!" Park blinked her reddened eyes blankly, and after a moment she suddenly realized what was happening and crawled to Liu's side, kneeling opposite Liu Xifen.

"Phew!" Xu Shoutian put down his medicine box and let out a long breath. Then he slowly knelt down, placed Li Chu's wrist on his lap, and began to quietly feel his pulse.

After a few breaths, Xu Shoutian had a general idea of ​​what was going on, but he still insisted on completing the four diagnostic methods of observation, auscultation, and palpation before putting away his probing posture.

"How is my son?" Madam Liu asked impatiently.

“Your Highness, please don’t worry. Han Chinese medicine emphasizes observation, listening, questioning, and palpation,” Xu Shoutian said with a reassuring smile to Lady Liu. “Allow me to ask you a few more questions about the Lady’s residence.”

"Please tell me, please tell me!" Madam Liu nodded repeatedly, then suddenly turned to Madam Pu and said, "Just answer whatever Physician Xu asks you, and don't avoid seeking medical help!"

"Ah? Yes!" Park's heart skipped a beat, and her vision went black for a moment before clearing. "What does Physician Xu want to ask?"

Seeing Park's expression, Seo Soo-cheon had a complete idea of ​​what was going on, but he still asked a token question: "In the past few days, has His Highness the Crown Prince been suffering from insomnia, restlessness, irritability, and at the same time, listlessness, weakness, and reluctance to speak?"

Mrs. Park steadied herself and nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, yes! Physician Xu is absolutely right."

“Then that’s it.” Xu Shoutian turned to Liu and explained, “His Highness’s pulse is wiry and rapid, his complexion is pale, his eyes are bloodshot, his tongue is red with a yellow coating, his breathing is sometimes shallow and sometimes rapid, and there is a slight odor in his mouth. These are classic signs of liver stagnation transforming into fire and liver yang rising. Just now, I asked the Consort, and she confirmed that His Highness had indeed suffered from insomnia all night. Therefore, I judge that His Highness is suffering from excessive worry, emotional distress, and illness due to overwork. This is very similar to His Majesty’s symptoms a few days ago.”

"Physician Xu!" Park Seung-jong suddenly spoke up, interrupting Xu Shoutian. "Stop arguing about medical principles and get to the treatment!"

“Minister Park is right,” Lee Er-chan chimed in. “The most important thing now is to wake the Crown Prince up!”

Xu Shoutian suddenly snapped out of his reverie and quickly pulled his wandering thoughts back.

“If you want to wake up quickly, you can try pressing the Renzhong acupoint or Neiguan acupoint,” Xu Shoutian habitually pointed to the Renzhong acupoint above his nasolabial groove, and then pressed the Neiguan acupoint, which is three finger-widths away between the two tendons on the inside of his wrist. Then he continued, “If you want to stimulate it a little more, you can also use the Ten Xuan bloodletting method or the Twelve Jing bloodletting method, but I do not recommend doing so.”

"Do we really have to wake him up? Can't we just let him sleep for a while?" Madam Liu asked Xu Shoutian in an almost pleading tone, then turned to Liu Xifen and said, "Why don't you two discuss it and make a decision?"

If I, Liu Xifen, dared to make decisions on my own, I wouldn't have suggested that Li Zhu summon Park, Liu, and the other three judges to discuss the matter.

“Your Highness, the Crown Prince is not asleep, but has fainted.” Xu Shoutian gently pressed Li Chu’s chest with one hand and checked Li Chu’s breathing with the other. “Although judging from the current symptoms, the Crown Prince’s heartbeat is normal and his breathing is relatively stable, and he seems to be in good health overall, I still suggest that we wake him up first before he rests.”

"Since that's the case," Madam Liu said, tears welling in her eyes. "Then let's get started!"

"Okay." Xu Shoutian nodded emphatically, then turned to the side and changed to a kneeling position.

Xu Shoutian supported Li Chu's chin with three fingers, then placed his thumb on Li Chu's philtrum and pinched it hard.

"Hiss!" Li Chu was jolted awake by the intense pain.

Xu Shoutian immediately released his grip, feeling a sense of relief throughout his body.

"My son!" Madam Liu caught her son's back and burst into tears.

"Your Highness!" Lady Park rushed forward and grabbed her husband's shoulders.

"Your Highness!" Liu Xifen knelt on the ground and then prostrated himself.

"Your Highness!" Park Seung-jong and Lee Il-chan quickly went over and knelt before King Yi.

"Your Highness!" Jin Liu, the Minister of Justice, Zheng Jingshi, the Minister of Works, and Jin Jinguo, the Minister of Revenue, also knelt down, looking at Yi Chu with sorrow in their eyes.

"Huff—huff—huff!" Yi Chu was panting heavily, and his first words were, "Have the Ming army entered the city yet?"

Sanchang exchanged a glance. "Not yet."

"Where did they go?" Li Chu looked around, but his gaze remained unfocused for a long time.

No one responded, because nobody knew.

"Mother, Consort Park. What brings you here?" Lee Jo's gaze first settled on his mother, Lady Yoo, and then shifted to his wife, Lady Park.

"My son! What's wrong with you? Don't scare your mother!" Madam Liu was completely unaware of the situation; she only felt that her poor son seemed to have lost his mind. "Imperial Physician Xu, what's wrong with my son!"

"Your Highness." Before Physician Xu could explain, a voice suddenly appeared outside the hall.

"Your Highness, Your Highness!" Pei Ji shouted as he ran, "The Training Commander reports! The Ming Army requests to take over the Southern Camp!"

(End of this chapter)