The World's Number One Medical Hall

Chapter Thirty-Two: This formula must not be revealed.

Inside the palace.

The lights were dim.

The Ming King was no longer there, but the Empress was still sitting at the table, staring at the three medical prescriptions that Mo Bai had just left behind, looking at them again and again.

The old palace maid's footsteps approached slowly, and soon she appeared at the door. She tiptoed to the Empress's side and said softly, "Your Majesty, it's late. Let this old servant help you to bed."

"No rush, come and see my son's handwriting, it's truly excellent." The Empress raised her head slightly, her face full of smiles, and handed the medical prescription she was looking at to the old palace maid.

Seeing that she was no longer in the mood, the old palace maid could only smile and bow to accept the medical prescription written by the King himself. But when she glanced at the prescription, her eyelids twitched involuntarily twice.

She knew the handwriting was good, but the medical prescription written with those words truly horrified her.

She looked up and saw the Empress smiling and waiting for her praise. It was clear that the Empress only paid attention to the words and did not care what was written on the prescription.

Not wanting to disturb the Empress's enjoyment, she said softly, "Your Majesty is right. His Highness's calligraphy is indeed extremely beautiful. This old servant thinks it is comparable to that of the famous calligraphers of the time!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress was indeed even more pleased, and her bright, phoenix-like eyes narrowed slightly with a smile, but she said, "That's still not as good!"

However, she added before she could finish speaking, "However, my son is still young. To be able to write such beautiful characters at only sixteen years old, once I present it to His Majesty, surely no one will dare to laugh at my son for being illiterate!"

However, when the old palace maid heard that the Empress was really going to present the prescription to His Majesty, her expression changed slightly. She then raised her head and said softly to the four palace maids standing to the side, "You may all leave now!"

"Yes!" The four palace maids bowed and left the inner hall.

The Empress didn't pay any attention to the old palace maid's instructions and continued to stare at the words without blinking.

Once everyone was alone, the old palace maid's expression tightened slightly. She leaned down and whispered in the Empress's ear, "Your Majesty, if this prescription is to be presented to His Majesty for review, I'm afraid Your Majesty will have to consider it carefully!"

"Hmm?" The Empress's hand, holding the medical prescription, paused abruptly. She slowly raised her head to look at the old palace maid, but her expression remained unchanged. She simply asked softly, "What do you mean?"

Clearly, the Empress was not angered by the old palace maid's questioning of her decision, indicating that she trusted her implicitly.

"Your Majesty, although the prescription given by Prince Ming is similar in combination of medicines to the one given by Master Zhang, several ingredients have been added or subtracted from the original prescription. This old servant is not knowledgeable in medicine and dares not judge whether it is safe or not, but Prince Ming's careful consideration of the dosage is truly frightening..." The old palace maid lowered her voice and spoke cautiously in the Empress's ear.

The Empress, upon hearing this, did not seem to care too much. Instead, she smiled and said, "My son is still young, and his medical skills naturally need further improvement, but to have achieved this much already makes me extremely happy!"

The old palace maid sighed inwardly, having no other choice but to lower her voice even further: "Your Majesty, even the moderate dosage of Master Zhang's medicine caused you discomfort, so we dared not use this prescription again. But now, His Highness Prince Ming has increased the dosage by more than double that of Master Zhang. Such a potent medicine, just looking at it makes this old servant's heart tremble. I fear it will not cure the illness and save the person, but rather... a deadly poison!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" The Empress's expression immediately hardened, a hint of majesty emanating from her eyes, and she uttered a soft rebuke.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" The old palace maid remained calm, but quickly knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

It was obvious that her relationship with the Empress was extraordinary; an ordinary palace maid would never dare to be so presumptuous.

But the old palace maid still dared to continue, "Your Highness, this old servant believes that His Highness Prince Ming would never have such intentions, but I fear that if this information were to leak out, outsiders would misunderstand His Highness's sincere filial piety towards Your Highness as..."

The struggles in the palace have never ceased. Ming Wang may not have intended to harm the Empress, but by presenting her with such a deadly poison, he might be accused of plotting to kill her!

No need to say more; how could the Empress, who is the head of the harem, lack wisdom?

However, it was because Mo Bai had truly surprised her today by writing such beautiful calligraphy that her worries of the past two years had finally faded away. In her great joy, she hadn't paid attention to anything else.

"Get up!" Her expression gradually calmed down as she spoke softly to the old palace maid. Then she turned her gaze back to the prescription in her hand, this time not just looking at the words.

The old palace maid rose, stood aside and waited quietly, observing the Empress's expression.

But seeing that the Empress's expression remained unchanged, he couldn't help but think to himself, "If any other prince had dared to present this recipe, Her Majesty might have already harbored resentment. Only this long-lost Prince Ming... Her Majesty has always been forgiving!"

Sure enough, after a short while, a smile reappeared on the Empress's face as she said, "I have also heard that folk healers often use some rare medicines, and their effects are quite obvious, leaving behind many legends. I suppose my son was worried about my leg ailment because he saw that the skilled doctors in the palace were powerless, and that's why he prescribed this medicine for me..."

The reasons have already been prepared, so how could the old palace maid dare to deny it?

So he immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is right, His Highness certainly thinks of you!"

"However, my son is still too young. He really needs to be properly instructed by a renowned teacher. Medicine is a matter of life and death, and should be treated with utmost care!" the Empress added.

After saying this, he picked up the prescription, intending to hand it to the old palace maid for safekeeping, but after a moment's hesitation, he folded it up again and carefully kept it close to his body.

Her gaze then fell upon the other two prescriptions. She picked them up and examined them closely. One was for acupuncture, and the other for external fumigation. Seeing the fumigation medicine, her eyes flickered, and she handed the prescription to the old palace maid, saying, "This prescription… take a look at it too!"

The old palace maid took it, examined it closely, and then glanced at the Empress's face. She immediately understood that the Empress must have remembered her promise to Prince Ming and was hesitant.

After a moment's hesitation, the old palace maid said, "Your Highness, this external prescription does indeed seem to be for promoting blood circulation, so it should be harmless. However, the herbs are too common, and their efficacy may not be comparable to the prescription given to Your Highness by the imperial physician!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress's eyes lit up with joy upon realizing it was harmless: "It's alright. It's been over ten years, and my illness has only gotten this bad. I'll use my son's prescription; who knows, it might actually have a miraculous effect?"

The old palace maid had no choice. There were countless skilled doctors in the palace, but could they all be inferior to Prince Ming when he was just over twenty? However, what the Empress said was indeed reasonable. This leg ailment had lasted for more than ten years. Prince Ming's filial piety would at least win the Empress's heart. Thinking of this, she nodded and said, "In that case, tomorrow this old servant will give this prescription to the imperial physician to consider and then prepare the medicine for Your Majesty."

"Very well!" The Empress nodded with pleasure, but then sighed softly, "Seeing my son grow up to be so accomplished, I can finally feel a little more at ease... Hmm, Mama Chang!"

At this point, the Empress paused slightly, her gaze returning to the elegant calligraphy on the table.

Seeing the Empress's sudden change in expression, the old palace maid quickly bowed and asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

The Empress raised her head and looked at her: "Don't you think my son is quite different today?"

The old palace maid was taken aback. The first thought that came to her mind was the fierce aura that Mo Bai had when he was about to force his way into the inner palace. Thinking of this, she thought to herself, "He really seems like a completely different person."

Looking at the Empress, the old palace maid smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right. I was worried that His Highness would be too frightened after this assassination attempt..."

"Yes, I was so anxious earlier, and then my son started crying and complaining, asking me to stand up for him. I really didn't know how to handle it." The Empress also gave a bitter smile, but then suddenly said, "Hmm, thinking about it carefully, it seems that my son hasn't mentioned the assassination attempt since he entered the room today, and he hasn't even asked about the Princess Consort?"

The old palace maid couldn't understand it either. Indeed, this was not in line with the Ming King's former nature: "Perhaps after this incident, His Highness has gained many insights and understands the Empress's predicament."

Upon hearing this, the Empress felt somewhat relieved, but a trace of sadness reappeared on her face. She looked towards the palace gate and finally sighed softly, "Alas, my son is clearly literate, yet even I did not notice anything amiss. Only today, as he is about to leave me, has he revealed this matter. I wonder what truly happened to my son..."

Upon hearing this, the old palace maid dared not utter another sound; she understood the Empress's meaning.

The Empress suspects that Prince Ming is not necessarily mentally deficient, but rather that he may have been mentally awakened long ago, but is deliberately hiding his abilities to avoid getting involved in palace intrigues.

"Your Highness, His Highness is still sincere towards you and must be grateful. Otherwise, why would he return and risk punishment to examine your pulse and prescribe medicine? This is His Highness's filial piety towards you. You should be happy!" the old palace maid advised.

"Yes, I know my son's intentions!" The Empress smiled again, and then said, "Since my son is interested in medicine, let's prepare some rare and precious medicines that are hard to find among the common people and send them to Prince Ming's residence."

……

After bidding farewell to the Empress, Mo Bai walked alone out of the palace.

His silhouette was long and slender in the moonlight.

Yet, amidst this desolation, it appears quite lonely!

He still remembered the way he came. He walked slowly alone among the pavilions and towers, calm and serene.

Having met Emperor Dingwu, he felt relieved of the burden on his heart.

Having met the Empress, he was left with a lingering warmth that felt both familiar and strange.

However, all of this will be temporarily relegated to the depths of his memory as he moves forward. Now, just like his lonely figure under the moonlight, he needs to walk towards his own destiny alone. There is no one he can rely on, nor is he capable of giving anyone someone to rely on.

Fortunately, he was pure of heart and strong-willed.

He dared to face everything with his frail body.

He was also willing to accept that no amount of terrible suffering could frighten him.

At the palace gate.

He gazed at the slowly opening door, walking forward step by step without stopping or looking back.

He didn't look back even once until the palace gates closed behind him.