Drunk Bamboo

"Doctor Qi, don't be afraid. I know." The nanny withdrew her hand calmly.

"Your health condition has not been cured overnight. Why don't you tell the prince and get treatment as soon as possible?" Qi Zhen suddenly stood up with a serious face.

This pulse, this body, has long been like a dead tree, lifeless, and there's no telling when it will collapse.

"Now... this, this is hard for even gods to save!"

Qi Zhen is a doctor. He has seen many things like birth, aging, sickness and death, but he cannot bear to see people hiding their illness and avoiding seeing a doctor, or refusing to treat their illness.

He looked at the old man on the bed in confusion. He had gray hair, a kind face, and a faint smile on his lips. He didn't look like he had any old illness at all.

No wonder no one in the mansion noticed it.

"It's been ten years. The root of my illness was left ten years ago. Doctor Qi, don't worry or worry. I should have left with Concubine Shu ten years ago. Now I am content to be able to live to see the prince get married and love the princess."

"But please keep this secret, Doctor Qi." The nanny said to him sincerely.

"I was invited by the princess, and I can't hide it from her." Qi Zhen refused directly with a sullen look on his face.

Although King Feng did not win the emperor's favor before, he also had the financial and material resources to treat the disease. Why did he keep it secret for so long?

Mammy seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking and why he was angry.

The corners of her mouth slightly raised, and her tone was gentle:

"Even if I didn't hide it, even if the prince knew the cause of my illness ten years ago, it would be useless. Doctor Qi is kind-hearted and should have seen from just a gentle pulse that my internal organs have failed and no panacea would be of any use. I knew it ten years ago."

“If it had been treated earlier, how could this have happened…” Qi Zhen’s face suddenly turned pale.

His lips trembled as if he was thinking of something terrible.

"Is... is it the root cause of the disease left after the plague?"

Mammy smiled and nodded.

Recalling that dark period, it wasn’t that painful.

"I was sick for five days and got a prescription for treatment, but the plague is a demon. Once infected, the body will no longer be as intact as before. At first it was fine, but after half a year I started to feel a little powerless. The palace doctor just said that my body was weak and I just needed to take more care of it. But I always felt in my heart that this body was not so healthy anymore."

"Later, when the prince built a palace, I left the palace and sought treatment from a doctor in the city."

"The doctor said it was the sequelae of the plague. There is no medicine to cure it. We can only try to save my life. When I got the plague, my hair was already gray, and I was sick for five days. It was not easy to survive. I am satisfied to see that the prince and princess are happy and content."

Qi Zhen's eyes widened and her mind went blank.

It’s not that she is unwilling to receive treatment, but that the imperial doctors in the palace are hiding the truth.

The illnesses left behind by the plague are fundamental injuries to the body that no medicine can reverse.

Even if we had known this ten years ago and taken good care of it, it would not necessarily be better than it is now.

"Doctor Qi, please don't let the prince and princess know. I don't want them to worry about my old bones anymore." Nanny held his hand and begged.

Qi Zhen didn't dare to look into her kind and eager eyes, and looked away:

"But, but we can't hide it. If Mammy can't hold on any longer one day, how will the prince and princess bear it if they know?"

Seeing that his tone softened, Mammy felt hopeful.

She patted Qi Zhen's hand and said, "Then, you can say that I died of old age without any regrets."

Are you going to keep this secret till the end?

Qi Zhen finally looked at the nanny, her face full of pain: "Mammy, I came here at the princess's behest. Isn't this being a two-faced person?"

"Doctor Qi, the princess invited you to the palace, which shows that the princess trusts you. Doctor Qi is so entangled and unwilling to deceive the princess, which also shows that Doctor Qi values ​​the princess."

"No one in the mansion kept it from me, but I know that the prince almost died in Mount Loushan, and the princess is just a woman, busy inside and outside the mansion. The Feng Palace may seem glorious and noble, but no one dares to provoke it. Even if you don't cause trouble, trouble often comes to you. Doctor Qi has experienced it personally, so he should understand how difficult it is for the prince and the princess to live in this capital, and they should be careful at every step."

"Now, thanks to the princess's efforts, I have finally won the favor of His Majesty. I thought the palace would be stable for a while. But such a big case happened in Loushan, and the prince and princess are deeply involved."

What Madam said was from the bottom of her heart, and Qi Zhen understood it.

"I know it's not easy for them."

Qi Zhen had seen Prince Feng save the Grand Tutor without hesitation, had seen officials falsely accuse Prince Feng but he had no way of defending himself, had seen Prince Feng and his wife covered in blood just begging for justice... In the past six months, he had personally witnessed them walk step by step to the front of His Majesty and win his favor little by little.

Mammy: "At this moment, they cannot afford to be distracted, nor can they provoke His Majesty again."

Qi Zhen thought about it again and again, but was still hesitant: "What does your health have to do with His Majesty..."

"I have been in the palace for many years, but the imperial physician who treated me never revealed a single word. Most of the palace people who contracted the plague died or left the palace, and no one dared to mention the plague again."

The nanny continued, "That is His Majesty's weak spot. The imperial physician dared not speak of it, probably because he received instructions from above. If he spoke of it, it would probably cause panic among the people."

Qi Zhen frowned and said, "I have also treated some people who have had the plague. Their bodies are weaker than ordinary people, but many of them are fine."

"The doctor told me that the younger you are, or the shorter the infection time, the milder the symptoms and the fewer sequelae. I am old, so my condition is so serious."

"Given the temperament of the prince and princess, if they knew about this, they would definitely go to the palace to ask His Majesty for an explanation. The Shang Pharmacy will never have peace from now on. Doctor Qi, who is in the Shang Pharmacy, doesn't want to see the prince making a scene, right?"

Qi Zhen looked up, his eyes filled with fear.

He couldn't imagine how King Feng would cause a big commotion in the palace if he knew about this.

I’m afraid even the princess can’t stop it, and she may not even join in the trouble.

"The prince will definitely find the imperial physician who treated the patient back then and punish him severely. Perhaps Gao Fengyu will also be implicated... Gao Fengyu is deeply trusted by His Majesty and the Imperial Noble Consort. If the prince makes a big fuss, he will definitely vent his anger on His Majesty." The more Qi Zhen thought about it, the more scared he became.

There are too many people involved behind this.

Nanny's eyes were filled with gratitude: "Thank you, Doctor Qi, for thinking about the palace."

Her prince did not seek the throne, so he should stop getting involved in the turmoil in the palace.

In the past, she always thought that the more the prince knew, the more concerned he would be and the more defensive he would be. She was afraid that if she left, there would be one less person by the prince's side, so she had to learn to protect herself.

Now that the princess has appeared, she has the ability to protect herself and the talent to guard the palace. As long as the couple work together, they will be able to return safely to the western frontier and ignore any chaos in the central capital.

She knew that the prince might not be able to do it alone, but he and the princess could definitely do it together.

Qi Zhen closed her eyes, took a breath, and when she opened her eyes, she had made a decision.

"Looking at your health, the previous doctor has done his best, so I won't prescribe any more medicine. Just follow the doctor's advice."

"Everything is up to Doctor Qi," said the nanny. "Doctor Qi, don't blame yourself. I will take care of everything. Now, even if I close my eyes, I will be happy."

"As a doctor, curing diseases and saving lives is my first priority. You are my patient, and your wishes come first." Qi Zhen's complexion quickly returned to normal.