Harem Daily Life

Seeing the emperor lying on the couch with a pale face, the empress dowager was heartbroken.

Doctor Liu stood up and saluted: "Empress Dowager, I have examined your Majesty's pulse and found that you are suffering from anger. I have already given you acupuncture, but I cannot tell you when you will wake up."

The Queen Mother sat on a stool beside the bed, holding the Emperor's hand, her eyes slightly red.

"Go and ask Dr. Xu to come over for a consultation. Pass on my order that the court will be suspended tomorrow. If you have any memorials, please submit them first. The trip to the palace will be postponed until the emperor wakes up." After the empress dowager gave all the instructions, she tucked the quilt in for the emperor, stood up and said, "Prepare a room for me. I will wait here tonight."

"Yes!" Tao Yanyan immediately sent people to clean up and let the empress dowager stay nearby.

Doctor Xu had already left the palace and was summoned into the palace overnight. After he arrived, he carefully diagnosed the patient for a long time and finally agreed with what Doctor Liu said.

Tao Yanyan frowned: "So, the two imperial doctors are now helpless, right?"

Doctor Xu shook his head: "Your Majesty, hey... Fortunately, his heart pulse is still normal. Maybe he will wake up after a few more hours of rest."

It was late at night, and Tao Yanyan saw that the two doctors were old, so she asked them to go to bed first, and she also persuaded the queen mother to go to bed. After visiting the three children, Tao Yanyan lay on the small couch in the outer room to watch.

For three consecutive days, He Linzhang seemed to be in hibernation, breathing evenly but not waking up.

The Empress Dowager temporarily took charge of the government, and Tao Yanyan devoted all his attention to taking care of the two children.

During this period, Concubine De sent someone to inquire about the situation, but Tao Yanyan was too lazy to respond and sent Mingyue away. On the fourth day, the three children gradually got better, except for some coughing, and the fever was gone. Tao Yanyan let them rest for another two days before sending them back to elementary school.

After sending the children away, Chang Tai came back to report what he had learned from outside: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has taken back the Queen's jade seal and treasure book. Nanny Fang was beaten with fifty boards and died after that. No one in Fengyi Palace is allowed to step out of the palace. In addition, the monk who sold medicine in Fuyan Temple was beaten with fifty boards and his life or death is unknown. The rest of the monks have been released."

Tao Yanyan sighed. What would it matter even if those who harmed him were dealt with?

Looking at He Linzhang who was still unconscious, Tao Yanyan was extremely depressed. She rubbed He Linzhang's arm and massaged his acupuncture points, hoping that he would have some reaction and wake up as soon as possible.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Marquis Ningyuan asked Eunuch Zhang to pass on a message saying that General Gu will be back soon. Then, Marquis Ningyuan would like to arrange a meeting with you." Chang Tai reported.

Tao Yanyan nodded: "Okay, let Ningyuan Hou arrange everything." When Gu Yi left Beijing, he didn't know the relationship between the two, and they just got along as friends. When they returned to Beijing, they turned out to be cousins. Tao Yanyan felt that this fate was really magical. She smiled and whispered in He Linzhang's ear: "Your Majesty, please wake up early, and accompany me to see my cousin General Gu Yi after you wake up, okay?"

He Linzhang, who was in a coma, suddenly moved his fingers, but Tao Yanyan didn't see it and continued to massage him.

After the Queen Mother left the court, Eunuch Qin stepped forward and reported, "Queen Mother, the Duke's Mansion has sent us a petition, pleading for mercy on behalf of the Queen."

The Queen Mother snorted coldly. Her son was now unconscious because of the Queen. How could she let the Queen go?

"Pass on my imperial decree to strip Wang Guogong of his title. Considering the contributions of their ancestors, I will not confiscate the property and just demote him to an earl's mansion." Demoted from a duke's mansion to an earl's mansion, the queen's family was in complete decline.

Eunuch Qin agreed and continued, "Many ministers have requested an audience, mostly for matters concerning the Queen. The outside world still doesn't know that His Majesty is in a coma, but if His Majesty continues to be unconscious, the news will inevitably leak out. The Rong family is active everywhere, and it seems that they want to take advantage of this incident with the Queen to depose her and establish another one."

The Queen Mother was worried. The dethronement and enthronement of the Queen was no small matter, and the Queen Mother could not directly dethrone the Emperor with an imperial decree when the Emperor was still unconscious. Although the Queen Mother was really angry now and wanted to dethrone the daughter of the Wang family.

"Since they want to see me, then let them in. I want to hear what they are up to."

The Queen Mother sat on the main seat and waited with a serious expression.

Soon, the ministers who wanted to see the Queen came in one after another. When the Queen Mother looked over, she saw that there were seven or eight people.

After everyone paid their respects, the ministers began to express their opinions one by one.

"Empress Dowager, although I don't know what crime the Duke's Mansion and the Queen have committed, I believe that the position of Queen Mother is the foundation of the country's stability, and the Queen must not be deposed at will."

The Queen Mother glanced at him and said, "Stop calling me Duke's Mansion. I have just issued an edict to strip the Duke's Mansion of its title and demote it to Earl's Mansion."

The minister shut up immediately upon hearing this.

"Empress Dowager, I think the opposite. If the Empress is not worthy of the position, then another virtuous person should be chosen. The Empress has been married into the royal family for several years, but has not been able to give birth to a legitimate prince. On the contrary, Concubine De has worked hard and made great contributions. She gave birth to the eldest prince early. The eldest prince has a noble character, and Concubine De is virtuous. I think the Empress should be deposed and Concubine De should be made Empress. I hope the Empress Dowager will consider it."

The Queen Mother glanced at him and saw that he was from the Ministry of War. Her eyes darkened. The Rong family was stationed at the border and they were all military commanders. If they had such a good relationship with the Ministry of War and could make people from the Ministry of War speak for the Rong family, how could they not be feared?

As soon as he finished speaking, another minister retorted: "The Queen has never made any mistakes in all these years. She has also given birth to two princesses, adding to the royal family. How can she be deposed just because she has no legitimate son? No matter whose son succeeds to the throne in the future, they are all the Queen's children. There is no need to depose her."

"But if the Queen did not make any mistakes, how could the Duke's Mansion... oh, no, it should be called the Earl's Mansion, be surrounded? Lord Li should stop being a party to protect the Queen. Could it be that the Queen Mother and Your Majesty have lived with the Queen for many years and would wrongly accuse her?"

Although the ministers did not know the inside story, they knew there must be something wrong when things were out of the ordinary. The queen's family home was surrounded by the Imperial Guards, and people were allowed to enter but not leave. It was obvious that something was happening, and it would be unwise to stand on the queen's side at this time.

However, there are also people who truly believe that the queen is the mother of the country and no one can replace her, so they insist that she cannot be deposed.

A group of people were arguing fiercely, and a minister stood up and said, "Your Majesty and the Queen are deeply in love. Even if you want to depose her, it must be done by Your Majesty himself. Now that we can't see Your Majesty, we should wait and see until Your Majesty comes forward, and then we can argue."

The Queen Mother glanced at the minister and said, "The Emperor is in poor health, and I have ruled for him for several months. Why do you not trust me now and have to wait for the Emperor?"