Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

The red gate of Mingcui Palace was closed tightly, with two eunuchs standing on each side with serious faces. When they saw someone approaching, one of them stepped forward to stop them.

"Please show your badge, Imperial Physician!"

Li Limu took off the badge from his waist. The eunuch took it and took a look at it. He then noticed a stranger standing behind him carrying a medicine box.

He looked a little doubtful and asked, "Doctor Li, who is the person behind..."

Li Limu said, "He is a new doctor from the Imperial Hospital."

The eunuch nodded and handed the badge to Li Limu. "Lady Mei is still under house arrest. Doctor Li, please hurry up."

The red door opened with a whoosh.

Li Limu stepped over the threshold, and Lu Ziqing followed behind him. Before they reached the center of the yard, they heard a "bang" behind them, and the heavy door closed immediately.

The yard was exceptionally quiet. There were a few dwarf plum trees planted on the lawns on both sides, bare without leaves or flowers.

The huge palace was deserted, with only four eunuchs guarding the gate and no servants in the courtyard.

When he reached the door, Li Limu suddenly stopped.

Lu Ziqing stood aside, confused, wondering why this person didn't go in. Then he heard a dry cough, followed by a look that said, "Hurry up and lift the curtain."

He reacted immediately and lifted the curtain. As soon as a gap appeared, a bloody smell suddenly hit his face.

He and Li Li were choked so much that they covered their noses and took a step back, feeling nauseous in their throats.

There is such a strong smell of blood, could a murder have occurred in there?

Lu Ziqing's heartstrings couldn't help but tighten.

The light in the house was a little dim in broad daylight. He walked in front and was only half a step away from the inner room.

A palace maid came towards him holding a basin of water, and was startled and screamed "Ah".

The water was bright red and had a strong fishy smell like blood. It splashed over half of his body, and a chill ran from his stomach to his back.

His face was slightly stiff, he lowered his head to look at the dark red half of his body, and sighed in his heart: "Is this the first test after entering the palace?"

The palace maid didn't even bother to pick up the basin. In a moment of excitement, she stepped forward and grabbed Lu Ziqing's arm.

"Imperial Physician, you're finally here. Come and take a look at our Empress. She..."

"cough--"

Before the palace maid finished her words, another cough was heard beside her.

Lu Ziqing understood quickly this time and quickly stepped aside, saying to the palace maid, "This is Imperial Physician Li."

In the inner room, a palace maid came up crying with a bloody cloth in her hand and knelt on the ground.

"Imperial Physician, please save our queen! She has been bleeding for over half a month and is getting worse day by day. Please, Imperial Physician, find a way to save her!"

"Miss Xiyue, please stand up." Li Limu looked at her. "Lady Mei had a miscarriage half a month ago, right?"

"Yes." Xiyue said, "It was fine in the first few days after the miscarriage. The bleeding was not much, but later on, for some reason, the bleeding became heavier day by day. I felt drowsy every day and could only lie in bed. In the last two days, I didn't even have the strength to speak. Is our queen... wuwu..."

The woman on the bed was covered tightly with a quilt. Li Limu walked to the bedside and felt her pulse through the towel.

Lu Ziqing stood aside and watched.

This man is afraid of cold, has a pale face and dull eyes, a thin and dull tongue coating, and swollen face and hands. His breathing seems heavy and his pulse is weak.

It is a sign of blood deficiency and qi loss caused by hemorrhage after miscarriage.

He thought to himself, "He's on his last legs, yet he's still being held here? Didn't the imperial physician come to treat him before? However... if he uses the Baoyuan Jiutuo Decoction and gets treated in time, there's still a glimmer of hope."

Li Limu put away the towel and said to the nobleman who was lying on the bed with his eyes half closed.

"Your Excellency's bleeding is not limited to six weak pulses. This is due to blood deficiency and qi loss caused by post-miscarriage hemorrhage."

Concubine Mei opened and closed her mouth slowly, and her voice was so quiet that at first glance one would think she wasn't speaking.

"Out of breath?" Xiyue asked in a panic, covering up Concubine Mei's mosquito-like voice. "Is it serious?"

"Uh..." Li Limu hesitated a little, "Let me prescribe a dose of Baoyuan Jiutuo Decoction first, and then we'll see what happens to you, my lord."

Back at the Imperial Hospital's office, Li Limu handed the prescription to Lu Ziqing.

"Take the prescription to the Imperial Pharmacy to get the medicine, and I'll boil it with you when you come back."

"Yes!"

Lu Ziqing took the prescription and took a look at it, his face immediately turned bad.

The prescription contains herbs such as "Schizonepeta, Aconitum, Astragalus, Codonopsis..." that can replenish qi, restore yang and stop bleeding.

There was nothing wrong with the first few herbs, and his eyes fell directly on the last one, Codonopsis pilosula.

"How could this be? Why use Codonopsis instead of Ginseng?"

Although both have the effect of replenishing qi and promoting salivation, for people who are dying, ginseng is undoubtedly the first choice for replenishing vital energy, and the strength of codonopsis is far from enough.

I'm afraid the person won't last long after using this prescription. Could it be that I wrote it wrong?

Lu Ziqing returned with the prescription and asked, "Master Li, there is something I don't understand. I would like to ask you a question."

Li Limu was concentrating on writing the pulse case, dipping his brush into the thick ink in the inkstone.

"You said."

"Lady Mei is suffering from blood deficiency and qi loss and is on the verge of death. Ginseng should be used to save her. Why... you are using Codonopsis pilosula?" Lu Ziqing asked him carefully.

"Even though this prescription contains several herbs that restore yang and replenish qi, such as aconite and astragalus, without ginseng as the main ingredient, the efficacy of this prescription will be greatly reduced. If the patient is not so weak, this prescription will be completely sufficient, but..."

"I have been practicing medicine for decades, so I might not know what medicine to use?" Li Limu interrupted him impatiently.

"You don't need to ask any more questions. Just follow this prescription and get the medicine."

"But..."

"I'll go if you're told to. What's the point of that?" Li Limu put down his brush and stood up. "Come to the Imperial Hospital. You just need to do your job as ordered."

By chance, Judge Gou passed by and saw it.

"What are you two doing here if you're not working?"

Li Limu said, "Your Excellency, please ask him. I'm going to get busy now."

Judge Gou called Lu Ziqing to a corner and asked, "What's going on?"

Lu Ziqing said, "I just don't understand why this prescription doesn't use ginseng, but uses codonopsis as a second choice."

Judge Gou said sternly, "You're new here, so it's normal that you don't know a lot of things. Ginseng is a low-yield commodity with a high price. Such an expensive herb isn't something that just anyone can use."

Lu Ziqing: “…”

Anyone?

Isn’t Concubine Mei the emperor’s concubine?

A concubine was dying, how could they not even take out a ginseng to save her life?

"But Lady Mei is so seriously ill, she will probably die without ginseng."

Judge Gou gave him a meaningful look and turned to the window again.

"Everyone in this world has their own destiny. If you go against the will of heaven, you will only bring disaster upon yourself."

"In this palace, we at the Imperial Hospital can only do our best to protect those who are most important. As for those who are insignificant, we cannot protect them one by one. If you want to stay safe and sound in the palace, you must first learn the ways to survive here."

Lu Ziqing understood the meaning behind these words, but was a little confused. He asked in return, "Aren't doctors supposed to save the dying and the wounded? A doctor's heart is like a parent's."

Judge Gou snorted, "Except for the palace servants, all those who enter the palace to work are officials. From ancient times to the present, officials have their own rules. This has never changed. Well, go and do your job."

Lu Ziqing felt a pity when looking at Fang Zi. Isn't this the thinking of the powerful?

It is not surprising that in the eyes of these people, human life is nothing compared to interests.

He just didn't expect that the Imperial Medical Bureau, as the top medical institution in the world, would be so profit-driven and treat human life as worthless, which shattered his self-righteous fantasy.

After Lu Ziqing got the medicine, he suddenly thought of the two people who were doing hard labor in the imperial pharmacy.

He went around to the pharmacy, quietly hid at the door, and peeked inside.

It was extremely spacious inside, with five or six rows of wooden racks placed against a corner of the wall, with eight seats in each row.

Every three pharmacists were hanging on the wooden frame with their bare hands, sweating profusely, and pedaling hard on the grinding trough. There were also several rows of people using medicine knives.

The two extra-long wooden tables in the center were filled with dozens of medicine jars, with hot steam gushing out. Workers screening medicines were also working non-stop around the edge.

Pots, pans, choppers, and grinders were making a clanging noise, and no one was talking.

Lu Ziqing looked around twice and finally saw the two familiar figures sitting in the corner.