Chapter 45: Malevolence

Chapter 45: Malevolence

Jiang Hui's illness this time lasted a good half a month without improvement.

Following the Dowager Empress to Proluo Temple, many physically frail consorts also felt unwell, but none reacted as severely as the Noble Consort.

Perhaps worried about Min Jieyu's situation, by mid-July, even the Dowager Empress, usually in robust health, fell ill. She suffered from headaches, weakness, night sweats, and frequent nightmares, prompting all the consorts to attend to her at Cining Palace.

However, the Dowager Empress's illness was peculiar; despite numerous prescriptions, there was no improvement, and not a single physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau could diagnose her condition accurately.

Among the entire Imperial Medical Bureau, the best in medical skill was not the head or the deputies, but Li Deqing, the Emperor's personal physician.

At that moment, under the Emperor's heavy gaze, Li Deqing knelt on the glossy tiles of Cining Palace, pleading, "Your Majesty, the Dowager Empress has a weak and thin pulse, indicating a condition of excessive yang and deficient yin. Accompanied by her nightmares and anxiety, she should be treated with Zhuli Soup and supplemented with Fushen Powder..."

He was abruptly interrupted by the Emperor's angry retort.

"Zhuli Soup, Fushen Powder... I recall that both the head and deputy of the Bureau prescribed this too. My mother has been taking it for days with no improvement. Does Imperial Physician Li have no other methods?"

Li Deqing bowed deeply, "Your Majesty, besides this, one could also take Ox Marrow Pills to replenish the deficiency. However, as for heart sickness, it requires medicine for the heart. The Dowager Empress might be troubled by worries that she cannot dispel. I am powerless in this regard."

"Heart sickness?" Xiao Sheng stared at Li Deqing's trembling official hat, then glanced at the circle of kneeling physicians outside, and waved his hand, "Imperial Physician Li, go and prepare the prescription. The rest of you, leave as well."

"Yes." Imperial Physician Li, relieved, hurriedly led the group of physicians out of the main hall.

The Dowager Empress, leaning on her bed, comforted her son, "Sheng'er, don't worry about me. It's just the summer heat and memories of your prematurely deceased brother and sister."

She seemed lost in thought, "When Yeyi and A’ran were born, the sky was bathed in rosy light, illuminating half the heavens. Your father was overjoyed, proclaiming it an auspicious sign of dragon and phoenix... But I never expected..."

"Mother," Xiao Sheng sat by the bed, taking a fan from a maid to fan the Dowager Empress himself, "I am here with you. Don't think too much, just rest well."

The Dowager Empress, however, seemed not to hear him, murmuring, "... the master said their fortune was too great, overabundance leads to loss... indeed..."

"Mother?" Xiao Sheng said softly.

The Dowager Empress continued to murmur to herself.

"Is the Empress Dowager's medicine ready?" Xiao Sheng turned to ask Li Momo, who was standing by.

"It's ready, ready. I'll bring it right now," Li Momo hurriedly replied.

After a bowl of medicinal soup was administered, the Empress Dowager finally lay down on the bed and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Only then did Li Momo cautiously say, "Your Majesty, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate."

Li Momo, a palace maid who came with the Empress Dowager as part of her dowry, had watched Xiao Sheng grow up.

Xiao Sheng glanced at her and said succinctly, "Speak."

Kneeling on the ground, Li Momo said word by word, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager's illness, it seems like an illness, but it's more like being haunted. When the Second Prince and the Princess passed away, the Empress Dowager exhibited the same symptoms: confusion, mumbling to herself, night terrors with sweating, headaches and weakness, but no medical cause could be found..."

"Momo, what do you suggest we do in such a case?" Xiao Sheng, unphased by the mention of 'being haunted' – a taboo topic in the palace – calmly inquired.

Li Mammy bowed deeply, her eyes on the Emperor's dragon boots, calmly suggesting, "Initially, the late Emperor secretly summoned Master Hui'an from Pulo Temple to treat the Empress Dowager. Her Majesty recovered and has since been a devout Buddhist... Your Majesty, why not invite Master Hui'an to the palace for consultation?"

Inviting a master from the royal Pulo Temple for Buddhist rituals wasn’t taboo, but seeking spiritual intervention for alleged supernatural afflictions could invite censure from the imperial censors.

Emperor Xiao Sheng remained silent, his gaze shifting from the top of Li Mammy's head to the Empress Dowager's pale face, then to the Buddhist beads beside her bed, and finally back to Li Mammy, giving a faint nod, "Granted. You may handle this matter."

"Yes," Li Mammy bowed in response.

Master Hui'an's arrival in the palace was unobtrusive.

She first visited the Empress Dowager in Cining Palace, performing no elaborate rituals, just lighting incense, staying in the hall, and reciting scriptures for a day and night.

Indeed, the Empress Dowager's condition improved, no longer disturbed by nightmares.

Later, led by Sheng An and Li Mammy, Master Hui'an stood before the Emperor, stating calmly, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager's ailment isn't a disease but the work of a malevolent spirit. Simply removing this object from the palace will cure her without medicine."

Her words directly implied the cause to be a supernatural malevolence.

Xiao Sheng, enraged, asked sternly, "Does Master Hui'an realize what she is saying?"

Master Hui'an, advanced in years with visibly aged skin, had eyes both serene and sharp. She remained unmoved in the face of the Emperor's anger.

With her hands pressed together, she calmly said, "Amitabha. Every word I speak is true, Your Majesty. If you do not believe, then please allow me to take my leave."