Ink Burns

Chapter 252 Taking a pulse?
Outside the Qianyuan Hall, there are twenty-two corridors on the east and west sides. The east side is usually the Veritable Records Office, the Imperial Genealogy Office, and the Daily Records Office, while the west side is the Office for Investigating Imperial Edicts and the Imperial Decree Office. Now, people are standing inside and outside, all wearing purple-red official robes, some bowing and some standing upright.

The six ministers and vice ministers, the ministers, the grand master of the imperial court, the minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the minister of the Court of Judicial Review, the prefect of the capital, the first-class imperial guards, the wing commanders of the firearms battalion, the wing commanders of the elite battalion, the vanguard commanders, the guard commanders, the cavalry commanders, and the three dukes and three ministers, a total of more than fifty people, appeared in the Qian Yuan Hall of the Forbidden City outside the grand court ceremony.

A few acquaintances huddled together, whispering and talking in hushed tones. When a palace attendant carrying a medical tray covered with a white veil passed by, they tacitly fell silent.

Waiting in the corridor was the medical clinic assembled by the Inner Palace Supervisors. After the retirement of the old doctors such as Liu Yizheng and Sun Yibu, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy was replaced by an unknown middle-aged doctor surnamed Lin. He had no family learning and was honest and simple. His only advantage was that he had become the oldest "elder" in the Imperial Medical Academy by enduring hardship. Relying on his "seniority", he inexplicably became the person in charge of the Imperial Medical Academy.

He is now temporarily appointed as the head of the pulse diagnosis corridor. Previously, he assisted the eunuchs in arranging pulse diagnosis for court officials of the seventh to fourth ranks.

Doctor Lin, his back hunched, hurried forward, followed by a young doctor with a pale face and dark eyebrows. The young doctor had his hair tied up, wore a drab gray uniform of a servant in the Imperial Medical Academy, and his two round glasses darted around, sparkling as if they had been washed by a clear spring.

"China has been enlightened for three thousand years. I have carefully counted and reviewed everything. This is the first time in three thousand years that I have personally examined the pulse of an official in the Qian Yuan Hall." An old minister with a long white beard bowed in the corner. He was dressed as a civil official, wearing a purple robe, and the crane on his chest was lifelike, spreading its wings and chasing the sun.

The veteran official, Shen Lingshan, was a first-rank honorary title of Grand Master of the Palace. He was a trusted confidant of Emperor Zhaode of the previous dynasty. He was a skilled writer who catered to Emperor Zhaode's tastes and rose through the ranks rapidly. However, in recent years, he was sent to lead the scholars in compiling history, which led to his being sidelined.

Shen Lingshan flicked his hand, his wide sleeve sweeping aside, striking Lin Yi's back as he couldn't straighten up: "Since ancient times, emperors who received the mandate of heaven and established their dynasties all wished to pass it down for ten thousand generations, leaving plans for their descendants. How could a ruler who reigns idly by disgraces a scholar? How could he trust, value, or appoint him? Your contempt for your officials betrays your wisdom and is worthy of the punishment of King Tang of Yin."

Shen Lingshan writes very well; his writing is always a masterpiece.

Everyone was waiting for him to unleash his literary genius, but the young doctor behind Physician Lin scratched his head, frowned, and said in confusion, "Something's not right."

Shen Lingshan probably didn't expect anyone to dare to interrupt. He stared at the young doctor with his mouth agape and his mustache twitching.

"In the previous dynasty, because the officials were unwilling to get up too early to attend court in winter, they would take sick leave, sometimes for a hundred days at a time. Because there were so many of them, Emperor Wenzong sent doctors from the Imperial Medical Academy to 'seek medical help' to verify their status. The book says that at that time, doctors would go door-to-door to check the pulses of patients!"

The young doctor blinked, his round eyes revealing a frank and shrewd light: "According to you, taking your pulse would be an insult! Otherwise, let's establish an ironclad rule that from now on, no official in the court may seek medical treatment from the Imperial Hospital, otherwise it will be an insult! A scholar who is insulted will surely bleed on the spot to uphold his integrity!"

What? You're not allowed to see a doctor at the Imperial Hospital even if you're sick?

That's fucking amazing!

What?! This young imperial physician is still forcing Shen Lingshan to commit suicide to prove his integrity?!

Damn it, they're from the Great Wei, not the Japanese. They don't just commit suicide over the slightest disagreement!
"How dare you!" Because the person taking his pulse today was a high-ranking official of the third rank or above, to show respect, Eunuch Wu personally came over with his whisk.

When Eunuch Wu saw the young doctor behind Physician Lin, his face turned purple: "Can anyone tell him what this ancestor is doing here? How long has he been in the palace? How did he get into such an important occasion?"

He might not have been able to protect anyone else.

But if this ancestor were to perish, first Xue Xiao would have torn him apart, and secondly, Emperor Yongping, disguised as the Grand Eunuch, would also have to kill him.

"Lord Shen always writes whenever inspiration strikes! You interrupted him and disrupted his elegant mood for composing his poem—according to the rules of the Imperial Medical Academy, you will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane after you finish your task!"

Wu Dajian took the initiative, then raised his whisk, bowed and smiled, "Recently, the Imperial Hospital has been overcrowded with staff. The junior physicians are new to the palace and don't know much. Please don't blame them, sirs."

Wu Dajian was in charge of the Inner Palace Bureau, and the Imperial Medical Academy was under its jurisdiction. Although Wu Dajian rarely endorsed anyone, he still had to be given face. Apart from Shen Zishan, who was still grumbling and dissatisfied, everyone else was assigned to receive treatment in the corridor according to the roster.

Those who entered first were the three ministers and the junior ministers, a total of nine people.

Second Grand Secretary Yuan Wenying's face turned deathly pale. He swallowed hard and whispered to the armored Marquis of Wuding and Vanguard Commander Cui Bainian beside him, "Of the fifty-seven officials of the third rank and above, nineteen have been afflicted with the 'Tethering Injection.' The 300 people sent out of the palace on the surface were merely to cover up the whereabouts of the eighty-seven afflicted with the 'Tethering Injection'—it is said that anyone afflicted with the 'Tethering Injection' in the Qian Yuan Hall, Tai He Hall, and Da Ji Hall will be executed on the spot, and any female officials or eunuchs of the fourth rank and above in the Six Departments who have been afflicted with the 'Tethering Injection' will be executed in the autumn, while those below the fourth rank will be imprisoned in the alleys along the palace walls."

Yuan Wenying, like a thief, kept her head down and looked around, lowering her voice, her tone dry and strained like a loofah that had been squeezed dry, urgently saying, "The emperor has exonerated the Su family, shut down the Guan'anzhai, and imprisoned twenty-seven people from Suzhou and Songjiang prefectures in Jiangnan. Han Chengrang has been exiled to Lingnan—he's trying to wipe out 'Qingfeng'!"

No doubt about it!
Today, a high-ranking official of the third rank has been diagnosed with "Qianji Yin". If even one of them loosens his grip, it will be like pulling up a radish and bringing out the mud, revealing "Qingfeng". "Qingfeng" will inevitably be branded with the "ten evils" of "plotting to endanger the country"!
"Didn't His Highness say he would find a way?" Yuan Wenying said urgently, her voice tinged with a hint of sobbing.

Cui Bainian, heavily armored and imposing like a mountain, placed his hand on the empty scabbard: "She's trying to find a way? If Emperor Zhaode were in power, she might be of some use—but doesn't she know who's in charge now?"

"—Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Congratulations on your arrival at the Eleventh Corridor!" Eunuch Wu bowed to greet him.

The servant doctor behind Physician Lin suddenly froze, then looked up in disbelief at the disappearing figure.

"Then what do we do?" Yuan Wenying's hands trembled as he tucked them into his sleeves: The Cui family had a fortune, and Jing'an was a member of the imperial clan; they both had life-saving treasures. He, on the other hand, only had the bitterness of his arduous studies!

From the seventh corridor, a series of loud crashing sounds erupted, followed by angry shouts: "Get the hell out of here! What 'guiding mechanism'! If the sage wants to exclude dissidents, he should do it openly! I can't bear this fabricated charge, and I don't want to bear it!"

Yuan Wenying nearly trembled: "It's Shi Li, the Right Battalion Commander of the Xishan Camp! He took the 'Traction Technique' six years ago!"

It could have been diagnosed six years ago!

What is he using to hide?!
Cui Bainian lifted his eyelids, looked at the bamboo curtain that had been lowered, pursed his lips tightly, and then turned his gaze to the water clock in the corner.

As the water clock dripped sand and gravel, a sudden burst of rapid hoofbeats echoed outside the Qianyuan Hall!
Cui Bainian slowly raised his head and let out a long breath.

Within the Forbidden City, there is only one situation in which one may ride at full speed: when reporting a battle report from a bannerman.

The carriage bearers, covered in dust, dismounted and jogged with their heads down to the location deep within the corridors where the imperial edict had been received.

The bannermen must have been riding at full speed for dozens of days. When they dismounted, their knees buckled and they almost fell to their knees. They managed to prop themselves up with one hand, wiped their faces with their palms, and then dusted off the grayish-yellow dirt.

"Report! Report! Report!"

The flag bearer raised the battle report, sealed with grease, his voice hoarse and weak: "Tatars are attacking Ningwu Pass and Xinzhou! Tatars are attacking Ningwu Pass and Xinzhou! Tatars are attacking Ningwu Pass and Xinzhou!"

The officials' eyes widened in fear!
There had been no battle between Shanhaiguan Pass and the Tatars for nearly ten years. Why would the Tatars launch a surprise attack at this moment?
Northern Frontier Army outside Shanhaiguan Pass.
All eyes turned to Marquis Cui Bainian of Wuding.

Cui Bainian, his hand resting on the empty scabbard, frowned as he rose, straightened his posture, and turned to Eunuch Wu with a dark and unfathomable gaze: "Eunuch Wu, now that the Tatars are invading, are we—still here, taking this pulse?"