Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 42: Cheating
"I have no other choice but to do this. Please do me a favor, sir."

As Yan Maoqing spoke with a pained expression, he secretly tugged at the physician's hand, and a small piece of silver, weighing about an ounce, quietly fell into the physician's hand.

The heavy, cool touch invigorated the physician, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes. He stepped aside and said:

"Go ahead, the first room on the right is the clerk's office. Whether it can be done or not is not up to me."

Then, Yan Maoqing entered the classic "passing the buck" mode.

Clerk: "I'm sorry, I only handle documents and personnel matters, and I can't verify the injuries. Why don't you go and ask the imperial physician on duty?"

The imperial physician said, "Although I can examine the injuries, this matter involves the Hanlin Academy, and my opinion alone is probably not enough. Why don't you go and ask the Right Vice Minister first?"

The right judge ruled: "I cannot make a decision without the consent of the left judge. If he agrees, then I agree."

Left Judge: "Is that what the Right Judge said? I have no objection to this... but you'll probably have to go to the North Hall and ask, just say that the Right Judge sent you."

"..."

Yan Maoqing never expected that after all this back and forth, he would end up in the department of the Imperial Medical Academy.

This is already the highest-ranking official in the entire Imperial Medical Academy!
However, this incident also shows that this head of the Imperial Medical Academy does not actually have much prestige in the Imperial Medical Academy, and may even be in a somewhat aggrieved situation, otherwise who would dare to pass the buck to him?

Upon closer examination, this situation seems to make sense.

The Imperial Medical Academy is different from the officialdom. Most of the imperial physicians here are from families that have inherited their medical skills. Over the years, they have developed a complex network of connections. In many cases, it is no longer a matter of official rank, but rather who has the stronger backing.

In this environment, being the head of the academy is naturally not an easy job; sometimes it's even worse than being an animal...

What Yan Maoqing never expected was...

The abbot actually made him take off his pants, personally examined his injuries, and then looked at him with a look of surprise and doubt:

Are you sure this is a fall injury?

"If I were to say that this was ordered by the Emperor, would you believe me, Shangguan?"

Yan Maoqing laughed awkwardly.

The abbot looked at him with surprise:
"So, His Majesty knows about this?"

“Of course I know, so…”

Yan Maoqing felt that at this moment, they should continue to use the momentum of stepping on the right foot with the left foot.

To his surprise, the academy director immediately interrupted him, as if afraid of hearing something he shouldn't, and shook his head, saying:

"No need for further explanation! I will write down the symptoms. Please wait a moment."

Thus, after several twists and turns, Yan Maoqing finally obtained a medical certificate that, while currently meaningless to him, would have a profound impact on his subsequent plans.

The key point is actually the signature of the imperial physician on the medical certificate. He finally figured out who he should ask for a medical certificate when he claimed to be retiring due to illness.

—Xu Shen

Upon seeing this name, Yan Maoqing felt even more that the current state of the Imperial Medical Academy was reasonable.

This person was the imperial physician who, not long after, risked his life to administer medicine and pull Emperor Jiajing back from the brink of death during the "Renyin Palace Coup."

According to historical records, at that time, all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Academy were afraid of being punished, and none of them dared to step forward to administer the medicine. In the end, after much back and forth, the person who was forcibly pushed forward to take responsibility was Xu Shen.

He suffered severe shock during this incident, quickly fell seriously ill, and died soon after…

As the top leader, being forced to take the blame and shoulder the responsibility makes him a truly tragic and unfortunate figure in officialdom.

……

At the Duke of Yi's residence. "What did you say... Sizzle! Sizzle! Oh my god, it's scalding hot!!!"

Guo Xun, who was studying the art of tea, was so shocked by the news that he couldn't hold onto his valuable blue and white porcelain teapot.

With a "crack," the teapot broke and boiling water splashed all over his crotch.

After another period of chaos and confusion...

Guo Xun didn't bother to carefully check for burns, nor even wait for the maids to help him change his clothes. He immediately dragged the servant who had come to report the news to him and interrogated him eye to eye, teeth clenched:
"Is this something you heard secondhand, or did you witness it with your own eyes?!"

"Replying to Your Majesty, it was my own eyes that witnessed it, and there is absolutely no falsehood in it."

The servant shrank his neck and said,
"Ever since I received my master's orders two days ago, I have been secretly keeping an eye on Manager Liu's house, not even daring to blink when he urinates."

"After watching for so long, I finally saw an official sedan chair enter the alley and take Yan Maoqing away from the house."

"So I quickly and secretly followed behind, and watched helplessly as Yan Maoqing was carried into the West Garden."

"After about an hour, I watched helplessly as Yan Mao was carried out of the West Garden by several Imperial Guards."

"At that time, his hair was disheveled and his clothes were in disarray. He struggled to get up from the ground, grimacing, and his legs were unsteady. He must have been beaten inside."

"Seeing this, I dared not delay even for a moment, and immediately ran back to the manor to report to my master..."

Upon hearing this, Guo Xun turned ashen-faced and slumped back into his armchair.
"It's all over... It's all fucking over!"

"Your father should never have expected this scoundrel to succeed in the first place!"

"This is really bad. Your father is probably going to be ruined by this scoundrel. It's as if the heavens are against you..."

Guo Xun felt that only four words could describe his current mood.
—I wanted to cry but couldn't!
He had lived most of his life and had never seen anyone more despicable than Yan Maoqing. Even Duan Chaoyong, who was now imprisoned, was many times better than Yan Maoqing.

Although he had taken precautions this time, he deliberately distanced himself from Yan Maoqing in the memorial presented with the book.

This was to prevent Yan Maoqing from being a scoundrel like Duan Chaoyong, so that he could avoid being accused of deceiving the emperor and only gain credit for presenting the book.

But who could have imagined that Yan Maoqing could be so deceitful, not even lasting a single exchange?

In this case, whether there is any suspicion of deceiving the emperor is still another matter, but the merit of presenting the book is definitely out of the question, and it would be a blessing if the emperor would not be angered.

Without the merit of donating the book, what can he use to make amends?

This must be what they call "when it rains, it pours"?
"Hehehe, with such a troublemaker around, this old man's life is probably over..."

"I only hope that His Majesty will remember the founding merits of the Guo family's ancestors and allow the Guo family's descendants to inherit the title of Marquis of Wuding. That would already be an immense favor. How could the Duke of Yi dare to ask for more..."

……

Yanfu.

"Dad, it's done! We've done it!"

Yan Shifan rushed home excitedly, pushed open the study door, and barged in.

Yan Song was writing a prayer for the Emperor's upcoming religious ceremony next month when this sudden shock startled his hand, causing him to accidentally write the character "甲" (jia) as "电" (dian).

"Get out!"

Yan Song instantly flew into a rage, as if he had just woken up and was in a fit of rage. He grabbed the ruined poem, crumpled it into a ball, and smashed it down along with the writing brush.
"Did I ever say that no one should disturb me when I'm writing the petition?"

"No matter how big the matter is, nothing is more important than the Emperor's petition. It is the foundation for our survival in the court!"

(End of this chapter)