Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

On duty at the Imperial Hospital.

"Quickly! His Highness Prince Ying has been assassinated and has suffered a knife wound to the abdomen."

Guo Shoulu rushed into the Imperial Hospital's duty room.

"Please, Imperial Censor Xu, proceed to the Marquis of Wuding's residence immediately!"

"It was actually His Highness the Prince of Ying who was assassinated!"

Xu Shen, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, was greatly alarmed.

From daytime onwards, Xu Kun had been restless, feeling that something big was about to happen.

Because of this, he simply stayed overnight in the Imperial Hospital's rest room.

Just after midnight, Xu Kun felt a sudden pang of anxiety, got dressed, and went to the Imperial Hospital's duty room.

Less than half an hour later, this big event happened.

"Prepare the horses, and bring all the medicines and instruments for treating external injuries!"

Xu Kun gave the order loudly.

"An abdominal injury is no small matter. Arriving as soon as possible offers a better chance of survival; there's absolutely no time to lose!"

. . .

At the same time, in Kunning Palace.

"Your Majesty, this servant has led men to search in the direction of Shenwu Gate."

Granny Wei hurriedly walked up to Empress Fang.

"There was absolutely no sign of Chen Furong."

"Did Chen Furong really come from Xiyuan with you?"

Empress Fang turned to look at Zhang Jinlian.

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

Before today, she never said she would come to report to me!

"How dare this servant deceive Her Majesty the Empress!"

Zhang Jinlian kowtowed repeatedly.

"Aunt Chen really came with me. She tripped and twisted her ankle just after we passed the Shenwu Gate."

Only then did she send her servant to Kunning Palace to report to the Empress. She said she would rest for a while and come over herself once she had recovered.

"This servant doesn't know why Granny Wei can't find her."

"Your Majesty, that Chen Furong is probably up to something!"

Granny Wei said in a low voice,

"Could it be that she guessed what the Empress was planning to do?"

This woman is cunning and scheming. Could she have taken advantage of the travel token bestowed upon her by the Empress to escape from the palace?

"Hmph, that's quite possible!"

Empress Fang snorted coldly.

"She figured that I was busy with important matters and wouldn't have time to pay attention to her for the time being, so this was a good opportunity to escape in the chaos."

Forget it, I really can't let her delay my important business!

"Jinlian, when you left Renshou Palace, was the Emperor truly dead?"

"Your Majesty."

Zhang Jinlian quickly replied.

Yang Yuxiang took a piece of fine floral rope from the ceremonial guard and made a rope loop, with Su Chuanyao and Yang Jinying each holding one end.

Unfortunately, the noose was tied in a knot that couldn't be tightened, so they could only pull back with all their might.

Later, Yao Shucui forcefully choked him from the front, while Liu Miaolian, Chen Juhua, Guan Meixiu, and Wang Huaixiang held down his limbs, and the others pulled out their hairpins and stabbed him in the chest and abdomen.

Aunt Chen had secretly instructed Yang Jinying that those wooden hairpins were sharpened beforehand and hardened by fire, making them very sharp.

He had at least a dozen holes pierced in his chest and abdomen, and bled a lot.

Before I secretly ran out to deliver the news, I checked the emperor's breath with my hand, and he was indeed dead.

Who are the people currently inside Renshou Palace?

Granny Wei stepped forward and asked,

"Is Consort Duan, née Cao, currently in the palace?"

"Consort Wang Ning falsely conveyed an imperial edict beforehand, sending all the eunuchs of Renshou Palace outside the palace."

Zhang Jinlian continued.

"In the main hall and the rear hall where the emperor sleeps, there are only Consort Wang and the sixteen of us palace maids; there are no outsiders."

Consort Cao and several other palace maids who had been summoned by the emperor that evening were resting in a side hall, which was quite far away, so they shouldn't have been able to hear the commotion in the main hall.

"It would be good if that vixen Cao stayed in Renshou Palace!"

Empress Fang sneered.

"Jinlian, after you come with me to Renshou Palace to capture Consort Wang Ning and Yang Jinying, you must testify in front of the eunuchs and guards present that Cao Shi and Consort Wang Ning were the masterminds behind the regicide!"

You heard those two women discussing this with your own ears!

"Yes, Your Majesty the Empress."

Zhang Jinlian bowed down again.

"Your Majesty, the imperial palanquin is ready."

Granny Wei whispered,

"We can now proceed to Renshou Palace to clean up the mess."

. . .

West Garden.

"Go and ask what's going on up ahead?"

As soon as Empress Fang's imperial palanquin arrived outside Renshou Palace, she found that the entire palace was already surrounded by the Tengxiang Four Guards.

Soon, Gao Zhong, a eunuch from the Imperial Horse Administration, arrived before the imperial carriage with a woman dressed as a high-ranking palace maid.

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to bring men from the Imperial Stables to rescue you. Consort Wang and fifteen palace maids have all surrendered."

Before Gao Zhong could act, Chen Furong knelt before Empress Fang, raising the token in her hand.

"We urge Your Majesty to reclaim this travel permit."

"Chen...Furong!...Good! Well done!"

This was the first time Empress Fang had seen Chen Furong in person. She stared at her intently for several seconds before finally speaking.

"Come with me, let's enter Renshou Palace!"

After speaking, Empress Fang turned to look at Gao Zhong.

"Gao Zhong, how is His Majesty's condition now?"

"Your Majesty the Empress."

Gao Zhong quickly replied,

"His Majesty has been suffocating for a long time and his breath has stopped, but there is still a faint pulse."

"This servant has already sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to bring all the imperial physicians on duty today."

"Hurry, we have to be quick!"

Empress Fang's body trembled slightly.

"I will go to the rear hall to see His Majesty first."

. . .

The Marquis of Wuding's residence.

"Imperial Physician Xu, what is the extent of my injuries?"

Lu Chen sat on the couch and asked Xu Kun,

"Can this sword be taken out now?"

"May the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty bless Your Highness with boundless good fortune."

Xu Kun wiped the sweat from his forehead, but his expression wasn't tense.

"I just took Your Highness's pulse. Your Highness's pulse is normal and your blood and energy are abundant. You do not look like you are seriously injured at all."

Judging from the sword wound on Your Highness's abdomen, the sword was pierced in the area of ​​the liver and spleen. If the liver had truly been damaged, Your Highness's pulse would not be like this.

Based on my decades of experience as a doctor, there is only one possibility.

That means the sword's edge perfectly avoided all vital organs without damaging any internal organs.

If it were even slightly different, it would never be like this now.

"In that case, shall we take out this sword now?"

Lu Chen looked at the white-haired Imperial Medical Academy Director with great interest.

According to Guo Shoulu, Xu Kun was originally just an unknown physician in the Imperial Medical Academy, not even a royal physician.

In the first year of the Jiajing reign, this man was highly regarded after treating the newly enthroned Jiajing Emperor and was promoted to imperial physician.

He later rose through the ranks to become the head of the Imperial Medical Academy and then the director of the Imperial Medical Academy.

The head of the Imperial Medical Academy was the chief official of the Imperial Medical Academy, holding the rank of fifth grade. As an imperial physician, he had reached the limit of promotion in his position.

Since the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign, the emperor has continued to add honorary titles to him, and now Xu Kun even holds the honorary title of Minister of Works, a second-rank official.

He was the highest-ranking physician among all the medical officials in the Ming Dynasty.

Even the title of Minister of Works was not the highest official position held by this Physician Xu.

After the Renyin Palace Coup, he was further granted the titles of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and Minister of Rites.

When Emperor Jiajing was strangled by a palace maid and fell into a coma, all the imperial physicians were afraid of taking responsibility and dared not prescribe medicine. Only Xu Kun risked his life to use several strong medicines and pulled the emperor back from the brink of death.

This was a meritorious act of saving the emperor, so it was only natural that the Jiajing Emperor would bestow upon him a generous reward.