Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

Pingding Prefecture.

Near the Orangutan Beach, the Ming army camp.

"We, your humble servants, greet Your Excellency the Governor-General and the Marquis of Wuding."

Pan Bingyi, Ding Xian, and Dong Zhou entered the central command tent and greeted Zhai Peng, who was seated in the main seat, and Guo Shoulu, who was seated below him.

Since the bandit leader Zhang Yin led the Taiyuan Left Guard army to arrive, the three commanders have retreated their troops to the military camp built on three small hills, closed the gates and held their ground, and refused to lead their troops into battle.

Taiyuan Left Guard easily lifted the siege of Heimu Cliff, but in a short time, they were unable to take down the three fortified Ming army camps.

It's not that we can't conquer it by force, but that the cost is too high and not worth it.

After all, the Maitreya sect rebels had limited forces. Rather than suffering heavy casualties while trying to gnaw at a tortoise shell, it would be better to allocate some of their forces to surround the three Ming army camps.

Ensuring smooth transportation and transporting as much food, coal, and other supplies as possible to Blackwood Cliff before the imperial army arrives to quell the rebellion is Zhang Yin's top priority.

Pan Bingyi and his men held out in the camp for almost a month before Zhai Peng's army finally arrived to quell the rebellion.

In addition to the 50,000 troops drawn from Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi, there was also a 3,000-strong Beijing garrison.

The commander of this Beijing garrison was Guo Shoulu, the seventh Marquis of Wuding, who had just inherited the title.

As soon as the army that was suppressing the rebellion entered Pingding Prefecture, the Taiyuan Left Guard rebels, who had been besieging three Ming army camps, lifted the siege and retreated to Blackwood Cliff.

More than 50,000 people were not comparable to the less than 5,000 people before. The Ming army quickly surrounded the entire Blackwood Cliff. Not only the only road down the mountain, but also the three cliffs that were hundreds of meters high, were surrounded by a large number of Ming soldiers.

The path leading down and down the back mountain via rope ladders on Blackwood Cliff at night has also been completely blocked.

"In your battles against the cult rebels these past few days, have you seen them use any weapons that our troops don't possess?"

After Pan Bingyi and the other two recounted their battles with the cult bandits to Zhai Peng, Guo Shoulu asked a question.

"Reporting to Marquis Wuding."

Ding Xian thought for a moment.

"The weapons used by the cult bandits were mostly standard weapons from the Ming Dynasty's garrisons, and even their armor was the same; only the flags were different."

Speaking of weapons that the government troops don't have, I recently came across one.

I observed it from the stockade wall. It was a type of musket, but it was different from the handguns and three-barreled guns used by the government troops. The barrel was very long, and the gunner held it with both hands and fired it from the shoulder.

Moreover, I saw neither the gunner spare a hand to light the gun, nor did I see anyone else lighting the gun for them.

I believe that this type of musket may have some kind of ignition device, so it does not need to be lit with an open flame.

"Could it be that a lit match cord was caught in the trigger mechanism of the musket, and when the trigger was pulled, the match cord fell and ignited the fuse?"

Guo Shoulu thought for a moment and then asked.

In the past two years, when I visited His Highness Prince Ying in the Southern Palace, His Highness was on several occasions practicing martial arts, sometimes swordsmanship, and sometimes archery.

But on one occasion, it was fired using a type of musket.

The musket in His Highness's hand looks very similar to the one Ding Xian described.

The only difference was that a slowly burning fuse was attached to the mechanism and used to ignite the ignition powder in the ignition pool.

His Highness once said that it was brought to the Ming Dynasty from overseas by the Portuguese.

No, it's not.

Ding Xian shook his head.

"At night, the rebels would also use these muskets to attack the soldiers patrolling the walls of the camp."

Only when the musket fires can you see a flash of light; before that, you can't see a single spark.

The cult bandits used these muskets in nighttime attacks, making them virtually impossible to defend against.

"In that case, there must be some mechanism on this kind of musket that can ignite the gunpowder without an open flame."

Guo Shoulu thought for a moment, then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhai Peng and said,

"Your Excellency, tomorrow we might as well order a strong attack on the mountain stronghold and test the mettle of these religious bandits."

"I want to see for myself what these firearms that don't need to be lit are all about!"

. . .

West Garden, Taiye Pond, Fishing Platform.

"Your Highness, today Chen Furong asked me to take her pulse, saying that it has been two months since her last period."

Xu Kun walked up to Lu Chen, who was fishing, and whispered the news to him.

"As Your Highness instructed, I told her that she was more than a month pregnant and that the conception occurred approximately within half a month before Your Majesty's assassination attempt."

Chen Furong was overjoyed and immediately reported the matter to the Empress.

The Empress summoned the eunuchs from the Imperial Archives and the female officials in charge of the Imperial Records, who recorded the events in the "Record of Imperial Favors" and the "Imperial History."

"What was the true result of Dr. Xu's pulse diagnosis?"

Lu Chen stared at the lake without turning around and asked softly.

Chen Furong's inquiry today was somewhat unexpected by Lu Chen, as more than forty days have passed since the palace coup.

A normal woman should have had her period by now, but this woman was very cautious and delayed for more than half a month before going to see the imperial physician to check her pulse.

As for which imperial physician to find, it was naturally Xu Kun, who, like her, guarded the unconscious emperor every day.

Lu Chen had already thought of this and had secretly instructed Xu Kun.

If Chen Furong comes to him for a pulse diagnosis because her period is delayed, regardless of the diagnosis, he must tell her that she is pregnant and that she conceived within half a month before the palace crisis.

The reason for not being more precise is that the highest level of accuracy that traditional Chinese medicine can achieve in diagnosing pregnancy is measured in ten-day intervals.

"Your Highness, based on my many years of medical experience, Chen Furong should not be pregnant."

Xu Kun replied in a low voice.

"Judging from her pulse, it does seem like she is pregnant."

Chen Furong is not yet thirty years old, has always been in good health, and her period is always on time.

If a woman suddenly misses her period for two months, any doctor's first reaction would be that she is pregnant.

This woman also reported that His Majesty had slept with her the night before the palace coup, and the timing roughly matches up.

Of course, if a woman suddenly misses her period for two months, it doesn't necessarily mean she's pregnant.

It can also be caused by deficiency of both qi and blood, blood depletion and amenorrhea, qi stagnation and blood stasis, cold coagulation and blood stasis, phlegm and dampness obstruction, heat accumulation and blood depletion, etc.

However, these symptoms can all be diagnosed from the pulse, which may be weak, thready and weak, or deep and wiry with a rough pulse.

Chen Furong's pulse was continuous when pressed at the cun position, and it was smooth, large, and even, which was definitely not indicative of her suffering from these ailments.

Logically speaking, either she is truly pregnant, or she is lying about not having her period and has actually had it.

If Your Highness hadn't given prior instructions and I hadn't been more cautious, I might have been misdiagnosed as pregnant.

Upon careful examination, this woman's pulse appears to be that of a healthy woman who is not pregnant.

My period hasn't come for two months. Perhaps I've used some special method, or maybe I'm just lying.

Lu Chen nodded slightly.

It seems that the minimally invasive surgery I secretly performed on this woman a month ago using my telekinesis has worked.

Didn't she claim that she had been favored by the emperor?

Let her have her wish and "become" the dragon's child!

As for the fact that her belly remained unchanged over time, she, as an undercover agent of the Maitreya Cult, would surely have a way to conceal it.

If you really can't hide it anymore, you can always stage an accident yourself.