Chapter 294: Diagnosing Royalty
Although the adults were surprised to learn that the youngest of all three siblings was the wisest of them, they did not pry. The Empress nodded to herself. It finally made sense why her first impression of this young child was fear. The way Zhao Anji looked at the world seemed as if she were looking at it from a distance and not truly a part of it. However, it made sense now that they knew she was a prophet-healer type of cultivator.
"We hear that you have come to help us with the night terrors," the Empress looked at the young child and placed a piece of fish in her bowl. "I was not expecting a young girl when Noble Consort Liu told me a reclusive sect expert was arriving. She did not reveal any other details, and I was half expecting an elderly sage."
Instead of taking offence, Anji giggled.
"Normally, my shifu would be taking charge of these things. However, she is needed back at the sect, so I’m here on her behalf to resolve the situation in secret. Please rest assured, Your Majesties. I’m more than qualified for the job. However, unlike my shifu, I cannot read the cosmic energy as well. Hence, I would like to request a physical inspection and physical contact to locate the source of the disruption. His Majesty’s energy flow seems to be weighed down by something, but I’m not sure what it is yet."
Hearing the ominous news, the Emperor’s hands shook. Even the Empress covered her mouth in a silent gasp and exchanged concerned glances with her husband. For years, they battled the unknown with only Noble Consort Liu keeping the most serious matters at bay. Although they did not know much about the cultivation world, they heard there was a complicated war that was affecting the mortal world, especially in the capital city. Noble Consort Liu joined them several decades ago to investigate, and they were informed about the kidnapping cases. Servants had also behaved strangely of late. Could the cultivators of the unorthodox faction be targeting the crown?
Sensing their fears starting to spiral, Anji quickly reassured them that it was unlikely to be a serious matter. Affecting the Emperor’s mind. However, his health was a different story.
"I was trained by Doctor He, a renowned physician, before his retirement. As long as the illness is not life-threatening, it can be treated. For now, it appears as if the Emperor suffers from stagnant qi that is not organic to the body. It’s an external influence that can be easily treated. However, as this has been going on for a long while, it would be good to identify the source. Seeing how the Empress is unaffected, it is likely in a place that the Emperor frequents alone."
Doctor He? For some reason, the name sounded very familiar. However, they could not place a finger on it. Anji’s explanation was backed by confidence, and while there were many things she could not divulge to mortals like them, her sincerity bought them over.
"I understand," the Emperor sighed. "You may have free access to the entire imperial palace. Please let Noble Consort Liu know where you would like to search under the pretext of giving her niece a grand tour. The nightmares and assassination attempts over the years might have made me wary, but there is no loss in being even more cautious. Shall we finish lunch before the check-up?"
Anji agreed. On the surface, she was taking the Emperor’s pulse. However, she was actually going to manipulate thin energy threads to help the Emperor’s energy move through the blocked channels.
"While I’m at it, would the Empress also like to be given a check-up? I understand that you have very competent imperial doctors. However, a secondary opinion would not hurt."
Indeed, a second opinion was always nice to have. The Empress smiled and bowed slightly.
"I’ll be in your care, young prophet. If it is not too much trouble for you, I’d like a physical examination after my royal husband."
Noble Consort Liu exchanged a questioning look with Mingshen, who only returned a smirk to her. Although they had been apart for a while now, he knew Anji’s medical skills had improved further. She helped establish the triage centre in the Mystical Qilin Sect and improved medical facilities. Not to mention, his impatient sister was already probing the royal couple with her controlled energy threads. It was very faint even for him to notice. Most cultivators would have a difficult time sensing Anji’s energy threads. If not for Mingshen’s trained sensitivity as an assassin and information guild master, he would not have noticed how she was diagnosing them either.
Unlike what Anji said, Mingshen was fairly certain the ’physical check-up’ was actually a treatment. Although not a full treatment, Anji was going to try reduce the symptoms and identify the type of sickness it was. Even if he were not medically trained, he could tell how the Emperor’s aura was off. The man looked as if he had one foot in the grave. His mind was deeply wounded by the trauma of repeated assassination attempts, even with Noble Consort Liu acting as his bodyguard and vigilant. Hearing how Mingshen was an assassin and information guild leader, the Emperor grew fearful almost instantly, even if he knew Mingshen was not the one after his life.
While Anji had her role to study the spell array and search for hexes, Mingshen’s role was to plant his spies and information route in the palace so Noble Consort Liu and Hong Nian Niang could establish contact easily. He also wanted to find out how far the demonic cultivator sect’s influence had reached within the forbidden city and cut their routes off.
Of the three siblings, Yihao’s role was the simplest. His job was to stick near the Emperor as a replacement bodyguard when Liu Guiya was busy helping out with the investigation. If there were any assassins, he had permission to get rid of them. There was no need to leave any alive for questioning, according to Mingshen. Thankfully, the Emperor seemed comfortable enough with him compared to Mingshen.
