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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Azurixa] [Celeste S.] [Christine G.-L.]
O R A N G E S T A R
[C.Carpenter] [Fav Akira] [J Jean] [K.Rom] [Tori D.] [Ziana K.-P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Maria P.] [Mel Melz] [Passerby]
G O L D S T A R
[Cindy] [Nanashi D. Y.] [Nicole] [Reece P.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Allie] [Amanda] [Book W.] [Britnae M] [Caroline] [Christigale M.] [Haruka N.]
[Hong] [kuroneko_chan] [Leticia P.] [Lily J.] [Liznel M.] [Michelle K.] [onepiece]
[Quae] [Ray] [Scorpion Princess] [Smurfinbatik] [Victoria]
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The two boarded Eunuch Wei's carriage and headed to the palace.
Eunuch Wei was, after all, the Chief Eunuch of the imperial palace, hence no one dared to stop them at the palace gate for carriage inspection and what not. Their party entered the imperial palace smoothly.
Strictly speaking, Huaqing Palace wasn’t part of the harem, so male outsiders were allowed to enter it, but only after being summoned by the Emperor. Eunuch Wei had to go inside first to pass the message of their arrival.
By the time he reached the Emperor’s bedchamber, however, the Emperor was already losing consciousness. His condition was terrible. His face was swollen and his breathing labored, he looked as if he might stop breathing at any moment.
“Your Majesty!”
Eunuch Wei couldn’t be bothered with rules anymore and went back outside to invite Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang in.
This was actually the first time Xiao Liulang watched Gu Jiao treat a patient. The operation on Gu Chenglin in Bishui Alley back then was so bloody that Gu Jiao shut the door and did not allow him in.
Gu Jiao looked calm and unhurried as she walked up to the bright yellow dragon bed with her medicine chest. She said, "Light the lamps."
"Quick! Light up the room quickly!" Eunuch Wei gave orders.
All the candles were lit and the oil lamp was set to its brightest, so that the dimly lit bedchamber was suddenly illuminated.
Dressed in dark clothes, Gu Jiao’s figure looked slender. Even though she was as small as a chestnut standing in this vast and spacious room, she was exuding dazzling brilliance and aura.
Xiao Liulang fixed his gaze on her. She had a dignified expression he had never seen before, making him feel somewhat strange but at the same time made him unable to move his eyes away.
"Zhuangyuan Xiao, I’m sorry." Eunuch Wei smiled embarrassedly at Xiao Liulang. His Majesty had to be undressed and he could not allow other people to watch anymore.
He had the palace servants set up a screen to block the bright yellow dragon bed from people’s sight. Right now, Xiao Liulang could only vaguely see the silhouette on the screen.
“Is His Majesty all right?" asked Eunuch Wei anxiously. ”He was still fine just now. Why did his condition worsen all of a sudden? Didn’t he just swallow a lot of water?"
This was dry drowning, which was a type of drowning where people who had inhaled a few mouthfuls of water still appeared normal after going ashore, but after returning home, they would display breathing difficulties, cyanosis of the lips, drowsiness and lethargy, losing consciousness, suffocation and even drowning.
This kind of situation mostly occurred in young children and people with weak bodies. Occasionally, even robust people also experienced this. It was mainly because water didn’t reach the lungs, which didn’t affect the alveolar gas exchange, but caused laryngospasm, wherein the vocal cords spasmed and closed up, leading to lack of oxygen in the brain.
Gu Jiao stepped onto the dragon bed, untied His Majesty's bedclothes, and sat on her knees beside His Majesty. She then cleaned the water residue in the Emperor's mouth and nose, and performed external cardiac compressions on the Emperor.
Having done this, she opened her medicine chest and found a cylinder of portable pure oxygen.
Hm, there were more and more things in her medicine chest other than medicines.
Gu Jiao put an oxygen mask on the Emperor.
Perhaps the Emperor started to feel well, not long after, he slowly opened his eyes and his blurry vision became clear little by little.
The moment he saw that it was Gu Jiao, the Emperor's heart fell back into place.
He opened his mouth and called, "Young Miss Gu..."
Gu Jiao held his oxygen mask and said, "Don't talk yet and take a good breath of oxygen first."
He had suffered a severe lack of oxygen and she didn't know if it had triggered cerebral edema. Without any apparatus to do precise detection, she could only rely on manual observations to make judgments.
They had to monitor him overnight and wait until tomorrow morning to determine whether the danger had passed.
The Emperor could only nod his head slightly.
Eunuch Wei stepped forward and glared at the Emperor, no longer able to hold back his bitter tears, "Your Majesty, you scared this old servant to death!"
It was also thanks to His Majesty's prompt decision to invite Young Miss Gu here, otherwise even the imperial physicians would have been helpless in such a serious situation.
The Emperor soon fell asleep.
Eunuch Wei intended to ask Gu Jiao to rest in the side hall while he stayed by the Emperor’s side to keep watch on him. However, he suddenly didn't know how to address her.
When he first met her, he thought she was unmarried, so he called her "Young Miss Gu" and became accustomed to it, mainly because he heard Second Owner and the medical hall people calling her that.
Second Owner addressed her like she was unmarried because he felt that the couple wasn’t a real husband and wife, and the people in the medical hall called her Young Miss Gu because of their employer’s example.
In short, nowadays most people addressed her as Young Miss Gu, even though they knew that she had a husband. It seemed that this title had become a part of her identity, and everyone no longer intended to change the way they called her, nor did they feel it was out of place. Such a thing was indeed very unusual.
The screen was removed and Gu Jiao returned to sit beside Xiao Liulang.
Seeing the thin sweat seeping from her forehead, Xiao Liulang took out a handkerchief and handed it to her.
His original intention was to hand it to Gu Jiao to wipe herself, but perhaps he had passed it too high, so Gu Jiao misunderstood that he wanted to wipe her sweat for her.
Gu Jiao leaned sideways across the small tea table between them to offer her forehead to him.
Xiao Liulang’s expression froze and he pinched the handkerchief in his hand.
Ultimately, he did not retract his hand and gently wiped her forehead.
Eunuch Wei had prepared a room for them and asked them to go there to rest.
"I don't need to, you go and rest." Gu Jiao said to Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang paused, "Me neither."
Gu Jiao stayed with the patient all night.
Xiao Liulang watched over her all night.
Deep into the palace were silhouettes on the cold window. In the silent night, the clouds and moon overlapped.
Early in the morning, Empress Dowager Zhuang went to the court to continue her rule from behind the curtain. Almost all the civil and military officials except Marquis Xuanping, who liked to sleep late, had arrived, including the newly appointed Imperial Academy Chief and National Supreme Commander.
Empress Dowager Zhuang sat behind the beaded curtain.
The time to start the morning court gradually passed, but the Emperor still hadn’t appeared, causing the various officials to whisper to one another.
“Why is His Majesty not here yet?”
"Did he forget the time? Or is his dragon body not in harmony?"
He couldn’t be lingering in the harem. After all, everyone knew that His Majesty had recently become obsessed with elixirs, wanting to cleanse his heart and limit his desires for two years.
Or perhaps because he was so enraged by Empress Dowager Zhuang?
Then it wasn’t surprising. On the first day Empress Dowager Zhuang returned to the court, she conferred the title of National Supreme Commander to someone, forcibly removing the military authority rightfully belonging to Marquis Xuanping. If the Emperor didn’t get sick from anger, that would be surprising instead.
However, the more the Emperor was like this, the more he would make his court officials feel the power of Empress Dowager Zhuang and make them unconsciously submit under the foot of Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Just as the court officials fell into a complicated mood, the voice of Eunuch Wei sounded outside the Emperor’s audience hall, "The Emperor has arrived——"
Both civil and military officials on both sides of the hall knelt down while holding the ceremonial tablet in their hands.
The Emperor walked proudly through the center of the hall, sauntered up the steps, stood in front of the dragon chair, and cupped his hands towards Empress Dowager Zhuang behind the curtain, "Imperial mother, son came late, hoping imperial mother won’t blame this son."
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at him below, her eyes flashed a trace of surprise, "It’s good that the Emperor is here."
The Emperor smiled, "Imperial mother seems disappointed?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang lifted her chin and said indifferently, "The Emperor worries too much. Aijia would have been disappointed if the Emperor didn’t come instead. Seeing that the Emperor’s dragon body is well, let's start the court meeting."
The Emperor smiled coldly and turned to sit on the dragon chair. He released his might as the Son of Heaven, inspiring awe within the entire hall, "Begin!"
……
Meanwhile, Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao had a brief breakfast at the Huaqing Palace and got up to leave.
Xiao Liulang took over her medicine chest and held it in his hand. It was obviously not heavy, he wondered how she could take out so many medicines and other things from it.
The couple passed by the Emperor’s audience hall.
A carriage was parked near the Emperor’s audience hall for them, and Eunuch Wei himself drove them both home.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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