Chapter 135

Chapter 135

"Her Ladyship has always been frail and requires meticulous care on a daily basis. Long-term use of medicinal tonics isn’t advisable for her.

Even mild medicines are hard on Her Ladyship's body if taken over time and may lead to other issues. Switching to stronger medicines would severely harm her.

Though Her Ladyship vomited much of it, some of the medicinal effects have still been absorbed. She may struggle to conceive in the future."

At this point, the imperial physician's tone became much more cautious.

The imperial physician was careful not to be too direct, but given Consort Rong's physical condition, even if she did conceive, the child probably wouldn’t make it to term.

It might miscarry within a few months of conception. Calling it 'challenging' is putting it mildly.

If there were any chance, the imperial physician wouldn’t have said this. He’d have told her to recover for a few years and wait until her body is in better condition before attempting to conceive.

In the harem, concubines who can’t have children usually don’t do well. Even if they’re favored for a while, only bearing a prince can secure their place. But Consort Rong... it’s a shame.

What a waste.

Though she’s stunning, beauty fades with time, and the harem is always full of beauties.

Consort Rong’s really in a tough spot. What was meant to prevent pregnancy ended up sterilizing her.

"Imperial Physician," Kangxi spoke calmly, his expression almost unnervingly composed.

"Yes, Your Majesty." But the imperial physician felt a shiver run down his spine and quickly lowered his head.

"Don’t record a word of what you just said about Consort Rong’s condition. Do you understand?" Kangxi looked at the imperial physician and spoke slowly, his gaze filled with pressure.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand," the imperial physician hurriedly replied.

The Emperor made it clear: Consort Rong’s infertility must stay secret, and she herself must not know about it.

But even so, it can’t stay hidden forever. It might stay hidden for a few years, but not forever. Consort Rong’s childlessness will eventually draw criticism, and what then? She’ll find out eventually.

As the imperial physician left, he bumped into the doctors coming back from Cining Palace. They exchanged polite smiles and small talk.

Truthfully, they weren’t in the mood to smile!

Everyone was thinking, "How annoying! We have to report to the Emperor about the Grand Empress Dowager's condition, but she's perfectly fine and still claims to be in discomfort. It's giving us a headache."

They had to go along with prescribing medicine, even though it was all an unspoken agreement. But the Grand Empress Dowager was not playing by the rules.

She still insisted that the medicine was ineffective and that she was still in pain.

If not for her status, they really wanted to say, "You're perfectly fine, of course the medicine isn't working!!!"

This is the most troublesome kind of problem to deal with!

Usually, they hear the imperial physicians grumbling about how these concubines claim to be uncomfortable here and there, but when they take their pulse, there's nothing wrong. They still have to prescribe medicine as if it were serious, all to compete for favor and get the Emperor to visit.

Whether they take the medicine or not is another matter, and the physicians have to pretend they don't notice.

The imperial physicians thought they were responsible for the Emperor, the Grand Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager, and wouldn't encounter such problems. But, lo and behold, Physician Wan wasn't here, and they got lucky!

The medicines prescribed were all non-specific, meaning they wouldn't cause harm whether taken or not. It was all an unspoken understanding.

But the Grand Empress Dowager still claimed to be in discomfort, her head still aching. This was shifting the blame onto them for not diagnosing and treating her properly.

But they couldn’t speak their minds!

The thought of having to be tactful in front of the Emperor without exposing the Grand Empress Dowager made them miserable!

The Grand Empress Dowager was the Emperor’s grandmother; exposing her would anger both the Emperor and her, leaving them in a tough spot.

They really envied Imperial Physician Wan, who got to attend to Consort Rong and avoid their current predicament.

Little did they know, Imperial Physician Wan, who had just left, was just as troubled.

Consort Rong’s pulse was weak, and he’d have to figure out how to improve her health later.

For now, it was manageable, but if Consort Rong stayed favored without showing signs of pregnancy, he knew the pressure would fall on him through the Emperor.

He’d rather be at Cining Palace tending to the Grand Empress Dowager, whose health he knew well and could manage easily.

With Consort Rong, he’d have to try a different approach.

Both sides exchanged glances, hiding their distress behind smiles, each wishing they could trade places, filled with envy.

They still had to see the Emperor, so they couldn’t chat now; they couldn’t keep him waiting.

The Grand Empress Dowager’s discomfort called for the imperial physicians, and though the Emperor hadn’t visited Cining Palace yet, he still wanted to know what was going on.

As they entered, the imperial physicians sensed trouble; Imperial Physician Wan hadn’t warned them the Emperor was in a bad mood, even though they were colleagues!

Imperial Physician Wan: Like I could control that?!

Kangxi stood with his hands behind his back and asked, “How is the Grand Empress Dowager’s health?”

The imperial physicians couldn’t see his expression and carefully chose their words, using medical jargon to describe her condition, essentially avoiding a direct answer.

Normally, Kangxi would let it slide, but now, with their confusing terms, he wasn’t in the mood for their evasiveness.

Bang! Kangxi grabbed something from the shelf and threw it in front of the physicians, making them drop to their knees in one smooth motion.

“I didn’t call you here to spout nonsense. Tell me, how is the Grand Empress Dowager really doing?”

Imperial Physicians: It’s tough for us too! Should we say she’s fine but has a headache, even though her pulse is normal? We can’t accuse her of faking it—it’d make us look bad!

Tough! Really tough.

Seeing the Emperor’s dark expression, the physician quickly spoke plainly, saying the Grand Empress Dowager was stressed, had headaches, and needed rest, hinting it was more mental than physical and medicine might not help.

It wasn’t that they were incompetent or their prescriptions didn’t work, but the Grand Empress Dowager was old and shouldn’t be over-treated.

A calming drink for a few days was fine, but not long-term. It was hard to prescribe anything, worried they’d make things worse.

Rest was the best option.

This way, they didn’t expose her, and the Emperor wouldn’t worry too much.

Little did they know, Kangxi had already caught their silent complaints.

“Take care of the Grand Empress Dowager’s health. You may go.”

Kangxi had just returned to Yonghe Palace with Consort Rong when he heard Cining Palace had called for physicians.

Calling physicians back-to-back, Kangxi had seen the Grand Empress Dowager in good health when he left Cining Palace with Consort Rong, yet now she’d called for them. It seemed like she was faking weakness.

Especially when the birth control tonic went wrong and was replaced with a sterility-inducing tonic.

Due to the strong potency of the medicine, drinking it would cause some discomfort. If discovered in time, immediate vomiting could still save someone.

However, if delayed, the medicine would be absorbed and become undetectable, only mistaken for menstrual cramps.

If Consort Rong felt unwell, she would surely summon the imperial physician immediately. But encountering the Grand Empress Dowager's summons, she had to postpone it temporarily. The round trip to the Cining Palace would take a while.

The Grand Empress Dowager had never wanted to see Consort Rong before, and this time it coincidentally happened during such an incident.

Nanny Fang’s harsh words during the journey seemed to be afraid that Consort Rong would summon the imperial physician. Even knowing that Consort Rong was unwell, she kept using the Grand Empress Dowager to pressure Consort Rong, insisting that she must not refuse to go to the Cining Palace due to her health.

Moreover, the imperial pharmacy was a top priority for Kangxi, as it was responsible for his daily medication. Even his food and drink were handled with extreme care, let alone medication issues.

Yet, something went wrong, and in such a short time, except for those who handled the medicine, no one else could provide any leads, and the trail went cold.

To cover their tracks so quickly, how many in the palace could achieve this?

There were other agents planted in the imperial pharmacy. Today it was aimed at Consort Rong, but what about tomorrow?

The emperor’s suspicions were aroused. What happened today was not difficult for him to associate with other matters.

And, after seeing Consort Rong vomit the medicine, his expression was off. At the time, it was assumed to be due to Consort Rong’s loss of composure, but now it was probably because she vomited the medicine, and it could not take effect.

Previously, whenever the Grand Empress Dowager was unwell, Kangxi would visit and even stay to attend to her. But this time, after knowing, Kangxi did not go immediately but later summoned the imperial physicians from the Cining Palace to inquire about the situation.

The hesitation and difficulty on the faces of the imperial physicians confirmed that the Grand Empress Dowager had anticipated that the truth would come out after he brought Consort Rong, even if the traces were cleaned up.

But the cleaner the traces, the more it sometimes pointed to a problem. Moreover, it was unexpected that Consort Rong, after taking the medicine for some time, could still vomit it out.

Now, was her claim of illness because she angered the Grand Empress Dowager, or was it to cover something up? After the event, it could be covered up as peace.

Kangxi was not by Consort Rong's side waiting for her to wake up because, at this moment, he couldn’t bring himself to face her.

He sat there for a long time without speaking.

Liang Jiugong was also unclear, thinking it was because both the Grand Empress Dowager and Consort Rong were ill, and the emperor was worried, so he did not dare to disturb the emperor.

But just then, someone from the crown prince's side came, saying that the crown prince was making a fuss to go to the Yonghe Palace to see Consort Rong, so he had to come in and report this matter.

Upon hearing this, Kangxi did not respond immediately but remained silent for a while. Liang Jiugong wondered if the emperor had not heard and whether he should repeat it or just stand and wait.

"Let him go."