The Empress' Illness

"No."

Ren Jidian blinked. "N-No?"

"We had already brought several physicians, and none of them can tell what exactly The Empress' condition was. We had already asked far and wide for an answer, but there was still nothing after 6 months and so the Emperor got fed up with your kind."

"How does he suppose to heal the Empress, then!?" Ren Jidian was baffled.

"By praying to the gods." The Yin noble rolled her eyes.

Qing Daitong frowned at this. "How zealous of him, but the gods only does as much without any proper cure."

The Yin lady sighed. "Yes, it was very unreasonable. But the Emperor had always been since he was a prince, and even more so when he met the Empress. He was very possessive and ordered to not allow a single Yang or Zhong to enter the Empress' chambers or serve him."

"In fact, he never let a Yang or Zhong physician to even examine him. So I doubt your father would be allowed even without him being fed up with physicians."

"But I'm a Yin!" Ren Jidian exclaimed with excitement. "And I can promise you, I will find a cure!"

"But you are still studying, Ah-Guang." Qing Daitong said. "If the best physicians and scholars in the Great Zau cannot heal the empress, then how can you who is merely a student?"

"Just have faith in me, father! I have a strong feeling in my heart that I can be the only one who cures the Empress." Ren Jidian slammed his fist on his chest. "I am damn sure of it!"

The Yin lady raised an eyebrow at him. "You are truly an interesting one for a Yin. Even the moment I saw you walking around and pushing your crippled father..... I sensed something strange about you. What day were you born?"

Ren Jidian blinked. "What? Why are you asking all of the sudden?"

"Well, I am the royal medium after all. I can make a divination and it will tell me all about your fate, your characteristics, and even your fundamental diet."

She bowed gracefully. "Lady Shu Zhanxing, at your service."

(Is her name for real? You're really lazy at names, old goat.)

[Meaningful names are fun.] Baphie defended.

(Yeah, pretty straightforward meaning too. But I'll cut you some slack since you're not a native Chinese writer after all.)

"Nice to meet you, Lady Shu. I am..." He almost said 'Ren Jidian'.

(What was my name again?)

[You dumbass, Qing Daitong had been calling you Ah-Guang all this time. It's Qing Guang, duh!]

"Qing Guang!" He also made a dramatic bow. (Eugh, what an awful sounding name. No offense to my father, but I prefer the surname Ren more.)

"Qing Guang..... How long have you been studying medicine?" Lady Shu asked.

"Er..... since I was young, of course." He cleared his throat. "Right, father?"

"Ah-Guang have a natural curiosity for plantlife and herbs, and the healing effects they have in the body." Qing Daitong supported him.

"And how reliable are you as a healer, exactly? How come we have never heard of you and your father?" She asked with her raised eyebrow again.

"My father and I live in the woods and we are pretty poor. But we are known around our townspeople to give immediate relief through all kinds if conditions." Ren Jidian answered.

Lady Shu kept on grilling him like this was a job interview. "A poor man from an unknown family, living with a crippled father. Is that what you are after in curing the Empress? Money? Fame?"

"No!" Ren Jidian shook his head. "I am volunteering for the sake of goodwill, I do not even ask to be paid any compensation!"

"Hmm..." Lady Shu observed him from head to toe to see if he was lying. "Your gait and your facial features seem to imply that you have a very honest and truthful demeanor, which is also indicative of naivety and poor decision-making skills."

Ren Jidian felt like he was hit by an arrow. (Did this girl just read me?)

"However, though I do want to trust you with the fate of the Empress... It is still up to the Emperor to allow you. He is yet to return in 14 days' time, and I would have to convince him of letting another physician poke and prod his beloved."

Baphie giggled in his head. [Oh, he sure does want to poke and prod the Empress in more ways than one.]

(Shut up. I don't even have such dirty thoughts right now, I just want to make sure Wei Sizhi's safe and get out of this place.)

[No way in hell you can escape that easily, bud. This is just the first world.]

Lady Shu handed a piece of paper to him from the purse she was carrying. "This is a paper you must sign in case the Emperor agrees. It has the royal seal, and in there you must put your name and all members of your family."

"What for?" Ren Jidian took the scroll and read the text that was in old traditional Chinese.

"So that when you fail to cure the Empress and caused his death instead, both you and your family will be publicly executed by having your skin flayed from you piece by piece. It says so on this section." She pointed with her well-manicured hands.

Ren Jidian and Qing Daitong looked at this section and sweated nervously.

She took the 1 jin of elderberry from the Zhong merchant, and bowed her head. "It was a pleasure meeting you both, Qing Guang and Sir Qing. I hope to still see you in fourteen days' time once I succeeded in convincing Emperor Zau. I shall be meeting you if I did, at the same time and the same place."

"Thank you, Lady Shu!" Ren Jidian bowed excitedly. "I won't let you down!"

"It's not me that you should not let down, silly boy." She chuckled. "It's the Empress, or else you and your father may have your heads hanging on the Palace gates."

She then left, and Ren Jidian found his heart racing.

Qing Daitong too, but for a different reason. "... That was quite the arrangement I was not expecting for us, Ah-Guang. Are you sure you do not want to reconsider?"

"Never fear, Father. Even when I fail, you can just run away into the mountains and escape."

Qing Daitong: ... .... ....

Ren Jidian realized his mistake and went: "Ooops, sorry! Sorry! I was just joking! I won't fail! I will heal the Empress!"

-------------------------

The twittering birds outside the Imperial Palace sung their usual tune as they flutter over flowers and fruits, carrying along seeds on their sharp beaks.

The Empress envied them so.

"Empress, I have brought the new round of elderberries." He heard the usual, tiresome voice at the door.

"Come in and set them on the table." He said lazily.

The birds were so colorful, and so were the flowers. The sky as well during twilight.

Meanwhile he was so dull and lifeless, forced to only wear the same red robes indicating he was indeed a newly-married bride of the Emperor.

Red meant happiness, yet it was not present on his face.

"Empress Wei, do not be so dejected. I am sure once your condition is better, you would be allowed to roam outside soon."

He grinned bitterly at this. "And when is my husband returning again? In two weeks?"

"Yes. If your condition was well enough by that time, he might even take you to watch the festival together."

"How exciting." He said boredly. "It truly would be if only I didn't know it will be another empty promise again."

He said in a much softer voice so Lady Shu would not hear. "Or another attempt to get me in bed with him as a compensation for letting me go outside."

"I am sure the Emperor will fulfill it someday. Right now, you must focus on improving your health so you may continue your duties as the empire's most important Yin." Lady Shu suggested.

"I do not feel important at all. I feel dispensable. I only have one purpose for being Empress, after all." He said while calmly drinking more tea. "And that is to bear him a Yang child that will take over the throne, is it not?"

"... That is true. But...." Lady Shu sighed. "Though you may not love him, I know that he loves you dearly and so will he love your son or daughter."

"IF it was a Yang." The Empress corrected.

Lady Shu knows that anything she says further will aggravate the Empress more, who was already being more temperamental than usual due to his illness.

"..... I shall be going, Your Majesty. Please enjoy your tea." She bowed and left.

Empress Wei observed the birds again. A bird brought a seed into its mouth.....

And crushed it.

He brought the elderberry fruit unto his lips, in between his teeth.....

And crushed it.

He did not make tea of them. He ate them raw and purposefully picked the unripe ones along with the stems and the leaves, crushing them to a pulp just like birds do.

Except birds never eat leaves, stems, seeds, and unripe elderberries because they knew those were poisonous.