Chapter 39 – Empress

Watching Wei An's right hand clench and release repeatedly, Zheng Yue almost reflexively felt his face ache. At the same time, the sound of slaps seemed to reverberate in his ear, causing his face to darken suddenly.

"Make him eat the medicine." Zheng Yue held a medical record and signaled to the nurse carrying a medicine tray.

This was the nurse who'd humoured Hao Ritian, and even spoken a few words on his behalf when Zheng Yue wanted to change the flow of conversation. But still, she was a little hesitant at that moment. Wei An was itching for a fight and those two heavily-built men, Wei Jing and Tang Bao, were standing on the side. Would she really not be beaten if she came over?

After thinking about it, she tentatively approached, held the tray high and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, it's time to take your medicine."

Without Hao Ritian's order, Wei An had no choice but to stand still for the time being, but his eyes twinkled and shone as he stared at Hao Ritian with a devoted expression.

Hao Ritian squinted and suddenly grabbed the tray from the nurse. He spilled all the medicine onto the hospital bed, then hurled the tray at Zheng Yue, "It's you again, lowly maid servant. What medicine should Zhen obediently take? Do you want to harm Zhen again? Who gave you the guts?"

As he hurled the tray, Hao Ritian pointed at Zheng Yue almost angrily and cursed him.

In his heart, though, he quietly sighed, thankful that Yu Hao's body was in great condition. His hands were strong and he had very quick reflexes.

Too bad Zheng Yue's reflexes weren't as quick. He was beaten not long ago, and now he received a tray to the face. No matter how good his temper was, he wouldn't be able to stand it. And honestly, his temper wasn't good at all.

He wiped his face and forced a smile at Tan Xi, "You see, Dr Tan? The patient is very resistant to me and his present condition is rather unstable. Shouldn't we tranquilise him so he'll stop striking at others and take his medicine properly?"

If not for Tan Xi's presence, he would've ordered this lunatic to be tranquilised a long time ago. However, as a doctor, he couldn't tranquilise his patients willy-nilly. Only when a patient was uncontrollable and very dangerous, threatening the safety of themselves and those around them, could he do it.

And Hao Ritian's situation was on that periphery. Despite merely being delusional and believing himself to be an emperor, he was constantly targeting the doctor responsible for him, which was not an insignificant matter. For Zheng Yue to only bring up tranquilising him after being hit again and again wasn't over the line of him.

Seeing His Majesty in rage, Wei An had gone deep into character and knelt on the bed. After silently shifting to behind Hao Ritian, he covertly looked at him with admiring eyes. His Majesty is so handsome!

The imperial guards maintained their positions like statues. Until they heard the order, they would continue to perform their duties.

Instead, it was the nurse who came in with Tan Xi that jumped with fright. By dint of working under Dr Tan, the patients she saw were all very well-behaved under his appeasement. One should say Dr Tan had a way of dealing with patients. She'd never seen situations like these where the patient would straight-up hit them. This was a first.

After all, 'Si Ren Hospital' itself had high status. Either the family financial situation of the patients who could be committed was good or their family members were willing to spend a lot of money, so the environment and services were both first-class and they had very resourceful ways to treat various illnesses. Which was why cases where patients joined forces or attacked the doctors and nurses rarely happened.

These were what the nurse had made a special effort to learn about after starting to work at the psychiatric hospital. Besides, after checking information online about the situations at other psychiatric hospitals, she thanked her lucky stars that she had chosen 'Si Ren Hospital'.

Now, the only reason she didn't scream when she witnessed the patient act up again, similar to a scene she once saw in a video of 'a patient hitting a doctor', was because her mental qualities were quite good and she had seen too much on the internet.

To her surprise, when she looked back at Dr Tan, he hadn't batted an eye. He picked up the fallen tray that Hao Ritian had thrown, then stepped forward to placate him in a warm tone, "Your Majesty, you've misunderstood. This is a midnight snack sent to help you sleep better at night. If you don't wish to eat it, then I'll remove it first?"

Standing aggressively on the bed, Hao Ritian paused at his words. After a while, he slowly sat down on the bed and lifted his chin, "Give it here."

Did that mean he would eat?

The eyes of the two nurses shined. Dr Tan is so amazing.

With a friendly smile on his face, Tan Xi asked the nurse to pour a glass of water and took the initiative to pick up the medicine spilled onto the bed. He glanced at the medicine, sorted the amount needed for today, and waited for the nurse to finish pouring water before passing it to Hao Ritian, "Your Majesty, please."

Not even glancing at the medicine he accepted, Hao Ritian immediately popped them into his mouth and drank a mouthful of water. With a gulp, many of the pills were swallowed. Once he finished, he drank more water, then passed the cup back to Tan Xi.

The only reason Hao Ritian deliberately threw a tantrum with Zheng Yue was because he disliked him. Switched to another person and he'd never have treated them like that. Who made Zheng Yue so disgusting? He was a doctor, yet he didn't possess an ounce of medical ethics, ruining Yu Hao's entire life. He was simply expressing his dislike and resistance to Zheng Yue through actions, especially since Tan Xi was on the scene. When the moment came, Tan Xi would assuredly propose to the hospital that the doctor responsible for him be changed.

After all, if he let that tool stay as the doctor in charge of him, Zheng Yue would have too many opportunities he couldn't guard against to put a hand on him.

If it were Tan Xi instead, he would obediently take his medication.

For one thing, Tan Xi was quite pleasing to the eye, and as a doctor, he was at least responsible. He had limitless patience for inmates and was willing to go along with them a little.

More importantly, however, the body he crossed over into really did have problems with its psyche before he came. Not only did the issue reflect on his psychology, it also reflected on his body, especially the brain. The psychological elements he could control, but the physical aspects were better left to the professionals.

This was the experience he gained from the previous world.

Mu Ziwen was autistic. At first, he thought that it would have no influence over him after he transmigrated, but as time went by, he discovered he was wrong. The residual effects of Mu Ziwen's body affected him as well. It made him dislike crowds and socialisation, and made his actions somewhat stiff. Although it was much better compared to the actual Mu Ziwen, it was still there.

Despite his efforts to adjust, it didn't change overnight. It took a long time, but it was also precisely the reason people familiar with him weren't suspicious.

After confirming things with the system, Hao Ritian came to understand that, whatever illness the original owner had, it would also affect him to a certain extent after crossing over. For mental illnesses, he could simply adjust to them. But if it were a physiological ailment, he would experience it exactly as the original owner did.

Since the body itself was sick and he was in such a good hospital, it was only natural that he cooperated with the treatment.

With Tan Xi present today, Zheng Yue couldn't play any dirty tricks at the moment, which was why Hao Ritian didn't hesitate to accept what Tan Xi passed to him. If he could get rid of Zheng Yue and follow Tan Xi's treatment plan from then on, it probably wouldn't take long to solve Yu Hao's little problem.

Having had a good start, Tan Xi applied the same method to urge Wei An and the others to take their medication. With His Majesty as an example, the trio's process went without a hitch.

Small amounts of hypnotic components were included in these drugs to help patients sleep, otherwise it would be extremely difficult for them to sleep well once it was evening. Seeing the drug slowly take effect, Tan Xi beckoned Zheng Yue and the two nurses to quietly exit the ward with him.

As Hao Ritian expected, after coming out, Tan Xi let the nurses go then discussed transferring patients with Zheng Yue again, "Dr Zheng, you see? Yu Hao is rather averse to you. He easily gets into an unstable frame of mind and shows certain intentions to attack with you. How about you let me be responsible for this patient?"

Zheng Yue, who'd been suppressing a belly-full of fire, had long become extremely resentful. Especially since the patient, who was so hostile to him in the ward, was easily persuaded by Tan Xi. The worshipful gazes the two nurses looked at Tan Xi with were no different from a slap to the face.

Honestly speaking, it was true the nurses worshipped Tan Xi, but they hadn't looked down their noses at him.

However, Zheng Yue was extremely egoistical. He looked like a cultured man with good manners, but in fact, he was secretly violent. Only the people closest to him knew this tidbit since, in public, he had always been very good at pretending. From the get-go, Zheng Yue had always been jealous of Tan Xi, who was better than him. Now, Tan Xi was once again proposing that Zheng Yue transfer the patient he was responsible for to him, and Zheng Yue finally couldn't help but explode.

"Dr Tan, what do you mean by this? Are you looking down on me? Since this patient has been assigned to me, I will naturally take full responsibility for him. By trying to take my patient, are you saying I don't have the ability to cure him?" Panting heavily, Zheng Yue looked flushed with anger, poles apart from his usual image.

Tan Xi was stunned by Zheng Yue's inordinate reaction. In fact, his proposal was commonly seen in hospitals. Some doctors and patients just couldn't cooperate, so when there was really no helping it, it was natural for them to do exchanges. He never expected Zheng Yue would think he looked down on him!

After looking into Tan Xi's stunned eyes, the evil fire in Zheng Yue's heart instead became stronger, "What, am I wrong?"

Tan Xi wasn't a pushover, so how could he allow Zheng Yue to scold him like this? Besides, they were still in the corridor; if they quarreled, they would affect the patients. He had no desire to continue this irrational topic and spread his hands out, "Since that's how Dr Zheng thinks, let's let the director decide this matter."

Then, carrying his medical case booklet under his arm, he turned and left.

Zheng Yue's flushed complexion abruptly changed. Based on the director's way of handling things, he won't be able to get out of this matter. But there was absolutely no way he would plead with Tan Xi. After his expression changed several times, he looked at the door of Ward 502 with grim eyes, as if he could see Hao Ritian inside through the thick doors. Only after staring at it for a long time did he leave with a dark face.

The soundproofing of these wards were superb. The sound of activities were basically inaudible once the door was closed, so Hao Ritian didn't hear Tan Xi and Zheng Yue's quarrel, or more accurately, Zheng Yue's one-sided quarrel. But he wouldn't have cared anyway.

He was tired from making a ruckus and taking a slightly hypnotic medicine afterwards, Hao Ritian couldn't resist the overwhelming lethargy and peacefully went to sleep.

Late into the night, Hao Ritian dazedly heard noise in the ward. His heart tightened and he swiftly became wide awake. He kept his eyes closed and listened for a while. After confirming who the person whispering was, he relaxed, opened his eyes and turned his head to the side.

Wei Jing and Wei An, who should've been deep in sleep, were unexpectedly on the bed next to him, the two of them lying over each other in an ambiguous position, which made Hao Ritian's eyes widen uncontrollably.

The four beds in the ward were put side by side. Tang Bao was on his right, Wei An was the closest on his left and Wei Jing was closer to Wei An. So it was Wei Jing who ran to Wei An's bed?

Hao Ritian curbed his surprise, planning to wait and see for a bit before handling this. After all, these patients had a different situation from his. There were actual honest-to-goodness psychiatric patients, so he ought to be more careful.

Wei Jing's present behaviour was wholly different from during the day. No. He should say he seemed like a whole other person. During the day, he appeared silly and simple-minded, obedient like Tang Bao, and had no major abnormalities in his reactions either. But now—

"Baby, the way you looked during the day when you were disgracing that man was so beautiful. I like the way you acted." Pinning Wei An's hands over his head, Wei Jing bowed his head and nuzzled the crook of Wei An's neck with infatuation, his expression devilish and seductive.

Wei Jing's appearance was actually very good, and being both tall and strong, he looked quite masculine. With his transformation at that moment, he resembled the devilish villain of a novel.

But Wei An, who was pinned under Wei Jing's body, was frustrated. Without any of the arrogance he showed when disgracing people, he immediately began to cry at Wei Jing's words, "What do you want to do? I'm telling you, I won't surrender."

"Ah, your crying is making me hard. Cry louder, yes, just like that. Don't stop. Come, hit me again." Wei Jing stroked Wei An's face with the flair of an overbearing CEO, even lifting Wei An's right hand to slap his own face.

"If you keep doing this, I'll call someone!" Wei An continued to cry while stubbornly resisting.

Hao Ritian, "…"

No, he couldn't stand it. Could he still sleep with all this crying? For Tang Bao to sleep like a dead pig at a time like this was also a talent.

"System, why didn't you tell me Wei Jing had a split personality?

"According to the investigation, he hadn't displayed this before now. This should be a symptom he just recently gained."

Hao Ritian inhaled and sat up on the bed with a 'swish'. He wasn't quiet nor did he have any intention of hiding, so he immediately captured the attention of the two drama queens.

Wei An's eyes brightened at once. He cried, "Your Majesty, save me! This dogshit wants to force himself on me."

He seemed to gain strength at seeing His Majesty. After saying that, he began to struggle with all his might.

Wei Jing easily restrained his struggle. A white cut chicken had no odds of winning against the tall and strong Wei Jing.

Wei Jing, in this state, wouldn't listen to Hao Ritian at all. He narrowed his eyes dangerously at him, "Your Majesty? From which dynasty and era?"

Very good. The height of the topic had suddenly gone up to dynasties.

Hao Ritian didn't show any weakness either. He sat bold and uninhibited on the bedside, as if his bum was sitting on the Dragon Throne. In a fierce and imposing manner, he said, "Audacious! This whole world belongs to Zhen. How dare a plebeian like you speak to Zhen like this?!"

Since he was playing the role of an emperor, then he had to continue playing it even if he was kneeling.

Maybe he was too imposing, as even Wei Jing was intimidated. When he came to his senses, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "In that case, confer this beauty to me and I'll choose to pledge my loyalty to you from now on."

Beauty Wei An, "Don't, Your Majesty! I want to serve you for the rest of my life, don't give me to this dogshit…"

When he reached the part he was heartbroken about, his cries couldn't be stopped.

Hao Ritian also had a bit of a headache. He never expected Night Wei Jing to be so difficult to deal with, he was actually so strongly attached to Wei An. Which nerve of his did Wei An touch?

Before Hao Ritian could come up with a once and for all method, the door of the ward was pushed open. The doctor on night shift saw on the surveillance video that Ward 502 was about to stage a big drama, and hurriedly came with someone to stop them.

Their first course of action was to separate the pair piled together. Tang Bao finally woke up in the middle of this ruckus and by the time Ward 502 restored its calm again, it was already past 3 o'clock in the morning. The doctor on duty didn't leave until the patients were sleeping again.

His heart was so tired.

Like him, Hao Ritian's heart was similarly tired. He suddenly realised that mental illness was incredible. Incredibly uncontrollable. Following this, he would have to come up with a way to stabilise Wei Jing's mishap – or at least stop him from going too crazy – as well as pay attention to his own behavior. This was also the reason he didn't break character soon after he woke up. There were many monitors in the ward, after all. If he behaved differently, people would notice something was wrong.

At present, he had no plans of leaving the psychiatric hospital. He had to take care of Zheng Yue and the three 'accomplices' who'd been separated into other wards before he could take the opportunity to leave. He'd even thought of what to do.

Once he got out, it would be Yu Hao's aunt and uncle's turn to pay their debts.

As his mind slowly organised these plans, Hao Ritian, once again, groggily went to sleep.

The next day.

Soon after he woke up, Hao Ritian noticed with keenness that the atmosphere today was slightly different. As for what was different, he couldn't tell for the time being.

When Tan Xi punctually came to do the rounds, he simultaneously sent them their prescribed medicine, one by one persuading the four of them to take it. During that time, Hao Ritian didn't see Zheng Yue coming by to brush up his sense of existence, and instantly understood. Tan Xi really worked fast. The doctor responsible for him had been replaced overnight.

Additionally, Wei Jing's overbearing CEO persona from last night had returned to the previous day's state, as if he simply didn't remember what happened last night. Unfortunately, Wei An didn't forget. After taking his medicine, he kept glaring at Wei Jing in hatred, trying to kill him with his eyes.

It wasn't that he didn't want to fight Wei Jing himself, but the way Wei Jing easily crushed him last night had left a deep impression on him. Subconsciously, he knew he wouldn't be able to hurt him, so he was terrified.

Wei Jing, however, was at a loss about Wei An's animosity. He didn't know how he had offended the chief steward, so he had no choice but to pretend he didn't see it.

Hao Ritian almost couldn't help himself from smiling at these two. Luckily, he held it in.

Meanwhile, Tan Xi didn't immediately leave after examining them one by one. Instead, he waited for a short moment and soon a nurse came running in, telling Tan Xi, "Dr Tan, the director is coming shortly. He's already reached Ward 505."

Afterwards, she went to stand behind Tan Xi.

Hao Ritian now knew why the atmosphere today was slightly different. It turned out the director was coming. The nurses and doctors in each ward naturally put forward their best spirited face and Tan Xi was no exception.

Although Director Li Yi was only in his early 30s, he was famous in the medical field. Coming from an influential medical family, the Li Family had several large hospitals under it. However, Li Yi switched to study mental illness and, instead of working in his family's hospitals, single-handedly founded this 'Si Ren Hospital'. Now, 'Si Ren Hospital' had a certain reputation in the field.

Li Yi was the idol of many medical scholars. Most of the doctors working at 'Si Ren Hospital' especially worshipped the director. If they could receive a few pointers from him, they could laugh themselves awake from their dreams.

Part of the reason Tan Xi came to work here was because he specialised in the mental illness field. The other part was because of Director Li. After all, when he first chose his major, he saw Director Li in the list of alumnus from his department, so, thinking about it, Director Li was also his senior from the same school.

There were only two rooms between wards 505 and 502, so it didn't take long before Director Li appeared inside Ward 502. Following behind him were three people. One was the manager in charge of this floor, one was the doctor on duty last night and the last was Zheng Yue.

Hao Ritian set his eyes on Li Yi in passing. This man was very tall, roughly 1.9 meters. He wore a pair of gold framed glasses, emitted a strong sense of self-restraint and had particularly attractive handsome features. He was a man who exuded charm from head to toe.

For their first meeting, Hao Ritian gave him 99 points. The remaining 1 point was because this man had nothing to do with him.

But when he noticed the man make a small action, his eyes suddenly narrowed and he abruptly shouted to Li Yi, "Empress, since you've returned, why didn't you quickly come to me? Do you want Zhen to personally invite you?"

Everyone except Li Yi, "…"

It was as quiet as cicadas in late autumn. Although it was a patient who said that, so one shouldn't argue with him, it nevertheless felt incredibly inappropriate to call Director Li 'Empress'.

A flash of schadenfreude crossed Zheng Yue's eyes. He wanted to see if the director would still tolerate Tan Xi in spite of being treated like this!

The calm expression on Li Yi himself, however, didn't move a jot. He even directly met Hao Ritian's eyes and was about to speak when—

"Welcome back to the palace, My Lady Empress." Wei An cleverly knelt on the bed and immediately kowtowed in Li Yu's direction with extreme deference.

My Lady Empress…

The expressions of several people, which were already rather delicate, became even more unbearable. That address was even worse than 'Empress'. They couldn't summon the courage to look at the director's reaction.

Still, it was Tan Xi who was stronger. When all was said and done, he was responsible for this patient. Without much hope, he reminded Hao Ritian, "Your Majesty, you have the wrong person."

"Impossible. How could Zhen mistake his empress?" Hao Ritian refused point-blank. Suddenly, he looked at Li Yi with incredulity, "Or are you planning to unite with your father and force Zhen to abdicate?"

He appeared utterly heart-broken.

—What did that have to do with anything? Even Tan Xi couldn't help but be powerless.

Hao Ritian then jumped off the bed and ran to Li Yi. With a leap, he clung onto Li Yi and wrapped firmly around him, "It's best you drop that idea. In life, you are Zhen's man; in death, you are Zhen's ghost. Zhen will never let you go."

Li Yi… Li Yi calmly reached out to support Hao Ritian's back.