Chapter 1134: Secret Scroll Fragments and Officialdom Sophistication

Imperial Physician Chen picked it up to look, trembling with anger: a straw doll was pinned with two long needles in its chest, fixing a small white cloth strip with his name, Imperial Physician Chen, written on it! Witchcraft!

Someone was cursing him and even sent this box to him!

"Vicious, how vicious!" Imperial Physician Chen pulled the long needles out of the straw doll.

He was a physician himself and could tell at a glance that the needles were hollow, used for medical cauterization.

"Liu Qi! It must be that bastard Liu Qi, jealous and cursing me!" He threw the needles into the box hatefully. "Let you be proud for one night; I'll deal with you tomorrow as soon as I enter the Imperial Medical Bureau!"

He told the doorman to throw the box away before returning to his room to rest.

He thought he would be too angry to sleep, but after tossing and turning on the bed twice, the alcohol hit him.

He didn't know if it was because of the box of ominous things, but he had a nightmare.

In the dream, the Second Prince's condition suddenly relapsed.

That state of madness was exactly the same as before.

The King was exceptionally angry and summoned him to diagnose and treat him.

Imperial Physician Chen looked at the Second Prince's bedside and saw it was empty, feeling both shocked and suspicious: "Where is the Heart Lamp? It should be hanging above the patient's *yintang*, not leaving for a moment!"

The Bo King sat beside his second son, with his back to the light; Imperial Physician Chen couldn't see his face, but could feel his gloom and irritability: "It's useless; my son starts babbling as soon as he sees this lamp, so I had people remove it!"

Imperial Physician Chen was shocked: "That won't do, Your Majesty, it must be hung back up immediately! The Second Prince must be guarded by the Heart Lamp."

"Is it because the shape you made is wrong, or the color of the lamp light is wrong?"

"The shape and light color don't matter; we chose the most common melon shape. The key to refining the Heart Lamp is having complete materials, especially the Bright Lamp, which is indispensable."

"Is that so?" The Bo King beckoned, and a palace servant holding a melon-shaped lamp slowly approached.

Imperial Physician Chen subconsciously let out an "Eh": "Why is it so big?"

"Take another look."

The servant walked over, and Imperial Physician Chen saw that it was actually half the size of a normal palace lamp, with red paper pasted on the outside.

He always felt something was wrong, but in his muddled state, he couldn't put his finger on it.

The "Heart Lamp" was hung before the Second Prince's bed, and the lamp light shone on the patient, but it didn't take effect like before.

Strange, what was going on, why did the condition relapse? The Bo King slammed the table in anger: "Is your method actually working? After so much effort, why is the Heart Lamp ineffective now?"

Imperial Physician Chen was covered in cold sweat: "It's effective, it's effective, the condition occasionally relapses, as long as we persist..."

The Bo King interrupted him: "Tell me clearly, where did you find this method?"

"This subordinate..." Imperial Physician Chen swallowed his saliva. "This subordinate found the method for refining the Heart Lamp in a fragment of an ancient secret scroll. After repeated deliberation, it was effective for the Second Prince."

"And the fragment also recorded the maturity time and location of the Bright Lamp?"

"Yes, yes." Imperial Physician Chen said eagerly, "By heaven's luck, only the snow peaks of the Carefree Sect grow Bright Lamp grass within a thousand *li*, and it matured recently."

"And where did you get this secret scroll fragment?"

"Accidentally found it in that old bookstore at the east end of the city, only spent two *qian* of silver; this subordinate often goes to the bookstore to browse old books..."

"Really?" The Bo King stared at him. "Do you dare to lie even to the Lone One? Take him down, give him twenty heavy boards first!"

Imperial Physician Chen was shocked, prostrating and shouting: "Unjust, this subordinate dares not deceive!"

"Unjust? Are you saying I'm wrong?" The Bo King laughed, every word making his heart tremble. "Thirty heavy boards."

Two burly guards walked over, intending to drag him down for punishment like a pig.

Imperial Physician Chen was trembling all over.

He knew very well that there were tricks to palace beatings; thirty boards might only injure the skin and flesh, but ten boards could also take a life, yet he didn't want to touch either.

Not to mention the Bo King's temper; if he couldn't get the result he wanted, thirty boards might just be an appetizer.

"I'll say, I'll say!" Imperial Physician Chen immediately softened. "But this truth is even more outrageous, and Your Majesty would find it harder to believe, so this subordinate..."

So he made up a source for the secret scroll.

"If you talk nonsense again, I'll give you ten boards first."

Imperial Physician Chen's tongue became nimble immediately: "The secret method for refining the Heart Lamp wasn't found in the bookstore; it, it appeared directly on my desk."

"Appeared directly on your desk?" The Bo King laughed. "Are you saying, you didn't find the secret method, but the secret method found you?"

"It sounds unbelievable, but the facts, the facts are so." Imperial Physician Chen swallowed his saliva. "This subordinate still remembers reading medical classics until the *zi* hour that night, oversleeping the next day, rushing into the palace for duty, and only returning home when it was dark. After arriving home, half a volume was pressed under the paperweight on my desk, which was, which was the secret method recording the Bright Lamp grass and the Heart Lamp."

"After that, I consulted many materials and judged that the Heart Lamp was highly likely to be effective for the Second Prince!" Imperial Physician Chen kowtowed, saying eagerly, "Your Majesty, this subordinate dares not utter a single word of falsehood!"

The Bo King's anger faded a bit, as if he were also pondering: "When did this happen?"

"Half a year, half a year ago!"

"Half a year ago? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Imperial Physician Chen hurriedly defended himself: "The secret scroll appeared too suddenly; this subordinate also had to consult materials and work hard to verify it before daring to let the Second Prince use it. Besides, at that time, it was still, still early for the Bright Lamp to mature."

"Is that really so?" The Bo King said coldly. "No other reason?"

"No, nothing else." Although Imperial Physician Chen kept his head down, he could feel the Bo King's gaze was sharp, as if it could burn two holes in his forehead.

He was sweating profusely.

"And then?" The Bo King asked him again, "My son's condition relapsed, what is the solution?"

Imperial Physician Chen had never treated madness with a Heart Lamp, so he steadied himself and said: "The Second Prince's soul and spirits are all present, not lost, unlike other madness symptoms where one soul or two spirits are missing, which cannot be cured by a Bright Lamp."

"The Heart Lamp refined from the Bright Lamp can even expel the inner demons of immortals; dealing with the Second Prince's condition should only be a matter of time." He pointed to the small lamp by the bedside, wanting to say that this was actually using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. "We still need to observe carefully here, I ask Your Majesty for more time!"

The Bo King let out an "En": "Who do you think would send the secret scroll to you?"

"This, this subordinate doesn't know." Imperial Physician Chen kowtowed. "Perhaps it is heaven blessing the Second Prince."

The Bo King smiled: "Did you offer thanks to the gods?"

Gods occasionally respond to humans when they feel it is necessary.

Imperial Physician Chen was startled again, shaking his head repeatedly: "This subordinate usually goes to the temple to offer gifts, but unfortunately has never received the favor of the heavenly gods."

"Can this Heart Lamp be restored to a Bright Lamp?"

"Uh, this, it should be impossible. This treasure is refined into a magic tool, just like wood already made into a boat; a boat, a boat cannot be turned back into a tree."

"How do you use the rewards I gave you?" The Bo King said leisurely. "I heard you are a big celebrity in the capital recently, welcomed wherever you go."

"This is all due to, due to the King's favor!" Imperial Physician Chen said hurriedly. "The rewards are all still there, I dare not use them or show them off recklessly."

When Imperial Physician Chen woke up, he happened to see the east turning the color of a fish belly.

So it was a dream.

He touched his forehead, covered in cold sweat. The bedding was also wet.

Fortunately, fortunately, it was just a dream.

It's all Liu's fault; I'll deal with him properly when I return to the bureau today!

He Lingchuan also got up, stretched his neck, and had a good stretch.

The Soul-Sucking Mirror immediately asked him: "Any harvest?"

Among all the people/things around He Lingchuan, it was the true insider, even knowing about the Panlong world and the nightmare.

"Yes. Last night, the nightmare sneaked into Imperial Physician Chen's dream and coaxed out quite a bit of information. Most importantly, he admitted to using the Heart Lamp to treat the Second Prince, and had previously introduced the Bright Lamp grass to the Bo King."

He Lingchuan was just giving it a try, not expecting immediate success. This shows that the Bo Nation's vital energy is even thinner than the Yuan Nation's, unable to even block evil spirits for the medical officials in court.

Vital energy is not only a reflection of national strength but also a sign of the people's hearts.

Imperial Physician Chen inexplicably received the secret scroll fragment half a year ago and spent several months verifying it before daring to use it on the Second Prince. The book didn't have legs and couldn't run on its own, so who was taking such good care of him? The Soul-Sucking Mirror also asked: "This 'who', why not give the fragment to someone else, but specifically to Imperial Physician Chen?"

"Good question." He Lingchuan smiled. "Imperial Physician Chen doesn't know either, so we have to find the answer for him."

If we can crack the reason why the person behind the scenes chose Imperial Physician Chen, we might be able to glimpse their motivation.

Once the motivation is clear, finding the person might be easier.

The Soul-Sucking Mirror wondered: "He doesn't even know himself, can you find it?"

"Those involved are confused; sometimes the answer isn't always in one's own hands." He Lingchuan pondered. "I already have some clues here."

Next, he strolled through Xuncheng for two days, observing the local people's livelihood and customs.

Just after it rained this evening, Dong Rui returned.

This guy was glowing, and as soon as he entered, he asked for water: "Harvest, a great harvest!"

He Lingchuan poured him a cup of hot water: "Who did you find?"

"I went to the Zuiyue Pavilion first to throw money around, found the head girl there to drink and chat about flowers and the moon, and she told me that there is indeed an imperial physician in the Imperial Medical Bureau named Liu Qi, who specializes in detoxification and has enjoyed a reputation in the bureau for many years."

"So, you have hidden poison to solve?" Going to the pleasure quarters to gather information, must you choose the head girl? "Are you talking about flowers and the moon, or flowers and willows?"

"How could it be me, it's clearly a friend of mine!" Dong Rui said righteously; anyway, it was He Lingchuan's money he was spending, so his friend was—

"I'm just a small merchant from out of town, how could I invite Imperial Physician Liu? Fortunately, Imperial Physician Liu has students all over the southern Bo Nation, and several direct disciples are in Xuncheng, the most successful of whom is surnamed Yang, also a regular at Zuiyue Pavilion, often going there to socialize. He opened three medical clinics in Xuncheng, and because of his teacher's fame, plus his own skills, patients flock to him. This Director Yang's consultation fee is not cheap."

He Lingchuan smiled: "You went to visit this Director Yang?"

Director Yang could mix so well in Xuncheng and use the title of Imperial Physician Liu's direct disciple to practice medicine, so his relationship with Imperial Physician Liu should be quite close.

This kind of inheritance, support, and interest binding between master and disciple is sometimes more solid than the father-son relationship.

"Must go." Dong Rui smiled. "I spent a lot of money to see Director Yang, and as soon as we met, I said I had a large batch of precious medicinal materials looking for a long-term buyer. He wanted to kick me out, but after seeing the four or five medicinal materials I took out, he immediately changed his mind."

Dong Rui himself was proficient in pharmacology and never lacked precious materials.

Ling Guang looked at him with resentment; the five-hundred-year-old ginseng Dong Rui showed the other party was taken from it.

"The good medicine I took out, even if he didn't sell it to patients, taking it to honor his teacher or offering it to the palace was excellent. So the two of us went to Zuiyue Pavilion, got a private room, and drank and talked business." Dong Rui sighed. "You know, I don't like dealing with people, this time I had to bite the bullet."

Being slick and running off at the mouth is usually He Lingchuan or Lu Qiuwei's specialty.

Dong Rui had watched for so long and only learned a little bit.

Ling Guang couldn't help but say: "You used the Drunken Heart Powder I gave you, right?"

"Used it, used it, put it in his wine." Dong Rui gave it a thumbs up. "I didn't use it until the end of the drinking session, so he wouldn't be suspicious. He drank half a cup and became muddled, answering whatever was asked."

"He won't remember what he said when he wakes up." Ling Guang said. "This thing has no side effects."

"What did you find out?"

"Imperial Physician Liu has been in a bad mood these past two days; the Assistant Imperial Physician scolded him fiercely in front of all his subordinates for no reason."

Ling Guang immediately said: "This Assistant Imperial Physician has a really big temper."

Having such a boss is really unlucky; fortunately, its master is very kind.

He Lingchuan smiled without a word.

He sent the brocade box, and Dong Rui got the chicken and rat heads.

He wanted to figure out who Imperial Physician Chen's rival in the Imperial Medical Bureau was.

The person who knows Imperial Physician Chen best must be his rival.

Things Imperial Physician Chen couldn't figure out, maybe the person here had the answer? "What exactly is the conflict between Imperial Physician Chen and Imperial Physician Liu?" As soon as Imperial Physician Chen saw the nails and the straw doll, he blurted out curses at Liu Qi.

Clearly, the rift between these two was the deepest.

"A few months ago, Imperial Physician Chen was only a servant physician, and the Assistant Imperial Physician at the time was Imperial Physician Wang Chuanyi, and Imperial Physician Liu was his deputy. Because the Second Prince's condition didn't improve, the Bo King was very dissatisfied with the imperial physicians and often summoned Wang Chuanyi to scold him, and even punished other imperial physicians. Later, Wang Chuanyi changed the prescription for the Second Prince, which calmed the patient down and reduced the frequency of attacks. But the side effect was that he would often sleep and was not easily awakened."

"The Bo King was dissatisfied with this effect; he hoped his second son would recover, so the Bo Nation would have a Crown Prince. Not long after, the Bo King suddenly decided that the medicine Wang Chuanyi used was problematic, saying it made the Second Prince drowsy all day and worsened his condition, and in a fit of rage, he beheaded him."

He Lingchuan suddenly realized: "So, Wang Chuanyi was the beheaded Assistant Imperial Physician?"

Dong Rui added: "Director Yang doesn't know which medicine Wang Chuanyi used that violated the taboo, but I suspect..."

"Sedatives!" Ling Guang suddenly interrupted. "The Second Prince had fewer attacks, so they suffered less blame. In the absence of a cure, this is a conservative but effective treatment plan."

In the eyes of Imperial Physician Wang and the others, since it was impossible for the Second Prince to recover, using sedatives to reduce his attacks was something they could explain to the Bo King.

"After Wang Chuanyi was beheaded, Imperial Physician Liu suspected there was an informer behind this: Imperial Physician Chen." Dong Rui continued, "Logically, a servant physician isn't qualified to view the Assistant Imperial Physician's prescription, but Imperial Physician Liu caught Imperial Physician Chen peeking on the spot and even punished him."

"After this incident, Imperial Physician Liu and the others extremely loathed Imperial Physician Chen. After Wang Chuanyi died, the position of Assistant Imperial Physician became vacant, and the Bo King asked them to recommend someone with high medical skills to succeed him, so everyone pushed Imperial Physician Chen up."

"This guy is really not likable." After Wang Chuanyi died, all the medical officials understood that the position of Assistant Imperial Physician was a hot seat; whoever sat in it might lose their life.

So they unanimously elected Imperial Physician Chen, the murderer in the eyes of the medical officials.

Ling Guang expressed confusion: "I don't understand, was Wang Chuanyi well-liked in the Imperial Medical Bureau? Why did all the medical officials hate Imperial Physician Chen?"

He Lingchuan patted its head: "You are too simple, you haven't mixed in a bureaucratic institution. The prescriptions Wang Chuanyi gave the Second Prince were likely known to other senior imperial physicians."

Could the medicine given to the Second Prince be hidden from other qualified imperial physicians?

"The number of imperial physicians qualified to view this prescription should be limited."

Ling Guang understood: "So they were in it together?"

"It's not just punishment or beheading; the imperial physicians were forced by the Bo King to the point of no return. The so-called 'above has requirements, below has countermeasures.' If you want to overturn Wang Chuanyi's treatment plan, unless you can come up with a better version. Besides, Wang Chuanyi had served as Assistant Imperial Physician for a long time and had long built his own network." He Lingchuan analyzed. "I believe if he had a second method, he wouldn't have tampered with the prescription; that was too risky. Look, there will always be people like Imperial Physician Chen coming out to stir the pot."

"But they didn't expect Imperial Physician Chen to actually cure the Second Prince's illness, and his status and future were secured." Dong Rui counted on his fingers. "That's not right; Imperial Physician Chen got the secret scroll fragment half a year ago, why didn't he offer it in time?"

"At that time, he was only a servant physician, his status was too low, and logically, the prescription offered couldn't be handed directly to the palace, but had to be submitted to the Assistant Imperial Physician for review." He Lingchuan hadn't mixed in the Bo Nation's palace, but the rules of officialdom were the same everywhere. "If the Assistant Imperial Physician thought it was feasible, he would submit it to the Bo King himself. How much credit do you think Imperial Physician Chen could get from that?"

Imperial Physician Chen's secret method would become the Assistant Imperial Physician's credit once it reached him. How much Imperial Physician Chen could get in the end would depend on the Assistant Imperial Physician's conscience.

Ling Guang wondered: "Couldn't he skip a level and offer it directly to the Bo King?"

"If offered to the Bo King, the Bo King wouldn't understand either. Professional matters still have to be handed to professionals, so this prescription would still flow to the Assistant Imperial Physician. If the Assistant Imperial Physician says it won't work, the Bo King won't use it." He Lingchuan smiled. "Look, in the end, Imperial Physician Chen couldn't claim credit and offended his immediate superior for no reason. If you were Imperial Physician Chen, and you had such a necessarily feasible treatment plan in your hands, what would you do?"

Isn't this a dead end, unable to claim credit either way! Ling Guang scratched its head for a long time before remembering that Imperial Physician Chen had actually broken the deadlock with his own actions: "He got rid of the Assistant Imperial Physician?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1135 =====