The Hall of Haoyue was so silent one could hear a pin drop.
The Emperor lay on the dragon bed with his eyes closed, his robes open, golden needles covering his entire upper body including his head, while his feet remained bare.
Shaoyao stood by his feet holding a small knife, while Lai Fu watched nervously, fearing she might make an incorrect incision.
Yu Lao nodded to Shaoyao. With a solemn expression, she focused intently on her master's hands. As the golden needles were removed, she swiftly made a cut on the sole of the foot. A stream of black fluid spurted out, thick and sticky as it hit the ground, resembling blood yet not quite blood.
Shaoyao kept her eyes fixed on the incision until the flowing liquid gradually lost its black color, then she bandaged the wound. Meanwhile, Yu Lao had already collected all the golden needles and was resting. "How is it?"
"At least three more bloodletting sessions will be needed to fully expel the toxins."
"As long as it's effective." They had tried numerous methods to eliminate these toxins, each riskier than the last. Fortunately, they had finally found the right approach.
Gu Yanxi felt some relief in his anxious heart. Watching his imperial uncle grow visibly weaker each day, he asked softly, "When will His Majesty wake up?"
"He has been unconscious for three days. We must wake him today." Otherwise, he might never wake again. The master and disciple exchanged a glance, silently swallowing the rest of that thought. Their gains from this treatment were substantial; if the patient weren't the Emperor, they would have been tempted to experiment further.
Gu Yanxi nodded. With rumors deliberately circulating that the Emperor was dying, his imperial uncle needed to make an appearance to reassure the officials. His Seven Constellation Bureau could suppress the rumors, but there was no need to go that far—the situation hadn't deteriorated to that point.
Exiting the Hall of Haoyue, Fu Gang approached to report, "The Third and Fourth Princes request an audience with His Majesty."
"Can they no longer be held off?"
"Yes."
"Let them in tomorrow if they come again."
"Yes." Fu Gang relaxed visibly. As he wasn't the head of the Seven Constellation Bureau, he had no real means to deal with these privileged princes. Holding them off for three days had stretched his abilities to the limit.
Behind his mask, Gu Yanxi's face was full of scorn. The Third and Fourth Princes were too impatient, but the Second Prince, who had spread the rumors, might not necessarily reap the benefits.
Arriving at the imperial study, Gu Yanxi issued an order: "Tang Qingyuan is guilty of corruption and bribery. He is hereby dismissed from his position as Minister of Rites. The Second Prince is to deliver the reprimand."
The Tang family was the maternal clan of the Second Prince, and Tang Qingyuan was his biological maternal grandfather. For the head of the Seven Constellation Bureau to target the Tang family at such a time—those in the know understood the implications. The masterstroke was having the Second Prince deliver the reprimand himself, a task he couldn't refuse. It was a ruthless move.
The Second Prince was so enraged he smashed everything in his room. Although the Ministry of Rites didn't hold as much real power as some other ministries, it was still his most significant asset. Now it was gone just like that. After his fury subsided, he felt a chill of fear. He knew this was a warning from the head of the Seven Constellation Bureau—his actions hadn't escaped their notice.
Remembering the fate of the Eldest Prince, the Second Prince grew tense and immediately recalled all the contingency plans he had set in motion. He currently lacked the capital to confront the Seven Constellation Bureau, and neither did the Third or Fourth Princes.
Someday, he swore inwardly, he would ensure the Great Qing Dynasty had no more Seven Constellation Bureau.
Gu Yanxi had no time to dwell on the Second Prince's schemes. Upon receiving news that unfamiliar faces had appeared at the Hua family residence, he set aside his tasks and went there immediately.
Meanwhile, Hua Zhi and Zheng Zhi were engaged in a pleasant conversation.Initially, Hua Zhi didn't actually enjoy reading that much. But since she didn't want to go out and there were so many books in the house, she gradually discovered the pleasure of reading, eventually reaching a point where she felt uncomfortable if she didn't read every day.
Most of what she read were miscellaneous books—she couldn't get through overly serious or abstruse texts.
"If Mr. Zheng were to quiz me on the Four Books and Thirteen Classics, I might not be able to answer."
"You don't need to take the imperial exams, why would I ask you those things?" Zheng Zhi scoffed. "Rigid reading and dead books are worse than having no books at all. What can those scholars do besides recite texts? Do they know the price of salt? The cost of grain? They know nothing! Even if they become officials, they'd just be incompetent ones."
In her sixteen years in this world, this was the first time Hua Zhi had seen someone show such contempt for scholars—especially since he himself was one. How interesting.
"Then I hope Mr. Zheng can teach the Hua family children things not found in books, like the price of salt and grain."
"Aren't you afraid I'll lead them astray?"
"I don't want them to become scholars who only know rigid reading and dead books either."
Zheng Zhi laughed heartily. "The Hua family won't allow that. You rarely go out, so you might not know, but scholars across the land recognize the Hua family's standing. Even now that it's fallen, its reputation remains untarnished. A century of accumulated prestige isn't so easily shaken."
Hua Zhi traced the rim of her teacup. "I've never quite understood. Even if scholars once held the Hua family in high regard, now that we've been disgraced, why do they seem to disregard it? Don't they think the family's reputation is ruined?"
"You mean Old Master Hua's involvement in factional struggles and cronyism?" Zheng Zhi wore that mocking smile again. "Which official in the court hasn't done the same? Is there anyone who stands completely alone? All Old Master Hua did was speak up for an underprivileged prince, and that alone erased over a century of the Hua family's contributions to stabilizing the Gu dynasty's rule. Scholars everywhere feel disheartened. At the time, I thought if I were from the Hua family, I'd be utterly confounded."
Hua Zhi felt as if something were stuck in her throat, uncomfortable and stifling, but she showed no sign of it on her face. She even maintained a slight smile. "I don't know whether I should advise you to watch your words, but aside from you, I probably wouldn't hear such things from anyone else. Thank you."
"Just speaking from the heart." Zheng Zhi waved a hand, looking as if he needed wine and peanuts to go with the moment. "Mu Qing is quite good."
"Before the Hua family's downfall, the Hua Clan School had nearly twenty teachers. Mr. Mu was the only one who returned without hesitation. He is indeed commendable. The men of the Hua family should learn from his example."
With a colleague he approved of, a host he enjoyed conversing with, and a group of seemingly eager students, Zheng Zhi felt he deserved a good drink. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was true. He stood up and headed out. "I'll return tomorrow morning."
Hua Zhi quickly rose to follow him. As they stepped out of the study one after the other, they spotted Gu Yanxi standing in the corridor.
This was the first time the two men had met. They sized each other up first. Zheng Zhi thought, He doesn't look like a useless pretty boy. Seems strong—maybe from a military family? Gu Yanxi thought, I need to have his ancestry investigated for eighteen generations!
They nodded at each other and passed by.Hua Zhi accompanied them all the way to the outer gate, instructing Steward Xu to escort the guests out of the Hua family residence on her behalf. She then directed Su Momo to inform the servants to be cautious and avoid inadvertently offending the new tutor. Moreover, with a touch of petty suspicion, she assigned an additional sturdy matron to guard the inner gate.
PS: Probably due to writing too much lately, I have a terrible headache. I’ll be resting all day today, so there will only be one update today, but three updates tomorrow.
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