Gao Qing's calculation was one hundred percent correct. Just now Hu Nayin was worried that the royal family had forgotten her, but apparently, they had not. They valued Hu Nayin so highly to the point that Hu Nayin just mentioned her name and the palace guards immediately obtained the king's order to bring them in.
Their footsteps echoed loudly around the silent palace corridors. Zhu Su looked around as he was soon fascinated by the style of the Ava Palace that was different from the decoration of the Ming Palaces. The front part was decorated with statues of men and women saluting by clasping hands in front of their chests - Anjali's attitude. The pattern of white elephants dominated the palace. As for the courtier who brought both of them, he was barefoot, and he was very respectful as well as overly gentle, even though he was a man.
Only both of them went to the palace. Gao Qing insisted not to join.
"You are the main character at this moment, Boy," Gao Qing said earnestly. "Show your talent, heal Queen Dowager, and impress all of them. Then you can realize your dream. But, it won't work if I join there." He patted Zhu Su on his shoulder. "You can do it, Boy! Believe in yourself!"
They finally arrived at the Entrance Hall, the place where King of Ava had been waiting.
The courtier immediately knelt down. Zhu Su and Hu Nayin followed him. "Greetings to Your Majesty. As your oder, I have brought Miss Hu Nayin here."
Sitting on the throne, King of Ava waved his hand. "Stand up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The king now looked at Hu Nayin who was bowing her head, his eyes sparkled. "Miss Hu Nayin! So grateful I am that you come here at the right time!"
It was now the courtier who became the translator. Hu Nayin gave a little smile. "Yes, Your Majesty... I heard that Queen Dowager is falling ill, I am so worried about her condition..." She ventured to look at the king. She was surprised, the King of Ava she met before was an old man, why did the king change into a young handsome man this moment? And according to her vague memory, this young man was a prince before? Or maybe?...
"Have you succeeded your father to occupy the throne?"
"Yes, not long ago! I am entrusted with such an important task of leading the Ava Kingdom."
"I must congratulate you, Your Majesty."
"Thank you," The king answered. "But it seems that I have to undergo such a rough way in my first reign. Right at the time I start to announce my policies, my mother falls sick. I am so worried, and the physicians can't give any help. Miss Hu, are you able to cure her?"
"Since we are concerned with Queen Dowager's health, I must be very careful. I won't do it myself, instead, I bring my Master here."
"Your Master?"
"Yes." Hu Nayin pointed at Zhu Su. "Let me introduce my Master. I can be a physician and medical expert, all thanks to his kindness."
Now the king stared straight to Zhu Su, while Zhu Su himself stepped forward to salute, "Greetings to Your Majesty!"
Responding to Zhu Su's greetings, the king smiled. "Miss Hu Nayin's Master, wow! Miss Hu Nayin is a brilliant medical expert, then you are more brilliant for sure! Such a great delight for me to meet you!"
Zhu Su gave a nod of respect with a slight smile. "Many thanks for Your Majesty's praise."
"May I know your name, please?"
Name?! Gosh, how could he never think that the king would ask his name! His brain thought fast since he had to give an answer in a short time. So strange if he did not even know his own names, right?!
"My name is... Su, Your Majesty."
"Su?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You are Ming people, right? Same with Miss Hu?"
"Yes."
"What I know is, the names of Ming people consist of at least two characters and four characters at most. I never meet Ming people with one-character name!"
"I am an orphan. I don't know the surname of my father and mother, I only know my own name because that's how people call me."
Fu Huang will certainly be very angry with me for throwing away my own surname to beg for life in a foreign country! But... I'm forced to do it! In spite of everything, my life and Youdun is more important than anything!
Ah but, actually he can't be angry with me. Ming indeed has disposed of me. Disposes of both of us!
Compassion was emanated from the eyes of the king. "I'm sorry, I am asking something presumptuous."
Zhu Su could notice the king's compassion. Suddenly he understood why Hu Nayin once praised the Ava royals to be so friendly and kind.
"It's alright, Your Majesty. Don't mind it," Zhu Su smiled, assured him.
"Ah, we are talking too much here. Come on, let us go inside. Mother is waiting in her room."
Actually, it was more precisely to say that the queen dowager could not spring out from her bed, she must lie in the bed all the time. The head of court ladies reported, this moment the queen dowager felt severe dizziness. Like someone who had boarded a ship and then encountered big waves it made the ship rotated to and fro. The severe dizziness made queen dowager unable to lift her body even a centimeter.
"Mother, I have brought Miss Hu, the female physician who has treated Elder Sister, along with her master. It is him who will treat you," Ava King told his mother.
Queen dowager still lay down and closed her eyes. She muttered softly, "Okay... okay... Don't talk to me... every time I talk, I will feel dizzy..."
"The Queen Dowager hasn't eaten anything until now, Sire. She has no energy and very weak." Aside from the bed, a young woman dressing in beautiful clothes who appeared to be the queen dowager's assistant reported.
The king turned to Zhu Su. "Please, Mr. Su."
At first, Zhu Su paid his respects to the queen dowager.
"Your Majesty, I do apologize if I am presumptuous, but is it permissible for the Physician to take the queen dowager's pulse?"
"Is it useful for the treatment?"
"In Chinese Medicine, we have to check the patient's pulse so that the information we can obtain is really complete."
The king thought for a while.
"It's okay then, since you do it for treatment, just do it," He finally answered. "That's right, your treatment style is somewhat different from ours. Our medical philosophy is more focused on the philosophy of Buddhist sutras * and Ayurvedha (traditional Indian medicine). Although we are also familiar with Chinese Medicine."
"Yes. Diagnosis of Chinese Medicine focuses on Observation, Inquiry, Auscultation and Olfaction, and Palpation, which includes taking the pulse."
The king nodded. Zhu Su reverently touched the queen dowager's wrist, began to examine her. He did the examination very carefully since he must not act recklessly. Although he had concluded the illness suffered by the queen dowager just for a few seconds, yet he must be very careful. After all, the person he was dealing with was the Queen Dowager of Ava. He thus tried to obey the teachings of the legendary physician Zhang Zhongjing * to check the pulse on each wrist for fifty pulse count. Impatient people would find the guide was boredom and time-consuming. After all, he tried his best to be very professional in his duty.
But it was not over yet, he still ordered Hu Nayin to do Touch Examination, by pressing certain acupuncture points on the queen dowager's feet and hands. Hu Nayin concluded this and that, and Zhu Su wrote everything down in his notebook.
The examination process took a long time, about ten minutes.
"How is Mother, Sir?" The king seemed worried, because Zhu Su examined his mother for too long and he did it with a very serious facial expression.
Zhu Su turned his face at the king.
...
* Sutra = in Indian literary traditions, Sutra refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text.
* Zhang Zhongjing = a Chinese pharmacologist, physician, inventor, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty and one of the most eminent Chinese physicians during the later years of the Han dynasty. He established medication principles and summed up the medicinal experience until that time, thus making a great contribution to the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine. (Wikipedia)