Zhu Su, Hu Nayin, and Liu Ku were walking in a hurry through the palace corridors, following the court ladies to the empress' bedchamber. The court ladies had given him few informations. Zhu Yunwen was getting better, although he still felt hurt, but he could eat several spoons of porridge. But unexpectedly, it was the empress who got infected this moment.
"Because of taking care of His Majesty, the Empress had been lacked of sleep during this time. She is pregnant, after all. She is not in good condition, and finally being affected by this epidemic," The senior court lady whimpered in sadness.
"Pregnant?!..." Zhu Su got stunned. Liu Ku had specifically designed this epidemic to mainly attack the stomach. Now the empress was pregnant, so if things went wrong, then could it be?!...
They arrived at the empress' bedchamber. It was Hu Nayin who treated the empress, while Zhu Su and Liu Ku waited outside. In the era of Ming Dynasty, it was so strict when it came to gender differences, especially in aristocracy. Men and women should not touch each other in spite of the reason for treatment. Moreover, in the case of the treatment for the empress.
"Your Highness, may we know who this young woman is?" Senior court lady stared closely at Hu Nayin. More precisely to say, staring at the Miao ethnic traditional clothes Hu Nayin was wearing which appeared odd in her eyes. The senior court lady never heard of Hu Nayin's prominence, she was unquestionably suspicious of the young woman who looked unusual for her.
"She is my assistant. Don't underestimate her, she is very brilliant. She often treats plenty of noblewomen in Yunnan, and even has treated the Princess from Ava Kingdom," Zhu Su explained.
The senior court lady immediately changed her expression. "I am sorry... Lady Physician! Please come in."
Like Zhu Yunwen, the empress was moaning in pain while holding her stomach. Hu Nayin immediately approached her, and when she held the empress' hand, she gasped.
"Your Majesty... Do you have twins?..." Hu Nayin asked.
"I... don't know..." The empress answered amidst the moans of her pain.
"But no female physicians make such the diagnosis?" Senior court lady watched Hu Nayin suspiciously once more. Hu Nayin was indeed quite young to be called as a professional physician, she was only thirty two years old now. She was also a Miao, and during the Ming Dynasty early era, the Miao people were considered as retarded barbarians, being vulnerable to be humiliated by the people from Central Plain.
Hu Nayin did know that the senior court lady underestimated her. She did not get the diagnosis results from the Chinese Medicine pulse-taking method, but instead from her natural talent to diagnose by holding someone's hand. Of course, the results she obtained was far different from the diagnosis of Chinese Medicine in general, even Zhu Su might not get the same results as Hu Nayin got. Thence, instead of heeding the senior court lady, Hu Nayin chose to keep focusing on examining the empress.
Hu Nayin examined the empress for quite a while. Until finally she stepped out of the bedchamber. Being so curious about the results, Zhu Su quickly questioned her.
"How is the Empress?" Zhu Su asked.
"This... will not be easy, Your Highness... The Empress is pregnant with twins, and this epidemic mainly attacks the stomach. I am worried... there are lives we cannot save..."
"What do you mean?"
"Maybe the Empress' life, or the babies' life... or maybe the three of them!..."
Abruptly, the wind blew much stronger. Watching Hu Nayin's agitated face, Zhu Su inhaled deeply, tried to calm himself down.
"What is your diagnosis for the Empress? I'll write down the prescription for her."
As Zhu Su was so worried when he listened to Hu Nayin's information, Liu Ku let out an annoyed snort, then pulled his gaze away in despair.
Zhu Su pursed his lips. He agreed with Hu Nayin, the empress was in such a very complicated and dangerous situation. The empress had all of her energy drained for her twins, at the same time, the Xie Qi from outside was attacking her. It was this complication which was so hard for him to make a correct prescription. If he prescribed medicine to expel Xie Qi, then it would possibly damage Zheng Qi, whereas the patient had initially been lack of Zheng Qi; on the other hand, if he gave the medicine to boost Zheng Qi, it would instead possibly strengthen Xie Qi. He was between in devil and the deep blue sea. Even more, the medicine dosage for pregnant women was very dilemmatic. Pregnant women must be very careful in consuming herbs with function of diaphoretic, antipyretic, antitoxin, and laxatives - some of Qi-tonifying herbs must be avoided, too. Such as Banlangen (woad root), Dahuang (rhubarb root and rhizome), Mangxiao (mirabilite), Shengdihuang (dried adhesive rehmania root), and Taizishen (heterophylly falsestarwort root), these medicinal herbs were actually very important to expel Xie Qi from the empress' body, yet he must avoid it instead.
Liu Ku glanced at Zhu Su, who was serious about sorting out the herbs he should write down. But a second later, he decided to pull his gaze to the palace garden. He was disappointed with Zhu Su, since his master had apparently failed to fight for his dream of becoming a great leader.
Finally, Zhu Su had written down the prescription for the empress. He gave it to the senior court lady, who immediately walked fast towards the chamber of royal physician.
"Do you think it can be used to get rid of the disease?" Liu Ku asked with a dull expression.
"At least I've tried." Zhu Su pressed his lips. "I must save the lives of those unborn babies. The babies are innocent."
"It won't work. The epidemic has been designed in such a way that no medicine in this world can heal the victims." Liu Ku scowled. "I do this, all is for the sake of your honor and glory. Because I want to help you to become a powerful Fan Wang like before, or even more than that. But... you apparently ruin my expectations..."
Zhu Su gave no response to Liu Ku's frustrated words. He just gazed with a blank stare at the senior court lady as she was stepping into the empress' bedchamber with the other court ladies and female physicians in hurry. It was such a mess. They could hear screams and cries echoing from inside. Zhu Su, who was initially unfocused, suddenly could gain his focus again. He and Hu Nayin walked slowly toward the empress' bedchamber.
One of the ladies came out of the room. Zhu Su immediately asked her, "What's going on?"
"That... the empress has a miscarriage..." The young court lady answered timidly, thus went away.
"Your Highness?..." Hu Nayin could see the disappointment emitted from Zhu Su's eyes. Indeed, he was very, very disappointed. Because he still maintained a little hope, that he could save those innocent lives. But it turned out...
That he failed.
The senior court lady came out of the bedchamber. Her face was disheveled, clearly showed that she was very sad. As she saw Hu Nayin, she said, "Lady Physician... you are so amazing. You make correct diagnosis. Her Majesty does indeed have twins..."
"Senior Court Lady..."
"But, we are so sad that... those babies... have no fate to see this world alive... The Empress is so frustrated, she keeps screaming and crying... but, what can else we do, Fate has His own intention..."
"Has the Empress consumed the herbal concoction that His Highness has prescribed?"
"She had no time for that. Everything happened so fast..." The Senior Court Lady choked up. "Please excuse me... I still have to handle other things."
The crying sound which was so loud at first, slowly began to fade. Everything turned to be quiet. This palace corridor had also been quiet. Zhu Su, Hu Nayin, and Liu Ku had left the palace since long time ago.
The cold wind blew. Blowing everything to fly away. To dissolve in the vast, unbordered sky.