Each day for Li Yuanying began with medicine.
Madam Li feared someone might secretly poison him, so the physicians brewed his medicine in a corner of the great room, under the strict supervision of her trusted eunuchs and maids. In accordance with imperial tradition, the finished decoction was divided into two portions. The prescribing physician drank one bowl first to prove it was not poisoned, then Madam Li herself tasted the other to check its temperature before it could be given to Prince Shao.
With nothing else to do while on duty, Huo Qilang sat nearby and watched them work, simply to pass the time.
Two physicians attended Prince Shao daily. One, Lü Qingguang, was a renowned local physician from Youzhou; the other, Zhu Minhe, was his personal physician brought from Chang'an. Each had two apprentices, and the six of them ground, soaked, and boiled herbs, working ceaselessly from morning to night.
Huo Qilang soon discovered that the two physicians had different responsibilities. Zhu Minhe prepared decoctions for his chronic headaches. Besides the usual remedies such as gastrodia, Sichuan lovage, and angelica dahurica, he added costly nourishing ingredients such as ginseng, velvet antler, bird's nest, and dendrobium.
Since he had to drink a bowl himself for every bowl he brewed, Zhu Minhe had been nourished into a picture of rosy-cheeked vitality. He looked as though one more push would send him ascending to immortality.
Unfortunately, the patient himself suffered such a severe loss of appetite that even food was difficult to swallow. He could only take a few sips of medicine; any more made him nauseous. Thus, despite the enormous expense, the treatment had virtually no effect.
Physician Lü Qingguang's duties were entirely different. He had five large medicine chests, each with more than a dozen drawers. Between them, they