Cause and Effect

In a short span of time, Zhang Xuezhou had been caught in a contest between Medical Officer Chunyu of the Imperial Medical Hall and the grand empress dowager.

Had he been a little less careful, he might have lost his life without ever understanding how.

For instance, Zhang Xuezhou had lain down all the way to the Palace of Peace and Happiness, exactly as Medical Officer Chunyu needed. As a result, she had not struck at him in secret.

After he was tainted with Sha Qi, Medical Officer Chunyu had repeatedly considered taking action, but in the end she had abandoned her lethal contingency and waited to see whether Zhang Xuezhou would regain consciousness.

Zhang Xuezhou, however, was extraordinarily hard to kill. Time and again, Medical Officer Chunyu had thought he ought to be able to die, only for Zhang Xuezhou to come back to life.

"We've both deceived those above and concealed things from those below, so neither of us can be said to control the other. From now on, we go our separate ways and stay out of each other's affairs!"

It had to be said that a patient had very little power to resist when faced with a doctor who wanted to take his life.

Medical Officer Chunyu wanted to live, and so did Zhang Xuezhou.

Zhang Xuezhou moved his lips, quickly whispering the terms of an agreement, and Medical Officer Chunyu nodded.

Medical Officer Chunyu had less than a one percent chance of curing the grand empress dowager. It was a dead end.

If Zhang Xuezhou had died under treatment, the grand empress dowager might have abandoned the idea of having her open the skull to treat her. But Zhang Xuezhou was alive, and he had even guessed what she was thinking.

If Zhang Xuezhou so