The Patients

"Get me the medicine according to Dongfang Shuo's prescription!"

"Quack doctors! You bunch of quacks! My illness is exactly the same as his, so why are the prescriptions different?!"

"I want to see the Emperor and have the word 'mediocre' carved on the faces of you bunch of quack doctors!"

Zhang Xuezhou finished preparing the medicine at the Imperial Medical Academy and drank the medicinal soup, while Tian Fen continued to shout, leaving the many imperial physicians surrounding Tian Fen looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Prime Minister, each dose of Lord Dongfang's medicine contains one ounce of arsenic. How can such a highly poisonous substance be used!"

Why can he eat it but I can't... arsenic?

Tian Fen's grumbling finally subsided.

Yi Shuo dared to prescribe this kind of Pill Formula for Zhang Xuezhou; no one else would have the guts.

Of course, Tian Fen dared not take it either.

Even if he were completely out of his mind, Tian Fen felt he would never take arsenic.

He looked at Zhang Xuezhou, who was slowly strolling in the courtyard with a cane, and patted his own head. He felt a faint throbbing pain in his head, and if he shook his head, he would feel dizzy and his vision would go black.

After taking the top-grade elixir given to him by the new emperor in an emergency and receiving treatment at the Imperial Medical Academy, Tian Fen felt that his symptoms had not subsided in the slightest.

Even though his True Self Realm cultivation was weak, Tian Fen was still a true great cultivator and could clearly perceive the severity of his symptoms.

"Dongfang Shuo, how do you feel after taking the medicine? I feel like I'm walking unsteadily and have some difficulty!"

After thinking for a few seconds, Tian Fen shouted at the top of his lungs.

He saw Zhang Xuezhou slowly turn his head around.

"If Prime Minister Tian wants to eat beef, he needs to go home to eat it; the Imperial Medical Academy does not serve meat," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"How is your condition?" Tian Fen called out.

"I'm definitely going home for dinner; I'll be taking the carriage home in a little while!"

What nonsense are you talking about?

"Flowers don't bloom for a hundred days. Once they have bloomed for a hundred days, they may Demonization. If one has a bit of fortuitous opportunity, one can transform into a flower demon, and from then on, one can absorb Spiritual Qi and bloom forever!"

Tian Fen thought Zhang Xuezhou was fine, but after exchanging a few words with Zhang Xuezhou, he realized that Zhang Xuezhou's problems were even more serious than his own.

At least he only cursed randomly when he had a headache, but Zhang Xuezhou was completely unable to understand human language and was just spouting nonsense.

"Have you eaten too much arsenic?"

Tian Fen asked a question, only to hear Zhang Xuezhou reciting "The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate" in the courtyard of the Imperial Physician's Hall, which could almost be considered a sign of dementia.

A short while later, Tian Fen saw the medical team hurriedly carry Zhang Xuezhou into the room.

"That young lady is Dongfang Shuo's wife. She really dares to prescribe medicine, even using arsenic as an ingredient. It's more reliable for a male physician to treat this illness!"

Although he looked down on the medical officers' treatment of him, after comparing himself with Zhang Xuezhou, Tian Fen ultimately felt a sense of superiority.

I wonder how the Empress Dowager's injuries are?

Tian Fen even tiptoed to look in the direction of the main hall of the Imperial Medical Academy.

Among everyone, the Empress Dowager was the most seriously injured.

In his early years, Emperor Jing was skilled in assassination, while the Empress Dowager assisted him by focusing on Technique Method analysis and defense, thus the two worked together to help each other.

It appeared that the Empress Dowager was struck by the Daoist's Incantation Technique flying knife, but in reality, she was shielding the new emperor from the attack. Otherwise, the flying knife aimed at the new emperor would not have hit the Empress Dowager's head; she simply failed to catch it.

It's normal to not be able to catch a flying knife. The Empress Dowager wasn't the first cultivator to fail to catch a flying knife; no one has ever caught a Dao Lord's flying knife.

But it's a fact that no one survives the Daoist's flying knives.

Tian Fen touched his head, still somewhat apprehensive, feeling that the Empress Dowager was highly likely to be dead.

"Help me to the Empress Dowager!"

After thinking for a long time, Tian Fen finally figured it out.

The physicians here are not as good as Zhang Xuezhou's group, much less as good as the Empress Dowager's group.

If the Empress Dowager hadn't died, Tian Fen thought they could refer to the elixir formulas from the strongest medical team.

He insisted on using the best medical treatments. As the prime minister, he was among the highest-ranking officials, and the medical resources he had access to in the court were among the best. Tian Fen felt he couldn't possibly be inferior to them.

After being summoned, Tian Fen was escorted to the main hall of the Imperial Medical Academy.

Come in!

After the announcement, the Empress Dowager's leisurely voice finally came from the main hall.

"Empress Dowager, are you alright?"

Tian Fen was helped to quickly step through the threshold, then turned a corner before he saw the Empress Dowager reclining behind the screen.

"I won't die anytime soon," the Empress Dowager exhaled. "You took shortcuts in your cultivation, and you haven't been practicing properly in your daily life. When this illness strikes, it's like a landslide. To stabilize your injuries, you need to rest and recuperate patiently!"

"My head is throbbing right now, like someone is stabbing my forehead with a knife," Tian Fen said, his head aching. "That damned Dongfang Shuo... Empress Dowager, what kind of calming soup did these useless guys give me? They have no real skills. Shouldn't I, a loyal protector of His Majesty, be able to take some good medicine?"

"I've also prepared a calming decoction here, and the prescription should be similar to yours," the Empress Dowager said with a wry smile. "Daojun's flying knives are sharp and all have the effect of destroying the soul. You were hit by the aftershocks, which should have damaged your soul. The calming decoction is the right medicine for your condition!"

"That's not right. Dongfang Shuo was also hit by the aftershocks, so why is the medicine he prepared different from ours?" Tian Fen exclaimed.

"Oh?"

"He asked for 500-year-old Ganoderma lucidum powder, 300-year-old ginseng, the finest Polygonatum sibiricum, kudzu vine, cinnamon, cloves, jute, Polygonum multiflorum, raspberry, Astragalus membranaceus, as well as Dendrobium nobile, Ligustrum lucidum, and Eclipta prostrata!"

After thinking for a moment, Tian Fen called over the physician beside him and asked him to supplement the list of medicinal herbs he had forgotten.

These involve as many as thirty-six kinds of medicinal materials, including highly poisonous ones such as arsenic, scorpions, toad venom, and spiders.

"Is this edible?"

After she finished speaking, the Empress Dowager, who was lying down, looked surprised.

The Empress Dowager was extremely learned. Although she did not have much knowledge of medicinal herbs, she was at least familiar with their names and properties.

It's difficult to deduce the final medicinal effect when dozens of medicinal herbs are mixed together, not to mention that many of these herbs contain toxic substances.

The scorpions, toad venom, and other poisonous items in the Imperial Medical Academy are not just small insects picked up from the ground; they are either special poisons or extracted from demonic creatures.

After pondering for a few seconds, the Empress Dowager felt that the physician who prescribed medicine for Zhang Xuezhou should be beheaded.

She asked around twice, and when she learned that the person who prescribed the medicine for Zhang Xuezhou was the physician Yi Shuo, the Empress Dowager was speechless with disbelief.

If it were anyone else, the Empress Dowager would have thought that this physician had a blood feud with Zhang Xuezhou and was trying to Zhang Xuezhou while he was ill.

"What did Dongfang Shuo say after taking the medicine?" the Empress Dowager asked.

"He's talking nonsense!"

Tian Fen gestured and then mentioned that Zhang Xuezhou's answers were incoherent and he didn't seem like a normal person.

"That damned Dongfang Shuo..."

After talking with the Empress Dowager for a short while, Tian Fen couldn't resist the throbbing pain in his head and began to berate Zhang Xuezhou.

"His Majesty once gave you a pill, which was made by Dongfang Shuo," the Empress Dowager said. "His Majesty said this pill could slow the progression of your injuries and save your life. Don't scold Dongfang Shuo when you're in a bad mood, lest you have difficulty obtaining medicine later!"

"The pills he refined?" Tian Fen asked in astonishment, enduring the pain. "When did he acquire such alchemy skills?"

"Just two years ago..."

The Empress Dowager whispered something, then pressed her hand to her head as well.

Tian Fen felt as if someone had stabbed her in the head with a knife, while the Empress Dowager felt as if a venomous snake had crawled into her head. Whenever the snake breathed, it would writhe inside her head, even spitting venom and tearing at her flesh.

Her peaceful face twisted in an instant.