Chapter Fifty-Four Standing Up Straight

  It's said that a doctor from the folk made such a conclusion, and the imperial physician immediately changed his face, not even bothering to be polite in front of the emperor. He blushed with anger and shouted: "Nonsense! You're talking nonsense, you quack doctor! The ear canal is not a place where foreign objects can enter. If what you said were true, wouldn't everyone on earth be dead by now? In the scorching summer, mosquitoes are rampant, don't they all fly into people's ears and enter their brains?"

  This matter had always seemed strange to Ning De Rong, and he couldn't reason it out. So he could only say in a gentle tone: "Your Excellency, although the common people don't understand the specific theory, but in my early years when I followed my father to practice medicine in the countryside, I indeed encountered such a case. At that time, it was a strong young man who, despite being in severe pain and fainting, fortunately woke up later and could speak about what had happened. At that time, both my father and I took his pulse, although the abnormality was extremely subtle, but after careful examination, we were still able to get some clues. Today, the Empress's pulse is identical to that man's, and my father also said that there indeed have been such cases, only they are extremely rare, so very few people know about them."

  "Alright, don't argue here anymore, the Empress Dowager is still unconscious."

  Zhou Ming listened impatiently and pointed at Ning De Rong: "Just say it, what method do you want to use? I...I will pardon your crime."

  Ning De let out a sigh of relief and bowed his head, saying: "If it were an ordinary mosquito that had crawled in, using clear water to flush the ear would be enough, but since Her Majesty is currently unconscious and the time has passed for too long, Her Majesty's pulse is already weak, so... only try with oil."

  "Oil? You mean the vegetable oil used for cooking?" Zhou Ming furrowed his brow, and upon seeing Ning De Rong nodding, he hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and ordering the eunuch Bei Guizi beside him: "Have someone bring in a bowl of oil."

  Bai Kezi took orders and left. Ning De Rong was silently calculating the time in his heart, thinking about the Empress Dowager's serious illness. The imperial physicians took turns to diagnose and treat her, and then the wise prince received a message recommending himself, after which the Emperor summoned him. Now it's only around 9 am, and this insect entered while the Empress Dowager was sleeping. The palace maid didn't specify the time, but sleep usually occurs at night or noon. So, it should be either last night or yesterday afternoon.

  After such a long time, this worm should have already entered the brain. There is no cure for it, why does the Empress Dowager's pulse still not weaken to that extent? Can she still diagnose any abnormalities herself? Is it because people get older and there are more impurities in their ears, so the mosquito has difficulty moving forward, thus giving her this life-saving time? The Empress Dowager is a blessed person with a heavenly appearance, destined not to die?

  Ning De Rong Zheng was thinking, and Bei Ke Zi had already personally brought a bowl of oil over. The old man sighed. The person in the bed curtains opposite him was none other than the current Empress Dowager, after all. Men and women were different, and this task of pouring oil into someone's ears was something he couldn't do himself. Peony... could she bear the weight of this responsibility?

  At this point, Ning De Rong couldn't help but add a few strands of difficulty to his face, and finally said in a low voice: "Please ask the sisters to carefully pour the oil. Immediately afterwards, he will turn that ear down, now it can only be tried with great effort."

  An old woman came out and took the bowl of oil from Baochai's hands. Another old woman and two palace maids helped the Empress Dowager up, but saw that the old woman's hands were trembling, her face had already turned pale, and she stood there for half a day. Suddenly, she blurted out: "This...old slave can't bear to do it." Her voice was shaking with sobs.

  "Rubbish......" Zhou Ming was furious and shouted loudly outside the tent, glaring at Beike: "You go get it."

  But then, Beishuizi "thudded" and knelt down. Trembling with fear, he said: "Your Majesty, spare my life! I'm not even in this line of work, the Empress Dowager's body is worth a thousand pieces of gold... how could I dare? If there's any mishap on my part, it won't be just a joke..."

  Zhou Ming was so angry that he stared at the shell, but he also knew that this slave had a point. Those several concubines and palace maids, who usually even dared to punish the imperial concubine, were now all on the verge of tears. Obviously, the empress dowager's status was too noble, making them not dare to take action. But the problem was: if they dragged it out any longer, their own mother would definitely be beyond salvation.

  At this moment, she only felt a sudden surge of anger and her cheeks began to ache slightly. She glanced at Ning De Rong, but saw him bowing his head in silence, clearly not intending to step forward. This was also understandable, as there were differences between men and women. The empress dowager's dignity would be compromised if she were seen by a man in such a state, even if it was just Ning De Rong. If word got out, it would be a scandal of epic proportions. Even if she were rescued, her mother would likely be mortified with shame.

  Emperor Zhou Ming was so annoyed, but being annoyed was useless, and worrying was even more useless. He wanted to call two female doctors over, but thinking about it, they probably hadn't done this kind of thing before either, and their performance would likely be worse than that of the shell and those two wet nurses. Just as he was at a loss for what to do, suddenly he heard a crisp voice say calmly: "I'll come, wet nurse, give me the oil."

  Zhou Ming was stunned on the spot, Ning De Rong also suddenly raised his head, his mouth opened and closed, but ultimately didn't say anything, only letting out a light sigh.

  Zhou Ming looked at the "divine doctor" with a complex gaze, and in his heart, he was very clear why he had just refused to let that little girl do this thing. It turned out that he knew there were enormous consequences involved.

  Recalling the appearance of that little girl, although she was always slightly bowing her head, judging from her stature, she couldn't be more than eleven or twelve years old. Thinking about this, Zhou Ming's heart also tightened: She's just a child, can she really do this? This is related to the Empress Dowager's life after all. Coincidentally... this child was also worried about the Empress Dowager's safety. In fact, this matter was originally a gamble with a high risk of failure, no matter who did it, the chances of success were slim, and the chances of sacrifice were great, otherwise, Beishizi and other palace maids wouldn't be scared to this extent.

  Knowing it's wrong but doing it anyway. Zhou Ming let out a sigh, and a faint sense of gratitude rose in his heart: such a young girl, yet so brave and kind. He glanced at Ning De Rong, saw that the old man's face had turned somewhat pale, and suddenly said in a low voice, "Don't worry, no matter... what the outcome is, I won't blame that child."

  Ning De Rong looked at the Emperor in surprise, suddenly knelt down and said in a low voice: "Your humble servant thanks Your Majesty for sparing Xie Yao's life."

  Zhou Ming waved his hand, just about to let Ning De Rong get up, when suddenly he heard several ayis shouting loudly: "Out came out, indeed it's a black worm."

  Zhou Ming couldn't care about Ning De Rong anymore, as soon as he heard that the black insect had come out, he immediately lifted the curtain and strode to the empress dowager's bedside, where he saw a puddle of clear oil on the ground with a small, motionless black beetle inside.

  Ning Feng bowed to the emperor and said calmly, "This insect has entered through the ear canal, and halfway through it is also exhausted. Otherwise... I'm afraid Empress Dowager would not have waited until now. Now that the insect has come out, what's left is to wait quietly for Empress Dowager's physical reaction to determine her condition."

  Zhou Ming nodded and saw that the Empress Dowager was still sideways, with a wet nurse holding her body, making her head hang in mid-air. He frowned and said, "Is she going to stay in this position all the time?"

  Ning Feng said, "Yes, please have the emperor send more people to assist. It is essential that the empress dowager be controlled for 12 hours." After thinking for a moment, she added, "Please ask this sister to bring over several cotton balls. If there are thin bamboo sticks or wooden sticks, please bring those as well."

  This era has no cotton swabs, Ning Fibiao had to make do with what he had. On the other hand, Ning De Rong was outside, listening anxiously and not understanding what his granddaughter was going to do. Since the task was already completed, why did she want to add more trouble?

  Before long, the palace maid brought these things according to Ning Fengbi's instructions.

  The wooden stick was very smooth and the thin wood strips couldn't be pried off. Fortunately, the bamboo was just an ordinary bamboo stick, so Ning Fengbi broke off a long and thin piece of bamboo from the top, split it into several strips, checked if it was about right, then wrapped half of it with cotton, gently inserted it into the Empress Dowager's ear, turned it around, and when she took it out, the cotton on the bamboo strip had absorbed a lot of oil.

  "It's just according to this method, until the Empress Dowager can't get any more oil out of her ears." Ning Fenbi was explaining to several palace maids and wet nurses when Zhou Ming suddenly said: "You and your grandfather will stay in the palace for now. When the Empress Dowager wakes up, you can return home. If you're worried about your family being anxious, I'll have someone send a decree right away."

  Ning Fibian was taken aback, but after a moment's thought, this was normal too. The Empress Dowager had not yet woken up, and she and San Ye had performed so "brilliantly". How could the Emperor bear to let them go back? She nodded slightly and bowed: "This humble woman obeys your edict."

  The room fell silent for a moment, and at first, Ning Fengbi still used a cotton swab to check the queen's ears every now and then. However, as the amount of oil decreased, the oil stains on the cotton swabs also became lighter and lighter.

  Here, Ningde Rong once again gave the Empress Dowager a pulse diagnosis and found that her pulse had clearly improved. He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't until then that Zhou Ming's complexion slightly improved.

  The empress and the imperial concubines were all anxiously waiting outside for news, because previously the emperor had been furious and seeing them also made him feel annoyed, so no one dared to come over to disturb him. Now that they heard the empress dowager was recovering, someone was sent to ask for instructions and pay respects.

  The emperor nodded, and soon the empress arrived with several high-ranking palace ladies. However, she heard the emperor say coldly: "In the grand Cining Palace, a beetle actually flew in, it's really become a joke. In recent years, there have been fewer punishments in the palace, it seems that the slaves have become more and more lazy. Empress, those slaves cannot be indulged, you take care of it."

  This remark was ridiculous, since they couldn't be lenient, what else could they do besides killing them all? Ning De Rong and Ning Xian Bi both trembled in their hearts. Although they were also from a wealthy family, the matter of beating slaves to death had never happened in the Earl's mansion before. Now that they thought about it, the palace maid and eunuch who served them previously would lose their lives because of this matter, which made them feel extremely cruel.

  What else can be done? The empress almost lost her life because of this, and it can be imagined that if the empress really died, not only would the previous palace maids and eunuchs have to accompany her in death, but also a few imperial physicians would have to take the blame.

  ps：

  I've finally become a V user, I'm nervous and asking for the first subscription. Oh right, there's also the monthly ticket, this month I want to work hard to rush up the monthly ticket rankings. Recommendation tickets and collections are also crucial. Please support me everyone (hmm, won't it seem a bit greedy? But... all authors... want these things, right? Pointing at myself, being greedy isn't just me alone, hehe!)