Dai Yi went to inoculate Zhu Xiurong, but he stayed in the west hall of Kunning Palace and did not come out.
That night, Zhu Youtang went to see his wife.
When Empress Zhang saw her husband, she cried: "...Your Majesty, why do you listen to the people in the market and give your child some medicine of unknown origin? The child is still so young, and ordinary medicine cannot withstand it."
Zhu Youtang said: "I didn't believe it at first, but after thinking about it carefully, Jiangnan Township Examination Jie Yuan and Cheng Guo Gong's children were recommended together. Even if it was not harmful, it was just fishing in troubled waters. What good would it do to them? I was originally looking for ministers to discuss countermeasures. , now there is anyone who dares to make suggestions and offer medicine, do I need to reject them thousands of miles away?"
Queen Zhang is right if she thinks about it.
None of the ministers have an idea. Now it's hard for someone to have an idea. If you ignore it, who will have any say in such a life-and-death matter in the future?
"Queen, don't worry, my daughter Ji Ren has her own destiny. I believe she will not get sick..."
…
…
After the vaccination, everything was calm in the palace.
After a few days, everyone in the court seemed to have forgotten about this matter... However, the smallpox epidemic was still spreading in the capital, because smallpox had reached the palace, and Zhu Youtang would occasionally ask.
In the past few days, palace maids and eunuchs have been sent out of the palace every day. The spread of smallpox in the palace has never stopped. The palace is still full of soldiers. Even some people with common illnesses will be sent out of the palace temporarily to find them. place for placement.
On the morning of September 12th, the court meeting was still going on.
It was just an ordinary court meeting that day, and only civil servants participated.
Zhu Youtang was listening to the report on the grain storage in the Beijing warehouse. This was a summary report before and after the autumn grain was put into the warehouse. However, a servant came in a hurry and just said something in the emperor's ear. Zhu Youtang stood up. Then go out.
"His Majesty……"
Liu Jian reminded the emperor.
The court meeting is still going on. If there is something urgent, let us continue to wait for you, or should we disband and wait until tomorrow?
Zhu Youtang said with a sad face: "Dear ladies, my... little princess has an acne sore, and I want to go visit her."
"Your Majesty, take care of your dragon body."
The ministers were equally sad, but they wanted to persuade Zhu Youtang to restrain himself and not to meet the little princess who had smallpox.
Zhu Youtang said sadly: "I know, please go back first. If you have anything to do, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Let's give up today's sutra banquet!"
"yes."
Liu Jian was very considerate of the emperor.
The emperor's daughter has contracted smallpox. Can we still force the emperor to be diligent and self-denial at this time?
When the ministers came out of the palace, Xie Qian said coldly: "What are you talking about? Believing in the words of folk alchemists will lead to endless troubles."
Li Dongyang said: "That's not true. The alchemist was right about one thing."
"oh?"
Xie Qian was startled and then thought, didn't the alchemist predict that the little princess would get sick on September 12th or 13th?
Isn't that accurate?
Someone on the side asked: "How did you calculate this?"
No one can answer.
Since we couldn't talk deeply, the ministers sighed and left in regret.
…
…
Regarding the time of Zhu Xiurong's illness, it is easy for Zhang Zhou to calculate, that is, going back to the 16th day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar when Zhu Xiurong's death was recorded in history.
Death from smallpox usually takes three to four days, and the incubation period averages twelve days...
When the news that the little princess had smallpox spread outside the palace and reached Zhu Fu, Zhu Fu was furious.
"Go and call that scoundrel! Kneel down in front of the hall!"
Zhu Feng was pulled to kneel as a punishment.
Also punished to kneel was Zhu Daqi, who had followed Zhu Feng.
"Tell me, how is this possible? She has already taken medicine. How could the princess get acne?"
At this time, Zhu Feng still trusted Zhang Zhou.
Zhu Daqi couldn't stand it anymore and said coldly: "Second Young Master, you still haven't understood that Young Master Zhang is deliberately taking advantage of you."
"use?"
"That's right, even if he is Jieyuan, the Second Young Master can't trust him. This person talks about some weird things that mess up the gods, but the Young Master still listens to him... I'm afraid even the Duke's Palace will be implicated this time. Listen. He said that the father-in-law had already ordered someone to go to Nanjing City to teach Zhang Zhou a lesson!"
"No! He and I discussed this together. The responsibility is not his alone."
When Zhu Feng heard this, he almost got up and went to argue with his father.
Zhu Daqi said with a nonchalant expression: "It's useless to talk about it. He used the Second Young Master to involve the Chengguo Palace in this matter. Of course he will be punished! If he just teaches him a lesson, it will be easier for him! After the Second Young Master returns, everything will Don’t interact with him again!”
"ah!"
Zhu Feng shouted to Tian Chang, "Zhang Jieyuan treats me sincerely, I'm afraid I'm going to hurt him!"
…
…
The next day.
The ministers were still waiting for the court meeting, but the eunuch Chen Kuan, the eunuch Bingbi, the chief of etiquette, arrived in a hurry and informed him that the court meeting would be postponed.
The ministers had already expected this.
Getting smallpox is equivalent to waiting for judgment from heaven.
The little princess was still young, so it was even more dangerous to get smallpox, even if she was a daughter of the royal family.
Li Dongyang told the news: "It is said that no one in the Imperial Hospital left the palace yesterday. Perhaps the disease in the palace has spread further."
Tu Fu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said: "I hope your majesty is fine, and I also hope that the princess can turn the crisis around."
"Um."
All the ministers nodded.
The little princess has become ill, and there is nothing we can do. We really hope that the disease will not be transmitted to the emperor.
…
…
After waiting for more than half an hour, the court meeting began.
Zhu Youtang arrived dragging his tired body.
"Gentlemen, I have kept you waiting for a long time." Zhu Youtang looked very tired. He was out of breath even as he sat there. This look made the minister feel distressed.
"Ahem!"
Zhu Youtang coughed twice.
This made the ministers present feel vigilant. Could it be that the emperor was also infected?
"Where did you talk about yesterday?"
When Zhu Youtang came up, he seemed to be reopening yesterday's topic and continuing to talk about the storage of autumn grain.
Wang Ji, the governor of Cangchang, came out and said: "Your Majesty, if you have not had a good rest, it is better to postpone these matters until later."
"oh."
Zhu Youtang was startled at first.
He probably didn't sleep enough and his mind wasn't very clear. Then he thought of something and smiled in front of everyone, with a look of relief on his face.
All the ministers were dumbfounded when they saw this scene. How could the emperor still laugh at this time?
Zhu Youtang waved his hand to Wei Bin, the eunuch and eunuch who was in charge of etiquette, Bingbi, and asked Wei Bin to speak.
Wei Bin said: "Everyone, the little princess's condition has improved greatly."
"ah?"
The ministers present were stunned.
You only got sick yesterday and are much better today?
We don’t know how serious acne is, right? Even a strong young man will have to stay in bed for three or four days if he gets acne. Those who can escape death will basically be left with scars from the acne.
Wei Bin said: "Yesterday, the little princess suffered from acne. The illness started very quickly. But after the onset of the illness, strangely enough, there was only a red rash on her body and no pustules appeared. Even if she had a fever, it was not serious. , by yesterday afternoon, the fever had subsided. Last night, several imperial doctors and Eunuch Dai were taking care of her. In the morning, even the rash on the little princess's body had gone away. The little princess was eating and drinking normally, and was able to play on the ground. …”
As soon as these words came out, the ministers present couldn't help but look at each other.
Liu Jian came out and asked: "Your Majesty, was there any misdiagnosis of the princess's condition earlier?"
In the minister's opinion, if the condition was unusual, it must have been misdiagnosed.
Zhu Youtang said with a look of relief on his face: "I asked the imperial doctors, and they also said that there is no doubt that there is acne, but this situation of the little princess is extremely rare. Maybe the princess has God's blessing. But I think more, because The son of the Duke of Chengguo has done meritorious service by donating medicine. He can avoid suspicion and travel all the way to the capital to donate medicine. He is a good boy."
"This..." Liu Jian originally wanted to deny that the two incidents were related.
But the problem is...
Liu Jian couldn't explain it clearly.
Acne has also developed, which shows that the little princess has indeed come into contact with patients with acne, but her illness is surprisingly mild. Can this be explained by common sense?
"I also asked the imperial doctor, and he said that Dai Yi has been undressed these days and has been working very hard to take care of him. He also had a red rash on his arm, but it faded quickly... It seems that this medicine is really effective. I have Be prepared to take the medicine yourself.”
Zhu Youtang said another piece of news that greatly surprised everyone present.
This time all the ministers almost unanimously opposed: "Your Majesty, no!"
Zhu Youtang said: "I know your worries, but even the princess is fine. Do you still think there is something wrong with the medicine? But I am not in a hurry. I have given the medicine to the palace servants first. They often come in and out of the palace. The inner garden will be fine once they have all used it. It won’t be too late for me, the queen, and the prince to use it again!”
