Chapter Twelve Rumors

  The doctor's surname is Huang, his name is Dongdao, he is good at detoxification and nourishment. He came in and knelt down to pay respects.

  Chongzhen Emperor didn't waste any words and directly asked Huang Yu-yi, who was kneeling on the ground: "How is Zhong Wendi's injury?"

  "Report back to Your Majesty, the wound on Zhong Jingwei's right arm is not serious and has not damaged any tendons or bones. The troublesome part is that the dagger had potent poison."

  Chongzhen Emperor thought to himself, "Isn't this nonsense? Everyone knows about it." Then he asked, "How?"

  The imperial physician's face showed a puzzled expression, and he said: "Your Majesty, this poison has been identified as the venom of the polluted throat worm. This insect is commonly found in the most polluted and foul-smelling places in the Western Regions, and it is extremely rare. If a person is poisoned by it, they will lose their life in just a moment. It's extremely vicious. Fortunately, after being poisoned, the imperial guard bled him to remove the poison, but if it were an ordinary person, they would still be unlikely to escape death. However, I find it strange that Zhong Jinwei seems to have a special talent, and this poison doesn't seem to affect him as severely as I imagined. Currently, he is in a coma, but there is no longer any danger to his life."

  What Huang Yu didn't know was that in the era of Zhong Jinwei, people lived surrounded by gutter oil and were nurtured through similar things like melamine and various vaccines. Their physical resistance was no longer comparable to that of people today. In later generations, there was even a joke about this: if a biochemical crisis occurred on Earth, the last survivors would definitely be the Chinese.

  The Chongzhen Emperor heard that Huang Yuanyi said that Zhong Xingwei had no worries about his life, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He then asked: "You have worked hard, do you know when Zhong Xingwei will wake up?"

  Huang Yu Yi thought for a moment, his face showing difficulty, and said: "Your Majesty, I really don't know. This is the first time I've seen such a strange thing, it's really hard to say when he'll wake up. I dare not speak nonsense to deceive you."

  Chongzhen Emperor thought, being unconscious for a few days should be about it, this imperial physician does not dare to speak randomly is afraid of taking responsibility, afraid of saying wrong and I will punish him. Never mind, I'll just wait a few more days. So, he let Huang Imperial Physician withdraw.

  Wen Tiren returned home from the palace and went straight to his study, locking himself in and refusing to let anyone disturb him. He then took out his pen and carefully recorded everything that Zhong Jinwei had said earlier, including a rough outline of the country's geography and several provinces, labeling each item accordingly. Finally, he hung it on one side of the wall, moved a chair to sit in front of it, and examined it carefully.

  Wen Tianren actually had big ambitions in his heart, and he saw the corruption of politics at the end of the Ming dynasty with his own eyes. He did not approve of Zhang Juzheng's reform measures during the Wanli period, especially the single whip law. He believed that the single whip law appeared to increase tax revenue for the national treasury on the surface, but in reality it was a case of draining the pond to catch fish. It wasn't that the single whip law was harshly exploiting the common people, but rather that the officials below were taking advantage of the single whip law to extort and plunder the people during the process of exchanging silver for taxes. Even in good years when the people could catch their breath, they were being exploited by officials to the point where they had to sell their children, leading to a situation where the people were unable to survive. Therefore, he believed that the biggest crisis facing the current dynasty was the crisis of governance, and if the problem of governance was not solved, any reform would be mere empty talk, failing to achieve real results.

  Wen Tiren, like Wen Guan, was a civil servant by origin. His colleagues around him were basically boastful and corrupt, skilled in extortion and embezzlement, but their ability to solve problems only stopped at the mouth. Although Wen Tiren himself strictly demanded of himself not to be greedy or corrupt, living a simple life, wanting to do practical things, he was limited by his environment, with a feeling of having the heart but lacking the strength, and could only strive to climb up to the position of Prime Minister, where he would have the power to rectify the government and realize his ideals.

  Wen Ti Ren didn't deign to form alliances with those boastful colleagues to climb up, he could only struggle silently on his own. Although the situation would be more difficult than forming alliances, he also knew that the Emperor would like this aspect of him. So without any party backing, he had nothing to fear. But today, he saw a glimmer of change.

  The emergence of Zhong Jinwei first affected Emperor Chongzhen, and then Emperor Chongzhen came to find him to explain to Zhong Jinwei. In other words, if his relationship with Zhong Jinwei was harmonious, he would not be suspected by Emperor Chongzhen. What excited him even more was that Zhong Jinwei also clearly proposed the problem of official governance, and was a like-minded person. Finally, the most crucial thing was that Wang Chengen had said that Zhong Jinwei was not interested in being an official, so his interests conflicted with his own to a very small extent, making him a worthy partner for cooperation. Unfortunately, now because of saving the emperor, he was stabbed by an assassin and thought of that dagger shining with blue light, and couldn't help but worry about that young man.

  Wen Ti Ren sat on the chair, silently thinking. It wasn't until it was hard to see that he realized the sky had darkened. He opened the door of his study and gazed in the direction of the imperial palace, silently saying to himself: Young man, you must hold on.

  In the capital, the business of Zui Xian Lou was as prosperous as ever. The wine here was a secret recipe of the Dong family, fragrant for thousands of miles, spicy and numbing to the throat, the best in the capital. A young waiter in the main hall was busy attending to customers when a man walked in from the entrance, middle-aged, dressed in fine clothes, with a long mustache under his forehead, looking very handsome. As soon as he entered, he called out to the waiter: "Waiter, take me to the Lü Dongbin (a private room)."

  The little servant heard someone calling and hurried over, saying: "Sir, unfortunately, Lü Dongbin has already been booked by someone else. Would you like to...?" Before he could finish speaking, the newcomer interrupted him, saying: "Don't waste your breath, that man is an old friend of mine, I'll take care of it."

  The little servant listened and accompanied him with a smile, hurrying to lead the way, lest he be scolded again.

  Arriving at Lv Dongbin's place, he lifted the door curtain and saw his old friend drinking wine and eating dishes on one side, while listening to a 28-year-old songstress singing popular tunes of the time. He went in and bowed his hands saying: "Elder brother Gao, what a refined gathering!"

  The one drinking on that seat immediately stood up and said: "Younger brother is late, should be penalized three cups, come come come, sit here."

  After exchanging pleasantries, they sat down. The host casually tossed a small piece of silver and had the singing girl and other idle people leave the private room.

  The host of this banquet was named Gao Jie, and the guest was named Yuan Hongxun. Both were inspectors in the Imperial Censorate. Gao Jie spoke up, saying: "Brother, I've heard rumors from within the palace that someone suddenly appeared out of thin air before His Majesty, claiming to be an immortal. You don't speak of strange powers or gods, but I think it's just the eunuchs in the palace stirring up trouble and spreading rumors again. They're probably trying to start something again, and the eunuch faction will rise once more. I'm planning to use this as an opportunity to write a memorial to His Majesty, to give the eunuch faction another heavy blow."

  Yuan Hongxun listened and looked around, but there was actually no one around. He then mysteriously asked Gao Jie: "Brother Gao, haven't you heard about what happened this afternoon?"

  Gao Jie listened and immediately knew there was some important gossip, hastily asking: "What's going on? Has Liaodong suffered another defeat?"

  This is that, although Liaodong often eats defeats, it's not as if they're a startled bird. So, Yuan Hongxun said: "Not so, not so. There are rumors in the palace that something really happened, this afternoon Your Majesty was stabbed, and only thanks to that immortal's rescue did the assassin fail."

  "What? How dare someone attempt to assassinate Your Majesty?" Gao Jie jumped up excitedly as soon as he heard this.

  Yuan Hongxun immediately calmed him down and said, "It's said that it was an imperial guard who did it, holding a poisonous dagger to stab the Emperor from behind. Luckily, someone sacrificed himself to block the knife, so the Emperor is safe."

  Gao Jie was taken aback, then muttered: "It can't be that there's really an immortal coming down to help the Great Ming. The crown prince has just been born, and Your Majesty is about to meet with disaster. With a young ruler and a doubtful country, this is not auspicious for the Great Ming."

  Yuan Hongxun said: "It's better not to write Brother Gao's memorial for the time being, let's wait and see how things develop."

  Gao Jie bowed his hands and said, "Thanks to my younger brother's reminder, I almost made a mistake. Come, let me toast you." Just as the two were about to pick up their cups, they heard a commotion outside the door. Yuan Hongxun shouted, "Who is it outside?"

  A voice outside the door said, "Sir, the dishes are here." Then the curtain was lifted, and indeed it was a waiter with the dishes. From then on, there was no more conversation. Afterwards, they didn't mention this matter again, and after drinking to their heart's content, each returned to their own home.

  The little second returned with the dishes to the lower floor, and Moji asked the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, what does the guest in Lv Dongbin's room do?"

  The shopkeeper glanced at the little second, and said: "Just listen to what he has to say, you just take good care of him, if you don't serve well, I won't be able to save you either, they are officials from the imperial court."

  The little servant smiled awkwardly and said: "That is, that is."

  At night, after Xiao Er returned home and lay on the bed, he couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. His wife was unhappy and said: "What's wrong with you, flipping back and forth like this? Are you still thinking about that lover of yours outside?"

  Xiao Er listened, turned his body sideways, and said to his wife: "What kind of thing is this, don't talk nonsense." After scolding her, he mysteriously asked his wife: "Do you believe in gods?"

  "Nonsense! I went to burn incense just the other day, you're not unaware of that." His wife found his words very puzzling.

  The little second heard it and didn't think much of it. Lowering his voice, he said to his wife: "I'll tell you a secret, but don't ever say it out loud."

  The woman's innate curiosity about gossip, as soon as she heard the gossip, her spirit was lifted, and she said: "Good, no problem, my mouth is famous for being tight."

  The shopkeeper couldn't help but share with his wife, saying: "Today at the store, there were two court officials who revealed a shocking secret. I overheard it by accident."

  Xiao Er's wife's curiosity index suddenly rose to its maximum. She hastily asked: "What is this earth-shattering secret, quickly, tell me."

  At this time, Xiao Er suddenly became calm and seemed to be enjoying himself, saying: "You might not believe it even if I told you, so I'd better not say anything."

  His wife was anxious, shaking Xiao Er: "Husband, good husband, you said half of the words and left my curiosity hanging in mid-air, it's unbearable, please say it out quickly."

  The little servant smiled complacently and said, "I'd better not say anything after all, I don't want to wag my tongue randomly."

  The wife of the second son got angry, stretched out her hand and pinched the belly of the second son, saying: "Are you going to say it or not?" Sometimes people are worthless. The second son quickly begged for mercy, then said to his wife: "Wife, today in the shop I heard two court officials talking about a god appearing in the palace, who with one move killed an assassin trying to kill the emperor and saved His Majesty's life. It is said that he was sent by heaven to assist the Emperor."

  Xiao Er's wife exclaimed in surprise: "Really, a fairy has appeared? And saved the emperor?"

  The young man didn't like hearing that and said, "If you don't believe it, then just go to sleep." The young man's wife kept pestering him, so the two of them continued their in-depth discussion about this matter.