Chapter 22: Servant

Song Jinning didn’t expect that she would see Liu Lanxi again so soon.

The reason for this was that Empress Dowager Song was ill.

The weather these past few days have been really weird. Sometimes the sun would shine so brightly that it made you want to drink a cold drink, and sometimes the rain and thunder would be so fierce that you had to take shelter. 

The weather has been changing so drastically that some people in the palace have been getting sick. This includes Empress Dowager Song. 

When Song Jinning heard the news, she immediately rushed to Shoukang Palace to take care of Empress Dowager Song. 

When she got there, she heard Empress Dowager Song talking to Cui Nong. 

“Aijia is already old, why do you need to make him use the curtain? Just take the pulse like this.” 

Song Jinning: …

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Although the maidservants had already seen Song Jinning come over, Song Jinning shook her head quietly so that Liu Lanxi could focus on getting Empress Dowager Song’s pulse. 

Empress Dowager Song smiled and asked her: “Ning’er, you’re here?”

Liu Lanxi turned around hurriedly and bowed down to greet Song Jinning.

“This subordinate greets the Empress.” 

“Get up.” Song Jinning waved her hand to indicate that he didn’t need to be polite, and then asked again, “How is the Empress Dowager?”

Liu Lanxi didn’t dare to look up at all. He lowered his head and answered her question respectfully.

“Replying to the Empress, Her Highness the Empress Dowager is fine, the temperature has just been changing too fast, so Her Highness has caught a cold. This subordinate can prescribe medicine, but it is not needed since this subordinate predicts it will be gone in two days.” 

When Empress Dowager Song heard this, she said: “Since this is the case, don’t prescribe medicine anymore.”

Since the cold will be gone in two days, why would she be willing to drink that bitter medicine? 

Liu Lanxi responded with a yes. He also instructed Cui Nong to give Empress Dowager Song lighter food, then turned around and left. 

Empress Dowager Song waited for him to walk away, then turned her head to look at Song Jinning: “This Imperial Doctor Liu is good. Unlike the other imperial doctors who try their best to avoid doing their job, he’s knowledgeable and talented. It’s just that he’s too cautious. Even if you just cut your finger, he will prescribe lots of medicines to help treat it.” 

Song Jinning recalled what Liu Lanxi had just said, and it was indeed very concise and clear. He even mentioned that drinking medicine is not really needed. 

“Imperial Doctor Liu is so young, but he’s already an imperial doctor?”

Song Jinning was just curious. Because in terms of medical skills, the more experienced the better. Experience is also how old you are. Seeing that Liu Lanxi is in his early twenties and has become an Imperial Doctor, it is really puzzling. 

“An old saying says that experience can make up for one’s weakness, but Aijia doesn’t think this statement is right.”

Cui Nong handed Empress Dowager Song a cup of tea. Empress Dowager Song took a few sips, and then continued to talk, “Some people are naturally smart, no matter what they do. This Liu Lanxi, although young, has very impressive talent.” 

Empress Dowager Song continued talking about Liu Lanxi.

It turns out that the Liu family is well known in the capital. The uncle of Liu Lanxi was also an imperial doctor when he was younger. 

Although his uncle has two sons under his knees, they didn’t pursue medicine. However, the son of his second brother showed his talent for studying medicine at a young age.

So the Old Uncle took Liu Lanxi and taught him carefully so that he could take his position and continue to bring honor to the Liu family. 

Song Jinning understood. 

Liu Lanxi was able to enter the imperial hospital at a young age because of his talent, but also because of the forces acting behind him. 

However, Song Jinning still agrees with Empress Dowager Song’s remark. 

Since she was a child, she has always heard that to succeed, you need to have 99% hard work and 1% talent, but people often underestimate how important the 1% talent is. 

So it’s better to give up early if you know that you’re not good at the thing you’re doing so that you can save time and effort. 

Song Jinning felt that she was an ordinary person in her previous life, and she had no talent in any aspect. As for this life…

“Auntie,” she asked enthusiastically, “Do you think I am particularly talented in something?”

“You?”

Empress Dowager Song glanced at her, and replied with a smile, “Well, you’re pretty good at being nice.” 

Song Jinning: …

The implication of this statement is that she has no talent at all.

“Zhen thinks she is very talented in one thing.” 

Suddenly a voice came from the door.

Song Jinning didn’t need to look back to know that this was Li Chengxuan.  

Sure enough, when Empress Dowager Song asked him with a smile what he thought Song Jinning was talented in, Li Chengxuan gave Song Jinning a slanted look and smiled happily. 

“Eating!” 

Song Jinning: …

If the Empress Dowager wasn’t here, I would have punched you in the face. 

She didn’t want to care about Li Chengxuan at all, so she drank tea with her eyes down. From the corner of her eye, she saw Li Chengxuan walking over to greet Empress Dowager Song, and then sat on a chair.

Empress Dowager Song didn’t think Li Chengxuan was mocking Song Jinning.

According to her maidservants, Song Jinning and Li Chengxuan got along pretty well. 

Not only would he stay in Weiyang Palace from time to time, he would also often accompany Song Jinning during dinner.

Even if Li Chengxuan just teased Song Jinning, Empress Dowager Song thought of it as something young couples do nowadays. The older generation shouldn’t interfere. 

She just smiled and asked Li Chengxuan why he came to Shoukang Palace. 

Li Chengxuan replied that he heard that Empress Dowager Song was ill so he immediately came to visit. Then he asked Empress Dowager Song about her health with concern. 

Empress Dowager Song answered his questions one by one with a smile. On the surface, she seemed to be loving and caring. 

Song Jinning was not interested in this kind of conversation between the two of them, so she turned her head to look out the window.

Yesterday was cloudy and rainy, but it had already cleared up, so today was a hot sunny day. 

The camphor tree in the courtyard is now changing its leaves. When the wind passed, the crimson old leaves floated down, and new green leaves were sprouting from it’s branches. 

Lunch was eaten in Shoukang Palace. 

After lunch, she spoke with Empress Dowager Song for a while, then got up to leave. 

People who have a cold must take a good rest. Talking to them will only delay their recovery.

As soon as she spoke about leaving, Li Chengxuan naturally didn’t want to stay, so he also excused himself to leave. 

They walked out of the gate of Shoukang Palace and saw Li Chengxuan’s sedan chair outside. 

“You didn’t come in a sedan chair?”

It was Li Chengxuan asking Song Jinning.

When he came to Shoukang Palace, he didn’t see a sedan chair outside, so he didn’t know that Song Jinning was there. It was only after entering the hall and hearing Song Jinning’s voice that he knew that she was there.

When he went inside the first thing he heard was Song Jinning asking Empress Dowager Song if she has talent in something. 

She had a very soft voice, like a child in front of a close elder, which makes people feel soft when they hear it.

Song Jinning glanced at Gu Yu thinking, i want to use a sedan chair, but this servant won’t let me. 

But she had to keep her face. Otherwise, it would appear that she, the empress, was actually controlled by a maidservant. 

“The Su Wen [1] has a saying that it’s not good for the body to sit still. Because of this saying, chenqie chooses not to use a sedan chair.” 

Gu Yu and Bai Lu: …

That was the most unconvincing statement they have ever heard. 

As for Li Chengxuan, the corners of his lips twitched slightly after hearing this.

Li Chengxuan wanted to laugh. Spending time with Song Jinning, he already knew that she was lazy, but now she had the guts to say these righteous things in front of him. 

As the Emperor, he should have grace, so he won’t expose her lies and let her comfort herself. 

He asked Song Jinning: “Are you going back to Weiyang Palace?” 

Although the summer has passed and the flowers have withered, there are still many good trees to appreciate in the Imperial Garden.

Besides, the forbidden city is so big, so she might as well go there to admire the trees. 

But Song Jinning was tired, so she wanted to go back to Weiyang Palace to take a nap. 

So Song Jinning replied lazily: “Palace.” 

Li Chengxuan thought for a while, then turned around and told Zhou Jing: “Move the memorials that I didn’t finish yesterday to Weiyang Palace.”

Song Jinning was trying to yawn and her right hand was covering her lips. Hearing Li Chengxuan’s statement, she couldn’t even bother to yawn, and asked in surprise, “Your Majesty, what do you mean by this?”

After listening to these words, Zhou Jing couldn’t help but think in his heart. It seems that the Empress and His Majesty have a very good relationship. His Majesty didn’t even get offended by the rude words the Empress had said. 

Li Chengxuan glanced at Song Jinning lightly, but didn’t answer at all.

He just turned around and walked in the direction of Weiyang Palace. 

Zhou Jing hesitated for a while, but caught up with him and said: “Your Majesty, please sit on the sedan chair.”

Shoukang Palace is not close to Weiyang Palace, so it will take a while to reach Weiyang Palace. 

“No.” 

Li Chengxuan glanced at Song Jinning sideways again, and then said slowly, “Zhen will listen to the Empress today. It’s good for zhen to walk.” 

Song Jinning: …

She walked forward slowly.

As Li Chengxuan and Song Jinning walked, they ran into Jiang Wanqiu. 

Is it because of her intervention that the male and female lead met earlier? 

Does this mean Li Chengxuan will depose her earlier? 

Footnotes:

Hope you guys enjoyed this extra chapter ^^

[TOC] For Advanced Chapters- TEWD

1) 素问 (Sù wèn)- This is the first text of the Huangdi Neijing (Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor) and covers the theoretical foundation of chinese medicine and it’s diagnostic methods.  This has been an important book for doctors in ancient China since the Han dynasty.