Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1484: Chapter 1585 Misdiagnosis Case_1

”Your Highness, Your Highness, what’s wrong with you?” Consort Lü’s palace maid asked with a face pale with fright, then hurriedly yelled to those outside, ”Her Highness is unwell, quickly fetch the Imperial Doctor!”

Consort Lü tightly grabbed the maid’s arm, and said in agony, ”It hurts... Save me quickly...”

After saying this, she vomited again.

There was great turmoil in Consort Lü’s palace; all the servants were quivering in fear. If a consort met with misfortune, none of them could escape punishment. Looking at Consort Lü’s condition, it seemed she had eaten something bad,

and soon the news reached the Emperor. Tang Yin narrowed his eyes and said to Wang Shun, ”Convey my decree, order the Department of Precautionary Punishment to investigate thoroughly and not to overlook any detail.”

”Yes.” Wang Shun felt somewhat worried. Hadn’t Consort Lü just seen Bai a few days ago for a medical consultation? He opened his mouth as if to remind the Emperor of this matter, but then, thinking of the Emperor’s prudence, he realized it wasn’t necessary for him to say anything.

Once Wang Shun had left, the Emperor gestured for the palace maids and eunuchs beside him to also leave.

”Zepei, Consort Lü has been under treatment by Doctor Bai Ruozhu recently. Do you think it could be a case of medical error caused by Doctor Bai?” The Emperor tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk, his gaze not directed at Bai Zepei, as if in deep thought.

Bai Zepei bowed his head, ”Not possible, your Majesty. I trust my sister.”

The Emperor lifted his head and looked at him, ”Oh? You’re that confident?”

”I am well-acquainted with my sister’s temperament and medical skills, and also aware of the deceit in this world,” said Bai Zepei, still with bowed head but with a firmness in his voice.

A smile appeared on the Emperor’s face upon hearing this, ”Bai Ruozhu is fortunate to have a brother like you.”

”No, your Majesty, I am the fortunate one to have such a sister,” Bai Zepei’s face softened, reflecting a shade of emotion.

...

The Empress, in charge of the six palaces, naturally had to make her presence known when a consort was in trouble. So it wasn’t long before she arrived at Hanlu Palace. As Consort Xu and Consort Lü shared the palace, and upon hearing the news, Consort Xu also hurried to visit.

”Reporting to the Empress, the Emperor has been informed of the incident and has already ordered the officers from the Department of Precautionary Punishment to investigate. And the Imperial Doctor will arrive soon,” reported the Empress’s head palace maid in a low voice.

The Empress nodded, ”We must find out exactly what happened. Such matters cannot be tolerated in the Inner Palace.”

Shortly after, personnel from the Imperial Medical Hospital arrived, led by Hospital Head Mao Xingcai and Deputy Head Wei Pengbo. Jiu Sheng, knowing something had happened, quickly sent a message to Bai Ruozhu and also rushed to Hanlu Palace.

Hospital Head Mao examined Consort Lü’s pulse and then his expression changed dramatically, ”Report to the Empress, Consort Lü has suffered a reaction in her stomach and intestines due to inappropriate medication. She must be treated immediately, or her life will be in danger!”

Deputy Head Wei Pengbo showed a flicker of panic in his eyes but quickly concealed it. He too stepped forward to have a look and then called out, ”Who prescribed the wrong medicine to Consort Lü? Bring today’s medicine ephemera and Decoction Formulas immediately!”

Soon enough, the palace maid brought over the medicine ephemera and Formulas. Mao Xingcai and Wei Pengbo checked them and confirmed that one extra herb, the luorong root, had been added to Bai Ruozhu’s prescriptions.

”Your Majesty, the Empress Mother, the use of Luorong root is inappropriate for someone like Lady Lv with a cold and weak stomach, and it is incompatible with other herbs, producing toxicity. The prescription by Chief Doctor Bai indeed has problems.” Mao Xingcai angrily pointed at the prescription and exclaimed, ”I’ve said it before, she’s too young, simply not fit to be a doctor! Sooner or later, she will bring disgrace to our Imperial Medical Hospital. I did not expect it would happen this soon...”

Upon hearing this, the Empress’s face turned stern, ”Summon Chief Doctor Bai. This incident must be dealt with severely by this palace.”

Wei Pengbo’s face revealed a smug expression, thinking, Bai Ruozhu, oh Bai Ruozhu, always so arrogant and proud, let’s see how you talk your way out of this one!

Lady Lv, already in so much pain she felt like dying, weakly said, ”Save me first...”

The Emperor’s face showed a hint of embarrassment; she wasn’t truly concerned about Lady Lv, so much so that she had forgotten to call the Imperial Doctor to treat Lady Lv immediately, focusing instead on investigating the case.

Mao Xingcai hurried to administer acupuncture to Lady Lv, then wrote a prescription and instructed the maids to prepare the decoction. Lady Lv temporarily stopped vomiting and her complexion was no longer as pale.

However, she had been vomiting for a while, and some of it hadn’t even made it into the spittoon, so a foul odor gradually began to fill the room, making the Empress’s expression increasingly sour. She glanced at Lady Lv, then said to Mao Yanshi, ”You attend to Lady Lv carefully. I will go outside and interrogate the palace maids further.”

”Yes, Your Majesty, I will obey the decree,” he responded.

Bai Ruozhu had already left the palace and returned home when the Shadow Guard came to inform her of the situation. She immediately instructed Jiu Sheng, ”Send someone to investigate this matter for me. It’s likely targeted at me, and I don’t want to be in a passive position, reacting to each move made against me. I hope to find a way to strike back.”

”Yes, Doctor Bai, rest assured. I will send someone to look into it immediately,” Jiu Sheng replied before going to instruct the Shadow Guard who had brought the message. Bai Ruozhu did not dare delay and had a horse prepared, quickly heading back to the palace.

As soon as she arrived at Hanlu Palace, she saw the Empress Mother sipping tea in the Main Hall. Bai Ruozhu stepped forward to salute and said, ”I heard from Mao Yanshi that the prescription I had written was incorrect. I have never made such a mistake in my medical practice, so please allow me to clarify matters.”

The Empress, who wasn’t very fond of Bai Ruozhu, who was close to the Dowager Empress, snorted coldly and said, ”Your prescription itself is the evidence. Could anyone else be framing you? Now that Lady Lv’s life hangs in the balance, this palace cannot allow you to harm anyone else.”

A sense of alarm rose in Bai Ruozhu’s heart. If the Empress didn’t allow her to go inside, and Mao Yanshi and the others ended up killing Lady Lv, wouldn’t she lose her head?

But she quickly calmed down. She felt that although Mao Yanshi and his cohorts might plot against her, they wouldn’t dare to kill a concubine of not insignificant status just to frame her—unless someone actually wanted Lady Lv dead.

Yet, Lady Lv was not favored by the Emperor and was ill and faded; who would deliberately target her?

Harming someone always requires a motive, as well as weighing whether the price is worth it. With Lady Lv being out of favor, they might as well just leave her be.

”Your Majesty, my prescriptions are never wrong. If I am to be punished for this, I must at least be allowed to save the patient first. Once Lady Lv is safe and sound, I will find a way to prove my innocence,” Bai Ruozhu earnestly pleaded.

The Empress displayed a look of disdain, ”Let Mao Yanshi and Vice Chief Wei do the saving. With your subpar medical skills having already harmed someone, what else could you possibly save?”

Concubine Xu, who was quite worried, glanced at Bai Ruozhu. She believed that Bai Ruozhu wouldn’t have written an incorrect prescription. If Bai Ruozhu’s medical expertise was subpar, how could her chronic ailment have improved? She knew that the Imperial Medical Hospital had seen her several times before without any success.

After pondering, she carefully approached the Empress and said with a bow, ”Your Majesty, the Empress Mother, Chief Doctor Bai truly possesses exceptional medical skills. Could there be some misunderstanding here? The Imperial Medical Hospital has been at a loss with my chronic condition, but it was Chief Doctor Bai who brought about improvement. My frequent headaches haven’t troubled me for days.”