The Empress Dowager took the medicine made by Gu Jin and coughed until the third watch, then fell asleep slowly.

  The emperor also returned to his bedroom.

  He slept for just one watch and got up at the fourth watch. He first came here to pay his respects to Her Majesty, then prepared to attend court.

  The empress dowager also woke up, she usually could only sleep intermittently at night.

  But this time it's not because of a cough...

  The emperor was overjoyed: "Miss Gu's medicine must be effective?"

  The Empress Dowager smiled bitterly: "This is not necessarily the case. At first, several folk doctors were also able to make me feel better for ten days or half a month, and I thought it was all over, my heart was full of joy... Even the medicine given by Gu Shi Fei, I had high hopes for it. The result..."

  The result was that none of them failed to disappoint the Empress Dowager.

  It's too early to be happy now, and it will be heartbreaking in the future.

  The Empress Dowager was tormented by her cough and couldn't bear it. For more than a year, she wouldn't give up even the slightest glimmer of hope.

  I don't know how many times I've held onto hope and how many times I've been disappointed.

  She is now willing to try various treatments, but only with a lucky mindset, no longer easily hoping.

  She was also happy to be able to relieve herself for a moment.

  As she spoke, she gave a slight, low cough.

  Coughed twice and then stopped...

  The emperor noticed something was different: the empress dowager usually coughed, and it would take her more than ten coughs to calm down. This time, she stopped after just two coughs.

  He was overjoyed in his heart.

  The Empress Dowager was right too. What if it's just a temporary relief again? Wouldn't that make the Empress Dowager disappointed and sad? The Emperor didn't tell the Empress Dowager about the abnormalities he had noticed.

  The Empress Dowager coughed and continued, "Your Majesty's two divine doctors from Huguang are no different from the common folk doctors. I've heard it all before myself. Their words are nothing new. Send them away."

  The Emperor said.

  The empress dowager coughed again, this time three times, and then stopped.

  The emperor's eyes gleamed with an added layer of madness.

  He didn't misunderstand. The Empress Dowager's cough was shorter each time.

  "...In the past, I trusted Gu Shi Fei the most. His prescriptions were good and his medication was effective. The illness would truly be cured with his medicine. But this time, it didn't work either." The Empress Dowager said:

  "He's a clever and loyal person. When something happened back then, he ran to Jiangnan, not wanting to add trouble for the Ai family. Hearing that the Ai family was in trouble, he bravely returned. This kind of loyalty is rare, one in ten thousand. In this world, you can't find another like him. No matter how good his medical skills are, I'll let him treat me. If he succeeds, it's my good fortune; if not, then I'm just not lucky enough. Can't take care of the emperor anymore..."

  Go on, she coughed lightly again.

  Just this one sentence.

  This has never happened before. The emperor didn't know whether it was his own misunderstanding or if things had really improved a bit, but he still didn't dare to mention it.

  He was overjoyed in his heart and repeatedly nodded in agreement. He didn't even notice the negative tone at the end of Empress Dowager's words.

  The empress said that Gu Shi Fei's loyalty was one in a million, "This world can't find another one like him", at this time, her thin eyebrows and eyes had an uncontrollable sadness.

  She was afraid of revealing her emotions, so she slightly closed her eyes and calmed herself down.

  The fifth watch had just sounded when a eunuch came in and whispered: "Duke Guo and Miss Guo have arrived."

  They knew the emperor was already here with the empress dowager and got up to serve him.

  The emperor's face wore a smile, and he invited him in.

  Gu Jinzhi and Old Master Gu came in and paid their respects to the Emperor and Empress Dowager.

  "I'm exhausted. Those incompetent doctors from the Imperial Hospital come to ask for diagnosis every day. I've been accompanying them, it's really tiring." The Empress looked at Gu Shi Fei and Gu Jin Zhi, then said to the Emperor, "Let Gu Guo Gong and Miss Gu accompany me today, don't let those imperial physicians come in. Let them all wait at the Imperial Hospital instead."

  Then he said, "Get the Qiong Huan Hall ready. Let Guo Gong and Miss Guo stay there temporarily, it's convenient to take care of Ah Jia."

  Qiong Luan Hall is the palace closest to Kunning Palace, it's small in size and also convenient for other princes to enter the palace to pay respects to the empress dowager, if they can't leave, they would temporarily rest there.

  The Emperor said.

  The old man said, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, I have failed in my duty this time. The Empress and Your Majesty did not punish me, I am grateful for your mercy! However, I no longer have the face to stay in the palace to serve. It's just that my granddaughter has some talent. She is a young girl who can entertain you, why not let her stay and serve you?"

  The empress dowager was slightly surprised, her eyes falling on Gu Jin's face.

  Gu Jin's eyebrows and eyes were not yet fully developed, looking very young and tender.

  But this young child, upon hearing her grandfather say that she was to be left alone in the palace, showed not a single bit of fear or timidity, and stood there calmly.

  The empress dowager couldn't help but feel somewhat curious.

  She was very trusting of Gu Shi Fei. In the past, when Gu Shi Fei was still a eunuch in the imperial hospital, he had done a good deed for the Empress Dowager. Her current trust in him was her way of repaying his kindness.

  So Gu Shi Fei brought his granddaughter to the palace to serve, and Empress Dowager thought he was trying to secure a good future for her, letting her show her face in front of Empress Dowager.

  The Empress Dowager can also understand.

  After all, it's their family and they can't all be wealthy and noble. In the future, some of their sons and daughters may not have a very good prospects.

  Taking the opportunity to help his granddaughter also shows the old man's kindness.

  The Empress Dowager, from being a young talent to later becoming the mother of the world, had a broader mind and temperament than men. It's just that during this period of illness, she has been somewhat emotionally unstable. Although she was not pleased with Guo Shi Fei's actions, she did not blame him either.

  Is she leaving her granddaughter alone?

  What if something happens to you?

  The Empress Dowager coughed lightly two or three times again.

  "This is also good." The emperor spoke first, "Guo Gong has been in the palace for many days, and it's hard on you. You go back and rest, when the empress dowager's illness is all better, you come again to pay your respects."

  The Empress Dowager naturally would not contradict the Emperor, and just smiled and nodded.

  The imperial physicians at the palace were always on call, and the empress dowager was not afraid. Moreover, Gu Shi Fei had used up all his tricks, and he was also powerless, leaving behind nothing of use.

  The empress thought about it, but then she looked at her own son again: actually letting Gu Jinzhi, a little girl like that, stay behind - was this completely giving up on the empress's illness?

  If this girl were a bit older, the empress dowager would suspect that the emperor had taken a liking to her. But Gu Jin was so young, anyone who had romantic feelings for her would probably be abnormal.

  The emperor's gaze at women is still quite normal, and the empress dowager has no such worries. She only suspects that the emperor is perfunctory with her.

  But she has been ill for so long, and the emperor has always taken good care of her, it's unlikely that he would suddenly change his temper.

  The reason is all because of this little girl.

  The empress dowager's mind was turning over and over, while Gu Shi Fei had already paid his respects and bid farewell.

  The eunuchs outside also came in to say that it was time for the emperor to go to court.

  "Take good care of Empress Dowager. If you really can't handle it, let someone go to the imperial hospital and call for help." The emperor instructed Gu Jinzhong.

  Gu's way was to pay respects separately to the emperor and his grandfather.

  Only the Empress Dowager and Gu Jinzhi were left in the house, along with the serving palace maids.

  The empress dowager pulled her over to her bedside and asked with a smile: "You also know how to diagnose illnesses?"

  "Yes!" replied Gu Jinzhi. "The medicine you took last night was the prescription opened by Min Girl. Later, let someone go to the Taiyi Hospital to fetch the medicine pot and medicinal materials. Min Girl will personally help the Empress Dowager decoct the medicine. After seven days, the Empress Dowager's cough will be cured."

  The Empress Dowager burst out laughing.

  Gu's words warmed the Empress Dowager's heart: what she most wanted to hear now was someone telling her when she would recover.

  Even if it's fake.

  This year's illness has been torturing her for a long time. The Empress Dowager endured unimaginable suffering that others cannot conceive of.

  If someone could cure her, she would give everything in return!

  No one can ever understand without experiencing it themselves, only Empress Dowager herself knows.

  She is a strong-willed woman. She entered the palace as just a concubine, but gave birth to the eldest prince, who is now the emperor. At that time, she had the empress dowager, the empress, and the noble consorts above her. That she was able to give birth to the eldest prince was not only due to extraordinary good luck, but also because of her exceptional intelligence.

  She has gone through so much, suffered so much. Now her eldest son is the Emperor and her youngest son, Prince Luoyang, is still a half-witted fool. How can she put it down? No matter how glorious and rich today is. Even for her half-witted youngest son, Prince Luoyang Zhongjun, she cannot bear to part with him.

  If it really works, the empress dowager would be more than happy to grant that doctor a royal title!

  "Really?" The Empress Dowager thought Gu Jin was joking, and she also smiled as she said, "If you can cure me, I'll make you a princess, how about that?"

  If it really can be cured, granting a county princess, the empress dowager would also be more than willing.

  Moreover, she felt that Gu Jingzhou couldn't cure her.

  Promising something to someone will make them work even harder. The Empress Dowager has always liked to use benefits to tempt people.

  Of course, what she promised was definitely something she could give, and not just empty words.

  As she said, if she was willing, she would be willing to grant Gu Jingzhi the title of County Princess, which was also something she could easily do.

  "Thank you, Empress Dowager!" said Gu Jinzhao.

  Her tone was neither delighted nor nervous, as if the empress had given her a piece of candy, she lightly thanked her, without thinking much of it.

  If it were someone else, they would probably kneel down and express their fear, stating that they have no intention of benefiting from saving the empress dowager, and do not want the position of princess.

  Gu Jinzhi didn't though.

  To say she is like a child, she is steady to the point of being frightening; to say she is not like a child, she fundamentally does not understand the weight of status and power, nor does she comprehend that the Empress Dowager saying "封郡主" (appointing her as a princess) is an enormous honor.

  This child is really different from the girls the empress has seen before.

  The empress dowager thought so in her heart and couldn't help but smile slightly at the corner of her lips.

  The palace maid brought some rice porridge, Gu Jin took it over and personally served the Empress Dowager to drink the porridge.

  Then the hospital sent more medicine over.

  Gu Jin continued to serve Empress Dowager and gave her a bowl of medicine.

  This is the second shot...

  Then she said: "Empress Dowager, let me help you press your palms and soles, okay?"

  The empress dowager knew that the imperial physician was skilled at using acupressure to relieve pain, so she smiled and nodded her head, thinking to herself that Gu Shi Fei's granddaughter still had some real skills after all, no wonder the emperor trusted her.

  She slightly closed her eyes and stretched out her hand to Gu Jinzhi.

  Gu Jin's touch was sometimes light and sometimes heavy, slowly massaging her.

  The empress dowager suddenly felt her vision gradually becoming blurry.

  She soon fell asleep.

  When she woke up again, she smelled a strong medicinal fragrance. She slowly opened her eyes to find the warm sunlight shining on a pot of begonias in front of the window sill.

  Gu Jinzhi walked in with light steps, holding a medicine bowl upright.

  The female official beside the Empress Dowager saw this and stepped forward to help hold the medicine.

  The Empress Dowager sat up by herself and asked: "What time is it?"

  "Your Majesty, it's already one o'clock in the afternoon!" The palace maid's voice was choked with sobs. "Your Majesty, you've slept for four hours!"

  The empress dowager was stunned, but her throat felt a bit itchy, and she coughed several more times.

  After a few coughs, she suddenly had a vacant expression, looking somewhat stunned.

  She can barely sleep for half an hour normally. On good days, she can sleep for a whole hour, but it's always the severe coughing that wakes her up...

  Now she has slept for four hours... although it's not very stable, with many nightmares, and even coughed in her dreams, but... she actually slept for four hours!

  ——*——*——*——

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