The Enchanting Imperial Concubine (Book 2)

Chapter 361 - Celestial Phenomenon

This year, the cold came late; it wasn't until late November that a fierce cold wave suddenly struck, causing many people to fall ill.

Ye Yun suspected it was likely the flu.

She quickly summoned Shen Pingzhi to prescribe a preventive remedy, selecting a few of the most common and effective herbs. Every day, she brewed a pot, ensuring everyone in Zhaochun Pavillion drank a bowl.

In an era when medicine is not well-developed, the flu could be quite serious or relatively minor; taking preventive measures is never a bad thing. Moreover, with the Fourth Prince in Zhaochun Pavillion, extra caution was warranted.

However, while she was being cautious, others who weren't paying attention were falling ill. The Empress Dowager, due to her old age and poor health, was the first to get sick, followed closely by Tai Guifei.

After the downfall of her family, Tai Guifei had become somewhat disheartened, and her health was even worse than the Empress Dowager's. Now, with her illness, it looked rather perilous.

Prince Ping was naturally worried, but as an outsider, he couldn't stay in the inner palace for long. He could only visit briefly during the day, while Princess Consort, Fang Shi, and his Side Consort Zhao Shi were called in to attend to her illness at other times.

Since Tai Guifei had attendants caring for her, arrangements had to be made for the Empress Dowager as well. Normally, Shu Fei, being the highest-ranking consort, would take the lead, but given her personality, Ning Chen didn't feel reassured and thus personally issued a decree.

Only the nine consorts above were to attend, along with one additional Qian Jieyu; others were unnecessary.

Thus, the seven consorts included were: Shu Fei, Jing De Fei, Hui Zhaoyuan, Ye Yun, Yi Shunyi, Wan Xiuyi, and Qian Jieyu—enough for the task.

However, the very next day after this arrangement, the Third Prince fell ill, and Yi Shunyi also showed symptoms. They seemed to have the same ailment.

Therefore, an additional Qi Jieyu was added to fill the vacancy.

This time, the Empress Dowager was truly sick, and lacked the energy to attend to others. The care for her consisted of serving her meals and medicine three times a day, with no other matters to attend to.

Compared to several years ago, this was much easier.

Ning Chen visited every day, personally feeding her medicine and the like.

However, traditional Chinese medicine is inherently slow-acting, and the flu is contagious. It didn't take long for the number of sick individuals to increase daily, while few showed signs of recovery.

At first, Ning Chen wondered if it could be another plague, but fortunately, the imperial physician confirmed it was not.

At this time, Ye Yun proposed that, just like the servants in Zhaochun Pavillion, the palace's Imperial Medical Institute could brew medicinal soup for everyone, instructing the servants to drink a bowl daily.

Even without medicine, each person could at least have two bowls of ginger soup a day.

As the end of the year approached, everyone in the palace, from masters to servants, was feeling unwell, which was considered inauspicious.

In Langhua Pavillion...

Though Yi Shunyi was sick, she still looked fairly well. Hearing news from outside, she said nothing but sent someone to deliver winter charcoal and thick quilts to Li Wanrong.

The two of them had always been close, and helping the less favored Li Shi didn't attract much attention.

However, three days later, while Ning Chen was reviewing memorials in the imperial study, he heard the servants announce that the Astronomical Bureau wished to see him.