by N/A
"Imperial Physician Du." A Eunuch came to Du Xiao Li side.
Du Xiao Li recognized that this was Eunuch Sha who frequently appeared behind Eunuch Shan. "Does Eunuch Sha need something?"
"The Emperor has summoned you, please come with me." Eunuch Sha waved the horsetail whisk in hand, and then turned to lead Du Xiao Li to the imperial study. Arriving at the imperial study, he first went in to report before finally letting Du Xiao Li enter.
Du Xiao Li came into the imperial study. This wasn't her first time coming here, but this time the feeling was obviously different. Carefully thinking it over, she discovered that the imperial guards and palace maids were all gone, with only Eunuch Shan alone serving Han Ming Ze.
"Greetings your Majesty." Du Xiao Li bowed in greeting.
"You may rise." Han Ming Ze put down the brush in hand. Ever since a few days ago, after Du Yun Han had the inner cabinet dispersed, the memorandums he needed to read through everyday suddenly increased by a lot, and the time he spent on these also increased. Even now, his desk was filled with two piles of memorandums.
"Thanking your Majesty." Du Xiao Li got up, and once again inwardly ridiculed this feudal society's kowtow system inside.
"How is imperial grandmother's body?" Han Ming Ze asked.
"Replying to your Majesty, the Grand Empress Dowager's body has recovered very nicely. The harm brought about by the gu has already healed by a lot. After recuperating for a few more days, she more or less will be able to return to normal." Du Xiao Li replied.
"You've worked hard on imperial grandmother's matter!"
"The Grand Empress Dowager is a very good person, and is also very good to this humble subject, whether it's one's public duty, or one's personal wish, this humble subject will all do one's best."
"En, it's very good that you have this thought." Han Ming Ze nodded in praise. After contemplating for a while, he asked, "Have you figured out what gu imperial grandmother was afflicted with? How was it able to enter the body?"
"Replying to your Majesty, this gu although is relatively low level, it's relatively difficult to raise in the early stages, needing a special environment. And after it enters its cocoon stage, need to place it into a specialized container. When it leaves the container, it must be transferred into the body within an hour, else the gu will die. In the cocoon stage, the gu is smaller than a rice grain and can be placed in food, letting the person eat it when they're not paying attention. As long as it enters the body, the gu will be able to makes its home and settle down." Du Xiao Li explained.
Ch. 087.2 – Competition Start (2)
Han Ming Ze fell silent after listening, and then spoke in a low voice, "After leaving the case can only survive for an hour............"
Du Xiao Li looked to Han Ming Ze's appearance, and also fell silent.
The characteristic of the gu only being able to survive for an hour after leaving the case, this bit, proved that the person that used the gu must be someone from the palace, and moreover, someone that can get close to the Grand Empress Dowager.
"When did imperial grandmother get inflicted with the gu?"
"At least five years ago." Du Xiao Li said after thinking for a moment. "This gu, when it enters the human body, needs about three years to grow, and after it reaches the mature stage, it will break its cocoon and come out. However, as soon as the gu enters the body, it will began affecting the body. And after it breaks its cocoon, it will began greedily feeding on the body. At first, it won't be very obvious, but when it reaches the later stage, the speed will increase. According to the Grand Empress Dowager's body's situation, the gu has already broken out of the cocoon for about two years now."
"En, imperial grandmother also more or less started disliking coming in contact with people five years ago. Afterwards, she directly sealed off her palace, not allowing anyone to enter." Han Ming Ze recalled, "Imperial Physician Du, you say the gu can't survive for long after leaving the container, then the person that used the gu must be someone from the palace?"
"The possibility is very high." Du Xiao Li said.
"Ever since this emperor found out that imperial grandmother was inflicted with the gu, this emperor has been sending people to secretly investigate, but hasn't been able to find out anything useful. This gu has always been a product of the Miao. This time it unexpectedly appeared in the palace. I've sent someone to go investigate its origin, but still didn't get any results. Never thought that the people of Miao have already sneaked into the palace." Han Ming Ze emitted a cold air all over. Looks like towards the people of Miao sneaking in, he was very displeased.
"Your Majesty, since the person that used the gu is in the palace, and moreover is able to approach the Grand Empress Dowager, their status shouldn't be low. Perhaps other people in the palace may have also become inflicted with the gu. The person that is inflicted with the gu can be controlled by the person using the gu. If your Majesty notices someone in the palace behaving strangely, then need to be careful." Du Xiao Li warned.
"This emperor knows." Han Ming Ze nodded. He looked to Du Xiao Li, his hand tapping against the dragon throne. This bit was rather similar to Han Ming Yi. "Imperial Physician Du, this emperor has one more question for you."
"Your Majesty please ask."
"Disbanding the inner cabinet, were you the one that gave Prime Minister Du this idea?"
Du Xiao Li's heart jumped, and thought for a moment. She bend her body and replied, "This matter has nothing to do with this humble subject. I think perhaps my father feels it's best have to this power returned to your Majesty. Feng Ming originally ought to be personally governed by your Majesty."
Han Ming Ze didn't speak, just staring at Du Xiao Li's calm appearance, and jokingly said, "Ming Yi really has good eyesight. If not for having already bestowed a marriage for the two of you, this emperor rather want to have you received into the imperial harem."
Du Xiao Li held her breath, and immediately after, smiled and said, "A village girl from the mountains like this humble subject, how can your Majesty take a fancy to. Please don't make fun of this subject."
"However, this way is also good, by bestowing a marriage for you and Ming Yi, you can also be considered someone from my Han family. In the future, you will even be my younger sister-in-law!" Han Ming Ze said with a smile, "Alright, the matters of the competition will still need for you all to trouble over. If the competition this time can smoothly conclude, then this emperor will reward you for your great service!"
"Thanks your Majesty! This humble subject will withdraw now!" Du Xiao Li bowed to Han Ming Ze, and afterwards, slowly retreated out. Eunuch Sha who was guarding outside saw her and had her sent out of the palace.
Han Ming Ze watched Du Xiao Li leave, and then picked up the brush, planning to continue reading through the memorandums. But after opening the memorandum, he wasn't able to read anything in, "Little Shan Zi, say, this Du Xiao Li, did she really grow up in a mountain village?"
"Should be correct, didn't Ding Wang meet her in a mountain village?" Eunuch Shan replied.
"But, where do you find such a village girl? That grandeur, that ability, that dance that night, and that shocking medical skill, she's just thirteen. Even if there's many noble young ladies in the capital, there still isn't anyone that can compare, right? Moreover, she even has Sui Yuan, this kind of money-making place. Really is having all the women in the world all compared into the ground!" Han Ming Ze recalled Du Xiao Li's abilities and said with a smile.
"Indeed, Prime Minister Du really gave birth to a good daughter!" Eunuch Shan also said with a sigh.
"Unfortunately this kind of outstanding person got snatched up first by fifth brother."
"Just like your Majesty said earlier, Imperial Physician Du marrying Ding Wang will still end up becoming someone of the imperial family, right?"
"Just afraid she'll become someone else's helping hand!"
"Shouldn't be, Imperial Physician Du, although is relatively indifferent to the matters around
her, but her heart still leans towards Ding Wang, and towards your Majesty. The inner cabinet has existed for this long, and the Prime Minister of past dynasties all were unwilling to have this power handed over, but with Prime Minister Du, he just had this power handed over. Moreover, Prime Minister Du also said, it's because of Imperial Physician Du that he made this decision. If they have other thoughts, it wouldn't be like this." Eunuch Shan voiced his thoughts.
"Hehe, really is a strange girl. Just unfortunately, sigh............"
When Du Xiao Li exited the palace, those students have already left, and only her lonely carriage was left in its original spot.
"Miss." The carriage driver saw Du Xiao Li come out and quickly came down from the carriage. He had the little stool taken down from the carriage and placed it by the carriage.
"Thank you, we'll be returning to Sui Yuan." Du Xiao Li stepped on the little stool and got on the horse carriage as she casually instructed.
"Yes miss." The carriage driver had the stool placed back onto the carriage, and sat down himself, whipping the horse twice. The horse then began moving.
Du Xiao Li leaned against the cushion, recalling Han Ming Ze's words earlier. He'd sent people to investigate, but unexpectedly didn't obtain any useful clues. It can be seen the other party was hidden very deeply, and their power formidable. To think this kind of power actually infiltrated the palace, it was somewhat scary just thinking about it.
However, she believed with the information she provided today, finding this person shouldn't be a problem. Her task right now was to make sure the competition in two days smoothly carry out.
Fortunately, these two days, each countries' students were all preparing for the competition, and didn't cause any troubles, letting her spare quite a bit of energy.
The late autumn weather carried a trace of chilliness, the dried leaves floating in the autumn wind. Du Xiao Li saw those students all wearing cotton-padded clothes, thinking to herself, how come this competition was planned for this season? Wouldn't those in the dance competition all freeze to death? After all, those noble young ladies all didn't have the inner energy to withstand the cold.
However, she didn't know, those young ladies that practiced dance, even in the coldest period of the winter month, would still persist with their practice. That's why, this kind of weather, for them, really wasn't unbearable.
Early in the morning, quite a few people came to Sui Yuan Club. Everyone all assembled in the temporary built open air gathering palace. Because the conditions weren't adequate, only four five rows of seats were built around the competition stage, and only those with status can enter to spectate.
Ch. 087.3 – Competition Start (3)
The competition site was spread entirely with a red carpet. When Du Xiao Li saw, her first reaction was thinking that she'd arrived back in her past life watching those celebrities walk the red carpet.
Directly across from the competition site, in front of the audience seats, were a few tables and chairs in place. That was where the judges from the various countries sat. Four countries, each country producing two people. These eight people must make an impartial and fair judgement. For the sake of ensuring fairness, Du Xiao Li even gave an idea.
In the past, in this kind of competition, the judges would discuss amongst themselves and determine the first, second and so on places. After Du Xiao Li learned of this, she gave Han Ming Ze a suggestion, changing it to let each judge give a score. And among the scores they gave out, remove the highest and lowest scores, then calculate the average, using this as the student's score. This way, they can avoid unfairness caused by liking or disliking a certain student as much as possible.
This was Han Ming Ze's first time hearing about this kind of idea, feeling it was doable. Thus, he had Imperial Tutor Meng, Old Imperial Tutor Meng, Elder Fu, and such people gathered together, and have everyone collectively discuss this matter, finally feeling to just do according to her idea.
That's why, right now, on the eight tables, all had ink, brush, and paper placed on top. When needing to make a score, they can just write the score onto the paper.
Aside from this, the audience seats behind the judges have gone through meticulous planning. This place was different from the surroundings. This was built with a lone stand, and even had a temporary cover to block the sun. At a glance, one just knew it was prepared for the imperial family.
The male and female competitions were separate, first the male, then the female. Actually, this competition was mainly prepared for the male students. The female portion were all held as an addition.
The male portion's competition were respectively poetry verse, song essay, in addition to qin, chess, literature, and painting, each one also divided into preliminary, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Each category ranked the top seven, with the first three all getting rewards, and once all the competitions finished, rank the top three according to the ranks each person obtained. These three people, regardless from which country, in the days after, will all receive their country's high regard.
Each student must participate in the culture type competitions, then in the qin, chess, literature, and painting categories, pick two as supplement. Each country had twenty-eight male students participating. With four countries, there was a total of one hundred and twelve people. The preliminaries eliminated half, with fifty-six people remaining; the quarterfinals eliminated half, with twenty-eight remaining; the semifinals also eliminated half, with fourteen people remaining. The finals then selected the top seven.
At chen hour (7-9am), the participating students and the spectators all arrived. For the sake of visiting this competition, Han Ming Ze ended morning court early, leading the officials directly to the competition site.
Meng Wei Ren took charge as this competition's host, and once everyone all arrived, he walked to the center of the competition stage, using his loudest voice, "Welcome everyone for coming to participate in this student competition. For the competition this time to be able to be held in my Feng Ming, we sincerely welcome the other countries' competitors with our greatest enthusiasm!"
"I am the host for this competition, Meng Wei Ren. The competition's rules, I believe everyone already knows. I will say them again here, the competition this time........."
"..........Next, for our Emperor to say a few words to everyone."
Everyone's gaze all gathered towards the direct center of the viewing stand. Han Ming Ze got up and said a few words, nothing more than just encouraging everyone to properly perform their best and so on. Once he finished, the competition began.
The first round of the competition was very simple. It was some of the simplest questions, all just filling in the blanks of those great poet's verses, and also some common literary knowledge. The center of the stage also displayed one hundred some tables and chairs. After the competitors sat down, the examiner began issuing the topic to everyone.
Du Xiao Li sat at the edge of the competition ring, with Han Ming Xiang, Fu Ya Lan, Meng Jiang Zhuo, and also Ji Liu Xia sitting at her side. They were softly gossiping about the contestants.
"Look, sister Ya Lan's gaze on Xiao Li's older brother hasn't moved at all." Ji Liu Xia looked to Fu Ya Lan who had been staring at Du Xiu Heng the whole time, covering her mouth and secretly laughing.
Getting exposed by someone, Fu Ya Lan's face instantly reddened, shouting, "What nonsense are you saying!"
"How am I saying nonsense? Princess, you also saw, right?" Ji Liu Xia originally sat next to Fu Ya Lan, but fearing that Fu Ya Lan will hit her, she came to sit on the other side, tilting her head and looking to the people on this side.
That gathering that day, Han Ming Xiang didn't go, but she heard from Ji Liu Xia afterwards what happened that day, learning that Fu Ya Lan and Du Xiu Heng had mutual feelings. She was also happy for them. Seeing Fu Ya Lan blushing, she suddenly was interested and said with a smile, "What's wrong with her looking at the person she admires? If she doesn't look at him, would she be l
ooking at you instead?"
"Ha, princess is right, sister Ya Lan, continue staring then, I won't say anything!" Ji Liu Xia giddily said.
"Still making fun of me. Look, your future husband is also sitting down there!" Fu Ya Lan, seeing Ji Liu Xia and Han Ming Xiang singing in duet, also had Ji Liu Xia pulled into the water.
"Which one is Qu Yi?" Du Xiao Li asked Meng Jiang Zhuo next to her.
"The one behind brother Du." Meng Jiang Zhuo looked for a moment and saw Qu Yi behind Du Xiu Heng.
No wonder Fu Ya Lan saw Qu Yi, turns out it was just in passing.
Du Xiao Li looked in the direction of Feng Ming students. As expected, not far from Du Xiu Heng, she saw Qu Yi, just seeing him wearing the unified student uniform, tall and thin, a scholarly look. He had his head buried, filling in the answers. Seeing him writing at a tremendous speed, presumably towards those questions, he was very familiar with.
However, this scholarly appearance, can he keep Ji Liu Xia's unrestrained personality under control?
"Ayaa, hasn't sister Ya Lan been staring at brother Du the whole time? How come still have time to look at someone else?"
"Make fun of me again and I'll hit you!"
"Alright, how about we compete then?"
"If you and I compete with musical instruments, then I'll compete with you."
"Eh, then never mind."
Du Xiao Li, Han Ming Xiang, and also Meng Jiang Zhuo, seeing the two of them bicker, all couldn't help laughing. The usually calm Fu Ya Lan, when encountering this kind of situation, would also become flustered!
"That's right, Xiao Li, last time, didn't you say to let Prime Minister Du go propose marriage? How come we never heard news?!" Meng Jiang Zhuo asked.
"Because my father said to let my brother first participate in this competition. If he can obtain a good result, then they'll have face to go propose marriage." Du Xiao Li answered.
Ji Liu Xia, hearing Du Xiao Li's words, said, "Then there isn't a problem. With brother Du's achievements, getting a good result in this competition this time, that is also a simple task! Big sister Ya Lan, you can just peacefully wait!"