Chapter 163: Trick (II)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
“You heard me right. I’m poisoned,” Doctor Liu said weakly.
Hearing this, Long immediately said, “Doctor Liu, what’s the matter? How can you get poisoned? Can you detoxify it?”
Shi also said, “Doctor Liu, how can you be poisoned?”
The doctor curled his lips. “It’s very normal. To study something, I should be prepared for being poisoned. Otherwise, how can I study it?”
The doctor took it for granted, so both Long and Shi became speechless at that moment.
The doctor smiled and said, “You don’t have to worry about me. This poison is nothing to me. I’m here to tell you that the eunuch Zhou Qing died not because of poison, but because of some venomous insects, which was more terrible than poison. The palace needs to be cleaned up. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
“Venomous insects?” Both Long and Shi were shocked.
The doctor nodded. “Yes. Fortunately, there are many necessary conditions for this kind of insect to survive in the human body and we can also take precautions. So if you want to prevent more people in the palace from being affected by the insects, you need to do something.”
“Doctor Liu, please tell me how to do it. I will order others to cooperate with you,” Long said sincerely.
The doctor was very satisfied with Long’s attitude and nodded. “Okay. We need a lot of vinegar, wine, peppers, and several kinds of herbs. I think the herbs are available in the imperial hospital.”
“Okay, I’ll send someone to prepare,” Long said immediately.
When Doctor Liu went to deal with that, Zhang Yuan came.
Long and Shi asked Zhang in detail about Doctor Liu’s performance in the research. The answer they got was Zhang really admired that doctor.
Both Long’s and Shi’s lips twitched.
Zhang thought highly of that doctor, so he said nothing but praise for that doctor’s medical skill.
Long and Shi talked with Zhang for a while. After confirming that there was no problem with that doctor, they sent Zhang away.
This day, all the people in the palace had to hold their noses.
The ointment made by Doctor Liu to prevent the insects smelt so terrible!
What was worse, it needed to be applied under the nose and behind the ears.
Even Shi and Long couldn’t avoid that.
Zhang and several other doctors also took part in the preparation of the ointment. Shi and Long were the last ones to use it. After all, they had special identities and they had to make sure that there was no problem with the ointment.
It was already evening when Long applied the ointment.
“It smells terrible.” Long couldn’t help saying.
Shi smiled bitterly. “Why do I feel that Doctor Liu did it on purpose? Maybe he has a way to make something that is not so smelly.”
“Really?” Long blinked. “But he seems to be the first to apply this ointment, right?”
Shi blinked. “Maybe he has made his nose stop working for a while.”
“Haha.” Long laughed. “Qingzhou, you don’t believe him?”
“It’s not like that. He’s just an eccentric person,” Shi said.
“All right.” Long fanned himself with his hand. After a while, the terrible smell finally disappeared. “Qingzhou, it’s almost time for dinner, right?”
“Yes. What’s the matter? Are you hungry?” Shi immediately asked.
“No, I’m not.” Long smiled. “I think we should invite Doctor Liu to have dinner with us.”
Shi was stunned, and then narrowed his eyes. “Why should we?”
Long said with a smile. “We should thank him, shouldn’t we?”
Although Long said that, the expression in his eyes showed that it was not because of appreciation.
Shi raised his eyebrows. He didn’t know what tricks Long thought of, but he still said, “Yes, we really should thank him. I’ll send someone to invite him.”
In Yushang Palace, Doctor Liu was surprised to hear that the emperor and empress invited him to have dinner.
He raised his eyebrows, but after thinking for a moment, he went there with the eunuch.
The eunuch led the doctor to Qiankun Palace.
The doctor went in. Long and Shi happened to be coming out, so they went to greet him.
The doctor didn’t kneel down. He just smilingly looked at the two people.
Long smiled and said, “Doctor Liu, here you are. We’ll have dinner soon.”
“Your Majesty, thank you so much for your invitation,” the doctor said with a smile.
Long laughed. “You are welcome, Doctor Liu. I should thank you for your contribution to the palace.”
Shi also said, “Yes, Doctor Liu, your contribution can’t go unnoticed.”
The doctor looked at Shi and Long doubtfully. These two people, especially the empress, should not be this polite!
There must be something fishy!
However, it was impossible for them to hurt him… In this case, he would just wait and see what they would do!
So, the doctor just followed them and sat at the table.
When all the dishes were delivered, the doctor knew why the two of them invited him.
Sweet and sour, hot and sour, sweet and sour, hot and sour…
All the dishes only had these two flavors!
It was also the smell that pervading the palace this day.
The doctor’s lips twitched. It turned out that the two of them wanted to trick him like this…
As they wished, it really had a good effect.
Looking at all the dishes, the doctor really couldn’t keep anything down!
What about Long and Shi?
They were eating their egg custard, which was contained in the jade bowls carved with dragons. That symbol showed that only the emperor and empress were qualified to use such bowls.
The doctor really wanted to say, “I also want to eat egg custard!”
However, there were only two bowls of egg custard on the table, which were exclusive to the emperor and empress.
At last, the doctor could only eat the food on the table.
Deep inside, he felt very helpless.
He thought that the emperor and empress… really had a unique way to trick others.
And it really worked!
After dinner, looking at the sad face of that doctor, both Long and Shi smiled.
They had no appetite for dinner, so it was enough for them to only have rice and egg custard.
But Long was very “hospitable” during the dinner time and he put a lot of food in that doctor’s bowl.
At last, the doctor almost threw up!
After the doctor left with a gloomy face, Long and Shi looked at each other and laughed.
Long held Shi in his arms.
“Qingzhou, are you satisfied now?”
“Yes.” Shi nodded with a smile. “I’m very satisfied!”
Long laughed again…