章 95: Quack

"Humble Subject Fu Minde greets Lord Yue."

Yan Zheyun propped the emperor up in bed with the help of some long square cushions that lined the wall. It was fortunate that soft pillows had already been invented because the alternative was the ceramic or rattan versions that he still couldn't get used to, in which case, the emperor might as well just lean back against the solid headboards of the bed frame.

It was only until Yan Zheyun was certain that the emperor was comfortable that he turned to regard the gentleman with the snow-white beard, who had walked up to present a bow to him. His robes were officious as they had a buzi (1) stitched upon them, two white birds amidst a colourful brocade. Yan Zheyun had no idea what rank this pattern indicated but given the man's seniority, his family name, and his presence here in this hidden corner of Qianqing Palace, Yan Zheyun could hazard a guess at his identity.

"Imperial Physician Fu?"

クリエイターの想い
Queeniecat

(1) Buzi: The embroidery on the front of any ranked official’s robes that would denote his status. Depending on the dynasty, the patterns may differ and tend to be of animals or flowers such as cranes, lions, hydrangeas, peonies etc. Imperial relatives, nobility, and ranked wives (of powerful officials) would have a formal set of robes that bear these too.

(2) Mantuoluo flower: Datura, a hallucinogen that has weak addictive qualities.

(3) Great Ye: A poor translation of ‘Da Ye’, which I have decided to use in place of an even poorer translation ‘Big Ye’ lol. It felt strange to have a citizen address the country by the dynasty so this was my workaround.

(4) Fighting poison with poison: both a traditional medicine concept and an idiom that means to fight fire with fire, or to go against an opponent with their own tactics.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading!<3 The research this update required was a nightmare @_@ and I had to fill in the blanks when I couldn't find any sources, so please treat any of the history and medicine in this chapter (and this novel tbh) as pure entertainment!

Special thanks to: shinonwater for the ice cola!!!<3 Nadine_Linter, mimikyu and everyone else who has left a golden ticket, we're at 99!!!<3 Ishtar77, lenuser, MLD173, rodnialba, Natee, AnnieC181, Nadine_Linter, Shishabun, NumberOnePiggy, Morganita3, Junior_Yawa, HLewis35, Tsendee, Riz_Young, bubblebunnytea, Selinea, TillTheWeeHours, Frooza, IuliaA, shinonwater, Marcia_Smith_2081, SmolBabyBun, CJM31072002, kaisaa123, Dayra_Ash2013, lijffu, Dawnlore, Evanna236_otaku, Ahana_De, AmeTora, Lavendelius, Daoist176232, army19, Amanda_Medina_8519, Daoist714801, Jeanet_Baturi, ohani_angel_fly456, Skulls_and_Roses, mimikyu, sandra_monterrosa, Ndattsay, littleprincess, karmic_idiot, Ritu_Kaushik, AgiB, Rosie_Nguyen_7601, Regulus11, Snake_noddles18, pratikshapawar2541, Jenny_Tsang, PeaceOut, Fialova, rodnialba, Milluswapna_Dash, MissIcycel, ScholarMaoLaoshi, Axe_Backerman, MrsLeeMauSue, and ikka for the power stones/comments!!!<3