unclear

Chapter 65

If a man appears in the harem, no need to ask, he must be a eunuch.However, this person is dressed very differently from Tian Yi, Chen Ju and Wang An. He is wearing a three-mountain crown on his head, but he is wearing a bright red brocade robe with embroidered Qinghai waves, cirrus clouds, fire beads, etc. on the chest. Patterns such as "福" in round characters, and a dragon!

At first glance, the pattern on this dress looks a bit like a crown prince's crown, but there are some differences. The main reason is that the dragon's figure is a bit thin. It does not wrap around the shoulders from the chest to the collar, but is just coiled on the chest alone.

Can eunuchs wear dragon robes?The answer is definitely no.This dress is not a dragon robe, but a python suit.Like the Feiyu suit, Qilin suit, and Bull Fight suit, it is not a formal official uniform of the Ming Dynasty, but an honorary costume awarded by the emperor, somewhat similar to the yellow mantle of the Qing Dynasty.

Officials who can wear such costumes may not necessarily have high official status, but they must be popular people around the emperor.Tian Yi and Chen Ju have unicorn suits, but they are relatively low-key people. Unless they meet up for a particularly grand occasion, they usually don't wear it to show off.

"Alas, Wen Sheng, seeing that the palace share will be halved is about to come true, and even the expenses for my son's wedding and enthronement will be deducted, what should I do in the future?" Returning to Nuan Pavilion, the noble concubine Zheng's anger was almost gone, but her resentment and grievances came back again, and she burst into tears for a while.

I have to say that this woman is indeed quite pretty, especially Sister Zhiling, whose voice sounds like that of a later generation. She can make men have an unreasonable urge to protect her without being too artificial.

It was precisely by virtue of this talent and her accomplishments in music, chess, calligraphy and painting that she firmly won the heart of Emperor Wanli. Even though she was a little older, she could still maintain her holy love and dominate the harem.

It's just that after so many years of deliberate efforts, not only did he fail to push his son to the throne of emperor, but his own food and clothing expenses were also reduced. The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became.It's a pity that I can't talk about these complaints to outsiders. I can only vent a few words secretly in private with the most considerate eunuch.

The so-called considerate eunuch is this middle-aged eunuch wearing a python suit.His name is Cui Wensheng, and he has been serving the Zheng family since she entered the palace and was granted the title of concubine. It has been 22 years now.

He gradually climbed from a young official to the position of chief eunuch of Yikun Palace and chief food supervisor. Not only was he the most trusted person of the Zheng family, he was also valued by Emperor Wanli.If the late emperor had lived for a few more years, he could still go one step further and become a ceremonial officer with a pen or palm seal.

The reason why the imperial concubine and the emperor valued him so much was that, in addition to his good brain and sweet mouth, he also had a position that was not well known to outsiders, that of Emperor Wanli's personal physician.

After Cui Wensheng entered the palace, he became a disciple of the eunuch in charge of the Shangshan Supervisor. Although this old eunuch was in charge of the royal kitchen, he had no research on eating. Instead, he liked to study the art of Qihuang. He even read several medical books with Cui Wensheng. When he had nothing to do, he would also treat the low-level eunuchs with minor illnesses, and he was somewhat famous in the palace.

After working with Concubine Zheng, he did not neglect this skill. He could still show off his skills from time to time, and the results were good. Concubine Zheng then appreciated him and recommended him to Emperor Wanli.

It would be a long story to ask Emperor Wanli why he had to find a two-handed eunuch who was not even qualified to practice medicine to treat patients when he left the imperial physician and imperial physician alone.

Emperor Wanli's health has not been very good since he was middle-aged, mainly in his right leg, where he often suffered from pain that made him unable to walk.The imperial doctor's diagnosis and treatment had no effect, which may be one of the reasons why he was unwilling to go to court.

However, Cui Wensheng alleviated the disease that was not treatable by the imperial doctors. After taking this medicine, Emperor Wanli not only relieved the pain in his feet, but also felt energetic and could even work hard at night.

For a patient, as long as someone can cure his disease, even if it is just relief, he will be extremely grateful.So Cui Wensheng not only rose through the ranks, but also became a confidant of the emperor and Concubine Zheng.So what medicine did Cui Wensheng use?The name is Wu Xiang.He had always gone outside the palace to purchase raw materials, then used secret methods to prepare them in Yikun Palace, and then used them for the emperor.

What is Wuxiang?I'm afraid that even if the imperial doctor is called, he won't be able to give an answer.Apart from Cui Wensheng himself, only one person in the entire palace knew about it, and he was Hong Tao.

What is Wuxiang? Hong Tao knew that Emperor Wanli was an addict when he was 15 years old. The medicine Cui Wensheng gave the emperor was not Wuxiang at all, but opium!

There was no need to ask or see, just by smelling the scent of Emperor Wanli, Hong Tao was 100% sure.That special fragrance can only be emitted after being evaporated by high temperature from a kind of vegetable oil in the world.

Will there be opium in the Ming Dynasty?Yes, the poppy plant was introduced to China a long time ago, but its actual use as a medicine only started in the Yuan Dynasty.Although doctors in the Ming Dynasty also used this medicine to treat diseases, it was not widely used. It was limited to minority witch doctors in the southwestern border areas. It was mostly used for dysentery and persistent coughs.

It also has the function of helping men to be virile. In the Ming Dynasty, witch doctors often mixed opium with other drugs to make pills, called "Dajindan", which were used to "promote yang affairs and strengthen the essence and energy".

The old eunuch of Shangshan Supervisor had never systematically studied medical skills. He only made up folk remedies on his own. Among them was the method of making opium into incense and smoking it to relieve pain, which was also learned by Cui Wensheng.He was more courageous than the old eunuch, and he actually dared to use it on the emperor, and it worked.

"My Majesty, if just cutting down the expenses is not a big deal, we in the palace have a strong family background and we will definitely not wrong my Majesty. I am afraid that Prince Fu's situation will become even more unbearable. The late emperor's release period has long passed, but the wedding has not yet happened. Procrastinate and procrastinate..."

It's a pity that Emperor Wanli died a little early, which immediately cut off Cui Wensheng's rise.When it comes to resentment, he is probably no less resentful than the imperial concubine, but no matter how powerful he is as a eunuch, it's not like he's doing anything wrong when he's backstage.From this point of view, he and Concubine Zheng must be in the same boat.

"...My son, what should I do?" The imperial concubine was immediately shocked when she heard this. Thinking about how she treated Wang Gongfei and the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo back then, she became even more desperate and burst into tears. .

"Your Majesty, I have a solution, but I don't know..." Cui Wensheng gritted his teeth when he saw the pear blossoms and the rain, and leaned closer to whisper.

"...Are you sure?" I don't know what Cui Wensheng said. The heartbroken concubine suddenly stopped crying. Her face was full of panic. She stared at Cui Wensheng with her eyes wide open for more than ten seconds before she asked. .

"If God helps me, it will be [-]%... plus the late emperor's edict, it should be [-]%!" Cui Wensheng's temples were already soaked with sweat in just over ten seconds, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw the imperial concubine being moved. , got closer again.

"...Forget it, the late emperor originally intended to pass the throne to my son!" Upon hearing such a high degree of confidence, the panic on the imperial concubine's face suddenly turned into determination, and she gritted her teeth and made the decision.

(End of this chapter)