Reborn as a Sickly Child: The Emperor's Beloved

Shen Yanyan felt even more sleepy after entering the inner room. She originally came here to discuss something with Xiao Jingzhan, but now she felt so groggy that she could not even open her eyes.

Xiao Jingzhan looked at Shen Yanyan lying on the bed, who was too sleepy to open her eyes, with his brows knitted tightly. He looked at Li Defu with anxiety in his eyes. "Where's the imperial physician? Ask them to hurry up."

"I'll go and urge them." Li Defu bowed and withdrew, standing outside the door looking forward to it.

After a while, Li Defu hurriedly brought Doctor Chen into the inner room.

When Xiao Jingzhan saw the person coming, he immediately said, "No need to bow, just go up and show her."

Imperial Physician Chen hurried forward to feel Concubine Yan's pulse. After a long while, his face looked a little solemn.

"Does the queen have any old illness?" Doctor Chen asked the drowsy Shen Yanyan after he finished speaking.

Shen Yanyan nodded and said softly: "I have been weak since I was a child. It took me more than ten years to recover from this disease."

Doctor Chen nodded and looked at the incense ashes in the incense burner. He picked up the ashes and sniffed them gently. He didn't smell anything special. He sniffed them carefully several times before he smelled a faint scent of angelica sinensis from the ashes.

Doctor Chen put down the medicine and knelt down to report: "Your Majesty, the queen's old illness was triggered by the sleep grass in the incense, causing her to feel drowsy. The queen has been taking medicine for more than ten years, and now the prescription cannot be changed without authorization. The medical skills of the person who treated the queen in the past are much better than mine. I cannot judge what medicine was used for the queen in the past. Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Xiao Jingzhan felt a chill after hearing this, and his gaze at Doctor Chen was even colder than ice. "You mean to say that only the person who treated her in the past can save her, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I am useless. Please forgive me." Doctor Chen knelt on the ground, his voice trembling.

"Your Majesty's illness came from the womb, and it came on very quickly. If you don't take the previous medicine within half a month, I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." Doctor Chen didn't dare to say anything more. He just felt that his head was in danger.

When Xiao Jingzhan heard this, his eyes turned red. He threw the incense residue at Doctor Chen and said angrily, "You useless thing, you can't even cure this. What do I want you to do?"

Doctor Chen and Li Defu both knelt on the ground, trembling slightly.

Shen Yanyan heard something vaguely, and took advantage of her last moments of consciousness to pull Xiao Jingzhan's sleeve. She said breathlessly, "Your Majesty, call...Xia Zhu, she has medicine."

Xiao Jingzhan bent down and approached her. He only heard the two words "Xia Zhu". After Shen Yanyan finished speaking, she fainted.

"Li Defu, go and bring in her maid Xia Zhu." Xiao Jingzhan remembered her maid, who had always followed her and had been waiting outside the hall just now.

Li Defu quickly got up and ran outside, and when he reached the outside of the hall, he pulled Xia Zhu inside.

"The old illness of Concubine Yan has come back, and she said she came to see you." Xia Zhu was about to ask Eunuch Li why he wanted to pull her away, but she heard what Li Defu said, and her face turned pale with fright. She broke away from Li Defu and ran inside quickly.

Li Defu staggered, thinking that Xia Zhu's grip was too strong and she almost pushed him to the ground.

Xia Zhu entered the inner room and saw Shen Yanyan lying unconscious on the bed. Her eyes turned red and she took out a small porcelain bottle from her sachet and handed it to Xiao Jingzhan: "Your Majesty, this is my queen's life-saving medicine. Please feed her one quickly."

Xiao Jingzhan took the porcelain bottle and opened the lid. A fragrance emanated from the bottle and spread to every corner of the inner room.

Xiao Jingzhan fed Shen Yanyan a pill, and Shen Yanyan's pale complexion instantly improved a lot. Xiao Jingzhan was surprised, this medicine was really magical.

Doctor Chen, who was kneeling on the ground, smelled the fragrance of the medicine. His body, which had just been shaking with fear, was now shaking with surprise. This kind of magical medicine must have come from the mysterious Divine Doctor Valley. In this world, there is only one person who can refine such a top-grade magical medicine, and that is the owner of the Divine Doctor Valley. It is really worth it for him to see the medicine refined by the owner in person in his life.

Xiao Jingzhan watched Shen Yanyan worriedly as she finished taking the medicine. He saw that her face gradually regained some color and her expression relaxed.

Xiao Jingzhan felt much more relieved, and immediately turned to Doctor Chen and said, "Come forward and take a look." Doctor Chen hurried forward and carefully took Shen Yanyan's pulse.

After a while, Doctor Chen showed a look of joy and reported, "Your Majesty, the Queen's pulse is indeed much better. She only needs a few more days of recuperation and she will be back to normal." After hearing this, Xiao Jingzhan finally felt relieved.

Xiao Jingzhan turned his gaze towards Xia Zhu and asked, "Is there anything Yanyan cannot touch on a daily basis, except for the sleep grass?"

Xia Zhuhou opened his eyes wide when he heard this. No wonder the young lady's old illness relapsed. It turned out that she came into contact with the sleep grass. "Your Majesty, the queen usually has no taboos, but she cannot touch this sleep grass at all."

Xiao Jingzhan nodded and winked at Li Defu, who then left the inner room with Doctor Chen.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Xiao Jingzhan asked again.

Xia Zhu shook her head. Only she and the young lady knew about this. Even Dong Xue didn't know. "No, only I and the queen know. I will carefully check all of the queen's belongings to prevent the presence of sleep grass."

"This is what the Divine Doctor told her when she left the valley." Xiao Jingzhan only knew that she was recuperating in the Divine Doctor Valley, but he didn't know the details.

Xia Zhu hesitated, not knowing whether she could tell His Majesty about this matter. However, looking at His Majesty's majestic eyes, Xia Zhu still said, "The divine doctor gave the queen a bottle of medicine. If the disease relapses, taking one pill each time will relieve it. However, the divine doctor said that the medicine is limited in quantity, so the queen should try to avoid contact with the sleep grass. If the medicine runs out one day, it will be very dangerous if the queen gets sick again."

"Why is it the sleeping grass that caused her illness?" Xiao Jingzhan was a little confused. This medicinal herb was not a poison and was even used in various incenses and sachets. It was very good for helping with sleep. He had been busy with work recently and had trouble falling asleep, so he asked the imperial physician to mix some and add it to the incense.

"The queen's weak constitution was brought from her mother's womb. She suffered a lot in the Divine Doctor Valley. She tried many medicines but they all damaged her body. Later, the valley master used some medicine to reduce the damage to the queen's body. The queen was in a coma for two years. During those two years, the valley master gave the queen a medicinal bath every day, saying that it was to change the queen's body's resistance to medicine. Otherwise, not only would the queen's illness not be cured, but she might not live to adulthood."

"Two years later, the Queen woke up. She took a lot of medicine before her body recovered. After she woke up, she was not allowed to touch or smell the sleeping grass. The Divine Doctor didn't know the reason, but he gave the Queen this pill when she left the valley, saying it was for life-saving, and told her to make sure to keep it with her." Xia Zhu told His Majesty everything that happened to the Queen in the Divine Doctor Valley.

"Mianmian Grass is a good medicine for calming the nerves for other people, but it is fatal to the Queen." Xia Zhu said.

She was also afraid that others would know the queen's weakness, but if the sleep grass appeared in the palace once, it would appear a second and third time. If she wanted to deal with this problem from the root, she could only ask His Majesty for help.

After all, this sleeping grass is an excellent tranquilizer and is not a common herb. However, a place like the imperial palace has all kinds of rare treasures. To be on the safe side, His Majesty can only solve the problem from the root.

After hearing this, Xiao Jingzhan slowly turned his gaze towards Shen Yanyan on the bed.

An indescribable pain surged in his heart, as if millions of tiny needles were piercing him at the same time.

He stared at her, his eyes full of pity and self-blame. He had thought that her growth in the Divine Doctor Valley would be peaceful and happy, but he had never expected that she would endure so much suffering. Those painful experiences left deep marks on her, but he knew nothing about it.

At this moment, he just wanted to hold her tightly in his arms and use his warmth to soothe her wounded heart. His hands trembled slightly, wanting to touch her but afraid of disturbing her peace.

He stood silently beside the bed, his heart filled with pity and love for her. At the same time, he secretly resolved to protect her well in the future and never let her come into any harm again.

He had always said that he would protect her, but she had been injured twice not long after entering the palace. He did not protect her well and knew very little about her affairs. After she entered the palace, he seldom took the time to visit her and get to know her.

He was so busy fighting with Prime Minister Gao's faction and dealing with state affairs that he neglected her affairs.

Xiao Jingzhan waved his hand, signaling Xia Zhu to leave.

Xiao Jingzhan stood silently in front of the window, staring into the distance, his heart filled with guilt towards Shen Yanyan. He recalled the moment when he insisted on moving forward and leaving her in the palace, and his heart was stabbed with pain.

He knew very well that Shen Yanyan had been hurt repeatedly in the palace because of his decision. Her fragile body had endured too much pain and grievance. Xiao Jingzhan frowned, with a gleam of self-blame in his eyes.

"Li Defu, deal with it secretly. There cannot be any sleeping grass in the palace from now on." Xiao Jingzhan looked at Shen Yanyan on the bed and ordered sternly.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take care of it. I will help you wash up." Li Defu responded hurriedly, and then helped Xiao Jingzhan wash up.

The next day, sunlight shone through the window into the room. Shen Yanyan slowly opened her eyes, and her blurry vision gradually became clear. She saw a familiar figure sitting beside the bed. That person was Xia Zhu.

When Xia Zhu saw Shen Yanyan wake up, her eyes were full of concern.

"My lady, you finally woke up."

Shen Yanyan looked at her and asked weakly, "What's wrong with me?"

Xia Zhu gently held Shen Yanyan's hand and said softly, "You accidentally came into contact with the Juemian Grass yesterday and fainted. Don't worry, you're fine now. The imperial physician said you need to rest well and you will be fine in a few days." Shen Yanyan recalled the scene of yesterday and only remembered that she heard the three words "Juemian Grass" in a daze, then suddenly felt dizzy and lost consciousness.

Xia Zhu comforted her, "Your Majesty has ordered Eunuch Li to remove all the Juemian Grass in the palace. Your Majesty will not have to worry about coming into contact with Juemian Grass in the future."

Shen Yanyan nodded. She was drowsy yesterday because of the influence of the sleeping grass. No wonder she was so sleepy.