Chapter 123: Magnificent as a Song

Grand Marshal Yan stroked his beard and smiled, "If it weren't exceptionally important, I wouldn't have come personally to invite the divine physician. Scholar Qin, do you know whose credit it is that the Emperor didn't pursue the matter of you being an abandoned person?"

Qin Mu was startled. That day, Emperor Yanfeng had spoken passionately and stirringly before the Grand Academy Hall. Qin Mu had assumed the Emperor intended to use his status as an abandoned person from the Great Ruins to reprimand his officials. However, judging by Grand Marshal Yan's words, it seemed there was also his contribution involved.

"I'd like to hear the details."

"At the time, I told the Emperor that you were the divine physician capable of treating that person. That's why the Emperor didn't question how an abandoned person like you managed to bypass the vision mirror and enter Yankang."

Grand Marshal Yan smiled slightly, "Do you think you could have become a Grand Academy scholar without my intervention? A Grand Academy scholar holds at least an eighth-rank official position. How could it be casually given to a divine abandoned person from the Great Ruins who infiltrated our Yankang nation? That would be a crime of blasphemy!"

Qin Mu's eyes flickered, and he sighed, "If I can't cure that person, my head..."

Grand Marshal Yan chuckled, "You won't keep it."

Qin Mu's face darkened.

The official sedan chair landed. The sedan bearers lifted the curtains, and Grand Marshal Yan gestured with a smile. Qin Mu took a deep breath and stepped out of the sedan. Grand Marshal Yan also dismounted, leading the way and whispering, "That person has an extremely important background. You must not be disrespectful, understand?"

Qin Mu followed closely, smiling, "With my life and your future at stake, Grand Marshal Yan, I naturally won't be disrespectful."

Grand Marshal Yan smiled faintly and said leisurely, "It's good that you understand. My grandson also attends the Grand Academy; he enrolled two years before you. If you cure that person, I can ask my grandson to look after you. My grandson is also exceptionally talented, entering at the Five Luminaries realm."

Qin Mu's expression was odd. "I wonder if his grandson was among the scholars I fought today..."

This was the inner court of the imperial palace, seemingly where the imperial concubines resided. Palatial walls loomed, and courtyards stretched deep. Along the way, Qin Mu only saw palace maids and clean-shaven men.

"Could these be the legendary eunuchs?" Qin Mu wondered.

Grand Marshal Yan led him to a large courtyard deep within the palace. Although it was lavish and gilded, it appeared desolate and lacked the warmth of everyday life.

At that moment, there were twenty to thirty people inside the hall, mostly palace maids and eunuchs. Several imperial physicians attended outside a jade bed, which was separated by curtains. A figure, vaguely a woman, lay within.

"The divine physician from Flower Lane has arrived?"

An imperial physician's gaze swept over Qin Mu, and he sneered, "Grand Marshal Yan, you've become muddled. How dare you bring someone who treats courtesans to attend to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager? You're utterly audacious."

Grand Marshal Yan said calmly, "Imperial Physician Xiao said the same thing back then, and then Imperial Physician Xiao died. Oh, little brother Qin, I forgot to tell you: Imperial Physician Xiao and these imperial physicians are all instructors from the Imperial Physician Hall of the Grand Academy, and they will be teaching you medicine in the future."

Qin Mu bowed in greeting to the imperial physicians, but they merely sneered coldly, their hands clasped behind their backs, not returning the courtesy. Imperial Physician Qu sneered, "So young, yet already out here swindling people. You haven't even mastered alchemy yet, have you?"

Qin Mu flashed a sunny smile, like a bright and innocent young man. "Teachers, Imperial Physician Xiao said the same thing back then, and then he died."

The imperial physicians' faces turned ashen.

Qin Mu stepped forward, approached the jade couch, sat on the jade chair, and said, "Empress Dowager."

A hand extended from within the curtains and rested on the side of the couch. Qin Mu took her pulse. After a moment, he turned around and asked, "Does anyone have silver needles?"

An elderly imperial physician stepped forward and handed him his silver needles. Qin Mu took one, pricked the Empress Dowager's finger. Grand Marshal Yan coughed and whispered, "A capital offense..."

"Grand Marshal Yan, we'll face it together."

Qin Mu's vital qi erupted, holding the drop of blood suspended in mid-air. He gazed intently at it.

"Open!" he murmured, and the Divine Firmament Heaven Eye opened, allowing him to peer into the blood. At the same time, he clenched his five fingers, then sharply spread them outwards, causing the drop of blood to instantly expand into a large, bright red sphere.

Qin Mu hesitated, then murmured again, "Open!" Countless array patterns rotated within his pupils, forming the second layer of heaven: the Azure Firmament Heaven Eye!

Qin Mu felt his vital qi was somewhat insufficient and unsustainable. He turned back and asked, "Grand Marshal Yan, could I borrow some of your vital qi cultivation?"

Grand Marshal Yan stepped forward, his vital qi flowing into Qin Mu's body. He whispered, "Little divine physician, do you have confidence..."

Qin Mu's body trembled violently. As Grand Marshal Yan's vital qi poured into his eyes, a buzzing sound filled the air, and layer after layer of divine eyes opened, allowing him to see the drop of blood with absolute clarity. Nothing hidden within it could escape his sight. The blind man had completely taught him the Nine Heavens Eye Opening Method, but currently, Qin Mu's cultivation was insufficient to fully open all nine layers, so he could only borrow Grand Marshal Yan's cultivation.

Divine light gleamed in Qin Mu's eyes, two beams of it shooting out about a foot long. Suddenly, Qin Mu lifted the curtains, and the divine light in his eyes flared, shining upon Her Majesty the Empress Dowager on the bed.

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager had not expected such audacity from him, daring to lift the curtains. Her eyes immediately turned to him, her gaze like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, radiating power without anger.

Qin Mu met her gaze, and the divine light in his eyes receded. "I've discerned Her Majesty's illness. The Empress Dowager has been poisoned."

Though Her Majesty the Empress Dowager lay on the sickbed, her face aged, one could still discern the bearing of a queen who once ruled the world—a rare beauty. She closed her eyes and said, "My body weakens day by day. Some imperial physicians from the Imperial Physician Bureau say it's an illness, others say it's poisoning; there's no definitive conclusion. How do you determine that I am poisoned?"

"The poison Her Majesty has contracted is called the Thousand Mechanisms Poison."

Qin Mu explained, "This poison is a unique concoction, crafted from a thousand interlinked toxins. Once refined, the Thousand Mechanisms Poison's effects are ever-changing, making it nearly incurable. Any antidote will cause the poison to transform, rendering the remedy useless. The more treatments attempted, the deeper and more agonizing the poison becomes. Her Majesty has been afflicted for a long time. Fortunately, her cultivation is profound, and some imperial physicians sustained her life with miraculous elixirs instead of directly attempting to cure the illness; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

The imperial physicians from the Imperial Physician Bureau were greatly shocked. They exchanged glances, remaining silent.

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager asked breathlessly, "Imperial Physicians, does such a poison exist?"

Imperial Physician Yu bowed and replied, "Replying to Your Majesty, such a poison does exist. We've heard it was concocted by the Jade-Masked Poison King, but no one has ever witnessed it, and therefore..."

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager sighed, "So you have no cure, is that it?"

The imperial physicians looked ashamed, lowering their heads in silence.

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager took a breath, her gaze falling on Qin Mu. "Little divine physician, what about you?"

"This subject has a method to cure it."

Qin Mu smiled slightly, "However, I need to know all the medicines Her Majesty has taken since being poisoned, and what the prescriptions were. Please provide them to me as soon as possible. Also, I require one thousand and twenty-three palace maids, along with brushes, ink, and one thousand and twenty-three tags."

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager waved her hand, weakly saying, "Go and arrange it quickly."

Not long after, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were prepared. Meanwhile, various palaces in the imperial harem were bustling, summoning palace maids from every court. The Imperial Physician Bureau was also compiling a list of all the medicines Her Majesty had taken over the years of her illness.

Qin Mu picked up his brush and wrote the names of various toxins and corresponding numbers on each tag. He worked until midnight to complete them. Outside the hall, lights blazed, and over a thousand palace maids stood in silent stillness.

Qin Mu instructed people to distribute the tags, with each palace maid receiving one bearing the name of a toxin. He then had them arrange themselves in a peculiar formation according to a specific order. This formation was highly complex, composed of multiple patterns: the first pattern had only one palace maid holding a tag and standing; the second pattern had two palace maids; the third had four; then patterns of eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, two hundred and fifty-six, and five hundred and twelve palace maids, respectively.

Once the palace maids were arranged, Qin Mu began examining the Empress Dowager's medical prescriptions from over the years, starting with the first one. After reviewing it, he immediately called out numbers, instructing the palace maids to swap positions when they heard their respective numbers.

The formation of a thousand people immediately transformed. Then Qin Mu examined the second prescription, again calling out numbers, causing the designated palace maids to swap positions and change the formation once more.

As Qin Mu continued to review prescription after prescription, the formation changed repeatedly, and the palace maids' positions shifted again and again.

The imperial physicians showed immense shock. A white-haired old imperial physician trembled and said, "To witness such a technique in my lifetime—even if I die now, it would be enough!"

The other three imperial physicians nodded repeatedly, sighing, "We underestimated him. We never imagined he could identify the Thousand Mechanisms Poison, let alone use such a marvelous method to calculate its current stage of transformation!"

The imperial physicians sighed with admiration. Qin Mu had the more than a thousand palace maids stand with their tags to form a structure representing the various toxins of the Thousand Mechanisms Poison and their mutual restraints after its formation. He then changed the palace maids' positions based on the impact the Empress Dowager's consumed medicines had on the poison's structure.

These more than a thousand palace maids formed a vast and complex heterogeneous abacus, with the maids acting as the beads, allowing him to calculate the exact stage of the Thousand Mechanisms Poison's transformation within the Empress Dowager's body.

This technique was truly miraculous, earning the profound admiration of the imperial physicians.

Qin Mu calculated until dawn, finally finishing all the prescriptions. The palace maids, who had stood holding their tags all night, were exhausted. Qin Mu looked at their final positions, the tags in their hands, and the ultimate formation of the thousand toxins. He pondered for a long time, then closed his eyes.

After another long pause, Qin Mu opened his eyes, picked up his brush, and wrote down a prescription.

The imperial physicians gathered closer, bending down to look. They nodded repeatedly, so excited that they gesticulated wildly.

Grand Marshal Yan also leaned in to look, but couldn't understand it. He whispered, "Imperial Physicians, how is this prescription?"

Imperial Physician Qu looked at Qin Mu with admiration and exclaimed, "The prescription is exquisitely beautiful, as magnificent as a song! The little divine physician used a substitution method, replacing the central major toxin in the Thousand Mechanisms Poison with another. See? That 'one'! Once that 'one' is replaced, the other one thousand and twenty-two toxins become mutually counteractive, and the poison resolves itself! Magnificent, truly magnificent!"

Another Imperial Physician, You, praised, "Imperial Physician Xiao did not die in vain. To die before the little divine physician, it was a fitting end!"

Grand Marshal Yan shook his head, thinking, "Medical practitioners are all lunatics. What's so magnificent about this? The key is whether it works. If it doesn't, my official position and his head are both forfeit!"