Chapter 598
Questioning the Eunuch Party, Becoming a Member of the Eunuch Party
Three poles in the sun.
The Imperial Physician paced back and forth under the plaque of the Imperial Medical Academy, his hands behind his back.
He would walk a few steps, stop, look up at the alley entrance, walk a few more steps, and stop again.
The judge, disregarding all decorum, lifted his robe and sat on the high threshold of the Imperial Medical Academy: "My lord, who knows when Liu Chun will return? How long are you going to stand here at the gate?"
Upon hearing this, the academy envoy stopped in his tracks, stared with his bull-like eyes, and said stiffly, "I'm worried about Liu Chun's safety."
The judge, his eyes stinging from the sun, shaded them with his hand: "He was ordered to search the house; what danger could he possibly face?"
The abbot sneered, "Who knows if the man in the main hall has any influence? I've heard he's just a gyrfalcon, what right does he have to order the twelve zodiac animals around? What if the eunuch faction colludes with him and refuses to listen to him, instead imprisoning Liu Chun in the inner prison and destroying the account books? Wouldn't Liu Chun be in danger?"
The judge was taken aback by what he heard; the chief physician's words did make some sense.
Although Chen Ji was a viscount, he had no authority over the Directorate of Ceremonial. His position in the Secret Service was merely that of a gyrfalcon. Why should they obey his orders to search Jiao Tu and Yun Yang's homes? Moreover, the man surnamed Li was the adopted son of the Director of the Imperial Household Department.
The Director of the Imperial Household Department was a close attendant of the emperor, responsible for serving him with writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and precious objects, and he was able to appear before the emperor every day.
What use could Chen Ji's prescription, which only had his name written on it, possibly be?
Just as the judge was about to say something, he caught a glimpse of a figure emerging from the alleyway.
Liu Chun, the registrar, ran back, the hem of his official robe held up in his hand, revealing old trousers with patches underneath. When he saw the magistrate in the distance, he raised his hand high and waved frantically, panting heavily as he ran.
The academy official stepped forward, grabbed Liu Chun's arm, pulled him into the shadow of the plaque, and lowered his voice: "Did you copy it?"
Liu Chun was panting and unable to speak, so he could only nod frantically.
The academy president's eyes lit up: "They really copied it?"
Liu Chun finally caught his breath, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement: "We raided it! We really raided the Li family's house!"
The academy official, disregarding his composure, pulled Liu Chun a few steps towards the door: "How did you copy it? Tell me in detail!"
Liu Chun stood under the plaque, his face beaming with excitement: "I took the account books to the Eagle House Bureau, but before I even got there, I was stopped by the Secret Service. I told them that Viscount Wu Xiang had sent me, and they immediately let me through without saying a word."
The abbot unconsciously lowered his voice and leaned closer: "And then? You saw the Bright Rabbit and the Cloud Sheep?"
"Yes, I saw it." Liu Chun nodded. "This is my first time visiting the Eagle House. I thought it would be gloomy and eerie inside, but it's actually quite elegant. There are more than a dozen old locust trees in the courtyard, all well-maintained, and pigeons fly around every now and then..."
The academy slapped him on the back: "Let's get down to business!"
Liu Chun staggered forward after being hit: "When I saw Jiao Tu, I handed her the prescription. She took it, glanced at it, and asked me, 'Who does Lord Chen want to kill?'"
The judge and the magistrate exchanged a glance.
Liu Chun continued, "I quickly explained that it wasn't about killing anyone, but about confiscating their property. She just said 'oh,' stuffed the prescription into her sleeve, stood up, and walked out. When she got to the door, she called out into the yard, 'Yunyang, let's go, the master has given us some work.'"
The judge interjected, "She can just leave after shouting? Doesn't she need to ask her superiors?"
Liu Chun waved his hand: "I thought so at first too, but she didn't mean it at all. After she shouted that, Yun Yang popped out from behind the old locust tree like a ghost. I didn't even see when he got there. Then Jiao Tu gathered more than twenty people and headed for Qipan Street in a grand procession."
"Number twenty-something?" The academy director gasped.
“More than ten, not less,” Liu Chun gestured, “Ten or so blocked the front door, and ten or so blocked the back door, and not a single one escaped. I personally watched that bastard surnamed Li being tied up like a pig and dragged out of the pharmacy, his face was all white.”
The judge asked in bewilderment, "Didn't the Imperial Household Department's Admiral come to stop it?"
“They stopped him,” Liu Chun chuckled. “When they were halfway through copying it, a eunuch from the Imperial Household Department came and greeted Jiao Tu, saying something like, ‘Eunuch Li already knows, so please do us a favor, Lord Jiao Tu.’ Guess what Jiao Tu did?”
The academy head leaned forward: "What's wrong?"
Liu Chun waved his hand, making a grabbing gesture: "Arrest them all!"
The Imperial Censor and the Imperial Judge exchanged another glance, and the Imperial Censor muttered to himself, "This kid doesn't even respect the Director of the Imperial Household Department?"
Liu Chun chuckled and said, "I heard that our new abbot once whipped the director of the Divine Palace in the face."
The academy magistrate flew into a rage: "What new academy magistrate? I'm still here!"
Liu Chun quickly changed the subject: "After raiding the pharmacy, Jiao Tu raided the home of the man surnamed Li. They found a lot of treasures there, boxes and boxes of gold and silver ingots, and a huge stack of land deeds and house deeds. They also found out that he had been bullying and monopolizing the market and forcibly taking a woman. The woman he forcibly took has been locked in the woodshed in the backyard for more than a year, and she is pale and thin."
Liu Chun recalled: "At that time, Jiao Tu told the woman that the fact that she had been forcibly taken could not be kept secret and that it would be difficult for her to marry again. He asked her if she was willing to go to Wunian Mountain. As long as she went to Wunian Mountain, she would not have to endure the stigma and could kill whoever she wanted. But the woman said she would not go and wanted to go home to find her parents. Jiao Tu then gave the woman two hundred taels of silver and let her go."
The abbot pondered, "These eunuchs still have some humanity." Liu Chun chuckled, "Before I left, Jiao Tu specifically asked me to pass on a message to Lord Chen, saying that she guarantees the man surnamed Li won't live past tonight."
The judge sighed, "That Li guy deserved it. At the beginning of the year, I went to confront him, and that bastard sat with his legs crossed in the pharmacy and told me that it was no use no matter where I went to complain... But the Secret Service's methods are too ruthless; they just kill someone without hesitation."
Upon hearing this, the abbot stood there stunned for a long while.
He turned his head and looked across the courtyard of the Imperial Medical Academy towards the main hall. The door to the main hall was open, and he could vaguely see a red figure inside, hunched over a desk, motionless, as if reading a book.
The Imperial Physician suddenly lifted his robe, lowered his head, and hurriedly walked deeper into the Imperial Medical Academy.
The judge and Liu Chun were taken aback and hurriedly chased after him, saying, "Where are you going, Your Excellency? You mustn't provoke him..."
The envoy did not answer, but quickened his pace.
He crossed the courtyard, stepped onto the main hall, and stood before the dilapidated desk. Sunlight streamed in from behind him, casting a shadow on the pages of the book.
Chen Ji slowly raised his head: "Does the registrar need to see me?"
The academy envoy remained silent, not speaking immediately, as if he was considering something.
The judge and Registrar Liu tugged at his sleeve, but he seemed oblivious.
After a moment, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy said seriously, "The best batch of medicinal herbs that my Imperial Medical Academy receives each year is sent to the Imperial Pharmacy next to the Wenhua Hall to be kept for the nobles in the palace. But the palace can't actually use all of those herbs, so every year the Director of the Palace Attendants instigates his subordinate, the chief eunuch Wang Kui, to conceal the fact that the herbs are moldy or infested with insects..."
Chen Ji seemed thoughtful: "Is there any evidence?"
The Imperial Physician hesitated for a long time before saying, "They only do it when no one is in the Imperial Pharmacy. How can we possibly gather evidence? You eunuchs... do you even need evidence to do things?"
Chen Ji said sincerely, "Of course it is necessary. It's not that legal principles require evidence, but rather that when attacking an opponent in the court, the opponent will not surrender easily. Only with evidence can one put the opponent to death. That's how we were able to confiscate the Li family's property. With witnesses and physical evidence, no one can help him now."
The Imperial Physician pursed his lips, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke again: "Then let's change it... Our Imperial Medical Academy holds four minor examinations every year and a major examination every three years. Those who pass the 'first-class' examination will be promoted, those who pass the 'second-class' examination will not be allowed to serve in the palace, those who pass the 'third-class' examination will be demoted and have their salary reduced, and those who pass the 'fourth-class' examination will be stripped of their official hat and expelled from the Imperial Medical Academy."
Chen Ji nodded: "I know, it's the same as the Ministry of Personnel's capital inspection."
The academy director continued, “This matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites’ Ceremonial Affairs Department, but the newly appointed director of the department, Ye Yan, is a beast. If the imperial physicians give him gifts, he will let them pass easily; if they don’t give gifts, he will deliberately make things difficult for them.”
Chen Ji raised an eyebrow: "How will you make things difficult for me?"
The Imperial Physician explained, “Each physician in our Imperial Medical Academy has a different specialty. Some are good at general pulse diagnosis, some at minor pulse diagnosis, and some at typhoid fever. It is impossible for an imperial physician to be proficient in all medical specialties. If you do not offer gifts, Ye Yan will test the physicians in minor pulse diagnosis with difficult and complicated cases of typhoid fever. Who can answer that? In three years, he has driven away twelve imperial physicians.”
Chen Ji fell into deep thought. He now knew that Da Fang Mai Ke was actually internal medicine, while Xiao Fang Mai Ke was pediatrics. Both were imperial physicians, but the medical books they read were completely different.
Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, the imperial physician muttered under his breath, "...If Physician Yao were here, he certainly wouldn't sit idly by."
Chen Ji suddenly closed the book and leaned back slightly.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze slowly sweeping across the face of the Imperial Physician before settling on the imperial physicians standing behind him.
Before anyone knew it, a crowd had gathered at the entrance of the main hall, all of them having come over after hearing the commotion. Some were still clutching pestles for pounding medicine, while others had black marks on their sleeves from the fumes of boiling herbs.
Chen Ji's gaze bypassed the academy envoy and fell upon the people at the door: "Have you all given gifts to Ye Yan?"
Zhou Fangping said loudly, "Two years ago, I gave that old bastard half a pig, but he ordered his servants to throw the pig out the door and told me to wait to be deprived of my championship belt. Later, I sold ten acres of my ancestral property in the suburbs of Beijing to raise two hundred taels of silver for him."
Another imperial physician said loudly, "That grandson of mine took a piece of cursive calligraphy by Zhang Ji, the Sage of Calligraphy, from the time of Emperor Taizu, and hung it in his study. It was passed down from my Ren family ancestors, and the calligraphy also has the inscription that the Sage of Calligraphy gave to my ancestor."
The entrance suddenly became lively, with seven or eight people talking amongst themselves and pushing forward, as if afraid that Chen Ji wouldn't hear them.
Chen Ji didn't interrupt them, but just listened quietly.
When the sounds gradually subsided, he withdrew his gaze, took out a prescription from the side, wrote the words "Chen Ji" on the back, and handed it to the head of the academy: "Take this to the Eagle House Department and lead the imperial physicians to identify it. If it is true, confiscate the Ye family's property."
The old abbot's eyes shone brightly as he took the prescription and turned to leave. He walked with a brisk, confident stride, exuding an air of triumph, a far cry from his previous decrepit appearance.
The imperial physicians bowed slightly to Chen Ji and left with the head physician.
The court judge stood outside the main hall, watching the figures of the chief physician and the imperial physician disappear through the gate. He then turned his head and glanced at Chen Ju, who was still reading a book behind the desk, before turning the pages as if nothing had happened.
The judge turned to look at Registrar Liu, hesitated for a long time, and asked in a low voice, "Tell me, are we now considered part of the eunuch faction?"
Registrar Liu hesitated for a moment: "You know what, being a member of the eunuch faction feels pretty good..." (End of Chapter)