Li Jing, Prince Jing’s Mansion.

Five days ago, Prince Jing’s grandson was bitten by a small Pekingese he kept. At that time, the wound was treated and bandaged, so they thought there was no issue.

Who knew that five days later, Prince Jing’s grandson suddenly developed a high fever that would not go away. Neither the doctors in the mansion nor the ones invited from the Imperial Pharmacy managed to find an effective treatment.

Finally, it was diagnosed as "rabies illness."

With that, it seemed the sky had fallen on Prince Jing’s Mansion. Royal offspring were rare, and in this line of Prince Jing, there was nearly only one male born each generation.

The elderly Prince Jing, in his anger, immediately grabbed his grandson’s beloved Pekingese and smashed it to death in front of everyone.

There’s only one male in each generation, if the grandson were to die, the line of Prince Jing could possibly be severed.

Once severed, they would either have to adopt someone from the descendants of other royal family members or simply declare that the line of Prince Jing ends with this generation.

Of course, the heir to Prince Jing is still young, and he could potentially have more children, but whether he can is unknown.

This grandson, who was raised with such difficulty, is about to be lost, and the elderly Prince Jing is almost losing his mind, as it concerns the continuation of his bloodline.

Even if, as a last resort, another child were to be adopted, could it truly be the same?

The Imperial Pharmacy and the Imperial Hospital (institutions specifically for treating royalty, nobility, and ministers) have been implored to the fullest extent, yet none have been effective.

No one dares to make a promise.

Some well-known doctors even avoided Prince Jing altogether because there was no treatment for this illness, and there was nothing they could do about it.

A notice offering a reward was also posted, but upon hearing it was "rabies illness," not a single person dared to go to Prince Jing’s Mansion.

Taking a chance requires skill; if unsuccessful, and Prince Jing’s grandson dies at your hands, could there be a good outcome?

No one is foolish—if this matter falls onto oneself, it would be a disaster threatening one’s life.

The Imperial Pharmacy is there and unavoidable, but it’s been driven almost insane by this elderly Prince Jing, who in his younger days was unruly and wild. Now in his old age, people thought his temper had changed, but with this issue of his grandson, his unruly temper has returned.

This elderly Prince Jing has a very high rank, being the uncle of the current emperor, meaning his grandson is of the same generation as him.

Prince Jing’s title was bestowed by the founding emperor, who was the founding emperor’s brother, and it was an irreplaceable hereditary title. As long as the Da Li Dynasty exists, as long as Prince Jing does not rebel or commit crimes deserving the death penalty, this title can be passed down indefinitely.

The elderly Prince Jing, having no other options, simply set up his prince’s carriage at the Imperial Pharmacy, declaring that if the Imperial Pharmacy couldn’t save his grandson, he would tear it down.

These people constantly boast about their unparalleled medical skills. If they can’t even save his grandson, what use are they?

Confronted with such an unreasonable prince, everyone at the Imperial Pharmacy was in distress, and even the Qihuang Research Institute was so frightened that it was shut down.

Even the national healer, Fu Qingzhu, came out to explain, but the elderly Prince Jing would not listen and insisted the Imperial Pharmacy save his grandson, threatening to destroy it if they could not.

The emperor had a severe headache over this; he couldn’t say anything unless the elderly Prince Jing really destroyed the Imperial Pharmacy, at which point he could intervene.

The prince just blocked the door without doing anything else; it’s not like it impeded passage, so punishing him was not straightforward.

Fortunately, Prince Jing’s grandson didn’t die immediately and could hang on with medicine for the time being, but this wouldn’t last more than a few days.

"Elder prince, I have a prescription here. Why not take it back and let the grandson try it? If it works, it means he is lucky; if not, then we at the Imperial Pharmacy have done our best, and even if you demolish us, it won’t save the grandson!" Chief Jiang Xian, being forced, remembered a report sent from Dongshan Prefecture by Mr. Jia and others the previous year.

It mentioned a medical case concerning the cure of "rabies illness" and included a prescription. Everyone at the Imperial Pharmacy considered this a preposterous claim back then.

No one at the Imperial Pharmacy believed in this thing, not even Wan Bin, who was forced to stay in Li Jing, was mocked by his colleagues for several days.

They thought Wan Bin was foolish to stake his future on the word of such reckless individuals and that his career was likely ruined.

What kind of people did he recommend? The kind that are uneducated and merely seek popularity, those like Mr. Jia using poisons all day, brains seemingly addled by toxins, to even brazenly submit such a report.

As for Guan Biyun and Cui Wanquan also signing the report, it’s easy to explain—they couldn’t object to Mr. Jia’s insistence.

Guan Biyun, being under punishment, and Cui Wanquan, a minor physician, dared not rebel.

In fact, the reason Jiang Xian brought up this prescription was that Wan Bin reminded him. Although he didn’t quite comprehend Wan Bin’s persistence, his suggestion wasn’t without reason, especially since using this prescription could effectively silence the elderly Prince Jing.

Anyway, it was something ineffective, and if it led to incidents, it had nothing to do with him.

"If there was a prescription, why was it not presented earlier!" The elderly Prince Jing, infuriated, glared fiercely, looking as if he wanted to devour someone.

"Elder prince, it’s not that we didn’t want to present it; it’s just that we weren’t sure of its efficacy, and after discussion, we at the Imperial Pharmacy deemed the prescription useless..."

"Since it’s useless, why are you presenting it now to deceive this prince?" The elderly Prince Jing, upon hearing this, grew even angrier, thinking the people at the Imperial Pharmacy were nothing but great deceivers.

"This prescription was reported by Mr. Jia, who claimed to have witnessed it saving a boy bitten by a dog, who recovered after only three doses." Jiang Xian explained.

"Mr. Jia?"

The elderly Prince Jing let out a "hmm," as only a few knew the relationship between him and Mr. Jia, but the chief of the Imperial Pharmacy was one of them.

Jiang Xian also knew that while the elderly Prince Jing might not trust him, he would surely trust Mr. Jia.

This prescription was reported by Mr. Jia, and he vouched for it personally. If it didn’t work or caused issues, the Imperial Pharmacy wouldn’t be at fault.

If Prince Jing wanted to vent his anger, he could go after Mr. Jia for it was he who endangered his grandson.

Jiang Xian, having no other options, came up with this plan; after all, the fact that the child survived so long was already due to the Imperial Pharmacy’s considerable effort.

If this were an ordinary commoner’s child, they’d have long been dead.

"Is there anything strange about this prescription?"

"There’s nothing strange about it, except there’s one ingredient that’s hard to find. However, this shouldn’t be a big problem for you, Your Highness..." Jiang Xian chuckled softly.

"Alright, if the prescription is effective, I will remember this favor and owe you one!" With that, Prince Jing hurriedly returned to his mansion to get the medicine.

Earthworm extract, something that during this unsuitable season is extremely hard to come by for an ordinary family.

But for a household as prestigious as Prince Jing’s Mansion, even if it can’t be found dead, it can be brought to you alive, all to save his grandson.

Prince Jing utilized all his connections.

Get the bug!

Once the bug was acquired, they immediately administered the medicine to the prince’s grandson as prescribed, although there were those vehemently opposed to using this prescription, including the old princess, who didn’t agree to it.

After all, no one had ever used "earthworm extract" as medicine before, and what if it killed the prince’s grandson directly?

For now, he was still alive.

Prince Jing, being a man of decisive courage, went against the majority and administered the medicine to the prince’s grandson.

After the medicine was ingested, they waited for an entire incense stick’s worth of time, and finally, the prince’s grandson showed a reaction, sweating and excreting an incredibly foul-smelling feces.

It was effective!

Thus, after administering three doses in succession,

the prince’s grandson’s fever subsided, he awoke, and his mind cleared. He wanted to eat something.

Prince Jing was overjoyed.

When the news reached the palace, even the emperor was astonished that the "rabies", considered an "incurable disease", was actually curable.

A disease long seen as incurable had been cured.

This was an extraordinary medical achievement, proving that in terms of medical contributions, the Da Li Dynasty did not fall short compared to the previous dynasty.

The news reached the Imperial Pharmacy, and from the head down, all those who viewed the prescription reported by Mr. Jia as nothing more than "a flashy show" fell silent.

Those who mocked Wan Bin also fell silent.

They all believed the prince’s grandson wouldn’t survive this ordeal, that "rabies" was incurable, but this single dose of "Clearing Congested Blood Decoction" slapped them all in the face.

No matter how unpopular Mr. Jia might be, his medical ethics were trustworthy. Why would he ruin his lifelong reputation over an unknown "youth"?

It didn’t make sense.

He must have validated this prescription before formally reporting it to the Imperial Pharmacy, and it wasn’t even his own invention, but someone else’s.

Now it’s clear this youth named Lin Miao disclosed this prescription not for "show", but to save more lives from "rabies".

In any case, if he had chosen not to disclose the prescription, no one would say anything since it was someone else’s work. After all, some doctors rely on their unique prescriptions and treatment methods for their livelihood. Why would they publicly reveal their trade secrets?

In fact, verifying whether the prescription was effective was a straightforward matter. Li Jing was the capital of Da Li, with millions of inhabitants. Finding one or two people with "rabies" was easy, but the problem was, no one thought to do it.

Instead, the prescription was directly buried.

If it weren’t for the prince’s grandson suddenly contracting "rabies", this report and prescription might have remained locked in the archives of the Imperial Pharmacy, unknown when they would see the light of day again.

...

Chongning Hall·South Study Room.

This was the dwelling and office of Zhao Rui, the Emperor of the Da Li Dynasty. Apart from attending court, he spent the majority of his time here.

Especially during winter when it was freezing outside, the floor-heated South Study Room was incredibly warm, making Zhao Rui even more reluctant to go out.

"Your Majesty, Prince Jing has arrived." The eunuch on duty whispered, walking with small steps and bowing low.

The emperor, dressed in a dragon robe, sat authoritatively on a soft couch, his gaze profound and somewhat imposing. Strands of silver hair appeared at his temples, a reminder that he was already in his early fifties.

Among the emperors of the Da Li Dynasty, excluding the founding ancestor, none lived past sixty.

The current era name was "Tianzuo", and Zhao Rui had been on the throne for twenty-one years. As per the dynasty’s tradition, an era name changes every ten years, so a ruler who reaches the third era name is quite extraordinary.

Zhao Rui’s health was relatively good; he could still eat, sleep, and manage state affairs.

His father couldn’t handle state affairs by the time he was fifty, already muddle-headed and blind, and Zhao Rui, as the Crown Prince, had already begun overseeing governmental duties.

Nowadays, his eyesight wasn’t great either, and his legs and feet weren’t as they used to be. He had indulged too much in his youth, failed to make a name for himself in martial arts...

When Prince Jing entered the South Study Room, he strode in briskly. Though his age wasn’t much beyond the emperor’s, his seniority was higher.

There was no choice—Zhao Rui had to address him as "Uncle Prince Jing", and before he became emperor, bowing to him wouldn’t have been a problem. But now that he was emperor, it wouldn’t be appropriate, given their established roles as ruler and subject.

Upon hearing that his grandson had survived, Prince Jing was naturally in high spirits. Being a prince without governing pressures, he didn’t have to worry about all sorts of troublesome matters. Having been on the battlefield in his younger days, he had accomplished much, so he was healthier than the emperor, his grand-nephew.

He quickly offered a seat.

Prince Jing was a man who knew gratitude and repaid kindness. The prescription reported by Mr. Jia saved his grandson’s life, a debt of immense favor.

He felt the need to repay.

Thus, he went to the emperor to request recognition and reward for Mr. Jia.

He knew well that, given Mr. Jia’s temperament, his prospects for promotion within the Imperial Pharmacy were limited.