Hongli's gentle words made Gao so moved that she was speechless and could only nod her head. Hongli stayed with her and talked for a while before leaving. After leaving Jingren Palace, he paused and sighed.
He ordered: "Inform Fang Jin to come to Yangxin Hall."
Xiao Wu left as he was told, and not long after Hongli returned to Yangxin Hall, he arrived with Fang Jin. The latter entered the hall timidly, his face as pale as paper under the candlelight.
Hongli stared at him who was bowing and saluting, and said: "Fang Jintong, do you know the purpose of my sending you here?"
Fang Jingtong did not dare to raise his head and said in a trembling voice: "We dare not speculate on the holy will without authorization."
Hongli casually opened an unreviewed booklet and said while reading: "I allow you to speculate and tell."
Fang Jingtong stared at the tips of his shoes and said cautiously: "Weichen guesses... it must be related to the illness of Concubine Hui."
Hongli did not comment on this and said instead: "According to your pulse diagnosis, what disease does Concubine Hui have?"
"This kind of strange disease has never been seen by me before. I really don't know." As soon as Fang Jintong finished speaking, Hongli's voice sounded again, "I want to listen to the truth."
Listening to his words, Fang Jingtong almost said that he suspected Gao's poisoning, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't know what he thought of, and he held it back, gritting his teeth and said: "What Wei Chen just said is true.
To be honest, Concubine Hui did suffer from a strange disease that was not recorded in medical books."
Hongli raised his head, looked him over, then curled his thin lips slightly and said something seemingly unrelated, "I heard that you have a good relationship with Gao Bin, but now it seems that it is nothing more than that."
Fang Jintong's thoughts suddenly changed and he said: "Although Wei Chen has some friendship with Gao Bin, Wei Chen knows very well who Wei Chen should be loyal to."
"Okay." Hongli nodded slightly and said: "The position of the Chief of Taiyuan Hospital has been vacant for many years. Now it's time to find someone to replace it. Fang Jingtong, are you confident that you can take on this position well?"
?”
Fang Jintong knelt down and kowtowed with excitement, "I don't dare to express my confidence, but I will do my best not to disappoint the emperor."
Hongli said with satisfaction: "Okay, tomorrow I will go to the Taiyuan Hospital to convey the order. Please step aside."
After coming out of the Yangxin Hall, Fang Jintong was full of ambition. Originally, he was frightened when he heard Hongli's summons. He was worried that something bad would happen to him. Unexpectedly, not only was there no harm, but he also received an unexpected blessing. He sat on the car he had been longing for.
The position of justice.
However, the answer just now also made him vaguely guess something. Hongli... may have known about Gao's poisoning for a long time, but deliberately did not tell it, and asked Zhou Minghua to prescribe some innocuous medicine, which made Gao's condition worse.
It was getting worse and worse. But he really wanted to understand why Hongli did this. Logically speaking, Hongli loved Gao so much, so he should hope that Gao would get better as soon as possible, unless...
The following thoughts were so shocking that Fang Jintong couldn't even think about it. To him, it didn't matter whether Gao was alive or dead. What mattered was whether he was safe and whether Hongli could rely on him. He learned from Gao Bin
The benefits he received were not enough for him to protect the Gao family with his life; as for friendship...heh, how much is it worth?
The next day, two imperial edicts were issued from the Yangxin Hall, one was to appoint Gao as a noble concubine and to confer Fang Jintong as the Chancellor of the Academy.
However, Hongli's canonization and care could not make Gao's disease better. On the contrary, her condition became worse and worse. Later, she did not even have the strength to swallow or speak. She lay in bed all day with nothing but her eyes.
Except for the occasional movement, he is no different from the living dead.
Hongli visited her every day and promised her that as long as she could get better, he would immediately make her the imperial concubine, making her the most noble woman under the queen.
Gao was touched by Hongli's kindness to her and desperately wanted to get better. She tried hard to swallow the medicine that was brought to her mouth, but no matter how hard she tried, the situation was always developing towards the bad side.
In August of the second year of Qianlong's reign, Mrs. Gao reluctantly took her last breath. She was starved to death. Apart from her skeleton, there was only a piece of skin left on her body. And she was not seen until her death.
Gao Bin's side.
When Gao passed away, Hongli was deeply saddened. He decreed that Gao be posthumously conferred the title of Imperial Concubine Huixian, and she was buried in Yuling with the ceremony of imperial concubine.
Although Gao Bin deplored the premature death of his beloved daughter, he was helpless. After all, life, old age, illness and death were beyond human control. Hongli had done what he could, but it was a pity that he could not save Gao's life. But Hongli was still there.
During Gao's illness, she was made a noble concubine, and after her death, she was posthumously named an imperial concubine, which somewhat comforted Gao Bin.
When this incident was reported to Qingliang Temple in Mount Wutai, Xianyue was extremely surprised. When they left, Mr. Gao was still fine. How come he got a strange and incurable disease in a blink of an eye, and the time from onset to death was less than two days?
Yue, what kind of disease is it that is so severe?
Compared to Xianyue's shock, Ling Yao was much calmer. After the palace attendant finished speaking, he twirled the Bodhi seed on his fingertips and said, "The Ai family knows, go back."
The palace attendant hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty would like to know when the Queen Mother will return to the palace."
Ling Ruo looked indifferent and said: "Tell the emperor that when it's time to go back, the Ai family will naturally go back, so that he doesn't have to worry about the Ai family and can just run the country."
After the palace attendants left, Ling Ruo turned her eyes and said, "Concubine Xian, you have been accompanying the Ai family to Qingliang Temple for a while, what do you think?"
Xianyue came back to her senses and said respectfully: "My son, my Buddha nature is shallow and I have no deep understanding. I only feel the compassion of Buddhism."
Ling Ruo nodded slightly and said: "After all, you are still young, and some insights need to be accumulated over time, so there is no need to rush. As for the compassion of Buddhism, if you can truly understand it and have a trace of goodwill in your heart no matter when and where, then how sad can you be?
I believe you will benefit from it throughout your life.”
Xianyue nodded silently, "I understand the emperor's intention of bringing you to Qingliang Temple, and I... will work hard to do it."
"That's good." Ling Ruo motioned for her to help him up and said, "Accompany Ai's family to see the bodhi tree."
"Yes." Xianyue helped Ling Ruo all the way to the foot of a tall and sturdy bodhi tree in the courtyard. There were many bodhi leaves scattered around. Before Ling Ruo could say anything, Xiayue bent down to pick up the bodhi leaves, but there were no bodhi leaves yet.
When her fingers touched the leaves, Ling Ruo said, "The Ai family can pick them up themselves."
Xianyue took back her hand as she was told and watched Ling Ruo pick up the bodhi leaves one by one. After picking up every leaf in her hand, she straightened up with a sigh of relief. Turning around, she saw that Xianyue had been looking at it curiously.
She chuckled and said, "Do you really want to know why the Ai family comes to see this bodhi tree every day?"
"Yes, as soon as Huang'e Niang arrived at Qingliang Temple, she came to see the bodhi tree. She didn't even use a guide. Has Huang'e Niang been here before?" This question has been in Xianyue's heart for a long time, but Ling Ruo didn't mention it.