“This humble subject pays his respects to Your Majesty.”

Wei Yan entered the bedchamber and moved to perform the formal salute.

The Emperor waved his hand with a smile. “Enough of that. You come every day to take my pulse and administer acupuncture — if you bow like this every single time, you’ll tire yourself out and I’ll tire of watching it.”

His tone was relaxed and pleased, a rare light flickering in his eyes.

This was the Emperor’s best mood in two months.

Wei Yan ground his teeth inwardly and clenched his fist beneath his sleeve, but not a trace of it showed on his face. He even smiled as he replied, “Then today this humble subject will presume upon Your Majesty’s favor and forgo the bow.” He stepped forward. “Please extend your wrist, Your Majesty, so this subject may take your pulse.”

The Emperor assented with a hum and extended his left wrist.

In his youth the Emperor had been a man of rare martial vigor and striking good looks. Now, approaching sixty, his body had long been hollowed out by wine and women. His face was deeply lined, and the skin on his wrist had grown loose and slack. If one looked closely, certain abnormal spots could be seen — remnants of cinnabar poison that had accumulated in his body from years of consuming alchemical elixirs.

Wei Yan closed his eyes slightly and took the pulse with the same careful attention as always.

In truth, what he truly wished to do was wrap both hands around the Emperor’s throat and squeeze the life from this old man consumed by greed and lust, right there on the spot.

Years ago, his elder sister had served at Empress Xu’s side. Her exceptional beauty and gentle nature had caught the Emperor’s eye. Afterward, everyone envied his sister’s glory and splendor — yet who could know the bitterness she harbored in her heart?

His sister had been confined within the palace walls her entire life, unable to stir. And now the Emperor, ever hungry for novelty, had turned his gaze toward even younger women.

What enraged him most was that the Emperor had set his eyes on Ling Jingshu.

She was the young woman he had quietly kept in the depths of his heart all this time.

When Empress Xu had still been in power, he had not dared reveal his feelings. He had endured and waited, and only after Empress Xu finally fell from grace did he dare to think of stepping free of the cage that had held him prisoner for so many years. Yet who could have foreseen that the Emperor would suddenly intrude?

“Imperial Physician Wei,” the Emperor asked, puzzled, “has my condition improved? You have been taking my pulse today for twice as long as usual.”

Wei Yan collected himself and paused with feigned hesitation before responding, “Your Majesty’s pulse has grown steadier by the day, and the old ailment has been suppressed. However…”

“However what?” The Emperor’s heart tightened, and he blurted out, “As for the true state of my condition — speak plainly, without reservation.”

Wei Yan let out a sigh of apparent reluctance. “This subject ventures to remind Your Majesty. These past several years, Your Majesty’s health has grown progressively weaker, with the old ailment flaring repeatedly. Though it has been managed each time, the vital essence and foundational constitution have nonetheless been depleted. Your Majesty possesses the bearing of one blessed with a long life — but this requires attentiveness to the proper cultivation of health. Early to bed and early to rise, a light and wholesome diet, no wine, no agitation, a calm and composed spirit, and the stilling of desires.”

The older a man grows, the more he fears death — and the Emperor was no exception.

Though Wei Yan had spoken with deliberate subtlety, the Emperor caught his meaning well enough.

To live long, one must abstain not only from wine but from indulgence altogether.

The Emperor’s brow furrowed. As the Son of Heaven, possessed of all under heaven and a palace full of beautiful women — to abstain from wine, to abstain from women, was that not a dreary existence beyond bearing?

And besides — there was that young, fresh, flower-like beauty who would soon be circling before his eyes each and every day…

The Emperor coughed. “Surely it cannot be as severe as all that. Can I not carry on as before — summoning a consort two or three times a month?”

Wei Yan inwardly laughed with cold contempt, but outwardly let a rueful smile show on his face. “There is no one else here, so this subject may speak plainly — and begs that Your Majesty not hold it against him.”

“Women are a blade that scrapes the bone. Nothing depletes the vital essence more gravely. Given the present state of Your Majesty’s health, it would be best to keep away from the rear palace for half a year. Should one rely upon medicinal aid or persist by force of will, Your Majesty’s constitution may not be able to bear the strain.”

Half a year…

The Emperor was plainly reluctant. “I have already rested for two months. Can I not manage another month or two? Must it truly be half a year, as long as all that?”

Wei Yan’s expression grew solemn. “At the very least, half a year. If Your Majesty does not trust this subject’s judgment, you may summon other imperial physicians to give a second opinion.”

Over these past several years, the Emperor had grown accustomed to having Wei Yan take his pulse, and trusted and valued him above all others. Without a moment’s hesitation, he replied, “That will not be necessary. I trust you most of all.”

He paused, then said with considerable reluctance, “Half a year it is, then. See to it that you prescribe more gentle and nourishing remedies to help me properly restore my health. Perhaps half a year will not even be needed — three or four months ought to suffice.”

Wei Yan responded with a respectful bow.

Whatever the case, he had at least secured several months of time for Ling Jingshu.

Yet he could not let his guard down on that account alone.

Those flattering Daoist priests were constantly concocting so-called “health-strengthening” elixirs to present to the Emperor. Should the Emperor be swayed by such petty schemers and suddenly stir with desire, Ling Jingshu would still face peril.

Wei Yan reflected on this as he wrote out the prescription.

By palace custom, any such prescription had to be carefully examined by the other imperial physicians before the medicine could be decocted. The prescription also had to be kept on record and filed for reference. To alter a prescription with hidden intent was not only extremely risky — it was far too easy to make a mistake.

But Wei Yan had his own method.

Within this tonic prescription for restoring the constitution, he weighted the herbs designated as “calming the heart and settling the spirit” more heavily than prescribed. Taken consecutively over several days, even should the Emperor possess ample inclination, it would reliably render him willing in spirit but incapable in body.

Such a prescription was, on its face, entirely above reproach. After all, for a man of the Emperor’s years, stilling desire and nourishing tranquility was precisely what the situation called for.

After finishing the prescription, Wei Yan accompanied the Emperor in some idle conversation.

Given Wei Jieyu’s connection to the imperial household, and the fact that the Emperor had watched Wei Yan grow up with his own eyes, the Emperor was especially warm and easy with him. “You are twenty-five this year — you ought to be giving serious thought to starting a family. Wei Jieyu worries over your marriage every time the matter comes to mind. You really should give it more attention.”

Wei Yan had originally intended to speak his heart openly to the Emperor — to ask him to grant a marriage decree between himself and Ling Jingshu. This would not only rescue Ling Jingshu from the imperial prison, but also bring the two of them together. A happy outcome on two fronts, in a single stroke.

Now that he had seen through the Emperor’s covetous designs on Ling Jingshu, those plans could never succeed.

Whatever the Emperor’s warm and genial manner might suggest, one should never mistake it for a truly mild temper. The moment one’s words gave him offense, the fury would come down like thunder.

Wei Yan fell back on the response he had always given. “This subject is grateful for Your Majesty’s concern. Yet this subject is wholly consumed by the pursuit of medicine and truly has no desire to marry.”

The Emperor sighed with evident regret. “Very well. Since you have no interest in women, I cannot force you. If the day comes when you find a young woman who catches your eye, you need only tell me — I will personally grant you a marriage decree.”

Wei Yan expressed his deep and grateful thanks for the Emperor’s great munificence, then — as if idly letting the thought slip — brought up Ling Jingshu. “This humble subject, just before entering the bedchamber, caught sight of a familiar face. Director Ding informed me that Your Majesty intends to keep Lady Official Ling on duty here within the Palace of Purple Dawn.”