Chapter 216 1/3

That midnight, Li Qingzhi’s energy was fully restored.

Without delay, he went to the eastern wing to knock on the door.

Since Li Qingzhi had said he would perform acupuncture around midnight and Qi An was still in critical condition, Concubine Liu had slept in her clothes, with two palace maids taking turns watching over Qi An by lamplight.

Concubine Liu couldn’t sleep at all. After raising the child for a year and a half, she had come to regard him as her own son. Seeing him suffering beside her, how could she sleep?

After dozing off briefly, she was startled awake by a nightmare.

As she stared blankly at the child on the bed, she heard a knock at the door. She quickly instructed the awake palace maid to light more lamps and went to open the door herself.

When she opened the door, Li Qingzhi entered with the cold air from outside.

“I’m here to check on the child, give him some medicine, and perform acupuncture,” Li Qingzhi said. “You don’t need to leave. Just sit behind the screen and don’t disturb me.”

Originally, this room had nothing but a kang (a traditional heated bed), but since Concubine Liu decided to stay, it had been furnished with more furniture, including a screen by the bed to prevent anyone from seeing the bed directly upon entering.

In the cold of winter, it wasn’t good for the two women to stand outside in the freezing wind, and since Li Qingzhi didn’t really need to perform acupuncture, he had them stay behind the screen.

Li Qingzhi used all his recovered energy on the child, fed him some sugar water, and applied ointment.

Among the items Concubine Liu had brought from the palace were ointments and medicine prescribed by the imperial doctor for Qi An.

This medicine was essentially valuable herbs like ginseng, intended to prolong life. Li Qingzhi found the dosage prescribed by the doctor too strong, so he only took a small amount of ginseng and instructed Concubine Liu to cook it with rice to make a nourishing rice gruel for the child.

“I’ll prepare it right away,” Concubine Liu said.

“Good. I should be back around dawn,” Li Qingzhi said.

After leaving Concubine Liu’s place, Li Qingzhi didn’t go straight to bed. Instead, he went to the kitchen.

Next to the kitchen was the room of Zhang Zao and his companions, who heated their kangs from the kitchen’s fire.

With the fire already lit, Li Qingzhi boiled water, mixed in flour, added an egg, and chopped some cabbage to make a big pot of cabbage and egg noodle soup for himself.

There was also some leftover salted meat from the previous night, which he took out to eat.

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Zao woke up and went to the bathroom, then peeked into the kitchen to find Li Qingzhi eating. He was shocked.

His master was truly extraordinary! Eating so much at night and still needing a midnight snack!

After eating his fill, Li Qingzhi went back to sleep. He woke up two hours later to find his energy restored again.

It was around 5 a.m. He got up and knocked on the door of the eastern wing again.

After Li Qingzhi’s visit at midnight, Concubine Liu and her attendants had cooked the ginseng rice gruel and fed some to the child.

Due to her age, Concubine Liu couldn’t endure for long and dozed off after feeding the child, only to be awakened by the knocking.

It was still dark outside, and Li Qingzhi had come again to perform acupuncture on the child.

Qi An seemed a little better, but was still in critical condition, uncertain if he would survive.

Even so, Concubine Liu was very grateful to Li Qingzhi.

After seeing Qi An, Li Qingzhi went to the kitchen again.

People of this era went to bed early and got up early. Chang Zhan’s two apprentices were already preparing breakfast, and he wanted to eat!

The two chefs were making pancakes, and as they made one, Li Qingzhi ate one, leaving them helpless and prompting them to cook another pot of porridge.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Li Qingzhi lightly coughed and said, “I’ll go out and buy some fried dough (fried dough sticks). Fried dough dipped in soy sauce goes perfectly with porridge.”

With that, Li Qingzhi went out to buy fried dough.

With many people at home, he bought twenty fried dough at once. While waiting for them to be fried, he even ate two.

Returning to Qingshi Lane with the fried dough, Li Qingzhi sensed someone observing him from the shadows.

Pretending not to notice, he greeted the residents of Qingshi Lane as usual.

“Mr. Li, you’re having fried dough today!”

“These fried dough look great, I should go buy some too.”

“Good morning, Mr. Li!”

Li Qingzhi smiled, tearing off a piece of fried dough to share with a child he encountered.

At the doorstep, he met Concubine Liu, who was heading out with a palace maid.

“Madam, are you going out?” Li Qingzhi asked.

“My family has arrived, I’m going to see them,” Concubine Liu replied.

Li Qingzhi handed her two fried dough. “Madam, you haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Have some fried dough to tide you over.” Concubine Liu hesitated for a moment, then took the fried dough and handed one to the maid beside her before taking a bite herself.

As Li Qingzhi walked back, he noticed the children next door eating fried dough at their doorstep and licking the oil off their fingers afterward.

“Brat, you lick everything!” the child’s mother said, tapping her child’s head and taking him to wash his hands.

The place was full of the everyday warmth of life.

Concubine Liu glanced around, then continued on and soon saw Lü Qingxi’s carriage.

The two went into a nearby house that Lü Qingxi had arranged to be cleaned. As soon as they entered, Lü Qingxi said, “My dear aunt! What are you doing out of the palace at a time like this?”

“I need to save An’an.”

“The imperial doctor in the palace couldn’t help him, do you think someone outside can?”

“I don’t know if they can… but An’an seems to be improving! That Mr. Li told me he could cure An’an. If he wasn’t confident, he wouldn’t take on the responsibility.” Concubine Liu looked at Lü Qingxi hopefully, wanting some reassurance.

Seeing her expression, Lü Qingxi said, “He probably has some confidence, otherwise, he wouldn’t take the risk.”

Lü Qingxi’s words were meant to comfort Concubine Liu, but in his heart, he was full of suspicions and didn’t trust Li Qingzhi at all.

Could Li Qingzhi have recognized Concubine Liu and had some ulterior motive?

Though he thought this way, Lü Qingxi said nothing and planned to have someone investigate Li Qingzhi.

After comforting Concubine Liu, Lü Qingxi asked, “Are you really going to stay here?”

“Yes, I’m staying until An’an gets better,” Concubine Liu replied.

Lü Qingxi said, “Stay if you want. I’ll handle things with the Emperor… Now that An’an is in this condition, what are your plans?”

Lü Qingxi thought about finding another child to replace Qi An, but he knew Concubine Liu wouldn’t agree as long as Qi An was still alive.

He had no emotional attachment to Qi An, but Concubine Liu saw him as her own son.

So he decided to wait. If Qi An died, he would suggest his plan to Concubine Liu. If Qi An survived, he would think of another solution.

Concubine Liu suddenly grabbed Lü Qingxi’s hand. “Ah Xi, I need your help!”

Lü Qingxi trembled slightly and immediately asked, “What do you need me to do?”

Concubine Liu looked straight at Lü Qingxi. “Ah Xi, let’s find a son for the Emperor!”

Concubine Liu shared the idea she had thought of the previous day with Lü Qingxi.

Lü Qingxi frowned. “That’s not feasible. A child is easy to control, but a man in his twenties is not.”

Concubine Liu’s idea was good, but a man in his twenties, already a father, would have his own ideas.