Chapter 25: Telling You Slander

  Du He took a deep breath and charged through the siege of nearly a thousand people, directly rushing to the main gate of the imperial palace. As long as he left the imperial palace and arrived at Tai Chang Temple, it would be in an instant.

  When Dou Huo arrived at the Zhuque Gate, the main gate of the imperial palace had already been closed. Two thousand Imperial Guards suddenly rushed out from all sides and surrounded him. On the city wall above, hundreds of archers were drawing their bows at him.

  The imperial palace is still the imperial palace, if Du He were in his peak state in later generations, it would be easy to pass through unimpeded with just a raise of his hand, but with his current strength, being able to reach the main gate of the imperial palace was already quite difficult.

  At this moment, unless Du He's light work reaches the pinnacle of later generations, his unique skills will never be able to break through.

  "I am Du He, son of Du Xiang. The Princess of Longle has fallen ill again and her life is in danger. I had no choice but to rush into the palace and demand that the city gate be opened immediately!"

  Du He shouted like this, but didn't know if it was effective or not.

  Just as he was getting anxious, the drums sounded and the palace gates opened wide. A thousand soldiers silently made way for a path out of the palace.

  Du He was overjoyed and ran all the way, without even reporting urgently, and rushed directly into Tai Chang Temple.

  He did not know where the Imperial Medical Office was in the Tai Chang Temple, but fortunately discovered a group of students dressed as doctors coming from the courtyard on the left.

  Du He recalled that in the history of Sui and Tang Dynasties, the "Taishu Bureau" was composed of four major parts: administration, teaching, medical treatment, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

  This is similar to the current medical college's educational administrative setup and is China's first formally established specialized medical school sponsored by the state.

  The Imperial Medical Office was directly under the royal family, with two Taishi doctors who were the highest administrative officials of the Imperial Medical Office, equivalent to the current president of a medical college. Two Taichu doctors were also set up as assistants to the Taishi doctors. Under the Taichu doctors, there were four medical supervisors and eight medical directors, all of whom were administrative heads of the Imperial Medical Office.

  The remaining three hundred people were all students of the Imperial Medical Office.

  Du He ran in the direction the students had gone and indeed found Ta Yi Ling.

  The imperial physician's expression changed greatly as soon as he saw the Princess Changle in Du He's arms, and he hastily asked Du He to put her down. He then proceeded to examine her with a practiced air, apparently not for the first time treating the princess's illness, and seemed quite familiar with her symptoms.

  Du He's suspended heart finally fell, her legs softened, and she sat directly on the ground.

  Du He only then discovered his internal energy was completely empty and had been depleted cleanly.

  It's no wonder, the distance between Hongwen Hall and Taiyi Mansion is at least two miles apart. Du He rushed all the way, and had to deal with the interception of the Forbidden Army along the way. The little internal force he had was already exhausted.

  If not for Du He's unyielding willpower, if not for the unparalleled profundity of the "Five Qi Returning to the Origin" he possessed, and if not for his habituation to breathing through his skin, allowing his internal energy to circulate endlessly, he would have collapsed long ago.

  At this time, he arrived at his destination, and all sorts of feelings of fatigue came one after another. Now, he couldn't even move a finger.

  The imperial physician ordered Medical Officer Zheng to escort Du He out for some fresh air.

  After sitting for a long time, Du He finally came back to his senses slightly.

  Just then, hurried footsteps came.

  That middle-aged man who was chatting with Du He in the tavern strode in, still followed by that same guard from last time.

  But at this moment he was wearing a yellow dragon robe, with a crown on his head. This set of attire matched the imperial aura on his body, making him look even more majestic and powerful.

  "Du He pays his respects to Your Majesty!" The last time Li Shimin went out in disguise, Du He could pretend not to have seen through his identity and was unrestrained. But at this moment, he also had to bow down, despising the evil feudal society in his heart.

  "Get up!" Li Shimin stretched out his hand and let Du He get up.

  "What about Chang Le?" Li Shimin's face was anxious and his breathing was a bit short, obviously having just received the news and rushing over in a hurry.

  "I don't know! The imperial physician is treating the princess!" Du He said, and then heard a chaotic and disorderly footsteps, and saw a large group of people rushing over. The leader was still Fang Xuanling and his father Du Ruhui, while others were not recognized by Du He, but they all wore court attire, and from their attire, each person was an official above the fourth rank.

  It's not hard to imagine that Li Shimin was discussing state affairs with his ministers when he received news of Princess Changle's relapse, and then dropped everything and rushed over. The entire court followed closely behind to pay their respects.

  After a moment, the imperial physician emerged and saw a large group of big shots outside the house, and hurriedly paid his respects.

  Li Shimin stepped forward and helped him up, saying hastily: "No need for more courtesy, how is Chang Le?"

  The imperial physician let out a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, Princess Chang Le's illness this time is a hundred times more severe than before. If we weren't careful... Fortunately, thanks to the timely delivery by Master Du, otherwise... Now Princess Chang Le has stabilized and is resting."

  The imperial physician's words had two instances where he wanted to say something but didn't, yet everyone present was a perspicacious person who could guess what the unspoken words were.

  Li Shimin's heart finally fell too.

  "Thanks to you, I, as a father, really don't know how to thank you enough!" Li Shimin enthusiastically grasped Du He's hand, his face filled with excitement.

  Du He looked at Li Shimin with some surprise, isn't this enthusiasm a bit too much?

  "Your Majesty, Du He broke into the palace, committing a capital offense. He should be severely punished." Just then, a voice suddenly emerged from among the officials.

  A middle-aged man in his forties with a square face stood out from the crowd.

  Li Shimin's face also showed a hint of anger, and he raised his voice, saying angrily: "Wei Qing, if it weren't for Du He, Chang Le might have lost her life because of this!"

  Wei Zheng!

  Lotus flowers bloom suddenly.

  It turned out that this stubborn cow also understood why Li Shimin was so enthusiastic before. He was just pretending, doing it for the civil officials in the court to see, wanting them to know that Li Shimin was full of gratitude towards him and did not intend to pursue his crime of breaking into the palace. He was reminding the ministers not to make a fuss about this matter again.

  But apparently it didn't work out.

  Wei Zheng this stubborn cow still stood out.

  Facing Li Shimin's loud rebuke, Wei Zheng remained unperturbed and said: "This is the emperor's family affair, I don't dare to interfere, nor do I have the right to. But Du He offended the national law, the law does not tolerate emotions. No matter what reason there is, it cannot change the fact that Du He forcibly entered the imperial palace."

  "Wei Zheng..." Li Shimin became even more enraged, his eyes almost devouring Wei Zheng whole. This remark of Wei Zheng's was clearly disregarding the life and death of Princess Changle, and no matter how well-cultivated Li Shimin was, he found it hard to endure.

  Du Ruhui's face turned anxious, and Fang Xuanling also looked perplexed.

  Wei Zheng's stubborn and arrogant attitude is known throughout the imperial court, both civil and military officials are aware of it.

  Wei Zheng completely ignored Li Shimin's anger and calmly said: "Please, Your Majesty, do not let personal matters interfere with official business. Since the founding of our great Tang Dynasty, such a heinous thing has never happened. If everyone can act freely in the palace for personal reasons, where is the law? Where is the discipline of the Tang Dynasty?"

  Wei Zheng was still stern and intimidating.

  "Hmph!" Du He originally had a good impression of Wei Zheng, but at this moment, he felt that he wasn't as detestable as he thought. "Lord Wei, I've come to ask you: what is the significance of the law? What is the purpose of the law?"

  "Nature is what teaches and disciplines all people!" Wei Zheng replied without thinking.

  "Great, well said! Now I'll ask you again. A person sees another person about to die in front of them, and they have two choices: one, watch her and let her die in front of them without doing anything; or two, lend a hand to save her but this would violate the law. Should he save her or not?"

  "Of course, Mr. Wei's choice is naturally not to save her, because you have to abide by the law, and you will stand by like a cold-blooded beast, watching her slowly die, watching a life disappear before your eyes. But do you know that human life is precious, and the purpose of the law is to constrain the people, to bring blessings to the people? But because of abiding by the law, you disregard human life, what's the difference between this and being a beast? Should this law be upheld or not?"

  "Wei Zheng also did not know how to respond."

  "Also, Lord Wei, what do you think this is?" Du He took out his own waist card and smiled calmly: "I am a student of the Hongwen Academy, and I can freely enter and exit between the Hongwen Academy and the Zhuque Gate. Lord Wei can accuse me of running in the palace, or not showing this token in time to cause chaos, but if you continue to speak nonsense, I'm afraid I'll sue you for slander!"

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