Chapter 105 You're really full of bad intentions
To be able to say "I wish Eunuch Shun an early birth of many sons" — Shen Yulou must be the first person to ever say such a thing.
He Shun was in a great mood today, and Shen Yulou's words were very much to his liking.
"Then I'll take Lord Shen's auspicious words!"
"Lord Shen, do you happen to know of any folk remedies for having sons?"
Shen Yulou thought for a moment and said, "There are some, but I can't guarantee a hundred percent success rate. Seven or eight out of ten is possible."
He Shun immediately looked surprised and delighted. "Really? Lord Shen, how much does this prescription cost? I'll pay for it!"
Shen Yulou smiled. "Eunuch Shun, you're being too formal. It's just a prescription; I'll give it to you as a gift."
"Thank you so much! If I have a son in the future, this old servant will surely repay Lord Shen!"
Shen Yulou picked up a pen and paper, quickly wrote out a prescription, and handed it to He Shun. He Shun treasured it as if it were a precious artifact, carefully blowing the ink dry before folding the paper and tucking it into his robe.
"Lord Shen, during my leave, Dezhong will be attending to the Emperor. Dezhong was trained by me personally, and I've already instructed him to report any important matters to Lord Shen immediately."
"Eunuch Shun, you've gone to great lengths!"
Shen Yulou dispatched two house guards to help He Shun limp out of the house.
After He Shun left, Song Hu asked with some curiosity.
"Are there really folk remedies for having sons?"
Shen Yulou shook his head. "Of course not, it's all a trick."
"Ah?" Song Hu was very surprised. "Aren't you afraid he'll come looking for you if he doesn't have a son?"
Shen Yulou said, "Didn't I just say it only has a seventy to eighty percent chance of success?
If he has a son, he will surely be grateful to me. If he doesn't, he can't blame me.
After all, I told him I only had a seventy to eighty percent chance, not a hundred percent."
Song Hu thought about it and felt it made sense, giving Shen Yulou a thumbs-up.
"You're really good at tricking people!"
Shen Yulou shook his head. This was all child's play.
Such tricks have been believed by people since ancient times.
The two most typical examples are secret recipes for having sons.
It's inherently a matter of probability; if a hundred prescriptions are sold, fifty people will have sons.
These fifty people will be convinced, which proves the medicine is very effective.
The other fifty who have daughters will only think they are unlucky.
The second example is the currently most popular issue of children attending school.
Some people promise to get your child into a good school, and if they don't get in, you don't pay.
But in reality, you have a chance to get into a good school through the lottery; if you get in, they collect money, and if you don't, you're considered unlucky.
And they don't have to do anything, yet they have a chance to collect a lot of money.
Shen Yulou had only used a fraction of such trickery.
Song Hu, being simple-minded and brawny, naturally didn't understand, but he grew increasingly impressed with Shen Yulou.
This kid, his martial arts aren't great, but he's full of cunning… After finishing He Shun's surgery, Shen Yulou quickly returned to the palace.
As soon as he entered the Imperial Heirs Residence, Tao Hong enthusiastically ran over and said, "Lord Shen, hurry to the Imperial Household Department to claim your reward! Today, His Majesty is overjoyed, and everyone in the palace can go to the Imperial Household Department to receive two taels of silver."
Shen Yulou was a bit surprised. "There's such a good thing? What's the happy occasion?"
"Consort Wan in the palace is pregnant, and I heard it's twins! The Emperor was so happy that he rewarded everyone in the palace."
Shen Yulou nodded. "Later, you can go collect my money. After you get it, it's yours for pocket money."
Twins were extremely rare in this dynasty.
Tao Hong was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Excellency."
Just then, Qin Guiru ran in and said, "Lord Shen, the Emperor has summoned you to take Consort Wan's pulse."
Shen Yulou paused.
It seemed the Emperor now trusted his medical skills more. Even though the Imperial Medical Academy physicians had already confirmed the pregnancy and said it was twins, the Emperor was still uneasy, so he summoned Shen Yulou to take her pulse again.
The Emperor was, of course, doing it for his own peace of mind, but his actions undoubtedly put Shen Yulou and the Imperial Medical Academy staff at odds.
Now, Shen Yulou had completely offended this group of imperial physicians.
However, Shen Yulou didn't care; in fact, he had already offended these imperial physicians during his previous tenure as the Imperial Medical Envoy.
There was no helping it; outstanding ability naturally attracted resentment.
Workplace dynamics were always like this.
That's why when Shen Yulou went to the enemy camp, he used the name of Li Huai, the Director of the Imperial Medical Academy.
This was a trick to kill with a borrowed knife. If Li Huai, Director of the Imperial Medical Academy, had a good attitude towards Shen Yulou, then when this news came back, Shen Yulou would naturally explain for him.
But if Li Huai didn't know his place, then Shen Yulou wouldn't be polite to him.
Li Huai was, after all, the Director of the Imperial Medical Academy and an influential figure before Shen Yulou arrived.
Because of several previous failed treatments, Shen Yulou had stolen his thunder, and his status in the palace was now rapidly declining.
Putting everything else aside, just curing Princess Qionger was something he couldn't compare to.
Soon, Shen Yulou arrived at Consort Wan's sleeping quarters. At this time, the entrance to the quarters was crowded with people; the Imperial Household Department had sent many eunuchs and Palace Maids to serve.
Including all the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy, who were also waiting at the entrance.
After Shen Yulou entered, he saw a woman sitting upright in a chair, while Emperor Ren sat beside her, holding her hand, his face beaming with joy.
Emperor Ren currently valued heirs the most. Consort Wan was not particularly favored normally; her status was actually on par with Consort Su.
Because Consort Wan's appearance was ordinary, far inferior to Consort Su, Emperor Ren had only favored her twice in the past one or two months.
But unexpectedly, she became pregnant with the Imperial Heirs, and with twins at that.
Twins were already extremely rare, especially in the imperial family.
Therefore, the Emperor was even happier, but given that these mediocre physicians were not as skilled as Shen Yulou, he had to have Shen Yulou come and take her pulse to feel at ease.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"
Seeing Shen Yulou arrive, Emperor Ren immediately said with a smile.
"Minister Shen, come and take Consort Wan's pulse. These imperial physicians all say it's twins, but I don't quite trust them, so I've asked you to try."
Shen Yulou nodded. "As you command!"
At this moment, the imperial physicians behind him seemed to want to kill Shen Yulou with their eyes, but Shen Yulou felt nothing; let them do as they pleased.
After taking Consort Wan's pulse, Shen Yulou said.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, it is indeed twins!"
Although the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy were of average skill, they weren't completely useless.
Many common pulse conditions could still be diagnosed accurately. For a pregnancy pulse like this, they wouldn't dare to speak without definite certainty.
Emperor Ren slapped his thigh and said excitedly.
"Good, excellent!"
"All my beloved ministers, who among you has experience with delivering and protecting twins?"
Everyone looked at each other, and one by one, they remained silent.
While carrying twins was certainly cause for celebration, the risks associated with twins were equally great.
In terms of delivery difficulty, it was no less challenging than delivering Princess Na Xing