"Wan Decheng, you may speak now about what you have come here for."
"Ah!" Eunuch Wan nodded and hurriedly said, "His Majesty is ill, has been ill for quite some time, but he refuses to summon the Imperial Physician and doesn't want the news to spread. Empress Dowager, what should we do?"
"His Majesty is ill?" The Empress Dowager was so startled by these words that she stood up without the aid of her cane, and the attendant beside her hurriedly supported her, fearing she might fall.
"His Majesty is ill? When did he fall ill, how did this happen, why are you only telling me now, and why hasn't the Imperial Physician been called?"
The Empress Dowager anxiously fired off a string of questions.
