"Indeed." The Empress Dowager said, "But it's still so far!" Just thinking about the journey that must be completed day and night made the months seem to stretch beyond the horizon, far beyond what she dared to imagine.
"Forget it, forget it, go call the Imperial Physician, have them watch carefully, we must ensure the Emperor's well-being."
Feeling distressed, the Empress Dowager had Madam Li support her into the inner room.
To the outside world, she announced that the illness was her own, claiming she wished to pay respects to her lord, and since even the ancestral Empress was unavailable, she could only mutter to herself in the back hall.
At that moment, the messenger who had run several horses to death finally arrived, having come across a group of conspicuously dressed Taoists at an inn on the road to Qiuci.
Such a group was easy to recognize. The messenger dismounted and, among the crowd, identified Jin Zijin, hurriedly kneeling before him with the letter.
