Chapter 59: Your Majesty, can you not take the medicine today?

The locust tree is covered with lush vines and overlapping branches.

The sunlight shines through the dense leaves, casting mottled shadows, like a mirror, reflecting the alternation of reality and memories.

On the day Yueli came of age, Mother Zhou, who had raised her in Chunfeng Pavilion since she was a child, brought her a bowl of medicine.

Chunfeng Pavilion is engaged in the flesh trade. If a girl here gets pregnant, it is a very troublesome thing. Not only does it mean that she has lost her value, but pregnant women are always very willing to sacrifice anything for their children and are very noisy.

There is a sister in the pavilion who was born in Chunfeng Pavilion. She doesn’t know who her father is. After her mother died, she continued to do what her mother did before, day after day, without knowing when it would end.

Mother Zhou said that if you drink the medicine, you won’t have these worries in the future.

They are destined to suffer a lifetime, so why should they have a child to continue suffering?

Even if someone redeems them in the future, these women who have escaped from low status will have their bloodlines looked down upon by honest families.

Yueli stared at the bowl of medicine for a long time, and finally drank it all in one gulp without saying anything.

She was most afraid of taking medicine, but she drank the bowl of medicine very quickly.

After lying in bed in pain for several days, Yueli kept thinking about Zhou's mother's words to numb herself.

Just drink it. What's good about having a child? He's noisy and annoying. If she had money, it wouldn't be enough to spend on herself, so she wouldn't want to raise a child.

Yueli thought about this every day and gradually accepted the fact that she would not be able to have children in the future.

In her previous life, she entered the palace, but no royal heir was born in those years, so Yue Li naturally never took the matter of having a child seriously.

But now it’s different, Ji Ming’s words woke her up.

He Yanchen is the emperor, so he definitely needs an heir to inherit the throne.

He will find someone else to have a child with.

Yueli's eyes suddenly turned red, and tears fell to the ground in strings.

"What's wrong?" There was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps in the yard. He Yanchen just came out and saw Yueli standing under the tree crying. He walked over quickly.

Yue Li quickly wiped her tears and was held in his arms. He Yanchen pulled her hand away and wiped the tears from her cheeks bit by bit.

"Why are you crying? Who bullied you?" The man glanced at Ji Ming with sharp eyes.

Ji Ming shook his head repeatedly. He had just come out.

Yueli sniffed: "I...I spilled the medicine..."

Only then did He Yanchen notice the empty bowl in her hand, with a few drops of medicine still remaining in it.

He gently stroked the woman's head and said coaxingly, "It's spilled, so just ask the palace maids to make another bowl. Is such a small thing worth crying about?"

"Will it be bad if Your Majesty doesn't take the medicine?" Yue Li tugged at his sleeve, her brows furrowed.

He Yanchen smiled and said, "No."

Just take fewer doses of medicine, and at most you will get better more slowly.

Seeing this, Ji Ming said, "Your Majesty, shall I make another bowl?"

The man nodded slightly and ignored him, but took Yueli into the hall.

"Did you burn your hand?" He Yanchen held her wrist and saw that her palm was a little red. He frowned and blew on it for her. "Let the palace servants do these things in the future. What if you burn yourself?"

Yueli buried her face in his arms and whined, "Your Majesty just dislikes my clumsiness..."

"I clearly feel sorry for you." He Yanchen smiled and pinched the soft flesh on the back of her neck. "Jiaojiao has also learned to slander others."

Yue Li slipped a hand under his shirt and raised her head. "Your Majesty, can you not take the medicine today?"

He Yanchen held down her disruptive hand and asked, "Why?"

"I don't like the smell of medicine." Yueli propped herself up and sat face to face with him, then leaned forward to kiss him, "I want to kiss Your Majesty a few more times... but it tastes so bitter..."

He Yanchen grabbed her head, turned over and pressed her under him: "Is it very painful?"

He lowered his head and pecked the woman's lips, then asked her, "Is it still bitter?"

Yueli whimpered a few times, dizzy from his kiss, and her weak hands grabbed the collar of his shirt, making it full of wrinkles.

She hid: "It is very bitter. Your Majesty is not allowed to kiss me after taking the medicine!"

"You're so spoiled." He Yanchen rubbed her face and coaxed her, "Don't drink it, we can't let our Jiaojiao suffer."

Yueli was a little happy, but after the happiness she felt melancholy. She couldn't help but hug the man tightly and buried her head in his neck.

The two of them played for a while, and only after Yueli fell asleep did He Yanchen go to the imperial study.

*

In the imperial study.

When Wei Chengdong and Wei Hemian came in, they saw the emperor sitting on the throne, and he seemed a little different from before.

The two of them didn't have time to think about it before they walked into the hall to pay their respects.

"Taifu and Zihui, there's no need to be so polite."

Both father and son froze for a moment. They looked at each other and saw deep suspicion in each other's eyes.

Wei Chengdong once served as the Taifu of He Yanchen. At that time, He Yanchen often went in and out of the Wei Mansion. He and Wei Hemian were of the same age, and they also called each other by their courtesy names to show their closeness.

But since he ascended the throne, such a title has never been heard again.

Wei Chengdong's throat moved, as if he wanted to say a thousand words, but remembering that he had been reprimanded for his advice many times before, he finally said dryly: "I dare not."

He Yanchen naturally knew the loyalty of the Wei family. In the past, he wanted to disrupt the court and deliberately promoted Yuan Zhang to suppress the Wei family. He wanted the Wei family to give up and leave this vortex as soon as possible.

He Yanchen stood up, slowly walked down the stairs, and personally helped Wei Chengdong up.

"The Grand Tutor is my teacher, so why should I be afraid of him in front of my students?"

Wei Chengdong had a lot of thoughts in his mind, and no one knew what he wanted to do next.

It is really hard to understand what He Yanchen has done over the years.

"Grandmaster, do you know that the virtuous king disappeared on his way back to the capital?"

Wei Chengdong frowned: "Missing?"

How could it be a simple disappearance? The late emperor loved the wise king so much that I don’t know how much power he left for him privately. Even if he could take the person away under the escort of the imperial guards, it would not be something an ordinary person could do.

Wei Hemian obviously didn't have so many twists and turns in his mind. He directly declared: "Your Majesty, the virtuous king has evil ambitions. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to capture him and bring him back to the capital."

"Then what?"

A trace of doubt appeared on Wei Hemian's dark face, and then what?

Wei Chengdong glared at him in frustration, "The virtuous prince has been a law-abiding man in the West Sea in recent years and has done nothing wrong. Even if you wanted to punish him, you would have no legitimate reason to do so. This would only ruin your Majesty's reputation as a respectful and fraternal person."

Wei Chengdong couldn't help but pause as he spoke, "Reputation?"

Your Majesty doesn't seem to have this thing either.

"Then... we can't let him get away?" Although Wei Hemian didn't know why He Yanchen suddenly wanted to escort the virtuous king back to the capital, the two had been friends since childhood, and they were both monarch and subject as well as good friends, so he just had to obey.

"Your Majesty, the journey from Xihai to Beijing is long. It is normal for someone to grow old, get sick, or die along the way. I will just kill him along the way."

He Yanchen said in a faint voice, "I want more than just his life."

"Tomorrow, Zihui will lead the troops to search for the whereabouts of the virtuous king. Remember, I don't want him dead." Wei Hemian scratched his head, but could only see the emperor's fierce profile. "There's no need to capture him. Just let him return to the West Sea half-dead."

“People only reveal their trump cards when they are in desperate situations.”