147 Chapter 147

◎The early years of Yuanding. ◎

When they returned to Weiyang Palace again, it was already early August. The weather was gradually getting cooler and it was also the cotton harvest season, so Li Ying also followed Liu Ju back to the palace.

"There are less than two months left in this year..."

Before Li Ying could finish his words, Liu Ju said, "Whatever you have to say, shut up immediately, or you can go back to Shanglin Garden."

Li Ying, whose skin had darkened by two shades, immediately shut up. He didn't want to grow cotton in Shanglinyuan anymore.

The imperial physician who diagnosed Huo Qubing's pulse never missed a day, and Marquis Guanjun had long been accustomed to it. He just treated it as a daily routine that did not take up much of his effort.

In this way, the sixth year of Yuanshou passed quietly, and soon, His Majesty the Emperor changed the reign title to Yuanding.

Huo Qubing spent the sixth year of Yuanshou safely and without any illness or disaster.

Liu Ju's heart was not at peace.

Six years of Yuanshou have passed, there are still six years of Yuanding, and six years of Yuanfeng...

Li Ying reminded again without any expression: "There are no six years in Taichu, and in the fifth year of Yuanfeng, your uncle is also in danger."

Liu Ju rubbed his temples and said, "You'd better go back to Shanglinyuan."

Li Ying wasn't anxious this time. He said calmly, "Your Highness, my point is, you still have a lot of life left. If you keep worrying like this, you'll have to worry for decades. You might as well do something more meaningful with that time."

"What you said certainly makes sense..." Liu Ju said, "but it's not like I can just ignore it if I want to."

Li Ying said: "I understand. So, why don't you find something to keep yourself busy?"

Liu Ju paused and asked, "Don't I have too little to do now?"

Li Ying thought about it. In addition to studying with the Junior Tutor, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also had to listen to lectures from the Emperor, participate in court and military affairs, and Zhang Tang had to report to him on the unfinished land encroachment case. The things he had to do were not just a few, but simply too many.

Li Ying scratched his head and said, "Your Highness, it may be that you are too busy, your brain is too tired, and you can't sleep well, so you tend to have random thoughts."

"Why don't you relax a bit..." Li Ying offered a new suggestion. "Go play with Huo Xian, Cao Zong, and the others. Kids are carefree, and maybe they can pass on some of their energy to you."

Liu Ju thought for a moment and accepted his suggestion. By the way, he could also go and see Cao Xiang. After all, according to the time of his previous life, Cao Xiang only had two years left to live.

The princess's palace's medical attendants never stopped coming, and Liu Ju knew that there was nothing wrong with the couple's health.

After obtaining Huo Qubing's consent, Liu Ju took Huo Shan to the princess's mansion to find Cao Zong, and then took the two children to the Changping Marquis's mansion to play with the three brothers of the Wei family.

According to Wei Kang's age, he could actually go to the palace to be a waiter. His Majesty the Emperor had mentioned this matter before, but Wei Qing politely declined. He said that he would teach Wei Kang for another two years before he dared to let him enter the palace to serve His Majesty.

But when Liu Che mentioned this to the prince in private, he obviously understood the general's intention. He did not want Wei Kang to enter the officialdom because he felt that Wei Kang was not good enough to be used by His Majesty the Emperor.

Liu Che said at the time: "Your uncle has too high standards. Does it mean that every descendant of the Wei family must be like Qu Bing in order to be considered a good person?"

Liu Ju smiled and said, "Don't worry, uncle. When I have some free time, I will go and see how Wei Kang is doing for you. If he is okay, we will quietly summon him to the palace without letting your uncle know."

His Majesty the Emperor laughed heartily and agreed to the first half of Liu Ju's proposal.

Therefore, in addition to taking the two children out to play today, Liu Ju also wanted to test Wei Kang's intentions.

But as soon as he entered the Marquis of Changping's Mansion, Liu Ju saw that everyone in the mansion, whether the master or the servants, had a gloomy look on their faces, but the general had not taken any sick leave recently.

Liu Ju hurriedly asked Wei Kang, "What happened?"

Wei Kang frowned and replied, "Your Highness, my mother is ill. We have invited many famous doctors to see her, but she is not getting better."

"Is she sick?" Liu Ju was startled. "My aunt came to the palace during the New Year. I saw her in the Pepper Room. She seemed fine then."

Wei Kang said, "It was after the Chinese New Year that my mother started to feel unwell."

Liu Ju couldn't remember when Wei Kang's mother died in his previous life, but he remembered when Princess Pingyang remarried. Now that he thought about it, isn't it next year?

During the not-so-long marriage of Wei Qing and Princess Pingyang, they had a good relationship, otherwise Princess Pingyang would not have wanted to be buried with Wei Qing.

But... this did not mean that Liu Ju would ignore Wei Kang's sick mother. He then asked, "Have you invited the palace physician to come and see her?"

Wei Kang said, "Father has asked for help, but... their medicine hasn't worked, and mother is still like this."

Liu Ju also frowned. He was silent for a moment and said, "I'll go take a look."

Wei Kang led the way and took Liu Ju into the main room. Wei's mother was sleeping. Liu Ju did not let anyone wake her up. After looking at her face, he quietly left. Liu Ju asked Wei Kang about his mother's symptoms.

Liu Ju was not familiar with medicine. He used his mobile phone to check privately, but he was not sure what the disease was. He did not dare to try the medicine on people easily, so he could only urge the doctors to do their best.

After the New Year, it was the cold winter. For patients, such days were very difficult to endure. Wei's mother could not make it, and one day in December, she breathed her last.

The Wei family was not a family of nobles and had no family mausoleums, so Wei Qing carved a tomb next to his mother's grave. Because of his status and the death of his wife, the funeral was not small in scale and it was busy for nearly a month.

When everything was done, Wei Qing fell ill again.

This frightened Liu Ju to death. He hurriedly took his personal physician to the Marquis of Changping's mansion to check it out. Fortunately, he was just sad and tired, and he had overdrawn his body from fighting in previous years. This time, the disease came all at once. He just needed to take some medicine and recuperate slowly. There was no fatal problem.

Wei Qing smiled softly and said, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. It's nothing serious. It's getting late, Your Highness, please return to the palace."

"I'm fine, uncle, just focus on recovering." Liu Ju advised, "You should worry less in the future."

Just as Wei Qing was about to speak, Huo Qubing rushed in and asked rapidly, "I heard my uncle is ill. What is it? Is it serious?"

"Your Highness is here, Qubing." Wei Qing reminded him first.

Huo Qubing was about to bow to Liu Ju, but was stopped. Liu Ju said, "Don't worry, cousin. Uncle's illness isn't serious. He'll be well again soon if he takes good care of himself."

Huo Qubing breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

To allow Wei Qing to recover in peace, Huo Qubing said nothing more, but said, "It's getting late, uncle. I will take His Royal Highness the Crown Prince back to the palace."

Liu Ju smiled and said, "My uncle just said that."

"Your Highness, please go back." Wei Qing also smiled, "Please forgive me for not being able to see you off."

"Uncle, just take a rest." Liu Ju said hurriedly.

When they got outside, Huo Qubing asked Wei Qing in detail about the cause of his illness. Finally, he frowned and said, "I will go and ask His Majesty for permission to help my uncle with his work."

"And what about me, cousin? You can't get tired either. You must take this as a warning and take good care of yourself now." Liu Ju grabbed his wrist and warned him worriedly.

Huo Qubing did not find Liu Ju's troublesomeness distasteful this time. He nodded seriously and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I know."

Liu Ju was surprised and asked, "Cousin, don't you always think... that you're young and don't need to take care of your body?"

Huo Qubing smiled and said, "When I heard that my uncle was ill, I was extremely worried. If I were ill, my uncle would surely be the same. Young people are prone to illness. In order to avoid worrying my uncle, I'd better take precautions."

"Of course..." He looked at Liu Ju, "I also want His Highness not to worry about me."

Liu Ju felt tears welling up in his eyes at this moment. He rubbed his eyes and said, "Cousin, from now on, you can let Shan'er go to the Crown Prince's Palace. He won't have to work so hard to learn horse riding and archery. He can just..."

Before he could finish his words, Huo Qubing said with a headache, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but please don't say this in front of Shan'er, otherwise he really won't touch the bow again."

"His hands are covered with blisters, cousin, Shan'er is still young..." Liu Ju tried to persuade him.

Huo Qubing said, "I started learning archery at the age of five, and by the age of six I already had calluses on my hands."

Liu Ju opened his mouth and said, how could Huo Qubing, a little child who was already living in luxury at that time, have such great perseverance?

Only in this way can one become the champion of today.

"Heaven has bestowed upon this man a great responsibility..." Liu Ju could only say, "Cousin, please take care of Xie Shan'er's health; after all, he is still young."

Huo Qubing's expression softened and he nodded, "I know." He added, "Zi'er, you love your child so much, but you can't be a good father."

Liu Ju didn't think twice and said directly: "My grandfather can teach children. When I have a child, I will let him teach it."

"Your Majesty..." Huo Qubing thought for a moment and nodded, "Your Majesty is indeed a good teacher. Your Highness, my uncle, and I were all taught by Your Majesty."

Liu Ju laughed and said, "Cousin, you sound like you're bragging."

Huo Qubing said: "I have self-knowledge."

In this context, self-knowledge is clearly a positive word.

Liu Ju affirmed, "That's right, cousin. The students taught by Grandfather are always the best."

"There is one more thing, do you know?" Huo Qubing suddenly said.

Liu Ju wondered, "What's the matter?"

Huo Qubing said, "Your Majesty intends to arrange a marriage for my uncle."

Liu Ju was stunned: "But...but my uncle just lost his wife."

"My uncle will be able to marry in just one year. The Marquis of Changping's mansion has a lot of housework to do, and we need a mistress to take care of it," Huo Qubing said. "Your Majesty, why not consider it now?"

"It's okay, but..." Liu Ju said, "Cousin, do you know who the old man likes?"

Huo Qubing shook his head: "Your Majesty just mentioned it casually."

Liu Ju thought to himself, if you knew who it was, you would know that His Majesty the Emperor is not worried that no one is taking care of the internal affairs of the Marquis of Changping's Mansion, he has other purposes.