Chapter 32 Something Happened

"What the hell, why can't I solve any of them?

Since returning from Qiluan Palace, Chu Ran has been concentrating on solving the Nine-Linked Rings in his hand. He has been solving it for nearly half an hour, but has not made any progress. Chu Ran was upset. When he looked up, he saw Li Fuzheng and the old eunuch playing chess, so Chu Ran stood up and walked over.

Chu Ran stood between the two of them. The chessboard was crisscrossed with horizontal and vertical lines, and the black and white pieces were clearly distinguished. Li Fu stared at the chessboard, his expression as cold as usual, except that he had a rare sense of seriousness. After Zhao Zhongyi placed a piece, he reached out to grab the teacup at hand, but was beaten to it by Chu Ran. Chu Ran's mouth was dry from solving the nine-ring puzzle, so he picked up the teacup and poured it directly into his mouth.

Zhao Zhongyi glanced at Chu Ran, clicked his tongue, and said, "Pour it for us."

Chu Ran put the teacup down, picked up the teapot with his left hand, poured water into the teacup, but his eyes were fixed on the chessboard.

“Who’s going to win?”

Li Fu glanced at Chu Ran and said, "This round has just begun."

"oh oh."

The teacup was full, Chu Ran put down the teapot, Zhao Zhongyi pinched the wall of the cup with his thumb and index finger, slowly brought the teacup to his mouth and took a sip.

So Chu Ran stood beside the chessboard, solving the Nine-Ring Rings puzzle while quietly watching the two people play chess. It was not that Chu Ran wanted to be quiet, but he really did not understand Go and could not see the situation on the board clearly. Even if he wanted to say something, he really did not know what to say.

Feeling tired, Chu Ran sat on the steps below and watched until the sun set and the outline of the moon appeared vaguely in the sky. Only then did Zhao Zhongyi get up and go back.

Li Fu was responsible for cleaning up the remaining game. He picked up the two chess pots and put them back at the back of the house, then walked out again.

Li Fu wanted to carry the table back into the house, but he couldn't lift it by himself, so he motioned Chu Ran to come over and help.

Chu Ran nodded in agreement, but when he stood up, he was still struggling with the thing in his hand. Seeing that he couldn't untie it, Chu Ran sighed, turned his attention back to the table in front of him, and helped Li Fu lift the table back.

After entering the room, Li Fu read a book by candlelight, while Chu Ran sat by the bed and continued to solve his nine-ring puzzle. When it was time to go to bed, Li Fu finally closed the book, stood up and walked towards the bed.

He looked at Chu Ran, who was so focused that he forgot to eat and sleep, and reminded him, "It's time to go to bed."

"Um."

Chu Ran agreed, but did not stop.

Li Fu snatched the Nine-Link Ring from Chu Ran's hand and said, "It's getting late. Let's do it tomorrow."

Chu Ran watched with disdain as Li Fu took away his Nine-Linked Ring and put it aside. He couldn't help but sigh, "Okay."

The weather has been getting colder recently. It was fine during the day, but it got colder as the night went on. When Chu Ran got his warm body into the quilt, he couldn't help but shiver slightly. After waiting for a while, Li Fu also got on the bed. When Li Fu came in, his cold feet accidentally touched Chu Ran's legs, just like ice sticking to his skin, and Chu Ran couldn't help shivering again.

Chu Ran, as if seeking revenge, deliberately put his foot against Li Fu. When he saw Li Fu hissing from the cold, Chu Ran could not help but chuckle.

So the two of us stretched out one leg each and had a lot of fun under the quilt, until we were both sweating and the quilt and our feet were getting warmer and warmer, so we stopped.

Chu Ran tucked the quilt tightly, leaving no gaps. He exhaled a breath of hot air, but the smile on his face could not be retracted for a long time.

"Today, all the palaces have distributed charcoal. I will go and ask tomorrow if they can get some charcoal for us."

Whether in the palace or among the people, charcoal is a very precious thing. Generally, only wealthy families can afford it. If ordinary people want to use charcoal to keep warm in winter, they need to spend a lot of money, especially in the palace. Although Chu Ran is not short of money at the moment, there is still a long time to go. Who knows when he will need money? He dare not spend it lavishly and squander it all. He still has to save it.

So Chu Ran only used silver to buy some first, intending to use it when the cold became unbearable. The weather hasn't been that cold recently, so he planned to endure it for now.

Chu Ran told the eunuch in charge of distributing charcoal, and he would go get it when he got off duty. When he returned to Qiluan Palace, from a distance, Chu Ran saw the eunuchs and palace maids running back and forth in the yard, making a mess. Thinking that something had happened, Chu Ran quickened his pace and ran in.

"Why are you all running? What happened?"

Chu Ran grabbed one of the eunuchs and asked.

"Something happened to Concubine Li! We are all rushing to find a doctor for her!"

Looking for a royal physician?

Could it be that Concubine Li is sick?

Chu Ran was just lost in thought when he saw Li Dingning turning from the corridor at the side, followed by other eunuchs. Chu Ran quickly followed him.

"It's so itchy! I'm dying of itchiness!"

"My Queen! Please stop scratching! You'll ruin your face if you do that!"

"But I am itchy! I can't stand the itchiness! I have to catch it! Where is the imperial physician? Why hasn't the imperial physician come yet?!"

"My queen, please stop grabbing! The doctor will be here soon, please bear with it for a while!"

"Mother! Mother, what's wrong with you?"

As soon as Li Dingning entered the room, he ran towards Concubine Li.

Chu Ran was watching from a distance behind, and saw several palace maids surrounding Concubine Li, holding her arms to prevent her from moving them. But Concubine Li's face was red and swollen for some reason, and she was shouting that it was itchy. Although the palace maids were holding her, they did not dare to use much force, so Concubine Li still couldn't help but pinch her face several times, but the place where she pinched became even redder and swollen.

"Your Highness, please stay away! Don't get close, or you might get hurt."

So Li Dingning dared to just watch from a distance, his eyes red. Perhaps he was frightened by Concubine Li's appearance, sobbing, he said, "Mother, Mother, what's wrong with you?"

Fortunately, the imperial physician arrived not long after.

When the imperial physician arrived, other irrelevant people had to retreat. When Chu Ran walked out, he turned his head and took a look inside the house.

The imperial physician first glanced at Concubine Li's face, as if frightened, and quickly put down the medicine box on his body and opened it.

Then, he heard the voice of the imperial physician: "Apply this bottle of ointment to the queen first, and the itching will be less severe."

Chu Ran walked out completely.

Li Dingning couldn't help anyway, so he followed them out.

Although Li Dingning was driven out by Concubine Li, he was worried about his mother, so he did not leave immediately, but waited at the door.

The wind was howling outside and Li Dingning kept sniffing his nose. He didn't know if it was because of the cold or because he was crying, but his nose was red.

Since Li Dingning refused to leave, Chu Ran naturally couldn't leave either. He could only stand in the yard with Li Dingning and wait together.

However, instead of waiting for the imperial physician to come out, the emperor arrived instead.

Emperor Chengwen appeared in Qiluan Palace with a group of people. All the palace servants knelt down, and Chu Ran knelt down with them. At the same time, he raised his head carefully and looked at the middle-aged emperor.

"Father! Wuuuuu!" Li Dingning cried aggrievedly and rushed towards Emperor Chengwen.

As expected of a monarch, his bearing was dignified and majestic, incomparable to ordinary people. Emperor Chengwen frowned, his face was calm and stern. He raised his broad palm and patted Li Dingning on the back with a soothing look.

"Okay, it's okay." The tone of Emperor Chengwen's speech to Li Dingning can be described as patient and gentle. "Father is here, Xiaowu, don't be afraid."

Li Dingning cried a few more times, as if she had finally found her backbone, and finally stopped crying.

Emperor Chengwen stood at the door for a while, and the imperial physician came out.

"What's going on?" Emperor Chengwen frowned again.

He also heard that something happened to Concubine Li, so he rushed over, but Emperor Chengwen still didn't know what had happened.

The imperial physician didn't know what to say. After thinking for a while, he sighed and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please go in and take a look."

Emperor Chengwen walked in, and Li Dingning followed him in. Seeing this, Chu Ran also went over and followed him in.

The white gauze curtains on both sides of the bed were pulled up, tightly enveloping the person inside, revealing only the vague outline of the slender waist.

Concubine Li sat sideways behind the gauze curtain with her slender white feet bare. She buried her head on her knees and sobbed softly.

Emperor Chengwen approached the bed and was about to lift the curtains. Concubine Li said earnestly, "Your Majesty, please don't do that." She cried twice and continued, "I am not fit to be seen by the emperor in my current appearance. I am afraid that I will offend Your Majesty. It is better for Your Majesty to stay away from me."

Her tone was so sad and heartbreaking that Emperor Chengwen's heart softened.

"My beloved, please let me see you. If I don't, how can I know how badly you are hurt? Wouldn't that make me even more worried?"

After saying this, without waiting for Concubine Li to say anything else, the emperor had already opened the gauze curtain. He saw Concubine Li's face which seemed to be disfigured. He was shocked at first. Seeing this, Concubine Li quickly buried her face in her knees and cried even more sadly.

Concubine Li had always been favored by Emperor Chengwen because of her beauty. Now, Concubine Li's face had become like this, and no one would be more angry than Emperor Chengwen.

He turned his head to look at the other palace maids and doctors in the room, and asked angrily: "What is going on! How did Concubine Li's face become like this! How did you servants serve her?"

All the servants in the room knelt down, and Chu Ran followed suit.

The emperor thought that the servants had not served the queen well enough and was about to ask for culpability when the maid kneeling in front suddenly said, "Your Majesty, we did not serve the queen well enough, but the reason why the queen's face became like this is actually because of the pearl powder she used."