Chapter 163 Smallpox
Inside the bedchamber, the candlelight flickered and the charcoal fire in the brazier crackled, but it couldn't dispel the somber atmosphere.
Bao Cheng's small body was curled up in the brocade quilt, his face flushed an unnatural red, and tiny blisters were already appearing on his tender skin. Even so, he still gave a worried smile to the Kangxi Emperor who had rushed over.
"Father Emperor...why are you here?"
Emperor Kangxi stood guard by the bedside, his usually steady hands trembling slightly. He gently touched Bao Cheng's little face, his usual imperial majesty replaced by deep worry.
"Bao Cheng is sick, how can Father Emperor not come?"
Bao Cheng frowned slightly, "But... Father has been... watching over Bao Cheng for several days... Bao Cheng is fine, Father, you don't need to worry..."
Seeing his son trying to comfort him despite his discomfort, Kangxi felt even more heartbroken. Such a good child, no wonder he favored him.
"Don't push yourself, you should rest well." Kangxi brought a silver spoon filled with water to his lips and fed him to moisten his throat.
Bao Cheng obediently swallowed the medicine, and continued to persuade him, "Father Emperor works hard day and night to attend to state affairs. Don't worry about Bao Cheng's little illness. Bao Cheng will be fine after a good night's sleep."
Kangxi's eyes welled up with tears. He hoped that Bao Cheng cared about him the most. But that didn't mean he was happy to see Bao Cheng's magnanimity in disregarding life and death.
She didn't care about life or death, yet she still worried about him. This intense and sincere affection pained him and terrified him. He seemed to have truly succeeded in giving Bao Cheng a bond, but beyond that bond, Bao Cheng's indifference to everything in the world became even more obvious and abnormal.
Kangxi suppressed his unease, held his son's small hand, and warmed it in his palm. His voice was choked with emotion: "Alright, I'll do as Baocheng says. After Baocheng goes to sleep, Father Emperor will also go to rest."
Bao Cheng smiled contentedly, then blinked his eyelashes more and more slowly, and soon closed his eyes and quietly fell asleep.
That serene face made Kangxi feel a surge of fear, and he instinctively reached out to check Bao Cheng's breath. Only when he felt the warm, faint breath on his fingers did he manage to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Take good care of the Crown Prince.”
"yes."
Kangxi lowered his voice to give the instructions, glanced at Baocheng a few times with reluctance, and then quietly got up and left the warm pavilion.
The imperial physicians guarding the door hurriedly bowed and paid their respects. Kangxi raised his hand slightly and asked directly, "Tell us the truth about the Crown Prince's condition without any concealment."
The group of imperial physicians looked at each other, and after pushing and shoving each other for a while, they finally pushed out one of the more senior physicians to answer.
The imperial physician stepped forward cautiously, head bowed, not daring to look directly at the emperor's face, his voice tinged with hesitation: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince is fast asleep now, and his complexion seems somewhat better than before. Judging from his current symptoms, the medicine he took should be effective. However..."
Upon hearing this, Kangxi was initially delighted, but then his heart tightened, and he pressed, "Why are you stammering! What is it?"
"However, upon closer examination, Your Highness's illness does not seem to be a typical case of smallpox."
Upon hearing this, Kangxi's eyebrows shot up sharply, countless schemes and plots flashing through his mind in that instant. His gaze instantly sharpened like an eagle's, piercing the imperial physician: "Not smallpox? What do you mean by that? Don't hesitate!"
The imperial physician was so frightened that his knees buckled and he knelt down with a thud. His forehead was instantly covered in sweat, and he hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, please calm down! Smallpox is a dangerous disease, with high fever that is difficult to reduce and blisters that are often dense and rapid. However, although His Highness the Crown Prince has a fever and a rash, his symptoms are much milder than those of smallpox patients we have seen in the past. That is why we dared to make this guess. We need to observe him for a few more days and examine him carefully before we can draw a conclusion."
Upon hearing this, Kangxi's expression turned solemn. He paced back and forth in the corridor with his hands behind his back, pondering for a long time before finally saying in a deep voice, "No matter what, you must do your utmost to take care of the Crown Prince. If anything goes wrong, I will hold you all responsible!"
The imperial physicians hurriedly kowtowed and agreed, not daring to utter a sound, waiting only for Kangxi's order before rushing inside to check on the young prince's condition.
"wrong!"
After the imperial physician entered, Kangxi suddenly realized the problem. Given how much Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu valued Bao Cheng, Bao Cheng's current behavior shouldn't be the cause of any trouble.
The reason why Emperor Kangxi was willing to let Bao Cheng leave the Qianqing Palace was partly because he wanted Bao Cheng to have more ties to stay. But on the other hand, it was also because he knew that both of these young boys had extraordinary qualities, and that he cared for Bao Cheng even more than he did.
Even if Bao Cheng accidentally falls, Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu will cushion his fall to prevent him from getting hurt. But why are they so calm this time?
Kangxi looked intently at the two mythical beasts guarding Baocheng's bedside without uttering a word, clearly showing how concerned he was about Baocheng's condition.
But when Kangxi observed carefully, he immediately noticed the tension in the two of them, which carried a sense of understanding and guilt.
Kangxi's heart tightened suddenly. He felt guilty. Why should he feel guilty? Was Baocheng's illness related to them?
"Fifth Prince, Sixth Prince, come out here, I have something to ask you!"
Apart from two or three people who were close to the emperor and knew a little about the situation, the rest of the palace staff and imperial physicians thought the emperor had gone mad with worry. They took even better care of the crown prince and dared not slack off in the slightest.
The two children, who had been summoned, froze. Under Kangxi's stern gaze, they appeared even more guilty and pretended not to know anything as they came out.
But it was precisely this reaction that made Kangxi even more suspicious. After all, these two boys used to look down on everyone except Bao Cheng, when had they ever been so obedient?
Kangxi closed his eyes, thinking about their origins and identities, and suppressed his anger, asking only one question: "Baocheng will be alright, won't it?"
"Chirp—"
Little Five chirped, and Little Six nodded, both giving an affirmative answer.
While Kangxi breathed a sigh of relief, an even greater anger welled up within him. He questioned, "Baoben shouldn't have to suffer like this, right?"
Now, even the crows stopped flying, and the peacocks lowered their heads.
Kangxi gritted his teeth: "Weren't you here to protect him? Why are you watching him suffer?"
"Chirp chirp..."
"Cough, cough..."
The two little ones called out softly, as if trying to explain.
In an instant, Kangxi understood and said coldly, "Baocheng is the Crown Prince, not some Buddhist disciple. No one is worth him suffering!"
Seeing the two children remain silent, Kangxi was filled with resentment. Sure enough, he had guessed correctly that Baocheng was taking the blame for someone else.
Looking at the two children in front of him, Kangxi's expression turned completely cold: "If you have come for the sake of the Buddha's son, then leave Baocheng. Baocheng is my son, not the Buddha's son. I will protect him. I don't need you."
"Chirp!"
"oh!"
The two little ones tried to explain, but Kangxi immediately got up and locked them outside the warm pavilion, forbidding anyone from letting them near Baocheng again.
Just as the imperial physician said, Bao Cheng's blisters quickly subsided, and he gradually recovered, safely passing through this suspected smallpox illness.
However, after the imperial physicians investigated and reported the "smallpox" outbreak, Emperor Kangxi was not pleased; he merely reaffirmed his suspicions.
In particular, when he saw the report that showed that the symptoms of other people who were vaccinated against smallpox were milder than those of Bao Cheng, Kangxi was even more heartbroken. This made Kangxi even more convinced that Bao Cheng was suffering the pain of the disease on behalf of the people.
The world was no longer afraid of smallpox, but Bao Cheng had to pay the price. How could he not be sad? He was the emperor, and all the people in the world were his subjects, but he was also his father. No one was more important to him than Bao Cheng!
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