Chapter 140 Cough
The night was deep outside the palace, and when the time came, Chu Mingheng announced the start of the banquet.
The night wind was chilly, but the imperial meals sent from the imperial kitchen could not be cold. Naturally, His Majesty had to eat hot food. If even one detail went wrong, it would be a matter of losing one's head.
The New Year's Eve banquet was more casual than the daytime palace banquet. In previous years, although everyone was concerned about their positions and the presence of the emperor, they would not say anything obviously confrontational during the New Year's Eve banquet. However, there was still some competition behind the scenes, or the concubines who were on good terms would get together and chat.
There is no empress or empress dowager in this palace, which seems relaxed, but in reality, the struggles among the concubines are even more intense.
However, after what happened with the Prince of Wei on New Year's Eve this year, everyone seemed a bit more reserved.
Chu Mingheng's cold face was intimidating enough, and by the time Lan Wu noticed, even the music in the hall sounded particularly pitiful.
She couldn't help but turn to the side and mutter softly, "What exactly do you want to say? It's kind of scary."
Chu Mingheng hadn't been drinking, and his mind was clearer than ever before. His face was somber; he had been thinking about something else the whole time. When Lan Wu called out to him, he turned to look at her and whispered, "Did I scare you?"
No, not at all.
Lan Wu rarely felt afraid of Chu Mingheng, after all, she knew that Chu Mingheng would not do anything to hurt her.
"It'll be ready soon." Chu Mingheng was somewhat satisfied when he saw her shake her head. He chuckled and told her to eat more meat.
"This venison is good for your health, you should eat more of it."
Lan Wu hadn't forgotten how Chu Mingheng had tricked her after she ate too much venison last time. Although the two of them couldn't be completely equated now, they were still the same people, with a particularly wicked nature, and they needed to be closely monitored.
Thinking it over, she took advantage of Chu Mingheng's inattention and gently moved the piece of meat aside.
Perhaps it was the warmth in the hall that was soothing, but soon some people became listless and looked drowsy.
At that moment, a soft cough was heard from below.
Lan Wu saw that Wen Zhaoyi was covering her face and coughing softly in a seat at the back below.
She was already ill, but her illness had not improved despite a long period of recuperation. She was forcibly brought to this palace, and no one around dared to talk to her much, for fear of accidentally catching the disease themselves.
Even though she tried hard to suppress her voice, some coughs still escaped her lips.
"Who's coughing?" Chu Mingheng asked casually, seemingly not taking it seriously at all. He glanced around at the crowd below and saw a woman in the back seat lower her head, stand up, and step forward.
Consort Wen's throat was so itchy that she coughed twice when she spoke a single sentence. Now that she was being questioned, she was clearly anxious and quickly replied, "Your Majesty, it is your concubine."
Chu Mingheng remained calm: "Why is your illness still not cured?"
Consort Wen didn't know what to say. Although she had brought this illness upon herself, she hadn't expected it to be so serious. She hadn't recovered for several days and it seemed to be getting worse. She just wanted to get rid of Consort Shu, not to die.
Just as she was about to reply, Consort Shu stood up and spoke for her: "Your Majesty, I asked the imperial physician who examined Consort Wen earlier, and he said that Consort Wen is weak and frail and needs to take good care of herself. She won't recover anytime soon."
Consort Wen was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting that Consort Shu knew so much about her condition; even the imperial physician had never told her these things to her face.
She couldn't help but glance at Consort Shu again.
Chu Mingheng seemed to believe Consort Shu's words, nodded slightly, and then continued to ask slowly, "Which imperial physician diagnosed her illness?"
Upon hearing this, Consort Shu quickly replied, "Your Majesty, it is Physician Qi."
Worried that Chu Mingheng might not know Physician Qi, she added, "Your Majesty, Physician Qi is a newly recruited physician in the Imperial Medical Academy. He previously examined my pulse and his medical skills are quite good. So when I saw that Consort Wen had been ill for several days, I asked Physician Qi to treat her."
"His medical skills are quite good." Chu Mingheng repeated casually, then asked Consort Wen, "What do you think?"
Consort Wen was singled out for questioning, and her heart was in her throat. She was unsure how to answer, but she knew that she could not displease His Majesty no matter what.
"Your Majesty, cough cough... It was Physician Chen who examined my pulse earlier, and it was just a common cold, which I didn't take seriously." She spoke softly, coughing lightly every now and then. "However, cough cough... Later, it was Physician Qi. I didn't know that Physician Qi was summoned by Consort Shu, but when Physician Qi examined my pulse, my condition was already much worse. I suppose it was because I wasn't careful enough that the physicians were helpless, cough cough cough—"
Her face was pale and she looked sickly. She spoke these words without any strength, making people feel sorry for her.
Consort Shu's previously calm and composed expression suddenly stiffened. She turned around sharply to look at her, her face showing disbelief as she tried to see Consort Wen's expression clearly.
But Consort Wen kept her head down, so no one could see anything.
Consort Shu took a deep breath. How could she not know the hidden meaning behind Consort Wen's words? It was precisely because she knew the hidden meaning that she found it unbelievable.
From the very beginning, Consort Wen and Consort Bai were her subordinates, helping her with her work. Now that she had finally managed to overthrow the other two consorts, it would have been one thing for Consort Wen not to fawn over her and show her loyalty, but she actually dared to betray her.
Who gave her such audacity?
Consort Shu felt a surge of emotions, but she quickly composed herself and explained with a light laugh, "What Consort Zhao said is true. Of course, I hope you get better soon. The reason you are not getting better must be that the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital have not put their hearts into it. Tomorrow, I will definitely ask them how they examined your pulse."
Consort Wen turned to the side and bowed slightly to Consort Shu.
This unexpected incident seems to be about to be forgotten.
But Chu Mingheng refused.
"Someone, go to the Imperial Hospital and fetch a few imperial physicians." He casually flicked the jade pendant tied to his belt, his gaze sweeping over the area below, and ordered someone to find the imperial physicians.
The concubines present were all taken aback.
Consort Shu was even worse.
She intended to persuade Chu Mingheng to change his mind: "Your Majesty, today is still New Year's Eve. It might not be appropriate to make such a fuss by examining the concubines' pulses... How about we have Consort Wen withdraw first, and then have the Imperial Hospital staff go over early tomorrow morning?"
The palace maids had just served fresh fruit; the grapes inside were clean, each one black, shiny, and round.
Chu Mingheng casually picked out a large one, peeled it in a few quick movements, and handed it to Lan Wu beside him so she could eat it. At the same time, he said in a low voice, "So what if it's New Year's Eve? I think this year's New Year's Eve should see some bloodshed. All of you are holding your heads up to the sky."
Having said that, he ignored the horrified crowd below who knelt down in fear after hearing his words, and instead chuckled at Lan Wu, asking her, "Is it sweet? Do you want more?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com