Chapter 504: Not Obvious Enough
As soon as the imperial doctors left, the bedroom suddenly became quiet.
Seeing the bloodshot eyes of the emperor, Chu Liuzheng moved to the side of the bed and said, "Please lie down and get some sleep. I'll wake you up later."
"The tyrant is too honest. There are so many people in the palace, why not just assign them to take turns guarding me? You've exhausted yourself to this point, do you think you're an iron man?"
Xiao Jingfan: "..."
His Majesty the Emperor felt that his sincerity had been wasted and he couldn't even get angry.
He raised his hand and pinched his brow, his face showing fatigue. "No time to sleep. There are still three urgent memorials on the desk that have not been approved. The Grand Tutor and the Minister of Works submitted their memorials this morning, but I haven't summoned them yet. And..."
"Just sleep for an hour." Chu Liuzheng felt tired for him and interrupted him, dragging him to bed forcefully. "One hour won't delay anything."
"After you finish the review, go to sleep." Xiao Jingfan remembered that Chu Liuzheng turned over and pressed on him, not allowing him to move. "After you finish the review, go to sleep. I will accompany you."
Xiao Jingfan raised his hand and put his arm around the waist of the person he was holding. His eyes fell directly into those almond-shaped eyes and he asked in a low voice, "Are you worried about me?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Chu Liuzheng blinked. Her heart wasn't made of stone. Of course she knew how to feel sorry for those who treated her well.
"It can be more obvious next time." Turning over and putting the person aside, Xiao Jingfan stood up, and Chu Liuzheng immediately stretched out his legs to hook the person back. He was determined to keep the person on the bed, pressing his hands and legs, like a quilt that actively wrapped around people.
Xiao Jingfan was helpless, "I'm still wearing my coat."
Upon hearing this, Chu Liuzheng decisively took action to strip him.
Xiao Jingfan: "..."
"Okay, go to sleep." Chu Liuzheng stretched out his hand to cover the emperor's eyes, and his long eyelashes swept across the palm of his hand, feeling slightly itchy.
She waited for a while, then slowly loosened her hand and found that the person under her had his eyes closed and had fallen asleep.
[Tsk, men, they are the toughest talkers.]
She pinched the emperor's face, leaned over and kissed his thin lips, then carefully propped herself up, slowly got out of bed, gently lowered the bed curtains, and lit a calming incense at the head of the bed.
The calming aroma gradually spread, and the person on the bed fell into a deeper sleep. Chu Liuzheng stayed by her side for a while, and when he saw that she was still asleep, he took a set of clothes from the closet, put them on, and tiptoed out.
If she doesn't eat, she'll starve to death.
Zhou Yuande and others were guarding the door. When they saw her come out, they couldn't help but look at the closed palace door.
Chu Liuzheng immediately made a silent gesture and whispered, "Your Majesty has fallen asleep."
Everyone covered their mouths.
Chu Liuzheng said to Zhou Yuande, "Eunuch Zhou, you and your men will stay here. If any ministers come in and ask for an audience, as long as it's not a matter of life and death, hold it until His Majesty wakes up."
Zhou Yuande nodded in agreement. Seeing Chu Liuzheng about to leave, he hurriedly called out to her, "Where are you going, young lady? If His Majesty doesn't see you when he wakes up, I'm afraid he'll blame you."
"I won't go far." Chu Liuzheng said, "I'll go to the side hall to eat something and come back."
After hearing this, Zhou Yuande was willing to release the person.
In the side hall, the eunuch who delivered the meal had just left.
Chu Liuzheng quickly washed up and sat down at the table.
Miyue poured a bowl of millet porridge and placed it in front of her. "Sister just woke up, eat something soft to warm your stomach first."
"Okay, thank you." Chu Liuzheng picked up the bowl and drank the porridge.
Chen Xing was serving her some food, saying, "Sister's coma has been terrifying us these past few days. Sister Moxiang and Sister Yuzhui have been praying to the Buddha every day. Xiaoxiazi and Xiaoyunzi have been coming three times a day to inquire about her condition. Shao Liyi also came and cried so hard when she saw Sister's condition. Even the Queen Mother sent Nanny Zhao to visit."
Chu Liuzheng was a little surprised. It would have been fine if it was just Moxiang and the others, but the Queen Mother actually sent someone to see her. Has she changed her personality?
"Besides Shao Liyi, Consort Shu and Consort Chun are also here, but His Majesty has not allowed them into the palace," Siyue said as she sat down. "His Majesty is also very worried about my sister. Did you see His Majesty's eyes? He has hardly slept since you fell unconscious."
"Except for attending court and meeting with ministers, he stayed by my sister's bedside. He even brought memorials to the bedside to review. Eunuch Zhou said that in all his time serving His Majesty, he had never seen His Majesty so anxious about someone."
Chu Liuzheng: “…”
[Why does this sound so much like what a certain housekeeper said: "Young Master hasn't laughed like this in a long time?"]
The sudden association gave Chu Liuzheng goose bumps. He shuddered secretly and concentrated on eating.
The emperor woke up before he finished his meal.
Looking at the sleepy person, Chu Liuzheng suddenly felt a little guilty.
Although she had not promised the emperor to stay with him until he woke up, she felt inexplicably guilty when she met the emperor's slightly accusing look.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat and held up the bowl, inviting him warmly, "Would you like one?"
After glancing at the porridge and side dishes on the table, Xiao Jingfan sat down, took the millet porridge handed to him by Siyue, and ate it quietly with some pickles.
Chu Liuzheng had almost finished eating. He waved to Chen Xing and Si Yue and picked up some food for the emperor himself. "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll make it for you myself."
"You don't have to do it." Xiao Jingfan swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "You just woke up, rest well."
Chu Liuzheng smiled coquettishly, "Then I'll rest beside you?"
Xiao Jingfan paused, raised his eyelids to look at her, and said "hmm" seriously.
Chu Liuzheng raised his hand and rubbed his chest.
Damn it, she actually thought the cold-faced emperor was a little cute. Her eyes must be broken.
*
The heavy rain in July still fell.
The Minjiang River was surging, and although the embankment had been reinforced, it was still destroyed in two places and wreaked havoc on the fertile fields downstream.
Fortunately, the government saw that the situation was not right and organized the evacuation of the people in advance.
Heavy rains lasted for a month, causing floods in the Qingzhou area. Despite the court's many preparations, casualties were inevitable, but the situation was much better than what Yi Zhen wrote in the scroll.
At the same time, fire fell from the sky in the southwest. Fortunately, the guards patrolling the mountains discovered it in time and only burned a small area of the forest, leaving a charred ground.
A month later, the rain in Qingzhou finally stopped. Before the people could be happy, they found that some of their fellow villagers or relatives had suddenly fallen to the ground and had a high fever.
The experienced traveling doctor took the patient's pulse and turned pale with horror. He uttered two words in a trembling voice: plague.
The plague spread extremely quickly. Even though the government responded quickly and isolated the infected people, nearly a thousand people had already contracted the plague.
The court immediately sent the recruited doctors to Qingzhou along with medicinal herbs commonly used to treat various epidemics.
The lights in Wenhua Hall were on night after night, and the news from Qingzhou kept coming in, which was heartbreaking.
Chu Liuzheng also became anxious and irritated. He drank bowl after bowl of cold tea and went to Chongshan Hall under the scorching sun.
Inside the Chongshan Hall, the wind blew through the ice basin, bringing a gentle coolness. A young man in white clothes sat cross-legged on a rattan chair, holding half a watermelon cooled by well water in his arms. He ate it with a spoon while watching two turtles fighting in a glass jar.
"Lord Yi really knows how to enjoy himself." Chu Liuzheng ordered someone to bring a stool and place it next to the rattan chair.
"The palace is boring, so I have to find some fun on my own." Yi Zhen put the spoon into the watermelon and looked at her. "What do you want from me?"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
