Chapter 67: Double Stay 1 The hibiscus tent is warm for a spring night, a room filled with charming love...
After seven days of national mourning, tomorrow morning's court session will be the day when Wen Fengxuan will ascend the throne.
Zhu Song couldn't sleep again that night. He tossed and turned in bed, feeling very upset.
Suddenly, there was a sharp sound of something piercing the air. Zhu Song sat up suddenly. A sharp dagger pierced the pillar. Zhu Song stepped forward, pulled out the dagger, took out the note, and unfolded it. It read, "Urgent, come to Xuanyin Pavilion to see you."
It is Wen Fengxuan's name.
Zhu Song didn't have time to think about it. He took his cloak and hurried out the door, rushing to Xuanyin Pavilion.
It was freezing cold, and in the dead of night, the streets were deserted, their windows tightly shut. During the period of national mourning, Xuanyin Pavilion was closed, but a servant waited at the door. Upon seeing Zhu Song, he quickly came out to greet him, "Sir, please come this way."
As Zhu Song entered, Xia Zhi brought over a plate of lotus cakes. "Sir, this is our Xuanyin Pavilion's new lotus cake. Please try it."
Zhu Song refused, "I don't like lotus cakes."
Xia Zhi said: "Sir, this is the master's special order. If you don't eat it, I'm afraid..."
Zhu Song gave her a deep look, then glanced at the lotus crisps on the plate. It's no exaggeration to say that even if you knew the name, this thing had nothing to do with lotus crisps. It looked as ugly as a shoe insole and smelled like pickled cabbage that had been soaked for ten years.
Zhu Song took one and swallowed it with difficulty. Xia Zhi handed him a glass of water and a lotus pastry, which he finished with two glasses of water.
Xia Zhi made a gesture of invitation, "Please go upstairs, sir."
Zhu Song followed her upstairs, walked through the long corridor and came to the last room. The door was not closed, so Xia Zhi went in first, put the lotus pastry on the table, then bowed and took his leave.
Zhu Song stood at the door and looked inside. He saw Wen Fengxuan wearing a moon-white dress, with a rosy complexion and eyes like stars. He was looking up at him. Just one look made Zhu Song's heart skip a beat.
Zhu Song walked into the room and bowed, "I wonder what urgent matter Your Majesty has summoned me for?"
Wen Fengxuan said, "Your Excellency has called me the wrong name. I have not yet officially ascended the throne. I should be addressed as Your Highness."
Zhu Song paused for a moment, then said, "I made a mistake."
Wen Fengxuan said, "Then please drink three cups as punishment, sir."
Zhu Song was a little surprised and looked up at him.
Wen Fengxuan's expression remained unchanged, but his gaze towards him was slightly cold. "Are you afraid that I might poison you, sir?"
"I dare not."
After Zhu Song finished speaking, he saw that there was a table full of delicious food and three rows of wine glasses.
"Bang," "bang," "bang," three glasses of wine went down his throat. They were strong liquor, but Zhu Song had improved his alcohol tolerance recently, so he didn't think it was a big deal.
Just after finishing his drink, Wen Fengxuan spoke again, "In this dynasty, the left is respected. My Lord, you stepped with your left foot first when you entered the room. Are you dissatisfied with me?"
Zhu Song was very surprised and replied with a bow, "I dare not."
Wen Fengxuan said, "Then I'll drink three more cups as punishment."
Zhu Song hesitated. If he drank three more glasses of such strong liquor, he would definitely be drunk. He would not remember anything when he was drunk. What if he did something?
"this.."
Wen Fengxuan's voice turned cold, "My lord, do you think I'm making things difficult for you?"
"I dare not."
After that, he chug three more glasses of wine. Fortunately, Zhu Song's alcohol tolerance was better than he thought, so he was not drunk at all.
"sit."
Zhu Song had been in for quite some time when he finally sat down. However, his eyelids twitched as he looked at the rows of wine glasses in front of him. The less he said, the less mistakes he made, but the less he said, the better, so Zhu Song decided to keep his mouth shut.
He didn't say it, but Wen Fengxuan wanted to say it. He looked at the lotus cake on the table and asked, "Have you tasted this lotus cake, sir?"
Zhu Song nodded honestly, "I've tried it."
Wen Fengxuan asked, "How does it taste? Do you like it, sir?"
Zhu Song said with a guilty conscience: "It tastes good. I like it very much."
Wen Fengxuan said, "But you clearly said you didn't like lotus cakes when you were in Jizhou."
Zhu Song was a bit drunk and had forgotten what he had said, so he couldn't answer for a while. Wen Fengxuan said, "Your Excellency deliberately deceived me. Drink three cups as punishment."
Zhu Song looked at him in disbelief, "Is this also punishable?"
Wen Fengxuan asked in return: "No?"
Zhu Song said, "Can I not drink? I'm a little drunk."
Wen Fengxuan said, "Then I'll drink it for you, sir. My stomach has been feeling a bit uncomfortable these past few days anyway, so maybe fighting poison with poison will help."
Zhu Song frowned and asked, "Why do you feel sick to your stomach?"
"I don't know, maybe it's lovesickness that's causing me sickness."
Seeing Wen Fengxuan saying this seriously, Zhu Song couldn't resist, "I drink, I drink."
So he drank three more glasses of wine, and Zhu Song felt a little dizzy. He looked up at Wen Fengxuan and found that he was also staggering.
But Wen Fengxuan had no intention of letting him go. "My lord, your clothes are wrinkled."
Zhu Song quickly explained, "I was sleeping when I received the news from His Highness and rushed over, so I didn't have time to change."
Wen Fengxuan nodded seriously, "So that's how it is. I thought it had something to do with Miss Jiang."
Zhu Song felt uneasy, as if he was wanted for a heinous crime. He quickly explained, "Miss Jiang and I are innocent. There's nothing wrong with us."
"Oh." Wen Fengxuan replied, "On the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month, it was you who walked in the snow with Miss Jiang, enjoying the scenery and chatting happily?"
"I..." Zhu Song couldn't deny it. The virtuous king organized the party that day, and he had no way to refuse.
"You like her." Wen Fengxuan slammed the table and stood up, staring down at him with a bad look.
"I definitely didn't." Zhu Song blurted out subconsciously.
"Then who do you like?" Wen Fengxuan asked.
"I..." Zhu Song got stuck again.
Wen Fengxuan snorted, "You're hesitating. Are you up to something bad?"
Zhu Song also realized that Wen Fengxuan called him here today just to pick a fight, so he said, "Your Highness, what do you want? Give me a quick death."
Wen Fengxuan sat back down and said, "Finish the wine on the table, and I won't pursue the matter."
"I..." Zhu Song glanced at the wine on the table. He probably wouldn't even recognize his own mother after drinking it.
"You don't want to drink?" Wen Fengxuan's tone was bad. Zhu Song sighed in his heart, "Drink."
After finishing the wine, Zhu Song couldn't even stand up his neck and fell straight onto the table.
Wen Fengxuan approached carefully and said, "Congratulations."
No response. He called again, "Hei Xiaobao."
Still no response, Wen Fengxuan finally felt relieved, "Zhu Song, actually you are right, I am a person who will do anything to achieve my goal."
Wen Fengxuan bent down to hug Zhu Song. Just as he put his arms around him, Zhu Song sniffed him dazedly, muttering, "What a fragrant peach."
Hearing his most intoxicating words, Wen Fengxuan couldn't help but smile, "Want to eat peaches?"
Zhu Song replied confusedly but seriously, "Yeah, I'm thirsty."
"Come with me and I'll feed you."
So Zhu Song followed Wen Fengxuan.
The hibiscus tent is warm for the spring night, and the room is filled with charming love.
Zhu Song finally woke up in the afternoon of the next day. He moved and made an involuntary "hiss" sound because of the pain in his waist.
Something was wrong, Zhu Song sat up suddenly, but the room was very clean and his clothes were properly dressed, except that there was some mess on the table, where a lot of food had been eaten and some had been spilled.
Zhu Song covered his head and thought, did he eat vegetables last night?
He couldn't remember anything at all. His memory only stopped when he drank, and he had no recollection of what happened afterwards.
But he was so drunk, he shouldn't have done anything inappropriate, right?
A drunkard will do no bad things.
Yes, drunks don't do bad things.
The sunlight shone brightly through the window paper, and Zhu Song suddenly remembered that today was the day Wen Fengxuan ascended the throne. Damn it, he hadn't even caught up with such an important moment.
Zhu Song hurried out of Xuanyin Pavilion. The national mourning was over, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the whole country was celebrating. Everyone went out and there were many people on the streets, so Zhu Song was not conspicuous when he walked among them.
Although Zhu Song hurried as fast as he could, he still failed to catch up because it was almost dark when he arrived at the palace.
It's really over.
Zhu Song returned to the Zhu Mansion in a depressed mood and was severely scolded by Zhu Jingchen.
Meanwhile, Wen Fengxuan, who had just finished the ceremony, couldn't wait to call Li Qiutong to take his pulse. "How is it?"
Seeing Wen Fengxuan's anxious expression, Li Qiutong could only tell the truth, "Your Majesty, the time is too short to find out."
Wen Fengxuan frowned slightly, "How long will it take to find out?"
Li Qiutong replied, "It will take at least a month."
"One month is fine." Wen Fengxuan thought that it would not be difficult to stay for a month.
But Li Qiutong still worried, "If I can't get pregnant this time..."
Wen Fengxuan suddenly clenched his hands. He hadn't considered the possibility of not getting pregnant yet. "I'll go find him again tonight."
If you party every night, you can accomplish something in a month.
Li Qiutong was startled and quickly advised, "Your Majesty, indulgence is harmful to your health. You should exercise moderation. I will go and persuade Master Zhu to keep him for a year or two. It shouldn't be a problem."
Wen Fengxuan said: "I am worried."
Li Qiutong said, "But you can't hurt yourself like that. If you do, even if you get pregnant, it might be difficult to raise the baby."
This reminded Wen Fengxuan of the child he had miscarried. He instantly lost his strength and said, "I understand. You can go down."
Li Qiutong said, "Your Majesty has been exhausted all day. I have prepared some ginseng soup. Please drink it before you go to sleep."
"Um."
After drinking the ginseng soup, Wen Fengxuan dismissed his attendants and took off his clothes. It was not because he was not used to being served, but the marks on his body were really embarrassing to show to others. Fortunately, it was winter and he could cover them up by wearing more clothes.
Wen Fengxuan was lying on the wide dragon bed. He had been very energetic all day because he had ascended the throne, but now that he lay down, his nerves relaxed and he felt tired suddenly and fell asleep almost in a moment.
I don’t know what I dreamed about, I murmured softly, “Stop. Stop.” “Be gentle.” “Please. Please…”
At this time in the Zhu Mansion, Zhu Song had not yet finished being scolded. In fact, he had almost finished being scolded, but when Zhu Song said he wanted to resign, Zhu Jingchen started scolding him again.
Zhu Song had never been scolded like this before, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He just sat there and listened to the show. However, he suddenly remembered one thing, that is, the treasures his father brought back had not been replaced yet.
Now that Wen Fengxuan has ascended the throne, he must move. Otherwise, everything will be exposed.
Things must be replaced immediately.
"I won't resign for the time being."
Zhu Jingchen was cursing with saliva flying everywhere and his face was ferocious, but when he heard his words, he was instantly stuck.
"oh."
Because Zhu Song was absent from Wen Fengxuan's coronation ceremony and was not punished, rumors about the two of them became rampant and intensified, and it was even said that the two had been together when they were in Jizhou.
Now Zhu Song is being criticized whenever he goes out. Zhu Song himself doesn't care, but is worried about causing trouble for Wen Fengxuan. But Meng Xiaohe is furious and yells at home, "If I knew who is spreading rumors behind my back, I would beat him to a pulp. It makes me so angry."
Later, Meng Xiaohe learned from Zhu Jingchen that Zhu Song was planning to resign. When Zhu Song came back from his shift, she called out to him, "A Song."
The new emperor ascended the throne and issued a general amnesty. All prisoners who were not guilty of heinous crimes were released. Zhu Song had been busy these days with Gu Huaiyu sorting out the release list. He had been reading too many files and his eyes were tired and sleepy. He yawned all day long. He felt more energetic after his shift.
Meng Xiaohe pulled him into the room and said to him, "Don't listen to your father. If you want to resign, mother supports you."
Zhu Song was still worried about the eighty hot potatoes. When he heard Meng Xiaohe's words, he casually said, "Let's talk about it later."
"Why are you talking about this? Tell mom what you really think." Meng Xiaohe pulled Zhu Song to sit down, as if she would not give up until she got to the bottom of it.
Zhu Song did not hide it from her, "I'm wondering what to do with the eighty treasures in our family."
Meng Xiaohe widened her eyes in surprise when she heard his words. Obviously, there were so many things going on last year that she had forgotten about this matter.
"Yes, the new emperor will ascend the throne and will have to move soon. By then, we will definitely be unable to hide it. What should we do?"
Seeing Meng Xiaohe getting anxious, Zhu Song quickly comforted her, "Mom, don't worry, I'm trying to figure it out."
Meng Xiaohe said, "Logically speaking, we have helped the emperor so much, he shouldn't mind such a small matter."
"That's what it should be, but what if..." Zhu Song didn't finish his words, but Meng Xiaohe already understood. What if he was unreasonable? What if the emperor wanted to cross the river and kill people to silence them? They couldn't take the gamble.
At this moment, Meng Xiaohe no longer mentioned the matter of resigning. "Have you thought of any solution?"
Zhu Song shook his head, "Not yet."
It has already happened, there is no point in blaming anyone.
Meng Xiaohe looked unhappy, and Zhu Song comforted her, "Don't worry, I will definitely find a way."
Meng Xiaohe warned: "If it is really exposed, you must insist that you don't know about it."
"That day will never come."
Meng Xiaohe also knew that he was trying to comfort her, so she didn't say anything more to add to her worries. "I wonder when the emperor will move?"
Zhu Song was just the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple and did not have to attend the morning court. Since the incident in Xuanyin Pavilion, Zhu Song had never seen Wen Fengxuan again. He heard about Wen Fengxuan's movements from Gu Huaiyu, but there was no news in this regard.
Just when the Zhu family was getting extremely anxious, something happened again in the capital.
At first, the number of patients with colds in various clinics increased, but two days later the number of patients increased dramatically. This alarmed the Imperial Hospital, and after a careful investigation, it was discovered that it was an epidemic.
The epidemic came with great force and broke out in a blowout manner. In just a few days, half of the people in the capital were infected, and almost every household and mansion had someone infected. But the strange thing was that there was not a single infected person in the Zhu Mansion. Zhu Song also wanted to take advantage of this incident to deal with the hot potato in the mansion, so he wrote a letter requesting full authority to handle the epidemic incident.
This epidemic broke out at the beginning of his reign. People in the streets were saying that this was because the new emperor had obtained the throne illegitimately and that God had sent down a punishment. Only by restoring the throne to the rightful ruler could the disaster be averted.
Although the government has been trying to refute the rumors, too many people believe them and the effect is very poor, leading to public outrage. If the government had not imposed martial law everywhere, the situation would probably have spread to the imperial palace.
Zhu Song's memorial was approved quickly, but Wen Fengxuan did not agree.
The palace was also under martial law, and Zhu Song could not enter the palace, so he wrote ten memorials in a row requesting that the epidemic be dealt with.
The first nine were rejected, but the last one was approved.
Because the situation was out of control, the Imperial Medical Bureau had no way to deal with the epidemic. If it continued like this, the entire capital would fall.
The memorial of approval was sent back by Li Qiutong. Zhu Song was surprised to see him, "Why did you come out?"
Li Qiutong said, "Your Majesty asked me to assist you."
Zhu Song quickly refused, "We have enough manpower, you go and guard the emperor."
Li Qiutong seemed to have anticipated this reaction and said calmly, "The Emperor said you are not allowed to return to the palace until this matter is resolved."
The emperor's order is here, and even though Zhu Song is extremely reluctant, there is nothing he can do. What's more important is that he is worried about Li Qiuting going back to the palace after she went out.
Li Qiutong went to the Imperial Hospital, and Zhu Song began investigating the source of the epidemic. The reason this epidemic was so difficult to deal with was largely because the Imperial Hospital had never identified the cause. Xu Lizhu and Xu Songlan speculated that this was likely a new disease.
This epidemic came so coincidentally that Zhu Song really couldn't regard it as a simple epidemic. He always felt that someone was behind it.
Soon news came that the epidemic was not only in the capital, but also in several other states such as Ganzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Jizhou, and Beimo. However, because it only spread in rural areas with a sparse population, the scope of the impact was not as wide as in the capital, and it had not attracted local attention, let alone been diagnosed as an epidemic.
It is everywhere, so the source is hard to find and it takes time to track it down.
More and more people were infected with the disease, and the clinic was overcrowded. Those who could not see their doctor could only lie down at the door of the clinic. When there were too many people, there was no room left at the door, so they lay down in a mess on the street.
Xu Lizhu recruited doctors from Xinglintang in various places and requisitioned shops along the street to use as clinics.
With more patients, there was naturally more medicine, and cartloads of it were brought into the city. Zhu Song took the opportunity to write a letter saying he had no place to store the medicine and was worried about storing it elsewhere, so he requested that the medicine be stored in the Eastern Palace.
This time Wen Fengxuan agreed very readily, but using the East Palace alone was not enough, so Zhu Song wrote another letter saying that the best medicinal materials should be placed specially and requested to use the warehouse of the East Palace.
When everyone in the Zhu Mansion learned that Zhu Song had obtained the key to the East Palace warehouse without any effort, they all gave him a thumbs up.
Now that he could enter and leave the East Palace openly and use its warehouses, things became quite simple. Zhu Song knew that there was no time to lose, so that evening, with the cooperation of everyone in the Zhu Mansion, he returned all the genuine items and replaced all the counterfeits.
The matter was done, and the sword hanging over the Zhu Mansion was gone, and everyone finally felt relieved. Zhu Song had always been curious about something, so he asked Zhu Jingchen, "Can you make counterfeits?"
Zhu Jingchen said: "No."
Zhu Song asked, "Where did those fakes come from?"
Zhu Jingchen replied, "Let your second uncle do it."
Zhu Song hadn't expected this answer. Although he wasn't surprised, he was still surprised. "Second Uncle even helped you with this?"
Zhu Jingchen spread his hands, "Anyway, ever since he burned down my house, he hasn't said no to me again."
Zhu Song took a deep breath and felt even more sympathetic towards Zhu Jingshen.
"You should be nicer to your second uncle in the future."
Zhu Jingchen didn't like to hear this, "Am I not good enough to him? He burned my house down, and I didn't fight him to the death."
Zhu Song knew that he couldn't persuade his father, so he wisely stopped talking and said, "Don't do such stupid things in the future."
Zhu Jingchen sighed, his face showing resentment, "Oh, my baby."
Zhu Song felt that if he looked at him any longer, his eyes would go blind, so he said he had something to do and left quickly.
It was already late at night when Zhu Song returned to the Zhu Mansion. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw a person sitting in the courtyard. There was no moon, only a lantern on the ground. The light and shadow were dim, and only a human figure could be seen.
Zhu Song subconsciously thought it was Wen Fengxuan, and he felt anxious and annoyed. He walked over quickly and saw that it was Xia Yunqing. Zhu Song breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's so late and you're still not asleep, is there something wrong?"
Xia Yunqing stood up and replied, "Brother, I want to help too. Can I go with you tomorrow?"
Zhu Song didn't expect him to come here to talk about this. "Why do you want to go?"
Xia Yunqing replied: "You come back late every night, I just want to help you."
The more people there are, the better. Zhu Song had no reason to refuse, but simply reminded him, "The epidemic is fierce, and you are weak. You may not be able to withstand it."
Xia Yunqing quickly said, "I've been taking care of it for so long, I've recovered a long time ago."
Zhu Song said: "If you want to go, go. If you don't want to go, don't go."
Xia Yunqing was immediately delighted after receiving a positive response. "Thank you, brother. I was worried that you wouldn't let me go."
Zhu Song asked, "Why am I so fierce?"
Xia Yunqing lowered his head embarrassedly, "I was afraid you would think I was clumsy and cause you trouble."
Zhu Song couldn't stand being talked to like that, so he quickly waved his hands and said, "Don't say that. If you're so clumsy, then there won't be any smart people in the world."
"I stewed some bird's nest for you. It's warming on the stove. I'll bring it to you. Drink it before you go to sleep." Xia Yunqing's eyebrows were curved, and he looked in a good mood. He left after he said that.
Zhu Song called out to him, "You didn't take the lantern."
Xia Yunqing turned around and said to him, "I can see it. I'm very familiar with the roads in the mansion."
Zhu Song smiled and said, "Okay, go ahead."
Xia Yunqing was a completely different person from when he first arrived. Although he was still a little reserved at times, he was no longer as timid as when he first arrived. He had a good temper and was well-liked by the servants in the mansion. Before he knew it, he had completely integrated into the Zhu Mansion and became a part of it.
Xia Yunqing ran away, and Zhu Song yawned as he entered the house. He had just finished washing his face when there was a knock on the door. Xia Yunqing stood at the door holding the bird's nest, "Brother, I'm coming in."
"Um."
Xia Yunqing placed the bird's nest on the table and said, "I'm leaving."
"Um."
Xia Yunqing left. Zhu Song couldn't help but smile as he looked at his excited back. Children are easy to satisfy.
After washing up, Zhu Song sat down to drink bird's nest. Suddenly, he remembered that Xia Yunqing was only nineteen years old this year, exactly the same age as Wen Fengxuan. He curled his lips. They were both children.
When Zhu Song put down the bowl, he silently added, "Poor child."
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