Chapter 33
After the man and the cat returned to the palace from Nanqiao Town, the man and the cat resumed their daily routine of cultivating and the system eating, sleeping, and browsing, until the next day when they went to the Empress's palace to pay their respects.
In the Empress's palace, everyone paid their respects, and everything proceeded as usual. Everyone took their leave first, but Empress Liu Furan kept Princess Chang Le, Xiao Liunian, behind.
Empress Liu Furan waved her hand, signaling the palace servants to leave the hall.
Xiao Liunian remained silent, waiting for Liu Furan to speak first.
"Can you really save the Liu family?" Liu Furan asked.
"I truly admire Miss Liu's confidence—confidence that her love is wonderful and that her rebellion will surely succeed," Xiao Liunian remarked.
"What do you want me to do?" Liu Furan asked.
“When the time comes, I need you to immolate yourself, taking the Sixth Prince with you!” Xiao Liunian said.
Xiao Liunian stayed in the Empress's palace for an hour, then had lunch and made plans. However, she was still worried, so she activated another layer of protection: the system monitoring function.
"Mumu, what if she doesn't follow the plan?" The system worried that people are not machines, and things are unlikely to go perfectly according to plan.
"Actually, I don't need her to do much. She just needs to act out a scene in front of the world, pretending to be deceived and forced to die. Whether she wants to cooperate or not, she has to!" Xiao Liunian's tone was clearly unchanged, but Maomao felt a chill.
I'm really not a villain, am I? And I won't become a villain system, will I?
The next day, a doctor arrived in the capital. It was said that this person was a miracle doctor who saved a person on the street who suddenly started foaming at the mouth as soon as he appeared. Later, this doctor took a position at a clinic and cured many people of their long-standing illnesses.
As more and more people were treated by this doctor, word spread quickly, and everyone knew that this doctor's name was Bai Yueguang. She had come to the capital to find her husband and son. It was said that Doctor Bai Yueguang's husband was someone she had saved by chance when she was practicing medicine years ago. Later, the two fell in love and, with heaven and earth as their matchmaker, they got married. However, Doctor Bai's husband left home to make a living not long after their marriage. He only returned after the child was born. Later, Doctor Bai's husband took their son and left home under the pretext of seeking a good future for their son. They were gone for three years and never returned. Doctor Bai inquired along the way and accidentally learned that her husband was in Jinling City. She came here to find her husband and son and reunite with him.
"Meow meow meow!" The cat, who had overheard the conversation of the customers next door in the teahouse, choked on its water.
"Mumu, Bai Yueguang? Surname Bai, given name Yueguang? This is the Bai Yueguang in the script!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Liunian exclaimed that the cat's tongue twister was truly excellent!
"These developments feel completely different from the script!" Cat said dejectedly.
"But these developments are more interesting than the script!" The cat came back to life.
Meanwhile, Xiao Jin in the palace, upon hearing that her beloved had entered the capital, felt a little joy, but not much. More than that, she was worried about people finding out that she was the "husband" in the story.
Empress Liu Furan in the palace added fuel to the fire for Xiao Jin. After giving birth to the sixth prince, Liu Furan suffered from a chronic illness that had never been cured. Hearing that Bai Yueguang had excellent medical skills and could cure diseases with medicine, she summoned Bai Yueguang to the palace to treat her illness.
Xiao Jin couldn't object, because his image as a loving husband was easily tarnished. So he could only let Empress Liu Furan summon his white moonlight into the palace. Xiao Jin thought that he could simply not show up, as it would be easy for him, as the emperor, to avoid seeing her.
However, things are often not as simple as they seem. The next day, by chance, Xiao Jin ran into his white moonlight. Although the system was not present, it had a monitoring function. Although it required points, the current system was not the kind that required points, so he could watch whenever he wanted.
The system's description after reviewing the data is as follows:
At that moment, the renowned physician Bai Yueguang spotted His Majesty in the crowd (an exaggeration, as the palace isn't a marketplace with a large crowd). Her voice trembled, and tears streamed down her face (or rather, flowed freely). She softly called out "Husband," and those around her had slightly red eyes, a testament to their deep affection. This scene was witnessed by the Empress and her entourage, who arrived shortly after. Empress Liu Furan immediately declared: "Physician Bai, you've suffered so much! How can His Majesty treat you like this? Stay in the palace; you'll have good days ahead." Physician Bai replied: "I thought that when I met my husband, he claimed to be unmarried, which is why I married him. But the reality is different. Therefore, our marriage is null and void. I will take my leave and examine Your Majesty another day."
The next day, a rumor swept through Jinling City, spreading the love story between the Emperor and the White Physician. Did Xiao Jin not want to deal with it? No, he couldn't. First, it wasn't a rumor, it was a fact. Second, the founding emperor of Jinling had once said that the people had freedom of speech.
"Mumu, are you going to wage a propaganda war?" The system's gossip session came to an end.
“Hmm,” Xiao Liunian said.
"Mumu, you're not from Wubei, are you? You just reply with 'Mm' to everything." the system asked.
"Hmm!" Xiao Liunian hummed again.
"…………" Never mind, I won't argue with the host.
Just as everyone's enthusiasm for gossip was waning, new news arrived: Empress Liu Furan and the sixth prince committed suicide by self-immolation in the palace, leaving behind four letters: one to her father and mother who were recuperating in Nanqiao Town, one to her younger brother who was serving as the Minister of Rites in the court, one to Princess Chang Le, and the last one to Emperor Xiao Jin.
Regardless of which letter it was, they all conveyed the message that Xiao Jin had harmed her. In the first year of their marriage, Empress Liu Furan miscarried after more than three months of pregnancy, which was suspected to be caused by Xiao Jin. After that, Liu Furan did not become pregnant again until Emperor Xiao Jin was about to be officially made crown prince, and gave birth to Princess Chang Le. She did not become pregnant again until three years ago when Xiao Liuchen was born. However, Prince Xiao Liuchen was not the Empress's biological son. The Empress's son died back then, and those who participated in the delivery of Prince Xiao Liuchen also died!
"Mumu, this melon is so big, the people probably won't dare to eat it!" The cat licked its paws and rubbed its face.
"As long as someone dares!"
The self-immolation of the empress and prince in the palace further fueled the controversy, but even the most exciting and novel events will eventually pass.
Six months later, Jinling entered the cold winter and a rare snow fell. As the end of the year approached, Liu Fuyuan, the former Minister of Rites, was promoted to Minister of the Imperial Secretariat. Shortly afterward, Emperor Xiao Jin suddenly collapsed and never recovered.
"Mumu, you've worked so hard for so long, and you haven't gotten any benefits at all?" The system didn't understand, and the cat was puzzled.
"Do good deeds and don't worry about the future!" Xiao Liunian said seriously.
"Good news?" The system's eyes widened.
"Let Liu Furan fake her death and leave, so she can go back to being Miss Liu. She can even help Dean Liu, who runs the academy in Nanqiao Town. Liu Furan has studied the classics for many years, wouldn't it be better for her to do something else?"
"To help the mother and child reunite and avoid the pain of separation."
"Liu Fuyuan has also been promoted. With his methods, the Liu family's influence in the court will gradually return to what it was before," Xiao Liunian concluded.
"Mumu, are we about to take over?" the system asked in a low, furtive yet excited voice.
"We still have to wait a while. Emperor Xiao Jin has suddenly collapsed and is now seriously ill. All the shady characters, princes, imperial uncles and nephews, and ministers with their own ulterior motives will have to start making their moves. All we need to do now is wait."
Let me analyze this:
First, Xiao Yu probably can't sit still anymore at this point.
Second, some people plan to choose a tool to use to control the emperor and command the feudal lords after Xiao Jin's death. Currently, only two princesses are alive, and according to their understanding, it's highly unlikely they will choose a princess. Their most likely scenario is that they will select a child from the imperial clan, adopt him into Xiao Jin's family, and then make him the crown prince.
"Smart cat deserves a reward!" Xiao Liunian picked up the jerky next to him and poked the cat's little mouth.
"Then why aren't you in a hurry! If they really adopt a collateral descendant for Xiao Jin, then our succession will become illegitimate!" The system, unusually, didn't take the jerky and start eating it.
“Isn’t there still the Liu family? And all their plans are based on the premise that Xiao Jin is unable to wake up and is about to die, but what if Xiao Jin wakes up?” Xiao Liunian said.
"(⊙o⊙) Huh?" The system asked with a big question mark.
"Right now, we'll just wait!" Xiao Liunian picked up the jerky in his hand and poked the cat's little mouth again.
"Delicious!" The system has no resistance to any snacks.
As expected of a cat, it's so cute when it eats!
System alarm! An object is rapidly approaching! An object is rapidly approaching!
The object stopped moving, presumably intercepted by Cen Rou.
Xiao Liunian picked up the kitten and walked out of the room, ready to see who this newcomer was!
"Your Highness!" Cen Rou called out.
"Hmm!" Xiao Liunian replied aloofly.
"Sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight, Your Highness is quite cunning!" Xiao Jin's only surviving younger brother, Xiao Yu, and a group of court officials who advocated adopting a collateral descendant and then installing a new young emperor are currently locked in a fierce battle.
"I've long admired Doctor Bai, and it's an honor to meet you today. Your medical skills are truly remarkable!" Xiao Liunian revealed the visitor's identity.
"Princess, you've played a very grand game. The Yue Sect in the martial arts world is currently at its zenith, one of the top sects. In the imperial court, the Liu family is your maternal family. And judging from the extraordinary skills of this Miss Cen beside you, the Cen family must also be on your side." If it weren't for the fact that half a year ago, Bai Yueguang was ordered by her master to assist in training the Wuzhou army with the people of the Divine Doctor Valley, and by chance saw the princess's true appearance, she wouldn't have believed that this ten-year-old princess was the mastermind behind everything.
"Dr. Bai came to thank me?" Xiao Liunian asked.
"Indeed, I should thank Your Highness for helping my son and me reunite!" Bai Yueguang's gratitude was genuine. Bringing a nominal prince out of the palace without being investigated was something she truly deserved to thank Her Highness for.
"In that case, I appreciate your thanks, no need to see me out!" Xiao Liunian turned to leave, thinking he'd better go back to his room to pet his cat.
“Your Highness, I suppose I have done my part to help you before,” Bai Yueguang said.
"Oh?" Xiao Liunian looked at Xiao Jin's white moonlight.
"I want to open a medical school and teach many, many people medicine. However, there are too many things to prepare for the medical school, so I would like to ask Your Highness for help." What Bai Yueguang really wanted to say was that she had no money.
With her medical skills, Bai Yueguang has saved many wealthy merchants over the years and earned a lot of money. However, besides wealthy merchants, Bai Yueguang has seen many poor people who have no money to see a doctor or buy medicine, so she has been giving away her money intermittently.
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