Chapter 283 Feeding Medicine with a Kiss
On a chilly spring morning, the cold had not yet completely subsided. Although red charcoal was burning inside the Lihe Palace, Shui Xian, sitting on the tatami mat, still couldn't help but feel a little cold.
When she got off the train, she draped an extra garment over her shoulders.
Emperor Zhaoheng did not hold court today; he was in a side hall reading reports.
When Narcissus lifted the curtain and went inside, she noticed the slight chill in the air and couldn't help but pull her coat tighter around her shoulders.
Tinglu noticed that by stirring the charcoal in the brazier until the fire was red-hot, the hall became a little warmer.
Shui Xian sat opposite Emperor Zhao Heng, flipping through the preparation guidelines for the Flower Festival sent by the Imperial Household Department, when suddenly her throat itched. She couldn't help but turn her head to cover her lips and cough softly twice.
Almost immediately, Emperor Zhaoheng, who was sitting opposite her, put down the report on the military supplies for the new year.
He frowned slightly, stood up, and walked to her side with fluid and natural movements. First, he took the silver fox fur cloak that had been prepared beforehand and personally draped it over her shoulders.
Then, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, his broad chest pressed against her back, and his warm palms, with undeniable strength, gently covered her slightly cold hands.
"It's my fault, I made you tired last night."
His words were filled with undisguised tenderness, as Shui Xian's health had been weak since giving birth.
He lingered with her a bit too much yesterday, and unexpectedly, Narcissus caught a cough this morning.
Emperor Zhaoheng: "You must drink the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician later. I will personally supervise the process."
Narcissus felt a warmth in her heart from his series of meticulous actions, and the discomfort caused by the spring chill seemed to dissipate considerably.
She tilted her head slightly, smiled gently at Emperor Zhaoheng, and said softly:
"Your Majesty, I am fine; I have merely caught a slight cold. However, with the Flower Festival approaching, the Imperial Household Department has sent over the regulations, and that girl Xiu'er has also requested permission to enter the palace to participate in the celebrations..."
When Shui Xiu was mentioned, Emperor Zhaoheng knew that Shui Xian and Shui Xiu had a good relationship, and nodded slightly.
"The Flower Festival is just a formality. Xian'er's health is more important, so there's no need to trouble yourself with it. As for Shui Xiu... I've already made arrangements. She can come to the palace to keep you company for two days."
Just then, a small figure dressed in a pink spring shirt, carrying a gilded hand warmer almost half the size of her body, wobbled and ran from the inner room. It was Yongning.
"Mother! Mother!"
Yongning ran to Shuixian and tried her best to lift the heavy little hand warmer up, her little face turning red from the effort. She said in her childish voice, "Hold me! Mother, hold me! It'll be warm and I won't cough anymore!"
Narcissus's heart melted instantly, and she quickly took the small hand warmer that carried her daughter's warmth and affection.
Then she bent down and hugged Yongning, her smile genuine and gentle: "Thank you, Yongning, I feel much better."
Emperor Zhaoheng watched the heartwarming scene of the mother and daughter embracing, his eyes filled with tenderness.
He crouched down to be at Yongning's eye level, gently stroking his daughter's little nose with his hand. His voice was unusually tender, yet Yongning knew it all too well.
"Yongning, your father asks you, if we let your mother move to the Qianqing Palace, so she can be with your father every day and stay with you and your brothers forever, would that be good?"
He asked casually, but he was actually quite concerned.
Compared to the Qianqing Palace, the Lihe Palace, no matter how it was rearranged, seemed rather secluded and quiet. Emperor Zhaoheng had long planned to bring Shuixian and the children to live in the Qianqing Palace.
Anyway, it wasn't that Shui Xian hadn't stayed at the Qianqing Palace before. Before she had children, she lived there for a long time.
Now, when he occasionally spends the night in the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Zhaoheng can't help but think of those nights...
Yongning tilted her little head, her large, clear eyes filled with innocence. Like a little adult, she shook her head earnestly and said in her childish yet clear voice:
"not good."
Emperor Zhaoheng was slightly taken aback.
Yongning continued to explain earnestly, as if she were reiterating a principle she already understood.
"Mother has already said that Father is the Emperor, the husband of all the concubines in the harem, not just Yongning's father. Yongning knows this. Yongning will stay with Mother in Lihe Palace and wait obediently for Father to come."
The child's words, innocent and without any resentment, were like the dullest knife, slowly cutting into Emperor Zhaoheng's heart.
Unbeknownst to him, his fairy had already been teaching her daughter to adapt to the rules of the palace in this way.
Clearly, it was only natural for Narcissus, as the empress, to educate the princess in this way.
For some reason, Emperor Zhaoheng always felt a certain unease in his heart.
He closed his eyes, suppressing the surging, complex emotions, and when he opened them again, only a bottomless determination remained in his eyes.
Some obstacles must be removed...
...
A few days later.
The atmosphere in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was completely different from the warm and inviting atmosphere in the Palace of Etiquette.
Several senior officials, led by Minister Zheng, held jade tablets and earnestly offered their advice.
Minister Zheng, with an air of concern for the country and its people, said: "Your Majesty, although the Empress has princes and princesses, the imperial heirs are crucial to the foundation of the nation, and ultimately... the number is somewhat insufficient. For the sake of the country and its people, this old minister dares to petition Your Majesty to issue an edict to select virtuous women and recruit them into the harem to ensure the continuation of the imperial line. This is the foundation for a stable dynasty!"
Several officials who were loyal to Zheng Shangyan echoed his sentiments, and for a time, there was a constant stream of calls to Emperor Zhaoheng to hold a general election and recruit more concubines.
On the dragon throne, Emperor Zhaoheng's face was calm, even carrying a faint trace of weariness.
He leisurely flipped through another memorial on his desk, as if he hadn't heard those impassioned words.
Only when Minister Zheng and the others had talked until their throats were dry and the hall gradually quieted down did he slowly raise his eyelids, his gaze falling on Minister Zheng, his tone so flat that it revealed no emotion whatsoever.
"You're very kind, Zheng Aiqing."
Emperor Zhaoheng gently put down the memorial in his hand. The sound was not loud, but it made Minister Zheng's heart skip a beat.
"However, I recently reviewed the records of the Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluations, and it seems... there are some oversights that have not yet been clarified. As the head of the Ministry of Personnel, you should first sort out your own duties before you try to help me with the affairs of the inner palace."
His words, though spoken lightly, made Minister Zheng's forehead twitch.
The Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluation system was a key part of his covert manipulations, even a crucial step in placing his cronies. Was the Emperor's statement a warning? Or did he already know something?
Minister Zheng's expression changed slightly, and fine beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead. He opened his mouth, but dared not speak again.
Emperor Zhaoheng's gaze swept lightly over the other ministers who had just echoed his sentiments. His voice remained steady, yet carried an invisible pressure.
"The grain transport in Jiangnan has been in deficit for years, and the allocation of military supplies in the Northwest is slow... My beloved ministers, you all have the leisure to worry about my private affairs in the harem. It seems that you have handled your respective duties very well?"
"Since that's the case, why not think more about how to truly share your burdens and relieve me of this urgent crisis?"
With these words, he used leverage against them, sowing discord and weakening the competition, thus gently pushing the "talent show" issue aside and throwing the difficult problem back at them.
The officials who were mentioned immediately looked embarrassed and dared not provoke them further.
After the court session, Emperor Zhaoheng returned to the West Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.
The trusted bodyguards were already waiting inside.
"Your Majesty, General Yuan Chiyu has sent a secret report that the defenses of the capital region have been redeployed in accordance with Your Majesty's orders, and there is no room for error."
"Um."
Emperor Zhaoheng nodded.
"In addition, the censors whom Lord Lian Chenxi has secretly contacted are also ready and waiting for the Emperor's signal."
Emperor Zhaoheng's lips curled into a cold smile as he lightly tapped his fingertips on the table.
"very good……"
Everything is under control; we're just waiting for the right opportunity...
...
In the imperial harem, there are always those who cannot see the wind blowing in their direction.
A rather beautiful concubine named Sun, perhaps having heard that the Empress was unwell and unable to serve the Emperor, or perhaps because she was confident in her beauty, dressed up carefully and, having calculated the route Emperor Zhaoheng would take from Qianqing Palace to Lihe Palace, "chancely met" him in a secluded spot in the Imperial Garden.
She stepped forward and bowed when Emperor Zhaoheng appeared on the palace road in front of Lihe Palace. Her voice was so charming it could drip water, and her intentions were all too clear in the blink of her eyes.
However, Emperor Zhaoheng didn't even glance at her, walking straight past without stopping, leaving behind only a chilling imperial decree, as cold as a gust of wind:
"Consort Sun has behaved improperly before the Emperor, showing no regard for propriety. She is hereby confined to her quarters for three months, and ordered to copy the 'Admonitions for Women' one hundred times, as a warning to others."
He paused slightly, then added to Feng Shunxiang, who was following closely behind: "Pass on my imperial edict to the six palaces: The Empress is unwell and needs to rest quietly. During this time, anyone who dares to cause trouble and disturb the Empress's peace will suffer the same fate as Consort Sun!"
This imperial edict spread throughout the palace in an instant.
Everyone understood the emperor's attitude and bottom line. Consort Sun was not the first, but she was the last to dare to take advantage of Narcissus's illness in an attempt to seize his favor...
However, no matter what kind of turmoil was stirred up in the harem, things remained calm in Lihe Palace.
That night, in the Lihe Palace.
The medicine for dispelling cold prescribed by the imperial physician had been decocted and was carefully brought up by Tinglu.
After Emperor Zhaoheng arrived, he did not mention Consort Sun, whom he had met outside the palace gate, to Shuixian. Instead, he took the dark medicine bowl, scooped up a little with a silver spoon, tested the temperature himself, and, finding it just right, scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Shuixian's lips.
Narcissus looked at the brownish medicinal liquid, her delicate brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
This medicine is indeed unbearably bitter.
Emperor Zhaoheng took in her subtle expression, then suddenly bent down and took a sip from the bowl.
Then, he gently kissed her lips, which parted slightly in surprise.
The kiss ended, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth.
He actually fed her in this way...
Narcissus looked up in surprise.
Emperor Zhaoheng slightly curved his thin lips. "The medicine is bitter, I know."
He first rinsed the narcissus's mouth with water, and then drank a mouthful of water himself.
"It's alright, I'll go with you."
Under Shui Xian's surprised gaze, Emperor Zhaoheng drank the rest of the medicine, then pinched her chin and kissed her.
The medicine was bitter, yet the intertwining of lips and teeth carried a lingering, poignant meaning.
He and she shared joys and sorrows...
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