Chapter 3609 Concubine, she won’t cry
The grand scene of all nations coming to pay tribute on this day was recorded by historians. Not only that, after this day, the prestige and culture of the Great Yan Dynasty spread far overseas, and more countries sent their envoys to the Central Plains. They learned from each other and shared their resources, making this day and the prosperous scene after this day a magnificent chapter that will go down in history.
However, the experience of those who are in it is not the same as that of those who are just looking at the scenery.
This state banquet was indeed a good show, but it was extremely expensive and almost emptied the little silver left in the national treasury. For a long time after that, both the court and the harem lived in poverty. Nan Yan set an example by reducing her own monthly fee. When times became difficult, she also secretly had people sell some things.
Even the concubines in the harem were like this, not to mention the previous dynasty.
After this state banquet, the salaries of officials above the third rank in the court were reduced by 20%; and after the Battle of Yongzhou, the court also investigated and punished some wealthy businessmen who were playing both sides on the border. Zhu Feng killed several of them and confiscated their property, and finally got through that crisis.
However, such means naturally caused complaints from everyone.
Fortunately, this state banquet also had a positive impact, that is, trade routes were greatly opened up, and all the raw silk accumulated over the years was put into production. The large amount of silk brocade produced was sold to various countries via both sea and land routes. Gold and silver continued to flow into the Central Plains, which gradually restored the national strength.
Of course, all this is inseparable from the hard work of the emperor and his court officials day and night.
And this is also what Nan Yan is most worried about.
While the country's strength was growing, Zhu Feng's physical condition was deteriorating.
Although the state banquet was lively and Zhu Feng was in high spirits, Nan Yan noticed that he had hardly eaten anything except drinking all day. In the evening, the two of them finally went back to rest. Nan Yan asked him if he wanted some midnight snack, but he refused. He just took off his clothes, fell on the bed and fell asleep.
Nan Yan just thought he was extremely tired, so she didn't say much. She helped him take off his shoes and tucked his legs into the quilt. She also washed up quickly and then went to sleep next to him.
But the next morning, Nan Yan had already put on her clothes. When she turned around, she found that Zhu Feng, who was always used to getting up early and would not stay in bed even if he did not attend the morning court, was still sleeping motionless. The morning light came in from the window, shining on his face, which was pale with a sickly blush.
Nan Yan felt something was wrong, so she reached out and touched it, and was so hot that she shivered.
Nan Yan was shocked and quickly asked someone to call the imperial physician over.
Several doctors from the Imperial Hospital were caught off guard and all gathered in the Yiku Palace. When they saw Zhu Feng like this, before asking him any further questions, they found that there was nothing wrong with his eating or sleeping. This illness came too suddenly, but they still put in all their efforts, giving him acupuncture and feeding him medicine. After two whole days, they finally saw Zhu Feng open his eyes in the evening of the third day.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he met Nan Yan's red eyes.
He was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse as if it had been cut by a knife: "What's wrong?"
As soon as he spoke, he started coughing.
Nan Yan hurriedly had warm water brought up and fed him little by little with the spoon, then whispered, "Is the emperor feeling better?"
Zhu Feng was still half-conscious. He looked at her with half-open eyes, then saw a room full of people standing behind her. He felt something was wrong, but after thinking about it, he realized something: "Am I sick?"
Nan Yan reached out and gently stroked his forehead, smoothing back his sweaty hair, and said softly, "It's okay."
“…”
"The imperial physician has come to see the emperor. His fever has subsided, but he is still weak."
“…”
"Your Majesty, are you hungry? Would you like to eat something? I asked the kitchen to stew an egg. It's tender and perfect to eat now."
“…”
Not only Zhu Feng, but also Concubine Yi and the others standing behind her were a little surprised.
During these three days, the emperor was ill and unconscious, and everyone had a bad premonition. Although the illness came strangely, it was precisely because of its strangeness that people were afraid - everyone also knew that the emperor did not get sick often, but every time he got sick, it was almost fatal. Concubine Yi even cried behind people's backs.
However, the imperial concubine who was closest to the emperor never showed any emotional fluctuations. She served beside the emperor, doing everything by herself, and there was no expression of worry or pain on her face. Only when Wang Baizhi and others were ordered to come for treatment, the imperial concubine said in a deep voice, "You can do whatever you want." That sentence made everyone around her feel a murderous aura that was almost tangible. Everyone had no doubt that if Wang Baizhi and others could not make the emperor wake up, the imperial concubine would have to let the entire imperial hospital be buried with her.
And now, the emperor has woken up, but she is still so calm, as if nothing had happened.
Zhu Feng looked at her for a while, seemed to smile, and then nodded.
The imperial concubine immediately had someone bring some stewed eggs with a little sesame oil on them. The simple fragrance made Zhu Feng feel even hungrier than the delicacies at the state banquet. He ate most of the bowl from Nan Yan's hand before he heaving a long sigh of relief.
Then, Nan Yan put down the bowl and said calmly to the people standing behind her: "The emperor has woken up and is fine. You can all go back."
Everyone looked at her hesitantly.
Nan Yan said: "As long as I am here, the emperor will be fine. You all can go back."
The last sentence was an order that could not be disobeyed.
Everyone then timidly left the Yikun Palace. Several concubines whispered in displeasure, "The Imperial Concubine is acting like that. How can she be truly worried about the Emperor? We're so worried, yet she acts like nothing's wrong."
"What do you know!"
A low shout from behind them scared them so much that their hair stood on end. When they turned around, they saw Concubine Yi with a sullen face. They hurriedly bowed their heads and saluted.
Concubine Yi looked at them coldly and said, "The Imperial Concubine has her own plans for what she does. Do you think you are smarter than her?"
Several people murmured, "We dare not."
Concubine Yi snorted coldly and walked forward. Several people followed her, but some were puzzled and asked softly, "Sister Yifei, we just find it strange that the emperor suddenly fell ill. We were all terrified. How come the imperial concubine hasn't even changed her expression in the past few days? She is the emperor's favorite, how could she be so...?"
Concubine Yi looked back at her and asked, "Do you think the Imperial Concubine is heartless?"
Several people looked at each other. Although they didn't dare to say it, the expressions on their faces clearly said yes.
Concubine Yi shook her head and sighed softly before turning back and continuing to walk forward, saying as she walked, "What do you know? The Emperor is seriously ill this time, and everyone has made bad plans in their hearts. If anything really happens, everyone will naturally cry their hearts out."
“…”
"But the concubine, she won't cry."
Everyone looked at her in confusion: "What will happen to her?"
Concubine Yi glanced at them coldly and said, "Everyone is going to cry to death, but the imperial concubine won't cry. What do you think will happen to her?"
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