Without further ado, Meng Ruliu immediately summoned the messenger: "Issue the general's order to gather five hundred excellent shipwrights from the coast. Regardless of the distance, send them to the shipyard by fast horse. All necessary supplies must be given priority to the shipyard."
The messenger and the official received the military order and hurriedly left.
Meng Ruliu was still worried and said to the Prime Minister, "I will personally supervise the shipbuilding. I will leave His Majesty's affairs to the ministers."
The Prime Minister spread his hands and said, "General, His Majesty refuses to eat, and I have no other choice."
Before he finished speaking, Meng Ruliu clasped his hands in a fist salute and disappeared like a gust of wind.
After Meng Ruliu left, the Prime Minister had no choice but to consult the imperial physician and talk with the guard commander Lin Qingfeng and the head maid Cui. Everyone was at a loss.
The imperial physician said, "Your Majesty, if His Majesty continues like this, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for much longer."
The Prime Minister said, "Has no one advised His Majesty that he is ruining his health like this? If he collapses, how will he save the Empress?"
Granny Cui said, "My lord, this is how I advised His Majesty. His Majesty said that when he thinks of the Empress suffering, he can't eat anything, and he can barely even drink water."
The prime minister paced back and forth a few times before saying, "I've got it! We can invite the two princes to persuade His Majesty; they are brothers."
The two princes are Wei Jingzhuo's eldest brother, Wei Cong, and second brother, Wei Wuji. The eldest brother, Wei Cong, was granted the title of Prince Xiaoyao and was mentally challenged, spending his days playing with children's toys in the mansion. The second brother, Wei Wuji, was seriously ill and, after abdicating, was granted the title of Prince Ping'an, where he had been recuperating in the mansion.
In their desperation, everyone was grasping at straws, hoping that the two princes could persuade Wei Jingzhuo through familial ties.
Lin Qingfeng went to invite the Carefree King, while the Prime Minister led officials to invite the Peace King.
Lin Qingfeng felt that the Prince of Xiaoyao couldn't help, but the Prime Minister ordered him to go. As expected, Lin Qingfeng was immediately kicked out by the Prince of Xiaoyao's mother, and was even scolded before leaving.
“My son can’t even call me ‘mother,’ and you expect him to persuade His Majesty? This must have been the idea of that old senile prime minister. It’s normal for him to be senile in his seventies or eighties. You are a commander of the imperial guards, young and strong. How can you be so brainless?”
Lin Qingfeng slunk off to the Prince of Ping'an's residence, only to find the Prince of Ping'an, supported by several servants, standing at the gate, crying and complaining to the Prime Minister.
"Prime Minister, you know I'm about to die. I'm most afraid of seeing people who are about to die. If I really go, I might die before my third brother."
The Prime Minister was also anxious this time, and refused to let Prince Ping'an leave no matter what: "His Majesty is in imminent danger, and Your Highness cannot just stand by and do nothing."
The officials behind the Prime Minister also said, "Your Highness, that is your third brother. You should at least have some brotherly affection for him."
King Ping'an cried, "Prime Minister, please stop tormenting me. As the saying goes, 'three men make a crowd,' can't you find some extraordinary people among the common folk who can persuade His Majesty to eat? Why are you dragging this dying man like me around?"
The Prime Minister had no choice but to release Prince Ping'an and post a notice: anyone who can persuade His Majesty to eat will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold.
Once the notice was posted, the people realized that the emperor hadn't eaten for many days. Wei Jingzhuo was a wise and capable ruler, and everyone wanted to prevent anything from happening to him. Immediately, hundreds of people volunteered, claiming they had ways to get the emperor to eat.
A woman in white, her face veiled, also signed up. She said her name was Xiao Yi.
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