Chapter 37 The Emperor's Harem Was Perfectly Balanced During the Sweltering Summer
It's almost dark, what is Consort Feng doing here?
Seeing that the emperor had agreed, Xu Asheng withdrew and summoned the fourth prince and Consort Feng into the hall.
The last time Fu Sui saw Consort Feng was last year; they only caught a glimpse of each other from afar and didn't exchange a single word.
The fourth prince was only eight years old, and Consort Feng was not yet thirty. Her pampered life had made her slightly plump, and she possessed a unique charm in every gesture.
Since it was a rule established by the current emperor that princes and princesses did not bow, Fu Sui did not rise, but simply smiled and gestured to the fourth prince.
The fourth prince first paid his respects to the emperor, then faced Fu Sui and performed the junior's greeting, addressing her as "aunt".
"I was unaware that Yong'an was also there. Could this have delayed His Majesty's important business?" Consort Feng bowed gracefully, her tone filled with self-reproach.
"It's nothing, just a minor family matter." The Emperor gestured for Consort Feng and the Fourth Prince to sit down. "What is it?"
Consort Feng glanced at Fu Sui and saw that Fu Sui was sitting as still as a mountain and had no intention of avoiding her, so she had no choice but to say, "Yan'er said she has learned a new poem and wants to recite it to Father."
Yan'er was the nickname of the fourth prince, supposedly because he loved watching swallows flying under the eaves when he was young.
The emperor was quite loving towards his children, listening with a smile as the fourth prince recited his poems. When the fourth prince forgot a part, the emperor would remind him of a few words so that he could continue reciting.
Consort Feng and Fu Sui sat facing each other, which inevitably made things a little awkward. She turned slightly to the side, avoiding Fu Sui's gaze, and pretended to listen carefully to the Fourth Prince reciting his text.
With the Empress's position vacant and the Crown Prince yet to be established, the Feng family dreamed of rising to power through Consort Feng, who herself also had her own schemes.
According to ancestral rules, the eldest son of the legitimate wife should be chosen. Consort Feng had given birth to the fourth and sixth princes. Unless the first three princes died, the fourth prince would never be the eldest son of a concubine. Consort Feng wanted to plan for the future, so she had to make her own child the legitimate heir.
Before the death of the Prince of Jin's birth mother, Emperor Su had already bestowed upon her the title of Empress and buried her in the Xianling Mausoleum, which was earlier than that of Lady Cao. Posthumous honors would naturally not count, but at that time, Consort Yang was still alive despite being seriously ill, and Emperor Su insisted on using this as a reason to treat the Prince of Jin as his legitimate son, which the Secretariat and Chancellery could not refute.
The Imperial Concubine comes from a prestigious family but has no children. The Emperor's relationship with her is lukewarm, and he may not see her even once a month.
Lady Xu gave birth to the eldest and fifth princes, but was only granted the title of Jieyu. Consort Zheng gave birth to the second prince, but was plain-looking and dull-witted, and was not favored by the emperor.
The mothers of the other princes were all of low rank, but they were all talented and beautiful women, so it's no wonder that Consort Feng dared to covet the position of empress.
The emperor's harem was truly perfectly balanced, and no one could rise to the top.
“Last time, the Earl of Yuyang failed to manage his household properly, causing my sister to suffer a misfortune for no reason. I apologize to my sister on behalf of the Earl of Yuyang and the Princess. I hope my sister will be magnanimous and not take it to heart.” After the Fourth Prince finished reciting his book, Consort Feng stood up and said to Fu Sui.
An apology for something that happened three months ago is only now coming; Consort Feng's remorse is truly belated. And she calls her "sister" so affectionately—Feng Xiang'er is in the Feng residence; where is her sister in the palace? Fu Sui didn't even want to be perfunctory; in front of the Emperor, he could only reluctantly agree.
"Have you had dinner yet?" the emperor asked the fourth prince, bowing his head.
The fourth prince replied that he hadn't, so the emperor ordered someone to take him to a meal.
Consort Feng originally wanted to take the opportunity to invite the Emperor to her palace for a meal, but since the Emperor had already spoken, she had no choice but to give up.
With the Fourth Prince gone, Fu Sui and the other two were left sitting there. Consort Feng had something to say to the Emperor, but it was not appropriate to bring it up in front of Fu Sui, so she indirectly asked Fu Sui to leave: "It's getting late, and the curfew is about to start. Sister, why don't you stay in the palace tonight? Otherwise, it will be difficult to walk on the road after curfew."
Before Fu Sui could answer, the Emperor, who was writing and drawing on the paper, said without looking up, "Stay for a meal. After you're done, have Xu Zhiyi escort you back."
Fu Sui found it amusing. She had just finished running errands for the emperor today, so it was only right and proper that the emperor couldn't neglect her too much. Why did Consort Feng have to choose today to fight with her?
Now Consort Feng was in an even more difficult position; it seemed that the matter could only be discussed on another day.
"Speak your mind." Consort Feng's little schemes couldn't be hidden from the Emperor. Fortunately, Fu Sui was there. If Consort Feng made any requests that were difficult to agree to, Fu Sui could make a scene to stop her.
Fu Sui, with his eyes fixed on his nose and his nose focused on his heart, counted bricks on the ground.
Since the Emperor had asked, it wouldn't be appropriate to bring it up again later if she didn't answer now. Having no other choice, Consort Feng replied, "My younger sister is of marriageable age, and I'm thinking of finding her a good match."
"Who has taken a fancy to?" The emperor was only interested in pulling out a few sheets of paper from the table and looking them over. Fu Sui understood that the emperor didn't want to get involved.
"I think the son of the Grand Princess of Linhai is of good character and appearance, and is someone I can entrust with my life."
This time, not only Fu Sui, but even the emperor looked up at Consort Feng.
The emperor put down his pen and said coldly, "I can't make decisions about A-Xu's marriage. He's determined not to marry, and I can't force him to consummate the marriage."
Consort Feng knew that the Tian and Feng families had no prior dealings, and it was inappropriate for the woman to be so eager to propose marriage. Her original plan was to invite the Emperor to her palace for dinner and gently and subtly ask for a royal decree. Now that the Emperor was unwilling to intervene, Consort Feng could only smile awkwardly and say, "I was just thinking about it."
Fu Sui was already regretting not having slipped away immediately. Little did she know that Consort Feng wanted to arrange a marriage between Feng Xiang'er and Tian Ganyou. She looked at the Emperor pleadingly, hoping he would understand her urgent desire to leave.
The emperor, unusually showing kindness, said: "Go if you want to."
Fu Sui quickly expressed his gratitude.
The Emperor took a few sheets of paper from the table and handed them to Fu Sui. They were copies of a book that Fu Sui had copied, with several marks made in red ink. "Practice those characters properly, they're all crooked." After Fu Sui thanked him profusely and said he would follow the instructions, the Emperor then ordered Xu Asheng to arrange for someone to escort Fu Sui back to his residence.
It was already dark when she returned to the mansion. She was exhausted from the day's scheming and intrigue, so she ate a few bites and went to bed early.
Whether it was from the fatigue of copying books recently or from being too stressed, a couple of mornings later, after Fu Sui had breakfast, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't breathe properly, so he had to gasp for air.
Kouyun and Dailing were terrified. First, they poured Fu Sui some warm water to drink, and then they opened all the doors and windows to ventilate the room.
Doumiao has been taking care of Qin'an recently and hasn't been on duty. Kouyun hadn't seen the situation when Fu Sui was seriously ill before, and was afraid of mishandling it, so she wanted to go find Doumiao.
Fu Sui felt a little stifled, but not too badly. He told Doumiao that he was determined to bring Qin An over, so he didn't let Kouyun go.
Kouyun instructed Dai Lingfei to guard the princess well. She then ran quickly to find Cheng Liwu and told him to hurry to the Imperial Pharmacy to fetch a physician.
"Everyone, someone from the Princess's residence has come to request a doctor. They just left with the physician." Xu Asheng reported this to the Emperor.
The emperor calculated the days and frowned, saying, "It's not even the middle of the month yet, why are you inviting me now?"
"The person who came was in a great hurry; it seemed that the princess was short of breath and struggling to breathe."
Fu Sui's cough and asthma had not flared up for many years. Now, it's neither the cold of winter nor the strong winds of spring and autumn, so why did he suddenly fall ill?
The emperor pondered for a moment and then instructed, "Bring the physician who went out on a medical mission back with me. I have some questions to ask him."
The physician carefully examined Fu Sui's pulse in both hands, deliberating repeatedly before prescribing medicine and leaving several dietary and tonic recipes. He also discontinued all previous tonic recipes and explained many other matters. Kouyun and Dailing noted everything down and confirmed it was correct before sending the physician back.
Before they could even step out of Jiuru Lane, the imperial physician was brought directly before the emperor.
"According to my diagnosis, the princess does not have asthma, but depression," the physician said cautiously, kneeling on the ground.
What is depression?
"The princess was weak and exhausted, her mind was anxious, her liver qi was stagnant, and her qi and blood could not circulate properly. In addition, the princess's lung qi was weak, so her qi and blood were deficient, and she felt chest tightness and shortness of breath. Therefore, the illness was caused by the stagnation of liver qi, hence the name depression."
Exhausted and anxious, the emperor never imagined that copying a book would leave her so worn out: "Is there any cure?"
The physician quickly replied, "I have prescribed a decoction to disperse the stagnation, but Your Highness still needs to rest and recuperate properly. Please do not overwork yourself or worry too much."
A deathly silence fell over the hall, broken only by the ticking of the water clock. After a long while, the emperor waved his hand and said, "Go down."
The medical officer bowed his head and bowed his head to bow out of the hall.
The palace doors slowly closed. Xu Zhiyi watched the physician's departing figure, then took small steps to Xu Asheng's side and whispered in private, "When I went to the princess's residence the other day, the princess was perfectly fine. How come she suddenly fell ill again?"
Xu Asheng sighed softly, "It's a bad habit I developed in my childhood, so I can only try to manage it without much improvement." Recalling how often Xu Zhiyi had visited the princess's residence, he added, "You haven't been disrespectful in front of the princess, have you?"
Xu Zhiyi was a little taller than Xu Asheng. He bent over slightly and lowered his head even lower than Xu Asheng, saying in a very low voice, "Don't worry, godfather, I've remembered everything you taught me."
Xu Asheng nodded, lifting his eyelids to look at Xu Zhiyi: "I'm not being long-winded, but you think the princess is easy to talk to, but the jobs in the princess's mansion are really difficult."
Xu Asheng glanced at the eunuchs and guards on duty in the corridor, her voice barely audible: "Our master is keeping this in mind, so we servants have to be careful. Especially, if the higher-ups want to punish or beat someone, we have to hold back in front of the princess. With the princess's health, if something really bad happens, the person who carried out the task will be the one who suffers once that person calms down."
Xu Zhiyi remembered everything and replied, "I understand."
Fu Sui was driven to tears by being forced to take three bowls of herbal medicine a day. After several protests, he finally received Lü Yufeng's permission to reduce it to one bowl a day. Fu Sui wanted to protest again, but Lü Yufeng sternly refused, saying that this was a medicine to replenish qi and blood and could not be reduced further. If Fu Sui was willing to take the medicine properly, they could discuss it again after a week; if he refused even this one bowl, then he would have to be forced to take it three times a day for half a month.
Fu Sui's resistance was futile, so he could only grimace and gulp down a bowl of soup every day like a donkey. After only two days of this, Fu Sui's period started, and he lost all interest in anything else, listlessly staying in the mansion doing nothing but eating and sleeping.
Yanshan came to Fu Sui's residence to find him. As soon as he entered, he smelled the medicine. After learning that it was just some tonic, he comforted Fu Sui and told him to take the medicine properly and rest well.
When Fu Sui heard that Yan Shan wanted to go boating on the lake, he immediately wanted to change his clothes and go with Yan Shan, but Qin An sternly rejected him. Fu Sui thought that he was indeed not suitable to go to a place like a boat where it was inconvenient to change clothes, so he had to give up the idea.
Seeing Fu Sui looking dejected as he drank hot soup from the ice pot, Yan Shan worried that Fu Sui might not know the importance of it, so he carefully reminded Fu Sui not to eat ice cream. He then talked with Fu Sui for a while before leaving.
After leaving the Princess's residence in Yanshan, not knowing where to go, he decided to go boating on the lake by himself. He asked the boatman to row the boat on the lake while he sat at the bow of the boat in a daze.
"Princess!"
Just as Yanshan heard someone calling her, before she could even find who was speaking, the stern of the boat began to rock violently.
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