Chapter 117 After the Emperor, who was ill, arrived at the temporary palace, Yinreng's first...
After the imperial entourage arrived at the temporary palace, Yinreng immediately ordered the guards to seal off the garden. After giving these instructions, he strode into the palace. At this time, Kangxi's eyes were slightly closed, and several silver needles were inserted into his head. Shortly afterward, the imperial physician removed the silver needles, and Kangxi slowly awoke.
Yinreng stepped forward, took the medicine offered by the servants, knelt before Kangxi, and served it to him. While stirring the medicine with the spoon, he said softly, "Your Majesty, I have just sealed off the garden." He blew on the medicine in the spoon, took a sip, and continued, "The imperial physician said that the weather is hot, and it's easy to feel dizzy after being outside for a long time. This is a medicine to relieve the heat; it's just right to drink while it's warm."
From the very first sentence, Kangxi looked at him with some suspicion and wariness. However, after seeing that he had tasted the medicine and stopped resisting, taking the medicine spoonful by spoonful, he said in a deep voice after drinking four or five mouthfuls, "You did the right thing." If the news that he had suffered from heatstroke right after visiting the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum got out, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.
Yinreng felt slightly relieved after hearing Kangxi's words. He waited until Kangxi had drunk a bowl of medicine before getting up from the ground. Just as he was unsure whether to ask to stay and attend to him or simply kneel and take his leave, Kangxi said, "It's getting late. You should stay at the temporary palace."
Yinreng lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before answering, "Yes." He then sighed, his face showing worry, "You really frightened me today. My villa is indeed quite far from here, so even if I go back there, I won't feel at ease."
Kangxi chuckled softly, his eyes filled with reminiscence and a touch of emotion: "I still remember when you were little, I was always worried about where I left you. Now it's the other way around, and it's your turn to worry about me."
For some reason, Yinreng felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this, but he quickly stood up and asked, "Now that you're awake, should the restrictions on the palace be lifted?"
Kangxi sighed: "Then let's lift the ban. But I'm tired and need to rest. You can handle anything else."
"Yes." With that, Yinreng went out to give the order. But as soon as he came out of the hall, he saw the Eighth Prince and the officials who had gone to the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum with him that day kneeling under the side hall.
Upon seeing him come out, the Eighth Prince immediately stood up and asked with concern, "Your Highness, how is Father Emperor?"
Yinreng glanced at him and said, "Father is fine, he's just tired and needs to rest."
Eighth Prince couldn't help but narrow his eyes. He didn't believe a word the Crown Prince said. The Emperor had left the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum and, after noon, said he was going to inspect the river, but halfway there the procession changed course. He sensed something was wrong and tried to inquire, but his men were stopped by the guards. Afterwards, everyone entered the imperial palace, and soon the entire palace was sealed off—not even a fly could get out. He suspected something had happened to the Emperor.
If something happens to the Emperor...
Eighth Prince dared not think any further. But the Emperor's health seemed to be deteriorating over the past two years. If something were to happen to the Emperor here, the Crown Prince could don the dragon robe and become the new Emperor without any constraints. In that case, everything would be for nothing for him.
At this moment, Yinreng did not care about the Eighth Prince's various ulterior motives. He stepped over the ministers behind him and said, "It is getting late. You may all go back. We can discuss anything else tomorrow."
The officials below all agreed. Among them, Cao Yu stood up, took a step forward, and said with concern, "The Emperor is scheduled to summon scholars from Jiangnan tomorrow. Your Highness, what do you think..."
Yinreng looked him up and down, and sneered inwardly, saying, "His Majesty is unwell, so the matter of enjoying time with the students will naturally have to be postponed."
Cao Yu also realized that he had spoken too hastily, as if the crown prince was about to ascend the throne, and awkwardly agreed.
When the Eighth Prince heard Yinreng tell the officials to return, he finally felt relieved. This meant the palace was no longer under lockdown, so the Emperor should be alright. He then kowtowed and bowed towards the palace, before bowing to Yinreng and saying, "In that case, your subject will take his leave."
With the Eighth Prince taking the lead, the other officials slowly began to leave.
At this moment, Liang Jiugong came out of the hall and earnestly invited Yinreng to rest in the side hall. Yinreng slowly exhaled and walked to the side.
The Eighth Prince and a group of officials left the imperial palace. Today's events had given everyone a fright, and their still-shaken faces relaxed once they were outside the palace gates.
At this moment, Cao Yu of the Jiangning Textile Bureau and Li Xu of the Suzhou Manufacturing Bureau bowed to the Eighth Prince and took their leave. The Eighth Prince looked at the two men and said to them with a smile, "You two are truly worthy of being the Emperor's loyal servants. Just now, you led the officials to wait outside the palace. If the Emperor knew this, he would surely be pleased."
Cao Yu and Li Xu lowered their heads and said, "These servants are truly unworthy of the Eighth Prince's praise."
The Eighth Prince smiled, his eyes lowered: "You two have worked diligently in Jiangnan for many years, and devoted yourselves wholeheartedly to the construction of the imperial palace. How could you not deserve the title of loyal servants? It's just a pity..." He shook his head, the rest of his words seemingly floating in the air: "The Emperor knows your loyalty and appreciates your good deeds, but he fears some people are not..."
After the Eighth Prince left, Li Xu and Cao Yu exchanged a glance, then boarded the same carriage. Inside the carriage, Cao Yu lowered his head and said regretfully, "Uncle, did I say something wrong in the palace just now?"
Li Xu sighed. His cousin had married Cao Yu's father, Cao Yin, as his second wife, so it was understandable that Cao Yu addressed him as "uncle." Unfortunately, Cao Yin had passed away two years prior, leaving the Cao family leaderless. Fortunately, after Cao Yu finished his mourning period, the emperor granted him permission to succeed as the head of the Jiangning Textile Bureau, thus rekindling the Cao family's power. However, Cao Yu's tenure in office was short, which explained his rash actions.
However, having just experienced this incident, he couldn't help but reflect on his own actions. The Emperor was advanced in years, and his health was frequently ailing. It was true that the Li and Cao families had served the Emperor faithfully for many years, but now that things had come to this, how could they not think about the future? Though nothing lasts forever, once on board, who would want to fall off?
But the Crown Prince doesn't seem to care much about them. What should they do?
Thinking about it this way, Li Xu couldn't help but feel worried. After a long while, he said to Cao Yu, "What we did just now was a bit rash, but upon closer examination, it wasn't entirely wrong." The Emperor was unwell, and they, the officials, couldn't meet with him, so it was reasonable for them to consult the Crown Prince. However... he paused, then said in a deep voice, "It's just that we really need to carefully consider where our two families should go from here on out."
——
Cheng Qianyue saw Yinreng again three days later in the evening. As soon as he returned, she said, "Bring me a pair of wooden clogs." After he sat on the couch and took off his shoes and socks, good heavens, his feet were truly a sight to behold.
"Oh dear, wasn't it almost healed before? How did your foot get like this in just a few days?" Cheng Qianyue frowned. "What happened to my foot? How did it get so badly ulcerated?!" She then looked up and quickly ordered, "Quickly, have someone outside prepare a medicinal foot bath."
After taking off his shoes and socks and putting on wooden clogs, Yinreng felt that his feet were much more breathable. He replied in a deep voice, "I haven't taken care of them much these past few days, and this is how they ended up."
He served the ailing Emperor, standing and sitting all day long. Even at night, he would first attend to the Emperor's needs before returning to his own chambers. However, these past two days, perhaps due to excessive sweating, he developed blisters on his feet, which broke open while walking. Now, the sores on his soles had spread to the tops of his feet.
Cheng Qianyue asked him, "Does it itch? Does it hurt?"
Yinreng replied, "It doesn't hurt, but it does itch a little."
As they were talking, the foot bath was brought over, and Cheng Qianyue urged him to soak his feet, "You mustn't take these minor illnesses lightly. If you have to go and attend to the Emperor again, you must soak your feet in the medicinal herbs tonight, otherwise it will hurt a lot if the wounds open up."
The hot soup brought back the fatigue of the past few days, and Yinreng felt languid all over. He said in a low voice, "The Emperor's illness is almost cured."
"Does that mean I don't need to go to the imperial palace to attend to your illness?" Cheng Qianyue guessed, and said, "Since you're here, my lord, you shouldn't wear boots and shoes. You might as well wear wooden clogs. Your illness was caused by being too warm, so you can't keep it that way."
Yinreng nodded. That was exactly what he had been thinking. In a way, he felt it was quite opportune to have such an unseemly illness, because once the Emperor recovered, he would summon the scholars to assess their talents, and this grand act of bestowing favor would likely last for several days. He thought he should simply ask for leave a couple of days in advance and then appear later.
Cheng Qianyue watched him deep in thought, and as he pondered, a confident smile appeared on his face. Cheng Qianyue: "It's just a foot bath, where has your mind wandered? You're acting all eccentric."
Afterwards, Yinreng indeed took leave and walked around the room in wooden shoes. However, he didn't like the sound of his shoes hitting the floor tiles, so he didn't move around unless necessary. When he had nothing to do, he would lie on the couch reading or sit at his desk practicing calligraphy.
Cheng Qianyue knew he was concerned about his image, so she let him be, only keeping an eye on him as he soaked his feet at noon and in the evening. She didn't know when they would set off back to Beijing, and she was just thinking about getting his foot ailment treated as soon as possible, otherwise they would inevitably be delayed on the way.
Just as I was thinking about this, news came from outside that the Emperor had sent a royal physician.
Yinreng immediately put down the book in his hand and let the imperial physician in. After examining his feet, the physician said, "Although the sores on Your Highness's feet have broken open, they have been soaked in a medicinal decoction to dispel dampness and reduce internal heat, so the treatment is quite appropriate. I will prepare some more ointment, and Your Highness should be able to recover after applying it for a few days each day."
Yinreng nodded and said, "That's very good." Then he added, "It's just that this illness is rather unseemly. My feet itch unbearably when I'm out and about, so I won't be able to examine the students with Father Emperor for the next few days."
The imperial physician smiled slightly and replied, "Yes, His Majesty values the Crown Prince highly and surely hopes for your speedy recovery."
Cheng Qianyue watched their back-and-forth exchanges, as if they were playing a riddle.
Yinreng breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around and saw Cheng Qianyue tilting her head with a vacant look in her eyes. He said softly, "What are you thinking about? You seem so engrossed."
Although the imperial physician had already left, Cheng Qianyue still felt that some things were not to be said directly, so she leaned close to his ear and asked, "Master, has something happened outside? Do you want to avoid the limelight?"
Yinreng smiled gently at her, a sly glint in his eyes, and slowly said, "Yes."
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