Even the fastest and strongest goshawk would take a full eighteen days to fly from the capital of Dashun to the ancient Shu imperial palace.
During these eighteen days, the situation in the capital was stabilized. Because of the New Year, Emperor Tianwu sealed his seal and did not attend court, and the holiday was delayed again and again until the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Therefore, during this period of time, people were relatively idle, and no one went to the palace, and the bustle in the palace also subsided.
Concubine Yuan and Emperor Tianwu were in love, spending the whole day together, walking around the palace from time to time, and nothing went wrong. The eighth prince Xuan Tianmo, on the other hand, stayed in Prince Sheng's mansion all day long, claiming to be taking care of his health, and told the public that he was allergic to food and could not see guests in the near future.
People were a little confused about the Eighth Prince's illness. They all remembered how the Eighth Prince suddenly fell ill at the palace banquet on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Some even remembered that he clamped his legs tightly together, as if he was twisting constantly, and he looked extremely painful. But no one knew what the symptoms of allergies were. Someone secretly asked the doctor, and the doctor said that allergies can manifest anywhere, but as long as you don't touch the allergic things, you will get better after a period of rest. The Eighth Prince's party was relieved.
Feng Yuheng did not go into the palace to treat Concubine Yuan's health. Concubine Yuan herself visited all the doctors in the Imperial Hospital. Each of them prescribed a lot of prescriptions for her "desire to have a child". She drank bitter medicine all day long, which made her feel upset.
Emperor Tianwu advised her, "Why don't you let the ninth daughter-in-law come to the palace to help you? Her medical skills are quite good. Those old guys in the Imperial Hospital are not as good as her. Look at what you drink every day. I think it tastes bitter. I heard that the ninth daughter-in-law has pills of medicine that are not bitter and you won't suffer if you take them."
But how could Concubine Yuan dare to let Feng Yuheng enter the palace? She had been feeling uneasy since Feng Yuheng left last time. In addition, she had never let go of the Eighth Prince's illness. Now that Emperor Tianwu brought this up again, she simply expressed her thoughts: "Your Majesty, Princess Yu is someone close to His Majesty the Ninth Prince after all. You also know that His Majesty the Ninth Prince has always coveted the throne. It is unreasonable to ask her to come to the palace to treat my body."
"Old Nine covets the throne?" Emperor Tianwu frowned and snorted coldly, "It's useless for anyone to covet it. I have already made up my mind to pass the throne to Mo'er, and I won't allow him to think about it." After saying that, he sighed and said, "Mo'er hasn't come to the palace for some time. I don't know if his allergy has improved."
Concubine Yuan also sighed and said, "I am also worried all day and can't sleep well at night."
"I can see it." He stroked Concubine Yuan with his big hand, "Seeing you become increasingly haggard, I feel bad too. How about this! I will allow you to leave the palace, and you go to Prince Sheng's Mansion to see Mo'er in person, so that I don't have to worry about her all the time. I also want to know about Mo'er's situation, so come back and tell me after you've seen her."
"Your Majesty, have you allowed me to leave the palace to see the prince?" Concubine Yuan was very happy. Concubines in the palace were not allowed to leave the palace unless the emperor granted special permission, but generally speaking, such permission was too rare. Concubine Yuan also wanted to see Xuan Tianmo and ask him about his illness, but she couldn't go out, and Xuan Tianmo didn't come in, which really made her very anxious these days. Today, Emperor Tianwu actually granted her this favor, and she was so happy that she quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Emperor Tianwu three times.
Emperor Tianwu helped her up, put his own cloak on her, and asked his personal eunuch Wu Ying to accompany her. Then he watched Concubine Yuan leave Zhaohe Hall, and suddenly said, "Xiao Yuanzi, accompany me for a walk."
After saying that, he waited for a moment, but no one answered. He was stunned, wondering why he had said such a thing, and who was Xiao Yuanzi? For a moment, his mind was confused again.
A young eunuch who was serving in the palace came forward, stood beside Emperor Tianwu with his hands hanging down, and waited quietly for instructions. After a while, Emperor Tianwu finally said, "Accompany me to walk outside. The charcoal fire in this palace is burning too brightly and it's giving me a headache."
The emperor said he wanted to go out for a walk, so he had to be accompanied by someone else. All of a sudden, all the palace servants in Zhaohe Hall followed him, some near and some far away, with great momentum.
Emperor Tianwu did not stop them, but just walked in front with his hands behind his back, striding forward, ignoring everyone.
He wandered aimlessly, but it was nothing more than walking around the palace. He walked from Zhaohe Hall to the harem, then from the harem into the garden, then walked out of the garden and around the ice lake. This walk took nearly an hour, and the palace servant who followed him couldn't help but remind him: "Your Majesty, it's cold outside, let's go back!"
Emperor Tianwu said nothing, just kept walking on the path with his head down. But in fact, he was thinking, thinking about what was going on with the confused feeling that he occasionally had recently? Now that Concubine Yuan was not by his side, he discovered that whenever Concubine Yuan was not around, he was particularly prone to random thoughts, thinking about the things going on in the palace, and thinking about how he had lived in the past? Why did he feel like he had forgotten a lot of things? He also thought about what Concubine Yuan had just said, that the Ninth Prince was also interested in the throne. These messy thoughts only came to him after Concubine Yuan left, and as soon as Concubine Yuan returned to his side, that full sense of happiness would follow, making him feel that Concubine Yuan was the best person in the world, and the Eighth Prince was the person he really wanted to pass on the throne to.
Emperor Tianwu felt that he was ill, and he had a disease that he couldn't live without Concubine Yuan. He was really glad that he had such a concubine by his side! Otherwise, no one could cure his illness, and he would be like this all day long, wandering around like a headless fly, always feeling that he had no bottom at all. To say some tender words, he was like a duckweed, without roots, and didn't know where to lean on.
When he came to a small garden again, Emperor Tianwu stopped and looked at the thick snow in the garden. He suddenly murmured, "Am I really too old? This should be Alzheimer's disease, right?" After he finished speaking, he was stunned again. Alzheimer's disease? Where did he learn this word from? It seemed that someone had told him this word, but he couldn't remember who told him.
The eunuch beside him didn't understand what he said, so he asked immediately, "Is there something wrong, Your Majesty?"
Emperor Tianwu waved his hand and was about to say it was all right, but at this moment, he saw a man walking towards him from the other end of the path. He was dressed as a eunuch and kept his head down. He didn't realize there was someone in front of him until he got closer. When he looked up and saw him, he was startled. Then he lowered his head again, walked forward respectfully, knelt down, and said, "Your servant kowtows to Your Majesty! I didn't know Your Majesty was here. I disturbed Your Majesty. Please forgive me."
Emperor Tianwu looked at the man and called out in a daze: "Zhang Yuan? Why are you here?" Then he subconsciously added: "The ground is so cold! Why are you kneeling?" But after saying that, he suddenly realized that when a servant sees him, shouldn't he kneel? So many people have knelt before, why should he worry about this little eunuch catching a cold? He wanted to change his words, but it didn't make sense. He just felt that this little eunuch didn't have to kneel when he saw him before. He didn't know where this idea came from, and he was very surprised.
The kneeling man felt sad when he heard this. But no matter how sad he felt, Zhang Yuan was already scared and didn't dare to act recklessly in front of Emperor Tianwu. He knew that the current emperor was no longer the one he had served since he was a child. Although he looked the same on the surface, he was completely different inside. He was likely to be sent to the Criminal Slave Department again, and that was a place he never wanted to go to again in his life. Those days would probably become the most terrifying memory of his life.
"Your Majesty, I am not afraid of the cold, I will just kneel down." He spoke respectfully and carefully, without raising his head. The unfamiliarity in his words was completely different from the Zhang Yuan of the past. Emperor Tianwu looked at this little eunuch and began to feel dazed again, and began to feel that he seemed to have forgotten a lot of important things.
The two men knelt and stood quietly for a long time before Emperor Tianwu sighed and said to himself, "I am old and I can't remember many people and things. I always feel that you are very kind and familiar, but I can't remember why I have this feeling. I have forgotten everything in the past, I have forgotten everything!" As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to support Zhang Yuan and said, "Get up! Go and do your job. I want to be alone and quiet."
Zhang Yuan kowtowed to Emperor Tianwu respectfully and cautiously, and said, "I'll take my leave." Then he stood up, took a few steps back, turned around and left.
Emperor Tianwu called out again subconsciously: "Xiao Yuanzi!" As soon as he called him this, he immediately remembered that he used to call Zhang Yuan Xiao Yuanzi! He finally remembered who Xiao Yuanzi was, but... what's the point of remembering it? Apart from this name, the most he could remember was that Zhang Yuan had indeed served him for a period of time. If he remembered more, he would have no impression. It was like there was a rag in his mind. As soon as he remembered something, someone behind him would wave the rag to wipe it away, making him forget it as soon as he remembered it.
But who is the person waving the rag?
He was extremely conflicted, but Zhang Yuan stopped when he heard the voice of "Xiao Yuanzi" and finally looked up at Emperor Tianwu. However, just this one glance made his tears burst out and he could no longer control them.
When Emperor Tianwu saw this, he was even more puzzled. He asked in a daze: "Why are you crying? Why are you crying when you see me? Did I scare you?"
Zhang Yuan shook his head and took another step back without saying anything.
When Emperor Tianwu saw him retreat, he unconsciously took a step forward. He had an urge to persuade the eunuch to stop crying, because he felt uncomfortable and distressed when he saw his own child crying in front of him. He always wanted to go forward and comfort him. But wasn't it a little strange for an emperor to comfort a eunuch?
At this moment, suddenly behind Emperor Tianwu, the Queen's voice rang out - "Zhang Yuan is now my servant, Your Majesty, since the past has been forgotten, then... just let him go!"
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