Chapter 181 Departure
Song Yuzhu's health gradually deteriorated in an irreversible way. In February, he could still read memorial documents for a whole day, but by March he didn't even have the energy for half a day.
In order not to affect the operation of the court, Song Yuzhu decided to let Song Yutong govern the country in advance, assisted by his left and right ministers. He planned to leave the palace for a trip to the south of the Yangtze River.
This trip was more about seeking peace of mind than curing an illness, because some time ago when Zhao Xiao went to Shangqing Temple to burn incense and pray for blessings, he happened to meet Taoist Chang Ming.
Chang Ming was still working at the Imperial Observatory. The two hadn't seen each other for many years, so they sat down and chatted for a while.
Although Zhao Xiao did not mention Song Yuzhu's health, the fact itself could not be concealed. He had never missed the morning court before, but now he could attend court one or two days out of ten.
Coupled with the unconcealable sadness between Zhao Xiao's brows, Taoist Chang Ming guessed that the emperor might be in poor health.
"General, have you been troubled lately?"
Zhao Xiao nodded, "I am indeed upset."
"Why not let the old Taoist tell you a fortune?"
Zhao Xiao has never believed in ghosts and gods, but for some reason today, he agreed without even thinking about it.
Perhaps people all have similar ideas. When they cannot find the answer within their own ability, they place their hopes on something illusory.
The two sat in the pavilion in the courtyard. Chang Ming took out three Daqi Tongbao coins from his pocket and handed them to Zhao Xiao: "General, please think about what you want in your heart and draw the coins. Three times is one hanging."
Zhao Xiao took the coin and shook it gently in his hand, silently repeating what he was praying for, and soon there was a result. Chang Ming looked at the hexagram and fell into deep thought.
"From the hexagram, the general's wish is slim, but there is a glimmer of hope."
Zhao Xiao's eyelids jumped and asked, "Where is this ray of hope?"
Chang Ming stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "I haven't learned the skills yet. If you have time, you might as well go to Qingfeng Temple in Hangzhou. My master should be able to help me solve this problem."
Zhao Xiao thanked him and told Song Yuzhu about this matter when he returned. Coincidentally, Song Yuzhu had also finished drafting the edict.
The next morning, the princess's order to govern the country was passed down. During this year, he would recuperate and if he recovered, he might continue to serve as emperor. If he was gone, Song Yutong could directly succeed to the throne.
After the court session, Xu Bing and several ministers simultaneously handed in signs requesting to see him. Song Yuzhu knew that these people were worried about his health, so he asked them to come to the Shangshufang.
"Your humble servant pays respects to the emperor!" Seven or eight officials followed Xu Bing and knelt on the ground at the same time.
Song Yuzhu said, "Everyone, get up."
Xu Bing supported himself on the ground with one hand, and finally stood up straight. His eyes were slightly red. "Your Majesty, please take good care of yourself."
Song Yuzhu smiled weakly: "I know that you have worked hard this year. Yutong is young and her ideas may be immature. Please be more tolerant of her."
"Your Majesty, rest assured. This is what we should do!" Xu Bing said firmly.
Song Yuzhu nodded: "I feel relieved when you say this."
Liu Lin, who was standing at the back, was already in tears. He had always thought that His Majesty would recover slowly after a few days of illness as usual.
He never expected that the emperor was so seriously ill this time and his body was so weak!
Looking back on his official career, he felt so lucky to have met such a wise ruler. If the emperor really passed away one day, he would not want to stay in the court... Liu Lin had a vague idea of resigning.
Song Yuzhu seemed to see what he was thinking, "Jingjie, come here."
Liu Lin wiped his tears and walked forward: "Your Majesty."
"I hope you can continue to work in the Ministry of Revenue and help me manage the purse. Can you do it?"
Liu Lin's nose felt sore and he choked up and said, "Minister, I can do it!"
"Okay, then I'll leave this kingdom to you for now. Don't let me down."
Shen Lun, who was standing at the end of the shop, finally understood that the emperor actually wanted to entrust his son to him. He looked at the other officials blankly. The emperor... his health can't be cured? What about the scientific research department in the future?
Not every emperor is interested in scientific research. If the princess no longer attaches importance to the development of scientific research after ascending the throne, wouldn’t all her life’s efforts be wasted?
Coming out of the Shangshufang, every official had a heavy look on his face.
Xu Bing and Qin Fengtu walked at the end. Although no one said anything, they knew clearly in their hearts that this time they were afraid that things would be very dangerous.
*
After Qingming Festival, the weather gradually became warmer, and Song Yuzhu and Zhao Xiao prepared to embark on their journey south.
During this trip, Song Yuzhu was not surrounded by guards, nor did he have secret guards to protect him. He even did not tell anyone about his departure from the palace. Only Zhao Xiao was with him.
Song Yuzhu transformed himself into a medical doctor, and Zhao Xiao pretended to be his brother. Song Yuzhu was very much looking forward to this trip, and even his complexion looked better.
The night before their departure, the two packed their luggage. They didn't bring much with them on this trip south. In addition to two sets of clothes, Song Yuzhu also brought a few medical books, a palm-sized clock and a stack of 100-wen banknotes.
Song Yuzhu took out a banknote and said to the mirror, "I don't look much like the portrait above." He has lost so much weight recently that he is almost unrecognizable.
Zhao Xiao hugged him from behind, "It's still the same, the eyes, nose and mouth are all the same."
Song Yuzhu snickered and said, "It doesn't matter if it looks like that. The people can't imagine that I will leave the palace anyway."
After packing her luggage, Song Yuzhu was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She lay on the bed and recited a poem: "Jiangnan is beautiful, the scenery is old and familiar. At sunrise, the river flowers are as red as fire, and in spring, the river water is as green as blue. How can I not miss Jiangnan? Speaking of which, I have never been to Jiangnan in my two lifetimes. This time I must take a good look at the scenery there."
"Okay." Zhao Xiao responded with a smile, but he felt as if a stone was pressing on his heart, making it hard to breathe.
The next morning, they both got up before daybreak. Song Yuzhu put on the casual clothes he had prepared in advance, a light green double-breasted short robe and trousers of the same color, which made his skin look as white as jade.
After tying her hair up, her outfit was almost the same as that of ordinary people outside the palace walls, except that she looked more noble.
Zhao Xiao was wearing a brown shorts with his cuffs wrapped with cloth, looking like a well-traveled bodyguard.
Li Dehai stood guard at the door with tears in his eyes. When he saw them coming out, he couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, please have breakfast before leaving the palace."
"No need. I heard that the wontons south of the train station are delicious. I can go and try some."
Li Dehai wiped his tears and said, "I don't know when you will come back. I am worried. How about letting me go with you? I can take care of your daily life."
Song Yuzhu said as she walked: "No need, just stay well in the palace!"
After saying that, he waved his hand casually, and walked briskly towards the palace gate taking Zhao Xiao with him.
There was a small incident when they were leaving the palace. The two of them did not carry any tokens with them, and the guards at the gate did not allow them to go out.
Song Yuzhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was actually stopped in the palace?
Fortunately, the leader of the Cavalry Guard recognized the two men and immediately let their men go.
There were already officials waiting outside the palace gate to attend court. Most of them lived outside the capital and were afraid of missing the court, so they arrived early.
Zhao Xiao requisitioned a carriage at random, and sitting in the carriage was the Dali Temple Minister Wang Shuyun.
He quickly got off the carriage and gave it to the two of them, wondering where the Emperor and the Loyal and Brave Prince were going.
Song Yuzhu was laughing so hard that her stomach hurt while sitting on her horse: "Oh, did you see Wang Shuyun's face just now? His eyeballs almost fell out. I was laughing to death."
Zhao Xiao looked at him lovingly: "Lord Wang must have thought that he was not awake and saw it wrongly."
“Hahahahahaha…”
The carriage passed through Zhengyang Street and came to Xidao Street, where there were many more hawking sounds on the street.
Song Yuzhu lifted the car curtain and looked outside. In the breakfast shop, big buns were just out of the pot and were steaming hot. The ones with vegetarian fillings cost two cents, while the ones with meat fillings cost three cents.
“I want to eat that.”
Zhao Xiao held the rope and walked over to buy four buns, two meat and two vegetarian.
The plump white buns were wrapped in oil paper and were hot in the hand. Song Yuzhu blew on them and took a bite. It was just as she had imagined. The skin was soft and chewy, and the filling was full of soup. It flowed out through the fingers when she took a bite.
He quickly wiped it with a handkerchief, and after eating half of the meat bun, Song Yuzhu was full. The rest of the bun was eaten by Zhao Xiao.
When they arrived near the station, Song Yuzhu went to eat the wontons that were said to be extremely delicious.
A bowl of rice costs ten cents. It is true that food near the station is expensive, just like in ancient times!
Song Yuzhu's taste has been spoiled by the imperial chefs in the palace, and the wontons she eats taste far worse than those from the imperial kitchen. It is estimated that "extremely delicious" is just a gimmick.
He could not eat any more after eating two, so the rest were naturally eaten by Zhao Xiao.
After dinner, Zhao Xiao spent ten cents to have the carriage driven to the Dali Temple and returned it to the Dali Temple Chief. The two then went to the station hall to buy tickets.
As soon as you enter the hall, you can see a blackboard on the wall with today's schedule written on it in chalk, which is very conspicuous.
At 1:00 am, there was a train heading south. Zhao Xiao queued up and spent 420 coins to buy two tickets. All he had to do now was wait for the train.
Song Yuzhu sat on the wooden bench and looked around. In the waiting hall, people of all kinds were carrying bags or packages, and they would look down at the tickets in their hands from time to time.
Apart from the fact that their clothes are different from those of modern people, visiting these people gives you the illusion of traveling through time.
At 1:00 a.m., a train whistle sounded outside the platform. Shangjing was the starting station so there was no delay, and everyone lined up to get on the train.
Zhao Xiao bought carriage number 6, seats 23 and 24 in row 4.
After getting on the bus, the attendant was arranging seats for everyone. After all, many people were illiterate and they had to help them find their seats.
The flight attendants are mostly women, wearing clean and tidy navy blue robes, white gloves on their hands, and their hair is tied up, looking bright and generous.
These women were recruited from schools all over the place. Not only did they have a regular job, but they also had a very generous monthly salary, earning up to thirty taels of silver a month.
However, we encountered many difficulties when recruiting people in the first place, because flight attendants are after all a job that requires traveling all over the country and being in the spotlight, which is more likely to lead to gossip than jobs such as teachers, bank tellers, and accountants.
Later, the imperial court stepped in and granted the honorary title of ninth-rank nobleman to all those who registered to apply.
This official position did not have any power, it was just a nice title. Unexpectedly, the number of applicants suddenly doubled, and the trains were able to run as scheduled.
The two found their seats, and Zhao Xiao placed his gift on the iron frame above his head. This was a four-person seat, and there were two seats opposite that were temporarily unoccupied.
Zhao Xiao sat down next to Song Yuzhu: "Are you tired? Lean on me and rest for a while?"
Song Yuzhu did not try to be brave. She did not get enough rest last night and felt a little tired at the moment. She leaned her head on Zhao Xiao's shoulder and took a nap.
After waiting for about quarter of an hour, the train whistle sounded again and the scenery outside the window slowly receded.
Zhao Xiao looked at the person sleeping beside him and silently estimated in his heart that there were still 242 days left.
(End of this chapter)
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