Chapter 311 Pampering (Two Updates)
Gu Jiao went to the palace again and came to the southwest corner once more.
Seeing that she had come so late, the beekeeper hurried forward and asked, "Miss Gu, do you need more honey?"
At noon, he heard Eunuch Qin from Renshou Palace call her Miss Gu.
He had initially thought she was just a girl connected to Renshou Palace, but the Empress Dowager's favorites treated her with even more respect than the Crown Princess, so the beekeeper dared not be negligent in the slightest.
The sun was setting, the sky was a gray-blue, with only a sliver of red light from the setting sun illuminating the last vestiges of twilight.
Gu Jiao's gaze fell upon a pavilion bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun. The pavilion was quite far away, and from her angle, she could only see a cluster of brackets and flying eaves.
"What's over there?" Gu Jiao pointed and asked.
The beekeeper looked in the direction Gu Jiao pointed and saw the roof tiles under the setting sun. He said, "That... seems to be the residence of the hostage prince of Chen."
The states of Chen and Zhao have long been at odds, so the hostage from Chen would not stay in a luxurious palace. Instead, he was given a secluded courtyard, separated from the harem by a bee-keeping alley, with guards at both ends.
As Gu Jiao watched the dougong brackets and flying eaves gradually being swallowed up by the night, she gradually understood the meaning of the five words "Imperial Palace, Southwest Corner".
It's not that the other person lives in the southwest corner of the palace, nor that the other person enters or leaves the southwest corner of the palace, but rather that you can see the other person from the southwest corner of the palace.
Summers in Zhao are hotter than in Chen.
The cicadas chirping incessantly in the trees seemed to add to the restlessness.
There's also a small lotus pond nearby, where the croaking of frogs can be heard from time to time. It's really not a comfortable place to live and enjoy health.
The lanterns under the corridor were gradually lit by the palace servants, and the patrolling guards held long swords and looked dignified.
Suddenly, a small figure flew in through the air.
The small figure moved very lightly, without startling any guards. However, a gray shadow suddenly flashed out from the seemingly inconspicuous corner, moving with incredible speed, as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, a curved knife was placed against the small figure's neck.
"Alright, Songye, let her in. She is my honored guest."
A lazy voice, tinged with a hint of mockery, drifted slowly from inside the room.
The man in gray coldly sheathed his scimitar, but the wariness in his eyes remained undiminished.
He stared intently at Gu Jiao, as if his scimitar would be at her neck again if she misbehaved in the slightest.
Gu Jiaoyuan had no intention of hiding her identity; she wore her own clothes and didn't even wear a mask.
She calmly pushed open the door and entered.
There were many oil lamps in the room, but their brightness was limited, and even when lit, the room was still dim and yellowish.
Yuan Tang was sitting in a chair while a palace maid changed his dressing.
He appeared to have suffered a waist or abdomen injury; the removed gauze was covered in blood, and the room reeked of wound medicine.
His shirt was open, revealing his strong, muscular chest, well-defined abdominal muscles, and two prominent V-lines.
Whether it was the heat or the pain, glistening sweat dripped down his wheat-colored skin, flowing over every firm yet not exaggerated muscle.
This was a body brimming with masculine power, and the air was suddenly filled with the scent of male hormones.
Yuan Tang seemed surprised that Gu Jiao came in so quickly. Fortunately, the palace servants were quick and efficient, and soon they applied medicine and wrapped him in gauze.
"Step back." He raised his hand as the palace servants were about to straighten his clothes.
"Yes." The palace servant packed up her things and left.
Yuan Tang closed his clothes and fastened his belt. He was a man, so it wasn't a big deal for him to be seen, but why—
Yuan Tang glanced at Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao's expression was completely open, even more so than his, the one being observed.
This woman is really interesting.
"You may all leave as well," Yuan Tang instructed the palace servants in the room.
The crowd left in silence.
The gray-clad man who had been guarding the door showed no intention of leaving.
Gu Jiao sensed an extremely powerful aura emanating from the man in gray, almost on par with the old Marquis. She wondered who would be more skilled if the two were to fight.
Of course, if it were me in my prime, slitting his throat wouldn't be a problem.
“Don’t worry about him,” Yuan Tang said with a smile.
Gu Jiao had met Yuan Tang once before in Liu Yisheng's courtyard. At that time, Gu Jiao thought Yuan Tang was handsome, but not stunning.
At least compared to his cousin Liu Yisheng, he was slightly less refined.
But seeing his physique today, I realized that this hostage prince of Chen is also a top-notch man.
Gu Jiao looked at him openly and generously.
Yuan Tang couldn't help but laugh: "Should I call you Doctor Gu, or Lady Xiao?"
"Whatever you say," Gu Jiao said.
"Alright, Dr. Gu." Yuan Tang smiled and said, "You've come to see me so late, is there something you need?"
This is a rhetorical question, but people always need to exchange a few words of nonsense.
Gu Jiao didn't like to waste words. She glanced at his wounds and went straight to the point: "You even went to assassinate the emperor yourself?"
Yuan Tang was speechless for a moment, then chuckled softly: "How can such an important assassination not be carried out personally?"
This statement undoubtedly implies that he admits to everything.
Gu Jiao said calmly, "You're quite quick to admit it."
Yuan Tang smiled bitterly: "From the moment my tassel disappeared, I was prepared to be exposed, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, and I certainly didn't expect it to be you."
Yuan Tang didn't make any pointless excuses. Only a fool would treat others as fools. The fact that Gu Jiao was able to investigate to this extent shows that she has absolutely nothing to do with being a fool.
Since we can't fool them, why waste our breath?
"Why?" Gu Jiao asked.
"It's my duty," Yuan Tang said.
Gu Jiao asked, "Is this an order from the King of Chen?"
Yuan Tang turned to look at the night outside the window: "I also have my own selfish reasons. My aunt died at the hands of Empress Dowager Zhuang and Emperor Zhao. At that time, they had not yet become enemies. My aunt was forced to her death by them. So they are both my enemies."
“Your aunt was a spy, and killing her was part of their duty.” Gu Jiao’s gaze remained fixed on his face, without the slightest attempt to look away.
A person's strength is not always reflected in martial arts skills, status, or talent; inner strength is the most invincible.
This is a woman with inner strength.
Yuan Tang withdrew his gaze and met her eyes: "So what is right or wrong in this world? It's just that one's status forces one to do so. I was born in Chen and am a prince of Chen. As long as the two countries are at odds, I will fight against Zhao. Whether or not my aunt is involved, I will not let Empress Dowager Zhuang and the Emperor of Zhao off the hook."
Gu Jiao asked, "Did you also instigate the conflict between the Marquis of Ding'an's mansion and the Marshal's mansion?"
“Yes.” Yuan Tang did not deny it.
Gu Jiao then asked, "Was it you who went to the military camp to assassinate Gu Changqing?"
Yuan Tang: "Yes."
Gu Jiao: "You were the one who went to Qianyin Pavilion to find Feishuang?"
Yuan Tang: "That's right."
Yuan Tang admitted to everything.
Gu Jiao remained calm throughout, showing neither surprise nor doubt at his straightforward admission. Instead, after a moment of contemplation, she asked him, "How do you know so much?"
Tang Ming's hobbies, Fei Shuang's identity, and even the emperor's whereabouts.
Yuan Tang laughed and said, "Do you think the King of Chen would send an incompetent hostage to Zhao?"
That's true, just like how the Zhao Kingdom sent the very talented Prince An to the Chen Kingdom as a hostage back then.
A hostage who lacks ability will only die far from home in an enemy country.
Yuan Tang held out her hand: "Can you give me back the tassel?"
"No way," Gu Jiao refused outright.
Yuan Tang sighed helplessly: "That was given to my mother by my maternal grandmother. It was a jade pendant. There were only two in total. One was given to my mother, and the other was given to my aunt."
Playing the sympathy card won't work on Gu Jiao.
If I don't pay it back, I don't pay it back.
Seeing that Gu Jiao was truly determined, Yuan Tang knew that she probably wouldn't be able to get her tassel back, and painfully accepted this fact.
"What are you planning to do?" he asked.
"I'll report you," Gu Jiao said bluntly.
Yuan Tang: ...So direct?
Yuan Tang said, "I helped you before, have you forgotten?"
Gu Jiao said, "It's as if you didn't benefit from it."
Yuan Tang's lips twitched: "Why does my cousin tell you everything?"
The Crown Princess used a cat to test Xiao Liulang, but Yuan Tang had the cat taken away. However, the cat originally belonged to Yuan Tang. If Gu Jiao hadn't told him about this, he would have been implicated as well.
This matter isn't about who owes whom; at most, it's just that Yuan Tang was kind-hearted and got what he deserved, helping others while benefiting himself.
After Gu Jiao left, the man in gray stepped in: "Your Highness, I'm going to kill her!"
Yuan Tang coldly snorted: "You think killing her is easy?"
The man in gray said, "She's still young, and her martial arts skills are still immature. In another two or three years, I'm afraid we really won't be able to kill her!"
With the gray-clad man's abilities, he should have been able to detect any movement within a hundred paces, but the girl managed to barge right under his nose before he noticed her.
Yuan Tang smiled faintly: "In two or three years, you won't be the same person you are now. What? Are you afraid of her?"
“No!” the man in gray said.
Yuan Tang covered his wound, finally showing a hint of pain: "Alright, this girl is a useful talent. It's better to recruit her into the government than to kill her."
The man in gray thought for a moment and nodded: "There is no one in the world that Your Highness cannot win over."
“Except for my cousin,” Yuan Tang snorted, saying irritably, “I can easily win people over with my methods, but when I open my heart to him, he doesn’t feel it!”
Gu Jiao returned to Bishui Hutong.
Xiao Liulang had finished his duties at the Hanlin Academy and was tutoring Xiao Jingkong in his study.
Gu Jiao didn't disturb the two of them. She first went next door to check on Eunuch Wei's injuries, and then went to her aunt's room.
The emperor suddenly wanted to eat sugar-coated duck, so Gu Changqing went to the kitchen to help the old chief priest pluck the duck feathers.
The emperor was the only person in the room.
Upon seeing her approach, the emperor's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again when he remembered she was Empress Dowager Zhuang's person. He asked indifferently, "Didn't you change the dressing today?"
"I have something to say to His Majesty," Gu Jiao said.
"What is it?" the emperor asked.
Gu Jiao said solemnly, "I know who the assassin who tried to assassinate His Majesty is."
The emperor sneered, "Don't tell me you're just trying to exonerate your good aunt by finding someone to take the blame."
“I’m not that bored.” Gu Jiao took out the colorful tassel from her bosom. “I pulled this off the assassin when I fought him. I asked His Majesty if he recognized this tassel, and he said he didn’t. Does His Majesty know why he doesn’t recognize it? Because the assassin wasn’t from the Zhao Kingdom’s palace, yet he knew His Majesty’s whereabouts perfectly.”
The emperor frowned: "Who exactly is he?"
Gu Jiao stared intently at the emperor and said, "The hostage of Chen."
Gu Jiao's words were half true and half false. Apart from the fact that the tassel was not taken from the assassin, everything else she said was correct.
However, Gu Jiao only had this one tassel, and no other evidence.
Whether the emperor believed her or not largely depended on his trust in Gu Jiao.
This is one of the reasons why Yuan Tang dared to be honest with Gu Jiao. So what if Gu Jiao knew the truth? It would be far-fetched to convict him based solely on a piece of tassel.
Compared to him, the hostage from Chen, the emperor was more inclined to believe that Empress Dowager Zhuang was the mastermind.
The emperor said coldly, "Do you think framing the hostage from Chen will clear your good aunt's name?"
"If Your Majesty wishes to make your loved ones suffer and your enemies rejoice, then let's assume that's the case," Gu Jiao said, turning and leaving.
The emperor was furious.
He thought she had gone to the clinic after working hard every day, but it turned out she was there to find evidence to exonerate that poisonous woman!
That wicked woman is so kind; one after another, people are willing to sacrifice themselves for her!
Consort Jing, Ning An, and the Little Divine Doctor have all been poisoned by that wicked woman!
They will be deceived by her, but he will not!
"I will definitely not!"
That night, the first thing Eunuch Wei did after regaining consciousness was to drag his heavily injured body to visit the Emperor and apologize: "This old servant failed in protecting Your Majesty... Please punish me, Your Majesty..."
The emperor looked at Eunuch Wei, whose hands and neck were bandaged, and said with a pang of pity, "You're not a guard, what are you there to protect me for? Get up."
"This old servant dares not."
"I command you to rise!"
"……yes!"
Eunuch Wei stood up shakily.
The emperor asked him to sit down to answer.
Eunuch Wei said awkwardly, "Your Majesty, please don't flatter this humble servant."
The emperor sighed.
Why am I, all alone, in this predicament?
"Your Majesty," said Eunuch Wei, "this servant just encountered Miss Gu in the courtyard..."
The emperor's gaze turned cold: "So you're here to speak for the Empress Dowager too?"
Eunuch Wei hurriedly said, "How could this servant speak on behalf of the Empress Dowager? This servant was only thinking that when I was lying in a pool of blood, almost dying, Miss Gu was all alone. This servant completely forgot that she was just a woman, and I didn't let her escape, but instead asked her to go and save His Majesty. What were she thinking when she went without hesitation? Knowing how dangerous the road ahead was, and knowing that His Majesty and the Empress Dowager were not on good terms..."
Gu Jiao rescued the emperor without mentioning the details. The emperor thought it was a chance encounter, but he didn't know that she had risked her life to find him.
The emperor's mood suddenly became complicated, and he felt a little uneasy.
With tears glistening in his eyes, Eunuch Wei looked at the Emperor and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, you may not trust the Empress Dowager, but do you not trust the Little Divine Physician either?"
The emperor remained silent.
The next day, Yuan Tang was recuperating in his room when several guards from the Dali Temple and the Honglu Temple came to his residence.
An official from the Court of Judicial Review said, "His Majesty has been assassinated. The Court of Judicial Review has captured an assassin who turned out to be someone close to the Sixth Prince. We have also found the Sixth Prince's personal belongings at the scene. We request that the Sixth Prince come with us to the Court of Judicial Review!"
Yuan Tang frowned.
He hadn't expected Gu Jiao to be so capable of convincing the emperor.
That witness was naturally used by the emperor to frame Yuan Tang. After all, a single tassel wasn't enough to implicate Yuan Tang; Yuan Tang could have easily claimed that his tassel was lost or stolen.
But then a witness suddenly appears, which is really annoying.
Moreover, the witness was one of Yuan Tang's bodyguards.
Not a personal bodyguard, just a third-class bodyguard.
Yuan Tang's face turned ugly: "They actually bribed the people around me. Ha, I really underestimated the Zhao Kingdom's royal family."
Yuan Tang had no way of knowing when the bribe was made. Fortunately, the other party was only a third-class guard, and he didn't have many opportunities to see him on a daily basis, so it was unlikely that he would come into contact with the secrets of the guard.
But in any case, getting bitten by this person makes the situation somewhat tricky.
The man in gray said menacingly, "I'll kill him! Let them die without any evidence!"
Yuan Tang said coldly, "It's no use. He has already confessed and signed the confession. Even if he dies, the evidence will still stand."
Yuan Tang certainly wouldn't just surrender obediently, but having been forced into this situation, it was impossible for him not to give Zhao Kingdom an explanation.
In the end, Yuan Tang had no choice but to sacrifice one of his trusted advisors to save the king.
The staff took all the blame upon themselves, claiming it was their own personal behavior and had nothing to do with Yuan Tang.
This advisor was a retainer in his household during the Chen Kingdom. He was resourceful, loyal to him, and repeatedly offered him advice and helped him escape danger.
When Yuan Tang handed the person over, his heart was bleeding!
He was willing to just send any guard to take the blame, but Zhao Kingdom wouldn't accept it!
It wasn't that he was afraid of death, but rather that his great cause was not yet accomplished, and he couldn't die yet!
...
The news of the emperor's assassination caused a huge uproar in the capital and a minor turmoil in the court. However, the emperor did nothing and completely became a hands-off manager in Bishui Hutong.
Of course, he didn't say that he lived in Bishui Hutong, but announced to the public that he was in the imperial palace.
Although the misunderstanding surrounding the assassination attempt was cleared up, the relationship between the Emperor and Empress Dowager Zhuang remained essentially frozen.
The emperor still disliked Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Empress Dowager Zhuang still ignored the emperor.
Empress Dowager Zhuang left after finishing her game of cards.
At first, Empress Dowager Zhuang tried to hide her card games from the emperor, but when she saw that the emperor was staying there and wouldn't leave, she stopped trying to hide it.
I'm going to play cards, whatever!
The Emperor watched Empress Dowager Zhuang's carefree figure as she went off to play cards, gritting his teeth: "Unfaithful to women, shameless, violating palace rules, disobeying ancestral teachings, unworthy to be..."
Gu Jiao stuffed a thermometer into the emperor's mouth.
"Keep it in your mouth and don't speak," Doctor Gu said sternly.
emperor:"……"
The news of the emperor's assassination caused a great stir in the capital. Although he did not reveal his identity to Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao's family, the only two people in the family who did not guess his identity were Xiao Jingkong and Gu Xiaoshun.
Xiao Jingkong had already accepted the fact that he was Chu Yu's biological father, Uncle Chu, so the slightest disturbance from the outside world had little effect on him.
Gu Xiaoshun is just a simpleton.
Even Gu Yan guessed the emperor's identity.
After all, there's not another person in the whole world who dares to argue with his aunt.
...
The weather has been too hot these past few days, and Gu Yan suffered from heatstroke at Qinghe Academy. Afterwards, Gu Jiao went to the academy to ask for leave for him so that he could recuperate at home.
He used to refuse to go to school, but now that he's actually free, he's quite bored.
He sat listlessly under the shade of a tree in the courtyard, sighing repeatedly.
Gu Jiao went to the clinic, Xiao Liulang went to the Hanlin Academy, Gu Xiaoshun and Xiao Jingkong went to school, and he didn't have a single playmate.
I really want to go to school...
Just as he was feeling bored, a tall figure loomed over him, blocking out the light above his head. Then, a finely crafted wooden bow appeared before his eyes.
Gu Yan was taken aback. He looked at the bow, then looked up at the person holding it.
"It's you?" Gu Yan turned his face away.
Gu Changqing walked around to stand in front of him, pulled on the bow in his hand, and said to him, "Want to shoot an arrow?"
Gu Yan said calmly, "I can't shoot arrows!"
Gu Changqing said softly, "I'll teach you."
Gu Yan had always dreamed of being a chivalrous hero—riding the fastest horse and shooting the farthest arrows. Unfortunately, with his small stature, he didn't even have the chance to mount a horse on his own, let alone shoot arrows.
He couldn't even draw the bowstring!
Gu Yan suppressed the flutter in his heart and said with a look of disgust, "I don't want to!"
Gu Changqing said softly, "Jiaojiao said your body is much better than before, and you should be able to draw the bow. You can try it if you don't believe me."
Of course, I can't say that I specially made the lightest bow to take care of your health, so that even four-year-old Jingkong could draw it.
Men all care about their pride, even Gu Yan, who is only fifteen years old.
Gu Yan glanced furtively at the bow that Gu Changqing had handed him; it was exquisitely crafted, every curve and pattern perfectly reflecting his aesthetic sense.
Most importantly, the bow was even inlaid with jade.
I'm... quite tempted.
Gu Changqing saw through his intentions but didn't say anything. She handed him the bow, walked over, and set up the target: "Give it a try."
Gu Yan reluctantly pulled the bowstring.
He was just trying it out casually, never expecting it to actually open!
He can draw a bow now!
Gu Yan was incredulous, then a surge of ecstatic joy welled up inside her.
Gu Changqing looked at his dumbfounded expression, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curled up slightly.
He also specially made a quiver and ten command arrows, all of which were made lighter.
He took the quiver and placed it on the stone table next to Gu Yan, then handed him an arrow.
It was Gu Yan's first time holding an arrow, and he was a little unsure how to release it.
"Like this." Gu Changqing pressed his hand down and placed the arrow in the correct spot.
Gu Yan's hands were fair and delicate, long and slender. Gu Changqing's hands were also long and slender, with distinct joints, but they had calluses from years of martial arts training.
He merely pressed Gu Yan's hand lightly, and a red mark quickly appeared on Gu Yan's hand.
Gu Changqing felt a pang of heartache, so he quickly let go of her hand and said to Gu Yan, "Try shooting it out."
Gu Yan shot an arrow, but it missed the target.
"It's alright, it's already quite good that you managed to shoot the first arrow." Gu Changqing handed him another arrow.
As a result, Gu Yan missed the target again.
Gu Yan was disheartened.
"Your posture is wrong." Gu Changqing came up behind Gu Yan, took his hands in hers, pulled him into her arms, and gently drew the bow with him. "You need to draw it to this position, aim, look at the bullseye... and release the arrow!"
Both of their right hands released their grip at the same time.
With a whoosh, the arrow left the bowstring and hit the bullseye!
Gu Yan: "Wow!"
Gu Changqing looked at him intently, his eyes full of affection: "Ayan is really amazing."
Gu Yan snorted: "Of course I'm good! Do you need to tell me?"
The little tuft of hair on his head stuck up again.
Gu Changqing couldn't help but chuckle softly.
His laughter wasn't loud, like a warm string under the sun; his smile wasn't exaggerated, and his body trembled slightly as he tried to suppress his laughter, yet it was inexplicably infectious.
Gu Yan had intended to put on a sour face, but suddenly couldn't manage it.
He felt he was being incredibly pathetic, so he turned his head away and said in a way that wasn't fierce at all, "Are you still going to teach me archery or not?"
Gu Changqing tried his best to stop laughing, but he couldn't suppress the upturned corners of his lips: "Teach, teach!"
He wrapped his arms around him from behind again, gently holding his delicate hand, and suddenly regretted that the bow he had made was too rough, as it was hurting Gu Yan's hand.
Gu Changqing spent the entire afternoon practicing archery with Gu Yan.
Although Gu Yan and Gu Jiao are twins born of the same mother, their martial arts skills are worlds apart. Gu Changqing taught them for an entire afternoon, but Gu Yan couldn't hit the target with a single arrow.
Gu Yan was furious, but refused to admit that it was his fault. He snapped, "It's all because of this bow! What kind of bow did you make!"
Gu Changqing smiled slightly: "Yes, it's the bow that's faulty. I didn't make it well. I'll make you a new one tomorrow."
Gu Yan turned his face away: "Hmph!"
...
The emperor recuperated in Bishui Hutong, ignoring state affairs and worldly matters. After a few days of living in a secluded paradise, his complexion improved considerably, and even his hair seemed to have grown thicker.
The old Imperial Academy Chancellor was an excellent cook. The emperor felt that it was beneath him to appoint him as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and that he should be invited to the palace to be the imperial chef.
The liveliest time of day is at night, when chickens fly and dogs bark in the yard, children pinch and shove each other, the aroma of food wafts from the kitchen, and the sounds of laughter, shouting, and cursing echo from the alley.
After being emperor for a long time, one sometimes feels numb, but these past few days his heart has been constantly touched. He is in the midst of it all; this is the Zhao Kingdom under his rule, the home of countless lights that he has devoted all his efforts to protecting.
The emperor decided to return to the palace; he could not allow the power of the court to fall into the hands of others.
However, on the night before he was to return to the palace, he suddenly fell ill with a high fever.
No one expected such a mishap. Gu Jiao went on a house call, Xiao Liulang and the old Grand Master of Ceremonies were working overtime at the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Academy, and Eunuch Wei was still sick and couldn't help much.
Gu Changqing went to Miaoshoutang to invite a doctor.
Empress Dowager Zhuang had just finished playing cards and was about to return to the palace when she heard Yu Ya'er sitting at the door crying.
She went over and asked, "What's wrong?"
Yu Ya'er sobbed uncontrollably, "That...that...His Majesty...the Master...is ill...it's my fault for not taking good care of him...I...I..."
Empress Dowager Zhuang originally did not want to care about the emperor's life or death, but the girl was crying so sadly that she frowned and went into the room to take a look.
After all, he had resold Gu Jiao's medicine before. While he wasn't an expert in medicine, he could at least manage to provide some emergency care.
The emperor had a high fever; his body was burning hot, and he was losing consciousness.
"Go and fetch the wine," Empress Dowager Zhuang instructed Yu Ya'er.
“…Yes! Yes!” Yu Ya’er hurriedly went to the kitchen to get a jar of Shaoxing wine.
No one in the family drinks; this was a gift from the neighbors.
Empress Dowager Zhuang dipped a cotton cloth in wine and wiped the emperor's armpits and forehead.
She saw that Jiao Jiao had brought down Xiao Jingkong's fever, but Jiao Jiao hadn't used strong liquor; instead, she had used a spirit-like liquor from her medicine box.
Jiaojiao calls it alcohol.
This method seemed to have some effect; after about 15 minutes, the emperor's high fever gradually subsided.
But after a short while, it relapsed, and the fever was even more intense than before. No matter how much Empress Dowager Zhuang wiped it, it was no longer effective.
The doctor from the clinic arrived; it was Doctor Lu. He used acupuncture to reduce the emperor's fever, but the effect was minimal.
He wrote out another prescription and asked Gu Changqing to go to the clinic to get the herbs.
Gu Changqing prepared the medicine at the clinic and brought it over.
The emperor refused to drink it.
"You may all leave," Empress Dowager Zhuang said calmly.
"yes."
The group left.
Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at the medicine bowl on the table, then at the emperor who was burning up with fever, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and seemed to be making an extremely difficult decision.
Then she came to the bedside with a look of disgust.
The emperor's high fever came on suddenly, and he felt terrible all over. In his delirium, he seemed to hear someone calling him.
"Hong'er..."
Who is Hong'er?
Is it him?
Who's calling him?
"Hong'er, it's time to take your medicine."
The voice was gentle and warm, a voice he hadn't heard since he grew up.
The emperor was truly delirious from the fever; he didn't remember that he had already ascended the throne, nor did he remember that there was an Empress Dowager Zhuang whom he hated the most.
He was a prince born to a palace maid. He was of low birth and was sent to be raised by Consort Jing.
Consort Jing gave birth to a beautiful younger sister for him, named Ning'an.
He loved his younger sister and also loved his mother, Consort Jing.
Is that the voice of Consort Jing?
Is it Consort Jing calling him?
His mother was the best to him!
"Mother..."
What the emperor himself didn't know was that he was thinking of Consort Jing, but in the end, he called out "Mother Empress" repeatedly.
He grabbed Empress Dowager Zhuang's hand and held it for the entire night.
Are there any monthly passes left?
(End of this chapter)
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