"No need to be polite." The emperor held onto the table and sat down on the chair with great effort. The princess kept observing the emperor until he sat down. Then she placed the medicine on the table in front of the emperor. "I think your spirits are much better today than they were last night. Just keep drinking it for two more days. You will definitely get better."
The emperor raised his eyes and looked at the eldest princess and said, "Really?"
"Of course. You saw that you felt very energetic after drinking this medicine before."
The emperor nodded, "That's true, but recently I feel like the more I drink, the worse I feel. Should I stop taking this medicine? Maybe taking too much medicine is not good for my health?"
"How could that be?" Upon hearing that the emperor wanted to stop taking the medicine, the princess' voice was a little excited, but suddenly she felt something was wrong and said slowly: "This medicine is a top-notch tonic, Sister Chen, I finally asked someone to bring it back, it will only benefit my brother's health, just take it, and you will definitely get better."
The emperor looked up at Gu Yanwei who was standing behind the eldest princess. At this moment, Gu Yanwei's gaze also fell on him. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and the eldest princess's purpose was self-evident.
"Since the princess has said so, I will drink it. You can put the medicine aside first. I will drink it after it cools down. I still need to discuss the war with the Xiongnu with Lao Jiu. You can leave first."
The princess looked embarrassed, but she did not dare to disobey the emperor. She just nodded and said, "Then my brother, remember to drink the medicine. It will be bitter if it gets cold."
Watching the eldest princess leave, the emperor stood up with the medicine in his hand and said, "Old Nine is right. It seems that there is really something wrong with my sister." As he spoke, he brought the medicine to the green plant beside him and slowly poured it onto the roots of the plant.
"Father, what should we do now?"
The medicine in the bowl gradually ran out, and the emperor called Eunuch Liu to take the bowl away.
"Don't be in a hurry, I want to see what she wants to do!"
The eldest princess, who had been waiting outside the palace, looked at the empty bowl brought out by Eunuch Liu, smiled triumphantly, and then left.
Ever since Shen Qingqiu told Gu Yanwei the truth about the bowl of medicine for the princess, Gu Yanwei had not cared about anything since she rushed out that day, and there was no news of what had happened to the princess. But she did know from Eunuch Liu that the princess's medicine was still being delivered every day, but the emperor's health was still getting worse day by day.
Seeing Gu Yanwei still busy at his desk, Shen Qingqiu couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to tell His Majesty the truth?"
Gu Yanwei raised his head and glanced at Shen Qingqiu, "I thought you were very patient, but you finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked me."
Shen Qingqiu frowned, "You're almost driving me crazy. The emperor's health is getting worse day by day. It's obvious that the princess has become disloyal. Could it be that she really wants to..."
Before Shen Qingqiu could finish his words, Chen Jie's hurried voice suddenly came from outside the door, "Something bad has happened, something bad has happened."
Seeing him barging in so unbecomingly, Gu Yanwei frowned, "What happened?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor is seriously ill, and the imperial doctors are waiting in the Jincheng Palace."
"What?!" Shen Qingqiu didn't expect it to happen so soon, but even though such a serious thing had happened, Gu Yanwei was still sitting there as steady as a rock.
"I understand. You can go out first."
Seeing his attitude, Shen Qingqiu was very surprised, "Aren't you going to see the emperor?"
Gu Yanwei closed the last book, walked up to Shen Qingqiu and said with a smile: "You are really anxious. If you are so anxious, then come with me to take a look."
Outside the Jincheng Palace, the imperial doctors had already knelt in a row. Looking at this scene, Shen Qingqiu felt that the eldest princess's conspiracy had succeeded, and the emperor was probably going to die.
When they entered the palace, several princes and the eldest princess were there, but the eldest princess was crying the most pitifully.
"Brother, brother, why are you..."
"Imperial Physician Liu, how is our father?" Gu Yanwei glanced at the eldest princess and walked to the emperor's bed.
"To reply to Your Highness, the Emperor's health is badly damaged. I'm afraid, I'm afraid..." Seeing that Imperial Physician Liu was having difficulty speaking, everyone knelt down one after another. The crying of the eldest princess just now gradually spread to a large area.
"Everyone, please leave." The emperor's weak voice came from the bed. Everyone wiped their tears and stood up. "I will take my leave."
"Princess, please stay for a moment." On the bed, the emperor held Gu Yanwei's hand tightly, and Gu Yanwei nodded in understanding.
Seeing everyone leaving, the eldest princess walked towards the emperor's bed, "Royal brother."
The emperor closed his eyes and breathed heavily, "Royal sister, you and I grew up together. You are my most beloved sister. You are the person I trust most in this palace. Now I am about to leave, but I have to hand over this country to someone who can take on the heavy responsibility. Who do you think would be better?"
Seeing that the emperor was about to take his last breath, the princess no longer hid her feelings and said coldly, "I think, my brother, you are so old now, you should have handed over the throne long ago. But I have always cared about you, and I have already thought about the problems you are worried about."
As he spoke, he took out an imperial edict from his sleeve and said, "Brother, you only need to stamp this imperial edict, and leave the rest to me."
The emperor took the imperial edict from the eldest princess and said, "Appoint Wu'er as the emperor."
The emperor smiled coldly and said, "It turns out that my sister has already made plans for me. But Wu'er is your son. How can you stop the discussion among the civil and military officials in the court?"
The princess smiled with a determined look on her face, "Don't worry about that, my brother. As long as your seal is on the imperial edict, they won't be able to cause trouble for more than a few days."
The emperor silently put the imperial edict aside and said, "What if I don't agree today?"
The eldest princess slowly walked to the bed and sat down, saying, "Brother, you are already in this state, why are you still struggling? To be honest, I must take out this imperial edict today, no matter what the process is."
"Humph, I never thought that my well-behaved sister would have such a wolfish ambition." The emperor suddenly turned his head and looked at the eldest princess with sharp eyes, "I want to ask you a truthful question, is there something wrong with the medicine you gave me?"
At this point, the eldest princess no longer hid it and simply admitted it openly.
"Yes, my brother, you have held this position for long enough. It is time to take a break. However, my brother has always been in such good health, and I, Cheng Mei, can do nothing about it."
"You...I have always treated you well."
"Yes, I have always remembered the kindness of the Emperor, but who wouldn't want this enormous power? Do you think all of your sons are respectful to each other? The position of Crown Prince has been vacant for a long time. I don't believe you don't know what they have been fighting for privately. We were all the children of our father, so why can't I fight for my son?"
Looking at his sister who had been blinded by power, the emperor sighed. Before the princess could recover, he actually sat up from the bed. He did not look as weak as before, and his face was rosy. He did not look like someone who had been seriously ill for a long time.
The princess frowned, looked at him in disbelief and asked, "You lied to me?"
"That's right." Gu Yanwei's voice came from behind, and the eldest princess turned around to look.
"I already know that the soup you sent every day contains a large amount of Wu Shi San. In name, it is to replenish father's body, but over time, it has been depleting his body."
"So you are going to use the same trick against me and lure me into a trap?" The eldest princess narrowed her eyes, still unable to believe the reversal before her eyes.
"Yes, Father's medicine has been stopped a long time ago, but he just pretended to be so, and you were so eager to achieve results that you didn't see it at all."
Knowing that the situation was settled, the princess smiled calmly, "Humph, when did you start to suspect me?"
"I wasn't the one who suspected you first. It was Shen Qingqiu. I was lucky enough to bring her into the palace, and then I discovered your conspiracy."
The princess sneered, "It is indeed that girl. I knew she was no ordinary person. She actually let me fall into her hands. Now that I have come to this point, you can kill her or chop her up as you wish. However, Wu'er doesn't know about this and has nothing to do with him. I will bear all the blame!"
"Why didn't you think about Wu'er when you did this?" The emperor slammed the table and said, "Regicide, you know that regicide is a serious crime punishable by the death of nine generations of the clan, so how could Wu'er escape?"
When she heard Wu'er's name, the princess immediately knelt down, tears streaming down her face. "Brother, this is all my fault. I was bewildered. Please let Wu'er go. It has nothing to do with him."
The emperor sighed and said, "Someone, come and take the princess away." Just as he finished speaking, several guards came in and forcibly dragged the princess out.
The princess, who was always noble and beautiful, was now crying and pale, "Brother, I know I was wrong. It's all my fault. Please let Wu'er go."
After a while, peace returned to the bedroom. Just when Gu Yanwei wanted to leave, the emperor suddenly called him.
"Old Nine, how do you think I should deal with the eldest princess?"
"In reply to your Majesty, the crime of regicide is punishable by the death of all nine generations of the clan." The Ninth Prince said truthfully.
"But she is my sister, the only sister I have in this world." The emperor could not hide his pained expression. It could be anyone, why talk about his own sister.
Gu Yanwei certainly knew the position of the princess in the emperor's heart. After hesitating for a long time, he finally stepped forward and said, "Father, the princess has indeed committed a serious crime, but Wu'er is still so young, and the prince consort died in battle for the court. The merits and demerits offset each other, so let's punish the princess more severely."
"What do you think should be done?"
"exile!"
When Gu Yanwei returned to his palace, it was already past midnight, and Shen Qingqiu had been waiting for him until this hour. When he saw him come back, Shen Qingqiu hurried out.
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