Chapter 255 Chapter 255 Changes
Today, Fu Wenxiao had a rare opportunity to rest at home, so he went to the racecourse with Yu Li to race horses.
Ever since the black horse and the big tiger were trained and could carry Yu Li for a run, she would come to the horse farm from time to time to run a few laps to satisfy her desire.
The two of them galloped around the racecourse for more than a dozen laps, until the black horse's hooves began to tremble again due to its unbearable strength, and Yu Li finally stopped.
Fu Wenxiao came over from behind riding a white horse.
The white horse was very majestic and a perfect match for him, but its speed could not match that of the black horse. Even though the black horse was always frightened by Yu Li and its hooves were trembling, it would never live up to the title of the horse king when it ran.
The two men got off the horses and let the horses graze on their own. They held hands and strolled slowly in the stable, admiring the autumn scenery around the stable.
The weather today is not very good, the sky is gloomy and the autumn wind is bleak.
For Yu Li, it doesn’t matter whether the weather is good or not. It’s a rare day for him to rest at home today, so naturally he wants to relax.
Ever since the old emperor suffered a stroke, Fu Wenxiao has become very busy. He goes out early and comes back late every day. When he comes back, there are always a large number of official documents waiting for him. He is so busy that he sleeps less than three hours a day, and sometimes even two hours.
Yu Li didn't know what he was busy with at first, but later he heard him mention it and learned that he had recently been checking the private accounts of the third prince and some princes and ministers.
These matters were all carried out in secret, and Princess Yuan'an did not trust anyone else except him.
The two chatted casually as they walked.
Yu Li asked him how the investigation of the Third Prince's private accounts was going and how long it would take, and found that he had lost weight, which was quite pitiful.
Fu Wenxiao smiled and said, "We have almost finished the investigation. We can deal with it when the time is right."
Yu Li looked at him. Although he was straightforward enough, she still didn't quite understand. Maybe it was because people in the capital liked to be subtle when speaking, half-hiding and half-revealing, or maybe it was a tacit understanding between smart people.
Although she didn't understand, she didn't ask again. She would know when the time came.
As the two were talking, a guard came over and told them that the Third Prince and Prince Yue were meeting in a teahouse.
Fu Wenxiao waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
After the guards left, his expression did not change. He held Yu Li's hand and continued walking, as if he was sighing: "The world is going to change..."
Yu Li looked up at the sky. It was gloomy and it looked like it was going to rain. The weather was indeed going to change.
"Are you going out tomorrow?" she asked. "If you do, remember to bring an umbrella so you don't get wet."
Fu Wenxiao responded with a smile.
That day, Fu Wenxiao spent a leisurely day at home, accompanying her in horse racing, playing with the big tiger, and mixing perfume, making tea, arranging flowers, and painting.
When he was mixing the perfume, his expression was peaceful and his manners were elegant, fully displaying the noble bearing of a young man from an aristocratic family.
Yu Li sat aside drinking tea and watching him mix the perfume, as if he was appreciating a perfect art.
At this time, he would teach her how to make perfume. Knowing that she preferred the fresh, elegant, natural and peaceful fragrance, he made a soothing lychee scent for her.
Yu Li used this calming incense as an air freshener and found it quite useful.
As for making tea, Yu Li found it very novel. It was very rare to see the shapes of mountains and rivers made in the tea bowl.
After ordering tea, Fu Wenxiao began to paint.
When he finished a painting, she leaned over to take a look and discovered that he had painted her drinking tea by the window. Outside the window was a clump of banana trees, with the right shades of light and dark, which gave a sense of the peaceful times.
The two spent the day leisurely, and after a romantic night, they fell asleep in each other's arms.
In the middle of the night, there was a knock on the door.
Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao were both alert people. They woke up when they heard the noise outside the door. They knew that it was the middle of the night and if there was nothing urgent, the servants would not come to knock on the door to disturb them.
Fu Wenxiao got up, put on his clothes, lit the lamp on the table, and went to open the door.
Yu Li also sat up, hugging the quilt, and heard the steward outside the door announcing that something had happened to the old emperor in the palace.
Something happened? What happened?
Just as I was thinking about it, I saw Fu Wenxiao coming back.
He sat beside the bed, stretched out his hands to hold her in his arms, lowered his head to rub her warm face, and whispered: "Li Niang, I want to go to the palace immediately."
"What happened to the old emperor?" she asked.
"They should have heard about the disappearance of the Imperial Master."
Yu Li blinked. He didn't expect that the disappearance of the imperial teacher would cause such a big shock to the old emperor.
But she didn't feel any guilt in her heart. The old emperor had lived a life of luxury and was supported by the people of the world, but he didn't behave properly as an emperor and was always up to some evil ideas. She really couldn't like him.
Fu Wenxiao stroked her loose hair and said, "I will go to the palace later. I don't know when I will be back. Don't worry. The palace is very safe."
Yu Li sensed something was wrong, "Does the old emperor want to keep you trapped in the palace?"
"Maybe there will be some unexpected events." He said implicitly, "I need to be prepared. You wait for me at home. If anything happens, you can send someone to find mother."
Yu Li seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "I see. Go ahead, and let me know if you have anything."
Although I don’t know what’s going on in the palace, if the old emperor really does... I’m afraid the capital will be in chaos and he won’t be able to get away. Let’s see what happens then.
Fu Wenxiao hugged her tightly for a while, finally suppressed his reluctance, changed his clothes and left.
Yu Li put on a coat and personally saw him out.
When he sent her to the door, he turned around and hugged her, holding her tightly in his arms, his voice a little hoarse: "Li Niang, I'm leaving, you go back and rest."
Yu Li responded and let him hold her, feeling that something was not right with his current mood.
She reached out and patted him gently, "Go ahead."
After seeing Fu Wenxiao off, she leaned against the door in a daze for a while, then closed the door and went back to bed to sleep.
The old emperor’s accident would not affect her from continuing to sleep. She would talk about it after waking up.
**
The carriage moved forward in the imperial city in the night, the sound of horse hooves clattering and wheels rolling over the bluestone road.
When they arrived at the palace gate, the guard saw the token presented by the guard next to him and hurriedly opened the palace gate. This was the token bestowed by the saint on the Duke of Zhenguo. With this token, the Duke of Zhenguo could enter the palace at any time.
The imperial palace was silent and eerie under the cover of night, with tall walls and looming shadows, which made people feel instinctively afraid.
Apart from the patrolling guards, the palace was very quiet at night and there was almost no one to be seen along the way.
Fu Wenxiao's face was solemn, his robe fluttering as he walked through the palace wall in the late autumn night breeze.
The lights in the Yangxin Palace were bright. The guards outside the palace saw him and relaxed a little. They hurriedly said, "Duke Zhenguo, you are here. The Saint asked you to come in quickly."
Apparently, these guards had been instructed not to go in and inform anyone they saw, but to let them pass directly.
Fu Wenxiao entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation and found that the smell in the hall was a bit unpleasant. In addition to the incense usually used by the emperor, the air was also mixed with a strong smell of medicine and the peculiar hot smell of some kind of elixir.
Li Mao came over, looking tired and his eyes were red from staying up late.
"Duke Zhenguo, you are here." His voice was a little hoarse, "The Saint is waiting for you."
As Fu Wenxiao walked inside, he asked, "How is the Saint?"
"…Not very well. He vomited blood and fainted." Li Mao said this with a sad face.
Originally, thanks to Doctor Xu's treatment, the old emperor's health improved significantly and his stroke symptoms improved a lot.
But he had learned the news of the disappearance of the national teacher and the disappearance of the elixir of immortality. This stimulation made him spit out blood and he became listless in an instant. He reluctantly asked for the Duke of Zhenguo to come over and then fainted.
When Li Mao saw the scene, he was so frightened that he still feels scared now.
Fu Wenxiao came to the inner hall and saw several imperial doctors guarding the bed. The director of the Imperial Hospital was also there, giving acupuncture to the old emperor.
The old emperor lay weakly on the bed. His face was extremely thin, with prominent cheekbones. His complexion was gray and even his breathing was very light.
It seems like he will die soon.
Fu Wenxiao stood beside the bed, watching the scene indifferently.
Li Mao looked a little anxious, worried about the old emperor on the bed. When he saw the look on the Duke of Zhenguo's face, he could not help but remain silent.
The Duke of Zhenguo was a child raised by a saint, and was indeed more filial than those princes, and would never do anything that would harm the saint. But he was also the child of Fu Zongxu and Princess Yuan'an, and even if the relationship between father and son and mother and son was cold, it could not erase the blood relationship.
He sighed inwardly.
The Duke of Zhenguo may not do anything directly to the saint, he will do his part; but at the same time, he will also feel indignant about the death of his biological father, seek justice for his parents, and be willing to fulfill his mother's ambition.
Some things don't need to be stated.
Li Mao thought about what was happening in the court and what Princess Yuan'an had done recently, and he knew that no one could stop Princess Yuan'an this time.
Even if the saint can survive this time... he will be powerless to stop it.
The Duke of Zhenguo would not stop it.
Not long after, the old emperor finally woke up.
When he saw Fu Wenxiao standing by the bed, his throat made a hoarse sound, and he raised his hand tremblingly, but dropped it halfway.
His tears fell instantly, slid down from the corners of his eyes, and disappeared into his sparse gray hair, looking quite pitiful.
The imperial doctors heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that he had finally woken up, and tactfully told Fu Wenxiao about the old emperor's condition.
However, no matter how subtle it is, it cannot conceal one thing: the old emperor was so angry that when the blood spurted out, half of his life was gone. I'm afraid...
Fu Wenxiao did not make things difficult for these imperial doctors. He asked them to go down and boil the medicine while he would just stay here.
The imperial physicians were grateful. Although many people feared the methods of the Duke of Zhenguo and thought he was scary, he was not the type to vent his anger on others. In fact, most of the time, he would understand and sympathize with other people's difficulties. The imperial physicians knew this best, and many palace servants who had received his favors also knew this.
After the medicine was boiled, Fu Wenxiao personally served the old emperor the medicine.
The old emperor's lips were trembling and he had difficulty eating, but he showed no impatience and carefully fed him medicine and gave him water, taking care of him even more attentively than the palace servants.
Li Mao was secretly surprised. He didn't expect that the Duke of Zhenguo would also take care of patients.
After taking a dose of medicine, the old emperor finally felt much better and even spoke more clearly.
This soup is a tiger and wolf medicine, and it was decided after discussion among the imperial doctors. It can allow the old emperor to recover to a large extent in a short period of time, so that the old emperor will not die.
"Xiao'er..."
Fu Wenxiao wiped the old emperor's face with a handkerchief and said in a gentle voice, "Uncle, I'm here."
At this moment, he did not call him "saint" nor did he call himself "minister", but just a nephew.
The old emperor looked at him with his cloudy eyes, as if looking through him at another person.
Fu Wenxiao didn't care at all whether he was looking at himself or his mother.
He looked very much like his mother. He had heard before that when people saw him, they would always be reminded of his mother, Princess Yuan'an.
This is an ambitious princess who was raised by the Queen Mother to be extremely restless. As a woman, she dreams of being the supreme ruler of the world.
The old emperor extended his hand to him, Fu Wenxiao lowered his eyes and held his hand.
"Xiao'er..." he said with difficulty, "I... can, issue an order... but..."
Fu Wenxiao's eyes moved slightly, and he said calmly: "Uncle, you once said that it would be great if I were your child."
From childhood to adulthood, no matter what he did, he could always surpass those princes.
His grandmother was the regent empress dowager, and he was the empress dowager's only legitimate grandson. Compared with those princes, he seemed more noble. Even if he was better than those princes in every way, he didn't need to care or hide his shortcomings.
No one dared to rebuke the Empress Dowager's most beloved grandson; even the princes were inferior to him.
The old emperor would occasionally touch his head and sigh, "It would be great if Xiao'er was my child."
At that time, he did not understand what the old emperor meant. It was not until he grew up that he understood a little.
If he was the old emperor's son, the empress dowager would be willing to return power to him, as long as the old emperor promised to pass the throne to him in the future, perhaps there wouldn't be so many problems...
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