Chapter 98 Hu Hai Enters the Dream [Jinjiang Authentic Edition Exclusive Release·Where is the Emperor?]...
After hearing his eldest son's words, the First Emperor pursed his lips and remained silent for a while before he sighed softly:
"Fusu, what Hu Hai did as predicted by the Xuanniao prophecy was sheer inhumanity and utterly brutal. Considering his young age and innocence, I will show him some mercy and keep him in the capital to receive instruction. When he grows up, I will send him to the grasslands as a hostage to marry a Hu woman from beyond the Great Wall."
"Modun is a man not to be underestimated," the First Emperor thought, recalling the historical records of him bullying Liu Bang and flirting with Empress Lü. He couldn't help but frown slightly. "This Xiongnu prince has a cruel temper, a wolf cub who can't be tamed."
"If he returns to the grasslands and becomes Chanyu someday, he wouldn't dare to attempt anything to intrude upon the Central Plains while I'm still here. But if I'm gone, although I'm intelligent, Maodun is over ten years older than me. I'm afraid he might take advantage of the emperor's remoteness and rebel against me."
"Although Hu Hai is inherently foolish and evil, and often fails more than he accomplishes, he is of noble birth. As a prince of the Qin Empire, when he goes to the outer reaches of the Great Wall and settles on the grasslands, even if he can't suppress Maodun within the Xiongnu tribe, with Zhao Gao's support, he can still cause countless trouble for Maodun. The two of them, master and disciple, together, will be enough to keep Maodun busy."
Upon hearing this, Fusu followed his father's thoughts and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart.
Things in the world are so unpredictable. Last year, when Maodun just came to Xianyang from the border town, he overheard the conversation between his father and Maodun in the Zhangtai Palace. At that time, when he heard that his father wanted to exile his younger brother to the grassland to live a hard life, he felt sorry for him and felt very sorry for his younger brother being abandoned by his father. But now, that feeling of reluctance and heartache for Hu Hai has all turned into nothing in the terrible prophecy of the Xuanniao.
The emperor would not kill his son, nor would he draw his sword to kill his brother. The prophecy given by the black bird was like a sharp sword that not only severed the father-son relationship between the emperor and Hu Hai, but also severed their brotherly relationship.
Without looking at the past life and only looking at the present life, the marriage with the Huns seemed a little unfair to Hu Hai, but since there was already a gap in the hearts of both sides and the resentment could not be reconciled, it was better for them to separate by distance and live their own lives.
Fusu lowered his eyelashes to hide the complex emotions in his eyes, and let out a long sigh in his heart.
As noon approached, the sky outside the window became slightly gloomy again.
Qin Ying, who had finished her morning classes in the side hall, happily walked towards the main hall of Zhangtai Palace on her short legs.
At the same time, in the side hall of the Qinxue Palace.
Zhao Gao, with a slightly red face and pale lips, also endured the pain in his forehead. He used the wet handkerchief in his hand to wipe the face and neck of Hu Hai, whose face was red from the fever on the bed, while counting silently in his heart.
Almost two quarters of an hour had passed since he asked the eunuch guarding the gate to go to Zhangtai Palace to report to His Majesty the news that the Eighteenth Prince was ill. If nothing unexpected happened, the imperial physician should have come.
Zhao Gao thought about it, closed his eyes, swallowed his saliva, and moistened his dry and sore throat.
Hu Hai had been running a fever for half the night and half a day. Not only did the child have a high fever all over his body, burning like a furnace from head to toe, but even Zhao Gao, an adult, felt very uncomfortable, with dizziness, sore throat, stuffy nose, warm hands and face. He must have caught a cold last night.
Zhao Gao covered his mouth and coughed twice, then stood up from the bed holding a handkerchief, holding the copper basin. He was about to endure the itch in his throat and go outside to change the basin of water quickly, when he heard hurried footsteps coming from outside the hall.
After a while, several people dressed in the clothes of court doctors hurried in, carrying medicine bags and medicine boxes on their shoulders.
Seeing that the middle-aged man leading the group was actually Xia Wuqie, the emperor's personal physician who was often favored by his majesty, Zhao Gao's eyes lit up. He quickly put down the copper basin, stepped forward, and saluted him with a hoarse voice:
"Doctor Xia."
As the personal physician to His Majesty, Xia Wuqie had naturally met Zhao Gao, the Secretary of the Secretariat, many times. Although his relationship was not as close as Meng Yi's, they were half-acquaintances.
After the two men greeted each other, Xia Wuqie walked forward a few steps with his medicine bag on his back and knelt down beside the bed. He looked at the Eighteenth Young Master's face, placed his right hand on the Eighteenth Young Master's forehead, and after feeling the scorching heat coming from the palm of his hand, he couldn't help but frowned, took out the pulse pillow from his medicine bag, and held his breath to carefully check the little kid's pulse.
Zhao Gao covered his mouth with his hand, turned his head and coughed twice, then walked lightly to the end of the bed, lowered his eyes to look at the expression on Xia Wuqie's face, and silently thought in his mind.
Just looking at what happened in the past few days, he could tell that His Majesty had somehow become completely fed up with the Eighteenth Young Master after returning from the "assassination" in the western suburbs. But biological father and son are biological father and son after all. Even if His Majesty was fed up with the Eighteenth Young Master, after learning that his youngest son was ill, he would still send Xia Wuqie to treat the Eighteenth Young Master as soon as possible. This shows that this youngest son still holds some weight in His Majesty's heart.
Perhaps the master and disciple could take this opportunity to leave the Qinxue Palace, but the Eighteenth Young Master was already useless. If he still wanted to go back to the Zhangtai Palace to work, he had to think of other ways.
Zhao Gao pursed his lips in thought. In the quiet side hall, everyone was silent.
Only the little kid lying on the bed with a flushed face seemed to be confused by a fever, and uttered a few indistinct mumblings in a very low voice.
After taking the pulse, Xia Wuqie used his fingers to pry open the Eighteenth Young Master's eyelids and took a look. He took out a few silver needles from the needle bag and inserted a few needles into the little boy's acupuncture points. After forcing out a few round drops of blood, he took a brush and wrote a prescription on a scroll of bamboo slips.
After writing the prescription, Xia Wuqie handed it to the three young doctors who followed him. The doctors looked at the prescription and took out and prepared the medicine from the medicine boxes they were carrying.
Xia Wuqie stood up from the bedside and took out a thick handkerchief and a small jar of wine from his medicine box. Under Zhao Gao's puzzled gaze, he explained:
"Zhao Zushi, it's cold in the dead of winter, a time when young children are extremely susceptible to illness. From my pulse, it seems that the Eighteenth Young Master didn't cover himself properly with a quilt when he slept yesterday, and caught a cold during the night. This caused the wind and cold to invade his body, causing a high fever all over his body."
"You can take off the young master's nightgown, take this small jar of wine, soak a handkerchief in it, and wipe the Eighteenth Young Master's palms, armpits, chest, back, and soles of his feet. Then, add the decoction. By this evening at the earliest, the Eighteenth Young Master's fever will be gone."
Zhao Gao, who looked worried, felt as if a particularly difficult problem had been solved in an instant when he heard this. He quickly stretched out his hands to take the thing from Xia Wuqie's hands, and smiled gratefully at Xia Wuqie:
"Thanks so much to Doctor Xia, who took the trouble to come here and treat the Eighteenth Young Master."
"Alas, I'm not afraid of being laughed at by Imperial Physician Xia," Zhao Gao said with a wry smile. "I, Imperial Physician Xia, have truly betrayed Your Majesty's trust and am unworthy of being the Eighteenth Young Master's teacher. Ever since Your Majesty returned from outside the palace the day before yesterday, I sent someone to bring the Eighteenth Young Master to the Diligent Study Palace to listen to the Royal Instructions. I was so anxious that I couldn't help but make him understand Your Majesty's aspirations for success. I've been unknowingly a bit strict with him and neglected his care. That's why he studied so hard and caught a cold last night. It's all thanks to Imperial Physician Xia's timely arrival that we were able to prevent him from becoming seriously ill. You can say you saved my life."
"Gao would like to express his sincere gratitude to Doctor Xia."
Zhao Gao held the thing in his arms and bowed deeply.
Seeing Zhao Gao's sincere expression and bitter smile, Xia Wuqi couldn't help but sigh inwardly, thinking that Zhao Gao was unlucky to be implicated by the naughty Eighteenth Young Master. He stepped forward and took Zhao Gao's pulse while supporting him, then smiled and bowed, saying:
"Zhao Zushi is really too kind. Wuqie is here to carry out the emperor's orders."
"When Wuqie returns to Zhangtai Palace to report to Your Majesty, I will explain the situation here in detail to Your Majesty."
"Ahem, I'll have to trouble Doctor Xia then."
Zhao Gao coughed twice and bowed again in gratitude.
Xia Wuqi nodded, bent down to organize his medicine bag, and went to look at the medicine bags prepared by the three doctors who accompanied him with the medicine bag on his back. He went outside to find a place to burn fire and boiled the medicine in a casserole. After some trouble, he saw that the warm dark brown medicine soup had been drunk and vomited by the comatose Eighteenth Young Master. He left two doctors here to take care of the Eighteenth Young Master, and took the remaining doctor back to Zhangtai Palace to report to His Majesty.
In the inner hall of Zhangtai Palace.
Qin Ying stayed with her silly father and grandfather.
After he sat aside and listened to what Xia Wuqi told his grandfather, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
What a young master, Eighteen, who “studied hard and caught a cold”!
When the Shangshu Zushi was preaching, he said, "The professor is too harsh!"
Haha - as expected, when Zhao Gao and Hu Hai, this pair of "treacherous ministers and foolish rulers", get together, they do nothing but cause trouble!
The First Emperor listened indifferently to Xia Wuqie's description of his youngest son's illness. After a moment, he looked at Xia Wuqie and raised his eyebrows and said:
"Wuqie, you said Zhao Gao is also sick?"
Xia Wuqie nodded and said:
"In reply to your Majesty, I noticed that Zhao Zushi's complexion was also not good. His speech was nasal and muffled, and his voice was slightly hoarse. I took his pulse and found that he, like the Eighteenth Young Master, had caught a cold last night."
The First Emperor nodded, his eyes narrowed slightly:
"Since both of them have caught a cold, send two more eunuchs to the side hall of the Diligent Learning Palace to keep a close eye on the master and disciple. Don't let them come out without permission. It's freezing cold, and it would be bad if they catch the others too."
Xia Wuqie hurriedly leaned forward and said "yes", then he bowed and took his leave with the medicine bag on his back.
When the fat little Ying who was sitting beside him heard what his grandfather said, his smile almost flowed from the corners of his eyes to the corners of his mouth.
He didn't know whether to praise the master and disciple Zhao Gao and Hu Hai for being "too clever by their own good"!
Anyone with a discerning eye could see clearly that they were planning to impress the Grandfather by pretending to be "ill," awaken his compassionate heart, and thereby free them from their confinement and quickly escape from the Palace of Diligent Learning. They hadn't expected that the Grandfather was determined to punish the master and apprentice this time, and instead, they had made matters worse, and the Grandfather's "confinement" had tightened even tighter, right?!
…
"you?"
By the afternoon, Zhao Gaoqiang, who had troubled the young doctor who stayed in the Qinxue Palace to check his pulse and prescribe medicine, perked up. He had just followed Xia Wuqi's instructions and wiped the Eighteenth Young Master's body with wine and a handkerchief. He was about to go out with the copper basin to change the water when he saw that the black-robed eunuchs who were originally standing at the door not only did not withdraw, but two more people appeared. He was completely stunned.
The two newly arrived eunuchs in black saw the stunned expression on Zhao Gao's face. Without waiting for him to speak, they raised their hands and took the warm copper basin from Zhao Gao's hand, saying in a calm voice:
"Zhao Zushi, His Majesty has learned of the Eighteenth Young Master's illness. Given the ease with which winter colds spread from person to person, His Majesty has ordered that you and the Eighteenth Young Master remain in the side hall and are not allowed to venture out at will, lest you spread the illness and infect others."
Zhao Gao's heart sank to the bottom of the valley when he heard this thoughtful explanation, but a bright smile immediately appeared on his pale face. He first bowed respectfully in the direction of the Qinxue Palace, then looked at the black-robed eunuch who was speaking in front of him and said with an embarrassed smile:
"Then I'll have to trouble you to bring a basin of hot water to the Eighteenth Young Master, and also bring Jiang Gao's medicinal soup so that we can quickly dispel the cold in our bodies."
"Can."
The eunuchs in black nodded and went about their business.
Zhao Gao turned around with a smile on his face. The moment the two black lacquered wooden doors closed heavily behind him, the smile on his face instantly disappeared and the expression in his eyes became extremely cold.
Seeing the two doctors standing guard near the bed, he coughed heavily a few times, and when the two young doctors looked over, he bowed and said:
"Please, two doctors, take care of the young master for me. I feel a little dizzy and want to rest for a while."
The two young doctors nodded:
"Zhao Zushi, please do as you please."
Zhao Gao smiled gratefully, glanced at the Eighteenth Young Master with an indifferent look, and returned to his resting room with a flick of his sleeves, leaving Hu Hai lying on the wooden bed and mumbling vaguely.
The two young doctors standing by the bed could barely make out the Eighteenth Young Master's hoarse voice calling out "Mother" a few times, but they had no idea what the rest of the mumbling was.
Hu Hai, whose whole body was burning with fever, naturally had a very vague understanding of the situation outside.
There was only one thought in his confused mind - it's hot!
It's hot!
While in a coma, Hu Hai only felt a bitter taste in his mouth, a fever in his body, and a headache. He still vaguely remembered what his teacher taught him: if he wanted to leave the Qinxue Palace, the only way was to get sick.
He did fall ill as planned, but when the sick Hu Hai wanted to open his eyes to see what was going on, he found that his whole body seemed to be heavily pressed down by something invisible, leaving him with no strength at all, and he couldn't even open his eyelids.
He felt as if he was thrown into a furnace and roasted. His whole body was hot and painful. Suddenly, several noises rang in his ears. Before he could hear who was talking, bitter water was fed into his mouth. He frowned and tilted his head, struggling not to drink it, but someone pinched his nose and chin, and used a small spoon to press his tongue and force the water into his mouth!
Hu Hai was so angry that he almost exploded like a puffer fish! He was extremely angry!
who? !
Who on earth was so bold as to feed him such bitter sugar water against his will?!
Humph! Damn it!
What a daring thief! When he opens his eyes and recovers, I'll make sure my father skins alive all those who bullied him!
When Hu Hai was drinking the medicine, his consciousness was briefly stimulated by the bitter medicine and he became clear-headed for a while. However, after he finished drinking the medicine, his consciousness became groggy again.
After forcing himself to drink the bitter medicine, Hu Hai felt as if he had struggled to crawl out of a terrible furnace and was showered with cool rain. The painful feeling of being burned by the heat all over his body dissipated a lot.
At a certain moment, Hu Hai, who had a heavy body, felt that his whole body became light. He got up from the bed uncontrollably like a feather, floated out of the hall, and subconsciously headed towards Zhangtai Palace.
It has been many days since he last saw his father. The six-year-old Hu Hai felt extremely wronged and wanted to complain to his father!
Not only did that cowardly little bastard Qin Ying slander the emperor and deceive him, causing him to cruelly confine him to this side hall and make him study that damn "Wang Xun", but there were actually people in this side hall who were so bold as to pinch his nose and chin and feed him bitter soup!
It’s against heaven!
These people are really trying to deceive God!
Kill!
Kill them all!
He wanted to go to Zhangtai Palace to pay a visit to his father as soon as possible, to complain to him in person and tell him about his grievances, and ask his father to chop off the heads of all the villains who bullied him and skin them alive!
Filled with resentment and hatred, Hu Hai hurried to Zhangtai Palace at a rapid pace.
However, before he even entered the door, he felt that something seemed wrong with Zhangtai Palace.
Hu Hai looked up in confusion and discovered that the usually solemn and majestic century-old Qin King's bedroom was now draped with layers of glaring mourning clothes!
Even if Hu Hai was naughty and unlearned in his daily life, he understood what a horrifying scene it was to have mourning clothes hung outside the Zhangtai Palace!
A terrible thought popped into his mind. The little kid was startled and quickly stepped over the palace threshold and walked quickly inside.
The outer hall, which used to be lit with several oil lamps and could accommodate civil and military officials to discuss government affairs, now not only looks dim, but also very empty. Not to mention seeing an official in the outer hall, not even a palace maid can be seen. It is so quiet that it even looks a bit scary.
What's going on?
[Where's the Emperor? Is he really dead?!]
With his heart in his throat, Hu Hai was walking inside nervously. Just as he reached the door of the inner hall, he heard a familiar middle-aged male voice coming from inside through the huge map screen.
"His Majesty."
Hu Hai was delighted when he heard this, thinking to himself, "It seems my father is still alive."
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