These words struck a chord with everyone, and many ministers' expressions changed. A small nation had spoken disrespectfully, and they expected Emperor Chengyuan to be enraged. Instead, he simply smiled, remaining firmly seated in his high position.
The envoy from Yuexiu State sighed softly, as if somewhat disappointed that Emperor Chengyuan did not get angry.
A scheming emperor is obviously not as easy to deal with as an erratic one.
Fang Shan, detached from the situation, briefly made eye contact with Wei Sushen, and suddenly understood what Yuexiu Kingdom's third match would entail. He rubbed the cup and turned it twice, feigning discomfort.
His behavior was too obvious, and even if the Princess of Yuexiu wanted to turn a blind eye, there was nothing she could do.
"Are you okay?" The princess gently handed him tea, as if to help him relieve his headache.
Fang Shan waved his hand and sat slightly stiffly.
He was seated near the front, so Emperor Chengyuan quickly noticed the discomfort. "But where is the discomfort?"
Everyone present was a shrewd person and thought that His Majesty was too kind to the Chen family, and they didn't know whether it was good or bad.
A thin layer of sweat formed on Fang Shan's forehead, and he looked genuinely distressed. "Your Majesty, I'm afraid I'm tired from chopping rocks just now."
Emperor Chengyuan's eyelids twitched: "Your health is important, go back and rest first."
Fang Shan bowed and thanked Emperor Chengyuan for his kindness with tiredness, then left early.
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but when he walked around the people sitting there and left, they all relaxed a little, as if they had seen off a plague god.
Wei Sushen also experienced this state. Fang Shan took a deep breath and walked to the shade of a tree in the distance where no one noticed him. Through the lush branches and leaves, he mouthed to Wei Sushen:
I will be back.
Wei Sushen: "..."
Fang Shan, always a man of his own ideas, dismissed the maid who was leading the way, saying he wanted to sit in the pavilion in the Imperial Gardens for a while, waiting for his brother to return. When he was alone, he slowly turned towards the Imperial Hospital.
Under the moonlight, shouting "666 Transformation" would make even a shameless system feel a little uncomfortable.
When she was almost at the Imperial Hospital, her face still slightly flushed, she stood under a tree, waiting for the wind to blow away the scent of powder on her body before going in.
There was an imperial physician on duty in the palace every night, and he was surprised to see Fang Shan.
Fang Shan: "Your Highness is accompanying His Majesty to receive the envoys. He doesn't need my pulse diagnosis for the time being, so I came over to take a look."
Most of the doctors on duty at night were young doctors who had just arrived at the Imperial Hospital. They didn't doubt what he said, and the two of them started chatting. Not long after, a young eunuch suddenly came running in, saying that the emperor had summoned them.
The young doctor was a little frightened and quickly stuffed some small change into the eunuch's pocket to ask about the situation. Time was urgent, so the eunuch quickly explained that the Yuexiu Kingdom wanted to exchange medical skills.
The young imperial physician was stunned: "Then we should go and summon Imperial Physician Zhao to the palace."
Doctor Zhao has the longest experience and the highest medical skills, so this is the only way to avoid bringing shame to the Imperial Medical Bureau.
The young eunuch was actually also confused, but after listening to the steward's words, Emperor Chengyuan hinted that he should find an inconspicuous imperial physician.
Fang Shan curled his lips. He could understand that although most people looked down on the witch doctors of Yuexiu Country, believing them to be cunning and cruel, they could not deny that these witch doctors possessed extremely advanced medical skills.
If an experienced old doctor lost, Emperor Chengyuan would lose face. On the other hand, if a young doctor with little experience lost, it wouldn't have much impact.
"Don't delay." Seeing the young doctor standing there motionless, the young eunuch urged.
The young imperial physician cast a pleading glance at Fang Shan, who unexpectedly nodded in response and said to the young eunuch, "I'll go."
Under the grateful gaze of the young imperial physician, Fang Shan followed the young eunuch back to the palace banquet with extraordinary calmness.
After witnessing someone changing their username in a short period of time as if nothing had happened, Chen Yan felt extremely strange.
Not many people paid attention to Fang Shan. Most of them were staring at the little mouse in the hands of an old man, and their expressions were not very good.
The nails of all Yuexiu witch doctors are typically blue, a result of their long-standing interest in studying poisons. The old man was no exception; his condition was even more severe, with half of his fingers completely black and blue.
The little mouse in his palm was fed the poison. Blood was flowing from its mouth and part of its fur was wet. Soon, it kicked its legs and was only one step away from death.
The witch doctor bled the mouse gently and fed it some strange powder. The mouse struggled violently, its body convulsing in pain, but it managed to stay in a half-dead state.
The witch doctor moved his fingers, and the little mouse followed his instructions.
Fang Shan glanced at the expressions of the ministers around him and knew that half of the Yuexiu envoy's goal had been achieved. These people who had a silver spoon in their mouths all day had never seen such a method. Even if they were good at hiding it, there was still a trace of horror in their eyes.
He didn't miss anyone's expression, and his peripheral vision froze slightly as he glanced at Concubine Li. Unlike the others who were terrified by the witch doctor, this Concubine Li seemed quite interested.
Fang Shan lowered his eyes and raised his eyebrows.
Emperor Chengyuan's expression was still unfathomable. Fang Shan simply said "I've done my best" as he saluted.
Fang Shan took the half-dead little mouse directly from the witch doctor.
"Are you sure you want to use it again?" The old man's voice was very hoarse, and the tone of his voice became unpleasant because of the prolonged tone.
Fang Shan smiled and began to ask about the resurrection incident. However, he quietly released Shan Shan and let it drill into the mouse's body to eat the remaining toxins.
The witch doctor looked very proud and said bluntly, "As long as there is still a breath left, I can pull it back from the gates of hell."
"Why do I feel like I'm pushing souls that should be sleeping into hell?"
The witch doctor was about to sneer at his rude remarks, but Fang Shan had already started giving him acupuncture, so he naturally couldn't make a sound to disturb him.
The acupuncture points he inserted were clearly incomprehensible to the old man.
"Are you really the imperial physician?" The old man couldn't help but looked doubtful.
Being the only one present who knew medicine, Fang Shan was not afraid of being exposed and continued to pretend to give the acupuncture. He estimated that Shan Shan had almost absorbed the poison and removed the needle neatly.
Almost at the same time as the silver needle was taken out, the mouse regained its energy and jumped out of Fang Shan's palm. The instinct to escape prompted it to rush under the table.
That was where the noble ladies sat. They stood up in shock. The palace servants were busy catching mice. Fang Shan smiled at the witch doctor who was still trying to control the mice and said softly, "Don't waste your energy."
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell the outcome of this match. Emperor Chengyuan maintained the same expression, his face showing no joy after a desperate counterattack. Instead, he said calmly, "Each has his merits, so it's a draw."
After a pause, he instead used words to rebuke Fang Shan: "It's quite good that you have such ability at such a young age, but you still have a lot to learn. You must not be arrogant or conceited."
Fang Shan nodded in agreement.
The envoy's face was already quite ugly. Emperor Chengyuan seemed to be criticizing Fang Shan, but in fact he was clearly mocking Yuexiu.
Any little imperial physician can outperform Yuexiu's carefully selected witch doctor. Doesn't this indirectly highlight their arrogance?
The envoy from Yuexiu Kingdom did not show it on his face, but he secretly hated Fang Shan in his heart.
Chen Yan's sister and this young imperial physician, after a dinner, had become people he wanted to get rid of as soon as possible.
Fang Shan won the competition, but Emperor Chengyuan didn't give him any rewards, as if it was truly a trivial matter in his eyes. The more indifferent the other party seemed, the uglier the Yuexiu Kingdom's envoy's expression became.
Not long after Fang Shan left, the chief eunuch came out with a small box in his hand. Inside was gold, silver and jewelry. He said it was a private reward from His Majesty and was not allowed to be made public.
Fang Shan originally wanted to give some to the eunuch, but the latter refused. Since he was able to sit in the position of chief steward, he naturally knew that some things could be taken and some could not.
After careful consideration, Fang Shan decided to return to the General's Mansion with Chen Yan under the identity of Chen Liuliu. Wei Sushen's piano music had just caused him a headache, and the host's heart was probably also broken by his own singing. Meeting now and spending another night together would be completely hurtful to each other.
After waiting in the carriage for a long time, Chen Yan finally appeared.
"Well done." This was the first sentence he said to Fang Shan.
Fang Shan smiled and looked out of the carriage: "It seems that you really hate Yuexiu Kingdom."
"It's just a different stance."
Chen Yan was a man of courage at heart. If he fought a fair battle, no matter how many soldiers he lost, even if he died on the battlefield, it wouldn't matter. The problem was that Yuexiu preferred to put on a show, appearing to be subservient while secretly engaging in shady tactics.
Fang Shan's voice sounded somewhat perfunctory: "It is quite troublesome."
Chen Yan saw through his thoughts and said calmly, "You haven't given up the position of Crown Princess yet?"
Fang Shan stretched out a finger and shook it: "I am determined to win."
"...With all due respect, that's unlikely."
Fang Shan: "Your Majesty will agree, as long as..."
He whispered a few words to Chen Yan, who had a complicated expression on his face, but finally nodded slowly.
·
Emperor Chengyuan has been in a bad mood recently. Some censors have impeached the crown prince for his appalling musical skills. No one is perfect, but in the eyes of these censors, the crown prince must be perfect.
Since the reports from the censors were all true, getting angry and scolding them would be criticized. Emperor Chengyuan was at a loss as to how to deal with the situation. He felt that the prince's piano skills were beyond help and further training would result in the same outcome.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince should set an example..."
As soon as the censor started speaking, Emperor Chengyuan felt even more troubled and interrupted, "I remember you also have a son."
The censor was stunned and nodded.
"How old?"
"Seventeen."
Emperor Chengyuan rubbed his eyebrows and said, "She's about the same size as Chen Aiqing's sister."
He just said it unconsciously, simply wanting to change the subject and not wanting to listen to the censor's nonsense. But as soon as he said it, the censor's expression was horrified. Emperor Chengyuan only took a glance and understood what he was afraid of -
Arranged marriage.
Chen Liuliu has the entire general's mansion behind her, so he must not treat her harshly after marrying her. Thinking of the scene of her splitting a huge rock with one hand, the censor felt a little unsteady on his feet.
"I forgot, Your Highness, you are not yet twenty. Not only do you have to share in government affairs, you also have schoolwork to study." The censor changed his previous sharp tone and spoke carefully. "It is understandable that you neglected music and arts."
Emperor Chengyuan moved his fingers and suddenly discovered an extraordinary fact: Chen Liuliu's role was greater than he had imagined.
The next few days proved his suspicions true, as some fearless civil officials began to speak out about the importance of peace, the need to adopt a conciliatory policy towards the neighboring small states, and the claim that Chen Yan's soldiers were too cold-blooded. Whenever this happened, Emperor Chengyuan would hint at his desire to grant the marriage, and the normally chattering ministers would instantly fall silent.
…
General's Mansion.
Earlier, Chen Yan built a flower stand, and Fang Shan sat under it to enjoy the cool air, eating cold grapes with a comfortable look on his face.
"Are you really going to do this?"
Fang Shan nodded: "I heard that the palace will be holding a beauty pageant soon. This is a good opportunity."
Emperor Chengyuan was in his prime, and the annual selection was still carried out as usual.
Chen Yan looked at him and thought of the conversation in the carriage that night -
"I just need to let His Majesty know a little bit. For example, if I can't become the Crown Princess, I might very well participate in the selection out of empathy."
Chen Yan: "Aren't you afraid that His Majesty will marry you off to a minister in a fit of rage?"
Fang Shan curled his lips: "Unless he wants to make a mortal enemy."
"...Why are you so stubborn?"
"Because we are destined to be a family," Fang Shan said with a bright smile, "a family that loves each other."
If she couldn't become the Crown Princess, she would become the Crown Prince's stepmother.
It was a hot day, but Chen Yan suddenly shivered.
The author has something to say: Emperor Chengyuan: ...Don't think about it, you are the only one who can be the Crown Princess!
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