Chapter 045: Picking Mulberries (Part 2)
After New Year's Eve, the New Year had arrived and the whole country was celebrating. Emperor Zhengyuan gave a banquet to all officials, but that night he beat to death a chief physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau.
"You are all quacks! You are all quacks!"
Liang Shenfu, the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, put his hands in his sleeves, bowed and stepped onto the white jade steps in the wind and snow. He saw the chief doctors of the Imperial Medical Bureau kneeling outside the hall. Between the crisp sounds of porcelain cups breaking in the hall, there was the furious roar of Emperor Zhengyuan.
When the emperor is angry, it is like thunder from the sky .
Liang Shenfu and the doctors of the Imperial Medical Bureau who were kneeling outside were all trembling with fear, but Liang Shenfu had served the emperor for a long time, and he knew that if he did not go in to comfort the emperor at this time, the entire Imperial Medical Bureau would be like the doctor named Nie Xiang.
Liang Shenfu walked quickly into the hall, lifted the long curtain and went inside. He saw that Emperor Zhengyuan was sweating all over his forehead, with one hand on the edge of the bed, his face was ashen, and he was coughing non-stop. He immediately stepped forward and patted the emperor on the back: "Your Majesty, getting angry is harmful to your health. Please take care of your body..."
"Where's Nie Xiang?"
Emperor Zhengyuan's voice became hoarse from coughing.
"He has been beaten to death."
As soon as Liang Shenfu said this, the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau and other doctors outside the long curtain were so frightened that they bowed even lower.
"I just want to ask, do you agree with what Nie Xiang said?"
Emperor Zhengyuan said in a deep voice.
"His Majesty……"
Everyone trembled, but they all bowed to the ground, " I am terrified!"
None of them knew what the Emperor Zhengyuan wanted to hear at this time, so they could only pray for the Emperor's mercy in such a panic. They hated Nie Xiang in their hearts. As ministers, who dared to say that the Emperor could not have an heir? But Nie Xiang, after drinking a few more glasses of wine, revealed his true intentions in front of the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, how can a person determine the changes in the pulse? I think that Nie Xiang must have been drunk and the diagnosis was wrong. The Imperial Medical Bureau in the palace gathers famous doctors from all over the world. Nie Xiang is only in his twenties and has a bit of the arrogance of a young man... How can he compare to these senior doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau?"
Liang Shenfu said cautiously, "Besides, it's the beginning of the new year, and the government is currently holding a ceremony..."
His words were brief, but they made everyone in the Imperial Medical Bureau outside the long curtain burst into tears of gratitude. They wished they could save his life today so that they could give this eunuch Liang some good stuff like the Ten-Ingredient Tonic Pills tomorrow that could prolong his life.
But Liang Shenfu was not actually speaking for the people in the Imperial Medical Bureau. Instead, the emperor needed a way out of his rage. Emperor Zhengyuan could not really execute everyone in the Imperial Medical Bureau at this time, otherwise Nie Xiang's diagnosis would be exposed and it would hurt the emperor's reputation.
Sure enough, Liang Shenfu's words made Emperor Zhengyuan silent. Seeing the emperor waving his hand, he immediately turned around and said, "My lords, why don't you leave quickly?"
The emperor's anger gradually subsided, and everyone immediately kowtowed heavily, then dragged their limp legs, wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads, and respectfully left the Qinghe Hall.
The hall fell silent. Emperor Zhengyuan lay back on the couch, rubbing his eyelids.
"What Nie Xiang said must not be spread."
"It's saved for me." Liang Shenfu replied softly.
Whether Nie Xiang's diagnosis was true or false, Emperor Zhengyuan actually knew most of it when he saw the reactions of the doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau.
He is now nearly sixty years old.
He and the queen had a son who was named Prince An, but he died at the age of three.
Emperor Zhengyuan took the trouble to consolidate power in the name of new policies in order to prevent the ministers who were keen on stirring up trouble from threatening the emperor for the sake of gaining a reputation for being upright.
However, in his old age, even the doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau did not dare to report his condition truthfully.
The Qinghe Hall was filled with warmth, but Emperor Zhengyuan suddenly sighed, "Liang Shenfu, I... feel a little cold."
Liang Shenfu immediately ordered people to go into the hall to add more charcoal, but he knew in his heart that the emperor was cold. Why was he cold? In the past few years, there was Concubine Wu who always cared for the emperor. Now the emperor was tired of Concubine Wu's crying and refused to see her.
"Your Majesty, Prince Jia has written a letter of greeting."
Liang Shenfu remembered what he saw when he was sorting out memorials, so he walked to the imperial desk, picked up a memorial, and carefully presented it to Emperor Zhengyuan.
Prince Jia?
Emperor Zhengyuan slowly opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the memorial.
Liang Shenfu waited for a long time but the emperor did not reach out to take it. Cold sweat began to form on his forehead. He heard the emperor suddenly say, "Tell Pei Zhiyuan to come to the palace to draft an order to let Prince Jia return to the capital."
At the Emperor's words, Pei Zhiyuan, the Secretary of the Central Secretariat and the Director of Imperial Edicts, went to the palace overnight to draft the imperial edict.
Prince Jia lived in the Tongzhou Palace for fourteen years, and Tongzhou was not too far from Yunjing. After the imperial edict was delivered to Tongzhou by express carriage, Prince Jia and his wife set off. When they arrived in Yunjing, it was the Lantern Festival.
The imperial guards protected them, and the horses and carriages rumbled.
"Your Highness' palms are covered in cold sweat."
In the carriage, Princess Jia, who was about thirty years old and looked sick but still graceful, held her husband's hand.
"Xizhen, I don't know whether it is right to abandon the peace we once had."
Prince Jia was dressed in gorgeous clothes, but he looked dazed.
"Was the peace in the past really peace? Your Highness' heart has never been at peace." Princess Jia patted the back of his hand. "I heard that your teacher has been wandering outside for fourteen years and is already injured and sick. He is willing to come back. Could it be that Your Highness still wants to live in peace?"
When Prince Jia heard her mention the teacher, he felt mixed emotions in his heart, "Yes, no matter what, I should come back to see the teacher."
The carriage entered the palace and stopped outside the Yongding Gate. Liang Shenfu had been waiting there with the eunuchs and palace maids. He bowed to the Prince Jia and his wife, and then said, "Your Highness has been waiting for you for a long time."
Only mentioning "Your Highness" without mentioning Princess Jia means that only Prince Jia is wanted.
"Your Highness, go ahead. I'll be waiting for you."
Princess Jia looked at him with a gentle gaze.
Prince Jia's throat was dry, but he said nothing and walked forward under the guidance of Liang Shenfu. Although he had been away from the imperial city for fourteen years, Prince Jia was not unfamiliar with the road. When he realized that Liang Shenfu had taken a long detour, he looked up and saw a pavilion through the shadows of the snow-covered branches.
Zhaowen Hall.
Prince Jia's pupils shrank and he immediately withdrew his gaze. His whole body tensed up immediately. He felt even colder in his heart. In an instant he understood that this stretch of road must have been caused by the emperor's will.
Walking up the white jade steps and entering the Qinghe Hall, Prince Jia bowed and saluted, but he saw his own panic-stricken face on the mirror-clear ground. He immediately restrained his expression and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"Why not call me daddy?"
From behind the long curtain came the calm voice of Emperor Zhengyuan, "Do you blame me for sending you to Tongzhou?"
"Yong Geng dare not. Yong Geng's princess is weak. Father sent Yong Geng and his wife to Tongzhou to be recuperated. Yong Geng is grateful in his heart." Prince Jia knelt down immediately.
Prince Jia heard some rustling noises coming from inside, followed by the sound of light footsteps. A hand lifted the curtain, and Emperor Zhengyuan, who was wearing a scarlet inner robe, lowered his eyes to look at him.
Prince Jia looked at the reflection of the emperor's clothes on the ground. Then the pair of legs came closer and closer to him and suddenly stopped. Prince Jia immediately looked up.
"It was difficult for me to have children, but you showed your talent when you were a child. When your father, my younger brother, Prince Gong, passed away, I listened to the advice of the court officials and adopted you as my own, naming you Prince Jia..." Emperor Zhengyuan seemed to be reminiscing about the past , but his words suddenly changed. "At that time, you were studying in the Zhaowen Hall in the palace with Xu Hexue. Have you seen the Zhaowen Hall today? Has it changed in any way?"
Xu Hexue, this name was finally mentioned.
Prince Jia bent his knuckles under his sleeves and immediately lowered his head, but he felt that Emperor Zhengyuan's eyes were always on him, and then he casually said: "The scar on your forehead is still there."
The scar is close to the forehead and is not very obvious unless you look closely.
“Daddy!”
Prince Jia was speechless and didn't dare to look up.
How did he get the scar on his forehead? It was from kowtow outside the Qinghe Hall fifteen years ago to save Xu Hexue's life. And a year later, he kowtowed for his teacher Zhang Jing and the deputy prime minister Meng Yunxian outside the Qinghe Hall again.
That's why the scar is so deep and takes so long to disappear.
"Yong Geng, it doesn't matter if this old scar can't be removed, but tell Daddy, how do you think about him now?"
It's obvious who he is.
Prince Jia knew that at this moment the king was not just asking him what he thought of Xu Hexue, but was asking him whether he was willing to acknowledge the imperial decree issued fifteen years ago.
His fingers were tightly curled up, and his face reflected on the ground seemed to be distorted by the uncontrollable emotions, but he clenched his teeth tightly, holding back the needle-like pain in his heart, and his throat was tight:
"Father, you once said that he has a family but no country, that he is a traitor and a scourge to the Great Qi... His crime is unforgivable, and he should be tortured to death."
"Yonggeng and him are no longer close friends."
These words were heart-wrenching and piercing. The muscles and bones of Prince Jia, hidden under his clothes, trembled slightly. Emperor Zhengyuan patted him lightly on the back of the shoulder, and Prince Jia's whole body stiffened immediately.
"Yong Geng, don't go back to Tongzhou yet, just stay in the palace for a while."
…
Xu Hexue was sitting under the eaves, the pages of the book on his lap were blown around by the wind. He pressed it with one finger and raised his head to look up at the eaves. The evening light was very dim.
"Ni Su, it's getting dark."
He said.
"Can't you see clearly? I'll go light the lamp." Ni Su was sewing clothes. She bit off a thread on her sleeve. When she heard what he said, she stood up with one hand on the corner of the table.
Xu Hexue was startled, his cold eyes moved slightly, and he turned around: "No."
"I can still see clearly, but you've been doing it for so long that it hurts your eyes."
"ah,"
Ni Su glanced at the courtyard. It was not too dark yet, so she did not rush to light the lamp. She just took out the dress from the dustpan and shook it. It was smooth satin and snow-white. "Look, I'm done."
"When I made this dress, I was thinking about what color clothes you would wear underneath to look better. After thinking for a long time, I still think red is also suitable for you."
Ni Su turned over the rags and took out a cinnabar red shirt from underneath. It had a very simple cross-collar style and almost no decorations.
"Go and try changing it."
Ni Su's injuries had not yet healed, but she rejected Cai Chunxu's kindness and asked Yu Wen and others to return to the Taiwei Mansion before New Year's Eve. She and Xu Ziling were the only ones left here, so she pushed him to the house opposite.
After stuffing him into the house, Ni Su closed the door. Looking at the snow in the yard that had not been cleaned up, she took a broom and walked down to sweep it.
After just a few moments of scanning, she felt a little hot and her lower back ached. She stood up straight and looked back at the door. "Xu Ziling, are you okay?"
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the door opened.
While cutting the clothes, Ni Su was thinking about how the satin would look like on him, like the white moonlight of frost. However, her imagination could not compare to what she saw at this moment.
The light gold pattern on his round-necked robe shone slightly like fish scales under the sunlight, and the cinnabar red collar around his neck was bright in color. The silk ribbon of the same color cinched his narrow waist and was dotted with a few gold beads, swaying in the wind.
He had a clean and slender bone structure, and an appearance as graceful as the breeze and bright moon. However, compared to the elegant scholars, his figure seemed to be more upright and straight, with a kind of hardness and coldness embedded in his bones.
It was a kind of sharpness that was contrary to the implicitness and elegance of the literati.
But Ni Su couldn't figure out where his fierceness came from.
Ni Su threw down the broom and wiped the light hair on her cheek with the back of her hand. "Although this gift is a little late, it is finally worn by you."
Unspeakable emotions were simmering in his withered chest. Xu Hexue was glad that as a ghost, he could not easily reveal more emotions like ordinary people. He could even speak in a calm but serious voice:
"Thanks."
"How do you thank me?"
Ni Su moved slowly and walked down the stairs.
Hearing the voice, Xu Hexue raised her eyelashes slightly. Perhaps because she had been sweeping the snow for a while, her fair cheeks turned a little pink. At this moment, she looked up at him with clear eyes.
"There's a lantern festival during the Lantern Festival. Would you like to go with me to have a look?"
"Didn't you say you were going to write medical records at night?"
Xu Hexue was stunned for a moment, remembering that she had used this excuse to reject the invitation from Zhou Ting, deputy captain of the Night Police, at the door of the clinic this morning.
"You also know that the only patient who asks me to see a patient is Miss Zhang. How many medical records can I write about?" Even though Ni Su is now known for his appeal for justice on Chongyang Festival, practicing medicine and seeking justice are two different things after all. People's concerns and prejudices cannot be dispelled in a short time.
But Ni Su was not discouraged.
What Xu Hexue couldn't ignore was that he had a longing for the Lantern Festival she mentioned, just like a moth that can't help but fly into a lantern.
The wind and snow entered his sleeves, revealing a section of the inner red sleeve edge of his shirt. The white and red colors were very intense. He nodded gently, compromising with his fantasy for the time being: "Okay."
As night fell, Xu Hexue, wearing a veiled hat and holding a lamp, stepped out of the clinic's door. However, he saw Ni Su, who was walking in front of him, turned around in fright as soon as he stepped down the stairs because of the flames exploding on the ground.
She fell into his arms.
Ni Su was stunned by the cold and indifferent breath and the smooth clothes. She raised her head and could only see his hazy outline hidden by the veil.
Ni Su looked back and saw the thing running all over the ground. The kids who had lit it were all dumbfounded and were dodging in a hurry.
"What is this thing..."
Ni Su frowned.
"It's called 'ground rat', it seems."
The jumping flames awakened some of Xu Hexue's memories.
"Zhao Yonggeng, what do you think this is?"
The young and naive boy leaned against the eaves, lit something, and threw it down. The flames exploded and ran around the courtyard, jumping to the feet of the brightly dressed young boy below. The boy was so scared that he fell on his butt in a pile of snow swept up by the servants, and shouted angrily: "Xu Ziling, you teased me again!"
And he was laughing heartily on the eaves.
"How do you know?"
Her voice brought Xu Hexue back to his senses.
"I once played a trick on my good friend with a mole at my teacher's house," he said.
"You can play tricks on people, right?"
Ni Su found it quite novel.
"I was young at that time, and my actions were a bit absurd." Xu Hexue's voice unconsciously added a touch of nostalgia.
"That's that good friend, right?"
Ni Su said as she walked forward.
"Um."
Xu Hexue raised his eyes, and through the veil, he looked at the fireworks blooming on the eaves. The colorful shadows quickly fell down. He whispered, "It's him."
Considered as a close friend, we have been friends for half our lives.
