zChapter 1033 - Sudden Onset of a Serious Illness (2/2)
But after a short while of watching the fireworks and listening to pleasant words, the Emperor suddenly sneezed a few times in a row, and after sniffling a few times, he got a cold.
In ancient times, a cold was known as a wind-chill, and a more serious one was known as cold damage, seeing the Emperor sneeze, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu did not dare to let him stand in the snow for too long and quickly supported him back to inside the hall together with Xuan Tianmo. But the wine rushed to the Emperor’s head, with the addition of the sudden cold, his head throbbed and he sneezed again and again. Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu saw that it was bad and had no choice but to summon an imperial physician.
The imperial physicians came to check his pulse, and the results of the examination was cold damage as expected, but the Emperor was old after all. Every time he fell sick once, his body would be a little weaker; just like the large hand of a disease demon emptying out his body every single time. In addition, he had drunk alcohol this time, the imperial physicians kept sighing and one even proposed: “To cure His Majesty’s illness, it is best to invite Princess Yu or Yao Xian into the palace. By just using traditional methods, even if the illness is cured, His Majesty’s body would suffer too much deficit.”
But how would Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu and the Eighth Prince be willing to let Feng Yuheng enter the palace to treat the Emperor. The imperial physicians could only bite the bullet and try their best to have the Emperor recover as soon as possible.
The Emperor had cold damage and it was not mild, he proposed to have the Empress come to Zhao He Hall to take care of him, then told Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu: “Beloved Concubine, you should leave the inner hall quickly, Our illness cannot spread to you, this harem and the court are pinning their expectations on you and Mo-er, yes? Don’t worry, We will recover, it will not delay tomorrow’s banquet and will not delay promoting you to Imperial Concubine Gui.”
Putting up an act, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu wiped her tears and was unwilling to leave, she said: “This Concubine does not fear the illness. This Concubine does not covert being Imperial Concubine Gui as long as This Concubine is able to be at His Majesty’s side at all times. This concubine will not be going anywhere and stay here.”
“No.” The Emperor shook his head determinedly, “The position of Imperial Concubine Gui is Our promise to you, We have yearned for this for a long time, We will definitely get it done tomorrow! So beloved concubine, you need to be obedient, just treat it as you have to hold down this harem for Our sake, so you cannot fall sick as well, understand? And Mo-er, think about him as well, Mo-er is Our best candidate, you need to watch Mo-er properly for Us!”
With the Emperor saying these words, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu could not say anything more, and could only leave the outer hall under the determined gaze of the Emperor. She did not actually leave and stood at the outer hall for a while, and only when the Empress came with her maid did she approach and bow, saying: “It was cold outside. His Majesty suddenly caught wind-chill and personally named Your Highness to care for him, so we have to trouble Your Highness the Empress to take care of him.”
The Empress glanced at her with a cold expression, tilting her head slightly, showing a strong aura of the mother of a nation. “This One is the Empress. Taking care of the Emperor when he is ill is my duty. If Yuan Shu has no other business, please leave!”
Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu nodded, yet looked towards the Empress again, saying softly: “Your Highness the Empress needs to take care of His Majesty well, do not betray the deep love of His Majesty. Do not forget, there is still a banquet tomorrow!”
The Empress never liked talking to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. The only one in the harem who dared to threaten her was Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu. Right now, based on the fact that Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu was favoured again, she felt that saying more was unnecessary. She definitely would not get any benefits, yet she was suddenly intimidated and ridiculed by this person again. She lifted her feet and walked towards the inner hall, yet starting pondering as she walked: Judging from Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu’s behaviour, Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu was unhappy that she had come to be the caregiver. But the Emperor listened to Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu now, if it was not Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu who asked her to come, then who was it? The Emperor himself?
While harboring various suspicions, she entered the inner hall of Zhao He Hall, and when she first laid eyes on the Emperor, her heart fell with a “thunk” and her pace quickened on reflex. She approached and grasped the Emperor’s hand, saying softly: “Why is Your Majesty this thin?”
She had not seen the Emperor for a long time, ever since Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu gained favour, she no longer saw him. The Emperor never went to the imperial harem in the past, but she was the Empress, so she still had to meet the Emperor occasionally. Without seeing him for so many days this time, in the blink of an eye, the Emperor had become much thinner. Not only was he thin, the area around his eyes had turned dark and he looked very frail. This kind of frailness was definitely not something that was quickly caused by a bout of cold damage. This looked like a body which had been emptied over a long time, this caused her to think of the Emperor and Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu enjoying themselves every night at Zhao He Hall.
The Empress had a grim expression and wanted to advise him, yet she felt that it was not appropriate for her to say this. It sounded like she, as the mother of the nation, was jealous of a concubine. Not only would she lose her bearing, it would be easy to trigger the Emperor’s annoyance. Therefore, the words at the tip of her tongue were swallowed, and she only said: “Your Majesty should take more supplements, only with sufficient vitality can you strengthen your body.”
The Emperor did not understand the Empress’ words and did not even ponder about it in detail. He only saw it as the Empress asking about his health. So he waved his hand in dismissal and told the Empress: “We are only a little thinner, it is fine. Didn’t they say that being thinner would make one more energetic? We were a little too fat in the past, now is rather good.” After saying this, he grasped the Empress’ hand and looked outside.
The Empress understood his intentions and took the initiative to speak to Eunuch Wu Ying who was standing guard next to the dragon bed: “Leave, all of you! This one has something to say to His Majesty in private.”
Wu Ying glanced at the Emperor once and seeing that the Emperor did not object, even though he was unwilling, he had no choice but to listen to the Empress. Therefore, he brought all the palace servants out of the inner hall, and Fang Yi, following behind him, even closed the door of the inner hall, then stood guard at the gate herself.
Only then did the Empress ask the Emperor: “What does His Majesty wish to tell This Wife?”