Chapter 138: One Year Old (I)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
The Shadow Guardians came back in about an hour.
It turned out that Consort Rong was really ill. Because Long had ascended the throne, Consort Rong naturally wouldn’t be paid much attention to and the servants didn’t respect her as before.
Besides, Consort Rong was a woman of mild temperament. She devoted herself to practicing Buddhism and didn’t care much about others affairs in the palace.
As time went on, the servants became more and more inattentive to her.
About ten days ago, Consort Rong caught a cold. It wasn’t very serious at first, but because the servants didn’t take it seriously and even didn’t make her any ginger soup, her health worsened two days later.
A maid in Consort Rong’s palace went to send for a doctor, but she didn’t expect to encounter some other things on the way and a maid from Xushui Palace talked with her for a long time. When the maid remembered that she should have gone to send for a doctor, it was almost curfew.
So the maid did not go there.
Unexpectedly, Consort Rong had a high fever and fell into a coma that night.
Two eunuchs and two maids in the palace were frightened. They were worried that if they went to fetch a doctor at that time, they would be held responsible and punished later!
Therefore, the four servants began to treat Consort Rong on their own.
After one night’s treatment, Consort Rong’s fever was brought down a little, but it didn’t go away.
The servants were afraid to be punished, so no one volunteered to fetch a doctor for her. They secretly got some medical herbs and decocted them in the palace. Half a month just pa.s.sed like this.
However, Lady Shan suddenly went there without any reason the previous day.
At the sight of Consort Rong lying in bed, Lady Shan began to make a fuss.
She asked the servants if they had asked an imperial doctor for help.
The servants didn’t dare to tell her the truth. Instead, they told her that they had gone to ask the doctors, but no one came.
Lady Shan was p.i.s.sed off… So she went to beg His Majesty.
Long rubbed his forehead. “That’s it? Just because of several servants?”
s.h.i.+ went up behind Long and helped him rub his forehead.
Long sighed. “Alas… What’s all this about?”
s.h.i.+ said slowly, “I’ll go to visit Consort Rong. I have the feeling that… things are not that simple.”
Long nodded. “I’ll rest a.s.sured if you go to have a check.”
s.h.i.+ smiled. “Don’t worry.”
When Long was dealing with the memorials, s.h.i.+ went to Consort Rong’s palace with his men.
The four servants had been arrested, but they were detained in Consort Rong’s palace, not in the prison.
Several newly trained eunuchs and maids had just been sent there.
After the doctor’s diagnosis and treatment, Consort Rong came to her senses.
She had been in a coma for several days, so she didn’t know what really happened. She only remembered that she felt very bad and someone helped to wipe her body, but she had no idea if anyone had gone to visit her.
When s.h.i.+ arrived, Consort Rong wanted to get up to greet him. Naturally, s.h.i.+ hurriedly stopped her.
“Save the formalities, madam. Please lie down.”
Consort Rong said, “Thank you very much, Your Majesty.”
Her voice was a little hoa.r.s.e, but it seemed that she had been brought back from the jaws of death.
s.h.i.+ nodded. “Madam, you should rest more. Don’t bother to think about those irresponsible servants.”
Hearing this, Consort Rong smiled bitterly. “Your Majesty, they’re at your disposal.”
s.h.i.+ nodded again. “Madam, have a good rest. The doctor will stay here to take care of you.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
s.h.i.+ went out of Consort Rong’s chamber, and then went to the room where the four servants were locked.
Liu Xiangyang followed s.h.i.+. Before entering the room, s.h.i.+ ordered, “Separate them.”
Liu went in and arranged it at once. Soon, the four servants got separated.
s.h.i.+ went to meet the maid who was supposed to send for a doctor but didn’t make it at last…
While s.h.i.+ was interrogating the servants, Long was dealing with the memorials in his study.
Then, a Shadow Guardian reported that Zhou Huan and Zhou Yu’er had met and they were heading to the suburbs at this moment.
“Huh? The suburbs?” Long raised his eyebrows. “Why are they going there?”
“They went up to South Mountain,” the Shadow Guardian said.
“Huh? South Mountain?” Long frowned. “Is there anything special in the mountain?”
“I don’t know for the moment.”
“Follow them closely and see what they’re up to.”
“Yes.” The Shadow Guardian left.
Long rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “Why are they going to South Mountain? There’s nothing else but trees on it…”
Long frowned and decided to leave the problem aside. Anyway, the Shadow Guardians were watching them, so there wouldn’t be any big problem.
When it was almost lunch time, s.h.i.+ still didn’t come back, so Long began to worry.
“The empress hasn’t come back from Consort Rong’s place yet?”
“No, not yet, Your Majesty.”
Long frowned. “Go to see if something goes wrong.”
“Yes.” A eunuch hurriedly went there.
After about half a quarter of an hour, s.h.i.+ finally came back and Long hurried to meet him.
“Why did it take so long?”
s.h.i.+ said, “It seemed that the four servants had agreed on how to explain the matter in private, but there were some loopholes. So I put them in separate rooms and got some information after interrogation.”
“Oh?” Long raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Those servants are really guilty?”
“Yes.” s.h.i.+ nodded. “I found out several moles and asked the Shadow Guardians to watch them secretly. Those moles won’t be killed for now. Let’s see who they will contact.”
“Okay. I trust you.”
s.h.i.+ went to the study and Long followed him. “What are you going to do?”
s.h.i.+ said, “To prepare something.”
With curiosity, Long saw that s.h.i.+ wrote two letters.
“This letter is for your father. I understand… But for whom is this one? Anyone outside the imperial palace?”
s.h.i.+ smiled. “For Tianji Sect.”
“Oh?” Long was a little surprised. “For Tianji Sect? Why’s that?”
“Those moles will send information to the outside, so I want Tianji Sect to follow them and find more clues for us. Now we are working together. It is not convenient for us to do it, but it’s fine for people in Tianji Sect,” s.h.i.+ explained.
Long couldn’t help smiling. “Use them as much as you can. Tsk. Tianji Sect is so unlucky to have such a client as you.”
s.h.i.+ smiled. “No, in recent years, Tianji Sect becomes very powerful, but it’s also very dangerous. If it also offends the imperial court, it’ll be destroyed soon.”
“Why?” Long was puzzled.
s.h.i.+ smiled. “Tianji Sect is no fool. Intelligence organizations are not praised highly in the society, so they naturally have offended many people. If Tianji Sect were heartless and cruel, it would have long been targeted by all parties. This time, we take the initiative to cooperate with them and it seems that we’re coercing them. However, if they get the favor and permission of the imperial court, Tianji Sect will not need to be afraid of other private forces in the martial arts world.”
“Oh… Right.” Long touched his chin. “The whole land belongs to the imperial family. Tianji Sect really needs to find a powerful backer and the imperial court is undoubtedly the best choice. Plus Tianji Sect’s ability in the martial arts world… Qingzhou, you’re so smart.”
After two letters were sent, s.h.i.+ smiled at Long. “Your Majesty, are you hungry?”
“Oh, I’ve forgotten that. It’s already past the lunch time!”
s.h.i.+ chuckled. “Then let’s go have lunch.”
“Good!” Long took s.h.i.+’s hand and went outside…