Chapter 290: Urgent Illness
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
An Le is sick!
The Emperor felt a roaring in his ears and his vision darkened.
He could no longer sit still. Ignoring the courtiers below, he stood up and left without hesitation, leaving behind a hurried back.
Zhao Rang cleared his throat and said loudly to the ministers, ‘The court is adjourned!”
With that, Zhao Rang quickly chased after the Emperor and left the throne room.
The civil and military officials below looked at each other in shock.
What exactly happened to cause the Emperor’s dragon face to change so drastically?!
“Hmph!”
An unhappy snort cut through the silence in the throne room.
Five or six scholarly-looking civil servants flicked their sleeves and left. Their beards fluttered, and their backs were as straight as pines. They carried the aura of a n.o.ble family.
As he walked past the British Duke, Fang Huairui, the Minister of Revenue, w.a.n.g Kangyin, gave Fang Huairui a cold glare.
The censor’s impeachment of the Eldest Prince originally had nothing to do with the British government. To put it bluntly, the British official only hated
Kang w.a.n.g for stabbing his son, Fang Mingfeng, so he vented his anger on the Empress Dowager and the aristocratic family. He was deliberately trying to stir up trouble!
Fang Huairui wasn’t afraid of him, w.a.n.g Kangyin, and glared back without showing any weakness. His expression and eyes seemed to be saying, bite me if you dare!
What a boor! w.a.n.g Kangyin flicked his sleeve heavily and strode away. He more or less sighed in his heart that women had harmed the country. Why did Kang w.a.n.g offend the British Monarchy for the sake of a mere Third Lady of the Gu family?!
Behind them, more than 20 civil servants followed closely behind. They escorted w.a.n.g Kangyin and the others away with an extraordinary aura.
Today’s morning court a.s.sembly had just begun, but it had ended early.
Most of the courtiers present were in no hurry to leave. They discussed in groups of two or three. No one paid any attention to Censor Li, who had fallen to the ground in a daze, as if he didn’t exist at all.
Imperial Duke Wei stretched out his arm and pulled Fang Huairui. He quietly leaned over and asked him, “What’s going on? Why are you so proactive?” He pointed in the direction of Yangxin Hall with an index finger.
Ever since the Eldest Prince returned to the palace last year, the Emperor had moved to the Qianqing Palace and given the Yangxin Hall to the Eldest Prince.
The corners of Fang Huairui’s eyes twitched, and a difficult expression flashed across his eyes. He greeted Wei Shen in a rough voice, “Brother, let’s go for a drink?”
In other words, they would talk about it in private.
Wei Shen patted Fang Huairui’s broad shoulder and laughed loudly. “Let’s go.
I’ll treat you to a drink at the Tianyin Pavilion.”
As they spoke, they walked out of the throne room, their voices fading.
The sound of conversation could be vaguely heard through the cold wind. ‘Brother, do you know what happened? Why did the Emperor suddenly...”
‘Tm afraid Princess An Le...” Wei Shen sighed.
Wei Shen often entered and left the palace. He recognized the eunuch who had come to report to him as someone from Jingren Palace.
There weren’t many concubines in the Emperor’s harem. They were all old acquaintances from the East Palace. They had few children and only had one son and one daughter. The Emperor had always treated them as treasures.
When the eldest princess was born peacefully, she was healthy. However, five years ago, she suddenly fell seriously ill and lay on the bed for three months. After she recovered, she couldn’t stand up again.
After that, the eldest princess became weak and sickly. In the past five years, she had been sick to the point of death several times. The imperial physician had no choice but to vaguely remind the Emperor to be mentally prepared.
Just now, the Emperor didn’t hesitate to leave the civil and military officials behind and left in a hurry. It was most likely that the Eldest Princess was sick again.
As Wei Shen had expected, the Emperor did go to Jingren Palace to visit
Princess An Le.
Inside Jingren Palace, there was a gloomy atmosphere.
Along the way, everyone in the palace bowed to the emperor in fear. The Emperor ignored them and rushed into the peaceful sleeping hall like a gust of wind.
An Le, who was dressed in a white inner robe, lay quietly on the couch against the wall. Such a small person looked even smaller and weaker under the huge bed, as if a light touch would hurt her.
In front of the bed, six or seven sweating imperial physicians were all kneeling on the ground. As soon as they saw the Emperor, the imperial physicians kowtowed in unison. ‘Your Majesty, please forgive me.’
The imperial physician kneeling in the middle bowed in panic and reported, ‘Your Majesty, Her Highness’s condition... isn’t good.”
The Emperor’s eyes widened in disbelief.
His daughter had been fine yesterday and had even come to the Qianqing
Palace to play with his parrot. They had even agreed that at the Lantern Festival, he would sneak her out of the palace to look at the lanterns. Why would her condition suddenly worsen?
‘An Le!” The Emperor rushed to the bed in three steps. He looked at the little girl on the bed with heartache and red eyes.
The little girl’s long black hair was loose, and her eyes were closed. Her skin was pale, and her cheeks were flushed. It was very difficult for her to breathe between her nose and mouth, as if she would lose her breath at any moment.
Her pale, dry lips and the lapels of her white inner coat were stained with spots of bright red blood. It was a ghastly sight.
’11t hurts...”
The little girl let out a painful moan and raised her hand with difficulty to grab something. Her thin fingers trembled slightly.
The Emperor felt as if his heart had been wrenched violently. He quickly grabbed his daughter’s trembling little hand and held it tightly, comforting her. “An Le, I’m here.”
The palace servants of Jingren Palace also kneeled on the ground, not daring to look up at the Emperor.
The Emperor looked at his dying daughter with heartache. His eyes almost popped out as he asked the palace servants, “What happened? Wasn’t the princess fine last night?”
The palace maid in charge said uneasily, “Your Majesty, His Highness was fine when he woke up early in the morning. He even ate a bowl of millet porridge, a few soup dumplings, and date mud walnut cake. He asked me to push her to the imperial garden for a walk.’
“I also accompanied His Highness to break a few plum blossoms in the imperial garden. His Highness said that when Your Majesty comes to court, we’ll go to the Qianqing Palace and insert the plum blossoms into the imperial study.”
‘But she only broke two plums when she suddenly vomited blood and even had a high fever. She has been unconscious since then...
The palace maid’s eyes were also red. Her voice trembled, and her eyes were filled with sparkling tears.
The cold sweat on the foreheads of the imperial physicians kneeling on the ground became even denser. Several of them wiped their sweat with their sleeves. The main body of the eldest princess was weak and sickly. The imperial physicians were all regulars at Jingren Palace, so they naturally knew how much the Emperor valued his precious daughter.
‘Cough, cough, cough..
An Le, who was on the couch, suddenly coughed. Immediately after, even her limbs twitched rapidly. Veins popped out on her forehead, and cold sweat seeped from her forehead to his neck.
She seemed to be enduring a tearing pain. An extremely weak voice escaped from her trembling lips. “Father... Emperor...
The Emperor was at a loss and was so anxious that he was about to cry. He could only ask the palace maid to hold his daughter’s limbs down so that she wouldn’t hurt herself from the convulsions.
What should he do? The Emperor’s mind was in a mess.. He asked, “Where’s Shangqing Spiritual Master?”