Chapter 110: The King is Dying
Chapter 110
Prince Sun looked at the empty plates on the table angrily. He had accidentally finished all the food again, and a strong sense of guilt welled up in his heart. He scolded Yuan Qingling, "I told you to prepare only three dishes, why did you make so many? You are being extravagant and wasting food, preying on the common people's livelihood. You bloodsucking worm!"
After scolding her, he struggled to leave with a bloated stomach.
Yuan Qingling was scolded for no reason and was puzzled for a moment. She said, "Who asked him to eat so much? It wasn't me who ate the most, so why am I the bloodsucking worm? Isn't it him?"
She looked at Yuwen Hao and said, "Is there something wrong with your second brother's brain?"
Yuwen Hao looked completely calm and said, "Yes."
Alright then, no point arguing with someone with mental issues.
Qi Amah came out and reported, "Prince Qi and the Princess have left. This servant is ordered to inform you."
Yuan Qingling asked casually, "Is the Princess Qi alright?"
Qi Amah replied, "The imperial doctor said the Princess was just having an agitated heart and a moment of heart fire attacking her heart. After recuperating for a while, she will be fine."
Yuan Qingling looked at Yuwen Hao. Yuwen Hao got up and walked out without any expression on his face.
Yuan Qingling shrugged. Pretending!
She ordered Qi Amah to pack some things and take them back to feed Duo Bao. She played with Duo Bao for a while in the courtyard. Then she saw Tang Yang come in and say, "Consort, His Highness said for you to go rest."
"Rest? I'm not tired!" Yuan Qinglin had gotten a little hot from playing excitedly with Duo Bao. She wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Not tired?" Tang Yang smiled. "His Highness said that if you are not tired, please copy the Diamond Sutra one hundred times."
Yuan Qingling lowered her hand. "Now that you mention it, I'm a little tired. I'll go in and rest first. Please relay that to His Highness."
"Alright!" Tang Yang smiled calmly.
Yuan Qingling went in and lay on the bed to sleep. She actually wasn't tired, but taking too much medicine did make people feel sleepy. She soon fell asleep.
Tang Yang returned to the study and reported to Yuwen Hao, "The Consort has gone to rest."
"So obedient?" Yuwen Hao didn't look up from practicing his calligraphy.
"His Highness's plan worked well, the Consort didn't want to copy Buddhist scriptures."
"I knew it!" Yuwen Hao put down his brush and looked at what he had written, shaking his head. "I've been restless recently, even my calligraphy is not up to par."
Tang Yang said, "His Highness cares a lot about the Consort."
"She is recuperating from her injuries by imperial decree, how could I dare disobey?"
What a bunch of excuses.
"Today, the Princess Qi..." Tang Yang hesitated, looking at Yuwen Hao, not sure if it was appropriate to continue.
Yuwen Hao calmly said, "Don't mention the Princess Qi in the future. I don't want to interfere in my sixth brother's family affairs."
"Yes!" This was the answer Tang Yang wanted to hear, and it reassured him greatly.
As Tang Yang turned to leave, he felt the days were extremely pleasant. Although he really disliked the Consort before, he had witnessed her change, and she was not as bad as before.
Consort Xian sent over some supplements for Yuan Qingling to help her recuperate from her injuries.
Yuan Qingling was woken up from her sleep by the palace maid who brought Consort Xian's "greetings". Reading between the lines, Consort Xian was telling her to watch her words and actions, not to lose face for Prince Chu's Residence, and especially not to lose face for Consort Xian herself.
For the next few days, Yuan Qingling stayed in the residence and did not go anywhere.
Prince Sun came every day, and he was gradually getting familiar with Yuan Qingling, because Yuan Qingling also liked something that suited his taste very much, which was a love for delicious food.
In fact, Yuan Qingling didn't particularly like eating, but among the women of this time period, she could be considered someone who could eat, and she ate with relatively unrestrained manners.
Prince Sun said women usually ate like little birds pecking at food, eating just a few bites before being full, due to the aesthetic view that thinness is beauty. This made women always unable to eat their fill.
Today Yuan Qingling had the imperial chef prepare a few dishes, but Prince Sun was late in coming. Usually he would arrive early, but today even after noon he still hadn't arrived.
Yuan Qingling figured he might be tired of the food, or had decided to go on a diet again. So she divided up the dishes and let Qi Amah and Lvye eat them.
She had also gotten a little tired of the food herself these past two days, and didn't have much of an appetite. She just drank a bowl of porridge and went out walking the dog.
Prince Sun didn't come until the afternoon. He seemed listless.
Yuan Qingling sat on the stone steps with Duo Bao lying at her feet. The two basked lazily in the sun. When Prince Sun came in, he just plopped down at the other end of the stone steps and rested his cheek in his hand, lost in thought, without even saying hello.
"What's the matter?" Yuan Qingling asked. "On another diet?"
"No!"
"Hungry? I'll have someone make something for second brother."
"Can't eat!"
Yuan Qingling was surprised. A foodie who had no appetite? This seemed serious.
"What's wrong?" Yuan Qingling patted Duo Bao's head to get it to go away.
Duo Bao dragged its lazy body and slowly walked away.
Prince Sun glanced at her sideways. "Didn't fifth brother tell you? Sixth brother might not make it much longer."
Sixth brother? Yuan Qingling then recalled the pitiful Prince Huai.
He and Yuwen Hao were born in the same year, with Yuwen Hao a few months older. Prince Huai was Consort Lu's son. Two years ago he had fallen ill and had been put under house arrest in his residence. He hadn't stepped out of his residence doors once since then.
"What exactly is wrong with him?" Yuan Qingling asked.
"Tuberculosis!"
"Tuberculosis? Lung tuberculosis?"
"Mm!"
Yuan Qingling laughed. "Tuberculosis can be cured. It doesn't kill people. How could he be beyond saving?"
Prince Sun glanced at her. "You sure can boast. Even the imperial doctors don't have your skills. They can't cure it."
Yuan Qingling was taken aback, suddenly recalling that before the advent of antibiotics, tuberculosis was a terminal illness that could only await death.
"Is the situation very serious?" Yuan Qingling asked.
Prince Sun dejectedly said, "Father Emperor has ordered preparations for sixth brother's final affairs. I saw the inner residence has even prepared his coffin. Earlier this year, Father Emperor also sent people to the Imperial Mausoleum to prepare a mausoleum for sixth brother. I'm afraid it's already completed. In the future, sixth brother will reside in his tomb, and we brothers will be separated by a hundred miles."
After hearing this, Yuan Qingling felt it was quite cruel to Prince Huai.
While he was still alive, they had spent several months preparing for his death.
During these past few months, he must have been living under the shadow of impending death!
Seeing Prince Sun's sorrowful expression, Yuan Qingling comforted, "Don't be too sad. Sooner or later, brothers can still be reunited in the underworld."
"..." Prince Sun looked at her. "Can't your dog mouth spit out a single ivory?"
"Everyone has to die eventually." Yuan Qingling said faintly. She had died once already.
Prince Sun stood up. "Insensitive words. Forget it. I'll...eat a meal. I'll go order the imperial chef. I want meat, lots of meat. And alcohol too."
"Didn't you say you had no appetite?" Yuan Qingling looked up at him.
"No appetite or not, I still have to eat. Like you said, everyone has to die eventually. But people also have to eat. Since death is unavoidable, so is eating. "
Yuan Qingling had to admire him. He could relate anything to food. But that was the nature of Chinese people - any occasion, birth, full month celebration, birthday, getting into college, marriage, death - all warranted eating a meal. Not only eating it yourself, but also inviting relatives and friends to eat together.
"What did the imperial doctor say?" Yuan Qingling asked.
"The imperial doctor? Useless at critical moments. Father Emperor also said, if they can't cure him, lop their heads off."
Yuan Qingling was shocked. "Lop their heads off?"
"Bunch of incompetents, if they're useless might as well chop them."
"Doctors aren't gods and can't cure every illness. Even with the Retired Emperor's illness back then, the imperial doctors were helpless."
"Fortunately the Retired Emperor recovered, otherwise a few heads really would have rolled."
Yuan Qingling shuddered. Being a doctor for the imperial family really was high stakes work.