Chapter 1295 - 1131: The Battle of Gongjing
Chapter 1295: Chapter 1131: The Battle of Gongjing
"How long have you been hiding this from me? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" The Emperor understood now, they were deliberately keeping it from him!
Director Zhang sighed, how could they dare to let the Emperor know? Previously, because of the antidote issue, the Emperor had been gloomy every day, not even caring about state affairs. Coupled with the Empress Dowager’s instructions, they at the Imperial Hospital naturally dared not defy her orders.
"Please forgive us, Your Majesty, it was the Empress Dowager’s decree, she didn’t want you to worry!"
"Dundun!" The Empress Dowager slowly awoke, stopping the Emperor from further questioning.
"It was I who instructed him not to report to you. Recently, you’ve been unwell, how could I bear to trouble you with such trivial matters?"
The Empress Dowager supported herself with the Emperor’s hand as she sat up. Although her mind was still a bit dizzy, she was still concerned about the Changsun lying in bed.
"Mother’s health unwell, how can that be considered a trivial matter?" The Emperor furrowed his brows, having such thoughts would be highly unfilial.
"Alright, I know you’re concerned about me, but now is not the time to discuss this, Ye is still lying in bed!" The Empress Dowager tried to get up, but as soon as she stood up, she swayed and eventually couldn’t get up.
"Mother, please rest for a while! I will guard Ye myself!" The Emperor helped the Empress Dowager sit properly and then instructed Gui Zhu beside him, "Quick, help Mother back to her chambers to rest!"
Gui Zhu glanced at the Empress Dowager, feeling somewhat at a loss. How could the Empress Dowager be willing to rest now? She was unsure whom to listen to.
"Mother, your health is unwell, staying here won’t allow you to take care of Ye. As soon as Ye wakes up, I will send someone to report to you. Now, we don’t know when Ye will wake up, and you staying here won’t do him any good if you can’t rest properly."
The Emperor tried to persuade kindly, the Empress Dowager’s health was not good, and keeping her here would be unfilial of him.
"Alright, let’s go!" With that, the Empress Dowager, holding Gui Zhu’s hand, decisively walked out of the inner hall.
Indeed, she was tired and understood that the Emperor had something to discuss with Director Zhang alone, but he was unwilling to let her know about it!
But after walking a few steps, she couldn’t help but look back at the Emperor guarding by the bed. The heavy snow in the Capital had just stopped today, and warm sunlight shone into the hall. However, the place where the Emperor sat was hidden in darkness, she couldn’t see the Emperor’s expression clearly, but his lonely silhouette looked desolate, inexplicably tugging at the heart.
The Empress Dowager wiped the tears off her face, "Pass on my decree to lift the Empress’s confinement and let her come see Ye!"
Having said that, the Empress Dowager covered her mouth and wept, hurriedly holding onto Gui Zhu as she rushed out.
"Director Zhang, I ask you, what is the worst outcome? Will the Eldest Prince show the symptoms you mentioned?"
The Emperor’s mood had already hit rock bottom, looking at the comatose child on the bed, he couldn’t imagine, if Ye really became as Director Zhang described, becoming mentally impaired or blind, crippled and bedridden, what would he do? What would happen to the Dayan Dynasty?
He leaned his head against the Eldest Prince’s bedside, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly fatigued, just too exhausted.
"Your Majesty needn’t be overly worried, what I mentioned earlier is the worst possible outcome. After drinking the medicine, the Eldest Prince might recover. Even if it comes to that, you need not rush, my previous investigations have shown that recovery isn’t impossible, though it’s a long process."
The Emperor’s hoarse voice came over, "How long will it take?"
Director Zhang paused as he wrote the prescription, "It could be several months, maybe a few years, or perhaps..."
The Emperor’s hand holding the Eldest Prince’s hand trembled slightly, years? That was too long, he couldn’t wait that long, nor could the Dayan Dynasty.
"Ye! Ye!" A harried call came from outside the hall, followed by a woman in a bright red palace dress rushing in frantically.
Upon seeing the Eldest Prince lying in bed, she threw herself at the bedside, "Ye!"
Her hand reached out to the Eldest Prince, her face full of tears.
"Enough, you as the mother of a nation, behaving in such a manner, where is your decorum?" The Emperor rubbed his throbbing temples, and scolded the Empress.
"Your Majesty?" The Empress only then saw the Emperor beside her, but how could she care about all this now? Ye was her lifeblood, if anything happened to Ye, she wouldn’t want to live either.
"Your Majesty, will Ye be alright?" The Empress lifted her tear-streaked face, asking the Emperor mournfully.
"Director Zhang has already prescribed the medicine, there’s no need for concern, after taking the medicine, he will wake up!" The Emperor, seeing the Empress so distressed, couldn’t help but soften.
After all, she was his wife, naturally, there were affections between them. Ye was also the Empress’s only child. After giving birth to Ye, she had injured her body and could no longer conceive. Now, how could he dare let the Empress know about Ye’s real situation?
"Director Zhang, go prepare the medicine now! Pang Chu, you personally oversee the brewing. Right now, we don’t know what will really happen to Ye, so it’s too early to be entangled in this, it’s critical to find who harmed Ye as soon as possible."
"And who were the eunuchs and palace maids serving the Eldest Prince today? Bring them to me, I want to interrogate them personally."
The Emperor was furious, these traitorous swine, he could no longer tolerate them, they dared touch his eldest son? Once caught, he would make sure to grind them to dust!
"Yes!" Pang Chu knew the Emperor was set on revenge, those palace maids and eunuchs wouldn’t survive today. But it could only be said that they brought it upon themselves, who knows which of them might be planted Hidden Guards?
...
"Sir! Prince Jing’s and Prince Gong’s men have indeed clashed! This time Prince Gong went all out, sending Liu Dong with a hundred thousand elite troops to attack Fengqing Prefecture! However, Prince Jing was well-prepared, and out of nowhere, fifty thousand elite troops appeared ten miles outside Fengqing Prefecture. I haven’t found out how these elite troops emerged. There were no prior indications, it’s truly baffling!"
This explosive news even surprised Gu Chengyu.
"Fifty thousand elite troops? And they appeared out of nowhere? Raising and recruiting soldiers, it couldn’t be done quietly. Even if they were training, someone would have noticed, how did Prince Jing manage to deceive everyone?"
Gu Chengyu knew Prince Jing couldn’t be without any resources, but so many elite troops, and yet no whispers heard outside, he truly was not to be underestimated!
Prince Jing had been so suppressed in the Capital before, did that mean after more than two years in Fengqing Prefecture, he had accumulated so much? Gaining such recognition truly demands a fresh perspective.
"Indeed! How could raising and recruiting cause no disturbance? Even if these troops camped in the mountains, what about their food and supplies? As long as there were large purchases, Prince Gong, who has managed the border for years, how could he not notice at all?"
Ming Yan thought Prince Jing’s scheming was truly deep! Always taking everyone by surprise.