Even though it was confirmed that Jiang Suizhou was seriously ill, Jiang
Shunheng still didn't take it lightly. Every once in a while, he would send
imperial doctors to check on Jiang Suizhou's condition.
The potency of Gu Changyun's medicine was quite good. Whenever the
effect of the medicine struck, it was like a mountain crumbling down,
driving the doctors and imperial doctors in the mansion to a loss. When the
efficacy of the drug subsided, it would also dwindle little by little until it
maintained a state that made his body and pulse look weaker than before,
but allowed him to still go about his daily life.
Therefore, for a period of time, even the highly skilled imperial doctors that
the Hou Zhu sent to Jiang Suizhou still couldn't diagnose him.
In the past few days, the imperial doctor went back and told the Hou Zhu
that although His Highness Jingwang had recovered from his illness, his
health was seriously damaged. Presently, the manor was keeping around a
doctor from an unknown place to help him recuperate.
Nonetheless, there had been little results so far.
Hearing this news, the Hou Zhu was overjoyed.
"It's really urgent to seek medical treatment," the Hou Zhu commented
slouchingly.
The imperial doctor agreed repeatedly.
Then he heard the Hou Zhu say, "Since he's almost well, it is time to bring
him into the palace for me to see. I can also persuade him that there are all kinds of doctors in the Imperial Hospital he can ask for, so why trust wild
foxes outside?"
The eunuch on the side knowingly stepped forward with a smile and asked
the Hou Zhu when to invite Jingwang to enter the palace, so that he could
deliver the decree.
The Hou Zhu had been in a terrible mood for some time and wanted to have
some fun.
He wanted to see how sick Jiang Suizhou was and speculate when the sick
kid would probably die. This was his greatest pleasure.
So, within two days, Jiang Suizhou entered the palace.
Under the drug's efficacy, his body became frail. Because he was seriously
drunk two days ago, his complexion hadn't recovered. Therefore, when he
entered the palace, he looked a little weaker than usual.
The Prince's imperial crown was dense black, thick and wide, graceful and
winding, but it rendered his cheeks seemingly thinner and his face pale.
When he kneeled to salute, he looked shaky. It seemed that he could tumble
without being pushed.
His appearance resembled his witch imperial consort mother's dying look.
The former Emperor collapsed on the way to the south, and that witch
imperial concubine also fell ill on the way. The moment the former
Emperor died, the Hou Zhu immediately ordered that witch concubine to be
imprisoned, and allowed no one to serve her, let alone an imperial doctor to
treat her. Before she died, the Hou Zhu once went to see the bewitching
face. She was skin and bones; her eyes were sunken, her skin was blue and
white, and gone were the days when she looked pampered and proud of
herself. The contrast was simply like heaven and earth.
The Hou Zhu really felt ecstatic at the sight of her.
Now, the son she gave birth to was very likely to follow in her footsteps.
The Hou Zhu was so elated that he strangely showed concern for Jiang
Suizhou.
Jiang Suizhou had known that there would be such a day, and had prepared
for it before entering the palace. He merely put on a sickly look and replied
perfunctorily.
As expected, his appearance greatly pleased the Hou Zhu.
Only when the Hou Zhu was pleased would he let Jiang Suizhou go ahead
of time. Before noon, the Hou Zhu was in a festive mood and raised his
hand to let Jiang Suizhou withdraw.
Jiang Suizhou got up and was about to salute, when he heard the Hou Zhu
speak again.
"Since Fifth Brother is feeling better, why don't you go back to your duty at
the Ministry of Rites?" He smiled and said, "Without you in the Ministry of
Rites, I feel uneasy."
Uneasy my ass.
He only held a casual job in the Ministry of Rites. It made no difference
whether he was there or not. The Hou Zhu said so only because Jiang
Suizhou was in poor health and his face was unsightly. The former
deliberately asked him to return to work, hoping to make him lose a few
years of life due to fatigue.
Fortunately, this was exactly what Jiang Suizhou wanted.
He and Pang Shao parried to and fro, which also made Pang Shao suffer
several major losses. Afterward, Pang Shao would definitely no longer let
his guard down easily. If Jiang Suizhou was present in the court, he would
be better informed.
Jiang Suizhou figured things out. He feigned difficulty, vainly excused
himself, and finally, under the coercive order of the Hou Zhu, reluctantly
agreed to end his leave.
The Hou Zhu was even more ecstatic.
Jiang Suizhou then stepped back, and when he left the hall, he caught sight
of the Hou Zhu's satisfied expression out of the corner of his eye, his legs
upturned on the table.
Jiang Suizhou gingerly withdrew his gaze.
Empress Dowager Pang's eyes were indeed short-sighted. She truly came
from the same family as Pang Shao. She incessantly taught her son how to
hate the concubines competing with her and how to kill his brothers for fun.
However, it never crossed her mind to teach her son how to be a qualified
emperor.
Only when the dynasty was passed down for thousands of generations, and
only when the current dynasty had Pang Shao's support could they rest
assured.
They seriously had only themselves to blame.
Jiang Suizhou pondered while walking outside the main hall. The sun was
rising. He needed to rush out of the palace early, and also needed to go back
to find Xu Du and Gu Changyun to do some planning.
But at this time, he met a person in front of the wide square in front of the
hall head on.
The man was striding over in his direction. He should be returning to the
main hall where the Hou Zhu was. A servant was trotting along his side,
trying bitterly to persuade him.
"Chief Minister, Chief Minister, please stop. His Majesty is busy at this
moment. I'm afraid he doesn't have time to see you…"
Jiang Suizhou's footsteps lurched, his body tensed with alertness.
Approaching head-on was Pang Shao.
This was the second time that Jiang Suizhou came face to face with Pang
Shao after transmigrating.
Although he had exchanged several moves with Pang Shao, and now the
latter could be called an old acquaintance, Jiang Suizhou also knew it was
merely his luck in taking the lead because he came from the future.
The person in front of him was a tough nut to crack.
He stared at Pang Shao from afar, took a deep breath, forced himself to
stabilize his mind, and slowly approached him.
When there were only three or five steps left between the two, Jiang
Suizhou stopped and looked at Pang Shao from a higher position under the
sun. The corners of his lips slightly hooked with a couple of smiles.
He watched as Pang Shao bowed gently and saluted him.
"This minister greets Your Highness Jingwang," Pang Shao said.
Jiang Suizhou regarded him for a moment with a soft smile. It wasn't until
the inner servant on the side showed a look of panic did he slowly reply,
"Chief Minister, you're being polite."
Pang Shao straightened up.
Jiang Suizhou looked him up and down, and said meaningfully, "Why did
Pang-daren come into the palace today? Did His Majesty summon you?"
Pang Shao replied warmly, "To answer Your Highness, I have some trivial
matters to report to His Majesty."
He heard Jiang Suizhou answer with laughter: "What else is going on
between the Chief Minister and my Imperial Brother? You shouldn't have
come here in vain. I'm afraid my Imperial Brother doesn't want to see you."
Pang Shao raised his eyes to look at Jiang Suizhou. He caught Jiang
Suizhou staring at him, revealing an unconcealed, gloating smile.
"Although I have been ill in my house these days, I have heard something
about the Chief Minister." His tone rang gently but with a certain degree of
undisguised pride, "Chief Minister, you are a good player, but there are
times when you miss."
Pang Shao forced a laugh and replied, "Your Highness must be laughing at
me."
In front of him, Jiang Suizhou's hand hidden in his sleeve was already
covered with a thin layer of sweat.
He knew that he must reluctantly show this appearance in order to dispel
Pang Shao's doubts and make him feel that he was just taking pleasure in
his misfortune and not the initiator of the matter. Only in this way, Pang
Shao would not deal with him immediately. With his current strength, it
would be a challenge to compete head-on with Pang Shao.
Thinking inwardly at railway speed, Jiang Suizhou smiled and said, "Thank
you, Chief Minister. As a matter of fact, I've almost recovered after hearing
this good turn."
Pang Shao echoed breezily, "That also counts as a meritorious service to
this minister."
Jiang Suizhou smiled and nodded, then he turned sideways and raised his
hand in an inviting gesture.
"Then, Chief Minister, leave for now." He said, "I'm afraid my Imperial
Brother will be angry with you for a while, so you shouldn't delay here."
Pang Shao smiled, bowed and gave him a salute before lifting his legs and
walking away.
Jiang Suizhou gave him a sideway glance and also walked straight to the
outside of the palace.
The hands in his sleeves were shaking uncontrollably.
The man in front of him looked the most amiable and upright, but Jiang
Suizhou knew that under this guise, he was the sharpest and cruelest soul.
Jiang Suizhou pressed his footsteps and walked forward step by step.
Behind him, Pang Shao, who was ten paces away, turned around and gave
Jiang Suizhou an obscure glance.
Jiang Suizhou walked farther away.
He's different from what I've expected, Pang Shao inwardly murmured.
Pang Shao was convinced that Jiang Suizhou was responsible for Zhao
Dunting's case from the day the incident happened. He immediately sent
people to Zhao Dunting's house to search for traces, but the group of people
were all wiped out. Even their corpses had disappeared.
Pang Shao monitored Jingwang Manor all year round. Although he couldn't
reach Jingwang's courtyard, he was well aware that he lacked such great
ability. After all, he spent fortunes cultivating his shadow guards beneath
his manor. Jingwang wasn't rich enough, and was constrained by others
everywhere. Even cultivating a few dead soldiers was as difficult as
climbing up to heaven, let alone contending with his shadow guards.
But he also knew that this matter seemed to be pushing the boat with the
current, but in fact caused a rift between him and the Emperor. The biggest
beneficiary was also Jingwang.
Therefore, he simply assumed that he was negligent.
But from Jingwang's appearance just now, Pang Shao's heart was somewhat
shaken again.
He had watched Jingwang grow up and knew that he wasn't that shrewd.
He killed his shadow guards and acted as if nothing had happened in front
of him. There wasn't the least bit of clue from his appearance.
When the servant next to Pang Shao saw him stop, he hurriedly asked,
"Chief Minister?"
Pang Shao paused in his steps and said indifferently, "It's nothing."
Then he turned his head and proceeded to the main hall.
He hated guessworks, and despised the things that eluded him even more.
His best bet to deal with these people and things was to exterminate them
by mistake instead of letting a single one off.
——
Since Huo Wujiu was able to stand up, his health improved day by day. In
just a few days, he was able to move around freely.
Wei Kai was so excited that he burst into tears.
After administering acupuncture and medicine that day, the two men closed
all the doors and windows of Huo Wujiu's room securely and had him walk
back and forth in the room several times.
"It won't take long for General's leg to heal!" Li Changning exclaimed
happily. "After that, I only need to prescribe some tonic medicine to warm
your meridians every day, and in a month or so, you will be able to ride
horses and use qinggong!"
Huo Wujiu looked down at his legs and responded with a faint hum.
Li Changning then turned around and went to pack his medical kit.
Wei Kai stepped forward and whispered to Huo Wujiu, "My Lord, our
brothers outside received news from the Great Liang."
Huo Wujiu abruptly raised his eyes.
"Speak."
Wei Kai whispered quickly, "Our flying pigeons have contacted the General
guarding the north bank of the Great River, and that man has said that he
will greet you on the river any day you make the move. As long as our
brothers can escort you to the river, he will make arrangements for
everything after that."
After Wei Kai said that, he laughed, "As long as your legs fully recover,
how could anyone catch you again? Besides, they all think you're disabled,
so if they are caught unaware, we'll be able to succeed in one fell swoop."
Huo Wujiu fell silent for a moment, but asked, "The General guarding the
north bank of the river? Where is Wu Qianfan?"
The one who was guarding Jiangbei was Wu Qianfan, who was adopted by
the old marquis together along with Wei Kai.
Wei Kai paused, and his smile gradually faded.
"Qianfan… he's gone," he said.