Wuxia: Drinking with Spring Breeze

He looked at Emperor Xiping in shock. It had only been half a month since their last meeting, yet the emperor had lost so much weight that even his double chin was gone. His complexion was so dreadful that it looked like he was coated with a layer of frost wax.

He hurriedly embraced the potted sweet potatoes, taking two steps at a time as he rushed forward, his voice hoarse with shock, "Your Majesty, how have you become so thin..."

As he approached, an imperial guard stepped forward to stop him.

However, Emperor Xiping smiled and waved his hand, "Stand down. If Shen Zhonghe is an assassin, then there are no loyal subjects left in this world... cough, cough, cough."

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Before he could finish speaking, he began coughing again.

The eunuchs gathered around the imperial bed hurried over; some draped clothing over him, others offered tea, and an imperial guard stepped forward to press a hand against his back to transfer True Qi.

After a lot of fuss, Emperor Xiping finally caught his breath and waved his hand weakly, "Alright, stand down."

Shen Fa knelt by the bed, eyes wide and round, his body trembling slightly as he regarded the emperor, "Your Majesty, weren’t you well just a month ago? How, how... "

Emperor Xiping did not answer his question but instead looked directly at the potted sweet potatoes in his arms, lightly laughing with interest, "So, this is the sweet potato that the innkeeper repeatedly said could save the poor people from famine?"

Shen Fa quickly held up the potted sweet potatoes with both hands for the emperor to inspect closely, "The Scholar from Fujian, Chen Zhenlong, who brought this item from Luzon Island, is outside the palace. He stakes his life on his guarantee that these potatoes can yield two crops a year; two thousand kilograms per hectare in spring and one thousand kilograms in summer... Your Majesty, this is a sign of good luck, a great omen, heaven’s blessing on Wei!"

Emperor Xiping gently touched the lush green sweet potato leaves, his smile faint, "This potato was brought back from Luzon Island at the risk of Chen Zhenlong’s life; it was the innkeeper who single-handedly unearthed it and brought it before me. What has this to do with good fortune or heaven?"

Shen Fa looked up, his voice resonant, "Your Majesty, beneath the universal sky, all land belongs to the king; at the edge of these lands, all are the king’s subjects. The Marquis of Luting and Chen Zhenlong, both subjects of Wei, have found this miraculous item. How can it not be a sign of good fortune? How can it not be heaven’s blessing on Wei?"

Emperor Xiping chuckled, "You, you... cough, cough, cough..."

Quickly an imperial guard stepped forward, pressing his hand against Emperor Xiping’s back to help stabilize his circulation, "Your Majesty, please don’t get too excited; your dragon body is most important!"

Shen Fa knelt by the bed, wanting to check the emperor’s pulse but not daring to, he erupted in helpless fury, "The entire Imperial Physician Institute, those incompetent fools, should all die!"

After coughing somberly for a while, Emperor Xiping managed to stabilize his circulation. He expressionlessly waved his hand at the many eunuchs and imperial guards inside the sleeping palace, "You all may stand down…"

"Your Majesty…"

"Stand down!"

"As you wish..."

The crowd of eunuchs and imperial guards bowed and filed out of the sleeping palace, closing the palace door behind them.

"I truly underestimated this pack of jackals…"

Emperor Xiping whispered with a smile, "Earlier that innkeeper asked you to deliver a message to Wang Jiangling, telling Wang Jiangling to proceed slowly. I even scoffed that the older he got, the more cowardly he became. I never thought, never thought... cough, cough, cough..."

Shen Fa quickly stood up, pressing against his back to help stabilize his circulation, his lips trembling as he spoke in a low voice, "Your Majesty means, means..."

"Can you believe it?"

Emperor Xiping patted his taut arm with a laugh, signaling him to relax a little, "I can hardly believe it myself. To think that I could be plotted against right here in Ziwei Palace, yet here I am, ensnared by their schemes..."

Shen Fa suddenly stood up, his eyes red as he gritted his teeth, "I will seal off the Imperial Physician Institute immediately, throw all the imperial physicians into the dungeon, and subject them to severe torture!"

Emperor Xiping lightly laughed, "If they dared to do it, they won’t be afraid of your investigations... I was too careless!"

"A man leaves his name behind, just as a goose leaves its call!"

Shen Fa clenched his back teeth, squeezing out each word through his clenched teeth, "I do not believe they can cover their tracks completely!"

Emperor Xiping nodded and said, "Indeed, they can never be flawless, they only render the living silent..."

Shen Fa was stunned on the spot.

Emperor Xiping asked, "How has the Crown Prince been lately?"

Shen Fa woodenly replied, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has recently been overseeing the construction of the drainage canals in Luting. Thousands of laborers and tens of thousands in materials, all meticulously managed by him. The works are busy but orderly, and I deeply admire his handling."

Emperor Xiping smiled sincerely and exclaimed, "Luting is safer than Ziwei Palace, that fellow is better at teaching people than I am."

Upon hearing this, an idea suddenly flashed through Shen Fa’s mind: "It was last year when Yang Erlang and Duke Xinguo went to Bright Summit..."

Emperor Xiping looked up, "You’ve thought of it?"

Shen Fa backhanded himself a loud slap across the face, sending a bloody tooth flying: "I should have thought of it earlier, I should have..."

Emperor Xiping sighed and shook his head slightly, "You are not to blame for this, nobody saw it coming, that they would feint to the east and attack to the west, undermining us. My fate is such, no one is to blame."

Shen Fa suddenly looked up, his eyes red, staring straight at Emperor Xiping, "Your Majesty, are you just going to accept this?"

Emperor Xiping laughed, "I would rather not accept it, but what can be done otherwise?"

He struggled to raise his right hand, offering it to Shen Fa.

Shen Fa swallowed hard, muttered "Forgive my presumption," then stepped forward, gently grasping his wrist and carefully feeling his pulse with three fingers.

Emperor Xiping let him proceed, staring lifelessly at the ceiling and murmuring, "Lately I often recall the days when we roamed the land of Heluo together, thinking of... Prince Qi... Had he ascended to the throne, perhaps he would have done better than I have, right?"

While sensing his pulse with one hand, Shen Fa’s other hand, hidden under his large sleeve, slowly clenched into a fist, his nails digging into the flesh of his palm.

After a long while, he lowered his eyelids, gently placed Emperor Xiping’s arm back under the covers, and softly yet firmly responded, "Prince Qi was too impetuous and lacked magnanimity. Had he ruled, our Wei would not have enjoyed these seventeen years of peace!"

Emperor Xiping paused, then chuckled, "You, you... cough, cough, cough..."

Shen Fa silently smoothed his back.

Emperor Xiping, supporting himself with one arm, gasped heavily and said in a deep voice, "My time is limited, and there is little left I can do for Wei, for the Crown Prince. You must... you must endure for now, allow me to cleanse the throne thoroughly and hand it over to him cleanly!"

Shen Fa gently supported his trembling body, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, "Your Majesty, just because the Imperial Physicians are helpless does not mean there are no other ways among the common folk. Even if there isn’t, there is still the overseas option, Yang Erlang once mentioned Western medicine, which is entirely different from our country’s practices and has its own merits. We still have time, we still have options..."

"No, don’t make reckless moves!"

Emperor Xiping, struggling with his cough, flushed and with bulging veins, roared, "Let them make noise, for it gives us a chance to deal with them. If we act now, they will just sink again, let’s not lose the big picture over small obstacles, do not disturb the order, the people… the people have just begun to hope, do not extinguish that hope!"

"Yang Erlang looks down on me, I want to show him that I have the heart to plan for the good of the people!"

"Zhong He, I really wish I could grab Huang again, mount a fast horse, and chase the cunning rabbits one by one..."

As he spoke, his mind became disordered, and he fainted on the dragon bed.

Seeing this, Shen Fa hastily got up and shouted, "Someone, come quick..."

"Bang!"

The palace doors flew open, and eunuchs and imperial guards rushed in, crowding around the dragon bed and frantically trying to revive Emperor Xiping.

Shen Fa was pushed into a corner, his whole demeanor like one possessed as he mumbled repeatedly, "It was all fine just a month ago, how has it come to this... It was all fine just a month ago, how has it come to this..."