Chapter 331 A Storm of the Old Days
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Bai Xiao Hall.
Xiao Se didn't say anything else and Ji Xue didn't continue speaking after finishing her statement. All three people in the room suddenly fell silent.
After a long time, Xiao Se finally spoke again, "You just need to tell me, did huang-shu really intend to rebel?"
"Only one person knows about this," Ji Xue replied.
"Who?" Xiao Se asked.
"Mingde Emperor," Ji Xue said slowly. "Langya Prince didn’t say another word after he was arrested and incarcerated, so nobody knows what really happened. As for Zhuo Qing Gonggong, he died of illness not long after you left Heavenly Revelations. His death was suspicious, and the only one who could cause him to die in that way was Mingde Emperor."
Xiao Se frowned slightly and didn’t say anything.
Hall of Supreme Peace.
Within the hall, more than ten braziers, large and small, were burning, keeping the interior as warm as spring. The Brave Tiger Guards Captain Li Changqing, who was wearing his armor, had to raise a hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead from time to time. Mingde Emperor sat on the bed, his face pale, and he asked with resignation, "Don't you all think it's too warm?"
Nobody dared to speak, but they all looked up at the little lady who was sitting next to the bed. The little lady had a needle in her hand, her eyes cold.
The person on the bed was the ruler of all under Heaven, but the ruler within this room was the little lady sitting next to the bed.
The four words “the healer is king” were not applicable in the imperial palace. Looking at those old veterans of the Imperial Academy of Medicine who were always jumpy with fear and trepidation, one could tell that being a healer for the imperial family was not an easy task. But this little lady was not afraid of Heaven or Earth and she already had Mingde Emperor sitting in the palm of her hand. Mingde Emperor had four daughters over the years, two of them died, one married to Nanjue, and one was born with poor health, who spent most of her time convalescing in the south and he only saw her a few times a year. Hence, when it came to this little girl who was like a jade porcelain doll, he couldn’t help but adore her and listen to whatever she said.
Hua Jin didn't raise her head, still fiddling with the silver needle in her hand. "Remove five of the braziers."
"Hurry up, remove the braziers," Li Changqing shouted immediately, looking as if he’d just received a great amnesty.
"Softer," Hua Jin said with displeasure.
Li Changqing hurriedly bowed his head. "Genius doctor, this one was reckless."
Standing behind Hua Jin, the noble son in white who carried the medicine case smiled and said, "Shifu, you’re really impressive."
Mingde Emperor sat on the bed and glanced at the noble son who was clearly dressed in wealth yet was only in charge of carrying the medicine case, and said in a deep voice, "Little genius doctor, this disciple of yours looks familiar. Your surname is Mu?"
The noble son in white hurriedly put down the medicine box and saluted in greeting. "This lowly one is Mu Chunfeng, disciple of genius doctor, Hua Jin. I had earlier introduced myself to Your Majesty."
Mingde Emperor nodded. "We have met your father. You look like him."
Mu Chunfeng smiled and said, "So Your Majesty has met my father, but for now, I am not here as a member of the Qingzhou Mu family, but merely as a disciple of genius doctor, Hua Jin."
"Did your shifu let you talk?" Hua Jin glanced at him.
Mu Chunfeng hurriedly retreated a step. "No, ma’am."
"Then shut up." Hua Jin took out a silver needle. "Your Majesty, Hua Jin will begin the acupuncture now."
Mingde Emperor smiled bitterly. "In recent days, you’ve put so many needles in our body. Is our illness so difficult to treat?"
Hua Jin sighed. "Your Majesty, do you know what we, doctors, always say?"
"What do you say?" Mingde Emperor asked.
"Unless you cure the ailment of the heart, all illnesses are difficult to treat." Hua Jin put down the needle. "Your Majesty suffers from an ailment of the heart. This, Hua Jin cannot cure."
"Unless you cure the ailment of the heart, all illnesses are difficult to treat…" Mingde Emperor murmured in a low voice. "We understand what the genius doctor is saying."
"Understanding doesn’t help. The key is to cure it. Whoever hung the bell must be the one to untie it. Who was the person that hung the bell on Your Majesty’s ailment of the heart?" Hua Jin asked.
Mingde Emperor sighed. "He’s dead."
Hua Jin was taken aback. "Dead?"
Mingde Emperor lay on the bed and nodded. "He was my most beloved brother."
Li Changqing and Jin Xuan Gonggong glanced at each other and retreated to the outer room in unison. Langya Prince’s name was an anathema. Nobody was allowed to say it, and if His Majesty mentioned it, nobody was allowed to hear it too.
"When we were very young, our Empress mother passed away. She was not considered one of the favoured consorts before she died, and no one missed her after she died. Hence, nobody remembered us either. Although we were princes, we were not the favoured ones and even the inner palace eunuchs who had some authority would dare to bully us. I had a younger brother. That year, when he was only six years old, he suffered from a severe cold. He underwent a lot of treatments but they couldn’t cure him. Finally, he was about to die, and a slightly more skilful imperial physician rushed over. But, he merely took a quick glance and planned to leave so he simply told me that my younger brother could not be cured."
"So, that was the day he died?" Hua Jin asked.
Mingde Emperor shook his head. "He didn't die that day. The story that got circulated outside said that it was a night with heavy snow and I knelt before the door and begged the imperial physician for four hours. Even though I was a prince who wasn’t favoured, having me kneel like that was a ceremony an imperial physician could not afford to accept. He had no choice but to treat my brother and finally, he pulled my brother back from the brink of death."
"Your Majesty valued familial ties," Hua Jin said with her head lowered.
"But that was all fake." Mingde Emperor shook his head. "That was the story I made him tell. In fact, the truth was that I pulled out the long sword that my mother left us and stood in front of the door to stop him. I said if he walked out this door, I would kill him with one sword. He didn’t believe me at first, and even took a step forward. He stepped with his right foot, and I stabbed the sword through his right foot."
"From that day on, I vowed I would never again be a prince that nobody showed an interest in, and I would never again be crushed under another. I wanted my brother and I to climb up from the bottom of Heavenly Revelations so that nobody would dare to look down on me! Later, I became the Emperor and he became the Beili Grand Protector. Not to mention Heavenly Revelations, even the whole of Beili, even all under Heaven would fear us. But, he still died.
"And I killed him.
"When I had nothing, when I was nobody, I was willing to take up my sword and protect his life. I didn’t care even if I would be found guilty of a crime later. But later, when I became the ruler of this country, I could only watch helplessly as he slit his own throat right in front of me. Because I couldn’t summon up the courage and was afraid of losing all these contrived and material things in my hands." Mingde Emperor pulled away the blanket and stood up.
Hua Jin hurried forward to help him and Emperor Mingde whispered, "Is the acupuncture treatment urgent? I want to go for a walk."
"It’s fine," Hua Jin said softly.
Just like that, Mingde Emperor walked out with Hua Jin’s support. It was snowing heavily outside the Hall of Supreme Peace. Mingde Emperor looked at the sky full of flying snow and said with sorrow, "Back then, it was also such a snowy night. I stood at the door holding a sword. For as long as he treated him, I stood there just as long."
"Your Majesty, why don’t you use ‘gu’ when you’re speaking now?" Hua Jin asked hesitantly.
Mingde Emperor froze for a moment, as if he had just realised this inadvertent detail himself. He thought about it and sighed slightly. "Perhaps it’s because whenever I think about Ruofeng, I never think of myself as an emperor.
"Instead, I’m an older brother. When my brother was with me, this older brother was never alone."
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