Chapter Fifty: Parting the Clouds and Fog to See the Bright Moon

  After several days of heavy snow, the winter day returned to its usual dry coldness. The northern wind was biting and the windscreen outside the Zhiyuan Temple's Xuan Hall fluttered a few times. Feng Yun and Wei Zongping looked at Tian Di with his hands behind his back in deep thought, neither daring to speak first. Recently, things have not been going well in the court, and officials at all levels have not been spared from reprimands, so it's better to be cautious.

  The Emperor looked at the memorial on his desk and couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. The eunuchs from the Songyu Hall had been reporting to him frequently, saying that the Crown Prince's temperament had changed greatly recently, his mood swinging wildly between good and bad, and he was drinking excessively every day, speaking recklessly without restraint. Yesterday, the Emperor had rebuked him sternly, but today the Crown Prince had submitted a memorial, which contained many references to the circumstances surrounding the death of the previous emperor's son, needlessly provoking the Emperor's anger.

  I thought that this eldest son, who had been carefully nurtured by me since childhood and was the most outstanding among his brothers, would be entrusted with the country's future. I paved the way for him at every turn, and he did not disappoint my expectations, handling everything with flair. The other princes also respected and admired their elder brother, so why worry that the world would not be at peace? Who could have anticipated such a perverse and rebellious affair? Not only was there no sign of remorse or reform, but instead, things escalated further, causing trouble and disturbance. How can one not feel distressed? Every time I think of my late wife, Empress Xiaojingxian, I sigh deeply, and in my heart, I still harbor some guilt.

  The maid serving tea changed the tea on the imperial desk again and again, but still took away a full cup of cool tea. Sun Shi quickly came in from outside, bowed his head and handed over two letters: "Your Majesty, the Palace of Delayed Joy has sent letters from Prince Ling and Princess Qingping."

  "Oh?" Tian Di immediately took over and flipped through it, and it was the Empress Dowager's edict to lift the seal of the Yanxi Palace. There were also two memorials from the Imperial Hospital attached behind. The dragon's face was delighted: "This is what makes me happy! Quick! Pass down my decree, open the seal of the Yanxi Palace immediately."

  Sun Shi quickly agreed and left. The Heavenly Emperor turned to Feng Xuan and Wei Zongping, who were still waiting beside him, and said, "You two come with me to take a look."

  Your Majesty arrived at Yanxi Palace, the vermilion gate was wide open, and Ye Tianling led a group of people to greet you at the door.

  The Heavenly Emperor already knew that it was you, Dust, who had found the formula. He turned around and said to Feng Xian: "Feng Xian's good daughter will bring blessings to whichever family she marries into."

  Feng Yan bowed his head and humbly declined, but in his heart, he couldn't help but weigh and guess the Emperor's words, trying to fathom the divine intention. Wei Zongping, who was standing beside him, listened with a bad taste, because his own daughter was the Crown Prince's consort, and recently the Crown Prince had been acting strangely and hadn't been scolded less. He and Feng Yan were rivals in the court, and this time the Crown Prince's affair was precisely the trouble caused by Feng's younger daughter, Luan Fei, which made him even more resentful. However, as a seasoned official, he had long been tempered and instead responded to the Emperor's praise with a smile.

  You suddenly felt a few points of vigilance in your ears, and saw Feng Xuan glance at Wei Zongping with narrowed eyes. You found it very interesting. He raised his head to admire the carved beams and painted buildings, the eaves of the houses hooked and intersected, and from top to bottom, everything was full of this scenery.

  Ye Tianling turned his head to glance at Qing Chen, seeing her standing there, yet keeping a distance from the crowd. He couldn't help but recall the day she asked "What if one day I leave?", and an inexplicable unease floated up in his mind, swirling around without dissipating. Various doubts that had accumulated since they met began to surface. His brow furrowed, sensing someone beside him also looking this way, and he immediately regained his calm demeanor. However, it caused Feng Yan and Wei Zongping's hearts to churn with unease at the same time.

  It turned out that Tian Di was too busy to attend to the gathering and strode into the palace. At this time, other princes who had received the news also entered the palace to pay their respects.

  Eleven of them saw Qingchen standing beside the Heavenly Emperor, and in just a few days, he had lost weight and looked worried. Ye Tianxuan cast a questioning glance at Qingchen, who smiled back at him, but didn't notice that this exchange of glances had fallen into Fengyue's eyes.

  The Empress Dowager has been recuperating for the past few days and her spirits have lifted greatly. The Heavenly Emperor personally presented her with medicinal soup, which she drank, saying: "These past few days have been difficult for Ling'er and Qingchen; if not for them, I would not have seen the Emperor."

  "As long as the Empress Dowager is safe and sound, everything else is worth it."

  The Heavenly Emperor said, "Ling'er and Qingchen have truly helped me share my worries and difficulties this time. I just said that Feng Yulan's good daughter is a blessing to whichever family she marries into."

  The Empress Dowager smiled and said: "The Emperor is muddled, good fortune can't be sent out."

  Tian Di was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "The Empress Dowager is right."

  The empress looked around among her children and grandchildren, seeing that even the youngest, Princess Ruiyang, had been brought by her wet nurse, but did not see the crown prince. She asked her son, "Your Majesty, why isn't Hao'er here?"

  The Heavenly Emperor furrowed his brow: "Mother's body has just recovered, don't worry about him for now."

  The empress sighed: "Your Majesty, can't you just keep him confined to the Songyu Pavilion? I don't know how many more days I can watch them like this. Although Hao'er was wrong, he's already been punished, so let it go."

  The Heavenly Emperor sighed: "Empress Dowager..."

  "Please forgive the eldest prince." He knelt down, and his brothers around him also knelt down: "Ask the emperor to show mercy and pardon the eldest prince back to the palace." By calling him "eldest brother" instead of "crown prince", it was clear that the younger brothers were pleading for their older brother, putting aside the monarch-subject relationship. The heavenly emperor looked at his sons kneeling down in front of him, feeling a mix of emotions in his heart, and remained silent for a while: "All of you get up." He then turned to Wei Zongping, who was also bowing beside him: "Pass on my decree, following the wise instruction of the empress dowager, that the crown prince will return to the East Palace today."

  "Wei Zongping hastily knocked his head and said: 'I understand your orders.' He bowed and retreated to carry them out."

  You gazed coldly at the night sky, but saw that his mouth was curved into a sly and seductive smile. His slender, watery eyes seemed gentle, yet he only slightly moved, as if he didn't take this matter to heart.

  Afraid of disturbing the Empress Dowager's rest, the Heavenly Emperor sat for a while before coming out. The various princes also followed their father to bid farewell. Qingchen saw off the carriage at the entrance of the palace and the Heavenly Emperor stopped and turned around to ask her: "You have cured the Empress Dowager's illness this time, I have been thinking about what reward would be good for you, why don't you say it yourself?"

  Qing Chen bowed and said: "Qing Chen does not dare to ask for a reward, this prescription for treating the disease was only obtained by luck, and it cannot be widely promoted. In both Beijing and Henan, there are still countless people suffering from the disease, please Your Majesty allow Qing Chen to go to Pingli to investigate on the spot and find out the root cause to eliminate the disease."

  Mentioning the epidemic in both Beijing and Liaoning, the Heavenly Emperor's expression turned serious: "I didn't think you had such intentions."

  Ye Tian Ling also said: "In the past few days by the Empress Dowager's side, I have also been paying close attention to this epidemic. Please, Father Emperor, allow me to go to the epidemic area as well."

  The Heavenly Emperor nodded slightly, seemingly having encountered a difficult decision, and furrowed his brow in silence.

  King Ji advised, "Fourth brother, you don't know that the borders of Ping and Li states are not sealed off, and there are constant reports of deaths coming in every day. This epidemic area is no different from the palace; how can Father Emperor allow you to take risks?"

  The Heavenly Emperor looked at Ye Tianling and said, "Thank you for your advice, Third Imperial Brother. However, if that's the case, I should go even more. If Pingzhou Prefecture is sealed off, it would be better to mobilize troops to seal off the borders. Lately, I have been discussing this epidemic with the Princess, and I feel that if we don't take precautions, even with medicine, it will be difficult to control. Please allow me to make a memorial to you, Father Emperor."

  "Your Majesty, Fourth Brother has been serving Imperial Grandmother for several days and is already very tired. Why not let me take over instead?"

  "Your Majesty, I..." Ye Tianlie continued, but was glared at by the eleventh and paused, then didn't say anything else.

  Ye Tianzhan was about to speak from the side, but the Heavenly Emperor stopped him with a wave of his hand: "I know what you want to say. Song Defang, does your Imperial Hospital have any solutions?"

  Song Defang bowed and said: "This matter still needs to be based on the actual situation in the epidemic area, I also ask for permission to go to Pingli to investigate."

  The Heavenly Emperor turned his head and said to Qing Chen, "You all say the same thing!"

  "How can you catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair?"

  "How can one get the tiger's cub without entering the tiger's lair?" The Heavenly Emperor walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "All of you disperse, let me think again. Ling'er, follow me."

  Several people escorted Tian Di away. You dust temporarily stayed in Yanxi Palace to serve the Empress Dowager, no need to return to Zhifardian on duty.

  The eleven brothers fell behind the crowd and walked shoulder to shoulder. Ye Tian asked, "Brother, what were you doing just now when you stopped me?"

  "Eleventh: 'What is Ping Li? Every day, over a hundred people die there. Do you think the empress dowager would not worry if she knew of such an edict?'"

  Ye Tianli raised an eyebrow and said disapprovingly, "Since you know it's dangerous, why did you ask for permission yourself? Doesn't the Empress Dowager worry?"

  "You're quite good at helping me out of trouble."

  "Since you were young, you've always been in front of me, taking care of everything. Can't I block for you just once?"

  Just then, someone behind him chuckled and said, "What are you two brothers talking about?"

  As she turned around, she saw Xi walking towards her. Eleven looked at her and said, "I heard you were ill a few days ago, we couldn't come visit you, are you feeling better now?"

  "You're just tired, rest for two days and you'll be fine." The seal on the Yanxi Palace was lifted, and the entire palace seemed to have been reborn. All the emotions that had made people anxious and fearful poured out of the heavy palace gates and disappeared without a trace. Qingchen took a deep breath, and even the withered trees in the depths of winter seemed to be filled with beautiful vitality, as if they were seeing the sun again for the first time.

  Ye Tian shook his head and smiled: "You don't know that someone is anxious to death."

  "You seem to know his intention and can only respond with a smile: 'Thank you for your concern. Are you talking about the epidemic area?'"

  "Uh-huh." Ye Tianlie replied: "Eleventh Brother blocked me and wouldn't let me go."

  "Good block." Qing Chen said, Shiyi Xiao smiled and said: "See, I told you it wouldn't work."

  "You can't go either."

  Eleventh Furrowed his brow: "What do you mean by this?"

  "Do I need to say more? It's not like a battlefield where you can see the enemy coming, but with diseases, you can't defend against them all, and if you're not careful, it'll be too late."

  Ye Tian Liao laughed and said: "Everyone says it's dangerous, everyone wants to go, what's going on here?"

  The three of them laughed at the same time, and Eleven asked Dust: "You can stop us, but what about Fourth Brother?"

  "His mind is made up, and it would be best if someone could stop him. So I'm saying, none of you should think about going."

  Thus the two of them had nothing to say, and from a distance they saw Sun Shi bringing two palace attendants towards the Yanxi Palace. As they spoke, they arrived nearby, seeing that the eleventh prince was still there, he bowed his head in greeting: "Greetings to both Your Highnesses."

  "What did you take?" Ye Tian asked.

  Sun Shidao said: "The emperor's reward for the princess, ordered old slave to bring it over." After speaking, he held up a gold plate covered with silk brocade.

  You dusted off the imperial grace, reached out to take over the golden plate, lifted the silk brocade to take a look, and inside was placed a small leaf sandalwood box. Opening the box, on the blue velvet lay quietly a string of white crystal stones, emitting a soft and gentle glow.

  You were overjoyed to find that it was a string of crystal moonlight stones. Ye Tian looked at them and said, "The Emperor actually gave these to you. These are the imperial family's treasured moonlight stones, just like the golden silk crystals worn by the empresses of past dynasties. They are all precious treasures."

  "Golden Thread Crystal?" Qing Chen asked: "Is it that kind of transparent crystal stone with golden threads inside?"

  Ye Tian nodded and said: "That's right, how did you know?"

  It was actually titanium crystal. Xingchen smiled and said, "I've heard of it." He slowly closed the box lid, this was already the sixth Linglong crystal he had inquired about.

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