Chapter 281 - The Emperor Was Critically Ill

When Consort Cui was furious, Concubine Fu who walked out wasn’t happy, and her big almond eyes widened all of a sudden. She was stunned for a long while and then asked in disbelief, “What did you say?”

“Your Highness!” The maid who came to look for her under orders almost cried and answered anxiously, “His Majesty is feeling unwell. After the Empress Dowager rushed to the Palace of Xuanming, she went into a coma in anxiety on the spot. The empress needs to take care of His Majesty, so she is too busy to attend to anything else. She thought that you often went to the Palace of Mingren to greet the Empress Dowager these days, so she asked you to go to the Palace of Xuanming in a hurry to look after the Empress Dowager.”

The maid didn’t dare to say something unlucky in fear of the rules in the imperial palace, and she just said that Emperor Xianjia “felt unwell”, but it could make the Empress Dowager fall into a coma in anxiety. It could be imagined how terrible the emperor’s condition was.

“Why? Why is it like this?” Concubine Fu finally came to her senses, yet she almost fainted, like the Empress Dowager did. She was trying every means to defuse Empress Su’s hatred toward her, but the emperor was dying before she made it?

Once the emperor passed away, even though the crown prince was in an unfavorable position, he could take the throne immediately in front of the tablet honoring the deceased according to the rules.

Then the crown prince didn’t need to say anything, and some people would find ways to reverse the case for him.

At worst, even if the case couldn’t be reversed, he could make an imperial edict to admit his fault, and then some people would be in a mad rush to be the first to praise him as he could correct his mistakes and follow others’ advise readily. As for the people who had added insult to his injury, such as Concubine Fu, what would happen to them? Did it need to say?

At this thought, Concubine Fu felt that everything was dark before her eyes.

She didn’t have contact with Consort Cui and her son in the past, so there was no enmity between them, but today she had spoken sarcastically to the crown prince and then almost irritated Consort Cui to death. Once the mother and son were in power, even if she was willing to await her doom in the temporary palace, perhaps she couldn’t.

“Why am I so unlucky?” Concubine Fu couldn’t even cry out. She was in a daze, being pulled away by the maid, yet she thought miserably, “I thought that the crown prince would surely take the throne and the empress’ future was uncertain, so I spoke for the Empress Dowager and helped the crown prince, but he was in trouble after only a few months, while the empress was likely to live in the Palace of Mingren as the next Empress Dowager in the future.”

She had been in panic for many nights because of the change and finally mustered up her courage to fight for a chance of survival, while she was more miserable than she had been last time. She just started to take actions.

However, Emperor Xianjia was critically ill, which pushed her into a desperate situation.

After a series of frustration, Concubine Fu felt unwell.

“Since he took the throne, His Majesty has been ill and then recovered all the time. In the past, he planned to summon some officials and entrust the crown prince to them for several times, but he recovered at last. It can be seen that he will live long even though he looks unhealthy.” Concubine Fu couldn’t accept the unforeseen change, so she had to pray desperately with the only hope. “This time, the imperial doctors can surely save His Majesty, and it is scary at most. Oh, God. I am willing to cut eight or ten years of lifespan and give them to His Majesty. Hope that he won’t pass away so soon.”

Even though Concubine Fu desired to add some years of her lifespan to His Majesty’s life, after she reached the Palace of Xuanming, her dream was destroyed. “Has the Empress Dowager returned to the Palace of Mingren?”

Hearing the news, Concubine Fu heaved a sigh of relief and thought that what she prayed came true as Emperor Xianjia’s health improved, so the Empress Dowager got relieved and left.

Unexpectedly, Virtuous Consort Jiang who came out to tell her about the situation smiled bitterly. “All the imperial doctors are at a loss. As soon as the Empress Dowager woke up, she heard that and went unconscious again. The empress was afraid that the Empress Dowager would be jarred after waking up again if she stayed here, so she made a decision and told the servants to carry a soft sedan and send the Empress Dowager back to have a rest in the Palace of Mingren. So you go to the Palace of Mingren to take care of the Empress Dowager after seeing His Majesty.”

“How…how could His Majesty…” Concubine Fu stopped dreaming and looked at the door of the inner room, but she couldn’t move her legs to walk. If the maids didn’t support her on both sides, she might fall on the floor.

Virtuous Consort Jiang saw that and there was sympathy in her eyes. She sobbed. “His Majesty is God’s son and protected by God. The imperial doctors are disappointing, but it doesn’t mean that there is no hope. Fu, don’t be sad. The empress said earlier that we should keep calm in such a critical situation. Otherwise, what if His Majesty gets angry after he recovers and sees that all people are in a great mess?”

She said that to comfort Concubine Fu and also to ease herself. After all, Virtuous Consort Jiang didn’t get involved in the state affairs, yet Prince of Wei brought up by her was won over by Grand Princess Daiguo as a tool to fight for the title of heir to the throne. As his adoptive mother, she would be implicated if Consort Cui and her son vented their anger when they were in power.

Moreover, Virtuous Consort Jiang had a naughty biological daughter Princess Yushan, who still wanted to marry Su Shaoge.

Although Virtuous Consort Jiang’s niece Jiang Muting was engaged recently to Marquis Boling Yuan Xuepei, one of the crown prince’s trusted followers, she didn’t think that her future nephew-in-law could protect her and her daughter from Consort Cui with his relationship with the crown prince.

So from selfish motives, Virtuous Consort Jiang also hoped that another prince would be selected as the heir to the throne and didn’t want the crown prince to take the throne.

Nevertheless, all people from the Imperial Academy of Medicine could do nothing for now. As a consort, what could she do except resigning herself to her fate?

“Jiang, you are right. His Majesty can surely recover.” Concubine Fu heard that and her eyes lit up in an instant. She was like a person who might drown but grabbed a life-saving straw and added anxiously, “His Majesty will be fine.”

Nobody knew how she regained her strength, and she suddenly pushed away the maids who supported her all the time. Then she walked to the inner room quickly and murmured, “His Majesty will be fine. Perhaps he is well now.”

“Be quiet!” As soon as she entered the inner room, the empress’ low and cold voice with weariness made her calm down all of a sudden. Empress Su was just dressed in home clothes. Obviously, she came here as soon as she got the news and had no time to dress up. There was only a pair of pink gold hairpins with tassels on her bun.

The empress sat on the bedside. Although she heard Concubine Fu come in, she didn’t even turn her head back. She just twisted a warm brocade handkerchief after taking it out of a basin aside and concentrated on wiping Emperor Xianjia’s face.

The handkerchief in her hand was snow white, like Emperor Xianjia’s pale face.

This universally acknowledged wise emperor who had taken the throne twenty-one years ago was quietly lying on the bed short of breath.

He was at his last gasp, which made Concubine Fu stiffen on the spot, and she just felt that her brain was in chaos.

After a long time, Empress Su finally thought of Concubine Fu again and turned back, glancing at her coldly. “Why are you still here?”

“I…I am going to serve the Empress Dowager.” Concubine Fu was shocked by the empress’ glance and came back to earth. She suddenly realized that even if Emperor Xianjia really couldn’t survive this time, the Empress Dowager was still alive.

The Empress Dowager was the princes’ biological and legitimate grandmother. Even if the crown prince took the throne, before Consort Cui was titled Empress Dowager, the current Empress Dowager should be titled Grand Empress Dowager first. How would he dare to be impolite to his grandmother?

And Concubine Fu was the Empress Dowager’s follower at the first place.

Even though the Empress Dowager was aged, as long as she was alive, she could protect Concubine Fu. Anyway, it was better than being miserable as soon as Emperor Xianjia passed away. Moreover, the Empress Dowager loved Grand Princess Daiguo. Perhaps the crown prince couldn’t keep his position after taking the throne.

All in all, it appeared that the emperor couldn’t sustain himself, so she couldn’t lose the Empress Dowager’s support.

“Oh, my God. I am too brainless.” At this thought, Concubine Fu felt that she fell into an icehouse seemingly. “After all, the Empress Dowager is aged. She went into a coma twice successively. Even though she has been sent back to the Palace of Mingren, she will probably be greatly damaged. Next, it will be fine if His Majesty is well. If he passes away, how can the Empress Dowager bear to see her son die?”

If the Empress Dowager couldn’t bear it and died with Emperor Xianjia, Consort Cui and her son would be happy, while Concubine Fu would live a hard life.

Concubine Fu naturally didn’t want to continue watching the empress taking care of the emperor. Even though Empress Su had turned her head and couldn’t see her, Concubine Fu bowed and said goodbye, walking out of the inner room gingerly. Since Virtuous Consort Jiang was not outside, Concubine Fu wouldn’t look for her, and she went out of the hall in a hurry, heading to the Palace of Mingren.

When she got to the Palace of Mingren nervously, the Empress Dowager just woke up.

However, Concubine Fu couldn’t squeeze in to show her excessive attention because Grand Princess Daiguo happened to arrive at this time.

After Grand Princess Daiguo got the message that Emperor Xianjia was unwell, she rushed to the Palace of Xuanming first. But Emperor Xianjia was unconscious and it was useless if she visited him. Moreover, Empress Su stayed next to the bed all the time and didn’t allow anybody to disturb the emperor, so Grand Princess Daiguo just watched at the door, like Concubine Fu did. Then she went away.

She couldn’t visit her elder brother, the emperor, so she certainly thought of her biological mother, the Empress Dowager.

“Mother! Mother!” Grand Princess Daiguo had never been so flurried. She knelt down almost as soon as she crossed the threshold of the inner hall, moving to the Empress Dowager’s bed on her kneels. She put her hand on the bedside and cried loudly, “You need to save me. If you leave me alone, I won’t have a chance of survival.”

“Get up before speaking.” The Empress Dowager was awake, yet she was spiritless. After she saw that, her brows trembled and she closed her eyes to rest her mind. Since Grand Princess Daiguo was still crying, the Empress Dowager sighed and stated feebly, “Lower your voice…Your cry makes me have a headache.”

Hearing that, Grand Princess Daiguo wiped her face and expressed emotionally, “Mother, my brother is so sick. If he still doesn’t select another prince as the heir to the throne, once Lu Hexiao takes the throne, how can I stay alive because of the enmity between me and Cui? Then the whole Ji Family, including Nanzhang who has married to Prince of Wei will have a slim chance of survival. How can I keep calm now? Mother, Nanzhang is pregnant. That’s your great grandson.”

“Shut up!” The Empress Dowager who was haggard and weak suddenly shouted, “The emperor is just tired and it’s not that he can’t recover. Dare you say something more that you shouldn’t say?”

Grand Princess Daiguo finally realized that what she said meant that Emperor Xianjia would die soon. The Empress Dowager loved her daughter, but how could she not love her son, Emperor Xianjia? It was no wonder that she exploded as Grand Princess Daiguo spoke before thinking twice.

“Mother, I mean that my brother can surely turn calamities into blessings and take a turn for the better, getting out of danger this time. But he will need to be nursed back to health for a period. He has told the crown prince to act as regent. What if he abdicates the throne and lets the crown prince take it next?” The grand princess hurriedly said something to make up for it and then continued in a hurry, “Mother, please summon all the officials now and depose Lu Hexiao as the crown prince, making Prince of Wei…no. If you are afraid that I will harm Lu Hexiao in the future, it’s fine to make Prince of Zhao the heir to the throne. Anyway, please give me and my whole family a chance of survival, Mother.”

While speaking, the grand princess moved one step backward and kowtowed on the pedal repeatedly. Her panic and fear were expressed not only in words but also on the face.

As the Empress Dowager watched that, her eyes became dimmer. After a long time, she stated bitterly, “I am not in the mood to do that now. I just want to wait for the emperor to take a turn for the better.”

“Mother, will you leave me alone?” Hearing that, Grand Princess Daiguo suddenly stopped kowtowing and shrieked sadly. She rushed to the bed and grabbed the Empress Dowager’s sleeve, asking tearfully, “Can you really bear to see that I, your son-in-law, grandchildren and great grandchildren will die?”

“How can I bear to see that?” Fortunately, the Empress Dowager sighed in a low voice and shook her head in the end. She added, seeming to remind and explain, “But the crown prince was titled by the emperor, so if he will be deposed, he should be deposed by the emperor.”

After she heard the first sentence, Grand Princess Daiguo’s overjoyed face was frozen abruptly. “If my brother is willing to depose the crown prince, why did I rack my brains these years? Moreover, my brother’s illness changed sharply. How will he have time to…”

She suddenly stopped talking and seemed to think of something. Then she turned tears into smiles involuntarily and asked tentatively, “Did my brother become critically ill because he knew the crown prince’s disloyalty and evil deeds?”

If the crown prince was accused of irritating his father to death, it would be of no use even after he made an imperial edict to admit his fault as soon as he took the throne.

Then he would never turn the tables.

Grand Princess Daiguo heaved a sigh of relief. After all, her biological mother sided with her.