CH 25

At midnight, the rain that had been brewing for a long time finally fell from the sky, and the big raindrops were like pearls from a broken string of beads, crackling on the ground, plopping with crystal-clear splashes.

In Mingguang Palace, Jun Feili was awakened by the dull sound of thunder. He opened his eyes, but found that there was no trace of Wei Ming beside him. He immediately called someone to ask.

The palace maid who was on guard at night outside stepped forward and replied: “His Imperial Highness was reading in the study before, but then when he saw it was raining, he took some people out and went in the direction of Zichen Palace.”

Zichen Palace?! Jun Feili frowned slightly in confusion, and was silent. In the middle of the night, why did Wei Ming suddenly go to His Majesty’s palace? Could it be that…

Thinking of this, Jun Feili completely lost his drowsiness, got up and dressed. The palace maid immediately ordered someone to light all the candles in the palace, making Mingguang Palace as bright as during the day.

After sending everyone from the palace outside, Jun Feili sat down on the couch by the window alone, thinking to himself that Wei Zhao had really picked a good time in such weather.

Since Wei Zhao returned to the capital, Wei Ming had had several disagreements with the emperor, all caused by Wei Zhao’s son.

When Jun Feili entered the palace, Wei Zhao was only eight years old. It was not an exaggeration to say that Jun Feili watched him grow up since he was a child. He had always loved him a lot. When Wei Zhao was captured, Jun Feili’s concern for him was no less than that of Wei Ming.

It was just that in recent years, Wei Ming’s relationship with Wei Su had been a bit delicate due to different political opinions. If Wei Zhao’s cause made the emperor unhappy again, it was unrealistic for Jun Feili to say that he wouldn’t mind Wei Zhao at all.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, splashing down from the sky, and Jun Feili’s eyebrows seemed to frown tighter.

In front of the Xuanshi Hall, Wei Ming saw that Wei Zhao was still kneeling in the same position as before, no different from the daytime, and was distressed. He hurriedly walked forward with an umbrella to block Wei Zhao from wind and rain.

When Wei Zhao heard Wei Ming’s footsteps, he didn’t look up but said calmly: “Imperial Brother, go back. Even if I have to sing a bitter tune, I have to sing a complete set.”

The wind and heavy rain were so fierce that even though Wei Ming was holding an umbrella, he got half-wet on the way. Now that two people used an umbrella together, the effect was even more minimal.

How dared the palace people next to Wei Ming let His Imperial Highness get drenched in the rain? Someone immediately stepped forward to hold an umbrella for him. In this way, the umbrella in Wei Ming’s hand only covered Wei Zhao and finally was of some use.

Wei Ming asked someone to bring a dry towel, and while wiping the rain from Wei Zhao’s face, he muttered: “Ah Zhao, don’t underestimate the rain. Although it’s summer, it’s still very cold. Be careful not to catch a cold and get sick.”

Wei Zhao smiled bitterly and said helplessly: “Imperial Brother, I’m really fine, you’d better go back. If Father Emperor knows about it, he will say that I’m just fooling around.”

Wei Ming raised his eyebrows and said solemnly: “You kneel, I won’t disturb you. I’ll play with my umbrella, don’t worry about it. Even if Father Emperor knows, what can he do?”

Wei Zhao knew that he couldn’t say anything to Wei Ming, so he simply kept his mouth shut. Wei Ming stopped talking, just holding an umbrella for his younger brother and waiting silently with him.

In the wind and rain, the two brothers stood and knelt, both silent.

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After the fourth of the five night watch periods(1), the heavy rain began to taper out gradually, and by the time it was almost dawn, it had basically stopped.

Wei Zhao knew that Wei Ming had political matters to attend to, so he advised, “Imperial Brother, the rain has stopped, so go back and change your clothes, don’t delay your affairs. If you make a mistake and Father Emperor punishes you, I won’t be able to intercede for you.”

Wei Ming refused to move and said hesitantly: “I’m going back, what will you do?” After he had been kneeling in the heavy rain all night, Wei Zhao’s face didn’t look very good.

Wei Zhao chuckled and said, “Of course I will continue. I have persisted until now. Imperial Brother wouldn’t want me to back down, wouldn’t that be very unprofitable?”

Wei Ming thought about it, and seeing that the time was really getting late, he hurriedly told Wei Zhao a few words of advice and took his people back to the Eastern Palace.

In the early morning after the rain, the air was exceptionally fresh, and the smell of soil wafted through the courtyard.

Wei Zhao listened to the slight movement in the Xuanshi Hall and continued to kneel in place, motionless.

Wei Su woke up early in the morning and heard that Wei Zhao was still kneeling outside. Who knows if the emperor couldn’t bear it or something, but in short, he summoned Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao followed the eunuch into the Xuanshi Hall, knelt down respectfully in front of Wei Su, and said, “This child and subject kneels down to see Father Emperor, endless happiness to Father Emperor.”

Wei Su looked at Wei Zhao and didn’t speak for a long time. Wei Zhao knelt, not daring to get up, maintaining his kneeling posture.

After a long time, Wei Su slapped down the table vigorously and scolded angrily: “You unfilial son! If you come back, that’s good, but why do you want to bring that sinful animal with you? Don’t you know that he is not only a shame to you, but also a shame to the entire Great Yan!”

Wei Zhao raised his head and looked at the emperor’s angry expression but didn’t dare to argue. He only gritted his teeth: “Father Emperor, Ah Yin is my son. Tigers don’t eat their cubs, how can I…”

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the angry emperor: “Ah Zhao, don’t change concepts! I never said that I want you to kill your son!” He just didn’t want to see that child, that’s all.

Wei Zhao lowered his head, not meeting the emperor’s eyes again. He only heard Wei Su continue to roar: “Since he is the son of the Helian family, wouldn’t it be good for him to stay in Fuyu? Why did you bring him back?”

Wei Zhao looked straight at the ground and said in a low voice, “Helian Zhuo doesn’t like Ah Yin. Without me, Ah Yin wouldn’t be able to survive if he stayed in Fuyu Palace.”

Wei Su was so angry with Wei Zhao that he choked for a moment and then said, “Don’t you just want the child to live? I promise you that I will ensure that he will be clothed and fed for the rest of his life, and that I will never let anyone harm him in this life. So why do you have to bring him into the palace?”

Unconsciously, Wei Su’s tone had softened, but Wei Zhao didn’t appreciate it and still insisted: “Ah Yin is young and doesn’t remember anything yet. If Father Emperor takes him away, will he still remember me in the future?”

“If he doesn’t remember, he won’t remember, so why do you care?” Wei Su suddenly stood up and said impatiently, “Isn’t it just a son? Ah Zhao, I will give you a marriage right away, you can tell me who you like, you can have as many sons as you want!”

Wei Zhao smiled helplessly, knowing that Wei Su’s patience had run out. If he persisted in his opinions, he would most likely offend Wei Su, but he still said slowly: “Father Emperor, Ah Yin is different. No matter how many children there will be in the future, he will be irreplaceable. When Ah Yin was born, I didn’t like him. Before he was three years old, I hadn’t even hugged him or said a word to him. But Ah Yin never cared. He persistently approached me. For my sake he fought with his elder brother, he was beaten and bruised all over and almost died. On the way back from Fuyu, Ah Yin and I had to depend on each other to survive. Without Ah Yin, I might not be able to come back alive. Father Emperor, I can’t do without Ah Yin. He is the best salvation gods have given me.”

Wei Su fell silent, not commenting on Yi Yin’s stay or departure. Wei Zhao knelt on the ground, feeling chills running through his body and his vision blackening. He gritted his teeth and struggled to support himself to prevent Wei Su from discovering his abnormality.

After a while, Wei Su was about to speak, but saw Wei Zhao’s body sway and collapse limply on the ground as he had lost consciousness.

Wei Su was shocked and called out loudly, “Someone, summon the doctor quickly.” At the same time, the palace attendants stepped forward and carried Wei Zhao to the warm pavilion nearby.

Lu Tao, the Left Yuanpan(2) of the Imperial Hospital, hurried when he heard the call, picked up Wei Zhao’s right hand and carefully checked the pulse. As time passed, his face became more and more distorted.

“Official Lu, how is Wang Qin’s condition?” Wei Su asked seemingly inadvertently. His mind was not at peace. He didn’t know if Wei Zhao was using a bitter ploy(3), but he had used it, and there was nothing Wei Su could do about it.

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At first, he wasn’t too worried when he saw Wei Zhao fainting. After a night of rain, if Wei Zhao got sick, it was what he asked for. The child’s health was always very good ever since he was little; it shouldn’t be a big deal. However, Lu Tao’s expression seemed a little wrong.

Hearing Wei Su’s question, Lu Tao bowed down in front of him and apologised: “Your Majesty, please forgive my incompetence. Wang Qin is seriously ill, and it can’t be cured by medicine or pills!”

Wei Su’s expression changed drastically, and he said suspiciously: “Isn’t it just a fever after the rain, how can it be… so serious…” Was his son such a delicate person?

Lu Tao kept kowtowing, and then explained: “Your Majesty, His Imperial Highness Wang Qin’s body has been damaged a lot in the past few years, and it has been fundamentally injured, and not long ago he also, also…”

“Also what? Make it clear to me!” Wei Su was extremely angry and kicked Lu Tao fiercely, knocking him to the ground.

Lu Tao turned over, knelt down again quickly, bowed his head and said, “His Imperial Highness had a miscarriage not long ago and the lack of nourishment after the miscarriage has resulted in a deficiency of qi and blood. Thus, this fever has brought out the old and new roots of the disease. The illness is extremely dangerous, and medicine is ineffective.”

After Lu Tao finished speaking, he stared at the ground. He couldn’t imagine how angry the emperor’s expression would be at this time.

Miscarriage?! Wei Su was completely stunned. He froze for a moment before he connected this word with Wei Zhao. Immediately afterwards, he smashed all the items within his reach in an uncontrollable anger.

Listening to the loud sound of falling plates and lamps, Lu Tao really wished there was a crack in the ground where he could hide.

Wei Su didn’t summon any other imperial doctors, but sent Lu Tao down to prescribe and decoct medicine. Lu Tao took the order and went away, deeply worried in his heart. Did His Majesty trust him so much, or did he already treat him as non-existent?

Soon afterwards, Ji Wan and Princess Yuankang, who had entered the palace to see her mother, learned of Wei Zhao’s illness. The two suffered from not being able to come to the Xuanshi Hall, so they asked someone to go to the Eastern Palace to beg the Crown Prince to come.

When Wei Ming arrived at Weiyang Palace, Ji Wan and Princess Yuankang were holding their heads and crying. They all knew about Lu Tao’s diagnosis, but they didn’t want to believe it. Wei Zhao, how could it be?…

Wei Ming hurriedly comforted them when he saw this: “Mother Empress, Imperial Sister, please take it easy. We haven’t even seen Ah Zhao, and the situation may not be as serious as they said.” Few of the people around Wei Su were close to Weiyang Palace, and the news spread might not be true.

Ji Wan felt a little relieved when she heard this. Princess Yuankang wiped away tears and said, “I heard from the people in the Xuanshi Hall that Father Emperor smashed a room full of things, and Yuanpan Lu came out of the hall, walking like an old man.”

Wei Ming couldn’t help feeling his heart sink, but he didn’t show it on his face: “Instead of thinking nonsense here, it’s better for me to go over and have a look.” If Wei Zhao wasn’t in a bad condition, how could Wei Su be so angry that he would smash things and scold the imperial doctor?

Ji Wan regained her composure, calmed down, and urged: “Crown Prince, go quickly and send back the news.” Her Zhao’er, nothing must happen to him!

Wei Ming nodded and turned to go to the Xuanshi Hall. He regretted that he didn’t forcibly take Wei Zhao away last night. If he persisted, Wei Zhao wouldn’t…

In fact, Wei Ming knew very well in his heart that even if he insisted, it wouldn’t be useful. It was impossible for Wei Zhao to listen to him. Whenever the brothers had a dispute, it would always be Wei Ming who finally compromised, without exception.

When Wei Ming arrived at the Xuanshi Hall, he heard that Wei Su was reviewing the memorials in the imperial study, so he went to the warm pavilion to see Wei Zhao first.

Wei Zhao was asleep, his cheeks flushed, and his breathing was slightly chaotic. Wei Ming didn’t know anything about medicine. He didn’t know how serious Wei Zhao’s condition was just by looking at his appearance, but thinking of Wei Su’s performance, he didn’t dare to take it lightly.

There were two young eunuchs guarding the couch. Wei Ming straightened Wei Zhao’s thin quilt that was kicked off by him and scolded the two eunuchs, telling them to take good care of the Fourth Prince, before turning to go to see Wei Su.

Wei Su was said to be reviewing the memorials, but in fact, since he entered the study, he hadn’t finished reading the first memorial he had picked up.

He really didn’t expect that Wei Zhao had been tortured so badly by Helian Zhuo. If it weren’t for the time being wrong, he would have sent troops to destroy Fuyu right away.

Wei Zhao was named after Hou Zhaoyang and resembled Jun Lin in both looks and character. Of course, Wei Zhao’s mother, Ji Wan, and Jun Lin’s mother, Ji Yang, were sisters, and it was not unusual for two cousins to have similarities in appearance. What really pleased Wei Su was that Wei Zhao seemed to have the temperament of Jun Lin.

Wei Su was deeply saddened by the untimely death of Jun Lin. Since then, he had reused Ji Yu, Lu Ziqian, and Li Kang just to fill the gap left by Jun Lin.

However, these people had their own shortcomings compared to Jun Lin, and they died on the battlefield of Youzhou one after another, making Youzhou a “cemetery of famous imperial generals”.

It was Wei Zhao, though, and his performance in the 39th year of Yongjia that vaguely made Wei Su see the young Jun Lin again.

At that time, Wei Su’s mood could be described as recovering something lost. He firmly believed that one day, he could make Wei Zhao the second Jun Lin.

There were not many Wei family members who were good on the battlefield; apart from Wang Ping’s line and the long-extinct Wang Jing’s line, only Emperor Shizong’s eldest son, Wei Lin, was known for his military achievements.

It showed that it was not easy for the Wei family to come up with a prince who could fight. Wei Su’s pride was beyond words.

But he never thought that Wei Zhao’s starting point would be his end point. Compared to Ji Yu and Lu Ziqian, who died in battle, Wei Zhao’s capture was even more unacceptable for Wei Su.

How could Wei Zhao be defeated when Jun Lin had never failed? All he wanted was another Jun Lin, was it really that difficult?

After Wei Zhao’s capture, news of him never ceased, especially when he gave birth to a son to Helian Zhuo and the story became public knowledge.

Wei Su would never forget how his heart felt when he received the letter from Helian Zhuo. His son couldn’t be a person who was greedy for life and afraid of death! 

Therefore, Wei Su never thought of sending someone to rescue Wei Zhao. The prince of the Wei family could fight to death on the battlefield but couldn’t survive in captivity. From then on, Wei Su would only treat Wei Zhao as if he had never given birth to this son.

Exactly five years passed, and just when Wei Su thought that he had almost forgotten Wei Zhao, Wei Ming told him that Wei Zhao was back.

If Wei Zhao had come back by himself, Wei Su might have been very happy. If he endured what ordinary people couldn’t endure, and became what ordinary people could not become, Wei Zhao’s future was really promising.

Who knew that Wei Zhao would actually bring Yi Yin back! The child he was protecting with his life made Wei Su so angry that he choked on a mouthful of old blood, unable to swallow or spit it out, unbearable to the extreme.

Wei Su didn’t want to see Yi Yin, so he didn’t even see Wei Zhao. But this child knew his father’s mind like the back of his hand, so he deliberately picked a day like this to come to the palace, using his own life as blackmail to force his father to give in.

If others dared to do this, Wei Su would directly wipe them out. But when Wei Zhao did this, Wei Su was helpless. Either he lowered his head or Wei Zhao died. There was no third choice.