“Did the prince wake up last night?” When Yan Shaoning heard this news, he was really excited, pacing around his room with enthusiasm. “That’s good, if he’s waking up, it means there’s hope.”
“He also said the medicine we don’t know much about has a big impact on him, and we need to find a way to replace Zhao Tuo’s medicine.”
At this point, Qin Yuanxi frowned a bit. “Is that doable? I’ve only seen that medicine once, don’t even know where he keeps it. Plus, if we swap it out, won’t he notice when he takes it?”
“No need to worry, Your Majesty,” Yan Shaoning said confidently. “When I was caught by Zhao Tuo before, it was because I found out about his medication. I’ve seen that medicine; I can replicate something similar. I’m the doctor here, and he has no experience in this area. It’ll be a piece of cake to deceive him.”
“He definitely carries the medicine with him. Your Majesty, just wait until he’s asleep, swap it with the one I’ve prepared. It’s a win-win.”
After arranging things like this, Qin Yuanxi couldn’t shake off a sense of unease. Zhao Tuo’s recent increased outings hinted at his accelerated rebellion planning. Time was running out for Qin Yuanxi.
That night, Zhao Tuo was already deep in sleep. Qin Yuanxi quietly opened his eyes, gently reaching into Zhao Tuo’s clothing, holding his breath. Slowly and carefully, he explored inside, nearly stripping Zhao Tuo’s clothes without finding anything. Then, a faint sigh was heard.
“It’s not on me. If it were, I’d have given it to you long ago. Why bother looking for it?”
“You scared me!”
The person lying down suddenly spoke, and Qin Yuanxi’s face turned almost white. He glared at Lu Bohuan and said, “Couldn’t you have given me a heads-up first?”
Lu Bohuan looked innocent. “I did give a heads-up. Wasn’t that enough?”
“If your warnings are all like this, I could have been scared to death.”
Patting his chest, Qin Yuanxi looked at Lu Bohuan. “If it’s not on him, where could it be? Don’t you know?”
Lu Bohuan shook his head, propping himself up on the bed and casually throwing on a piece of clothing as if he intended to get up.
“What are you doing?” Qin Yuanxi was puzzled. “It’s the middle of the night. Where are you going?”
Lu Bohuan, now dressed, adjusted his cuffs before answering Qin Yuanxi’s question. “I’m going to mobilize troops. There are thirty thousand soldiers outside the palace, all loyal to Zhao Tuo. I’ll move them out.”
“You stop!” Qin Yuanxi failed to grab him, lowered his voice, and shouted at Lu Bohuan. “Come back!”
Lu Bohuan halted, looking at Qin Yuanxi with a hint of confusion in his eyes, but he stayed put.
“You’re going to mobilize troops now? And then what? You’ll probably pass out again in a while. How am I supposed to explain that when he wakes up? Or do you think you can solve his rebellion tonight?” Qin Yuanxi spoke rapidly and urgently. “Even if you manage to handle it tonight, what about tomorrow? He’ll gather a new batch of followers. What’s your plan then? Moreover,”
Looking at Lu Bohuan’s expression, Qin Yuanxi lowered his gaze slightly before saying, “Moreover, are you sure you can stay sober all night? Don’t forget what happened last time.”
Judging by Lu Bohuan’s face, he clearly couldn’t last long, just like the last time. For some unknown reason, he woke up this time, but it wouldn’t last very long. In such a short time, doing anything meaningful was practically impossible.
“You were the one who told me not to alert the enemy, not to provoke Zhao Tuo. If you go now and withdraw his people, do you think he won’t be furious when he wakes up tomorrow? He might even use me as a scapegoat at the first light of day!”
“He won’t,” Lu Bohuan’s tone was quite assured. “He won’t.”
“Heh.” Qin Yuanxi wanted to roll his eyes.
Sure enough, Lu Bohuan added, “He only wants the throne and won’t harm Your Majesty.”
“Well,” Qin Yuanxi was about to say something more when suddenly Lu Bohuan hurriedly turned back. “We still need to mobilize troops, but not from the suburbs of the capital. We’ll call the northwest garrison. Please issue a royal decree, Your Majesty.”
Lu Bohuan had already started grinding ink, explaining to Qin Yuanxi while working. “General Zhang Dashan in the northwest has a standing army of one hundred thousand. He reports to the capital every two years. A royal decree can instruct him to bring his troops. Once his forces arrive, Zhao Tuo will have some reservations.”
“You’ve thought of everything. Do you think Zhao Tuo won’t anticipate this?”
Qin Yuanxi watched as Lu Bohuan finished writing the letter, anxiously asking, “What if Zhao Tuo has already thought of it?”
“He won’t be able to.” Lu Bohuan took out a jade pendant, placing it with the letter. “Your Majesty, do you still remember this?”
“I remember.” Qin Yuanxi looked somewhat embarrassed. It was the jade pendant exchanged for dumplings, supposedly a reward from the late emperor.
“Does this jade pendant have another use?”
“Not really.” Lu Bohuan chuckled. “It’s just a symbolic representation of identity. Sending this jade pendant along with Your Majesty’s decree, Zhang Dashan will follow the orders. Even if Zhao Tuo wants to stop him, it won’t work. With this jade pendant, it signifies your intent.”
“If you send the jade pendant out, how will I explain it to Zhao Tuo?”
“No problem, he doesn’t know the jade pendant’s significance.” Lu Bohuan lowered his head, speaking casually. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have traded it for dumplings. Even if it’s lost, he wouldn’t care.”
Thinking about dumplings, Qin Yuanxi felt a pang in his chest. Leaning back in his chair, he suddenly asked Lu Bohuan, “Do you know why he’s rebelling?”
Lu Bohuan paused in sealing the letter, looking at Qin Yuanxi with a hint of disappointment. Clutching the sealed envelope tightly, he replied, “I don’t know. What I know is no more than Your Majesty. Rest early, Your Majesty. I’ll be back after taking care of something.”
“What are you going to do?”
Qin Yuanxi asked anxiously.
“Do what can be done right now. Rest assured, Your Majesty.”
Lu Bohuan said and then left.
He didn’t have a lot of things to do at the moment, but it wasn’t nothing either. For example, issuing a few commands, making minor adjustments in personnel matters – small changes that might have a significant impact in critical moments and wouldn’t be noticed by Zhao Tuo. There were subtle maneuvers he could still pull off. By the time Lu Bohuan returned, the sky had faintly revealed its early light.
Since Lu Bohuan left, Qin Yuanxi hadn’t closed his eyes. Saying he wasn’t worried was just a pretense.
But if you asked him exactly what he was worried about, Qin Yuanxi couldn’t quite put it into words. Was he worried about Lu Bohuan? Not really. Bonded with Zhao Tuo in soul and body, he had no need to worry. Was he worried about himself? Not exactly.
For some unknown reason, in some indescribable mood, Qin Yuanxi wasn’t overly concerned about himself. Zhao Tuo desired the throne, and truth be told, Qin Yuanxi wasn’t overly eager to keep it. It wouldn’t be a big issue to give it to Zhao Tuo, but if he had to give it away, it had to be on his own terms. The deceitful means Zhao Tuo used to seize it were simply unacceptable to Qin Yuanxi.
The feeling of being deceived made him very uncomfortable, with a sense of suffocation in his chest.
The creak of the door opening made Qin Yuanxi immediately alert. He half rose, leaning out to see Lu Bohuan walking in, pressing his temples. His complexion was even paler than it had been in the middle of the night, looking as if he had a terminal illness.
“Are you okay?”
Qin Yuanxi got up and hurriedly poured him some hot water. As he touched Lu Bohuan’s hand, his fingertips felt ice-cold. “Why are you so cold? Is it very cold outside? Come, warm up quickly.”
“No problem.” Lu Bohuan took a sip of the hot water, swallowing seemed difficult. “I’ve come to tell Your Majesty some news. I went to the capital overnight, contacted Prime Minister Wang, and informed him of my condition.”
“What do you mean ‘no problem’!” Qin Yuanxi was about to reprimand Lu Bohuan when he caught the latter half of his sentence. “Whom did you tell? What did you tell him? What exactly did you say?”
“I told him everything.” Lu Bohuan held Qin Yuanxi’s hand, exerting a bit of force. “When necessary, Prime Minister Wang will lend a hand to Your Majesty. The rebellion must not succeed. Your Majesty, rest assured. I won’t let such a thing happen, absolutely not!”
“Cough, cough,” Lu Bohuan’s words hadn’t finished when he began to cough. It started as a slight cough, but it escalated, ending with him spitting out a mouthful of blood. His palms were stained crimson. Seemingly afraid of alarming Qin Yuanxi, Lu Bohuan quickly hid his hands behind him. “No problem, Your Majesty, don’t worry.”
“You’re coughing up blood, and it’s no problem?” Qin Yuanxi was anxious, pulling Lu Bohuan by his collar and urging him onto the bed. “Rest first. How could a healthy person cough up blood? I’ll call Yan Shaoning to take a look, no, call the imperial physician. Who should I call? Lu Bohuan, can you hold on? Hold on, I’ll call Yan Shaoning!”
Yan Shaoning was a divine physician, exceptionally skilled in medicine, and highly familiar with Lu Bohuan’s condition. Calling Yan Shaoning was the best choice. However, looking at Lu Bohuan’s current state, Qin Yuanxi worried that the next person to come out might be Zhao Tuo. If Zhao Tuo saw Yan Shaoning, he might swing a sword at him. What’s the point of treating an illness?
In the end, Yan Shaoning did come, before Lu Bohuan completely lost consciousness.
Watching the exhausted Prince Lu, Yan Shaoning shook out a row of golden needles, efficiently piercing a few into Lu Bohuan. Then, he used a tea bowl to collect a small amount of blood. Qin Yuanxi, standing nearby, nearly chewed his lip raw.
“Don’t worry; it’s just a bit of blood, nothing to be concerned about,” Lu Bohuan said, looking up at Qin Yuanxi, sighing. “Your Majesty, please go and rest. Shaoning will take care of this.”
“I’ll just, I’ll just watch. It won’t delay anything.”
“Divine physician, what’s his condition? Why would a healthy person cough up blood, and why is it so severe?”
After covering the bowl of blood with a lid, Yan Shaoning pinched another needle and stuck it into Lu Bohuan’s acupoint. “My Prince should avoid expending too much mental energy at the moment.”
As the needle went in, after a short while, Lu Bohuan closed his eyes, leaving only the faint sound of his shallow breathing.
“Your Majesty, please step aside for a moment.”
Yan Shaoning’s expression was stern as he held the tea bowl in his hand. Once they reached the side hall, he spoke to Qin Yuanxi, “Prince Lu’s pulse is floating and weak, showing signs of mental and physical exhaustion. I suspect the impact of the drug on him is far more than this. It’s not just the Prince; even Zhao Tuo, this drug affects the body. Previously, the effects of the drug didn’t manifest, but this time, Prince probably stimulated it by traveling through the night and excessive mental strain.”
“Are you saying…”
“Zhao Tuo used a mutually destructive drug. It harms the body. Perhaps he was misled without knowing, or maybe he knew and still insisted on it. Either way, it’s a mutually harmful drug. If the Prince doesn’t recover, Zhao Tuo…” Yan Shaoning didn’t finish but shook his head. “I still don’t understand Zhao Tuo’s motives, but if he continues recklessly, not even a great Daoist immortal could save him.”
“I’ve taken the Prince’s blood for research. Finding an antidote would be the best outcome. If not, his body might be ruined by Zhao Tuo.”
“What do you mean?” Qin Yuanxi’s face changed abruptly. “Are you saying Zhao Tuo poisoned himself? He… he could die?”
“He might not have intended to poison himself. He probably wanted to poison Prince Lu. But…” Yan Shaoning sighed. “Zhao Tuo is a madman.”
Qin Yuanxi took a step back, his steps faltering.
“But he’s also a patient.”
The author has something to say:
Zhao Tuo: When I go mad, I don’t care about my life!
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
