Chapter 150: Emperor Yongchang Falls Gravely Ill
Most importantly, people from poor families who brought their relatives to seek treatment only had to stay at the clinic and help with odd jobs while their loved ones were being treated.
For families with children, this was an even greater blessing.
Thus, Lin Langze and Jiang Luohan opened their clinic, and Lin Miaomiao was delighted when she heard about it.
As the factory in Li Family Village continued to expand, Lin Miaomiao began opening factories in the neighboring villages. Lin Langluan and the others suddenly found themselves busy as well.
While Lin Miaomiao established factories in the surrounding villages, those villages had long since heard about the changes in Li Family Village. Everyone was curious about when their own village would have a factory.
With the successful development of papermaking and printing, these villages were soon incorporated into the factory system, all of it placed under strict government supervision.
In less than half a year since Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhao had arrived, the northern frontier had undergone tremendous changes.
The twenty-fifth year of Yongchang passed quietly.
In the imperial palace, Emperor Yongchang stared at the memorials piled upon his desk. After a long silence, he sighed and slowly said to Bai Qiu behind him, “The two of them are doing very well in the northern frontier. I suddenly understand now. It seems that the capital is the most difficult place in which to live.”
Emperor Yongchang’s voice was utterly cold. Bai Qiu simply stood behind him in silence, saying nothing.
At that moment, a memorial had appeared conspicuously upon the emperor’s desk, and its contents were the exact opposite of the memorial submitted by Prince Shengxuan.
It contained only one brief line:
“Third Prince, deceased.”
Along with the news of Third Prince Li Tai’an’s death came a memorial from the Grand Secretariat requesting retirement and permission to return home.
The Grand Secretary’s eldest son, Xiao Gexu, was summoned back to the capital by Emperor Yongchang.
When Emperor Yongchang saw Xiao Gexu, even he was startled by the emaciated young man before him. Xiao Gexu no longer resembled the elegant young gentleman he had once been.
Dressed in tattered clothes, Xiao Gexu bowed to Emperor Yongchang and said, “Your Majesty, I have finally returned to the capital, yet I can no longer see those I once knew.”
After saying this, a mocking curve touched his lips. He raised his head and said to the emperor, “Your Majesty, I shall take my leave.”
Before Emperor Yongchang could respond, Xiao Gexu had already departed. He never told anyone how Third Prince Li Tai’an had died.
By then, it no longer mattered.
After Xiao Gexu left, Emperor Yongchang sent men to keep watch over him that very night.
Xiao Gexu went to the former residence of Third Prince Li Tai’an. In the third prince’s study, he took poison and ended his own life.
When Emperor Yongchang learned of Xiao Gexu’s death, and then saw Li Tai’an’s coffin being transported into the capital, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted.
The emperor’s collapse stirred the court, which had previously been calm, into sudden unease. Many officials even began watching the expression of Crown Prince Li Hanwen.
Princess Chang’an, Li Anyi, learned of Third Prince Li Tai’an’s death. She also learned that Xiao Gexu, the elegant young gentleman who had once astonished the entire capital, had died in the third prince’s study.
Princess Chang’an said to the palace maid behind her, “Prepare my clothes. I am going to the palace.”
When Princess Chang’an entered the palace and saw Emperor Yongchang, her pupils contracted. She stared in disbelief at the man before her, who seemed to have aged ten years since she had last seen him.
She did not dare approach and disturb him, and could only stand silently to one side.
“Every word you spoke has finally come true,” Emperor Yongchang said quietly. “I have finally become utterly alone.”
He stood in silence before the gates of the Noble Consort’s palace.
Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhao were occupied with the construction of the northern frontier and naturally knew nothing of all that had taken place in the capital.
In the twenty-sixth year of Yongchang, March arrived. Winter slowly passed, and everything seemed to gain a fresh beginning, like the spring itself.
Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhao sat in the study, each attending to their own affairs. At that moment, Xia Hua knocked on the door.
Lin Miaomiao looked at Xia Hua in puzzlement. She was holding a parcel.
Lin Miaomiao stared at it thoughtfully, while Li Yanhao opened it at once.
The moment they saw what lay inside, Lin Miaomiao fell silent.
At first, when she saw the playing cards, her thoughts returned to the first time she had met Third Prince Li Tai’an.
When she had first encountered him, she had sensed a scholarly air about the boy.
Lin Miaomiao glanced at Li Yanhao and asked in a voice tinged with disbelief, “Did something happen to the third prince?”
Li Yanhao looked at her. After a long moment, he sighed, sat down in a chair, and said, “I only learned of it recently myself.”
“After news of the third prince’s death reached the capital, Father fell gravely ill. Soon afterward, the capital was placed under martial law.”
“The Grand Secretary’s eldest son died in the third prince’s study.”
Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao’s voice trembled. “The third prince was still so young, and yet he…”
Li Yanhao glanced at her and pressed his lips together before tilting his head and saying, “The third prince was too impatient. And Father truly had come to hate him.”
“Who would have thought that, when the third prince fell into hardship, the crown prince would send his own secret guards after him? The third prince had not lived well these past few years.”
Lin Miaomiao licked her lips. After a long silence, she said, “The capital must be in turmoil now, mustn’t it?”
Li Yanhao nodded. “Naturally. The crown prince has stationed heavily armed troops at every strategic stronghold around the capital. Who do you think he is guarding against?”
After he said this, Lin Miaomiao raised her head and looked at him. “The crown prince is afraid you will return. He is afraid the emperor will discover that the secret guards he sent were indirectly responsible for the third prince’s death.”
Li Yanhao nodded.
After a long while, he said, “That is the imperial family.”
He did not continue.
In the capital, Emperor Yongchang lay gravely ill in bed.
Crown Prince Li Hanwen remained at his father’s bedside, attending to him as a dutiful son. While unconscious, Emperor Yongchang kept murmuring, “Chuxia… Chuxia…”
“Chuxia is the Noble Consort’s given name.”
Li Hanwen knelt there, caught between laughter and tears.
Mother, even now, Father is not calling your name. Why did you scheme against the Noble Consort all those years ago? What have you gained in the end?
The crown prince continued kneeling silently beside the bed. After a long time, he saw that Emperor Yongchang had awakened.
Li Hanwen hurried forward. The moment he drew near, Emperor Yongchang struck him across the face.
The crown prince was knocked to the floor by the blow.
A faint smile curved Emperor Yongchang’s lips. The servants attending nearby immediately fell to their knees, pressing their faces to the ground.
When Li Hanwen rose, he saw the emperor half reclining against the bed.
The crown prince knelt to one side. Emperor Yongchang raised his eyes and looked at him.
“When I was young, I was a man who never let the smallest grievance go unanswered. I climbed to this throne over the bones of my brothers.”
“That is why Noble Consort Xianrou, Yuan Chuxia, always looked at me with such coldness. She despised me. She believed I was a heartless man.”
“I could never stand that woman either. Half a lifetime passed like that. Only when she finally departed this world did I understand what it meant to be utterly alone.”
Leaning against the bed, Emperor Yongchang finished speaking with difficulty, breathing heavily. He then looked coldly at Crown Prince Li Hanwen.
“You have plotted so much. I will not allow your plans to fail.”
“Because I, too, want to watch you lose the person most important to you. I want you to experience what I am feeling now.”
After saying this, Emperor Yongchang gave a cold laugh.
Seeing him like this, Crown Prince Li Hanwen shook his head with a faint, almost amused smile and slowly said, “I will not. I will never live as you have, Father.”
Hearing this, Emperor Yongchang’s lips curved into a beautiful smile.
“You will experience all of this.”
“Beginning tomorrow, the crown prince is to go to the imperial ancestral temple and pray for blessings on behalf of his brother.”
After this decree was issued, Crown Prince Li Hanwen said nothing. He merely bowed deeply to Emperor Yongchang.
The emperor sat upon the dragon bed, quietly watching the young crown prince’s face as he performed each movement with graceful composure.
The instant Li Hanwen turned to leave, Emperor Yongchang suddenly saw the reflection of his own younger self.
The emperor’s health gradually improved. The second thing he did after recovering was to confer the title of idle prince upon Seventh Prince Li Yankang and Ninth Prince Li Yonghe.
Just as the two princes successfully left their former residences, Emperor Yongchang fell gravely ill once more.
Before they had time to enter the palace and offer their thanks, their princely estates were surrounded.
After Crown Prince Li Hanwen left the ancestral temple, he went to Emperor Yongchang’s bedchamber.
Emperor Yongchang watched as the crown prince walked toward him step by step.
Lying on his sickbed, the emperor breathed heavily.
In the twenty-sixth year of Yongchang, Emperor Yongchang fell gravely ill.
When Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhao received the letter Princess Chang’an had sent from the capital, disbelief appeared in Lin Miaomiao’s eyes.
Li Yanhao read the letter. After a long silence, Lin Miaomiao heard him let out a heavy sigh.
“Should we prepare to leave ahead of time, or perhaps…” Lin Miaomiao had not finished speaking when Li Yanhao shook his head.
“Don’t worry. These are only minor matters.”
Lin Miaomiao was dressed in winter clothing. Construction in the northern frontier was proceeding in full swing.
Seeing how the streets had changed, Lin Miaomiao was immediately delighted.
One day, after finishing his official duties in the study, Li Yanhao looked outside. Snow had begun to fall over the northern frontier.
He saw Lin Miaomiao and Yuan Lin standing together, apparently engaged in cheerful conversation.
At that moment, Yuan Lin glanced at Lin Miaomiao and said, “Sister-in-law, why has there still been no sign of a child?”
Lin Miaomiao frowned and thought for a moment before answering, “Perhaps the time has not yet come for me to meet my child.”
With that, she gave Yuan Lin a lovely smile.
Xia Hua, who was serving nearby, became tense at once upon hearing this.
Just then, a servant came to announce that Lin Langze had arrived.
When Yuan Lin saw Lin Langze and Jiang Luohan approaching, she hurriedly said to them, “Sister-in-law has never become pregnant. You two are physicians. Please examine her.”
Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao made no pretense of embarrassment and immediately extended her arm.
Lin Langze and Jiang Luohan took turns examining her pulse.
At that moment, the things Xia Hua was holding suddenly fell to the ground.
Everyone turned to look.
Nanny Zhao noticed something unusual as well, then quietly withdrew.