Even though it was confirmed that Jiang Suizhou was seriously ill, Jiang Shunheng still didn’t take it lightly. Every once in a while, he would send imperial doctors to check on Jiang Suizhou’s condition.
The potency of Gu Changyun’s medicine was quite good. Whenever the effect of the medicine struck, it was like a mountain crumbling down, driving the doctors and imperial doctors in the mansion to a loss. When the efficacy of the drug subsided, it would also dwindle little by little until it maintained a state that made his body and pulse look weaker than before, but allowed him to still go about his daily life.
Therefore, for a period of time, even the highly skilled imperial doctors that the Hou Zhu sent to Jiang Suizhou still couldn’t diagnose him.
In the past few days, the imperial doctor went back and told the Hou Zhu that although His Highness Jingwang had recovered from his illness, his health was seriously damaged. Presently, the manor was keeping around a doctor from an unknown place to help him recuperate.
Nonetheless, there had been little results so far.
Hearing this news, the Hou Zhu was overjoyed.
“It’s really urgent to seek medical treatment,” the Hou Zhu commented slouchingly.
The imperial doctor agreed repeatedly.
Then he heard the Hou Zhu say, “Since he’s almost well, it is time to bring him into the palace for me to see. I can also persuade him that there are all kinds of doctors in the Imperial Hospital he can ask for, so why trust wild foxes outside?”
The eunuch on the side knowingly stepped forward with a smile and asked the Hou Zhu when to invite Jingwang to enter the palace, so that he could deliver the decree.
The Hou Zhu had been in a terrible mood for some time and wanted to have some fun.
He wanted to see how sick Jiang Suizhou was and speculate when the sick kid would probably die. This was his greatest pleasure.
So, within two days, Jiang Suizhou entered the palace.
Under the drug’s efficacy, his body became frail. Because he was seriously drunk two days ago, his complexion hadn’t recovered. Therefore, when he entered the palace, he looked a little weaker than usual.
The Prince’s imperial crown was dense black, thick and wide, graceful and winding, but it rendered his cheeks seemingly thinner and his face pale. When he kneeled to salute, he looked shaky. It seemed that he could tumble without being pushed.
His appearance resembled his witch imperial consort mother’s dying look.
The former Emperor collapsed on the way to the south, and that witch imperial concubine also fell ill on the way. The moment the former Emperor died, the Hou Zhu immediately ordered that witch concubine to be imprisoned, and allowed no one to serve her, let alone an imperial doctor to treat her. Before she died, the Hou Zhu once went to see the bewitching face. She was skin and bones; her eyes were sunken, her skin was blue and white, and gone were the days when she looked pampered and proud of herself. The contrast was simply like heaven and earth.
The Hou Zhu really felt ecstatic at the sight of her.
Now, the son she gave birth to was very likely to follow in her footsteps.
The Hou Zhu was so elated that he strangely showed concern for Jiang Suizhou.
Jiang Suizhou had known that there would be such a day, and had prepared for it before entering the palace. He merely put on a sickly look and replied perfunctorily.
As expected, his appearance greatly pleased the Hou Zhu.
Only when the Hou Zhu was pleased would he let Jiang Suizhou go ahead of time. Before noon, the Hou Zhu was in a festive mood and raised his hand to let Jiang Suizhou withdraw.
Jiang Suizhou got up and was about to salute, when he heard the Hou Zhu speak again.
“Since Fifth Brother is feeling better, why don’t you go back to your duty at the Ministry of Rites?” He smiled and said, “Without you in the Ministry of Rites, I feel uneasy.”
Uneasy my ass.
He only held a casual job in the Ministry of Rites. It made no difference whether he was there or not. The Hou Zhu said so only because Jiang Suizhou was in poor health and his face was unsightly. The former deliberately asked him to return to work, hoping to make him lose a few years of life due to fatigue.
Fortunately, this was exactly what Jiang Suizhou wanted.
He and Pang Shao parried to and fro, which also made Pang Shao suffer several major losses. Afterward, Pang Shao would definitely no longer let his guard down easily. If Jiang Suizhou was present in the court, he would be better informed.
Jiang Suizhou figured things out. He feigned difficulty, vainly excused himself, and finally, under the coercive order of the Hou Zhu, reluctantly agreed to end his leave.
The Hou Zhu was even more ecstatic.
Jiang Suizhou then stepped back, and when he left the hall, he caught sight of the Hou Zhu’s satisfied expression out of the corner of his eye, his legs upturned on the table.
Jiang Suizhou gingerly withdrew his gaze.
Empress Dowager Pang’s eyes were indeed short-sighted. She truly came from the same family as Pang Shao. She incessantly taught her son how to hate the concubines competing with her and how to kill his brothers for fun. However, it never crossed her mind to teach her son how to be a qualified emperor.
Only when the dynasty was passed down for thousands of generations, and only when the current dynasty had Pang Shao’s support could they rest assured.
They seriously had only themselves to blame.
Jiang Suizhou pondered while walking outside the main hall. The sun was rising. He needed to rush out of the palace early, and also needed to go back to find Xu Du and Gu Changyun to do some planning.
But at this time, he met a person in front of the wide square in front of the hall head on.
The man was striding over in his direction. He should be returning to the main hall where the Hou Zhu was. A servant was trotting along his side, trying bitterly to persuade him.
“Chief Minister, Chief Minister, please stop. His Majesty is busy at this moment. I’m afraid he doesn’t have time to see you…”
Jiang Suizhou’s footsteps lurched, his body tensed with alertness.
Approaching head-on was Pang Shao.
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