Chapter 163: Changes
Ye Shuo was walking on the road, kicking pebbles for fun. The peach blossoms around him fell down and fluttered in front of his eyes, which made his eyebrows and eyes look stunning. I don’t know how many people were stunned by him.
But what Ye Shuo was thinking about at the moment was the desperate expression on Lord Cen’s face when he saw him just now.
I thought that after the Ninth Prince left the palace, I would finally be able to get rid of him. If I wasn’t afraid of the emperor’s anger, I would have wanted to buy two strings of firecrackers to set off.
But he was not happy for long. The Ninth Prince came back after a walk. From what the Emperor said, he would not be able to get out for a while. Lord Cen felt that the road ahead was bleak and he wished he could resign on the spot, so that he could live two more years.
As he thought about it, Ye Shuo’s thoughts gradually shifted.
Just when he was thinking about whether to run away, he saw a familiar figure walking hurriedly not far away.
That person was none other than the always low-key Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince looked extremely anxious, and was accompanied by the imperial physician. If it were anyone else, they would definitely not be willing to meddle in such trivial matters, but Ye Shuo was famous for being there wherever there was excitement, and no matter who it was, he would go up and ask questions whenever he saw them.Just when the Seventh Prince was getting anxious, he suddenly heard a voice: “Seventh Brother.”
The Seventh Prince turned around and saw Ye Shuo walking towards him.
“What happened?” Seeing the Seventh Prince open his mouth, Ye Shuo said, “Let’s talk while we walk.”
Perhaps it was because his attitude was too natural, and the Seventh Prince was now somewhat confused, so he subconsciously agreed.
After walking for a long time, he gradually reacted.
Then Ye Shuo learned that the seventh prince’s biological mother, Xu Guirong, was ill.
Ye Shuo frowned upon hearing this: “Is it serious? Do you need any medicine?”
If Ye Shuo has a situation where he can help with something that is easy to do, like this one, he will generally help.
But his subconscious reaction made the Seventh Prince stunned.
Although his mother had been living in Concubine Shu’s palace and he had been serving the Fifth Prince at all times, Concubine Shu did not even care as much about his mother’s illness as his ninth brother did.
It’s really funny.
The Seventh Prince calmed himself down and did not show off. He just said, “If there is any need, I will ask my Ninth Brother for help.”
Ye Shuo nodded: “Okay, let’s go see concubine Guirong first.”
This was probably Ye Shuo’s second time coming to Concubine Shu’s palace. It could be said that he had a connection with Concubine Shu, as Ye Shuo saw her as soon as he came in.
“Greetings to the Concubine Shu.”
Concubine Shu first looked at him, then looked at the Seventh Prince and the imperial physician behind him, and she had a rough idea in her mind.
This seventh prince is so capable that she doesn’t know when he got in touch with the son of the woman in Qiuwu Palace.
Concubine Shu didn’t say much, and Ye Shuo didn’t delay any longer. He followed the Seventh Prince into Xu Guirong’s room in the side hall.
Ye Shuo took a look from a distance through the gap in the screen and was then startled.
Ye Shuo remembered when he was just one month old. At that time, Xu Guirong was still young and a low-key person like the Seventh Prince. Even when he was punished, he kept his head down and remained silent.
But now, perhaps because of her illness, Xu Guirong has become extremely thin and there is no trace of her former beauty.
About half an incense stick of time later, the imperial physician and the seventh prince came out together. Both of them looked bad, and the situation was not optimistic.
The imperial physician sighed: “Gui Rong’s illness has been delayed for too long, at least a month, I’m afraid…”
The Seventh Prince subconsciously tightened his grip upon hearing this. When he entered the palace more than a month ago, he noticed that something seemed wrong with his mother’s complexion, but he did not take it to heart at the time. Now thinking about it, he really regretted it.
“What’s more, Empress Guirong’s foundation was damaged when she was young. If she uses good ginseng to replenish her vitality, it would be better.”
When Ye Shuo heard the first half of the sentence, his heart couldn’t help but pause slightly.
When the imperial physician finished speaking, the Seventh Prince looked over and Ye Shuo nodded: “No problem, my mother has some wild ginseng, I’ll have someone bring it to you later.”
Ginseng is something that is extremely difficult to pick and grow. One or two stalks are fine, but if you want to use them for a long time, it is indeed difficult given the Seventh Prince’s current financial situation.
But in fact, although Ye Shuo said so, his mother didn’t have much stock left. The only option now was to buy it outside. This was not a difficult task for Ye Shuo, so he didn’t mention it.
The Seventh Prince heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and couldn’t help but feel grateful: “Thank you, Ninth Brother.”
The Seventh Prince said this sincerely.
After all this ordeal, the Seventh Prince’s forehead and body were covered in sweat. Ye Shuo noticed that his lips were a little pale, presumably because of his deep affection for Xu Guirong.
It was the same back then. As soon as Xu Guirong knelt down, the Seventh Prince couldn’t control his tears and burst into tears. Although it was partly because the Seventh Prince was still young, it was also because of the bond between mother and son.
And Xu Guirong didn’t tell the Seventh Prince even though she was so ill. She hired an imperial physician and got medicine prescribed for her, but it didn’t work. She couldn’t hide it any longer, so the Seventh Prince found out.
This made Ye Shuo think of his mother. While the imperial physician was writing the prescription, he softened his heart and advised, “Seventh brother, don’t worry. Concubine Guirong will get better.”
The Seventh Prince was a very smart man and could naturally understand the meaning of this. Similarly, he finally noticed his own embarrassment at the moment.
The Seventh Prince pulled the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, saying, “Thank you for your good words, Ninth Brother.”
“You don’t know, Ninth Brother, I have been dependent on my mother since I was born. I am not afraid of being laughed at by you if I tell you this. If something bad happened to my mother, I really don’t know what I would do.”
It can be seen that the Seventh Prince was very flustered and said things that he would never say under normal circumstances.
Ye Shuo couldn’t do anything else but pat his hands and comfort him: “It will be fine, everything will be fine.”
Gradually, the Seventh Prince became less nervous.
After Ye Shuo returned, he asked someone to deliver the ginseng shortly afterwards.
A few days later, Ye Shuo accidentally met the Fifth Prince, but the Fifth Prince at this time acted as if nothing had happened and even asked him if he had seen the Seventh Prince.
“Really? This Old Seven has been gone for so many days. I don’t even know if he has finished the task I asked him to do for me.”
Ye Shuo was stunned for a moment, then asked: “You still don’t know what the seventh brother’s situation is now?”
The Fifth Prince: “What could possibly happen to him?”
Hmm? That shouldn’t be the case. Given the relationship between the Fifth Prince and the Seventh Prince, it’s impossible for him not to know that Xu Guirong was seriously ill.
While Ye Shuo was stunned, the Fifth Prince suddenly thought of something: “Oh…you mean Xu Guirong’s illness? But what does Xu Guirong’s illness have to do with him? There are so many palace servants, and he can’t help much. There are still so many things to do in the Ministry of Revenue. No matter what, it can’t affect the work, right?”
“I came here today just for this matter. Forget it, I won’t talk to you anymore. I have to go find him.”
Looking at the Fifth Prince’s hurried back, Ye Shuo’s heart skipped a beat.
Perhaps because he had known the Fifth Prince for so long, Ye Shuo almost forgot that the Fifth Prince always treated people differently based on their social status and he was not always friendly to everyone.
The Fifth Prince was arrogant from the beginning, but Ye Shuo was even more arrogant than him, which forced him to restrain himself when facing Ye Shuo.
The Fifth Prince had one face when dealing with Ye Shuo, and another attitude when dealing with the Seventh Prince.
The Seventh Prince has followed the Fifth Prince since he was a child. The Seventh Prince’s mother is a person in the Palace of Concubine Shu. The identities of both mother and son are suppressed by Concubine Shu and the Fifth Prince. Over time, the Fifth Prince naturally regards the Seventh Prince as a slave, and slaves cannot have their own thoughts.
After so many years, the Fifth Prince has long been accustomed to it.
It would be fine if such a balance was not broken, but once it was broken, it would probably lead to a disaster.
Ye Shuo instantly recalled that when he was in the study, he saw that the Seventh Prince had clearly started writing a poem, and he wrote two whole lines before changing to something else. This proved that he actually wanted to express himself in his heart.
The reason why the Seventh Prince was constrained in every way and forced to listen to the Fifth Prince was that his status was low, and also…Xu Guirong was in the hands of Concubine Shu, so the Seventh Prince had to obey.
There are not so many masochists in this world. What there are are only people who have to compromise.
In order to let his mother live a good life, the Seventh Prince was willing to bury his intelligence and talent, be driven by Concubine Shu’s son, and become a transparent person among the princes.
Thinking of this, Ye Shuo shuddered immediately.
Then, rare medicinal herbs began to be sent to Concubine Shu’s palace as if they were free.
In Ye Shuo’s opinion, if this matter can be solved with money, then it is not a problem. If not…
Just when Ye Shuo was thinking about something, thirty-seven days later, Xu Guirong died.
Despite being kept alive by so many precious medicinal herbs, Xu Guirong eventually died.
Ye Shuo’s mind went blank at first, and he suddenly remembered what the imperial physician had said before –
“What’s more, Empress Guirong’s foundation was damaged when she was young. If she uses good ginseng to replenish her vitality, it would be better.”
She was injured when she was young…
Since the Fifth Prince treats the Seventh Prince in this way, Concubine Shu must not be much better to Xu Guirong.
Ye Shuo hurriedly asked Xiao Luzi to find out how Concubine Shu had treated Xu Guirong over the years.
As expected, Xu Guirong’s injury was indeed related to Concubine Shu.
Xu Guirong was originally a maid in Concubine Shu’s palace, but she was favoured by her stepfather. Concubine Shu was naturally unhappy, but who could be happy?
Soon after Xu Guirong was favoured, Concubine Shu made excuses to make things difficult for her, and that was when Xu Guirong fell ill. As a result, she didn’t recover well, and the birth of the Seventh Prince made her even more injured, and even damaged her foundation.
An emperor would never care so much. He would just favour whoever he liked. He didn’t know or care whether a little palace maid would suffer a catastrophic disaster because of his small action.
Emperor Jingwen had the same problems as all other emperors, and he was never lazy.
After Xu Guirong’s death, Concubine Shu thought it was unlucky and refused to allow anyone to set up a mourning hall in her palace. Even after so many years, Concubine Shu had no feelings for Xu Guirong, so Xu Guirong was hastily buried according to the palace rules.
The Second Prince didn’t care much about his younger brother. After all, the Seventh Prince had been mediocre since childhood. Besides, how capable could a prince be if he could even be controlled the Fifth Prince?
When Ye Shuo heard that the Seventh Prince not only did not make a fuss, but was even calmer than before, it seemed that he knew it was useless and that Xu Guirong would not come back no matter what, so he gave up struggling.
Then, only three days after Xu Guirong was buried, not even the seventh day had passed, the Seventh Prince went to the Ministry of Revenue to do his work as usual.
Calm, too calm, which was totally different from the anxious look on the Seventh Prince’s face when he first heard that his mother was ill.
Ye Shuo just felt that something was wrong.
Ye Shuo thought that this was bad enough, but he didn’t expect that even worse news was waiting for him.
A few days later, probably less than a month at most, the Crown Prince had a big fight with his tutor.
Considering how much the Grand Tutor values the Crown Prince, the fact that he was so furious must mean something serious.
The Taifu is old-fashioned and stubborn, and it is difficult for him to change his mind once he has made up his mind. Under other circumstances, these would all be shortcomings, but his stubborn temper also means that he cannot tolerate any flaws.
He won’t change when he’s young, and even less so when he’s old.
In addition, Ye Shuo had expressed concerns before, so he thought that the crime the prince had committed this time must be serious.
The more he cared about it, the angrier he became, to the point that the Grand Tutor didn’t even care about his manners.
There are so many details in front of us that it is difficult to ignore them.
Looking at the familiar palace wall, Ye Shuo suddenly felt a little breathless.
Noticing the sadness on his face, the imperial concubine was startled at first, then slowly walked behind him.