flstandardbreds Chapter 213 1 Thoughts of the Pass 16
Chapter 213 1 Thoughts of the Pass 16
Li Tongguang smiled faintly and said, "Since Your Highness is unwell, we should not disturb you any longer. We will talk about it when Your Highness recovers."
After saying that, he led the Anguo delegation away. Once he was out of the post station, he suddenly stopped and said coldly, "How is His Highness Prince Li's health?"
The physician bowed and replied, "Your Excellency, the pulse of this Prince Li of Wu is like willow catkins in the cold of spring, light and weak, almost imperceptible. He is clearly on the verge of death!"
"So serious?" Li Tongguang was somewhat surprised. He had thought that Prince Li was just weak and exhausted from the long journey, but he did not expect that he was so seriously ill.
Li Tongguang suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a cold light: "We can't let that Prince Li die here! If he dies as soon as he enters Anguo's territory, what will other countries think of our Great An?"
Prince Li, Yang Ying, absolutely cannot die!
In times of war, it is an unspoken agreement between the two countries that envoys should not be killed.
If King Li of Wuguo were to die in Anguo, Anguo would surely be condemned by the people of the world.
If mud falls into your crotch—even if it's not poop, it's still poop!
Everyone would think that Emperor An broke his promise and killed the envoy from Wu Kingdom, and that this envoy was a prince of Wu Kingdom. In that case, things would get really serious!
Moreover, with the death of Prince Li, who will welcome Emperor Wu back to the country?
If Emperor Wu does not return to the country, how can the two tigers, King Danyang and Wu Kingdom, fight each other and begin to split and disintegrate from within?
Prince Li must not die!
Li Tongguang cursed Wuguo under his breath for being treacherous and cunning, actually sending a sickly person to try and extort money from Da'an.
After scolding her, he hurriedly ordered someone to find the best tonics and send them to the post station to help Yang Ying recover.
In addition, a memorial was sent to Emperor An via express courier, detailing Yang Ying's current situation and requesting the emperor to decide what to do.
After finishing all that, Li Tongguang sat down at the table and felt a headache coming on.
He was the one who proposed that a prince of Wu Kingdom be the envoy to welcome the emperor; he was the one who proposed to let the two tigers, Emperor Wu and King Danyang, fight each other; and he was also the one who proposed to win over King Li of Wu Kingdom.
If Prince Li were to suddenly die now, causing the subsequent plans to fail as intended, how would Emperor An deal with him?
Li Tongguang's only wish in this life was that two people could live well in the world: one was his master Ren Xin, and the other was Yang Ying.
Even considering the current situation, he would prefer that Yang Ying not die.
……
Du Changshi stood anxiously by the bedside: "Your Highness, will the physician really not be able to see through your true identity?"
"No! I have already taken medicine to change my pulse. No one who takes my pulse will be able to tell that I am a woman." Yang Ying drank the bowl of medicine. The books she read at the palace gate were not for nothing. Changing the pulse is a piece of cake.
Du Changshi nodded, then, recalling the physician's expression after taking the pulse, his heart tightened and he asked, "I noticed the physician's expression was off earlier. Is there really something wrong with Your Highness's health?"
Yang Ying shook his head: "I am fine! My current weakness is also due to the medicine."
"During this mission to Anguo, Emperor An will certainly not let His Majesty off easily, and will also make things difficult for the delegation. Therefore, I simply pretended to be ill to give them a warning first and regain some initiative."
"Once we arrive in Andu, if Emperor An dares to give me a hard time or make things difficult for me, I will have one of them killed on the spot and nailed to the pillar of historical shame!"
"Moreover, my poor health can reduce Emperor An's vigilance to some extent, so that he will not target me too much on the surface."
Upon hearing this, Chief Secretary Du's lips twitched.
Alright! For the Wu Kingdom, where even the emperor is currently in an enemy country, this can be considered a solution!
So Yang Ying settled down at the post station with peace of mind and accepted all kinds of precious tonics sent by Anguo without any hesitation. Subsequently, amidst the tense and uneasy atmosphere of the Anguo delegation, she was "critically ill" several times, but she pulled through each time with her extraordinary willpower.
In the blink of an eye, nearly a month had passed. Just when the Anguo delegation's patience had reached its limit, a traveling doctor treated them and they witnessed a medical miracle.
His Highness Prince Li's life has been saved!
Although His Highness Prince Li's condition has not fully recovered, it has improved significantly. At least he can get out of bed and can even manage to sit in a carriage for two hours each day.
Upon hearing this news, the Anguo delegation breathed a sigh of relief. Fearing further deterioration of her condition, they hurried to the post station.
"I heard that Your Highness has recovered well. I wonder if Your Highness can set off for Andu tomorrow?" Fan Dongming's eyes darted around, constantly scrutinizing Yang Ying, which annoyed Yang Ying so much that she wished she could just gouge out his eyes.
"Don't worry, Shaoqing. I will crawl to Andu to personally welcome my brother back to the country!"
Fan Tongming smiled shamelessly, completely ignoring the sarcasm in Yang Ying's words, and bowed: "In that case, I will make the arrangements immediately."
Yang Ying didn't say anything when she saw this!
Anguo's good days are numbered; let's be patient with them for a few more days!
The delegation set off again the next day. During their journey to Andu, His Highness Prince Li suffered several relapses, which frightened Li Tongguang and the Junior Minister of Anguo, who thought he was about to die. They dared not urge him too much and traveled anxiously for more than half a month before finally arriving in Andu.
Looking at the majestic ancient city before him, Li Tongguang breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: We've finally arrived in Andu! I can finally get rid of this troublesome person!
"Please stay here. Vice Minister Fan of the Court of State Ceremonial will come every three days. If you need anything, please feel free to ask him."
Li Tongguang escorted the delegation to the Siyiguan (Foreigners' Hall), a place used by Anguo to entertain envoys from various countries. After leaving behind a single sentence, he turned and left without waiting.
The delegation members were prepared and knew that Emperor An would not meet with them so easily. They were not annoyed and began to tidy up in an orderly manner, clearing out the Anguo spies in the embassy. After that, they ate and slept.
From Wu Kingdom to An Kingdom, a journey of thousands of miles, the group had trekked through mountains and rivers, endured wind and rain, and suffered many hardships. Finally arriving in An Kingdom, they were all quite exhausted. Knowing that Emperor An would not see them today, they rested early, intending to recover their strength as soon as possible to cope with the impending storm.
Who would have thought that the storm would come so quickly?
At midnight, the Imperial Eunuch of Anguo arrogantly went to the Siyi Pavilion to announce the imperial decree: summon Prince Li of Wuguo to the palace for an audience immediately!
Yang Ying was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly woken up. She wanted nothing more than to rush into the palace and kill Emperor An.
Knowing that Emperor An's summons late at night was bound to be bad news, he simply closed his eyes and staged a "relapse of his old illness" on the spot.
He was on the verge of death, and it looked like he was about to breathe his last.
That's great!
That night, not only was the Wu Kingdom delegation thrown into chaos, but even Emperor An in the palace was dumbfounded. He immediately dispatched imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital to examine Yang Ying, fearing that she might die at this critical moment.
……
Emperor An looked at the trembling imperial physicians below with a gloomy expression, his tone filled with dissatisfaction and anxiety: "What exactly is wrong with that Prince Li of Wu Kingdom? Why hasn't he recovered yet?"
Ten days had passed since Yang Ying fell seriously ill. The imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital took turns on duty, staying at the Siyi Pavilion without leaving for a moment.
Emperor An spared no expense in trying to cure her illness, using all sorts of precious tonics and herbs, almost emptying the Imperial Hospital's pharmacy.
Even so, Yang Ying's condition did not improve at all. She remained weak and lying in bed, her breath faint, as if she might die at any moment, yet she miraculously maintained a glimmer of hope.
Emperor An suspected that she was faking her illness, after all, Yang Ying's illness came on too coincidentally.
But if she was faking illness, the imperial physician who treated her would not have failed to notice the flaws.
Even if some of them were negligent, it's impossible for all the imperial physicians to be deceived.
This result forced Emperor An to admit that Prince Li from Wu Kingdom was indeed ill. In order for the subsequent plans to proceed smoothly, Emperor An could only urge the Imperial Hospital to cure Yang Ying as soon as possible.
The imperial physicians below inwardly groaned, but could only cautiously say, "Your Majesty, the illness afflicting Prince Li of Wu is extremely rare, seemingly a congenital ailment. We have exhausted all our methods, but still cannot improve his condition. However..."
At this point, the imperial physician glanced at Li Tongguang, who was standing to one side, successfully diverting Emperor An's attention from himself: "This humble servant has heard that Prince Li also fell ill on his way to An, but I do not know what medicine he took at that time..."
Emperor An realized that Yang Ying had indeed fallen ill before entering An, and that his illness was quite serious at the time. Marquis Changqing had even presented him with a memorial.
Emperor An then hurriedly inquired of Li Tongguang:
"Marquis Changqing, do you still remember what medicine Prince Li was given when he was seriously ill?"
Upon hearing this, Li Tongguang almost slapped Emperor An!
You're panicking now? Where were you before?
I told you then that Prince Li was in poor health and to take it easy, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on putting on a show of force.
Now look what happened! I woke someone up in the middle of the night, causing their old illness to flare up again, and now they're asking me again!
What could I possibly know!
Li Tongguang cursed Emperor An in his heart for being so inhuman, but on the surface he appeared respectful and cautious: "I am not well-versed in pharmacology, and because I captured Emperor Wu alive before, the Wu Kingdom delegation was very wary of me on the way. Therefore, I really do not know what medicine Prince Li used when he was seriously ill."
However, Fan Shaoqing of the Court of State Ceremonial had some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine and often visited Prince Li, so he might have some recollection of how Prince Li used medicine at that time.
"Is that so?" Emperor An summoned Fan Dongyang with some skepticism.
Faced with the Emperor's question, Fan Dongyang was completely bewildered; he didn't know anything about it either!
The Wu Kingdom delegation was wary of Li Tongguang, and equally wary of him.
How could the delegation possibly let him know about the medicine that could truly cure Prince Li's illness?
Fan Dongyang thought back carefully. When he visited Prince Li, the Wu Kingdom delegation brewed some ordinary, useless medicine. It was definitely not medicine to treat Prince Li!
However, seeing Emperor An's gloomy face, Fan Dongyang still stammered out the prescription he had seen.
The imperial physicians present listened with utmost concentration, genuinely curious about what kind of miraculous remedy could cure Prince Li's strange illness.
But as Fan Dongming uttered the names of the medicines one by one, the imperial physicians were immediately puzzled.
Isn't this just an ordinary tatami mat? Can it cure diseases?
Are you kidding me?!
Unfortunately, Emperor An was ignorant of these matters. After hearing this, he waved his hand and directly ordered: "The Imperial Medical Academy shall immediately prepare the medicine according to the prescription given by Minister Fan."
The imperial physicians looked at each other, bewildered, and had no choice but to obey: "...Your Majesty, we obey!"
……
Inside the Four Barbarians Pavilion.
Yang Ying noticed that the Imperial Hospital had started prescribing medicine to her indiscriminately, and guessed that Emperor An's patience was probably almost exhausted.
In this situation, if things continue to drag on, the situation will become unfavorable for her.
Thus, Yang Ying, who was 'seriously ill,' slowly 'recovered' under the incredulous gaze of the imperial physicians.
Emperor An was overjoyed. In his happiness, he felt that it was a waste of Fan Dongyang's talents to serve as the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies. With his medical skills, he should be admitted to the Imperial Hospital.
Emperor An silently decided that once the Wu Kingdom delegation left, he would transfer Fan Dongyang to the Imperial Hospital.
……
With Yang Ying's recovery, everyone thought that Emperor An would summon her immediately, but unexpectedly, Emperor An had another idea to cause trouble.
This time, relying on Fan Dongyang's prescription to "cure" Yang Ying's strange illness, he became even more reckless and delayed summoning Yang Ying.
Despite being treated coldly by Emperor An once again, Yang Ying did not fall ill. Instead, she acted very much like an envoy from a defeated country who was eager to redeem his emperor.
Not only did he request an audience with Emperor An three times a day, but he also began to travel around Andu despite his weakened state after just recovering.
Yang Ying began to frequently visit the residences of important officials in Anguo. Each time she went, she would bring a large amount of gold and silver treasures, trying to win over these officials so that they would speak on her behalf to Emperor An and persuade him to agree to release the delegation to welcome Emperor Wu back to the country as soon as possible.
While these Anguo court officials outwardly accepted the gold and silver and promised to act as her intermediaries before Emperor An, they secretly mocked Prince Li of Wuguo for being a fool.
Anyone with a brain knows that Emperor An had strong political considerations for this peace talks, so how could these court officials dare to speak up for the Kingdom of Wu?
Moreover, the Zhu Yiwei's ability to gather intelligence is not to be underestimated!
If they dare to accept bribes of gold and silver from the Kingdom of Wu, Emperor An can immediately issue an edict to confiscate their property.
So the money that Yang Ying had just sent out was immediately delivered to Emperor An by court officials.
Yang Ying seemed completely unaware of this, and continued to visit the residences of many court officials, giving away nearly ten thousand taels of gold in just a few days.
This matter quickly spread like wildfire throughout Andu, even reaching spies from other countries within Anguo's borders, and soon became known throughout the world.
Other countries ridiculed Wu Kingdom for sending such a 'foolish prince' to An Kingdom, giving away so much money before even formal peace talks could begin.
Du Changshi could no longer hold back and grabbed Yang Ying's sleeve to stop her from going out as a "money-giving boy".