The Sickly Seedling Dresses Up As An Unfortunate And Muddled Monarch - Chapter 4

For Qiu Jinghe and Qiu Jingyue, there wasn’t much respect for this successor who was three or four years younger than them, nominally their stepmother.

 

Instead, for this beautiful and young woman, who was reputed to be the top talented lady in the capital, they, at the age of fifteen or sixteen, always harbored various unrealistic thoughts in secret, speculating on every glance and conversation of hers as if trying to discern some hidden intimacy.

 

They had thought that this beautiful successor, after marrying their sickly father, the emperor, would also develop inappropriate thoughts similar to theirs and become restless. But now it seemed not to be the case—

 

“I’m talking to you!”

 

Seeing Qiu Jinghe and Qiu Jingyue kneeling on the ground, staring foolishly at her, Yin Yuan was almost frantic, her face turning cold.

 

“What are you staring at?!”

 

“…It’s the fault of us children.” Qiu Jinghe steadied himself, lowered his eyelashes, gathered his thoughts, and respectfully bowed, saying:

 

“The emperor is still alive and has already awakened. If the empress is worried, she can go visit.”

 

Yin Yuan was even more surprised to hear this. She seemed not to have expected this outcome. After the initial surprise, disbelief surfaced on her face, seemingly unable to accept the impact of this news on her. After a moment, she almost couldn’t stand and swayed a few times, about to fall.

 

“Empress!”

 

“Empress!”

 

Qiu Jinghe and Qiu Jingyue were startled and instinctively wanted to get up to support her, but a palace maid, Huan Chen, moved faster than them and stepped forward to support Yin Yuan:

 

“Your Majesty.”

 

While supporting Yin Yuan, she discreetly gave Yin Yuan a look, implying that her expression shouldn’t attract too much attention and suspicion.

 

Seeing this, Yin Yuan could only slowly steady herself, forcing a smile:

 

“….The emperor has truly awakened.”

 

She tried to show a joyful expression to Qiu Jingyue and Qiu Jinghe, saying:

 

“I will go see him.”

 

Without waiting for Qiu Jingyue and Qiu Jinghe to bow to her, she hastily lifted her skirt and hurried away.

 

“……..”

 

Watching Yin Yuan’s departing figure, Qiu Jingyue’s mouth formed an “O” shape, big enough to fit an egg, incredulously saying:

 

“The empress seems to… really care about the emperor?”

 

No way, someone would actually like that old grumpy emperor?!

 

Qiu Jinghe didn’t comment on Qiu Jingyue’s conclusion. He silently got up, brushed off the snow from his body, tightened his fan, still maintaining his gentlemanly demeanor. However, the slightly drooping eyelids betrayed some unsettled feelings. He ambiguously remarked:

 

“Who knows, is she sincere or pretending?”

 

In Qingzheng Hall

 

At this moment, Emperor Qiu Junyao had no idea that despite all precautions, the princes and Yin Yuan had met, nor did he know that Yin Yuan was on her way to Qingzheng Hall, hastily walking through the snow.

 

He dismissed most of the palace maids and eunuchs, leaned against the bed, first drank a sip of fine hot tea, then accepted the bowl of medicinal soup handed over by the eunuch, and put on a white fox fur coat from the Western Regions’ tribute before comfortably lying down.

 

Being so well taken care of, there was visible delight on Qiu Junyao’s face, and even his complexion had become much rosier, unlike when he was refining elixirs, when he looked as if he had sucked dry, with a yellowish complexion and purple lips.

 

Seeing this, the imperial physician kneeling beside him immediately kowtowed and crawled forward, saying:

 

“Your Majesty, let me check your pulse again.”

 

Qiu Junyao glanced at him, thought for a moment, then instructed a nearby young eunuch:

 

“You, call…”

 

“Reporting to Your Majesty, I’m called Lai Fu.” The young eunuch was very good at ingratiating himself, smiling and bowing forward.

 

“Lai Fu, go find a stool for the physician to sit on.”

 

Qiu Junyao still wasn’t accustomed to the ancient way of addressing himself: “I… I don’t like people kneeling to me.”

 

“Yes.” The young eunuch glanced at the physician, who also looked puzzled, didn’t say much, and silently retreated.

 

After the physician sat down and finished checking Qiu Junyao’s pulse, Qiu Junyao had almost finished his tea. He raised his eyelids and asked the physician:

 

“How is it?”

 

“Well…” The physician’s expression was somewhat hesitant. After some deliberation, he tactfully said:

 

“Your Majesty, although your body is a bit deficient, if you pay attention to rest and nourishment, you can extend your lifespan.”

 

“You can say these words, but I don’t believe them.” Qiu Junyao smiled.

 

As soon as he finished speaking, the physician’s expression changed drastically. He didn’t even dare to sit on the stool and slipped down to the ground, knocking his head repeatedly:

 

“I’m incompetent, I deserve to die a thousand times, I deserve to die a thousand times, Your Majesty!!!”

 

Qiu Junyao: “……..”

 

He looked helplessly at the physician, who was still kneeling on the ground with tears and snot, despite his advanced age. Qiu Junyao handed the tea cup to the young eunuch and then gestured for him to help him up:

 

“You don’t have to be like this.”

 

Qiu Junyao spoke gently: “Just tell me, how much longer do I have?”

 

The physician hesitated, then hesitantly raised his eyes and asked:

 

“Your Majesty, can you forgive me for my forthcoming indiscretion?”

 

Qiu Junyao nodded: “Forgiven.”

 

“Only three years.” The physician knelt on the ground, dispelling his exaggerated expression, trembling with his gray beard, and said with distress:

 

“Your Majesty has been taking elixirs for over a decade, and those elixirs, such as cinnabar, gradually erode Your Majesty’s heart. Your Majesty’s body is now like a dam eaten away by worms and ants, only a shell remains, without substance.”

 

After speaking, the physician surreptitiously raised his head and glanced at Qiu Junyao.

 

To his surprise, Qiu Junyao’s face didn’t show much shock or anger. Instead, he simply uttered a faint “Hmm” and then took another cup of tea.

 

Qiu Junyao didn’t speak immediately, nor did he order the physician, who had spoken such blunt truth, to be taken away and executed as the original owner might have done. He leaned against the bed, lightly tapping his temple with his fingertips, as if contemplating.

 

The incense in the censer quietly wafted up tendrils of white smoke, slowly burning the air in the hall. The flickering sparks seemed to burn into the depths of people’s hearts, causing internal turmoil and almost suffocation, making it hard to breathe.

 

The physician knelt on the ground, sweat already soaking his forehead. Trembling all over, he felt as if his head hanging from his neck might roll onto the ground at any moment. In less than half a moment, he had already prepared what he would say as his last words if Qiu Junyao ordered him to be stabbed to death.

 

After a few minutes, or perhaps less than a moment, Qiu Junyao suddenly spoke up in the vast hall, saying:

 

“Physician, do you… have weekends?”

 

Qiu Junyao jokingly asked, “Do you have benefits and a retirement plan?”

 

“Week… weekends?” The physician was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed with embarrassment as he said, “Your Majesty, do you want to… to cultivate with me?”

 

Qiu Junyao: “………”

 

“…That’s not it!”

 

He rarely showed such a bewildered expression, thinking that joking with ancient people was indeed not feasible. After a moment, he softened his tone and said:

 

“I know that my previous behavior was somewhat stingy, causing harm to many of your colleagues.”

 

Qiu Junyao solemnly took the blame, saying:

 

“Today, I will change my previous ways. I will give you what you deserve, but you must do your utmost to treat me and extend my lifespan. Can you do that?”

 

The physician didn’t understand why Qiu Junyao’s attitude suddenly changed so much. He hesitated for a moment, pondering silently, thinking that accompanying the monarch was like accompanying a tiger; the monarch’s heart was truly unpredictable. However, he didn’t show it on his face and nodded solemnly:

 

“I will do my utmost to treat Your Majesty.”

 

After saying this, he knocked his head heavily, which even Qiu Junyao himself felt painful to hear.

 

“Alright, you may leave.”

 

Qiu Junyao said, “You’re getting old, and it’s cold outside. I’ll have a carriage called for you to leave the palace.”

 

“Thank you, Your Majesty!!!” The old physician was on the verge of tears of joy.

 

For no other reason, being carried in a sedan chair within the palace was an honor that many people struggled for their whole lives and couldn’t achieve, yet he now had it. It was truly a blessing from his ancestors.

 

The old physician gratefully withdrew, and after a while, only Qiu Junyao and a few palace maids and eunuchs remained in the hall.

 

Listening to the rustling sound of snowfall outside the window, Qiu Junyao couldn’t help but prop himself up and look outside, his voice low:

 

“Is it snowing?”

 

Lai Fu hurried forward and replied:

 

“Yes, Your Majesty, the snow is quite heavy.”

 

“……..I once… wanted to see snow.” Qiu Junyao was from the south and had never seen snow before. When he filled out his college application, he deliberately chose a school in the north just to see snow.

 

But unfortunately, he fell ill before he could go see it, right after receiving the admission letter.

 

“Help me out to take a look.”

 

Qiu Junyao got up and looked out the window.

 

“People live for a lifetime, and they should see these things.”

 

Lai Fu didn’t know why the atmosphere suddenly became so melancholic, but he naturally obeyed the emperor’s command without question. So he helped Qiu Junyao up and carefully draped a cloak over him, then used a light blue silk ribbon to tie up Qiu Junyao’s hair.

 

From the perspective of a young eunuch, he could clearly see Qiu Junyao’s handsome profile.

 

For some reason, Lai Fu felt that his Majesty had become much gentler after waking up, and also… seemed to have become younger?

 

Thinking of this, he pondered silently in his heart, then gathered his courage and cautiously suggested:

 

“Your Majesty, you are still seriously ill and shouldn’t stay in the wind for too long. Let me accompany you outside the door for a quarter of an hour, then I will return. How about that?”

 

Qiu Junyao glanced at him.

 

Lai Fu immediately held his breath.

 

After a few seconds, Qiu Junyao smiled and nodded at him: “Okay.”

 

He said, “I appreciate your concern.”

 

Lai Fu immediately relaxed, relieved that the tension had dissipated, and hurriedly supported Qiu Junyao out.

 

Meanwhile, outside the door, Yin Yuan’s face turned pale as he listened to a rough summary of the conversation between Qiu Junyao and the physician.

 

Leaning against the door, he could barely make out some phrases like “cultivate together” and “benefits and retirement plan.”

 

Yin Yuan’s guilty conscience led him to misinterpret these words as “Wu County” and “Yijin Powder.”

 

The thought that Qiu Junyao might have discovered his plot to poison him made Yin Yuan’s legs tremble uncontrollably. He pressed his palms against the door, his expression grim.

 

However, before he could come up with a plan to deal with the situation, the door was suddenly opened from the inside.

 

Still lost in his own imagined scenarios, Yin Yuan was in a panic and didn’t notice the footsteps approaching. So when he realized the door was opening, it was already too late.

 

His body leaning against the door uncontrollably fell inward, so fast that neither Huan Chen nor Ming Fu could stop him in time. They could only watch as Yin Yuan stumbled a few times and landed heavily on the emperor, who was wrapped up like a zongzi.

 

Qiu Junyao: “……. “

 

Yin Yuan: “………”

 

After a moment, chaotic cries broke the tense calm within the palace, and suddenly chaos erupted. The crowd inside the palace walls was in an uproar:

 

“Your Majesty!!!”

 

“Empress!!!”

 

“…This is bad!!! Someone, help! The Emperor, he… he’s been suffocated by the Empress!!!”

 

***Yin Yuan is a man disguised as a woman