PFC Chapter 198: An audience with the Crown Prince of Anding
Chapter 198: An audience with the Crown Prince of Anding
The moon was above the branches, and the cold moonlight cast a silver glow. Su Yu, with a handkerchief covering the tip of her nose, tiptoed into the old lady's room.
Walking closer, looking at the old woman lying on the bed with her eyes still closed, Su Yu lowered her voice and asked, "Aunt Qinxin, how is the old lady?"
Aunt Qinxin looked up and saw that it was Su Yu. Her eyes were filled with gratitude. "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Su. The old lady's fever has subsided and she is feeling much better now. However, she hasn't woken up yet and still coughs occasionally."
Su Yu frowned slightly: "I'll ask the doctor to come over tomorrow and take a closer look."
Aunt Qinxin nodded and felt even more grateful to Su Yu. She knew that if Su Yu had not appeared in time and provided the precious pills, the old lady would probably have lost her life long ago.
Su Yu took out a small bottle from her arms again, poured out a penicillin pill and handed it to Aunt Qin Xin: "Then take another pill, so I can feel more at ease."
Aunt Qinxin hurriedly and reverently took the pill, carefully put it into the old lady's mouth, then lifted the old lady's upper body, opened her teeth and stuffed the pill in. Su Yu hurriedly handed over a glass of water and carefully fed the old lady a mouthful.
After the old lady swallowed it, Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had space, otherwise he would be helpless if he encountered tuberculosis.
After Aunt Qinxin put the empress dowager down, her eyes became moist again. Her heart was filled with gratitude towards Su Yu. She knew how precious these pills were, and yet Young Master Su was willing to give her two.
"Thank you, Mr. Su, for your generosity. I, your servant, would like to thank you on behalf of my master. We will definitely repay you in the future!" Aunt Qinxin quickly knelt down and kowtowed to express her gratitude.
Su Yu helped Aunt Qin Xin up and said softly, "There's no need to do this. I just did what I wanted to do. I just hope that the old lady can recover soon. If you have anything to say, please tell Xie An and Nan Xing outside the door."
"Yes, Mr. Su," Qin Xin responded.
After saying that, Su Yu turned and left the room.
Aunt Qinxin looked at Su Yu's departing back and was unable to come back to her senses for a long time. She felt very emotional. This young man didn't know their identities, but he was so selfless as to give such a precious pill to an ordinary old man. This showed that he was really kind.
When the Queen Mother wakes up and they return to the palace, they must thank Young Master Su very much. He saved the Queen Mother, which is a great achievement. She must ask for a reward for him and not let the young man's kindness go to waste.
After Su Yu returned to the room, he went into the space to meditate and practice as usual.
In the early morning of the second day, the sunlight shone on the glazed tiles of the palace, making them sparkle. Emperor Li Ruian, who had just finished his morning court session, walked steadily along the corridor of the palace.
As he walked, he instructed Eunuch Jingde, who was serving beside him, "Jingde, you must go to the residence of Taifu Zhao immediately and convey my order to have Prince Zhou Yao of Anding come to the palace for an audience."
Eunuch Jingde hurriedly bowed and replied in a sharp voice, "I obey your order." After that, he turned around and hurried away with his whisk.
Emperor Li Ruian remembered that a spy came to report yesterday, saying that the Prince of Anding and his mother visited Prime Minister Qin's residence and talked for a long time before coming out.
As the king of a country, he was naturally dissatisfied with the engagement between Prince Zhou Yao of Anding and the granddaughter of Prime Minister Qin.
After all, the Prime Minister of Qin was the chief civil official of the dynasty, and the King of Anding was a king of a different surname. The marriage between their two families would inevitably cause a huge uproar, and even turmoil in the court.
Since the passing of his father, Prince Anding seems to have become more and more restless. According to information gathered, he has been making frequent small moves in the Southern Barbarians. Although these moves are not so blatant, in recent years, Prince Anding has been submitting memorials to the court requesting reinforcement of silver, manpower and food, and he has been crying poor every time.
Now, King Anding has become the overlord of the Southern Barbarians. He holds the financial power of his fiefdom, but he is still not satisfied and continues to demand money and property from the court. This behavior is really intolerable.
It was not easy for him to speak directly to the old minister Qin Xiang, but the prince of Anding was young, so perhaps he could be summoned into the palace to test the attitude of the Southern Barbarians.
The emperor walked into the imperial study and sat at his desk to start a new day's work - reviewing memorials.
Not long after, Eunuch Jingde brought Prince Zhou Yao to the outside of the imperial study.
Eunuch Jingde was very polite to Crown Prince Zhou. He said softly, "Your Highness, please wait here for a moment. I will go in and report first."
Prince Zhou bowed and politely replied, "Thank you, eunuch."
In fact, Zhou Yao knew very well in his heart that the emperor would definitely summon him to the palace for an audience, but he did not expect that he had been back in the capital for so many days and only received the oral order to enter the palace today.
In front of the imperial desk, Eunuch Jingde respectfully reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince of Anding has arrived."
The emperor slowly put down the memorial he was reviewing and said, "Let him in."
Eunuch Jingde replied, "As you wish."
Eunuch Jingde ushered the person in, and Crown Prince Zhou Yao immediately knelt down respectfully and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be blessed with good health!"
The emperor said with a smile: "Hahaha, no need to be so polite. According to etiquette, I have to call you my cousin."
Zhou Yao said in fear, "I dare not. Your Majesty, please don't make fun of me."
"How is your father doing in southern Xinjiang? I also wonder how your uncle's health is recently?" The emperor asked casually.
Is the Emperor testing the waters now? Zhou Yao's heart tightened, but he quickly composed himself. He had already discussed a countermeasure with his father.
He then said with a look of worry, "Your Majesty, the land of Southern Xinjiang is extremely poor and life is very difficult. Fortunately, we have the support of the court, otherwise it would be difficult for us to maintain the expenses of the army."
Sure enough, after hearing this, the emperor didn't dare to ask any more questions. After all, the other party had already said so. If he continued to ask, wouldn't it seem that the emperor didn't trust the dignified Prince Anding?
The Emperor continued to question Prince Zhou, "I heard from your father that you came to the capital to study. Have you found a good academy?"
Crown Prince Zhou Yao concealed the expression in his eyes. His father had already reminded him before he came that his trip to Beijing was actually the emperor's intention. His father had made up an excuse to study. Otherwise, as a crown prince, why would he need to study hard to pass the imperial examination and enter the official career?
Crown Prince Zhou Yao knew very well that this time the emperor was just holding him as a hostage.
But the situation in the court was unclear, so he could only try to calm the emperor down first. So he answered honestly, "Your Majesty, I haven't found a suitable academy yet."
The emperor looked at the young man in front of him, who was neither humble nor arrogant, and couldn't help but feel a little admiration in his heart. He thought that although Zhou Yao was young, he was more stable than ordinary people. So he said, "Why don't you join the Imperial College? You are so talented and intelligent that you won't bring disgrace to the Imperial College."
After hearing this, Zhou Yao immediately understood the emperor's intention. It turned out that the emperor wanted to keep him under his own nose and monitor him.
However, he did not show any dissatisfaction or resistance. Instead, he bowed respectfully again and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. You have solved a big problem that bothered me."
The emperor thought that the young man in front of him was not only calm and steady in his actions, but also precise in his words, which was far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
If such talents can be loyal to the court in the future, they will surely become pillars of the court.
The emperor added: "The Imperial College is the best institution of learning in the capital. You must work hard to be able to study there." The emperor encouraged.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I will definitely live up to your expectations." Zhou Yao replied respectfully.
Afterwards, the emperor chatted with Zhou Yao about some things about the Imperial College and the customs and people of the capital. Zhou Yao responded one by one and behaved very appropriately.
Finally, the emperor asked Eunuch Jingde to escort Zhou Yao out of the palace.