C5 Part4

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Chapter 5.4

Transistor: マイ

Proofread/edit: adlt1226

Those two people obviously rushed to get there. The outside sky was just bright and the wind was still strong, but Yong Sheng walked in the room sweating. As soon as he entered the door, he took off the outer fur coat draped over his body and handed it to the eunuch who was waiting outside, pretending to be affectionate. “When I got up this morning, I heard His Highness was injured. My mother and I were so anxious that we do not know what to do. Your Highness’s body is the foundation of the country. What if you have a fatal accident? I don’t think this matter can be overlooked. I went to report to Father Emperor early this morning, and Father immediately ordered Chen Taiyi* to come over for treatment. Your Highness is really stubborn, no matter how injured you are, you still did not call on the doctor, making us worried to death.”

(*Taiyi: Imperial doctor.)

He talked as he walked towards Yong Shan’s bedside. He gave a graceful salute upon seeing Shu Fei, dressed in palace costumes, “Niangniang is also here?” Then he showed a strange expression again, “Why is Niangniang’s face so pale? It can’t be that even Niangniang is also injured?” Despite his concerned tone, there was a look of contempt in his eyes.

Shu Fei’s heart jumped at the sight of the small medicine box in Chen Taiyi’s hands.

This old thing has served in the Imperial Hospital for 37 years. Known for being upright, he was truly a stone that could not be soaked in oil and salt, and was not invaded by water or fire*. If it were someone else, perhaps she could ask them to do a little bit of work and come up with some story regarding the prince’s condition. But why did it have to be this old man?

(Note: truly an unwavering and impervious figure.)

Shu Fei was ill at ease, but her face did not show any trace of anxiety. Slowly and calmly, she sat down on the bed and said coldly to Yong Sheng, “If you really have His Highness in your heart, you wouldn’t have barged into the Prince’s Manor without permission.”

Yong Sheng seemed to have been taught by Jin Fei beforehand, he just smiled and responded, “Shu Fei Niangniang has wronged me. I came here by the will of Father Emperor, so how am I barging in?”

Yong Shan had been looking at Yong Sheng quietly since he entered the door. The look in his eyes were far-reaching and unpredictable. Seeing that Shu Fei was about to argue, Yong Shan interjected, “Father Emperor has many other things to handle every day, my matter is not even a big deal, why did you bother him?” Then he turned towards a still-kowtowed Chen Taiyi and said warmly, “Get up. You are getting older, so you don’t need to kowtow whenever you see me.” he said with a slight smile.

Yong Shan had a reputation of being serious, cold, ruthless and hard to approach. However, with this one smile, which was as calm as the autumn waves of Pinghu, he looked particularly gentle and generous.

(Pinghu: Peaceful Lake.)

Chen Taiyi got up from the ground with difficulty. He bowed again, saying, neither humble nor overbearing, “The Emperor ordered this lowly official to examine the wounds for His Highness. May I ask Your Highness, where the wound is and how it happened?”

Yong Sheng said on the side, “It should be on the thigh, I heard it was a stab wound?”

“Nonsense!” Yong Shan reprimanded Yong Sheng, but his tone was not that stern. There was even a slight smile on his face, “If there were assassins, I would have reported to Father since long ago, and the city gate would be closed for an arrest. The wound is indeed on the leg, as for the reason. Well…”

He looked at Chen Taiyi, a cold smile appeared on the corners of his lips. “It’s a shame to say it. When I went to the Internal Punishment Court, I accidentally fell. Unfortunately, a broken bamboo that was sticking out of the snow pierced the side of my leg. It was such an insignificant injury that it was no longer necessary to alarm the Imperial Hospital; Chang Defu’s medical knowledge was enough to treat the wound.”

Yong Sheng obviously got the conclusive news; he came well prepared to watch a good show. After listening to Yong Shan’s remarks, he deliberately frowned and said, “Bamboo? But why did I hear that it was a stabbing? In any case, we’ll be able to tell at a glance how you acquired the wound. Your Highness’s health is more important. Please allow Chen Taiyi to look at the wound.”

Shu Fei trembled as she watched Chen Taiyi move forward. She felt restless and fidgety as if a cat’s paw was scratching at her heart. She glanced at Yong Sheng secretly, wishing to shoot this idiot together with his mother with arrows.

Yong Shan leaned on the bed, and did not make a sound.

Chang Defu waited on the sidelines with a solemn expression. He saw Yong Shan’s face turn pale, thinking that it was because he was lying uncomfortably, he quickly took a small soft pillow and placed it under his waist. He slipped to the other side of the bed, then rubbed Yong Shan’s shoulder gently.

While serving diligently, he squinted to see Chen Taiyi.

Chen Taiyi knelt on the side of the bed and asked Yong Shan for permission. He lifted his shirt and took off his pants. As expected, a dense layer of white gauze wrapped around his thigh.

After Chen Taiyi looked at it, he said respectfully, “Your Highness, please forgive me. This lowly official will undo the gauze and examine the wound before he can give treatment.”

Shu Fei’s heart was cold and couldn’t help but cry out, “What happened to the imperial doctor today? The wound has already been dressed and should be treated with care. Wouldn’t it cause His Highness pain if you undo the gauze rashly? A Doctor should treat the patient as a parent does her child. For Taiyi to complete his duty he insists on examining an insignificant wound without regard for the prince’s suffering?”

“Niangniang is right. This lowly official is here for the sake of his duty.” Chen Taiyi was on his knees, motionless. He glanced upward, and his dim old eyes flashed with a bit of light. His tone, neither humble nor overbearing, “This lowly official came by Imperial orders, who would dare to refuse the Emperor’s order in this world?”

This argument crushed Shu Fei and caused her to choke.

Yong Sheng was so proud that he almost laughed out loud.

Then Chen Taiyi turned his head to look at Yong Shan, “Your Highness, this lowly official is about to untie the gauze. It will hurt a bit, please bear with me.”

Yong Shan frowned slightly, then relaxed, “If you want to examine it, then so be it. After all, it is better to feel pain in the short-term instead of suffering over a long period.” Then he looked at Shu Fei.

Chen Taiyi agreed with his statement, then proceeded cautiously.

Shu Fei’s heartbeat quickened, as she nervously tightened her hold on her sleeves.

Although Yong Shan was cold on the surface, he had always taken good care of his younger brother, Yong Lin, and always protected Yong Lin at the most critical moment.

But he was also reluctant to sacrifice Yong Qi.

This child, did he have other silly thoughts in his mind?

Thinking of this, Shu Fei became even more distressed and could no longer sit still. She stood up and moved behind Chen Taiyi, watching with concern.

The gauze was undone layer by layer. The first few layers remained white and pristine; however, the last layer was soaked through with blood oozing from the wound, showing how seriously he was injured.

Shock overcame Shu Fei; her heart trembled at the severity of the wound. She cursed Yong Lin again in her heart, this deadly boy, hurting his brother to this extent.

The last layer of gauze was finally undone, exposing the wound.

Shu Fei exclaimed and let out a shocking cry.

The wound on Yong Shan’s leg was extremely uneven – lacerated skin and exposed flesh, blood oozing unceasingly. The exposed flesh appeared a little white, looking extremely terrifying.

Taken aback, Chen Taiyi said in horror, “Your Highness is seriously injured. How can you not notify the Imperial Hospital? This bamboo accident in the Internal Punishment Court has caused a lot of trouble.”

“Bamboo?” Yong Sheng jumped from his chair. He had an ominous look as he approached, and asked suspiciously, “Chen Taiyi, was His Highness really hurt by a bamboo?”

“Your Highness Yong Sheng can see from the wound. There are still bamboo splinters in the wound; it’s no wonder that it would be the unbearable pain.” Chen Taiyi opened the small medicine box he brought with him, took out the tools, and started picking up the bamboo splinters from Yong Shan’s wound.

From where he stood, Yong Sheng stared intently at the terrible wound, trying to find a trace of a stabbing. However, a knife wound would be small and proportional to the size of the instrument; knives were usually thin and its width, small compared to a bamboo. So how could he find any trace of the stabbing this easily when there was a larger wound caused by a broken bamboo?

Right at this moment, Chang Defu, who was initially rubbing Yong Shan’s shoulder, ran to the front of the bed, threw himself on his knees and confessed his guilt. “This lowly servant deserves to die. Yesterday, with this servant’s old eyes that can no longer see properly under the little brightness from the candlelight, this servant left several bamboo splinters in His Highness’ wound, aggravating its condition. This servant deserves to die.”

“Get up.” Yong Shan gritted his teeth to endure the pain, and snorted, “Who has the will to blame you at this time? Help me wipe the sweat from my forehead.”

Chang Defu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran up to wipe his sweat carefully.

While Chen Taiyi removed the bamboo splinters, Shu Fei was sweating from behind. After all, he was her biological son. Seeing the flesh on his leg mutilated to the point that blood continued to flow without ceasing, Shu Fei felt sick to her stomach. Her knees grew soft as she staggered back. She turned around and ran out of the prince’s chamber. She leaned against a pillar, covering her mouth with one hand, and with a “wa” sound, she vomited on the ground.

Only after expelling the sour, acidic water in her stomach did she finally stop retching. The palace servants and eunuchs came, carrying hot water and towels to attend to Shu Fei.

After the servants attended to Shu Fei’s and cleaned up her vomit, she went back to see Yong Shan with trembling legs.

Fortunately, despite Chen Taiyi’s advanced age, his hands were still very steady. After he carefully removed every splinter, he applied medicine into the wound, and then wrapped it with white gauze.

A while passed after Chen Taiyi dressed the prince’s wound, then he stood up and saluted Yong Shan and Shu Fei, “The injury His Highness suffered resulted from a broken bamboo that stabbed his leg. Now that we have treated the wound, I have already written down the prescription to send to the Imperial Hospital for brewing. This lowly official has to return to the Emperor, and must leave first.”

Yong Sheng came thinking victory was in his grasp, only to leave disappointed. Knowing he was at a disadvantage, he didn’t dare tarry, deciding to take his leave and slip away with Chen Taiyi.

Chang Defu respectfully sent them out of the Prince’s Manor.

At this time, only Yong Shan and Shu Fei remained in the Prince’s chamber.

Yong Shan’s face was pale because of the pain from his injury. Seeing Shu Fei lost in thought, he laughed, “Mother looks no better than before. I remember when Father Emperor discovered Xiao Fei’s intent to poison him, he was so furious that he sentenced Xiao Fei to be put to death by a thousand cuts. He also ordered all the concubines and princes in the harem to observe as they carried out the punishment. At that time, blood splattered all over the place and scared many concubines. Only Mother and Li Fei stood firm from beginning to end. Why do you now vomit at the sight of a little blood?”

Shu Fei gave him a profound look and sighed, “When you have your own child in the future, you will know the difference between other people’s blood and your own child’s blood. You will understand what it is like in the future.”

For a while, Yong Shan was taken aback by his mother’s utterance, then sighed as if to concede.

“I don’t have to wait until such a time. I already know how it feels.” Unable to tell whether he was weak after the injury, but his voice was extremely low, almost inaudible. “Mother, I burned Yong Qi… with a hot branding iron…”

Shu Fei trembled.

She stretched out her hands, as if she wanted to embrace Yong Shan.

However, Yong Shan suddenly turned his face away. He fell to the bed and cried like an injured beast suffering an indescribable torment and pain.

——–

The blessings and misfortunes in the Imperial Palace were happening in a blink of an eye. Yong Sheng took the lead in reporting that his Highness Yong Shan’s injury was due to stabbing, only to lose face in front of the Emperor when the Imperial Physician confirmed that a broken bamboo was ultimately the cause. Even Jin Fei trembled at the thought that Yong Shan would fight back and put forth charges of “false accusations” against Yong Sheng for the price of his head.

However, not only was Yong Shan – who was recovering in the Prince’s Manor, silent, even the Emperor was not very angry. A few days later, an Imperial decree was issued, saying, “During the period of the Prince’s recovery, trivial state affairs still needed to be taken care of,” and ordered “Prince Yong Sheng shall act as auxiliary leader-in-training until such time that His Highness the Prince is able to resume his duties.”

Yong Sheng was both surprised and delighted. This time it was really a blessing in disguise. Although the incident did not pose any serious threat to Yong Shan’s affairs, the heavens still blessed him with such luck and gave him an opportunity to participate in state affairs.

While Yong Shan was recovering, the Fifth Prince began to manage some small foreign affairs.

Like that, the rumors about assassination came to an end.

Yong Shan’s leg bled profusely after the stabbing. A broken bamboo later pierced the same wound to conceal the actual cause. Although he had been practicing martial arts since he was a child – developing his muscles and hardening his bones, his wound worsened the next day after being subject to such trouble.

He had a strong nature. Fearing that news of his worsened conditioned would reach his Father’s ears and set off another inquiry, he forbade the members of his household from reporting to the palace. Due to the uncertainty of how things would end up if another investigation occurred, he sat bravely on his bed, drinking the decoction from the Imperial Hospital and read the trivial reports throughout the night.

After a few days of delay, the wound did not heal completely. His symptoms did not alleviate, and he now suffered a fever; his mouth remained dry no matter how much water he drank. After another two or three days, he could barely even sit up.

It was only then that Chang Defu realized how bad the situation was. He was so scared that he did not know what to do.

If they had reported this at the onset, things would not have worsened to this extent.

Now that the illness became like this, suddenly reporting his condition would surely alarm the Emperor.

He was so anxious and restless, like an ant crawling on a hot pot. After thinking about it for a while, he finally hurried to see Shu Fei. The shock that the news brought Shu Fei prompted her to hurry to the Prince’s Manor, even forgetting to have them prepare her sedan chair, running frantically, the snow falling on her cloak. After arriving, she hurried to the bedside and found Yong Shan flushed with fever, his outline considerably thinner.

Shu Fei was both sad and angry. She pointed at Chang Defu and cursed him on the spot, “Impudent! Do you know how noble and precious his body is? How dare you keep silent and let his wound worsen! After seeing him ill for a number of days, you still did not dare to report to my palace? Since he ordered you not to tell on his condition, yet seeing how much his health has deteriorated, you still would not report it? Take heed, even without the Emperor’s decree, Bengong* will strike you first if Yong Shan were to have an unexpected disaster or accident!”

(*used by Empress or high ranking consort; meaning, I.)

Yong Shan, who was drowsy due to his illness, heard Shu Fei cursing. He barely opened his eyes, saying, “Mother, your son is only suffering from a little fever. It will be fine in few days.”

When Shu Fei saw Yong Shan awake, she quickly lowered to her waist and said softly, “Yong Shan, your body is not good. Do not speak anymore. Mother brought the thousand-year-old Laoshan ginseng (Polygonum) rewarded by your father last month. It’s being boiled right now.” She said and reached out her hand to touch Yong Shan’s forehead lightly. His forehead was as hot as hot as a soldering iron, shocking Shu Fei and causing her to draw back in surprise.

Yong Shan smiled in a daze. However, before he could even say anything, another figure flashed in front of the bed. It was Yong Lin, with a look of guilt, he said, “Ge, I… I… I was wrong…” He fell to his knees in front of the bed with a plop, enfolding Yong Shan’s hand in his, and said, “It’s all my fault. Gege, do not be angry, your health is more important. When Gege gets better, you can fight or kill me as you want.” His tears fell, running down on his already runny nose.

Yong Shan did not expect that he still had the courage to come over, and was suddenly taken by surprise. He thought about Yong Lin breaking the law of the Internal Punishment Court and even dared to confront him that day. He did not show any mercy when he drew a knife and struck people. Suddenly, his anger arose. He was about to throw his hand off, but when he looked over and met Shu Fei’s pleading gaze, he was stunned for a moment, and then he sighed slightly in his heart. He looked at Yong Lin, whose face was exactly like his, but crying like a child, his tears rolling down like a waterfall, seeming as if he was extremely regretful. Yong Shan’s heart softened again.

Next >>

<< Previous

T/N: Editing Taizi was hard indeed, even its genre 😂. Many thanks to the proofreader/editor.

Like this:Like Loading...