by Ning er
congratulated him.
"That being the case, then I shall thank you, Hai Wang!" Chu Nan Shan was not a sloppy person. He lifted up the warm wine in front of him then he slightly tossed the cup against Hai Wang's, then both of them drank the wine in their respective cups.
"Having heard the news that Princess He Shun will be leaving for Bei Qi together with the Crown Prince of Bei Qi tomorrow, I truly admired Wang Ye's action! Let me also offer you a toast!" And after having the wine cup filled up with wine by the eunuch beside him, Chu Nan Shan also lifted up the cup of wine as he spoke to Hai Wang. Before Hai Wang could manage to speak further, he had voluntarily consumed the wine in his cup.
Hai Wang smiled courteously, afterwhich he raised his head and finished the cup of wine in his hand. He somewhat paused a bit, then cast a glance at Yun Qian Meng, then shifted towards Chu Pei and Chu Qing Yang who was sitting nearby, then he spoke "Wang Ye, right now your family is already jam-packed with a lot of descendants. Now that your granddaughter-in-law has also joined the family, I'm afraid come next year you will be having your great-grandson soon! It can be clearly seen that, among the people in our Western Chu, Wang Ye is indeed the luckiest person! I believe Mister Chu is also a
talented person, in the future he will also be able to render service for the imperial court, becoming a man like Chu Xiang with a lot of achievements. When that time comes, the Chu family will soon turn into an unrivalled rich and powerful distinguished family!"
Since the few Wang Ye, Jun Wang and the first-rank officials' seats were the nearest to the dragon throne of Emperor Yu Qian, consequently even if they were to use their normal voice to communicate with each other, Emperor Yu Qian was still able to hear them clearly enough.
With Hai Wang's unrivalled prestige, perhaps only his position alone appeared to be above the four major clans! Now that Chu Wang is the one in control of the massive military force, Chu Fei Yang is the one taking the lead among the hundred officials, Chu Pei is also a major minister for the army and government in a specific region, the three generations in the family being the major officials in the royal court taking control of the real powers, if they were to expand the family into the number one aristocratic family in Western Chu, perhaps there will soon be a big risk for them to get killed.
Hai Wang's statement, seemed to be praising and admiring them, but in fact it was actually a sign of their future fate. But as long as one remained to be a sovereign king, perhaps he would not have the tolerance to allow the supreme authority to be inclined towards the other members of the court, and for them to be overflowed with powers.
Chu Nan Shan just smiled as he listened to Hai Wang's words, his gentle gaze did not appear to be arrogant, he also was not timid or having a guilty conscience. Using his unique calmness facing the difficult and dangerous situation that was about to attack him, even Duan Wang, Qi Jing Yuan and the others, had came to realize their interest on this old man with white hair and white mustache, they could not help but cast their sidelong glances at him.
"Ehem ehem…… What did you just say earlier? Ehem ehem…… I am very old, being deaf and blind are part of my shortcomings, I also don't know how many days longer will I live, now I can't even hear any kind words and malicious words! Can you please say it one more time, Hai Wang Ye? Ehem ehem……" Suddenly, Chu Wang who seemed to be healthy earlier immediately started to cough violently, his entire face turned red because of the discomfort
Chapter 135: Part 2 Numerous Happenings During the Feast of New Year's Eve Inside the Palace | Chu Wang Fei
Chu Fei Yang, who was sitting upright in a corner, immediately stood up and approached beside Chu Wang, carefully comforting Chu Wang’s back, helping him with his breath, speaking in a worried tone “Grandpa, why did you try to force yourself earlier! Although Hai Wang’s status is highly respectable, and with you being compelled to take the wine offered by him, but you shouldn’t force yourself to finish the drink in one sitting! You know perfectly well that with your old age, your body no longer behave like it had been before, yet because of your self-respect you had pushed yourself too far, did you treat your own grandson as the ‘dead man’ now?”
While Chu Fei Yang was attending to Chu Wang, he spoke these words gritting his teeth. The final two words ‘dead man’ he seemed to pronounce them in an extremely slow tone, his voice was extremely serious. His cold gaze flashed past Hai Wang, just like the hailstorm mixed with cold and violent rainstorm, even if it was not deadly, yet it would not allow the receiving party to have an easy time.
“It was my negligence! Wang Ye, had better take a sip of hot tea to take a breather!” Seeing Emperor Yu Qian had already summoned Yu Gong Gong, whispering something to his ear, Hai Wang lifted up the teacup in front of Chu Wang with worry.
And during this time, Chu Nan Shan coughed while shaking his head, directly pushing away the teacup in front of him, yet he felt so unwell that he was not able to say anything.
“Wang Ye does not know, but yeye is already old, drinking tea will increase the phlegm. He is simply incomparable to you, Wang Ye, who is currently robust in his years, which truly makes people envious!” Shifting his gaze, the chilly cold gaze in Chu Fei Yang’s eyes immediately dispersed, then immediately replaced with his usual gentle and refined manners. This time he was personally pouring a cup of plain water as he put it closer beside Chu Wang’s lips, allowing him to drink it to ease his breath.
Hearing the grandfather and grandson both refusing his kind gesture, Hai Wang was also able to understand Chu Fei Yang’s implied meaning. Yet he simply smiled and laid down the teacup in his hand, seemingly cooperating with Chu Wang, his voice slightly raised up as he spoke “Chu Xiang is indeed obedient! You really cared about Chu Wang indeed, the training that Chu Wang had provide Chu Xiang didn’t really go in vain! In the future if someone wanted to take advantage of Wang Ye, I believe Chu Xiang will definitely seek justice for Wang Ye! Too bad my Chen Xi’s interest is to eat, drink and be merry, not to mention showing his care to me as his father, but as long as he didn’t cause any trouble to me, I would definitely thank the heavens!”
Speaking these words, the officials all around started to laugh. But nearby Chu Pei and Chu Fei Yang glanced towards the situation in this area, afterwhich they shifted their focus elsewhere.
“Wang Ye, Xiang Ye, His Majesty had permitted nubi to invite Imperial Physician Nie to diagnose Wang Ye!” This time, Yu Gong Gong led Nie Huai Yuan inside, watching Chu Wang’s unstable breathing, he respectfully spoke to Chu Fei Yang.
“Weichen thanks His Majesty for the concern!” Chu Fei Yang immediately stood up and thanked Emperor Yu Qian for the favor. Emperor Yu Qian just nodded his head, a smile turning up the corner of his mouth. Then, being concerned, he asked “Allow the imperial physician to diagnose Wang Ye then, don’t delay the state of the illness.”
Having heard what was said, Nie Huai Yuan went ahead preparing to examine Chu Nan Shan’s pulse, yet he was being called back by Hai Wang with one statement. Hai Wang was paying attention on Nie Huai Yuan court uniform, seeing the pattern on his chest, he slowly spoke “Chu Wang is a treasured person in our Western Chu, Yu Gong Gong, aren’t you supposed to invite the head of the imperial physician’s institution to come and take Wang Ye’s pulse, this will truly make Chu Wang’s significance prominent, moreover it will not fail to live up His Majesty expectations on you!”
Having heard what was said, Chen Wang sneered, he immediately continued “How can we allow an eighth-rank imperial physician to casually examine Wang Ye’s body? Yu Gong Gong, do you despise Chu Wang or do you handle things in an unfavorable way? Would you like His Majesty to give you a round of beating in order to take things seriously?”
Being treated unjustly, Yu Gong Gong got tense. Tonight the emperor had invited all the groups of officials, evidently the head of the imperial physician institute’s name will be was included in the list, but since he was already drunk, how can the physician be able to take his pulse?
“It doesn’t matter, since Physician Nie was able to cure people from the epidemic illness in Luo City, then I naturally trust his medical expertise!” Chu Fei Yang knew Hai Wang’s thoughts, he immediately explained the incident regarding the epidemic disease. As expected the two of them went silent after hearing it, then through his meaningful glance he gestured Nie Huai Yuan to go ahead and check the pulse.
“Wait a moment! There must be something wrong with what Chu Xiang said, Imperial Physician Nie hsd treated the common people in the past, how can they be compared to the honorable Chu Wang? If there’s a mistake, then who will be responsible for it?” This time, Hai Chen Xi spoke wearing a serious face, wearing a shallow smile in the corner of his mouth waiting to watch a great show. Both extreme expressions appeared on his face at the same time, yet they did not seem to contradict each other, but instead they complement with each other very well. His evil smiling expression immediately caused all the women on the opposite side to be excited, one by one they started to discuss privately about all the pretty men they saw today, furthermore making them focus more attention to their targets preparing to make the first move in advance.
“But on the contrary benxiang is against Hai Jun Wang’s point of view! Chu Wang is a citizen of Western Chu, and the common people of Luo City are also Western Chu’s citizens, how could there be any difference between the noble and the lowly status? Don’t tell benxiang that those people with the noble status will never get sick or die? Besides, since His Majesty has already issued an imperial edict bestowing the title of imperial physician to Physician Nie, that explains that His Majesty has also trusted his medical skills! Then naturally benxiang will not doubt Imperial Physician Nie’s medical ethics and medical skills, how can benxiang not allow him to diagnose grandfather?” While speaking, Chu Fei Yang held Chu Wang’s hand as he laid it down on the desk in front of them, allowing Nie Huai Yuan to take his pulse.
After a while, Nie Huai Yuan took back his hand, facing Chu Fei Yang and Chu Nan Shan he cupped his hands. Afterwhich he spoke to Emperor Yu Qian “Reporting to Your Majesty, due to Chu Wang’s old age, in addition to the ailments he attained all these years during his expeditions, once the winter season comes all the old illness will recur, if these aren’t attended to carefully, afraid they will only get worse!”
Hearing Nie Huai Yuan’s report, Emperor Yu Qian was somewhat unconvinced. But seeing the leaders of the imperial physicians institute getting a bit drunk nearby, he nodded his head, showing concern as he said “Wang Ye, do not hesitate to make use of the best medicine for yourself, if you are lacking them you may get them from the warehouse, you should not be negligent.”
“Yes!” Seeing Emperor Yu Qian didn’t ask other questions, Nie Huai Yuan loosened up his tensed up heart, then he slowly retreated back to his seat.
But with today’s incident, his problems had been known by other people, perhaps in the imperial court later on, he will no longer have a peaceful life.
“Oh, is he Chu Xiang’s younger brother? His looks are unusually good! Chu furen you are blessed indeed!” All the women had heard the conversation between the men, in addition to their meeting earlier in the side palace hall, the furen of the leader of Ministry of Appointments smiled as she spoke to Madam Xie.
Hearing all the others praising her own son, Madam Xie exposed a smile in her face, yet she humbly spoke “Han fruen, you have overpraised me. My son learned and followed closely to his father, yet he still can’t be compared to his big brother, not even half of his talents, we only hoped that he will not be too stubborn and mischievous.”
Having heard what was said, Yun Qian Meng looked at the direction of the two persons, seeing Madam Xie was chatting with Han furen in a respectful manner, surely she had already known everything that was going on in these madams mind. Facing Han furen whose daughter had already entered the imperial palace to be become a Jie Yu, Madam Xie became even more cautious and timid when responding to her.
“Your Er Niang, she was truly a smooth and slick person! Being able to easily blend in with these groups of upper-class women, she is quite awesome!” This time, Qu Fei Qing refused the wine toasting of other people as she leaned closer to Yun Qian Meng, whispering quietly beside her ears.
“Cousin, how could you know her that well?” With the weak relationship between the father and son, Chu Fei Yang rarely discussed anything about his own father, not to mention talking about Madam Xie, this time hearing Qu Fei Qing mentioning about her, Yun Qian Meng knitted up her brows as she asked.
“I heard grandmother and mother talking about her yesterday! Your Er Niang was originally not a person from the capital. It is said that her parents came from well-known distinguished families in Youzhou, they take control of the important trading paths between South Xu Country and Western Chu, they were even considered to be the number one aristocratic family! It is not surprising, only such kind of influential family will be able to bring up such awesome daughter. Without some strategies, how could she be able to merge with these persons meeting them in the very first time!” Qu Fei Qing elaborated seeing the doubtful look in Yun Qian Meng’s eyes.
“What about now? How’s the situation of Xie family in You Zhou?” Madam Xie had mentioned before that both parents of Xie Wan Wan and Xie Yuan Yuan were already dead. The two orphans were being under the foster care of Chu Fu ever since.
But speaking about the offsprings of the famous family, could it be that the Xie family was having no other people to raise the children, that they insisted relying on Xie Shu Yi, who was already married off away from home.
“I have no idea about this. But there’s one thing I needed to remind you, Meng’er, you have to be careful with her. After all Chu Xiang and Chu Qing Yang really aren’t from the same mother, moreover Madame Xie is still very young, concerning Chu Wang’s position, perhaps there will be a fight over it in the future!” Qu Fei Qing told Yun Qian Meng everything that her mother and grandmother had requested to remind her of, yet she discovered that Yun Qian Meng’s expression remained normal, not in the very least bit of being anxious. Qu Fei Qing could not help but admire this girl, no matter how difficult the circumstances are, Yun Qian Meng truly was able to remain cool-headed, truly making her feel utmostly impressed!
Yun Qian Meng evidently knew that her maternal grandmother and aunt must have told Qu Fei Qing to inform her. Her heart was filled with warmth, then she nodded her head with a simple smile.
But she felt somehow confused in her heart, based on their interaction these few days, she only thought that Madam Xie and the others were actually not interested in dominating Chu Wang’s position. But Madam Xie’s overly enthusiastic attitude was indeed hard to understand.
“Crown Prince, why haven’t we seen Princess Ling’er today?” This time, the Empress Dowager spoke slowly.
“Please forgive me, Empress Dowager, but Ling’er isn’t feeling well these days. Bengong advised her to take some rest in the relay station, and she will not be able to attend tonight’s feast in the palace.” Hearing the Empress Dowager asked about Qi Ling’er, Qi Jing Yuan replied quickly and fluently with one statement. But when he shifted his gaze away from the Empress Dowager, he shot a glance at Yun Qian Meng treacherously. Qu Fei Qing who was sitting beside Yun Qian Meng was able to sense the anger concealed deep within it.
“What’s the matter with him? What do we have to do with Qi Ling’er being unwell? For what reason does he has to stare at us like that?” Being glared at by that ferocious gaze, if they would say that they weren’t terrified by it then that will be a lie! Qu Fei Qing was grumbling facing Yun Qian Meng being separated by the curtain, feeling these few people from Northern Qi were truly very weird. Previously
Qi Ling’er had spread her peacock tail as she showed up in the palace feast, it was indeed her last opportunity to show off, yet she had actually fell ill unable to attend, that was truly incomprehensible.
And confronted by Qi Jing Yuan’s anger, Yun Qian Meng’s lips curved into a simple smile. Other people were not able to understand the meaning behind it, but she was able to clearly understand it.
During that day, Qi Ling’er behaved herself impudently inside Chu Wang Fu, for several times she had tried to restrain herself, afterwhich she had tried to compel Chu Fei Yang to marry her, regarding this incident, how could Yun Qian Meng suppress it down for no reason?
As a matter of fact, during the time when she pulled Qi Ling’er back, she had smeared a small amount of colorless and odorless powder in her hand. As long as it came in contact with the skin, it will be itchy and painful all over the body and red rashes will appear, it will take a month’s time to recover from it.
She had initially instructed Ying Qiu to produce such medicine powder and carry it with her at all times. Unexpectedly Qi Ling’er had became her very first subject of experiment, but, judging by Qi Jing Yuan’s attitude, Ying Qiu’s medical expertise was pretty good!
For a moment, Yun Qian Meng’s mood suddenly improved, her both eyes smiling as she enjoyed watching the dance performance in front of her eyes.
“Nie Huai Yuan, step forward to receive the imperial edict!” The sound of singing and dancing paused, Yu Gong Gong’s voice echoed once again inside the imperial garden.
All the people were confused, as to why this single eighth-rank imperial physician was being able to receive a summon from Emperor Yu Qian.
But within those slightly dropped down eyes of Nie Huai Yuan, both helpless and unyielding expressions flashed through them. Being obliged to stand up from his seat, he took quick steps towards Emperor Yu Qian’s direction. When he had stood firm in the center of the empty space, he knelt down on his both knees. But before Yu Gong Gong started to read the imperial imperial edict in his hands, he opened his mouth and spoke clearly “Your Majesty, humble official would like to resign from my post for being the imperial physician of the Imperial Physician Institute!”