Fu Zhiyu slept until noon the next day. After waking up, he felt much better and could already support himself with his hands to sit up in bed.
Concubine Yun felt sorry for him, so she fed him medicine spoonful by spoonful, and asked, "Do you feel better?"
He nodded and replied, "I had a strange dream last night. I dreamed of a big snake entangled me. I don't know what it means."
"That's a bad thing," Concubine Yun put down the spoon in her hand, a trace of worry on her face, "I didn't even have the time to ask you about the previous situation. Was it someone in the palace who was plotting against you in the matter of Binghu?"
"I went there by myself, but someone did interfere," Fu Zhiyu said with a smile, "Don't worry, you don't have to worry about this matter, just leave it to me, I will take care of it."
His previous generation had already investigated the matter of the ice lake thoroughly. It was not the first time he had been to the ice lake in such severe cold weather. Fu Zhiyu knew very well how thick the ice there was. It would definitely not collapse as soon as one stepped on it. Moreover, none of the young monks who used to appear there at that time showed up, otherwise he would not have stayed in the ice water for so long before being rescued.
There must be someone in the palace who was restless and knew that he had been going there every day recently, so he deliberately designed all these things.
This person was an old acquaintance of his, his old rival since birth, the Eighth Prince Fu Rongli.
He was the second son of Concubine Xue, only half an hour older than himself and born almost at the same time. He had been compared with Fu Zhiyu since he was a child, but Fu Zhiyu always beat him, and thus the feud was formed.
In fact, Fu Zhiyu didn't have any special opinion of him, but being targeted by him every time would make him annoyed sooner or later.
This grand sacrifice intensified the conflict even more thoroughly. After all, to such an important occasion, the emperor only brought the crown prince, the third prince and Fu Zhiyu, and he was forced to stay behind.
More importantly, the emperor originally wanted to take him with him, but Fu Rongli submitted the political commentary he wrote last time together with Fu Zhiyu, and the contrast was extremely obvious. After reading it, the emperor was furious and reprimanded him. He simply decided not to take him with him and even issued an order that the Eighth Prince should study in seclusion and not leave the study during the grand sacrifice.
Originally, if Fu Zhiyu had moved with the main force, he would not have found an opportunity. However, he stayed in the temple after the grand ceremony and had time to walk alone, which gave Fu Rongli the opportunity to take action.
In his previous life, Fu Zhiyu felt something was very wrong when he woke up, but the ice lake had already frozen again and he could not find any clues. He wanted to give up and take care of his body first, but he did not expect that after hearing that he woke up, he was very unwilling and attacked again, and he was caught by him in one go.
If our experience last time goes by, it should be... tomorrow night
Concubine Yun reached out and took a handkerchief to wipe the corners of his mouth. Although worry was still on her face, she would never refute her son's ideas.
"Let Doctor Chen come in," Fu Zhiyu said after thinking for a while after drinking the medicine, "I have something to discuss with him."
"Okay," Concubine Yun agreed, and as if she remembered something, she said to him, "By the way, the man who saved you is General Xie's third son, named Xie Ke, who has always wanted to come and see you.
But you were in critical condition at that time, and Doctor Chen would not even let me into the room, let alone him. When the Queen Mother heard that he had saved you, she rewarded him with a lot of things on the spot, but he still did not leave and waited outside. Finally, when she heard that you were fine, she went back.
Now he's here again, standing outside. I don't know why he's like this, it seems a little... too caring? I was a little cautious, so I just gave him something and didn't let him in. Do you want to see him?"
Fu Zhiyu was stunned. What was Xie Ke doing
In his previous life, Xie Ke never appeared again after rescuing him. It took him some time just to find out his name. He didn't understand why Xie Ke saved him and was a little unhappy. Later, after reading the original book, he realized that he had stolen the plot of Miss Xue. The actor Xie Ke found out that the person he rescued was not Miss Xue. He would be deducted points for the deviation in the plot, so he was naturally unhappy.
What does he want to do this time
Fu Zhiyu began to doubt whether the current Xie Ke was still the same Xie Ke or whether he was played by a different actor.
But the Lord God’s last sentence clearly referred to “that” Xie Ke, and no one knew what he was planning to do this time.
Fu Zhiyu thought for a moment and said, "Just tell them that I'm still not feeling well and I'm afraid of infecting others with my illness, so I can't see guests. When I'm better, I'll come to visit you in person to thank you for saving my life."
In the tea room several doors away, Xie Ke, who had been waiting, heard the reply but did not leave as he was told.
"… Is he still feeling unwell?" He asked the servant nervously, "I went to the back mountain yesterday and dug some old mountain ginseng. Can I…"
"Master Xie, please don't embarrass me anymore," the servant said helplessly. He had been dealing with Master Xie for a long time, and he didn't know what he wanted. "The prince said that he would come to visit us when he is well again.
As for the medicine, everything is ready in the palace, and the imperial physician has made his own arrangements. Even if you give me eighteen courage, I would not dare to give the prince foreign medicine at this time, don't you agree?"
After saying this, the servant bowed his head respectfully and raised the tray in his hand forward again. This was a reward from the imperial concubine, and he didn't know how many times he had given it. But no one knew what this man wanted, and he refused to accept the reward. He had only one request - he wanted to see the ninth prince.
How is that possible at this juncture
Fu Zhiyu put Xie Ke's matter aside for the time being. No matter how powerful the protagonist will be in the future, he can choose not to meet him now if he says he doesn't want to, and Xie Ke can't force his way in.
Doctor Chen entered the room, took the patient's pulse, and then breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "The master is blessed with good fortune, and is now fine."
When they were alone, Doctor Chen did not call the Ninth Prince, but only called him Master.
This is not difficult to understand. Fu Zhiyu is sixteen years old this year, not six years old. He is also a top-notch one among the princes. It is normal to have a trustworthy imperial physician in the palace. This is just a basic operation to save lives. Imperial Physician Chen originally followed Concubine Yun, and later Fu Zhiyu followed him when she grew up.
Doctor Chen was an excellent doctor, especially his acupuncture technique inherited from his ancestors, which was considered to be one of the best in the Imperial Hospital.
"I'm sorry to bother you during this time," Fu Zhiyu said, "but I have one more thing."
"Please give me your orders."
"Help me act out a play," Fu Zhiyu said, "a half-true, half-false play. After I woke up yesterday, the doctors said I was fine, so the other doctors went back and only you were left. So my condition is now completely in your hands."
Doctor Chen looked at him in surprise and said, "Master, do you mean that this matter is not over yet?"
"It's not over yet," Fu Zhiyu said, "but I don't want to be the first to do this."
Doctor Chen knew what to do and didn't ask any further questions. He just listened to Fu Zhiyu's words, knew what he had to prepare, and then withdrew.
After Doctor Chen left, Fu Zhiyu lay on the bed thinking about his previous life.
In the previous life, Fu Rongli failed the first time and tampered with his own medicine. The medicinal materials were sent from the palace, and he replaced them with other things at the source.
Unfortunately, Fu Zhiyu didn't drink a drop of the medicine. Doctor Chen was very perceptive and he knew that this bowl of medicine was different from usual ones as soon as he smelled it, but he was also smart and didn't say anything at the time. He just winked at Fu Zhiyu when he handed the medicine.
Fu Zhiyu understood it immediately, so he poured all the medicine into the quilt under the cover of Doctor Chen to avoid alerting the enemy. Then he followed the clues and caught Fu Rongli by the tail.
The second time he acted, he was hasty and not as thorough as the first time in the Ice Lake. After all, he did not expect Fu Zhiyu to wake up. Then, he was caught by Fu Zhiyu with all the evidence.
The emperor was furious about this incident and kept scolding him for killing his brothers and sisters and calling him a beast. The empress dowager also got very angry. Although Fu Rongli still had the title of prince, it was obvious that he had been completely abandoned.
Concubine Xue was criticized for not raising her son properly and was locked up for half a year until her mother's family made arrangements to get her out, but she was no longer as glorious as she once was. The third prince, Fu Rongye, who was also born to Concubine Xue, was also affected. He lost in the struggle with the crown prince and did not get up for a long time.
The incident on Binghu had far-reaching consequences. It not only shocked the harem, but the most important thing about this incident was that it allowed Fu Zhiyu to come to the fore.
The Ninth Prince, who had always been praised by the Emperor as "intelligent and capable of great responsibility", almost faced the Crown Prince directly after Concubine Xue's two sons became weak. At that time, whether Fu Zhiyu was willing or not, he was pushed into the vortex of the princes' power grab and could no longer extricate himself.
But I don’t want to play it that way this time.
Fu Zhiyu thought, what is there to fight for? In the end, it will all belong to Xie Ke. This group of people, including himself, almost all had no good endings later, so don't waste your time worrying about it now.