The Prince of Qi was welcomed into the city by the ceremonial officials of Changsha State.
The carriage he rode in was tall and magnificent, with six riders on each side and hundreds of guards behind the carriage. Although the group had come a long way, they still had a distinct ceremonial guard and extraordinary style.
The Prince of Qi holds a special position, being the head of all the vassal kings. Even Empress Liu has to give him some face now. Since the founding of Changsha State, it has been located in the remote south and has not had many exchanges with many vassal states. In addition, it has been in an unfavorable situation in recent years. When the people heard that the prince of the Prince of Qi's Mansion was coming at this time, they all came out to watch. The streets were filled with people, and the team attracted countless eyes as it passed by.
Lu Lin was waiting at the gate of the palace and saw the team arrive. A handsome young man dressed in gorgeous clothes was helped down from the carriage. Unfortunately, he looked sick. Knowing it was Zhao Xitai, she hurried to greet him.
Zhao Xitai came to Changsha to seek medical treatment. Mu Xuanqing welcomed him with great courtesy and held a banquet to welcome him. That night, the banquet hall was brightly lit, and all the officials of Changsha attended the banquet. Although Zhao Xitai did not drink due to his health, he apologized repeatedly for this and said that he was impolite.
He was cheerful and modest in his words and deeds, without any airs, and he immediately won the favor of all the officials of Changsha State. That night, both the host and the guests had a great time and left with great satisfaction. Compared with the banquet when Xie Changgeng came last year, the atmosphere and the level of popularity were completely different.
Zhao Xitai was arranged to stay in the guest house specially set up for distinguished guests in the Mu family palace that night. The next morning, Lu Lin came to find him and said that he had sent people to Junshan to ask Yao Weng to come down the mountain to treat him. Zhao Xitai immediately said, "I can't do that! Along the way, the people along the way mentioned the name of the miracle doctor and were all grateful to him. He is a man of high moral character and I came here to seek medical treatment. How can I ask the miracle doctor to come to me? Please ask Prime Minister Lu to point out where Yao Weng is, and I will visit him myself."
Since he was willing to humble himself and go there by himself, Lu Lin naturally wanted more, so she personally led the way and took Zhao Xitai to the foot of the mountain by boat.
Zhao Xitai brought only a steward with him, took a sedan chair up the mountain, and came to the medicine house, where he sincerely sought medical treatment from the medicine man.
Medicine Mang is a kind-hearted doctor who has been practicing medicine for half his life. He never discriminates between the social status of the patients. After carefully examining Zhao Xitai, he said, "Although the prince is born weak, if he had not been anxious to see the effect and mistakenly used strong medicine, his symptoms would not have reached this point. Now that the toxins in his body are still there, I can try to use acupuncture to remove the toxins and see the effect."
Zhao Xitai was overjoyed and thanked Yao Weng again and again. He smiled at Lu Lin and said, "I came here specifically to seek medical treatment. The scenery of your lakes and mountains is very different from other places. It makes people feel like entering Penglai. It is really a great blessing for me to be able to live here for a long time to recuperate. King Changsha and Prime Minister Lu, please don't think I am bothering you."
When Lu Lin heard him complimenting Changsha on its goodness, she was naturally happy and had a better impression of him. She smiled and said, "You are too polite. I can't even hope for a distinguished guest like you. I just hope that you will be in good health and make the trip worthwhile."
That day, Lu Lin came back and reported to Mu Xuanqing that in order to make it easier for Medicine Master to treat illnesses every day, Zhao Xitai stayed in the medicine house.
Zhao Xitai came in April. Yao Weng treated him every day. After a month, he stopped acupuncture and said that as long as he took the medicine and adjusted his body slowly, his condition would improve in time.
Mu Fulan naturally also knew the news.
She didn't want to have any more unnecessary encounters with Zhao Xitai. After knowing that he was living in the medicine house to treat his illness and recuperate, she hadn't been there for more than a month.
That night, she had just fallen asleep with Xier when the maid came to report that Zhao Xitai's steward had come to the city to ask to see her for an urgent matter.
Mu Fulan got up and went out. When the steward saw her, he asked for help, saying that the medicine man had gone down the mountain two days ago and was not in the medicine house. Unfortunately, the prince suddenly fell ill tonight. He heard from Ah Da in the medicine house that the princess could also treat illnesses. He really had no other choice but to come here and ask her to come over for help.
Mu Fulan agreed and asked him to wait. She hurried in and returned to her room. She said to her son, "Xi'er, Master is not in the medicine room. There is a patient there and mother has to go to see him. Mother will ask Mu to accompany you. You can go to bed first, okay?"
Xier nodded at first, hesitated, and then said softly: "Mom, can you take me with you?"
"I won't disturb you from treating patients."
After she came back from Hexi, she felt that her son was very attached to her, especially at night when it got dark. If he couldn't see her, he seemed unable to sleep peacefully.
Seeing her son looking at her eagerly, she softened her heart and nodded, "Okay, Mommy will take you with me. You have to be good and don't run around."
"I know!"
Xier's little face showed a happy expression. She responded loudly and jumped out of the quilt.
Mu Fulan and her maid helped him put on his clothes, took him out of the palace, called his entourage, drove out of the city, and took a ferry to Junshan.
She hurried to the medicine house, asked the maid to accompany Xier, and went to Zhao Xitai's residence herself.
Two maids were standing outside the door, candles were lit in the room, and Zhao Xitai was lying on the bed with his eyes closed.
The steward came in and called softly, "Prince".
Zhao Xitai slowly opened his eyes, saw Mu Fulan arriving, his eyes lit up, and he stood up and was about to sit up.
Mu Fulan told him to lie down and not to get up, walked to the side, and asked him how he felt. After a thorough inspection, she quickly determined that he was just suffering from a slight fever due to a cold.
If an ordinary person has a good constitution, he doesn't need to take medicine, and he will recover in a few days. Considering that his constitution is weaker than that of ordinary people, he needs to dispel wind and heat in time.
Mu Fulan prescribed a medicine for him. The medicine was ready in the medicine room, so Ah Da took the prescription and went to get the medicine. The medicine was quickly put on the stove and boiled.
Zhao Xitai stared at Mu Fulan, his eyes full of guilt.
"I caught a cold by accident. It's just a small matter, but the people below made a fuss about it. I'm really sorry for making you come all the way here."
The manager looked terrified and kept blaming himself.
Mu Fulan smiled, told Zhao Xitai to take his medicine and rest early, and then she went out.
The steward followed and begged, "Can the princess stay here for a while? The prince's health has finally improved a few days ago. It's our fault that we, the servants, didn't take good care of him, and he got sick again. The medicine man is not here, and that Ah Da can only recognize medicines but not treat illnesses. This place is quite a distance from the city, and I'm afraid if the princess leaves, he will get sick again."
The steward kept begging.
It was already dark, and the distance from the city to here was indeed not short, as there was a section of waterway.
Mu Fulan didn't want to take Xi'er out on a night trip, and she already had her own room in the medicine house, so she was like half the owner. So she said, "I'll stay, don't worry."
The manager breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him again and again.
Mu Fulan asked someone to clean up her room and spent the night with Xier.
Early the next morning, she went to see Zhao Xitai.
Zhao Xitai had already stood up and looked in good spirits, but the fever had not completely subsided.
She was the host and he was the guest. She also knew that he had been weak since childhood. Although it was a minor illness, Mu Fulan did not dare to be careless before he recovered. She sent someone back to the city to tell Lu that she would stay and not leave for the time being.
Xier didn't want to go back first, so she let him do it.
She prescribed a new prescription for Zhao Xitai, slightly adjusted the dosage, and told him to have a good rest. Since he had nothing to do during the rest of the day, he went to work in the medicine garden at the back.
It is early summer and the weather is getting warmer. Not only are the herbs in the medicine garden beginning to flourish, but so are the weeds. If they are not removed within a few days, they will pop up everywhere.
Xier followed behind her, helping her pull weeds and wiping her sweat, flying around happily like a hardworking little bee.
Mu Fulan asked A Da to get a basket for her.
"I'll go, I'll go! I know where it is! I've helped my master get it before!"
Xier yelled, dropped the weeds in her hand, turned around and ran away.
Mu Fulan turned around and watched his back as he ran inside, as if he was afraid that Ah Da would snatch the job from him, and she couldn't help laughing.
"Young master, slow down and don't fall!" Ada wanted to chase him.
Mu Fulan said: "It doesn't matter, let him get it."
Xier ran into the house, quickly found the basket, and carried it back. When she reached the door, she stopped.
He saw the man who had invited his mother to see a doctor standing in front of him, blocking his way.
Everyone calls him the Prince, Xier knows that.
The prince looked at him with a gentle smile on his face, waved at him, and motioned him to come over.
Xier stood there and didn't go over.
The prince walked over by himself, stopped in front of him, bent down, raised his hand, and as if by magic, a crystal jade pendant appeared in his hand.
Xier had seen it this morning. This jade pendant was hanging on the prince's belt. It was a personal item of his.
"Are you Xi'er?" He said with a smile, "My last name is Zhao, and I am the prince of the Qi Palace. I like you very much, so this is a gift for you. Do you like it?"
Xi'er looked at the Prince of Qi, who was smiling at her, for a moment, but didn't say anything at first. Then she saw him raise his other hand, as if he was going to touch her head, so she took a step back and said, "Thank you, Prince. But I can only take it if my mother says so."
Zhao Xitai was stunned.
After Xier finished speaking, she walked past him.
As the day passed, Zhao Xitai's condition showed no improvement. That night, Mu Fulan continued to stay in the medicine house.
She hugged her son's soft body curled up in her arms. Suddenly, she felt him move a few times and open his eyes. She asked him, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Xi'er put her mouth close to her ear and said, "Mother, that prince, does he like you as much as General Yuan?"
Mu Fulan was startled and immediately said, "Xi'er, don't talk nonsense."
Xi'er hesitated and said, "During the day, I saw him always secretly looking at you. When he looked at you, his eyes never blinked. General Yuan was the same."
"They always look at you like that!"
He repeated it, with a little stubbornness in his tone, and then fell silent.
Mu Fulan finally came to her senses, and hurriedly hugged his little body into her arms, coaxing him: "Xi'er really made a mistake. Mother, the prince, and General Yuan have nothing to do with each other. The only person mother likes is you, Xi'er."
After she said this, the little person in her arms seemed to finally feel relieved, and his eyes became bright again.
"Did you sleep well?"
Mu Fulan smiled and kissed his forehead.
Xier immediately closed her eyes obediently.
Mu Fulan pulled the quilt for him and closed her eyes. After a while, she felt the little person in her arms move again.
"Mother, Xi'er has made up her mind. It doesn't matter. From now on, if mother likes someone, Xi'er will like that person just like mother."
Mu Fulan opened her eyes in surprise and met Xier's eyes that were full of sincere and pure emotions as she looked at her. Her heart was filled with infinite tenderness that was a mixture of bitterness and sweetness.
She resisted the urge to cry, hugged her son tightly in her arms, and said, "Go to sleep, mother will accompany you."