The bedroom of the Xu'en Palace was filled with white smoke and steam. Guo Shao was half-lying naked in a large wooden basin filled with something sticky like mud and still steaming; his head had been shaved and was wrapped in a gauze bag that was smoking.
It was all Madam Lu's idea to make him look so funny. The imperial doctors couldn't find an antidote or even identify the poison, so they had to let Madam Lu use a strange method to expel the poison.
Guo Shao had been lying like this for nearly a month. Now he had woken up and was still lying there. Jing Niang was standing next to him, describing her recent situation in a soft voice.
Guo Shao listened for a long time, stretched out his hand to grab the thing on his head, and struggled to stand up, but found that his whole body was limp and he had no strength. He said: "Send someone in and take me to Jinxiang Palace."
Your Majesty Jingniang was stunned for a moment.
Guo Shao struggled to climb out of the basin, Jingniang quickly held him up and shouted, "Someone come!"
Soon, several imperial doctors and a group of palace maids and eunuchs came in, and they all worked together to make him wear clothes, and used a fu to cover his bald head. Then he was put on the sedan chair again.
Guo Shao felt that he was getting better. If the treatment was ineffective, he would have died long ago after being poisoned for such a long time, and he would not be able to move slowly. He turned around and said to Madam Lu in the sedan chair: I remember Madam Lu's kindness and contribution.
Fu Jinzhan sat in the East Hall, waiting for news on pins and needles.
At this moment, a eunuch suddenly ran in. Jinzhan was startled and stared at the eunuch. The eunuch came forward and said, "Madam, the emperor is here!"
What does Jinzhan mean? Her beautiful eyes widened.
The eunuch said: The emperor has woken up, and someone has been asked to carry him to the Jinxiang Palace. He is on the way.
Jinzhan was like a drowning person who had grabbed a life-saving straw, and said in a trembling voice: "The emperor is fine." Without waiting for the eunuch to answer, she stood up, lifted her long skirt and walked out quickly.
When we came out of the north side of Jinxiang Hall, we saw a group of people surrounding a sedan chair coming down the long street.
Guo Shao's sedan chair was carried straight into the back hall. Jinzhan stepped forward and grabbed his hand tightly, looking at Guo Shao, who was lying silently on it, with expectation, because she felt his hand pinching her in response.
He opened his eyes, looked at Jinzhan and nodded, then let go of her hand and struggled a few times in the sedan chair. The people around him helped him sit up.
Guo Shao's face was obviously thinner. He sat there for a while and said: Make a bowl of porridge with sugar and salt.
Go to Jinzhan and give the order, and people immediately got busy. It is unknown why the emperor wants to eat salty and sweet porridge. However, this request will surely satisfy the emperor soon.
When the porridge was served, Fu Jinzhan tested the temperature with her own mouth before carefully feeding Guo Shao with a spoon. Guo Shao seemed very silent. He opened his mouth when she fed him and slowly ate a lot of porridge. Jinzhan's eyes were full of tears, but she gradually smiled. Her red lips trembled slightly. When she saw Guo Shao open his mouth, her little mouth opened as well, and her concern was overflowing on her face.
Guo Shao finished his porridge and sat down to rest for a while, then tried to support himself on the sedan chair with his hands. The eunuch next to him hurried forward to help him, but Guo Shao glared at him and said, "Get out of the way!"
The hall suddenly became silent, and everyone held their breath and watched Guo Shao.
Guo Shaowei trembled and slowly stood up, holding his head high. Jinzhan's tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, and she knelt on the ground, looking up at the burly figure with joy. Everyone knelt on the ground and shouted: "Long live your majesty!"
He issued an order to open all the city gates, lift the martial law in Tokyo, and call Li Chuyun and other Hexi Army soldiers in. Guo Shao stood up and immediately issued an order.
Guo Shao stayed in Jinxiang Hall for nearly an hour, listening to Jinzhan's important remarks and memorials, and then he ordered people to change into a purple robe and black gauze and have him carried to the main gate of the imperial city. Before leaving, he looked in the bronze mirror. The black gauze on his bald head was really unsightly, especially because he had no hair on his temples.
He was carried up to the Xuande Gate Tower. When he was close to the tower, he got off the sedan chair and wanted to walk to the front of the crowd by himself. The eunuch Wang Zhong wanted to help him, but he was dismissed again.
His physical condition seemed to have improved, but he was still struggling. He clenched his teeth, and held on with all his strength to move his legs. He had never walked such difficult steps in his life. It was all thanks to the determination in his body that he would not give up. Guo Shao felt as if he was back to the age of a toddler, and everything had returned to the beginning.
But with each step he took, the world opened up to him again. First, the blue sky appeared, and then the endless rooftops of Tokyo appeared before his eyes from above the parapet.
The armored crowd filled the Imperial Street. The houses seemed to be filled with people, including the Hexi Army, the soldiers of the Tokyo Guard, and the imperial guards. The soldiers gathered in the city at once, like a sea of people.
Guo Shao stood on the wall, looking at the soldiers. He knew that nearly half of the elite soldiers raised in the vast land of thousands of miles were here.
Soldiers gradually noticed the emperor on Xuande Gate, and people looked up. Gradually, Guo Shao was being watched by more than ten thousand pairs of eyes. The originally noisy scene suddenly became much quieter. It seemed that the news that the emperor was seriously ill had spread to the army, but now Guo Shao was standing in front of the people.
The main troops of the Daxu Imperial Guard were still the original imperial guards left over from the Zhou Dynasty, and Guo Shao had served as a military general in the imperial guards for a long time, eating and sleeping with the soldiers. Most people had seen him more than once, so of course they recognized him.
Guo Shao held onto the parapet with one hand. He didn't have the strength to shout loudly, but he raised the scabbard with one hand.
Suddenly, the crowd shouted and the sound of "Long live" resounded throughout Tokyo. The city below gradually became boiling. In this era, I am afraid that only one person can arouse the reaction of so many people. Soldiers raised their swords and guns and stabbed them into the sky. Some shouted loudly. In some places, the crowd knelt down in a large group and looked up at the people on the ancient city wall.
After a while, the burly eunuch Yang Shiliang stepped forward, raised his hands and signaled, and waited until the crowd quieted down a bit. Then Yang Shiliang said loudly: "The government says that among the billions of people in the world, only one elite soldier can be supported by a hundred households. Your loyalty to me is loyalty to the country and the people. Soldiers are the sharp sword of the country, promoting the prestige of the country, severely punishing injustice, and opening up thousands of miles. They are also the shield of the country. If the people want to have warm clothes and food, and the world wants to be prosperous and wealthy, we must have a strong shield to protect the country's borders, so that the country can be rich and the people can be strong."
I believe that my brothers are all loyal and will protect the country and the people.
Cheers rose again, and Tokyo's countless streets, the vast flat land, and the sky were all filled with this hot atmosphere.
Guo Shao's legs were trembling inside his robe, so he turned around and slowly left the wall, sat down on the chair under Huang Gai at the back, and said: "Pass the order to let Li Chuyun, Shi Yanchao, Wei Renpu, Zan Jurun and others come to Xuande Gate to see me."
Obey the order
Later, the court officials came over after hearing the news. The Xuande Gate was filled with civil and military officials, palace maids, and imperial guards. They surrounded Huang Gai, waiting with solemn expressions.
After waiting for a long time, Li Chuyun and others finally received the imperial edict and rode to the Xuande Gate. The gates of the imperial city were all wide open, and outside were tens of thousands of fierce warriors in armor.
But what can it do? When the emperor stood there, the whole city was in an uproar. Even a blind man could tell who those warriors belonged to.
Li Chuyun's forehead was covered with sweat, which shone in the sun. He rode to the door, dismounted with a few other people, and threw the reins to his personal soldiers. He looked calm, but his mind was completely confused.
Looking back, Li Chuyun felt that he had obeyed the court's orders from the time he went to war to the time he returned to Beijing, and had done nothing. But he knew in his heart that many things could not be hidden from the government, and he was inexplicably afraid.
With a stern face, he walked up the stone steps behind the Xuande Gate. Li Chuyun had a premonition that this would be the last leg of his life.
Wei Renpu and the military supervisor Zan Jurun would report him, and Empress Fu's words would also be unfavorable to him. He obviously delayed the trip, controlled the outer scouts of the army with unclear intentions, and usurped the power of the front camp military office. Even the written memorials were suspected of forcing the court to warn them. These were not confirmed crimes, but the suspicion they caused was a capital crime: not being loyal enough.
Li Chuyun knew that once the imperial power was involved, it would be extremely dangerous, and fathers, sons and brothers could kill each other.
He was now helpless. Even if he was beheaded, he had no choice but to surrender. There was no room for resistance.
Suddenly, the spectacular scene he saw from the Xuande Gate inspired him. His vision suddenly broadened, and Li Chuyun suddenly realized that he had been in a daze for a while, and none of his actions were right. Why was he so stupid that he didn't realize it at the critical moment? It was a pity that it was too late to regret now.
Li Chuyun's red face became even redder, and his red face and black beard complemented each other. Although the chance was slim, he still had a glimmer of hope and luck in his heart.
After all, Guo Shao has always been kind and generous. Even if he has not contributed much to the establishment of the country, he has worked hard. Maybe he can be exempted from the title of Duke and enjoy a leisurely and wealthy life in the second half of his life. Coming to this situation now, this ending is also very gratifying and worth being grateful for.
The four of them walked to the front of the imperial carriage. Li Chuyun bowed his head, clasped his fists, and knelt on one knee, saying: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live forever. I have failed your Majesty's trust."
Several other people also bowed deeply. Wei Renpu also spoke in a clichéd way, but the lightness and joy in his tone could not be concealed. Li Chuyun felt even more bitter when he heard this. He felt that although he was known as a Confucian general, he was still inferior to the real old officials.
Guo Shao said nothing. Although Li Chuyun did not dare to look up, he still noticed from the corner of his eye that he was staring, but his eyes did not seem as bright as before, and he looked listless.
The emperor didn't ask them to stand up, so everyone just knelt in silence. Such silence made Li Chuyun feel as if he had been carrying a huge mountain in his heart.