Perhaps still harboring a trace of hope for the Emperor in his heart, Chancellor Lu turned to look at Shen Jingzhong and added, “However, one can’t be certain. Perhaps His Majesty truly just wants the five hundred boys and girls to ascend the Nine-Tiered Platform with him to seek immortal medicine. Otherwise… if these five hundred boys and girls all mysteriously disappear, His Majesty would probably find it difficult to explain to the realm…”
The more Chancellor Lu spoke, the less conviction he had in his words. Would the current Emperor still worry about being unable to explain to the people of the realm? No, he wouldn’t!
“How about informing Princess Zhenguo of this matter? This subordinate sees… the Crown Prince practically follows every word Princess Zhenguo says. Perhaps… Princess Zhenguo could persuade the Crown Prince?” Shen Jingzhong suggested.
Chancellor Lu shook his head: “The Crown Prince can indeed listen to what Princess Zhenguo says, but our Crown Prince… lacks the courage to oppose His Majesty!”
Great Liang, Han City.
Two prescriptions in succession had been delivered to Emperor Liang’s desk, and both prescriptions originated from the Jin army.
In court, some ministers said that Zhao Sheng’s treason deserved death, and the entire Zhao family should be executed.
Other ministers said… although Zhao Sheng had been captured, he had managed to obtain the prescription for treating the epidemic. The Zhao family had always been completely loyal to Great Liang, so Zhao Sheng must have feigned treason for the prescription. If they executed the entire Zhao family without solid evidence, General Zhao would surely be heartbroken upon inquiry, and might truly defect to the enemy camp.
The court argued endlessly. The Third Prince stepped forward and said to the Emperor: “Father Emperor, your son believes that the Zhao family has been loyal to Great Liang for generations. General Zhao Sheng could not possibly commit treason. Moreover, General Zhao Sheng’s mother, wife, and children are all in Han City – how could General Zhao Sheng abandon his mother, wife, and children? Therefore, Father Emperor must not kill the entire Zhao family, lest you chill General Zhao’s heart! Your son believes… we can temporarily have the Imperial Guards surround the Zhao mansion and keep the Zhao family under watch.”
The old Chancellor of Liang nodded: “The Third Prince speaks wisely!”
Seeing the Emperor nod, the Third Prince finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A minister, seeing the Emperor looking down at the prescription recorded on parchment, stepped forward: “Your Majesty, since Jin has already given us the prescription this time, this humble minister believes… perhaps Jin doesn’t want to fight anymore either. Your Majesty might as well take this opportunity to make peace with Jin. After our Kingdom recovers and eliminates this epidemic, we can then send troops against Jin to avenge the Fourth Prince.”
Knowing Emperor Liang was eager for revenge, that minister spoke very carefully.
Emperor Liang looked up at the minister and flew into a rage: “Wait until the epidemic is eliminated before sending troops against Jin? By then… you’ll say the treasury can’t support it. Don’t I know you people?! From today onward, whoever dares to speak to me about kneeling in submission to seek peace, or about postponing great revenge, I… will kill your sons and let you experience what I’m feeling now!”
Upon hearing these words, that minister’s legs went weak, and he directly knelt in the great hall: “This humble minister deserves ten thousand deaths. Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger!”
The Emperor stormed off in anger. The Third Prince could only hurry forward to comfort the ministers, helped the minister kneeling in the hall to his feet, arranged his robes, and went to seek an audience with the Emperor to request an imperial decree.
After the Third Prince emerged from the Emperor’s sleeping quarters, the Emperor’s decree was also issued.
The Emperor ordered the Imperial Guards to first keep the entire Zhao family under surveillance, allowing no one to enter or leave the Zhao mansion until Zhao Sheng returned.
However, after the Imperial Guards surrounded the Zhao mansion, they discovered… that Old Dowager Zhao had taken the Zhao family elders and children back to their hometown to visit relatives five days ago. The Imperial Guard commander immediately reported this matter to the Emperor.
The Emperor was furious and ordered the arrest and imprisonment of all relatives within three degrees of kinship to Zhao Sheng, sending people to capture Zhao Sheng’s family.
Zhao Sheng’s family had fled, making his treason a foregone conclusion. This already annoyed Emperor Liang greatly, but even more vexing matters followed closely.
The two prescriptions the Emperor had given to the Imperial Medical Academy were studied by the academy, which then gave the two prescriptions separately to people suffering from the epidemic in Han City’s treatment centers. Three days after taking the medicine… the people who had taken the medicine were indeed all improving.
It was just that people using precious medicinal materials recovered faster, while those taking the second prescription with precious materials substituted recovered slightly slower, but the epidemic could still be treated.
The Imperial Medical Academy presented both prescriptions to the Emperor’s desk, and new problems arose… among the medicines for treating the epidemic, there was one irreplaceable drug: scutellaria.
Great Liang wasn’t completely devoid of scutellaria, but scutellaria production was extremely low, so scutellaria prices in Liang were quite high. This would have been manageable, since in those days countries traded with each other, and merchants would always transport scutellaria to Great Liang. Because Great Liang and Jin shared borders, generally… most of the scutellaria used in Great Liang came from Jin.
Now, Great Liang’s nationwide scutellaria reserves were enough to send to the army, but to treat the constantly increasing number of epidemic patients among the people was far from sufficient. Emperor Liang needed to choose what to do…
Should they continue fighting Jin to the death, or submit and seek peace, obtaining scutellaria to save Great Liang’s people?
The Emperor refused to seek peace and ordered people to collect all medicinal herbs throughout the Kingdom to send entirely to the army… to ensure the soldiers could maintain their fighting strength and fight Jin to the death.
The usually weak Third Prince of Great Liang finally stopped fearing the Emperor’s authority and contradicted Emperor Liang in court: “Father Emperor, the soldiers who protect our Kingdom come from the people. If we only care for soldiers and not the people, when people die en masse, our Liang will lose its source of troops. Without new troops to supplement losses on the battlefield, Liang will still suffer a crushing defeat! Liang has already reached such a state… yet Father Emperor still refuses to seek peace. Must we wait until the Kingdom falls… must we wait to become a fallen ruler before you’re satisfied?!”
Emperor Liang became furious and grabbed an incense burner to hurl at the Third Prince. The Third Prince couldn’t dodge in time, and his forehead, which had just recently healed after being injured by the Emperor last time, immediately began bleeding again.
Yet the Third Prince stood up, ignoring the blood covering his head, his gaze filled with desolation and grief as he looked at Emperor Liang: “Father Emperor is the sovereign of a nation, yet for the sake of Fourth Brother alone, you disregard the life and death of Liang’s people, disregard the life and death of soldiers! Can Father Emperor still be considered Liang’s emperor?”
“How dare you!” Emperor Liang’s eyes were about to split with rage.
“Father Emperor, this son’s life was given by Father Emperor. This one act of defiance is also the last time this son will defy Father Emperor! This son cannot bear to see Liang suffer a catastrophic disaster because the Father Emperor refuses to submit and seek peace, and cannot bear to see Liang destroyed by Jin. This son is leaving now. Please take care of yourself, Father Emperor!”
Having said this, the Third Prince, with his plump and rotund body, charged straight toward the red lacquered pillar in the great hall.
The old Chancellor’s eyes widened: “Quickly stop the Third Prince!”
At this critical moment, a military general rushed forward and knocked aside the Third Prince, who was about to ram his head into the pillar. The Third Prince lost his balance and fell to the ground, but ultimately his head didn’t strike that vermilion lacquered pillar – he failed to splatter blood across the court.
Several ministers immediately threw themselves forward, kneeling and embracing the Third Prince, crying out that the Third Prince must not do such a thing.