After Jun Huailang was rescued by Xue Yan, he developed a high fever.
The entire palace descended into chaos.
The Heir of the Duke of Yongning was unconscious when he was brought back to Yongle Hall by the Fifth Prince, who was likewise drenched from head to toe. It was said that he had somehow fallen into the water and had been rescued by His Fifth Highness, who happened to arrive in time.
Qingping Emperor hurriedly ordered someone to settle Jun Huailang in a side hall of Yongle Hall, then immediately sent Lingfu to summon the imperial physicians.
The imperial physician had initially said that the Heir of the Duke of Yongning had merely been frightened and chilled, with no signs of drowning. Two doses of medicine would be enough to cure him. But by the latter half of the night, Jun Huailang’s fever had grown increasingly severe. Even the imperial physician panicked, not knowing what to do.
The various aristocratic families and nobles hurriedly left the palace, while the Jun family anxiously waited outside the side hall. Qingping Emperor had been relying heavily on the Duke of Yongning in recent days. With such a major incident occurring today, he also stayed here, though he was persuaded to rest in a nearby palace chamber.
Consort Shu, meanwhile, remained by Jun Huailang’s side without taking a single step away.
She had never done the work of caring for someone before, but now she refused to leave even the slightest task to anyone else. Holding a cool cloth, she constantly applied it to Jun Huailang’s forehead and wiped his hands and feet.
But Jun Huailang remained unconscious. His fever was so severe that he could not even open his eyes, and his temperature showed no sign of coming down.
Xue Yan silently stood guard nearby.
The palace maids came forward and replaced the cold water for her. Consort Shu’s hands were finally free, and she sat beside the bed. Before long, she silently began wiping away her tears.
After a moment, she choked back a sob and said, “Go. Change your clothes.”
At this moment, apart from the eunuchs and palace maids attending them, only she and Xue Yan remained.
Ever since Xue Yan had returned, he had stayed here the entire time, still wearing his completely soaked robes.
Xue Yan did not move.
Consort Shu turned around and scolded him, “Can’t you hear me? I don’t have the strength to care for a second person with a fever. Hurry up and change into some dry clothes!”
Just then, a palace maid came in carrying a bowl of medicine and handed it to the maid attending at the bedside.
The imperial physician followed behind her and entered to watch Jun Huailang take his medicine.
“Imperial Physician, how is he?” Consort Shu hurriedly asked. “You just said that two doses of medicine would definitely bring down his fever. Why is his fever getting worse instead?”
Upon hearing this, the imperial physician immediately knelt before Consort Shu.
“Your Highness, this humble subject does not know. This humble subject has never seen anything like it!” he said, knocking his head against the floor. “The Heir’s pulse clearly indicates nothing more than an ordinary cold, but now, the more I examine him… the more it seems as though he has encountered something evil!”
As he spoke, he raised his head and cautiously glanced at Xue Yan beside him. The implication behind his words was unmistakable.
Consort Shu froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. She grabbed the empty bowl beside her and smashed it onto the floor next to the imperial physician.
“I told you to treat his illness! Who told you to spout such nonsense here? Your medical skills are inadequate, so you claim that Lang’er has encountered something evil? I think you’re the one who’s encountered something evil! His Majesty should have your head removed and drive the evil energy out of you!”
The sound of the porcelain shattering made everyone in the hall flinch.
The imperial physician seemed to be extremely timid. Startled by the shattered bowl, his whole body shuddered. He knocked his head against the floor several times to beg forgiveness, then scrambled and rolled out of the hall.
As he brushed past him, Xue Yan turned his eyes sideways and coldly glanced in the direction the physician had fled.
It was toward the palace chamber where Qingping Emperor was staying.
Consort Shu, however, had no time to concern herself with him. She wiped away her tears and ordered the palace maid to come forward and feed the bowl of medicine to Jun Huailang.
Xue Yan’s gaze fell upon the bowl of medicine, then shifted to Jun Huailang’s face.
At this moment, his fever had made his face bright red. His eyes were tightly shut, and his eyelashes were like a pair of fragile crow’s wings, casting a shadow over his face.
Xue Yan’s eyes were filled with blood-red fury that he had suppressed for a long time.
“Baiji.”
After a moment, he struggled to tear his gaze away and said in a flat voice, “Come outside for a moment.”
——
The palace chamber where Qingping Emperor was staying was likewise brightly lit.
He had leaned against the couch and rested for a while, but soon found himself unable to sleep again.
Over the past two years, he had clearly felt that the Xu family was becoming rather disobedient, while the scholars belonging to the Jiang faction were busy forming cliques. Every day, all they knew how to do was submit memorials condemning others. They were incapable of accomplishing anything practical.
Yet throughout the entire imperial court, he could not find a single person whom he both trusted and considered capable of being put to good use.
It had taken him great effort to finally find someone like the Duke of Yongning—a capable assistant who belonged to no faction and was not involved in partisan struggles. He had been waiting to send him to Jiangnan once the New Year passed.
Yet he had never expected that, at this critical moment, the eldest legitimate son of the Duke of Yongning, who was staying in the palace, would get into trouble.
Qingping Emperor was so troubled that he could not sleep. He called Lingfu over and had him pour a cup of tea to clear his mind.
“Why does it sound like things over there are becoming more and more serious?” he asked with a frown. “Wasn’t it just a fall into the water? Which imperial physician did you summon?”
Lingfu hurriedly replied, “Your Majesty, it was Imperial Physician Zhu of the Imperial Medical Academy. Imperial Physician Zhu’s medical skills are superb. Your Majesty knows this.”
Qingping Emperor pressed his fingers against his brow and nodded.
“Then this is strange,” he murmured.
Just then, a eunuch announced from outside the door, “Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Zhu requests an audience.”
Qingping Emperor raised a hand. “Let him in.”
A moment later, Imperial Physician Zhu knelt before him.
“Speak. How is the Heir of the Duke of Yongning?” Qingping Emperor waved for him to rise and answer. “The Duke of Yongning is one of my most important ministers. If something happens to his heir, I will certainly take your head.”
Imperial Physician Zhu pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Your Majesty, this humble subject is also helpless before the Heir’s illness!”
Qingping Emperor’s expression changed.
“You are helpless?” he said angrily. “It’s merely an ordinary cold, and you are helpless even against that? What use is there in keeping you in the Imperial Medical Academy?”
Imperial Physician Zhu hurriedly knocked his head against the floor.
“Your Majesty! The Heir’s illness is clearly not an ordinary cold!”
Qingping Emperor asked, “Then what is it?”
Imperial Physician Zhu tremblingly raised his head and discreetly exchanged a glance with Lingfu, who was attending behind Qingping Emperor.
“The Heir’s symptoms… should be the result of coming into contact with something impure and being afflicted by opposing energies. He has encountered an evil spirit!”
Once the words “evil spirit” fell, the entire palace chamber became so silent that even a needle could be heard hitting the floor.
Qingping Emperor slowly furrowed his brows. After a moment, he asked in a deep voice, “…What did you say?”
Imperial Physician Zhu repeated himself tremblingly.
“This humble subject said that His Highness… has encountered an evil spirit.”
Lingfu’s hand trembled, and the teapot in his hand spilled water all over the table.
Qingping Emperor looked up at him and saw Lingfu’s pupils trembling. In a small voice, he said, “Your Majesty, on the day of Laba… the Imperial Astronomical Bureau!”
He stopped there, his face filled with fear and dread, as though he did not dare to say what came next.
But Qingping Emperor knew exactly what he meant without needing him to say it.
On the day of Laba, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had said that the baleful star was showing abnormal movement and that calamity would soon emerge. The Lingtai Lang had calculated that the period of calamity would fall before the New Year.
Today was the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month—the final day before the New Year.
Qingping Emperor almost lost his grip on the teacup in his hand.
If that was the case, then the evil spirit Jun Huailang had encountered…
Wasn’t it Xue Yan?
He had been in Mingluan Palace together with Xue Yan and had been quite close to him. He was not a royal descendant protected by the true dragon. A few days ago, Qingping Emperor had also heard that Jun Huailang suffered from nightmares. Today, he had gone out alone with Xue Yan, and only then had he encountered this evil.
Qingping Emperor fell silent.
“Is what you say true?” Qingping Emperor asked in a deep voice after a moment. “If even a single word is false, I will execute your entire clan.”
Imperial Physician Zhu bowed deeply, repeatedly knocking his head against the ground to demonstrate that he dared not deceive the Emperor.
“Then tell me, what should be done?” Qingping Emperor asked again.
Imperial Physician Zhu kowtowed and said, “Your Majesty can send someone to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and see who possesses the ability to drive away evil spirits.”
Just then, Lingfu bent down and quietly said to Qingping Emperor, “Your Majesty, why not summon the Lingtai Lang?”
Qingping Emperor raised his head and looked at him.
Lingfu continued, “Your Majesty, this omen was divined by the Lingtai Lang himself. This servant has also heard that when he traveled the world with his master, Perfected Xuan, he learned the skills of treating illnesses as well. It is said that once he burns a talisman and turns it into talisman water, all sorts of difficult and complicated illnesses can be cured after a person drinks a bowl of it. Evil spirits cannot approach him either.”
Qingping Emperor asked, “Really?”
Having served him for so many years, Lingfu could tell from a single glance that Qingping Emperor was tempted.
He hurriedly nodded.
“Your Majesty can summon him and ask him yourself.”
Hearing this, Qingping Emperor lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then was about to nod.
Just then, another eunuch announced from outside the door, “Your Majesty, His Fifth Highness requests an audience.”
For a moment, the expressions of everyone in the palace chamber changed.
Lingfu and Imperial Physician Zhu quickly exchanged a glance, then both turned their eyes toward Qingping Emperor.
Qingping Emperor’s expression changed slightly.
“Let him in,” he said.
The little eunuch acknowledged the order and led Xue Yan inside.
He still had not changed his clothes. But after spending half the night warming himself in a room with underfloor heating, his robes were already half dry. Even so, from a distance, he still looked disheveled. One glance was enough to tell that he had fallen into the water.
Qingping Emperor inexplicably felt somewhat guilty.
Once he had paid attention to Xue Yan’s appearance for the first time, Qingping Emperor found it difficult to separate Xue Yan from Consort Rong.
Whenever he saw Xue Yan, his first instinct was to remember Consort Rong’s appearance and manner from years ago. If he looked at him a little longer, he could also find places where Xue Yan resembled Consort Rong.
Xue Yan knelt before Qingping Emperor.
“Rise,” Qingping Emperor said. “Why have you come to see me at this hour?”
Xue Yan raised his head and looked at him. His expression was calm, without the slightest trace of arrogance, yet there was an unmistakable dignity in him that came straight from his bones—neither servile nor overbearing.
“Reporting to Father Emperor, I just heard Imperial Physician Zhu say that the Heir of the Duke of Yongning has encountered an evil spirit, so I came especially to request an audience with Father Emperor.”
No one had expected him to openly say this matter aloud himself.
Even if such a thing were to be discussed, everyone would merely understand it without saying it aloud. Naturally, it could not be placed openly on the table and spoken about so directly.
Qingping Emperor, who had just made up his mind to have Jun Huailang drink talisman water, felt somewhat awkward as well. He cleared his throat.
“It was merely a casual guess. It cannot be taken seriously…”
But Xue Yan acted as though he had not heard him and continued.
“I know that the only evil spirit in the palace is your son. Therefore, the strange illness of the Heir of the Duke of Yongning must have been caused by me.”
He spoke lightly, yet with absolute certainty. Instead, his words caused Qingping Emperor to feel a trace of discomfort.
What child would openly say that he himself was an evil spirit?
Moreover, Great Yong had always valued Confucian learning while looking down upon Buddhism and Daoism. Qingping Emperor might be superstitious, but speaking privately about such matters with those who understood them was one thing. Having the person involved openly admit it himself only made Qingping Emperor’s actions seem all the more absurd.
Qingping Emperor naturally did not wish to admit that he was being absurd. For a moment, he was too awkward to know how to respond.
Then he saw Xue Yan bow forward and knock his head against the floor before him.
“Your son requests an imperial decree to go to the palace’s Buddhist hall and personally copy the Sutra for Dispelling Calamities one hundred times, in order to suppress the evil spirit upon his body. The Heir of the Duke of Yongning should continue taking his medicine. If he still cannot be cured by tomorrow, then your son will ask Father Emperor to punish him.”
Qingping Emperor was stunned.
He then heard Xue Yan continue.
“If there is even the slightest mishap, your son will bear all responsibility.”
Qingping Emperor did not speak for a long time.
He had no choice but to admit that the person kneeling there was the only child he had with Consort Rong.
Yet this child had been cruelly mistreated by Heaven. He had been made into a baleful star descended into the mortal world, born destined to bring conflict between father and son.
Now that he was making such a request of him, Qingping Emperor found himself unable to refuse.
After a moment, he said, “Do as you say. Go.”
Lingfu, standing nearby, was startled. He glanced at Imperial Physician Zhu before stepping forward.
“Your Majesty, what about the Lingtai Lang…?”
Qingping Emperor waved his hand.
“Wait until tomorrow. If he still has not recovered, then summon him,” he said.
In truth, Qingping Emperor was also taking a gamble in his heart. He wanted to see whether copying the Sutra for Dispelling Calamities could suppress the baleful energy surrounding Xue Yan.
If it truly worked, then wouldn’t there be nothing for him to fear either?
He did not see that Lingfu, standing beside him, nervously glanced at Imperial Physician Zhu.
And Imperial Physician Zhu returned a reassuring look, telling him not to worry.
But all of this fell clearly into Xue Yan’s eyes.
Those eyes appeared calm and undisturbed on the surface, yet deep within their unfathomable depths, terrifying waves were already surging and gathering.