The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 4 Entering the Palace
Yang Yuhuan came out of the room with tea at this time. Seeing that Li Ying had left, Yang Yuhuan wondered, "Why is the prince in such a hurry?"

Li Heng knew clearly that the prince's hasty coming and going were only for two things.

First, he put on a show for Li Longji to see that he loved his younger brother.

Second, see how serious his illness is. It would be best if he will not live long.

It may sound a bit cruel to say this, but it is beneficial to Li Heng now, as long as he uses it well.

Li Heng thought for a while before replying to Yang Yuhuan, "The prince came to see me because he cared about me, and he left in a hurry because he was worried about disturbing my cultivation."

When Yang Yuhuan heard this, her expression changed slightly.

Although she was young and inexperienced, she was not stupid and she knew the conflict between Li Ying and Li Heng.

With such conflicts, can there still be such deep brotherly love?

Yang Yuhuan was skeptical.

She looked at Li Heng and thought, "My dear husband, he is well versed in music and has a kind heart. Why does such a good person have an incurable disease?"

She felt pity and sadness from the bottom of her heart.

Li Heng did not notice Yang Yuhuan's expression, because at this time, he had more important things to think about.

In the morning, he asked Yang Yuhuan to tell Concubine Wu Huifei to ask the imperial physician.

In fact, as he was a prince, he didn't need to ask Concubine Wu Huifei to come forward when he wanted to invite an imperial physician.

He did this for two reasons.

First of all, although he knew some basic knowledge of Chinese medicine, he was not sure whether he could hide it from the skilled imperial physician. But with Concubine Wu Huifei's intervention, Imperial Physician Zhang would take the stakes involved into consideration. So even if Imperial Physician Zhang knew that his illness was fake, he would not be too "concerned".

The second level is that there is the imperial physician invited by Concubine Wu Huifei. After diagnosing him, Imperial Physician Zhang would report his condition to Concubine Wu Huifei as soon as possible. In this way, no matter what his condition is, it will not come from his mouth. If there is an accident in the future, he can completely push the matter to Imperial Physician Zhang.

Such calculations are somewhat sinister, but there is no other way. This is how politics works. Only by protecting yourself first can you save others.

Judging from Imperial Physician Zhang's hesitation to speak, Yang Yuhuan's smile after holding back tears, and Crown Prince Li Ying's visit, Li Heng guessed that Imperial Physician Zhang had diagnosed him with the disease he wanted to know, and now he should enter the palace.

Li Ying ordered his servants to prepare the carriage and go into the palace.

……

……

……

In the palace.

Li Ying's mother, Concubine Wu Huifei, and his father, Li Longji, already knew that Li Ying was ill.

Concubine Wu Hui looked sad and said, "Sanlang, you must find the best doctor to treat Heng'er."

"I will."

Li Longji comforted Concubine Wu Huifei, but he was thinking about other things.

Li Longji was wondering, is Li Heng’s illness real?

If it was fake, what was Li Heng's purpose in doing this? Who was working with him to deceive his superiors and subordinates?
If it was true, why didn't he notice it before?

Also, if Li Heng died, who could restrain the prince's power?

There are currently three major forces in the court.

The first group was the crown prince, which included the crown prince Li Ying, Prince of E Li Yao, Prince of Guang Li Ju, and the ministers in the court who advocated the establishment of the eldest son, such as Zhang Jiuling and Gao Lishi. The second group was Li Heng, whose main promoters were Consort Wu Huifei and Li Linfu. As for Li Heng, Li Longji thought that he was weak in character and could not achieve anything.

There is also a third faction represented by Li Heng. They hope that Li Ying and Li Heng will fight to the death so that they can reap the benefits and take the opportunity to rise to power.

In the past two years, many people have secretly blamed Li Longji for favoring Concubine Wu Huifei and suppressing the crown prince, but from his perspective, Li Longji felt that he had done nothing wrong.

When he was young, he and Princess Taiping launched the "Tanglong Coup" and killed the Empress Wei group. After ascending the throne, he pacified Princess Taiping, put order out of chaos, resisted foreign aggression and stabilized the country, worked hard to govern the country, and pushed the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty to its peak.

But even though he tried so hard, wars still broke out frequently on the border, and the court's tax revenue was getting less and less every year. At this time, if Crown Prince Li Ying became powerful and launched a coup like he did in the past, how would he respond?

He felt he had done enough and he was tired.

He just wanted to use the art of emperorship to balance the forces of all parties and keep everything under his control.

But now if Li Heng really has an incurable disease, he will not be able to balance the power of the prince.

Li Longji sighed silently in his heart, thinking: "When the prince learned that Heng'er was ill, he went to visit him immediately. I don't know if he really loves his brother or is just pretending."

Li Longji was thinking about it when Concubine Wu Huifei said, "Sanlang, I want to go out of the palace to see Ying'er."

Li Longji heard this and said, "Okay, I'll go with you."

As soon as Li Longji finished speaking, Gao Lishi came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Shou wants to see you."

Li Longji was stunned and said, "Let him in quickly."

"Here."

Gao Lishi went out, and soon after, the "weak" Li Heng staggered in.

After Li Ying entered the room, he knelt down and saluted, saying, "I pay my respects to my father and mother."

After saying that, he started coughing again.

Concubine Wu Hui felt sorry for her son, and quickly stood up to help Li Heng up, saying with concern: "My child, you are not feeling well, how can you stand the hardship? You stay at home, and your father and I will come to see you."

Li Longji first examined Li Heng secretly before calling Gao Lishi to bring a chair for Li Heng.

After Li Heng sat down, he smiled faintly and said, "Mother, don't worry, I'm fine."

"How can it be fine..." Concubine Wu Huifei originally wanted to say how it could be fine, but she remembered the advice of Imperial Doctor Zhang and stopped in time, and changed her words: "Yes, it will be fine."

Li Ying looked at Concubine Wu Hui's expression and was more certain that Imperial Doctor Zhang had diagnosed her with a serious illness. She pretended to be surprised and asked, "Did Imperial Doctor Zhang tell my mother something?"

Concubine Wu Huifei said: "Nothing... nothing."

Li Heng sighed and said, "I know my own health. I didn't dare to ask Dr. Zhang before because I was afraid that my father and mother would know and worry about me. But recently my health has become more and more serious. I am afraid that one day I will die, but my father and mother will not know about it. Wouldn't that be even more unfilial?"

When Li Ying said this, he stood up with all his strength, coughed and kowtowed, saying, "Son... cough... I have concealed this from Father and Mother before. Please punish me, Father."

Concubine Wu Huifei wanted to help Li Ying up, but considering that Li Ying had concealed the matter, she was indeed suspected of deceiving the emperor, so she retracted her half-extended hand and turned to look at Li Longji.

Li Longji said: "Get up quickly. You concealed this matter out of filial piety. How can I blame you?"

Hearing Li Longji's words, Wu Huifei's tears fell. She quickly helped Li Heng up and said in a sobbing voice: "Heng'er, don't worry, I will do my best to cure you."

Li Heng smiled and said comfortingly, "Life and death are determined by fate. Mother, don't be too sad. I am lucky to be your and father's son. It's a pity..."

"What a pity?" Concubine Wu Huifei asked hurriedly.

(End of this chapter)