Chapter 214 2/3

It was extremely cold that day, but fortunately, the servants in the manor were kind enough to light the kang (heated bed) for them.

While Lu Mingshan was recounting yesterday’s events to his disciple, in the palace, Lü Qingxi was also reporting yesterday’s events to the emperor.

After listening, Qi Jun was furious: “That Fan Weiyan is simply inhuman!”

Qi Jun had difficulty siring children, and even the second princess, born to a woman he didn’t particularly like, was dear to him.

Now, learning that someone had harmed his biological daughter… he was utterly disgusted with Fan Weiyan and immediately ordered an investigation into the matter.

The emperor obviously disliked Fan Weiyan. When Lü Qingxi planned to instruct his subordinates to handle the matter later, he intended to hint that they should deal with Fan Weiyan severely.

After discussing Fan Weiyan, Lü Qingxi brought up other matters.

The emperor listened to some state affairs and then instructed Lü Qingxi to pay attention to the scholars coming to the capital for the imperial exams.

Some scholars were so poor that they could only stay in dilapidated temples, and there had been instances where scholars almost froze to death.

Lü Qingxi promised to take good care of these scholars and send warm clothes and quilts to those from impoverished families.

Finally, Lü Qingxi inquired about the child in the palace.

This child, being a member of the imperial clan, naturally had the surname Qi, and the emperor named him Qi An.

The name was simple, but it revealed Qi Jun’s hope for the child to live a safe and peaceful life.

Qi An was still young and somewhat restless. The emperor, however, lacked the energy to spend much time with him. Over the past year, the emperor and Qi An hadn’t spent much time together.

But Concubine Liu often brought Qi An to the emperor to play, and the emperor gradually grew more fond of Qi An.

Over the years, Prince Jin had done many reckless things. Prince Yan wasn’t as foolish, but he was excessively ruthless, and his mother was the person the emperor hated the most…

The emperor’s preference clearly leaned towards Qi An, and he wanted to make Qi An the crown prince.

However, despite making this decision, the emperor still felt uneasy.

Appointing Qi An as the crown prince would undoubtedly cause much dissatisfaction.

Additionally, Qi An was very young; even if he ascended to the throne, he might not be able to hold onto it securely.

Thinking of this, the emperor wanted to see Taoist Master Lu, the one who had seen through Fan Weiyan at a glance.

He wanted Taoist Master Lu to read Qi An’s face, and he was even more curious about the future of the Daqi.

As the emperor pondered this matter, someone suddenly reported: “Your Majesty, something terrible has happened to the young master!”

Qi An, being raised in the palace but not yet made a prince, was still referred to by the palace staff as “young master.”

Upon hearing this, Lü Qingxi’s face changed, and the emperor hurriedly asked, “What happened?”

The reporting servant trembled: “The servant delivering charcoal to the noble Concubine suddenly attacked, throwing the hot charcoal at the young master. The young master was burned.”

The emperor asked again: “Where was he burned?”

The servant was shaking uncontrollably: “All over his body.”

The emperor felt a rush of blood to his head and fainted on the spot. Lü Qingxi cried out in alarm: “Your Majesty!”

In fact, the idea of adopting a prince from the royal family had crossed the emperor’s mind before, but he abandoned it because Prince Jin was powerful and had caused the child the emperor favored to become crippled.

The emperor had granted Lü Qingxi significant power to weaken Prince Jin’s influence.

He thought that with Prince Jin’s power diminished, Qi An would be safe, but the reality proved otherwise.

The emperor fainted, Qi An was burned, and the entire palace was thrown into chaos.

Originally, Concubine Liu could manage affairs, but after raising Qi An for a year and a half, she had come to see him as her own child. Now that her child was severely burned, possibly facing death, she couldn’t focus on anything else.

As a result, all responsibilities fell on Lü Qingxi.

Lü Qingxi couldn’t leave the palace, but he sent word to his subordinates outside the palace.

Li Zhu, who had brought back many glass ornaments and was planning to discuss with Lü Qingxi about sending them to the palace, turned pale upon hearing the news.

If something happened to Qi An, who would become the next emperor?

Would it be Prince Jin or Prince Yan?

Li Zhu thought that if she were the emperor, she would never let Prince Jin or Prince Yan ascend to the throne. She might even have them killed early on!

However, the current emperor was overly soft-hearted.

He had promised the late emperor not to kill Prince Yan and had indeed spared him, not even imprisoning him!

Because the current emperor was in poor health, the late emperor had appointed the previous Prince Jin as the regent.

The previous Prince Jin… in the early years, while the late emperor indulged the favored concubine’s whims, Prince Jin had allied with court officials and built a vast power base, merely pretending to be harmless in front of the late emperor. Once the late emperor died, he seized power, disregarding the current emperor and often oppressing him.

Yet, after the sudden death of the previous Prince Jin, the emperor was still willing to make the current Prince Jin his successor.

Such an emperor, who knew if he might, for the sake of political stability or other reasons, let Prince Jin or Prince Yan ascend the throne?

And if it came to that, how would they exact their revenge?

Li Zhu was so angry that her face turned white.

Suddenly, she thought of something—if her brother could cure Qian Fugui and Qian Changsheng, could he also cure the emperor?

If the emperor’s health improved, what would Prince Jin and Prince Yan amount to? The emperor might even have biological children.

But the emperor was already critically ill, and Li Qingzhi might not be able to cure him.

Sending Li Qingzhi to undertake such a task was too dangerous!

If the emperor’s condition didn’t improve, what if Li Qingzhi was blamed?

Li Zhu suppressed her thoughts and only asked He Yi to inform Li Qingzhi of the situation.

Li Qingzhi was taken aback upon learning about it.

Before coming to the capital, he had thought about his plans.

He wanted to become the top scholar, then find a way to approach the emperor to extend his life, and eventually become the teacher of the future young prince, grooming a good emperor.

But now… the future young prince had been burned?

In modern times, some business conflicts have escalated into poisoning and seizing company seals, completely abandoning subtle schemes. The power struggles of this era were shockingly direct.

They directly attempted to assassinate the future young prince!

Li Qingzhi had long heard about the emperor’s condition, and if something happened to the young prince, the emperor might fall seriously ill and eventually die!

Then, who would the court officials support as the new emperor? It certainly wouldn’t be Lü Qingxi!

Li Zhu didn’t want to see this happen, and neither did Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi even wanted to volunteer to enter the palace and save the young prince!

But he knew that was impossible.

First, his abilities were still limited, and with two sick people in the palace, he might not be able to cure them both.

Second… it was one thing for his family to know about his unique abilities, but if the whole world knew, he would likely lose his freedom.

His family would also certainly be placed under surveillance.

He didn’t want to be imprisoned in the palace, becoming a tool for the emperor and Lü Qingxi to maintain their health!

Of course, he might be overthinking it. Even if he wanted to treat the emperor or the young prince, they might not believe him.

If Prince Jin or Prince Yan really ascended to the throne, he would have to leave the capital and find a way to gather more followers and speed up the revolution.

Daqi needed a transformation to achieve equality and avoid being oppressed by the rapidly developing neighboring countries.