Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 107: The Crown Prince Sick with a Cold, Xu Chu Enters the Palace

Cao Song seems to be just a mediocre person who inherited Cao Teng's political legacy, but his methods are far more than that.

When it comes to making money, Cao Song's ability is absolutely unquestionable, and when this ability is used in the right way, Cao Song is transformed from a mediocre person into a capable minister.

Students need to be taught according to their aptitude, and officials need to be appointed according to their abilities.

Moreover, Cao Song not only has the ability to make money, but what is most overlooked is his social skills.

Nowadays, many of the three dukes, nine ministers and two thousand stone officials in the court are on good terms with Cao Song. This is not only due to the political legacy left by Cao Teng, a wise eunuch, but also the effect of the combination of the two.

Therefore, among those close to him in the court, Cao Song was the most suitable person to bring up this matter.

Of course, there is another reason that is most important to him.

He needs to completely cut off the possibility of the Cao family wavering!
The Xiahou clan of the Caos were highly valued, including Cao Song, the Minister of Agriculture, Cao Cao, the Governor of Qingzhou and the General of the Central Army who Suppressed Bandits, Cao Ren, the Left Cavalry Supervisor of the Yulin Guards, Xiahou Yuan, the Right Cavalry Supervisor of the Yulin Guards, and Xiahou Dun, the Sima of the Imperial Guards.

There are nine ministers in the court, imperial guards in the capital, and provincial governors in charge of troops in the local areas. No one in power would ignore such a political family.

After Cao Cao left behind that letter that was almost an accusation, it would be a miracle if the Cao and Xiahou families did not become sworn enemies, let alone the possibility of them turning to the gentry.

It is precisely for this reason that he can confidently and boldly employ the Xiahou family of the Cao clan, but all "progress" requires a sufficient price to be paid.

If the Xiahou clan of the Cao clan wants to continue to make progress and gain more trust from the prince, they will need to make more efforts.

Cao Song also understood this, but as an old politician, he was not like Cao Cao who could take the initiative to express his opinion and take action based on the prince's words.

He needs the prince's promise!

The prince also understood that Cao Song was a man who would not release his eagle until he saw the rabbit, so he promised him the title of Marquis of Pingle as an obvious benefit, and the prince's trust was the benefit hidden behind this title of Marquis.

Having received the prince's promise, Cao Song was naturally prepared to portray himself as a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty and serve the prince at his beck and call!
After sending Cao Song away, Jia Xu did not leave yet. He reported to the prince all the major and minor events that took place in the capital during the prince's absence, including the truth behind He Yong's death by disembowelment and the details before and after he pretended to be assassinated and arrested a group of scholars from the Modern Literature School.

Jia Xu reported in great detail. Even though the prince also had a detailed report in his hand, Jia Xu still reported every detail, even everything he was thinking, to the prince in detail.

As a person with a strong desire to survive, although Jia Xu did not understand why the prince had such unreasonable trust in him, he knew that whether it was to repay the prince's trust or to protect himself, there was nothing wrong in reporting every detail.

Liu Bian listened to Jia Xu's report and looked at his eager expression, and couldn't help laughing.

But he would not persuade Jia Xu to change, because that was the character he developed after experiencing the ups and downs of officialdom, and it was also the character that made him trustworthy to entrust important matters to him.

After Jia Xu left, Liu Bian still did not rest, but asked someone to send him copies of the memorials handled by the Secretariat in the past six months. The five eunuchs Zhao You, Ding Su, Xu Yan, Guo Dan and Li Xun removed the memorials of greeting and read the memorials related to practical matters.

Most of them were reports on the rampage of the Yellow Turbans in various places, the fact that many places were unable to collect taxes this year, and the requests from various places for funds from the court to repair city walls and restore people's livelihood after the Yellow Turbans were successively pacified.

While reading, he forgot about time. Except for going to the toilet, Liu Bian sat quietly at his desk the whole day.

Even though Zhao You and the other five were dubbed "virtuous eunuchs" by scholars, they could not help but stand up.

Zhao You, the leader, stood before the four men and bowed to the Crown Prince. With a look of concern, he said, "Your Highness personally led the army to investigate the rebellion, yet even after putting it down, he never rested. He visited wise men in various counties and prefectures in Jizhou, and now, even after returning to the capital, he hasn't had a moment's rest. He truly deserves to be called the Virtuous Crown Prince!"

"Although the Crown Prince's wisdom and virtue are a blessing to all the people, if he were to become ill, how would the people of the world cope?"

Liu Bian was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then he showed a gentle smile.

The first half of Zhao You's words were praising the wisdom of his prince. In terms of diligence and hard work, he was probably unprecedented among the princes.

But the second half of the sentence was reminding him to take care of his health, and those words... If Liu Hong heard them, he would probably get furious.

What that means is that Your Highness the Crown Prince is a blessing to the people of the world for your diligence and love for the people. But if you have health problems and allow that tyrant to come to power, that would be a disaster for the people of the world!

Such words were neither flattering nor insincere. This meant that Gao Wang was not here because he was arranging for him the grand banquet for the ministers in the Prince's Mansion tomorrow. Otherwise, after hearing what Zhao You said, he would have been even more afraid of Zhao You.

"You guys, that's all." Liu Bian waved his hand, chuckled and shook his head, with a hint of joy on his face, "Then I'll go and rest."

Liu Bian was in a pretty good mood. He felt very happy about the feeling of being recognized and even about people worrying about his health and advising him to rest.

When power is obtained improperly, people will always seek other channels that can give them a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. This feeling of being recognized is truly wonderful.

It seems that Emperor Taizong probably shared the same thoughts as him at the moment. However, what no one expected was that Zhao You and others' worries came true.

The next morning, Gao Wang saw that the prince had not yet gotten up, but he didn't think much about it.

Even though the Crown Prince would usually get up at noon to practice swordplay, he was really overworked this time, so it was not surprising that he rarely slept in. The eunuchs were also happy to see the Crown Prince rest for a while.

However, at five minutes past nine, seeing that the prince still had not woken up, Gao Wang frowned slightly, and a hint of uneasiness flashed in his eyes.

For some reason, I always had a bad feeling in my heart, and my heart was a little panicked for no reason, and I glanced at the door of the temple.

Today, the Crown Prince's Shield Dian Wei is on leave, and the Crown Prince's Guard Xu Chu is on duty.

Gao Wang saw Xu Chu's serious expression, standing guard outside the palace gate himself, and anxiously looking toward it from time to time. He began to suspect something was wrong, so he quickly stepped forward and asked Xu Chu, "Xu Weishuai, do you sense anything unusual about the Crown Prince today?"

Xu Chu didn't say anything, but he also felt that this matter was a little strange.

But there was no movement in the hall, and the prince's guards were on duty all around the hall, so there was no danger.

But the prince had not yet gotten up, which made him feel suspicious, so he stood guard outside the palace gate himself.

Seeing Gao Wang, the Crown Prince's most trusted eunuch, approaching to question him, Xu Chu hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "I, too, feel that this matter is unusual."

"Even the day after you defeated Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, Your Highness only slept an extra half hour."

Xu Chu and Gao Wang were both eunuchs, so they naturally knew the prince best and knew his self-disciplined nature best. The fact that they both doubted the prince's decision to not get up at this time roughly explained the seriousness of the matter.

"Xu Wei-lu, I need to go inside to confirm the Crown Prince's safety." Hearing Xu Chu's words, Gao Wang became even more resolute in his decision to investigate. "If the Crown Prince blames me, I will bear the responsibility and will not implicate Xu Wei-lu!"

Looking at Gao Wang like this, Xu Chu couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly, feeling secretly ashamed in his heart.

Even a mere eunuch, fearless of the Crown Prince's blame, insisted on entering to investigate the Crown Prince's safety. Yet, as the head of the Crown Prince's Palace Guard, deeply indebted to the Crown Prince, he acted so timidly. Truly...

Thinking of this, Xu Chu's expression froze. He bowed to Gao Wang and said solemnly, "Even if the Crown Prince blames me, I am willing to shoulder the blame along with the Eunuch!"

Xu Chu immediately stopped hesitating and reached out to push away a hesitant guard from the Prince's Mansion. He then pushed open the door of the bedroom. The door creaked, but the two men did not stop and continued to break into the hall.

After passing the small couch where the palace maid on duty rested, the two of them entered the prince's bedroom together. Through the silk curtain, they could vaguely see the prince lying on the couch, which made Xu Chu feel slightly relieved.

Just when Xu Chu was about to pull Gao Wang away from the prince's bedroom, Gao Wang felt something was wrong.

It was normal that the noise he and Xu Chu made when they entered the palace was quite loud. In order to prevent sneaky entry and exit, the bearings of the palace doors and hall doors were rarely oiled, so the sound of the hall door being pushed open was quite loud.

Even though the prince was tired, he was still alert and would never sleep so deeply.

Gao Wang stretched out his hand and gave Xu Chu a light push, then slowly approached the bed. Xu Chu followed closely behind, holding the long sword at his waist, staring closely at Gao Wang's every move.

But when the two of them got closer, they both heard a barely perceptible groan of pain coming from behind the curtain. Gao Wang's face suddenly changed, and he didn't care about the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. He eagerly lifted the curtain, only to see that the prince's face was extremely red, his lips were dry and pale, and trembling slightly, and he let out a faint groan of pain.

As the Imperial Pharmacist, although he wasn't well-versed in medical theory, he did understand the symptoms of common illnesses. He quickly placed the back of his hand on the prince's forehead. The blazing heat immediately startled him, and he shouted, "Quickly, call the imperial physician!"

Facing Gao Wang's loud shouts, Xu Chu did not move an inch. His feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, and he stayed by the prince's bedside without moving an inch.

The vigilant look made Gao Wang startled for a moment, but he immediately reacted.

At this moment, Xu Chu would never give him the chance to be alone in a room with the prince, so he ordered the palace maids to summon the physician.

(3058 words)
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PS: The plot of the protagonist getting sick is to pave the way for some subsequent plots, not to deliberately water things down or anything like that.

Furthermore, the fact that he is so cautious even when entering the bedroom also shows that the protagonist attaches great importance to his own safety.

PPS: I updated two chapters of 3,000 words each today, for a total of 6,500 words. This is to make up for the second update that was owed on Friday. I still owe four more updates this month as promised last month for the monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)