Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 109: Chang Shi Zhang is my father, Chang Shi Zhao is my mother!
"Ugh! Fire! Water! Fire! Water!"

Liu Bian, lying on the couch, murmured softly. The subtle murmur instantly startled Zhao You and Ding Su, who were changing the cold towel on the prince's forehead.

The two men moved hurriedly, one holding the pot and the other holding the cup, and quickly fed the water to the prince's lips.

Liu Bian's lips turned pale, but fortunately Zhao You and Ding Su moisturized them with silk and honey water from time to time, so they did not become chapped.

However, the feeling of thirst from his heart and lungs to his throat still made Liu Bian squint his eyes slightly, and he subconsciously drank two cups of warm honey water before he felt slightly satisfied.

"Ayou, Asu."

Liu Bian called out softly, his voice weak, his eyes still slightly narrowed, but his brows tightly furrowed, as if he was trying hard to concentrate on making a sound.

If Zhao You and Ding Su had not put their ears almost close to the prince and listened with bated breath, they would have almost not heard the prince's voice.

"Your Highness, we are here, we are here!"

Zhao You and Ding Su were not sure whether the prince could see them clearly, so each of them held one of the prince's hands to let the prince confirm that they were right next to him.

"Jun...Jun Ming."

Liu Bian's voice was still weak, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something else, but he was unable to do so.

"Your Highness, I am here with you!"

Hearing this, Dian Wei's iron tower-like body trembled violently, his eyes instantly turned red, tears welled up in his tiger eyes, his lips trembled slightly, he wanted to say something, but it was choked in his throat.

The prince finally woke up!

As the prince's shield, Dian Wei's duty is to protect the prince's safety.

The prince's illness was inevitable due to human efforts, but he blamed the prince's illness entirely on his own rest at home and failure to protect the prince.

The stubborn Dian Wei even pointed to the medical book and said that the disease originated from evil spirits. It was because of his failure to do his duty that the evil spirits took advantage of the opportunity and caused the prince to fall ill. He believed that everything was due to his dereliction of duty and that he had failed to live up to the kindness of the prince and the queen.

If Xu Chu had not known that Dian Wei was a kind-hearted and loyal person, he would have almost thought that Dian Wei was making indirect accusations against him.

Dian Wei did not cry before because he was worried that crying would make the evil spirit think he was weak and harass the prince again. Now that he saw the prince waking up, Dian Wei could not stop crying.

"Why are you crying, you fool?"

Liu Bian cursed with a wry smile, but his mind was a mess at the moment, as if his brains had been shaken evenly. He didn't even know why he was calling Dian Wei a fool, he just felt that he should do so.

Unconsciously, Liu Bian fell into a deep sleep again and did not wake up until the middle of the night. However, this time the people guarding him were Xu Chu, Li Xun and Zhao You.

When he woke up this time, Liu Bian's eyes were a little clearer and he seemed to be in better spirits, but he still had an unbearable headache. Even when Zhao You and Ding Su pressed his temples with their hands, it only provided a slight relief.

The fatigue in his bones was always with him, making him want to fall asleep at any time.

But the two feelings of headache and drowsiness intertwined together, like two sharp blades fighting in his brain, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

With the help of Li Xun and Zhao You, he managed to sit up and lean against the head of the bed, with countless soft pillows behind him.

Zhao You reported to Liu Bian the details of how Xu Chu and Gao Wang discovered that he was ill, and how Jia Xu arranged the officials in the Prince's Mansion. Liu Bian did not comment, but just leaned against the soft pillow, squinting his eyes, as if thinking about something.

He had a dream, a very long dream.

He dreamed that no matter what he did, the Western Liang army would still crush the Han Dynasty, and he would still be poisoned by Li Ru, his soul floating in the air after his death. He also witnessed Empress He drink the deadly poison, struggling with sorrow and despair and dying in pain. Then he watched as the four hundred years of glory of the Han Dynasty were burned in the flames along with the city of Luoyang. Although he knew that these things were no longer possible, his heart was still filled with complex emotions that were difficult to express.

Because there are some things that he is destined to be unable to tell to outsiders.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian's eyes couldn't help revealing a hint of loneliness and solitude, and he sighed softly.

Not long after, Gao Wang, who was cooking medicine in the back hall, heard that the prince had woken up for the second time. He hurriedly carried the medicine and trotted into the bedroom.

After confirming the prescription with all the imperial physicians and many folk doctors, Gao Wang had been decocting the medicine in the back hall, one dose at a time without stopping.

Why is it that whenever someone from the emperor or aristocratic family falls ill, the ward is always filled with the seemingly lingering aroma of medicine? It is because the medicine is being simmered all the time.

No one was sure when the prince would wake up, so Gao Wang boiled the medicine dose by dose, ensuring that the prince could drink the warm medicine as soon as he woke up.

Gao Wang picked up a spoon, took a sip, and made sure that it would not burn the Crown Prince. Then he used another clean spoon to feed the Crown Prince the medicine mouthful by mouthful.

His nostrils twitched slightly as he smelled the bitter smell of medicine coming from Gao Wang who was so close to him. Liu Bian frowned slightly and drank the medicine in the bowl, suppressing the urge to vomit.

"These are the peaches that Your Highness didn't have time to eat because he hurried off to the battlefield." Gao Wang seemed to have anticipated this and smiled faintly as he pulled out a bag of preserved fruit from his sleeve. "I picked them all, dried them, and made them into preserved fruit."

Liu Bian opened his mouth, took a piece of preserved fruit and held it in his mouth.

Although the preserved fruit has been dried and has lost its moisture, it still has a sweetness that eliminates some of the bitterness in the mouth.

"Awang, thank you for your hard work."

Liu Bian gently held Gao Wang's hand and squeezed it with all the gentle strength he could muster at the moment.

No one would like the bitter smell of medicine, but Gao Wang locked himself in the back hall and cooked the medicine all the time. His forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, his messy hair was stuck to his temples by sweat, his face was slightly blackened by smoke, and his eyes were red. These details made Liu Bian unable to help but be moved.

However, Gao Wang simply shook his head and replied with a serious expression he had never had before, "As long as Your Highness recovers, even if I have to sacrifice my life, what does it matter?"

In fact, when he first realized that the prince was ill, he was also panicked.

Although he was one of the "Ten Attendants", he never did evil. This was definitely not because he was kind by nature and had never been corrupted.

That kind of innocent fool will never live to become a royal attendant. Even the five "virtuous eunuchs" like Zhao You and Ding Su, are they really so clean?

It's just that since the prince was born, the emperor has arranged for him to be taken care of by his side, so he has no chance to do evil.

But because of this, he almost watched the prince learn to crawl, walk, run and jump from a baby in swaddling clothes, and then watched the prince grow up to be the regent prince who is capable of shouldering the heavy burden of the two capitals and thirteen states of the Han Dynasty.

The prince has been in good health since he was a child and has hardly ever been sick. Since returning to the palace, he has been getting up early every morning to practice sword skills and can withstand the fatigue of a large army's conquest.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a shrewd and strategic person who can shoulder the responsibility of the country and whose physique is growing stronger day by day. He has made everyone forget his actual age. With His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly falling ill, he naturally couldn't help feeling panicked.

As for the officials in the Crown Prince's Mansion, they were no better off than him. Some were worried about their own future, some were worried about their lives and property, and some were worried about the Han Dynasty. But without exception, they were all in a state of chaos.

Liu Bian chuckled and slowly swept his eyes over the crowd, taking in the sadness and relief on everyone's faces.

And when his gaze fell on Gao Wang, there was inevitably a hint of complexity in his eyes.

I wonder if Liu Hong back then had the same experience as he did today, and was so moved that he said, "Empress Zhang is my father, and Empress Zhao is my mother."

(2401 words)
(End of this chapter)