Harem Daily Life

He Linzhang looked at He Ye's unrepentant expression, his hands shaking with anger. "He Ye, you are so stubborn and stubborn that I am really disappointed!" he said sternly.

He Ye sneered, "Father, you just can't stand me. You think everything is my fault. I did those things to maintain my status. I also have my own stance." After saying that, he raised his chin with a provocative look on his face.

He Linzhang took a deep breath, tried to calm himself, and tried to reason with him again: "You acted without regard for the consequences and attacked your brothers. It's really wrong."

He Ye looked away and said slowly, "Born in the royal family, isn't it normal for brothers to kill each other? Father, you have done it many times before."

He Linzhang was filled with helplessness and sorrow. He had thought his son would repent after a few years of imprisonment, but he remained stubbornly stubborn. He took a step back and said, "I'll instruct the imperial physician to give you the best medicine. You... cooperate with the treatment and take care of yourself."

He turned and left after he finished speaking. He Ye's voice rang out behind him: "That woman is a disaster. Before she showed up, I was the only prince in the palace. It was her who stole everything that originally belonged to me. She shouldn't have given birth to a prince. She shouldn't have! I curse all the children she gives birth to. I curse!"

The vicious words were like poisonous snakes, drilling into He Linzhang's ears and making him furious.

"You are really hopeless!" He Linzhang didn't look back and strode away from his son who made him angry and depressed.

I don’t know if it was He Ye’s curse that worked or what, but two days later, Yu Cheng, Yunuo, Xiao Bao and Xiao Liu all fell ill. The four children had high fevers one after another, and they didn’t get better after taking antipyretics for two days.

Tao Yanyan was so anxious that he was running around, taking care of the children without taking off his clothes. He looked very haggard.

He Linzhang ordered the imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau to take turns guarding Changle Palace and make sure that the high fever of the children subsided.

"Zhang Fuhai, I always regret going to the prison to see He Ye that day. I can't rest easy after hearing all his vicious words. Please go to Fuyan Temple outside the city and invite a high monk to come and chant some scriptures to dispel the resentment."

Zhang Fuhai did not dare to delay and went to Fuyan Temple with the badge at night. When he came back, it was dawn. The abbot of the temple was invited into the palace and was chanting scriptures with several children in Changle Palace.

While taking medicine and acupuncture, while chanting scriptures and praying for blessings, at night, Xiaobao's fever was the first to go down. After the temperature dropped, Xiaobao drank two bowls of porridge and finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

Xiaoliu's temperature dropped at noon and he was sweating. Tao Yanyan took him to take a warm bath, and then he came back to drink breast milk full of energy.

However, Yu Cheng and Yunuo had recurring high fevers and eventually fell into a coma, which scared Tao Yanyan terribly. The two did not wake up until that night. Yunuo held He Linzhang's neck tightly and refused to let go, crying all the time.

"Father, there is a monster that has been chasing me. I ran and ran until I was sweating all over and it was so hot." Yunuo's clothes were soaked with sweat. He Linzhang coaxed her and took her to wipe her body and change her clothes.

Yu Cheng, however, held Tao Yanyan's hand tightly and said, "Mother, I have been fighting with a monster. It is so powerful that it always knocks me down. But I cannot lose. If I lose, Yunuo will be eaten by the monster."

Tao Yanyan wiped Yucheng's sweat with warm water and asked Xianglan to bring new clothes for him to change into. "Yucheng is awesome! Yucheng has been fighting the monsters these past few days and protecting me. Thank you Yucheng for driving the monsters away and coming back with me."

After the two children drank the porridge, they fell into a peaceful sleep. However, Tao Yanyan was exhausted, her eyes bloodshot, and she was completely exhausted. He Linzhang took her to rest. After only an hour of sleep, Zhang Fuhai quietly came back to report that the eldest prince was dead.

He Linzhang stood up gently and asked about the details when he got outside.

"The imperial physician used all the medicine he could. The eldest prince showed some improvement during the period, but he wasn't feeling well by the evening. He died around the same time the crown prince and the fifth princess woke up."

He Linzhang frowned. He never believed in ghosts and gods, but what happened today made him feel uneasy.

"As for the abbot, you should treat him well and send him back safely, and give him some extra money for incense offerings. As for He Ye... let the clan affairs office arrange his funeral. There's no need to bury him in the imperial mausoleum."

Eunuch Zhang looked at the emperor's expression and nodded, "Yes, I will obey your order."

On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, a ray of warm sunshine finally arrived after a gloomy winter day. Tao Yanyan took the children, who had been ill for several days, out to the garden to stretch their muscles and bask in the sun. The children ran ahead, and Tao Yanyan followed from a distance. Seeing the children's lively and energetic appearance, a look of relief crossed her face.

"Your Majesty, the abbot of Fuyan Temple sent four amulets, saying they were specially ordered for the young ladies. Please take a look." Chang Tai chased back to the garden with the amulets. Tao Yanyan took them and looked through them. "He is very thoughtful. You can go and give them some rewards for me."

Tao Yanyan asked Xianglan to put amulets on the children and walked into a pavilion. The palace maids immediately served them tea and snacks.

"Has the eldest prince's funeral been completed?"

Chang Tai replied, "Yes, it was done by the Imperial Clan Court. Everything was kept simple. The burial site is in a public cemetery outside the capital. His Majesty did not allow him to be buried in the imperial mausoleum."

Tao Yanyan drank a cup of tea and said, "I was originally expelled from the imperial jade plate, so it is natural that I am not buried in the imperial mausoleum."

Chang Tai refilled Tao Yanyan's tea. "There's something I didn't dare report a few days ago, so as not to disturb Your Majesty. Today, someone from the Xia Kingdom has arrived again, asking Your Majesty to persuade Your Majesty to show some mercy to the Xia Kingdom. The Xia Kingdom is willing to give Your Majesty 30% of its annual cloth trade income as a thank you gift for ten years."

Tao Yanyan glanced at the six-year-old Yu Cheng in the distance and smiled, "They're really willing to give. In ten years, Cheng'er will be sixteen. If I remember correctly, the annual cloth trade between the Great Zhou and the Xia Kingdom is thirty thousand taels. That means they'll give me nine thousand taels of silver every year as a thank you. In ten years, that's ninety thousand taels."

Xianglan recalled the account and nodded: "Yes, your majesty is right."

"Heh." Tao Yanyan chuckled. "With just ninety thousand taels, they expect me to persuade His Majesty to lift the trade blockade and reopen trade. They really are delusional."

Tao Yanyan picked up his teacup and drank another. "If they had known they would be punished today, they wouldn't have been so obsessed with instigating Yan and going to war with the Great Zhou. With over a year of trade closures, Xia must have been running low on supplies and had been on the verge of collapse."

Chang Tai nodded: "Yes, otherwise they wouldn't have sent people to ask for peace so many times. Please ask Your Majesty to come forward and persuade His Majesty."