boyutpedia Chapter 183: Storm is Coming to the Rui Palace
Chapter 183: Storm is Coming to the Rui Palace
However, Mu Xiaoqiao could only complain about this in her heart but could not say it out loud.
Ruan Haoyu held Concubine Rou's hand and said softly, "Mother, I'm fine. Now that my child has regained his freedom, you can rest assured."
He heard from Nishang that when he was sent to the State of Chu as a hostage, Concubine Rou also found the King of Rui and made a big fuss about it. Unfortunately, she was powerless and her words were not influential enough to stop it. Later, she cried every day. Now, he is not even forty years old, but he has a lot of white hair on his temples.
It can be seen that she also loves her son. From the fact that she personally trained Mu Xiaoqiao for her son and then created the Phantom Guard, it can be seen that she is not a simple person. I am afraid she also has high hopes for Ruan Haoyu.
At this moment, she held her son's hand tightly, looking like a mother who missed her son. Tears kept falling, but she couldn't hide her joy. She nodded continuously, "Mother knows, mother knows, good boy, you stay by mother's side from now on, mother will never let you suffer any grievances again."
Ruan Haoyu wiped the tears from Concubine Rou's face and shook his head, saying, "Mother, I am not wronged. I am sorry that I made you worried. By the way, mother, how is Father?"
Concubine Rou said nonchalantly, "Maybe he won't live for many days. He was so stubborn that he wanted to send you away. It was a pity that I didn't have the strength to do so and had to separate from you. Now God has a vision and is finally going to take him in."
Ruan Haoyu hurriedly said, "Mother, please be careful with your words."
Concubine Rou shook her head, "Yu'er, don't worry. All of us are our trusted aides here, and there are Phantom Guards guarding the area. No strangers will come near us. You must be tired. Let's go back to the palace and talk."
The two of them got on the sedan chair. Ruan Haoyu secretly held Mu Xiaoqiao's hand, as if telling her that he had wronged her. Mu Xiaoqiao smiled and shook her head, then walked along with the sedan chair.
It was only at this moment that Concubine Rou remembered Mu Xiaoqiao, and turned around and said to her, "Xiaoqiao, Yu'er has been with you for the past few years, and you have done a good job. When I return, I will definitely reward you handsomely."
Mu Xiaoqiao bowed and said, "Thank you, Concubine Rou. It is my duty to protect the Sixth Prince. I dare not take credit for it."
Concubine Rou was even more satisfied. She took off the jade bracelet on her wrist and handed it to Mu Xiaoqiao. "You have been smart and sensible since you were young. This is a reward for you."
The jade bracelet was translucent and was made of extremely rare purple jade. It was very valuable at first glance. Mu Xiaoqiao knew that she couldn't refuse it, otherwise it would make Concubine Rou suspicious. She took it respectfully and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
As they were talking, they had already arrived at Cheng'en Palace where Concubine Rou lived. Ruan Haoyu got off the sedan chair at the door, but did not follow Concubine Rou in. Instead, he said softly, "Mother, I want to go see my father first. After all, he is seriously ill now. If I return to the palace but don't go to see him, it would be against etiquette. I am afraid that I will be criticized by the ministers in the future."
Ruan Haoyu was very clear about Concubine Rou's thoughts. She had only this one son, and she had been cultivating his literary and military skills since he was young. She definitely did not expect him to become an idle prince in the future.
Sure enough, after hearing Ruan Haoyu's words that it was not in accordance with etiquette, Concubine Rou was unwilling but still said, "Okay, then you go quickly and come back quickly. Mother still has a lot of things to tell you."
"The child takes orders."
After Ruan Haoyu finished speaking, he bowed to Concubine Rou and took Mu Xiaoqiao to the direction of Shengze Palace, where Ruan Zhaotian, the king of Rui State, lived.
On the way, Mu Xiaoqiao lowered his voice and said, "I'm afraid this trip won't be peaceful."
Ruan Haoyu nodded, "Now that the emperor is critically ill, the fight for the throne has always been a necessary part of the royal family. Even if I don't have this intention, I'm afraid my brothers and my mother don't think so. My identity is very troublesome."
"Our mission is to find the Glazed Light Ring and the Twilight Bracelet. Other things are out of the question. Be careful. Saving your life is the most important thing right now."
Mu Xiaoqiao really doesn't like the ancient times. There are life-threatening situations everywhere, and one needs to think carefully about everything. It's really too tiring.
Ruan Haoyu nodded, "I understand."
When they arrived at Shengze Palace, it was inconvenient for Mu Xiaoqiao to go in, so she could only wait outside. Ruan Haoyu went in alone.
The Shengze Palace was deserted, with only two young eunuchs dozing off at the door. Although there was incense burning inside, it could not cover up the strong smell of medicine. Ruan Zhaotian, the king of Rui State, was only in his early fifties, but his hair and beard were all white. He was lying on the bed, sleeping, with sunken eye sockets, looking terminally ill. There was no one around him. The concubines in the harem and other princes were not around to serve him, which showed that he was unpopular.
When Ruan Haoyu entered, the eunuch Decheng in charge was stunned for a moment before recognizing him. He asked in surprise, "Is it the Sixth Prince who is back?"
Ruan Haoyu nodded, looked at Ruan Zhaotian on the sickbed, and whispered, "Eunuch Decheng, how is my father?"
The chief eunuch, Lord Decheng, wept and said, "Your Majesty has been in a coma for three days. He has been awake for less and less time recently. I'm afraid..."
He didn't say the rest, but Ruan Haoyu already knew it. He frowned and said, "Father has always been in good health. Why has he declined to this extent in just a few years? What does the imperial physician say?"
"The imperial physician said..." Eunuch Decheng hesitated, "Your Majesty's health has been getting worse over the past two years, and now he has no medicine or medicine to take care of him. If Your Majesty knew that the Sixth Prince could come back at this time to show his filial piety, he would definitely be very happy."
Seeing that he was unwilling to talk, Ruan Haoyu stopped asking questions and waved his hand to let him go outside to guard. He walked over to Ruan Zhaotian and sat down. He saw that his breathing was weak and there was a dead look on his face. He was indeed about to die.
This was the first time he met Ruan Zhaotian, so naturally there was no emotion between them. He could only sigh at this moment. After all, he was the ruler of a country, and now he was terminally ill, but there was no one around him who sincerely hoped that he would get better. No wonder the State of Rui had fallen to the point where it had to send a hostage to the State of Chu. If he continued to be in power, I'm afraid his luck would be over.
At this moment, Ruan Zhaotian slowly opened his cloudy eyes, and his eyes were unfocused for a long time.
Ruan Haoyu half-knelt beside the bed and whispered, "Father, you are awake. How do you feel? Do you want some water?"
Ruan Zhaotian's eyes turned to his face very slowly, with a confused look on his face, as if he couldn't remember who he was. After a long while, he said, "Is it Yu'er?"
His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, but Ruan Haoyu didn't care. He nodded and said, "It's me, Father. I'm back."
"Yu'er, it is your father who has wronged you by sending you to the State of Chu as a hostage."
Ruan Haoyu shook his head, "I am not wronged. Father, please take care of yourself. I will call the imperial physician over."
Just as he was about to stand up, Ruan Zhaotian grabbed his wrist. His hand was so weak that he could barely hold Ruan Haoyu back, but it was obvious that he was using all his strength. Ruan Haoyu knelt down again and said, "Father, do you have anything to say to me?"
"Go find Concubine Yao and ask her for... for the antidote..."
Ruan Haoyu was shocked, "Father, are you poisoned?"
Ruan Zhaotian nodded with difficulty, and Ruan Haoyu finally understood why his illness had flared up so suddenly. It turned out that he was poisoned. But who was this Concubine Yao?
"Does the Empress know about this? What about my brothers? And the imperial physician, is there nothing he can do?"
Ruan Haoyu had too many questions, but unfortunately, after saying these words, Ruan Zhaotian had almost exhausted all his strength. His hands loosened softly and he fell into coma again.
Ruan Haoyu had never heard of Concubine Yao from Nichang. Seeing that Ruan Zhaotian could not get any information out of her, he summoned Eunuch Decheng and asked, "Which palace does Concubine Yao live in?"
Decheng looked a little strange, and said, "Your Majesty is still thinking about Concubine Yao at this time? Why don't you listen to my advice? Concubine Yao has disappeared since Your Majesty fell ill. Your Majesty doted on her every day."
Doting on her every day? No wonder she was able to poison her without being noticed.
Ruan Haoyu asked curiously, "Missing?"
You have to know that this is the imperial palace, how can you just come and go casually? In the palace, if a person goes missing, there is a 90% chance that someone has destroyed the body.
However, since Imperial Concubine Yao dared to poison the king, it is impossible that she did not leave a backup plan. But didn't the Queen and the princes track her down?
Decheng sighed, "Yes, he is missing. The Third and Fifth Princes personally led troops to look for him, but no news has been sent back so far."
"Third brother, fifth brother..."
These two are the Queen's biological sons. The Queen sent them out, which shows that she knew about this matter. She has been searching for them for a long time but couldn't find them. I'm afraid there must be other reasons.