When Shen Qingfeng and Xia Chuli arrived at the palace, there was already a crowd of people kneeling in front of King Xia Jie's palace gate.
The news of King Xia Jie's deteriorating condition quickly spread throughout the court. Many ministers who had not been invited to the banquet didn't care that it was the second watch of the night. They hurriedly put on their clothes and rushed to Bian Palace. With a quick glance, Shen Qingfeng could see that some ministers' hats and robes were in disarray, as they hadn't even had time to tidy themselves up.
Seeing the two of them coming, Shen Shiqiu quickly got up and greeted them. There was a hint of reproach in his eyes as he whispered, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, why are you only coming now! The King of Cheng and the King of Yu have already been dragged by Qi Yan to stand guard beside the King's bed!"
Just as Xia Chuli was about to say something, Shen Qingfeng stepped forward first, grabbed Shen Shiqiu's hand, and slightly shook his head at him.
For this plan, Shen Qingfeng hadn't told many people. Even Shen Shiqiu and Shen Yu were kept in the dark. So when Shen Shiqiu saw the bright eyes of his youngest son staring at him, he only then realized that his son seemed to have some plan in mind.
"Father, don't worry. It was I who told A Li to come a bit later," Shen Qingfeng said softly, motioning for the two of them to follow him to the front.
"I need you, Father, to be a witness. You go in with A Li," Shen Qingfeng's voice was cold and clear. His eyes were fixed on the palace gate as he watched Shen Shiqiu and Xia Chuli walk towards the palace.
At this moment, the entire Bian Palace was in chaos. Qi Shuhuan, Qi Yan, as well as the King of Cheng and the King of Yu were all inside the palace. Outside the palace, Shen Shiqiu was the highest - ranking official. So when Shen Shiqiu lied that he had urgent matters to report to the King, Tian Che, who was guarding the door, couldn't stop him.
Seeing Tian Che step aside, Shen Qingfeng let his hand drop. With a barely noticeable tremble of his sleeve, a small pebble landed in his palm. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the pebble flew over the crowd and accurately hit the window of the palace, making a clear sound.
In the dark night filled with the chirping of early - spring insects, this tiny sound didn't attract much attention. Inside the palace, a little eunuch suddenly stumbled and spilled all the decocted medicine on King Xia Jie's clothes.
When Shen Shiqiu pushed the door open and walked in, he saw the eunuch kneeling on the ground, kowtowing non - stop, the furious Qi family members beside him, and King Xia Jie on the bed, coughing up blood continuously.
The scene was in complete chaos.
Shen Shiqiu quickly walked to the bedside, bowed, and said, "Your subject is worried about Your Majesty's injury and dared to come to see you."
After saying that, he turned his head and looked at Qi Shuhuan, who was kneeling beside him, and said angrily, "Qi Fuyin, what on earth is going on here!"
Qi Shuhuan and Shen Shiqiu had never gotten along well. Now that the servant had made a mistake and he was being scolded by Shen Shiqiu, as if he had instigated the servant to do so, he was filled with anger and retorted, "You scoundrel, Shen Shiqiu! What does this have to do with me? This servant deserves to die. Drag this servant out and behead him immediately!"
Several eunuchs filed in, and the servant's cries for mercy immediately filled the room. Qi Yan was sitting beside the bed, tearfully wiping the blood off King Xia Jie. Hearing this, she cried even louder, "Father! The King is seriously ill. Don't let irrelevant people in anymore!"
Hearing this, Xia Chuli glanced at Xia Yonglin and Xia Yanhe, who were kneeling on the ground, then walked straight to them and knelt down with a thud. He said calmly, "Does Mother Queen really think that I'm an outsider? That's a bit too partial."
Xia Yonglin turned to look at Xia Chuli and let out a cold snort from his nose.
Hearing this, Qi Yan was just about to say something when King Xia Jie's body suddenly trembled, and he vomited another mouthful of blood. Scared, everyone didn't dare to argue anymore. They scrambled on their knees to the bedside and knelt down. They saw King Xia Jie leaning in Qi Yan's arms, his face deathly pale and his eye sockets sunken. It seemed that he was only holding on to a single breath to keep himself alive. No one knew what he was so persistent about.
Qi Yan quickly called for someone to bring a change of clothes to replace the dragon robe soaked in medicine. Then she hugged King Xia Jie in her arms and used a spoon to feed him the medicine one mouthful at a time. But unfortunately, although King Xia Jie was awake, he had already lost his strength and couldn't swallow. Most of the medicine leaked out.
Qi Yan was extremely anxious, but there was nothing she could do. The imperial physician had already made a diagnosis and gone back to prescribe medicine, but what good would more medicine do? When a person's time was up and the King of Hell called, even Hua Tuo resurrected couldn't save them.
"Your Majesty, the King's robe has been delivered," just then, an eunuch walked in respectfully, holding a set of black - and - gold clothes. He knelt down neatly in front of King Xia Jie's bed.
King Xia Jie coughed again. The violent tremors made the dragon bed shake as well. Several teacups on the edge fell and shattered with a crash.
Qi Yan quickly put down the medicine bowl in her hand, hurriedly called for someone to clean up the debris, and then reached out to take the clothes brought by the eunuch.
The situation was so chaotic that no one noticed one thing, that is, why the change of dragon robe for King Xia Jie was brought by an eunuch instead of a maid.
Only Xia Chuli's eyes lit up when he saw the black - and - gold robe. His gaze swept over the four - clawed python exquisitely embroidered on the clothes, and his eyes darkened.
The robe embroidered with nine pythons was almost indistinguishable from a real dragon robe if one didn't look closely at the dragon claws.
When King Xia Jie was hurriedly put on the python robe by Qi Yan, his body trembled, and he coughed up another mouthful of blood. The blood landed precisely on the exquisitely embroidered python dragon, and the bright red blood instantly dyed the four claws of the python dragon red.
A dragon robe has five claws, and a four - clawed one is a python. As an emperor, King Xia Jie surely knew what the dragon and the python represented. He paused slightly for a moment, and then seemed to want to say something. But unfortunately, he broke out into even more violent coughing.
Qi Yan was extremely scared. She quickly supported King Xia Jie and kept patting his back. But King Xia Jie seemed to be suddenly stimulated. Ignoring the blood he coughed out of his mouth, he uttered some angry syllables, "…This…thing, who…cough cough cough!"
Seeing that he coughed up more blood, Qi Yan's beautiful face turned pale with fright. She cried, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! What's wrong with you all of a sudden? Don't talk anymore. Take care of your dragon body!"
Unexpectedly, King Xia Jie didn't appreciate her concern at all. While coughing up blood, he became even more crazy in his actions.
He knew that he was about to die. That was why when he saw the python robe, the anger in his heart burned like a wildfire, instantly burning away all his reason!
Someone was waiting for him to die! They had even prepared this nine - python robe, waiting to seize power after his death!
What was he then? Being eyed by his sons for the throne and being wished dead by others?
Who was it! Who was it! The severe pain spread from his chest, and King Xia Jie could hardly speak due to the pain. For a moment, because of the pain, he couldn't figure out who this person was.
A hint of desolation suddenly welled up in King Xia Jie's heart, but the surging anger swept away the desolation and burned with an even stronger flame.
He wasn't dead yet! He wasn't dead yet!
"Investigate for me…!" King Xia Jie gritted his teeth, enduring the severe pain in his chest caused by the coughing. He said through gritted teeth. He was extremely angry and resentful. It was like the last madness before the lampwick burned out, filled with the madness and resentment of impending extinction, yet also extremely sad.
Qi Yan, who was sitting closest to him, didn't understand. She cried in a trembling voice, "What? Your Majesty, what do you want to investigate?"
"Cough! Investigate…who it is—!"
King Xia Jie's voice suddenly stopped.
In the chaos, because of the pain in his chest, he struggled. The nine - python robe on his body was suddenly torn at the cuff during his struggle.
Something fell out of the cuff embroidered with gold thread. It was a slightly yellowed note with several big characters clearly written on it—
In celebration of Grandpa's birthday, grandson Xia Yonglin, presents this.