"Why is this?" The Crown Prince demanded, "If you don’t let Yiyi enter the palace, where do you expect her to stay? You should understand, she’s not yet of age and doesn’t have her own Princess Mansion outside."
The Crown Prince appeared quite angry.
He couldn’t help but think, besides those ignorant commoners who believe Yiyi threatens their safety and want to drive her away, are these Imperial Physicians the same?
"Yiyi merely caught a cold and got sick, she hasn’t contracted the plague," the Crown Prince argued once more.
For someone to become an Imperial Physician, they naturally must have some true skills.
How could they not discern whether Jun Ning merely caught a cold or contracted the plague and developed a fever?
But even if they saw that Jun Ning only had a cold, they still refused to let her return to the palace, insisting she stay outside for treatment.
They even said, "Your Highness, this decision was made collectively by the Imperial Physicians and it’s been approved by the Emperor. Please don’t make it difficult for us, and allow the Princess to remain outside for treatment until she recovers."
"Ha!" The Crown Prince scoffed.
He saw through it; these people were doing it on purpose, clinging to trivial matters under the guise of it being for the good of everyone.
"If the Imperial Hospital has such idle time, it would be better spent tending to those truly suffering from the plague," the Crown Prince declared with authority, pressing his point strongly, "rather than fixating on those not infected."
The two Imperial Physicians, face reddened with embarrassment, wished to leave immediately, avoiding the Crown Prince’s disapproval. Yet their task of treating the Princess kept them from leaving.
They could only endure the Crown Prince’s reprimands while treating the Princess.
In the end, Jun Ning stayed at the National Guardian General’s residence to recuperate.
In crucial times, the National Guardian General was dependable.
Her ailment, as diagnosed by the Imperial Physicians, was concluded to be a fever from overexertion. With a few days of proper rest and regular medication, she would naturally recover.
"How could a child experience overexertion?" the Crown Prince was puzzled.
He carefully recalled Jun Ning’s sleeping patterns during those days. He remembered the days when he and Qi Qin traveled daily to the Black Forest, and the little girl seemed to follow in their path of poor rest.
When he got up, she got up too.
Many times, even in the dead of night, she refused to sleep until he returned.
He, as an adult, might not notice significant changes in his condition due to a strong recovery ability, avoiding illness from exhaustion. But how could a child withstand it?
Once the medication was in hand, she fell ill.
The Crown Prince sat by Jun Ning’s bedside, holding her small hand, his expression full of heartache.
Qi Qin had also arrived, and upon learning of the Imperial Physician’s diagnosis, naturally realized that Jun Ning got sick from lack of rest during those days.
"Such a young age, yet already so mindful. Still, being mindful to the point of exhausting oneself is inadvisable," he remarked with a sigh. Newest update provıded by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
The Crown Prince let go of Jun Ning’s hand and tucked her in, "You little girl! No wonder Father loves you." He thought, perhaps not solely because she was his only daughter.
Perhaps Father was more attracted by the little girl’s nature?
The little girl was lively, vibrant, and affectionate from a young age. Who wouldn’t love that?
In a daze, Jun Ning heard a lot of people speaking ill of her, wanting to throw her into the mass grave.
For some reason, those people seemed fierce, as if they wished to devour her.
Yet, her mind wasn’t on them at all, and she was unafraid, feeling they were nothing more than paper tigers, not worth fearing.
Overwhelmed with exhaustion, she ignored their words and fell into a deep sleep, slipping into a dreadful dream.
At the inn for foreign envoys, there were emissaries from the northern barbarian tribes and from Bei Xia.
The emissaries from both countries had come for a visit, having been there for quite some time, but encountered issues that delayed their meeting with Emperor Yongning.
During this time, they stayed at the inn, waiting to be summoned.
Days went by, and as they grew restless with waiting, they started causing trouble.
A Bei Xia emissary suddenly fell ill with fever, showing symptoms of the plague, and within days, it spread to others around him.
However, the Bei Xia emissaries concealed the issue.
They dared not report it, fearing they might not survive to return home.
So, they randomly bought medicine to hide the fact they had the plague. And since others didn’t have much contact with them, their unusual condition went unnoticed.
In this state, they not only avoided suspicion, but maliciously insisted on meeting the Emperor.
If the Emperor did not see them, they would twist the situation, claiming that Eastern Chu disrespected them by avoiding a meeting.
The civil officials, fearing a failure to clarify the matter would lead to national conflicts or war, hastily arranged for the emissaries to be formally received.
In meeting the Emperor, those emissaries transmitted the plague to him.
Having been previously poisoned, the Emperor’s body was already weak, his depleted life force had yet to recover. Contracting the plague left him on the brink of death.
Eastern Chu, beset by internal and external problems, was in dire straits.
The two countries seized the opportunity to attack, and Eastern Chu, unable to resist, slowly headed towards its demise.
The Emperor contracting the plague became naturally seen as the origin of the country’s downfall.
Upon learning the truth, the Emperor, in utter fury, caused his own demise.
The dream ended there, and Jun Ning could no longer sleep, awakening with a start, crying out, "No, Father, no..."
The dream felt so real, as if it were an impending reality.
Jun Ning desperately wanted to dismiss it as a simple dream, but she couldn’t.
The dream constantly haunted her thoughts.
What if the events in the dream came true?
Then they would be facing the disaster of a nation’s fall!
No, it’s unacceptable!
It’s better to be overprepared than to ignore it.
Something must be done to prevent it.
Jun Ning, rubbing her head, racked her brain on how to make the Emperor and her brother believe her dream and take precautions.
The Crown Prince, sitting beside her as she awakened in a sweat and terror, helped wipe her sweat, asking, "Yiyi, did you have a nightmare? Tell your brother about it; speaking of it will make it less scary."
"Water!" Jun Ning, unable to calm herself, her throat dry as sand, longed for water.
The Crown Prince poured her a drink, helped her sip it, then wiped the water from her mouth. "Yiyi, can you tell your brother now, what exactly you dreamed of?"
Jun Ning hesitated for a moment, "Brother, if I tell you, will you believe what I say?"