Seeing Zhao mama's flustered appearance, Han Yunxi assumed there was news from the palace, but Zhao mama only panted for breath as she shook her head.
Han Yunxi grew anxious. "Zhao mama, say something!"
Zhao mama was out of breath. "Esteemed wangfei, Grand Concubine Yi, she … she wants to … she wants to write a letter to ask Princess Rongle for help!"
"What?" Han Yunxi exclaimed, unable to believe her ears.
"It's true! The mama from the Peony Courtyard said … esteemed wangfei, you can't do this, it's too shameful! "Zhao mama was both angry and anxious.
Han Yunxi was even more furious. Without a word, she headed for the Peony Courtyard.
Even the servants knew this would be shameful. Was Grand Concubine Yi crazy or stupid to come up with such a plan?
As a man, even an ordinary commoner, being forced to marry a wife was an extremely humiliating thing, to say nothing of the lofty Long Fei Ye.
Long Fei Ye had already defied the imperial edict. If Grand Concubine Yi told Princess Rongle about this, wouldn't she be asking for humiliation?
If Princess Rongle made the news public, then she wouldn't just lose Long Fei Ye's face, but Tianning Country's as well.
Taking 10,000 steps back, even if Princess Rongle agreed to stop forcing the marriage, would Long Feiye accept her kindness? Would Emperor Tianhui let him go so easily? In the end, the one to be humiliated would be Long Fei Ye!
Han Yunxi stormed into the Peony Courtyard while Grand Concubine Yi was writing a letter in her study.
Han Yunxi couldn't care less. As soon as she entered the room, she raged, "Mufei, don't harm His Highness!"
Grand Concubine Yi's hand trembled as she drew a long line across the letter, ruining it.
"Mufei, His Highness would never agree to this. It's fine if he was forced to marry, but he's even asking the other party not to marry? What kind of thing is this? "Han Yunxi huffed.
But Grand Concubine Yi set down her brush and raged, "Han Yunxi, what did you just say? Just who harmed Feiye? You actually came here to criticize this consort? "
"Just who was it that harmed Feiye?"
As Grand Concubine Yi spoke, she walked out and drew closer to Han Yunxi. "Speak! Just who was it that harmed Feiye? "
Han Yunxi finally calmed down. She lowered her eyes and fell silent.
Grand Concubine Yi shoved her aside, causing her to stagger back a few steps and almost fall.
"Han Yunxi, it's all because of you! You shameless woman! If you hadn't shamelessly barged in, none of these things would have happened today! "
"Han Yunxi, do you know that His Majesty will lock him up for the rest of his life? His Majesty is worried that he won't have this opportunity!"
As soon as Grand Concubine Yi finished speaking, she backed away a few steps until she bumped into the table behind her. She supported herself with one hand while the other furrowed her brows in pain.
She wasn't an idiot. Of course she knew that writing a letter to Princess Rongle was the stupidest thing to do, but she had no other way out.
She couldn't even see the Duke of Qin right now, so she had no idea what was going on. If Emperor Tianhui really hardened his heart to imprison the Duke of Qin for the rest of his life, then he'd make his next move.
The Duke of Qin's power would slowly crumble while the Duke of Qin's estate would gradually lose its status in the imperial clan.
She couldn't bear any of this.
The previous emperor had already passed away. Besides herself and the empress dowager, all of the other concubines were either buried with him or guarding the tomb. Her only support was this son of hers.
Seeing the graceful, luxurious, and exquisite Grand Concubine Yi in such a state of despair, Han Yunxi felt an indescribable pain in her heart.
Both mother and daughter-in-law fell silent. After a long time, Grand Concubine Yi looked over again and asked calmly, "Han Yunxi, if you don't beg Princess Rongle, do you have any other ideas?"
This …
Han Yunxi dearly wanted to reply, but no words came out when she opened her mouth.
Did she have any ideas?
In both her past and present life, she'd disdained any sort of birth or family background. She despised using connections to get things done. But right now, she dearly wished she had a noble birth and a strong maternal family to back her up. She'd have a way to get things done!
Unfortunately, she didn't. She didn't have anything …
Her maternal family still depended on her to prop up the skies!
Grand Concubine Yi didn't scold Han Yunxi any further, but turned to tear up the letter with a soft smile before leaving.
Han Yunxi walked out in a daze and wandered aimlessly around the courtyard. But at this moment, Steward Xia ran over in a fluster. "Esteemed wangfei, esteemed wangfei!"
Han Yunxi didn't react at all. Grand Concubine Yi had already said all that. What other good news could there be besides Long Fei Ye's own compromise? With that guy's temper, how could he compromise?
Steward Xia hastily ran in front of Han Yunxi. "Esteemed wangfei, something's happened! Something big! Your servant can't find esteemed imperial concubine, so I can only find you!"
"What's happened?" Han Yunxi's spirits rose.
But Steward Xia only said, "The Imperial Uncle's second madame went to visit her maternal family during the Lantern Festival and came back infected with the plague. The Imperial Uncle's family didn't dare to report that they'd quarantined her, but yesterday the third young master fell ill as well. I heard he was infected!"
Han Yunxi was thoroughly refreshed. After all, the scariest things in ancient times weren't wars, famines, or floods. The scariest things were plagues!
Actually, even in modern times, people paled at the mere mention of epidemics.
"There's an epidemic outside the city? Why haven't I heard of such a big thing? "Han Yunxi asked.
"Esteemed wangfei, the Imperial Uncle's second madame's maternal family lives in Jun City, far from the capital. I heard that there was an epidemic in a small village there before the new year, but it was discovered early enough that it didn't spread. The imperial court has long secretly …"
Steward Xia didn't continue speaking and only made a 'kill' gesture. Han Yunxi immediately understood.
In modern times, people who contracted infectious diseases would be quarantined and even receive free medical care. In ancient times, they would also be quarantined, but it was basically impossible to save them. They would only be burned alive. Moreover, anyone who came into contact with the disease wouldn't be spared, even if they weren't infected.
This was the sad part of medicine that was backward, but it was also helpless. Presumably, that village had already been burned to ashes.
If the second madame was infected, then it meant that the virus hadn't been completely eradicated and had spread.
"Steward Xia, how do you know about this?" Han Yunxi asked seriously.
"Esteemed wangfei, the third young master is the Imperial Uncle's only son! He's the empress's nephew! He's already sick, so how can paper cover the fire? Last night, the imperial physicians all went over! "
As Steward Xia spoke, he took out several packets of medicinal herbs and said in a low voice, "Imperial Physician Li had someone secretly send these over to boil into a medicinal decoction. Everyone in the estate must take it. Imperial Physician Li also repeatedly ordered that the rooms be cleaned and ventilated. If there's nothing important, it's best not to go out! The Imperial Uncle's estate is also off-limits! "
Almost every estate had a dedicated imperial physician. Since Imperial Physician Li had come to inform them, the other imperial physicians must have done the same. In the end, the matter of the plague couldn't be hidden.
The plague virus had an incubation period. Everyone's resistance was different, so the time it took for the disease to break out was also different. However, it usually wouldn't last more than ten days. Since the plague had spread through the Imperial Uncle's estate, the third young master probably wasn't the only one who was infected. Moreover, the places the second madame and third young master had been to and the people they met were all likely to be infected. One person would spread to ten, ten would spread to a hundred. Only the heavens knew how many more people would fall ill in the next few days.
If the plague couldn't be contained, the entire imperial capital would be in danger. The imperial physicians must be frantically busy right now.
"Do you know what kind of disease it is?" Han Yunxi asked seriously.
Steward Xia was flustered. "Imperial Physician Li didn't say, but esteemed wangfei, since it's a plague, then it's definitely … We should quickly report this to esteemed imperial concubine so that our estate can prepare for it!"
Han Yunxi examined the medicinal ingredients Imperial Physician Li had sent over, but couldn't figure out anything. After all, she wasn't very familiar with such matters.
"Mufei's in the rear courtyard. You should go."
Han Yunxi didn't think too much of it. She was still immersed in the matter of Long Fei Ye. To her, that was the most important matter.
After some hesitation, she told Steward Xia to secretly send a message to the Han Estate before heading deeper into the flower gardens.
But things went beyond Han Yunxi's expectations.
A few days later, news of the Duke Pingbei's estate, Marquis Pingbei's estate, the prime minister's estate, and a few other prominent aristocratic families — even the palace itself — began to spread. There was no way to keep the news under wraps. Even the commoners were showing signs of the plague.
By now, the plague had spread throughout the capital city beyond the Imperial Physician Courtyard's control. Even Gu Beiyue had no idea what kind of disease it was. All of Tianning's capital city seemed to be shrouded in a gray haze. Everyone was on tenterhooks, and very few people dared to leave their homes.
Because of the plague, the news of the Duke of Qin's house arrest naturally died down. Emperor Tianhui kept a close eye on the Three-Way Battlefield while fretting over the plague in the capital city. Although Long Fei Ye still hadn't relented, Emperor Tianhui had no time to worry about him for now.
Currently, Emperor Tianhui was deep in thought in his imperial study when Eunuch Xue spoke up before he even arrived. "Your Majesty, it's bad! Bad news! "
Emperor Tianhui glared at the door, only to see Eunuch Xue scrambling inside. Before he could lose his temper, Eunuch Xue reported, "Your Majesty, a court lady in the empress dowager's palace fell ill and died!"
"What?!" Emperor Tianhui was so shocked that he almost jumped to his feet. Then he raged, "Immediately call Gu Beiyue over!"
"Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Gu is in the empress dowager's palace right now," Eunuch Xue reported.
Emperor Tianhui prepared to go over immediately, but Eunuch Xue stopped him. "Your Majesty, you mustn't. Imperial Physician Gu is personally burning medicine for the Peace and Wellness Palace to expel the evil spirits. That place isn't clean anymore!"
If a sick person appeared in a place, it meant that the place was dangerous. But Emperor Tianhui had to pay a visit to his imperial mother's safety. He hurried to the Peace and Wellness Palace while asking, "Everything was fine, so how did she get sick?"
After all, all of the sick people in the palace had dealings with the imperial uncle's estate in the past. They'd long been quarantined.
After some hesitation, Eunuch Xue said, "Your Majesty, the empress dowager secretly went to the imperial uncle's estate a few days ago and brought a court lady with her. That's the one who got sick."
The imperial uncle's estate was the empress dowager's maternal family as well as the empress dowager's. The empress was the empress dowager's niece, so the third young master of the imperial uncle's estate had to call her aunt and esteemed empress dowager grand-aunt!
Although she knew the imperial uncle's estate was the last place she should go, the empress dowager couldn't bear to see her only son on the verge of death!
Hearing this, Emperor Tianhui's temper rose to the skies. He lashed out at Eunuch Xue. "Nonsense! This is utter nonsense! "
By the time Emperor Tianhui arrived at the Peace and Wellness Palace, Gu Beiyue seemed to be discussing something with the empress dowager. As soon as the emperor entered, Gu Beiyue stopped talking, while the empress dowager knitted her brows with a troubled expression.
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