Chapter 1307: Years (3)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Little An didn’t think his brother would stay outside for too long because his Royal Uncle’s health was gradually improving. Soon, Fourth Uncle would have no choice but to come back.
In the past few years, Great Qi had been prosperous and safe. Everyone in the world knew that the Emperor was focused on preserving his health, so many doctors who were good at this field came to the capital in search of opportunities. In addition, under the care of the famous doctors respectfully invited by Fourth Uncle and through the efforts of various parties, Royal Uncle’s health had already improved greatly.
On the other hand, seeing as Royal Uncle was getting more and more dissatisfied with Fourth Uncle’s behavior, he was afraid that Fourth Uncle wouldn’t be able to stay out for long.
If Qi Haoran was traveling with the intention of finding a famous doctor for his big brother in the beginning, after three years, he was doing so with a relaxed mentality while having fun and educating his kids in the meanwhile.
It could be said that he was extremely happy to perform his role as a younger brother, husband, father, and King of Great Qi.
No matter where he went, his title was the highest, and so no one dared to mess with him. If he encountered corrupt officials, he could just deal with them directly. Even if there were imperial censors impeaching him elsewhere, he didn’t have to hear them personally and just had to write a memorial to explain things subsequently.
As for the explanatory memorial, it was written by Advisor Qian and he would simply copy it word for word.
He would bring his wife on sightseeing trips from time to time. After assigning a pile of homework to the children, he could take Ah Ling with him and spend some quality one-on-one time with her.
Doing his duty as a father and uncle, he educated the children to be clever and quick-witted.
He could seek out famous doctors for his big brother and find him rare medicinal herbs. Where could one find such a good younger brother, father, husband, and king?
Hence, Qi Haoran was so happy that he forgot about home.
However, Qi Xiuyuan was almost drowned by the memorials impeaching Qi Haoran. He repeatedly told himself not to be angry since it would only adversely affect his health. But in the end, he could not help but flare up.
He felt that it was better to keep his younger brother under his nose to prevent him from causing trouble every day.
Although Qi Xiuyuan got angry from time to time for the past three years, his health was still gradually recovering. Looking at the Emperor, who was gradually becoming energetic (especially when scolding King Rong), everyone unanimously felt that the Emperor had fully recovered.
Hence, Qi Xiuyuan had asked Chief Physician Hua to write a diagnosis to prove that he had fully recovered, so that he could use this as a reason to summon Qi Haoran back.
However, Chief Physician Hua expressed that he was a very honest and loyal subordinate who would never submit to power. Hence, he refused to write the diagnosis. He expressed that the Emperor still needed to work on nursing his health and that the danger was not yet over.
The two of them remained in a stalemate for another two years. Seeing that King Rong had abandoned the kids and brought Queen Consort Rong to West Xia to look for medicinal herbs, Chief Physician Hua knew that if he didn’t obey, the Emperor would probably replace him with someone else.
He could only unwillingly confirm that the Emperor’s health had improved and that he could slowly recuperate in the future. There was no need to go through so much trouble anymore.
Qi Xiuyuan immediately sent a copy of the diagnosis to his Qi Haoran and sent a team of Forbidden Troops to bring him back. “No matter what, make sure to bring him back.”
Five years passed, and Qi Xiuyuan became more and more energetic. The imperial physicians who previously said that he could only live for at most seven to eight years couldn’t help but exclaim that this was a miracle.
Actually, Qi Xiuyuan had taken more medicinal cuisine than medicine in the past five years.
Apart from needing to take medicine every day for the first two years, the Emperor had almost refused to take medicine for the most recent three years.
The imperial physicians felt that when it came to health preservation, one should focus on medicinal cuisine. However, Chief Physician Hua said, “Apart from medicinal cuisine, one’s mental state is also very important.”
He stroked his beard and said, “If not for King Rong causing trouble every few days, I’m afraid His Majesty wouldn’t have recovered so quickly.”
Moreover, the Emperor was not as tired as before. Now that he had handed half of the government affairs over to the Crown Prince, he had more free time and didn’t fly into a rage as often, so his body naturally healed.
When Qi Xiuyuan’s imperial edict summoning Qi Haoran back to the capital arrived at the border, Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling had just escaped back with the medicine they had snatched.
He waved his whip provocatively at the people opposite the border and shouted, “Help me tell your lord that I’m borrowing this medicine and will send a reciprocal gift tomorrow.”
The Hu people opposite him blew their beards and glared at him. Fortunately, because Great Qi had strong troops and horses and there was still internal strife in West Xia, those people did not dare to rush over.
Satisfied, Qi Haoran carried his bag back to the tent.
He had long heard that all kinds of precious medicinal herbs grew on the West Xia mountains, including fine herbs that nourished the body and the qi and blood. Unfortunately, he had never found a chance to enter previously. This time, he finally managed to sneak in to get his hands on these herbs.
Mu Yangling also entered the tent and hung the big bow on her back on it. She said, “You’ve snatched a year’s worth of offerings from West Xia. If the gift you send them is not sincere enough, I’m afraid you’ll provoke the enemy for no reason.”
Qi Haoran snorted. “I’m not a bandit. Of course, I’ll only send them more than what I take.”
Mu Yangling looked at him suspiciously.
Qi Haoran crossed his legs and said, “West Xia is bitter and cold, and their people are not good at farming. Over the years, natural disasters have been happening everywhere. While Great Qi is managing just fine, West Xia and Great Yuan are in a miserable state, especially West Xia. Besides, they’re still in a civil war. Considering how ambitious King Qingwu is, I don’t believe that he doesn’t have designs on the throne of West Xia.”
“You want to give him weapons?” Mu Yangling said with a frown, “Since you’ve used this scheme on Great Jin before, won’t your intention be too obvious?”
“Who said that I’m planning to send him weapons? This time, I’m sending him grains instead!” Qi Haoran drank a bowl of horse milk wine and bared his teeth. “I really can’t get used to this taste… Didn’t Yuan Hui say that you avoided being struck by lightning back then because you did a lot of good deeds and had accumulated a lot of merit? In that case, it’s best if we don’t start conflicts in the future. How can giving weapons be better than giving grains?”
Qi Haoran said, “This time, we’ll still send the stuff in Big Brother’s name. Anyway, since these herbs are for Big Brother, it’s just right to send them the grains in his name. Aren’t his citizens and soldiers starving? Let’s send them a batch of grains as repayment for borrowing their herbs. If they’re willing, our Great Qi can even trade grains with them.”
Mu Yangling opened her mouth wide and gave him a thumbs up. “You’re awesome!”
Qi Haoran smiled smugly.
Mu Yangling did not know if what Yuan Hui said was true. If it was true, then Qi Haoran was undoubtedly exploiting a loophole in the Heavenly Dao.
Giving grains to the disaster-stricken King Qingwu King could not only overturn the fact that they had snatched their medicinal herbs, but also save many people. This would be considered as merit by the Heavenly Dao.
But would that stop a war from happening?
Obviously not.
King Qingwu was ambitious. He was affected by the disaster, and so were others. Now that he had grains, after his citizens and soldiers ate their fill, he would definitely seek to expand his territory. Disputes would definitely arise.
Grains were also a weapon, and a great killing weapon at that!
This was also a counterattack against Qi Xiuyuan’s poisoning five years ago.
As the couple happily counted the rare herbs they had stolen, the guard captain brought Eunuch Wan and the deputy commander of the Forbidden Troops over personally.
Based on the fact that Qi Xiuyuan had even sent out his two most important trusted aides, it could be seen that he was determined to summon his younger brother back to the capital this time.
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