Hibiscus Tent: The Prime Minister’s palm is reborn

For the past half month, Luoan has been subjected to scorching high temperatures, as if the fire was set to roast all the people in the city until they were cooked.

The people had been looking forward to it like the stars and the moon all day long, and finally at noon that day, dark clouds appeared in the sky. The originally bright sky suddenly became dim, and a strong wind came roaring. The dust that was raised was inexplicably wet, which seemed to indicate that a heavy rain was about to come.

Before those who wanted to enjoy the cool air could even feel happy, they quickened their pace, not daring to stay outside. Some went home, some put away their clothes...

On the official road under the dark clouds, several horses were galloping, rushing forward as if they were risking their lives, raising a cloud of dust.

All the gates of Luoan City are heavily guarded.

The commander at the city gate saw horses running towards them from afar and waved his hand to stop the people for inspection.

Before he could utter the words to order them to stop, a horse leapt past him, and then, with a whoosh, something flew over and fell to the ground.

It fell right at the guard's feet.

He grabbed him while cursing and was about to lead people to chase him, but after taking a closer look, he immediately fell silent and knelt on the ground.

At the gate of Yanshou Hall in Weiyang Palace, someone was waiting anxiously, pacing back and forth, looking into the distance.

Until he saw a eunuch leading a few dusty people, he immediately hurried to meet them.

"Your Highness, you are finally back."

Gongsun Xu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the person coming.

Of course, it was just one mouthful, and no one knew how anxiously he had spent the past few days.

But it's not all settled yet...

Yuwen Jue pursed his thin lips, stepped over the threshold calmly, and walked straight into the depths of the palace. No emotion could be seen on his face.

As soon as he stepped into the inner hall, he saw quite a few people waiting at the door. Standing at the front was Empress Dugu, followed by the three princes, and several other important ministers.

He had met Empress Dugu several times. After the greetings, there was no further greeting and he just followed the eunuch into the inner room.

When Yuwen Jue entered, Yuwen Yin was half leaning on the bed with his eyes slightly closed, as if he was taking a nap.

Two imperial doctors were standing by.

Gongsun Xu followed behind Yuwen Jue with his eyes downcast, only glancing at the imperial physicians' faces with the corner of his eyes. He saw that their expressions were serious. The huge inner hall was unusually quiet, so the sound of footsteps on the ground was unusually clear.

Hearing the noise, the person who was dozing opened his eyes and looked over, looking still in good spirits.

Yuwen Jue stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Yuwen Yun raised his hand and pointed: "Prince Qi, please don't be polite. You have traveled a long way, so please sit down and talk."

Yuwen Jue thanked him for the grace, stood up, and sat down as he was told.

The imperial physician saw that the emperor was in better spirits than before, so he brought him some medicine.

"Your Majesty, it's time to take your medicine."

Yuwen Yun sighed slightly and nodded in agreement.

After he took the medicine and rinsed his mouth, he started talking to Yuwen Jue again.

During this time, Yuwen Jue sat quietly with an indifferent expression, totally unlike other people. No matter whether his feelings were genuine or fake, he would always ask about the emperor's life and show concern for him once he saw him.

The imperial physicians and palace servants had long heard the rumors that the Prince of Qi had a cold temper. They thought that since they had not grown up together, their relationship was naturally not as close as that of other brothers. But even if they only considered the relationship between the monarch and his subject, they should have said a greeting. However, now that the emperor was seriously ill, he behaved calmly.

Gongsun Xu was not surprised at all. He just thought that the emperor's sudden alertness might not be a good thing.

He frowned and sighed inwardly.

Yuwen Yun glanced at the faces of the people present and had an idea in his mind.

He waved his hand and said, "All of you go down. I want to have a few words with the King of Qi alone."

The two imperial doctors looked at each other, then at Yuwen Yun, and then saw that Gongsun Xu had already bowed and left, so they also bowed and left.

He said he retreated, but in reality he was just guarding the door.

The palace maid carefully closed the door, blocking the queen's whispered questions outside.

Suddenly they were the only two left in the room.

Yuwen Yun, leaning on the bed, stared at the person sitting quietly below for a while.

My cousin has a cold heart, but it's not his fault.

Yuwen Yun closed his eyes and took a moment to calm down before speaking: "Ajue, since you and I had a frank talk at Danxi Villa that day, I hope this is our second time to have a talk as brothers."

Yuwen Jue paused for a moment, then bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, please tell me what you want to say. I will do my best."

Seeing that he insisted on addressing each other as monarch and subject, Yuwen Yun no longer forced him.

"Before you came back, I always felt like I had a lot to tell you, but when you really came back——"

He looked at the man who had traveled so long and was covered in dust, and knew that he must have received the news and rushed back day and night.

Yuwen Yun smiled slightly, and then said: "But I just want to talk to you about something insignificant."

Yuwen Jue said calmly, "Your Majesty, please speak. I am listening."

Yuwen Yun nodded slightly: "Actually, I have known you for a long time."

Yuwen Jue was not surprised. Since Yuwen Yin was made the crown prince, Yuwen Zheng kept him by his side and taught him personally.

Sweat oozed from Yuwen Yun's forehead. He paused and continued, "The year I was made crown prince was when you first learned about your origins. Aweng has always felt that he owed Emperor Xiaoren."

Yuwen Jue narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Good fortune and bad luck come from nowhere, they are only summoned by people. Since it is his choice, no one can be blamed."

Yuwen Yun was in a daze for a moment, and after a while he realized who the 'he' in the words referred to was, so he said, "Emperor Xiaoren's tomb is not a cenotaph."

Yuwen Jue's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

Yuwen Yun did not say any more about the old events and only picked out a few important sentences.

He was not in a very good mood, so Yuwen Jue did not stay long.

As soon as the door to the inner room was opened, everyone present looked over. Yuwen Jue stepped over the threshold and said a few simple words, and the queen took the three princes to the inner room.

Yuwen Yun is not yet thirty years old. After the crown prince died earlier, he never appointed another crown prince. Now the three princes are not very old either.

Gongsun Xu exchanged glances with several important ministers. Not only had the Weiyang Palace been surrounded by heavy troops, but even the entire Luoan City was not allowed to enter or leave at will without the permission of the imperial decree. He also sent people with tokens to pass on the message that the West Sima Gate and the South Sima Gate were all under martial law.

After everything was arranged, he lowered his head and followed the queen into the inner room.

Yuwen Jue stood alone in the outer hall.

After a while, from the inner room behind him, low crying sounds accompanied by intermittent words were heard.

It was Empress Dugu and several little princes.

Yuwen Jue went to the outer hall.

He stopped at the door and pulled it gently. The door opened and there was thunder, wind and rain outside.

The cold wind carrying rain poured into the Yanshou Palace.

He stood inside the door and watched quietly.

After a while, there were hurried footsteps coming from far away.

The eunuch knelt down and spoke briefly.

Yuwen Jue glanced at the heavy wind and rain, and remained silent, only sighing.