Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 685

Chapter 685: A Wish

After summoning the Grand Princess, the Empress Dowager went to Renzheng Hall.

New Year’s Eve had just passed, and the Imperial Garden was still covered in a thick layer of snow. Looking along the paths, not a trace of life could be seen, much like the somber atmosphere of the palace.

The Empress Dowager’s palanquin stopped at the entrance of Renzheng Hall, where Xiao Dezi was already waiting.

“Oh dear, why did you come so suddenly?” Xiao Dezi proactively went to help the Empress Dowager. “His Majesty just took his medicine and is feeling better than yesterday.”

As soon as the curtain was lifted, a strong smell of medicine wafted out.

The Empress Dowager frowned uncomfortably. “What did the imperial physicians say?”

“The imperial physicians said that the weather’s getting warmer, and if His Majesty rests properly, he will feel better,” Xiao Dezi said tactfully.

Feeling better than before, but lying in bed every day, he wouldn’t get any better no matter what.

The Empress Dowager understood what he meant immediately.

She sighed softly, her long, narrow eyes half-closed. “I hope it gets better.”

Upon entering the inner palace, the smell of medicinal herbs became even stronger.

The Empress Dowager, unaccustomed to the smell, didn’t approach too closely. Seeing the Emperor on the bed stir his eyelashes, she asked gently, “How are you feeling today, my son?”

The young emperor’s patience was wearing thin each day. Hearing his mother’s question, large tears instantly rolled down his cheeks. He rushed to grasp his mother’s hand, but she didn’t come closer. “Mother, please save me! I’m still young; I don’t want…cough cough, I don’t want to die.”

Two coughs, and the Emperor’s face paled slightly.

Xiao Dezi quickly fed the Emperor ginseng tea.

The Empress Dowager also wanted to cure the Emperor, but she had already consulted all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Medical Bureau and sought help from many people in the countryside.

It was no use.

Seeing the Emperor in such pain, the Empress Dowager felt saddened, but this also strengthened her resolve to support a new concubine in the capital.

“Your Majesty, don’t worry. As long as you rest and recuperate, you will be fine,” the Empress Dowager said softly, uttering words she herself didn’t believe, but saying them seemed to ease her mind.

After leaving the inner palace, the Empress Dowager called Xiao Dezi to her side and sat down behind the Emperor’s desk.

“Send someone to Cining Palace to fetch my imperial seal,” the Empress Dowager instructed, then personally picked up a brush and began to write, “Xu Wenyong controls the court, and I’m already powerless to stop him. Have this imperial edict delivered by secret agents at top speed to the Seventh Prince and the other princes of the imperial clan. I want to invite them to cleanse the court of corrupt officials.”

Xiao Dezi’s brow twitched. “Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince is the Emperor’s elder brother, while the other princes are cousins ​​or uncles. Should we differentiate between them based on kinship?”

If they differentiated, it meant the Empress Dowager’s expectations of the Seventh Prince were different from the others. If they didn’t differentiate, everyone was just a tool, and the Empress Dowager had other plans. The Empress Dowager raised an eyebrow and glanced at Xiao Dezi. “They are all relatives of the Emperor; naturally, they are equally close.”

Hearing this, Xiao Dezi understood the Empress Dowager’s thoughts.

After the Empress Dowager finished writing the imperial edict, she affixed both the phoenix seal and the imperial seal.

Although the entire capital was under Xu Wenyong’s surveillance, the palace had its own channels for sending messages, so Xiao Dezi received the edict and quickly passed it down.

The edict first reached one of the late emperor’s brothers, followed by Li Ji, who was still observing mourning for his grandfather.

Li Ji lost his parents at a young age, only having his grandfather by his side, but his grandfather died in the late emperor’s scheme.

The late Emperor had plotted against his grandfather to consolidate his imperial power. Now, the Empress Dowager, also seeking to consolidate her power, had come to ask him for military assistance.

In the end, it all came down to the issue of imperial power.

After seeing the envoy off, Li Ji coldly burned his copy of the imperial edict.

Since the Empress Dowager wanted him to go to the capital, he would comply.