Romancing the Son of Heaven

Stratagem 28: Be Yourself! (1)

Qiu Ling didn't bother to find out if Mu Kun really did as he had told him, he just picked up Jing He from the ground, rushed over to his bed-chamber, and put him down on the bed. Then, he was at a loss as to what to do. In such a situation, what could he do to help him?

He really regretted not knowing anything about medicine right now. Otherwise, maybe he would have been able to do something. Now, he could only make sure that his beloved seemed to be lying comfortably, put a blanket over his body, and then went to get a cup, using his magic to fill it with some water before he put it down at the side of his bed.

Standing there, Qiu Ling looked at him, fretting over what else to do.

Huang Lan also looked at him but figured that there wasn't anything that he could do either. After pondering for a moment, he cleared his throat. "I will go and inform the Heavenly Empress as well. Please stay with His Highness, Longjun."

Qiu Ling gave a faint hum but didn't even turn around. He just stared at Jing He, trying to find some kind of sign that he was doing better. Unfortunately, there was nothing of the like. Jing He was still pale beyond belief, his brows slightly creased, and his breathing a little shallow. Clearly, he wasn't doing well. Looking at him, he also realized that Jing He had lost quite a bit of weight. Obviously, his beloved was unwell.

Meanwhile, Mu Kun had already reached the Temple of Medicine and rushed inside, dragging over the nearest Heavenly Physician, and telling him that he needed to see the God of Medicine.

It wasn't a secret in the capital city that Mu Kun and Huang Lan were the personal guards of the crown prince, so the Heavenly Physician immediately rushed off to go and find the God of Medicine.

The old god followed him back and then rushed over to Jing He's palace together with Mu Kun. He couldn't help but remember how the Heavenly Emperor had called him a few weeks ago because his son hadn't rested enough, but this time, things were clearly different. For one, it wasn't that the Heavenly Emperor had arbitrarily sent somebody over but this was actually the crown prince's personal guard who came over and he looked to be quite panicked. Clearly, something had to have happened for him to react like this. It really had to be serious.

At that time, Huang Lan had also managed to reach the Heavenly Empress. Thankfully, she had just been on her way to Jing He's palace hoping that she would be able to distract him a little so he wouldn't worry as much until her brother finally returned from the dragon realm. When she saw Huang Lan rushing over, her heart dropped. "Huang Lan!" She called out to him and the guard immediately rushed over.

"Your Majesty, His Highness collapsed."

Bai Fen's expression paled and the two of them also rushed over, meeting the God of Medicine and Mu Kun halfway.

The two gods nodded at each other and then rushed into the palace together, finding Qiu Ling still standing next to the bed with a helpless expression.

Bai Fen immediately went over and grabbed him by the shoulder, looking at him questioningly. "What happened?!"

The God of Medicine also glanced at him, but at the same time put down his medicine box, and sat down to take Jing He's pulse.

"I also don't know. When I came, he was in his study and the door was closed. He didn't even open it when I called out to him. I felt that he was being a little strange but I also didn't want to impose. I just had a short chat with him and wanted to go over to your place to ask if you knew something but before that, I suddenly heard a sound. I don't know what exactly happened. I just felt that something was wrong so I rushed in and just barely caught him. I brought him over here and sent his guard Mu Kun off to get the God of Medicine."

There was none of the usual frivolous air about Qiu Ling. With his beloved in this condition, he also forgot about his usual act and just focused on what was important. "God of Medicine, what exactly is wrong with him?"

The God of Medicine furrowed his brows, his expression grave. "This really isn't good." He glanced up at the Heavenly Empress and Qiu Ling, wanting to explain but then he wasn't quite sure what to say. Or rather, he wasn't sure if he could say it in front of Qiu Ling. Giving the dragon king another short look, he turned to the Heavenly Empress, silently asking what he should do.

Bai Fen gulped. She also knew that this type of thing shouldn't really be disclosed to anybody who didn't have to do with this but then again, it was pretty clear that her son would probably marry Qiu Ling in the future. And he was also the one who had been there when it happened so it might help if he knew. He might be able to provide them with more information if necessary. "Just go ahead and tell us."

Having gotten the Heavenly Empress's go ahead, the God of Medicine didn't hold back. "His Highness isn't in a good condition. Apparently, he hasn't rested well in quite some time and I would also say that he hasn't been eating enough. Right now, he is frail. The smallest bit of stimulation can already cause this kind of collapse."

Bai Fen nodded, not surprised after what her brother had said yesterday. In any case, she had already known that Jing He wasn't in a good condition. This ... was just showing that Qiang Yan had been right. "Then what can we do?"

The God of Medicine sighed and got up, not quite sure what to say to this. "Your husband already called me over a few weeks ago to tell me that His Highness seemed a little sick. At that time, he had been in a situation where he just hadn't rested well for maybe a night or two. Back then, I said that he just needed to rest a bit more to make up for it and everything would be well again. Right now though, things are different.

"To be honest, in general, it is still the same: He needs to rest a bit more to make up for the rest he missed out on and eat well to put on some weight again. With a bit of time, he can be nursed back to full health again.

"The problem is that this kind of grave change doesn't come out of nowhere. I'm afraid that if His Highness has changed so much in a few weeks, then that is because there is something wrong. Most likely, his mental state isn't very well. There has to be something that is bothering him gravely. If you cannot find out what that is and work on that issue, then no matter what we do, we will not make much progress with nursing him back to health.

"But that is something that I cannot diagnose just from taking his pulse. That is something that will require a few conversations with him and the eye of somebody who is a little closer to His Highness than I am." He looked at the Heavenly Empress, his meaning clear: She would have to figure this out, otherwise, they couldn't proceed.

Bai Fen wasn't quite sure what to say to that. It wasn't that she hadn't tried to sound him out but Jing He wasn't somebody who would easily show just what it was that was bothering him. At most, she might be able to hope for him to let slip a little bit at the side. But would that really be enough to figure out the problem that was underlying this issue? She really didn't think so.

But right now, she also couldn't say that. In any case, she could only try again after Jing He woke up again. "I will do my best to find out more then. Just do what you can for the time being."

The God of Medicine nodded and then motioned over to the study. "I will ready a prescription and have everything delivered later."

Bai Fen nodded and bid him farewell before sitting down at the edge of Jing He's bed. In any case, even if he didn't say anything outright, she had a good guess what this was about. She just didn't know how to solve it.