Chapter 40: The Gravely Ill Li Chengche

"Your Highness, Miss Su said this matter is of the utmost importance. She begs you to visit the Drunken Flower Pavilion."

Li Chengche sighed helplessly. "Alright, tell her I am on my way."

Su Qingyue could now be considered one of his own people. Since someone from his own circle came looking for him in the middle of the night, it must be for something major.

It was out of the question not to go. With this in mind, Li Chengche stepped out of the estate and headed straight for the Drunken Flower Pavilion, accompanied by Qin Gou'er.

Upon entering, he went straight to Su Qingyue's boudoir. "Miss, you summoned me out in the middle of the night. You'd better have a legitimate reason..."

"Your Imperial Grandson Highness, this matter is indeed of vital importance. When I went to the Eastern Palace today, I happened to overhear that Princess of Qin, Zhangsun Wuyou, and Lady Yang, the Concubine of the Prince of Qin, are conspiring to force the Prince of Qin to break with your esteemed father."

Oh? He already knew about this. The historical Xuanwumen Incident was instigated by these very people, who egged Li Shimin on to do it.

Of course, Li Shimin himself harbored the same ambition, which was why he was easily persuaded.

However, with things unfolding this way, it was going to be troublesome. Could the Xuanwumen Incident be happening ahead of schedule?

Banishing all these inauspicious thoughts from his mind, Li Chengche looked at Su Qingyue. "Why are you telling me all this, Miss?"

"Because... I have made up my mind. From today onwards, I am your woman, and I will obey only your commands. Whatever you wish me to do, I shall do."

「Oh? Miss Su, what led to this sudden and profound realization?"

Su Qingyue gazed intently at Li Chengche. "Because your humble servant has realized that only Your Imperial Grandson Highness is the one who treats me best in this world."

"A person's life is as fleeting as the autumn grass; one must understand the principle of gratitude and reciprocation."

As she spoke, Su Qingyue gently loosened her collar, allowing her snow-white skin to be revealed more clearly to Li Chengche.

"Miss, gratitude is only right, but repaying it this way is inappropriate. It makes it seem as though I am leveraging a favor to exact something from you. Above all, I am a man who detests forcing others."

[Ding! Detected that the host has refused Su Qingyue's offer of her body in repayment. The system judges this as primary-stage lying flat. Points +10!]

Even this worked? Li Chengche now wondered if earning points was simply too easy.

However, that did not matter. What he wanted was never for Su Qingyue to surrender her body due to external pressures; he wanted her to do so entirely of her own free will.

"Your Imperial Grandson Highness is truly magnanimous; it seems I overstepped my bounds... I only hope you will take my previous words to heart."

Li Chengche nodded gently. He already understood what was going on.

***

As for the messy affairs of the Eastern Palace and the Prince of Qin's Mansion, he couldn't care less about meddling in them. The only way to stay out of it was...

Early the next morning, a maid serving the Imperial Grandson hurried into Li Jiancheng's bedchamber. Li Jiancheng, who had just tasted the charms of little Xiao Yun the previous night, looked at the maid with unconcealed impatience.

Having fought a whole night's battle, he was utterly exhausted at the moment. One could imagine his mood upon being disturbed at such a time.

"Speak quickly if you have something to say!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, last night the Imperial Grandson caught a chill. Today he is burning with a high fever and his life is in critical danger! Please, Your Highness, send for the imperial physicians immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jiancheng woke up instantly, all trace of fatigue vanishing from his body.

Although he didn't care much for Li Chengche on ordinary days, the boy was, after all, the Imperial Grandson, and his imperial father held a deep affection for the child.

Should anything happen to Li Chengche, even his own position as Crown Prince might be compromised. This was no laughing matter.

"I am going to the Imperial Medical Service right now. You all go ahead and have the prescription filled."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Imperial Grandson's monthly stipend has already..."

Li Jiancheng looked at the maid in astonishment. "Today is only the seventh day of the month. How could he have spent it so quickly?"

"It's not that he spent it quickly, Your Highness. Crown Princess Zheng only allocated a monthly stipend of forty taels. If Your Highness the Crown Prince hadn't provided us with ways to make money, we would have all starved to death long ago."

Li Jiancheng knew that Lady Zheng had never liked this Imperial Grandson, who was not her own flesh and blood, but he had never imagined she could be outrageous to this extent.

Forty taels of silver a month—knowing that even a political strategist in his own retinue earned five hundred taels a month... This was sheer madness! No wonder Li Chengche was unwilling to share those moneymaking techniques to relieve his burdens.

With such a meager stipend, who wouldn't be driven to find side hustles?

"Take my token and tell the financial department that from now on, the Imperial Grandson's monthly stipend is to be raised to twenty thousand taels."

"Yes! Thank you, Your Highness!"

After the maid kowtowed and left, Li Jiancheng, with a dark expression, summoned Lady Zheng. Seeing his grim countenance, Lady Zheng assumed that Xiao Yun had failed to please him.

"Your Highness, is there something about Xiao Yun that displeased you?"

"It is not about Xiao Yun, Consort Zheng! You have quite a lot of nerve, don't you? How dare you mistreat the Imperial Grandson of my Eastern Palace?"

"Your Highness, what are these words? Your concubine only recently arranged a marriage for him with a woman from a prestigious noble family."

"Let me hear you explain why my child Chengche's monthly stipend was a mere forty taels! If I remember correctly, the tips you give your own servants start at fifty taels of fine silver at a time, don't they?"

"Your Highness, this... your concubine was merely trying to temper the Imperial Grandson's character."

Of course, this was a blatant lie; she desperately wished that good-for-nothing would simply starve to death so that her own son could smoothly ascend to the position of Imperial Grandson.

"Enough, Lady Zheng! Do you take me for a blind man? You may target the Imperial Grandson, but do not be so blatant about it. If this matter blows up, I will not be able to protect you."

"Being an unworthy consort and showing blatant favoritism is a grave crime... Put away your scheming tricks."

Lady Zheng nodded reluctantly. "Very well, Your Highness shall have the final say in this. It was your concubine's fault."

"Knowing that is enough. I am going into the palace to fetch an imperial physician to treat the Imperial Grandson. You go quickly and have his medicine prepared; his illness is very severe."

Critically ill? Lady Zheng did not absorb a single word of Li Jiancheng's warnings, except for that one sentence: the Imperial Grandson's illness was very severe. That, she heard loud and clear.

Since he was gravely ill, what need was there for medicine? Leaving Li Jiancheng's bedchamber, she immediately summoned another trusted confidant.

"Go to the financial department, draw ten thousand taels in silver banknotes, and then go to the major apothecary shops in Chang'an City to fill prescriptions for the Imperial Grandson."

"Remember, whatever the Imperial Grandson needs, you must ensure they cannot sell it to you. Furthermore, instruct all the shopkeepers to give the exact same story—that they simply do not have it in stock. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Lady," the confidant acknowledged and hurried out of the estate.

As Lady Zheng walked past Li Chengche's bedchamber, she heard the sound of weeping coming from within. Without a doubt, it was the sound of Lady Xu's crying.

"Serves you right! Who told your son to snatch the position of Imperial Grandson from my child? It's better that he drops dead!"

With that, she returned to her quarters accompanied by her retinue. Without missing a beat, she poured herself several cups of wine to celebrate the impending demise of that little beast Li Chengche!

An hour later, Li Jiancheng arrived at the entrance of Li Chengche's bedchamber, accompanied by an imperial physician.

Before even stepping inside, they saw Cui Yingying sitting by the bedside, tears welling in her eyes as she spoon-fed medicine, spoonful by spoonful.

To be precise, she was feeding him water.