The Wife Is First

Chapter 39

Ch39 - Forgot to Say

Jing Shao stared blankly as Mu Hanzhang toppled over and felt his heart clench fiercely. Using his qinggong, he suddenly flew forward and gathered Mu Hanzhang up in his arms in one movement.  “Jun Qing, Jun Qing…” The body in his embrace was completely soaked with sweat, which seeped into his clothes. His sweaty, handsome face was as white as a sheet.

“Move him to the couch!” Emperor Hong Zheng didn’t let the Empress, who was in a half-crouch to give her salutations, get up. He pointed to where the phoenix couch was cool under the veranda, and motioned for Jing Shao to place Mu Hanzhang on it. On the other side of the veranda, An Xian said, “Fetch the imperial physician!” 

Jing Shao carefully put Mu Hanzhang on the phoenix couch, took cool herbal tea from a servant, and brought it to the other man’s cracked lips, slowly feeding it to him. Miao Xi picked up a fan from the side and wiped away her tears as she fanned Mu Hanzhang.

“Imperial Father…” Jing Shao picked up his Wang Fei’s hand, his eyes red with rage. He turned around to look at Emperor Hong Zheng behind him. He hadn’t finished speaking when Mu Hanzhang suddenly pinched his palm, so he immediately stopped talking and turned back to look at the person on the couch.

In Emperor Hong Zheng’s eyes, Jing Shao was already extremely angry. Jing Shao wanted to say something, but considering his identity, he couldn’t denounce his Imperial Mother, and thus could only hesitate and swallow his words – he looked the very definition of someone who had been wronged! Emperor Hong Zheng frowned, sat down in a chair brought by a palace servant, and looked at the Empress who was half-crouched awkwardly on the side. “What happened here?”

“Answering Your Majesty, Chenqie called Cheng Wang Fei over for a chat today. But this child’s words offended Chenqie, and he didn’t even know to repent, so Chenqie had him kneel and reflect for a bit… Chenqie at the time didn’t know that Cheng Wang Fei’s male body would actually be this feeble…” The Empress hadn’t expected Cheng Wang to bring the Emperor over. Whatever she said in the beginning was correct: as the Mother of the country, she had the authority to punish Mu Hanzhang. It was just that today, he knelt until he fainted, and the Emperor had just so happened to witness it; it looked as if she was deliberately picking on Mu Hanzhang, thus treating her stepson with severe resentment.

Emperor Hong Zheng gave the Empress a profound look. He was very clear on today’s affair. She would usually use her authority to rein in one or two of his favored concubines. In order to maintain peace in the harem, he turned a blind eye and ignored it. However, Cheng Wang was about to set out for battle, and the Empress was actually treating the Cheng Wang Fei so harshly, which clearly showed that she was trying to make trouble for him!

“Jun Qing, where does it hurt?” Jing Shao saw the person on the couch slowly open his eyes, and he quickly drew close to ask the question in a low voice.

Mu Hanzhang looked at Jing Shao and pinched his palm again, shaking his head lightly to warn him not to say anything disruptive.

Jing Shao blinked, took the wet cloth towel which the palace maid handed to him, and gently wiped Mu Hanzhang’s cheeks and forehead, keeping silent. Emperor Hong Zheng also refused to respond to the Empress’s words. It was quiet in front of Fengyi Palace, with only the sound of cicadas in the distance. 

The imperial physician appeared in a timely manner, breaking the oppressive atmosphere. The white-whiskered physician examined Mu Hanzhang’s complexion and took his pulse, but remained silent. He took some pills out of his medicine box to give to Mu Hanzhang. Then, he turned to Emperor Hong Zheng and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty, I checked Wang Fei’s pulse. It was the summer heat entering his body, plus his poor blood flow, which caused him to faint. Now that he’s woken up, there won’t be any major problems once he takes this pill to dispel the heat and rests for a day. It’s just…”