Chapter 26: CH 26

Wei Su was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Wei Ming’s greeting even when he repeated it twice in front of him. Wei Ming had no choice but to say in a loud voice, “This child and subject is bowing to Father Emperor.” He didn’t want to remind Wei Su that he was holding the memorial upside down.

Wei Su returned to his senses, casually tossed the memorial onto the imperial table and said, “Crown Prince is here to persuade me again?” He must have come to speak for Wei Zhao, the elder brother who deserved the most credit for Wei Zhao’s present waywardness.

Wei Ming hesitated for a while, but still said what he had in his heart. He advised Wei Su to change his mind and recognise Yi Yin. Wei Zhao was concerned about the child. Maybe he would have a little more will to survive, otherwise it would be very dangerous to drag it on…

Wei Su was very angry when he heard this, and scolded Wei Ming, saying that Wei Zhao’s parents, brothers and sisters were all there, how could Wei Zhao just think about that little wolf cub? This was a great sin of being unfilial.

After scolding Wei Ming, Wei Su added: “If Ah Zhao can wake up, I will treat it as God’s will and recognise that little wolf cub.” After speaking, he walked out angrily, leaving the remaining memorials to Wei Ming, telling him to take care of them and deal with those that could be dealt with and keep those that couldn’t for the time being.

Wei Ming was overjoyed; he knew that in the face of Wei Zhao’s waywardness, his father couldn’t resist. Wei Ming entered the warm pavilion and said in Wei Zhao’s ear: “Ah Zhao, you have to get better soon. Father Emperor agreed. As long as you are better, he will recognise Ah Yin.”

Wei Zhao was still unconscious and naturally wouldn’t respond. Wei Ming touched his forehead and felt that his body temperature seemed a little higher than before. At that moment, Lu Tao had someone bring Wei Zhao’s medicine over. Wei Ming personally took the bowl of medicine from the man and blew on a spoonful to cool it before feeding it to Wei Zhao.

After giving Wei Zhao his medicine, Wei Ming had someone send word to Weiyang Palace that Wei Zhao was fine for the time being, and then watched over him for a while before returning to the imperial study to deal with the memorials Wei Su had left for him.

After all, the Xuanshi Hall was not a place for people to live. It was very inconvenient for Wei Zhao to recuperate there. At night Wei Su asked someone to move him to Yongfu Palace where he had lived before. Ji Wan and Princess Yuankang were also able to come and take care of him in person.

However, Wei Zhao’s condition had not improved, and his fever became more and more severe. The medicine prescribed by Lu Tao had no effect at all.

Wei Su was helpless, so he had to summon Shangguan Xiang into the palace. This man was the younger brother of Shangguan Ao, Guogong Yue. He was known as the god of medicine and was on par with the immortal Duanmu Hui. It was just that his methods of saving people and treating diseases were so unconventional that he was never called upon by the palace until a last resort.

Shangguan Xiang checked Wei Zhao’s pulse. His diagnosis was similar to that of Lu Tao; he said that there were signs of qi and blood deficiency. Moreover, he also added that Wei Zhao had used too many good medicines in the previous few years, so most of the medicines were no longer effective on him. Shangguan Xiang applied needles to Wei Zhao, but he also told Wei Su that this move was his best and what was left was to obey the fate of Heaven. Whether His Imperial Highness Wang Qin could survive was up to him, and they couldn’t help him.

Wei Zhao was in a coma for three days and three nights, and his life was at stake. Princess Yuankang thought about the connection between father and son, and asked someone to bring Yi Yin into the palace. Maybe a miracle would happen. If it didn’t work, they had to let the father and son see each other for the last time, otherwise her younger brother would be too miserable.

When the palace sent someone to fetch him, Yi Yin was already in a state of anxiety in Wang Changning’s residence. Ji Xin was in the Western Camp, not at home, and the maids in the residence only took care of Yi Yin’s food and daily life, and there was no news from the outside.

It was not that Yi Yin never thought about sneaking out, but Yujing was very big, and the guards of the palace were also very strict. With his current small body, it was absolutely impossible to get in.

Besides, the palace was Wei Zhao’s home, and his parents and brothers were all in it. Yi Yin was not so much worried about Wei Zhao’s whereabouts as he was afraid that he would be detained by the emperor and the father and son would no longer be allowed to meet each other.

But in any case, Wei Zhao wasn’t in danger in the palace. Therefore, although Yi Yin was anxious, he could still wait. Even if Wei Zhao couldn’t send a message, the Crown Prince Uncle should help, so he waited patiently.

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Therefore, when the steward of Princess Yuankang’s mansion told him that Wang Qin was critically ill and the princess ordered him to take him into the palace, Yi Yin didn’t believe his ears. Four days ago, Wei Zhao was fine before entering the palace. How could he suddenly become critically ill? He didn’t believe it. They must have lied to him.

When the carriage from Wang Changning’s residence reached the Baihu Gate, the princess’s steward took Yi Yin out of the carriage, entered the palace through the side door, changed to the palace carriage and headed for Yongfu Palace.

Under normal circumstances, except for the emperor, empress, concubines, princes and princesses, no one else was allowed to ride in the carriage in the palace. But today, there was a palace carriage waiting. Either the empress authorised it or the Crown Prince arranged it. It could be seen that they were in a hurry.

When Yi Yin thought of it, he was even more anxious. How sick was Wei Zhao that they wanted him to come to the palace in such a hurry, as if he would… be in trouble if he was a little slower.

Yi Yin didn’t dare to think about it anymore. When he arrived at Yongfu Palace, he jumped out of the carriage and ran in. The people accompanying him couldn’t catch up with him.

“Daddy, Daddy…” Yi Yin called all the way, rushing straight into Wei Zhao’s bedroom. Unfortunately, there were too many people in front of the bed. He was too small and weak, so he couldn’t squeeze in.

Wei Su was furious when he saw Yi Yin, and said that since Wei Zhao cared about him so much, if Wei Zhao died, he would let Yi Yin be buried with him and fulfil their father-son bond. Yi Yin was horrified and rushed over to the bed, pouncing on Wei Zhao.

“Daddy, this is Ah Yin, I’m here, will you wake up quickly? Daddy, woo…” If you don’t wake up, your son will die. What Yi Yin said was not exactly the same as what he thought in his heart.

Yi Yin wasn’t afraid of death, what he was afraid of was that Wei Zhao might die. Nearly a year after being reborn, Yi Yin discovered that in this world, Wei Zhao was the only one for whom he was truly more precious than his own life. He couldn’t lose Wei Zhao, and if Wei Zhao died, he didn’t want to live either.

Ji Wan was worried about her son’s condition and didn’t care much about the grandson who suddenly appeared. On the contrary, Wei Ming and Princess Yuankang hugged Yi Yin one after another, and softly comforted him telling him not to be afraid, Wei Zhao would definitely get better.

Yi Yin sat down in front of Wei Zhao’s bed, holding his hot right hand tightly. When they were in Fuyu, they went through so many hardships, but Wei Zhao survived them all. There was no reason to return to the Great Yan, the homeland he had longed for, just to give up.

Perhaps it was Wei Su’s intimidation that worked. Wei Zhao finally woke up in the afternoon of the fourth day. Ji Wan and Princess Yuankang wept with joy, and Wei Ming was also excited. Only Wei Su pretended to be calm. Unfortunately, the trembling hands under his sleeves betrayed his feelings.

Seeing Wei Zhao slowly open his eyes, Yi Yin first raised his hand in disbelief and rubbed his eyes, then cautiously rushed up, hugging Wei Zhao and crying: “Daddy, you should never get sick again, woo woo…”

Wei Zhao was so weak that even moving a finger would feel strenuous. He patted Yi Yin’s cheek and said with difficulty: “Ah Yin, Daddy promises you.” After speaking, he turned his gaze to Wei Su and the others behind Yi Yin, and said weakly: “Father Emperor, Mother Empress, your child is unfilial, so you were worried. Imperial Brother, Imperial Sister, Brother Feili, it was hard for you too, it’s all because of me… ahem…”

Seeing that he was coughing badly and short of breath, Wei Ming hurriedly said, “Ah Zhao, don’t talk, we understand what you mean.” As he said that, he ordered someone to quickly summon the imperial doctor.

Wei Su glared at Wei Zhao, then flung his sleeves and said, “Knowing that you are unfilial, you must think clearly when you speak and do things in the future.” With these words, he walked away.

Ji Wan said, “This concubine pays respects to His Majesty.” When Wei Su said this, it meant that he would no longer pursue this matter.

Wei Ming, Wei Zhao, Jun Feili and Princess Yuankang said in unison: “This child pays respect to Father Emperor.” Yi Yin blinked, feeling that the Great Yan’s etiquette was really cumbersome.

Lu Tao arrived soon. In the past few days, because of Wang Qin’s illness, he was overwhelmed. He hadn’t slept well for a few nights, and his eyes were sunken. He was afraid that if anything happened to Wang Qin, His Majesty would finish him off.

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Now that Wei Zhao was awake, Lu Tao was happier than anyone else. After checking Wei Zhao’s pulse, Lu Tao said with joy: “Your Majesty Empress, Your Imperial Highness Crown Prince, Your Imperial Highness Lord Consort, Your Imperial Highness Princess, Wang Qin is no longer in danger, he just needs to recuperate at peace.”

Wei Ming wanted to ask some questions when he heard Wei Zhao whisper: “Yuanpan Lu, there is still a secret medicine of Fuyu in my body that has the ability to restrain my powers. Could you possibly undo it?” At Wang Changning’s residence, it was inconvenient for Wei Zhao to summon the imperial doctor, so he had put the matter off for a while.

Lu Tao replied: “Your Imperial Highness Wang Qin, this servant is not good at this, begging Your Imperial Highness’s forgiveness. However, the Chen courtyard has a disciple named Zhuang Yu who is skilled in this field. When Your Imperial Highness recovers, he can be summoned to come for consultation, but for now, it is not suitable.”

Wei Zhao nodded, indicating that he understood. Wei Ming smiled and said, “Ah Zhao, don’t be impatient, first get well, nothing can be done until you do.” In fact, Wei Zhao’s disease roots couldn’t be removed, and careful recuperation was needed to not shorten his life.

Seeing Wei Zhao’s tired face, Ji Wan said, “Crown Prince, Feili, Yuankang, if you have something to do, go back first. It’s time for Ah Zhao to rest.” The three of them bowed and then retreated.

Wei Zhao watched them go out and said to the empress: “Mother Empress, go back to the palace too, don’t tire yourself because of your son.”

Ji Wan smiled: “Mother Empress is not tired, you sleep when you are tired, Mother Empress will look at you.” The son she had not seen for six years, no matter how long she looked at him, she could never see enough.

Wei Zhao couldn’t persuade the empress, so he patted Yi Yin on the back and reminded: “Ah Yin, you haven’t greeted your grandmother empress yet, hurry up…”

Yi Yin turned to look at Ji Wan: “Hello, Grandmother Empress.” Ji Wan nodded, smiled, and said nothing. Her feelings for Yi Yin were so complicated that when she saw him, she didn’t know how to react.

Wei Zhao apologised and said, “Mother Empress, Ah Yin doesn’t understand the rules of the palace…” When Yi Yin saw the empress, he dared not kneel and bow, and Wei Zhao was already speechless at his son. He seemed to have forgotten that when Yi Yin saw the emperor, he didn’t kneel and bow either.

Ji Wan didn’t care, she just said that the child was young and the rules were to be taught slowly, urging Wei Zhao to rest. Wei Zhao was indeed tired and fell asleep after a short time, leaving Yi Yin and the empress relatively speechless.

During Wei Zhao’s recuperation, Ji Wan and Wei Ming came to Yongfu Palace every day. Princess Yuankang lived outside the palace and came into the palace every few days. Jun Feili also brought the children here several times.

Wei Ming had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Wei Xuan, was thirteen this year. The daughter, Wei Kou, was ten years old. The second son, Wei Lan, had just turned eight years old. The youngest son, Wei Mao, was only five years old. All of them were born by Jun Feili. Following Jun Feili to Yongfu Palace were the elder Wei Xuan and Wei Kou. He didn’t bring Wei Lan and Wei Mao. He said that the two younger sons were too naughty and their coming would only affect Wei Zhao’s rest, so it was better not to take them. When Wei Zhao got better, he would let them come to Yi Yin to play.

Wei Xuan and Wei Kou were both gentle and kind-hearted, and Jun Feili was also humble and courteous. Yi Yin had a very good impression of the family of the Crown Prince Uncle. Thinking of their tragic fates in his previous life, he felt even more sad.

As Wei Zhao’s condition gradually improved, the matter of renaming Yi Yin was put on the agenda. Wei Zhao thought of the name “Rong”(1), which was a good name for his generation and had a good meaning, and had never been used before.

However, the Minister of the Imperial Clan(2) disagreed, saying that the origin of the little grandson of the emperor was unknown and that he couldn’t use the name with “grass” in the character(3). Wei Zhao refused and insisted on using the character “Rong”. The matter went to Wei Su, who said that Yi Yin was different from the others and couldn’t be named the same.

After that, Wei Ming intervened and said that the character “Rong” could be used and the character “Chong”(4) should be added in front of it. Wei Zhao and the Minister of the Imperial Clan compromised, and Yi Yin’s new name was settled.

Wei Zhao was very unhappy when “Wei Rong” became “Wei Chongrong”. The reason for this was that the imperial family and noble clans of the Great Yan had always been given a single character name, while a double character name was inferior.

In the Shenchuan dynasty before the Great Yan, the distinction between the children of the main wife and children of concubines was particularly serious. It was a rule that had been passed down for hundreds of years. Even the children of the emperor were not exempt.

But in the middle and late stages of the Shenchuan dynasty, the Shenchuan family itself broke this rule. Could there be anyone more noble than the emperor in the world? The dignified emperor with a double-character name, wouldn’t it be a joke?

As a result, the first thing that the emperors of the Shenchuan family who were not born from the main wife did after ascending to the throne was often to change their names to remove a superfluous character.

Later, in addition to the sons and daughters from the main wife, the emperors also gave single-character names to the children of their concubines. Later, they were simply treated equally; as long as they were the emperor’s children, they all had single-character names.

If something was good in the top, it would be very good in the bottom. The culture of giving all children a single-character name prevailed in the entire clan. The Wei family also was a noble family in its early years and naturally followed this rule, so none of the imperial sons and grandsons of the Wei family over generations had a double-character name.

Because of the name “Wei Chongrong”, Wei Zhao was depressed for several days. Why should his son have a different name from others?

Of course, Wei Zhao didn’t have any other choice. If he didn’t use the character with “grass” radical in it, the Minister of the Imperial Clan wouldn’t object to him changing Yi Yin’s name to a single-character name, but in that case, Yi Yin wouldn’t be able to enter the generation and age ranking, so it was better to have a double-character name.

Wei Chongrong didn’t care about this. He didn’t think he belonged to Fuyu, nor did he think he belonged to the Great Yan. It didn’t matter to him whether his surname was Helian or Wei.

However, he was happy to have the same surname as Wei Zhao. Apart from that, Wei Chongrong had no sense of belonging to the Wei clan or to the Great Yan dynasty.

Besides, although Wei Zhao wasn’t satisfied with the name, he was only unhappy in private, rather than fighting against the emperor to death like he had done in order to get him the surname “Wei” before.

It could be seen that in Wei Zhao’s mind, whether he could be surnamed “Wei” was the most important thing, and there was absolutely no compromise. As for whether his name should consist of one or two characters, this was debatable.

Apart from the fact that the three characters “Wei Chongrong” were too cumbersome to write and not as easy as “Wei Rong”, Wei Chongrong didn’t see much difference between the two.

But the people of the Wei imperial family obviously didn’t think so. When Wei Zhao first proposed the name “Wei Rong”, the face of the Minister of the Imperial Clan, who was said to be of the same generation as Wei Zhao but whose hair and beard were all white, instantly changed.

Then there was a long quotation from the scriptures. The words of the Minister of the Imperial Clan were so long-winded that Wei Chongrong couldn’t remember the full thing. He only understood that it probably meant that if he was called “Wei Rong”, Wei Zhao would offend the whole Wei clan and the 18 generations of the Wei family.

Wei Zhao’s stubbornness could be understood from his confrontation with Wei Su, but even he couldn’t withstand the pressure of the Minister of the Imperial Clan, and once Wei Ming persuaded him, he succumbed.