I [Imperial] Am Not This Kind of Man

They followed Eunuch Wang down the bridge across Si Yue Lake and through two or three palaces before arriving at Qian Yun Palace Main Hall.

Once they walked in, a strong smell of Chinese medicine reached their noses. It seemed to be more pungent than the last time they came, even the seasonal flowers by the bedside were listless from the smell.

Layer upon layer of curtains hid the inner room from view. Countless of the royal medical officers walked among them, careful not to make a single noise in fear of disturbing the Son of Heaven. From afar, the scene looked like there were countless ghosts swaying gently across the room.

Qin Nuo and Qin Ze followed the attendant’s footsteps into the inner palace hall.

Da Zhou’s current emperor, Emperor Jing Yao, was reclining at the head of the bed. He was about forty years old and had once been a debonair, romantic and beautiful man. Unfortunately, he had lost too much energy prematurely. Due to being constantly bedridden with sickness these couple years, his sunken cheeks made him look extremely old. Ever since he fell sick last month to the present, he looked even more miserable.

An honest and pure-looking young man was currently kneeling in front of the bed, holding a bowl of medicine and lowly coaxing him, “Father Emperor, have another sip.”

This was their fourth royal brother, the present crown prince of Da Zhou—Qin Cong. He was born from Emperor Jing Yao’s official wife, the empress. Emperor Jing Yao may be a frivolous and passionate person, but he placed heavy importance on the difference between Di and Shu1

He was very serious about this crown prince, often asking about his studies. The crown prince also lived up to his expectations, receiving positive evaluations from the court officials.

Emperor Jing Yao looked at the crown prince, warmly telling him, “Cong’er, you’ve been busy for a day. It is time for you to rest. Let your younger brothers take over from here.”

Qin Ze appropriately went up and took over the medicine bowl from Crown Prince Qin Cong’s hands. “Fourth Older Brother, let me take this.”

Qin Nuo, who had been behind him, saw nothing else that he could hold. His gaze shifted and fell upon the silver plate of candied preserves on the table. He hastened to take that plate of candied preserves and also came to the bedside.

Under his beloved son’s urging, Emperor Jing Yao finally gave face and took a slight sip from the jade bowl.

Then he weakly waved a hand, and Qin Ze immediately retreated with the medicine. Qin Nuo followed his brother and retreated to the side.

A low, hoarse voice sounded, “Cong’er, you go down and rest, there’s nothing else that I need from you right now.”

Crown Prince Qin Cong comforted his father emperor again gently, before getting up with an expression full of concern. He turned his head and repeatedly told his two younger brothers to attend to their father emperor well, etc.

Qin Nuo and Qin Ze solemnly and respectfully promised to do so.

It was a great scene of a benevolent father and filial son, mutual respect between brothers.

After seeing Crown Prince-gege2 out, Qin Nuo heaved a sigh of relief and returned in front of the bed to begin the work that will take an entire night.

Regarding attending to Emperor Jing Yao, certainly the attendants who had been at his side for years and years would be more considerate and meticulous. Hence this service of “attending to the sick” was nothing more than to urge the imperial doctor to brew the medicine, testing if the medicine soup that the palace girls bring were hot or not, as well as other incomparably trivial and meaningless work. The only irreplaceable thing was probably the conversations held with the patient.

And this job mainly fell upon Qin Ze; after all, Qin Nuo was well-known in the palace for being very honest and unaffected, but not talkative. Every time they came here, Qin Nuo would feel that it wasn’t that bad being partnered up with this little one.

Although Emperor Jing Yao was very feeble, he still forced himself to be more spirited and asked about Qin Ze’s current studies.

Qin Ze answered each question that he asked and shared interesting anecdotes about the students in the school, making him laugh.

A rare smile appeared on Emperor Jing Yao’s face, “Lin Jia is a talented youngster, I rest assured knowing that he is your policy teacher.”

Qin Nuo was in the back, bored to death as he listened. If he hadn’t been partnered up with Qin Ze, he wouldn’t have known that Emperor Jing Yao was a good father who was so concerned about his son’s studies.

After a while, Emperor Jing Yao couldn’t withstand it anymore and finally fell asleep.

The two of them retreated to one side, standing there with their heads down and their eyes on the floor. Qin Nuo took the time to observe Emperor Jing Yao’s complexion. Although he didn’t study medicine in his past life, he had a grandfather who was an old traditional doctor. Under his influence, Qin Nuo also knew a few things about observing complexions and identifying the root of the problem.

Emperor Jing Yao’s situation, with his complexion worsening day by day, was obviously because his base was already hollowed out. It was also unknown how long he could last by relying on ginseng, deer antlers, and other large-scale supplements to maintain vitality.

When the old man died off, he will have to watch that crown prince-gege’s expression in order to live on.

It was just that he still hadn’t been granted a title yet. Da Zhou’s princes were all given titles as Arch Prince 3 after their big wedding, and they were given their own mansion.

This fourth older brother of his had always been known for his mercy and kindness, so he probably wouldn’t treat this honest younger brother of his that badly. Even if he was not an Arch Prince, he could still get a Vice Prince4 title. And at that time, he could move out and live in his mansion.

He was a little excited with the mere idea of being able to have his own property.

Inheriting this body, and basically inheriting the original owner’s feelings, Qin Nuo really did not feel even one trace of admiration towards this father emperor.

Perhaps, towards a father who did not show any concern for him throughout his childhood, it was hard to feel grateful.

Seeing that the emperor lying on the bed was breathing well and had fallen asleep, Eunuch Wang came up, “Your Highnesses have worked hard for the day, please take a short break for a while.”

Qin Nuo and Qin Ze obliged and sat down at the small table behind the screen on the side of the palace hall.

On the table were sweets, fruits, etc. Qin Nuo swiped a few pieces of the candied preservatives from the table and shoved them in his mouth.

Qin Ze shot a glance at him. In fear of waking the deeply sleeping emperor, he didn’t make a sound. However, his eyes spelled out the words “Judging You”.

Qin Nuo pretended not to see it. Since it was going to be boring anyway while they were on standby, why couldn’t he eat something? The things that were sent to the Qian Yun Palace were definitely not on the same level as his Tai Wei Palace.

They sat idly for almost an hour in silence. Looks like tonight’s work was unexpectedly light; they only had to stand for about one hour.

As they sat for a long time, the sleepiness slowly crept up. Qin Nuo yawned and pushed the empty box of sweets towards Qin Ze. He planned to lie on this small table for a while and take a nap.

Qin Ze watched in disdain at this older brother of his who prepared to sleep after eating like a pig.

Qin Nuo had just laid down, not asleep yet, when an incident occurred.

Footnotes

Side (concubine or her children). In the case of the imperial harem, this would be the consorts and rest of the harem. The empress and her child(ren) are considered the emperor’s Di wife and child(ren).Older brother, could also be used to address older male figures not related to you.亲王-Title given to those of royal blood (royal princes, uncles, nephews, brothers of the emperor); “prince of first rank”郡王-title given as “prince of second rank”, or “county prince/king”; more distant to the royal line