Chapter 601: Chapter 601. Fake Medicine
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Your Majesty, the Nanman army has invaded the border and has taken three cities. They are currently attacking Li City.”
A military minister on duty brought an urgent messenger to Xiao Zeyu. The Yunnan-Guizhou border had not been peaceful because Xiao Zeyu had not sent troops to the Yunnan-Guizhou border not long after he ascended the throne. That area was not governed by the three.
However, because of the great disasters that had occurred in the Southern Barbarians for two consecutive years, they intended to invade the Central Plains. The Southern Barbarians were thin but highly fierce. The cities they occupied killed the people, robbed their property, and marched straight into the Central Plains.
If the southern borders were unstable, the imperial court would be unstable. Xiao Zeyu could no longer be bothered to eat corn and immediately discussed the specific matters of the crusade against the southern barbarians with the ministers.
He was gone for the entire afternoon and did not return until evening. Su Qing had already finished washing up and sat in front of the dressing mirror to let the palace maid remove her makeup. Since she was not going to war, she might as well ignore what was happening outside and take care of her pregnancy.
Yang Ruxue was worried that her daughter would run away again, so she went to the bedroom to accompany her. Su Qing knew her mother was here to look after her, so she went to bed early to ensure her mother’s rest.
Yang Ruxue saw that her daughter had fallen asleep and ordered the palace maid to take good care of her. She took Xiao Chen, who was already asleep in her arms, back to Cining Palace.
Su Qing woke up from her sleep. Xiao Zeyu had not returned yet. She sent someone to the court to inquire and heard that the emperor was discussing matters with the ministers in the meeting hall.
Su Qing was also full of energy. Since she couldn’t sleep, she made clothes for the two children under the light. When Xiao Zeyu came back, he saw this scene. Su Qing was wearing a light pink muslin dress and sitting under the light. Her head was slightly lowered, and her black hair was scattered on her shoulders. The warm yellow light shone on her body, giving her a gentle glow.
“Qing ‘ er, why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Xiao Zeyu walked over to massage Su Qing’s shoulders. His deep voice sounded tired. To be a good emperor, one had to be diligent in government affairs. Diligence was tough, especially when there were important matters. One had to work late into the night.
Seeing Su Qing waiting for him to make clothes for the child, Xiao Zeyu blamed himself. Qing ‘er wouldn’t have to wait for him in the middle of the night if he wasn’t the emperor.
“I woke up from my sleep.”
Su Qing turned around and looked at Xiao Zeyu. She put down the pink dress in her hand and grabbed Xiao Zeyu’s hand to stop him from massaging her,”
“Sleep early.”
“Aren’t you going to ask about the Yunnan-Guizhou border?
Xiao Zeyu was waiting for Su Qing to ask him. In the past, Su Qing would have discussed this matter with him. Today, he thought she was worried about the invasion of the Southern Barbarians, but in the end, she asked him to sleep.
“Ask what? Now that we have a strong army, cannons, and grenades, won’t it be easy to defeat the southern barbarians?”
Su Qing did not mind. Ever since Qin Tie returned, he took up manufacturing weapons and established an arsenal. Now, the Tang Empire’s storage of mortars and grenades was so powerful that no one could match it.
Since the destruction of Japan couldn’t stop the Nanman people’s greed, they would have a taste of the destruction of their country.
“Haha, Qing ‘er is right, but the Nanman people are good at witchcraft and poisonous insects. They are also a big threat. This time, I sent out many Miao soldiers. They are familiar with witchcraft and will not be disadvantaged in battle.”
Xiao Zeyu was already used to discussing combat matters with Su Qing, so he just told her without her asking.
“Yes, I’ll prepare a medicine pack for the soldiers who are going to the battlefield later. It can prevent mosquito bites. The poisonous insects will automatically avoid it when they smell it.”
Su Qing nodded. When she heard that the Nanman people were invading, she prepared. The Nanman people were good at using poisonous insects and poisons, so the medicine packet had to be made to reduce the casualties of the soldiers.
“Qing’er is truly thoughtful.”
Xiao Zeyu looked at Su Qing gently. He had already ordered the imperial physician to prepare medicine packets to protect the soldiers from poisonous insects. How could the medicine packets made by the imperial physician be better than Qing’er’s? However, Xiao Zeyu was afraid that he would tire Su Qing out, so he said to her,
“Qing’er, you just need to write down the prescription and let the imperial physician prepare it.”
“I’ve already written it.”
Su Qing handed the prescription to Xiao Zeyu. Why would she need those imperial physicians if she could do everything herself? It was better to let the imperial physicians handle the troublesome matter of concocting medicine.
“Qing’er, you are truly my lucky star.”
Xiao Zeyu saw that Su Qing had already finished writing the prescription. He sighed with emotion. To an ordinary family, Qing’er was a virtuous wife, but in the position of Empress, she was a virtuous empress.
Su Qing stood up with her hands on her waist. She was already in her third month, and her waist hurt after sitting for a while.
The next day, Xiao Zeyu ordered a eunuch to send Su Qing’s prescription to the Imperial Academy of Medicine for them to make medicine packets. Su Qing did not take this matter to heart anymore.
After harvesting the corn and potatoes, she instructed people to close the shed and scatter vegetable seeds in the shed so that there would be fresh vegetables to eat in winter.
In addition, the Cold Palace could not be wasted. There was not enough sunlight there, so Su Qing turned it into a pig farm and raised more than ten pigs there. This was called recycling. Otherwise, the Cold Palace would be idle without anyone.
She also used the emperor’s imperial garden. Wasn’t it a waste to only have lotus flowers in the pond? She ordered people to scatter the fish. In the future, if she were bored and uncomfortable, she would come here to fish.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since she had been picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence. Su Qing was already over eight months pregnant, and her body was getting heavier.
Xiao Zeyu moved all the memorials to the palace. Besides going to court and discussing state affairs with the ministers, he stayed in the palace to accompany Su Qing. When he read the memorials, Xiao Zeyu’s expression changed.
“What’s wrong?”
Su Qing held her waist as she strolled back and forth in the palace. She wanted to train more now to be more accessible when she gave birth. Seeing Xiao Zeyu’s expression change, she looked at the memorial.
Xiao Zeyu wanted to close the memorial, but before he could, Su Qing’s expression changed when she saw the contents.
“How did this happen?”
The imperial court’s army went to quell the Nanman rebellion, but they were poisoned by the Nanman poison when they arrived. Their mortars and explosives were stolen, and they were all wiped out.
This was something Su Qing and Xiao Zeyu had never expected. Su Qing was very confident in her medicine packet. It could completely resist the poison of the Nanman people. How could it not be effective?
“The mortars have been taken away. These Nanman people used our artillery shells to attack our cities. They have already taken five cities in a row.” Xiao Zeyu’s expression was solemn. This was the first time the Xiao Family Army had suffered such a tragic defeat. The problem was that the enemy had stolen their weapons and attacked them instead. This was the most troublesome problem.
“Do you still have medicine packets?”
Su Qing didn’t believe that her prescription was ineffective. She had to check it herself.
“Also, I said I would send 10,000 elite soldiers to quell the Nanman rebellion. Later, I felt that it would be a waste to send so many people with mortars, so I changed it to 5,000 elite soldiers. The extra medicine packets are in the warehouse. I’ve already ordered someone to bring the medicine packets.” Xiao Zeyu also suspected that there was a problem with the medicine packets. How could Qing’er’s medicine not be effective? So he sent people to bring ten medicine packets and sent people to guard the rest.
“Someone, bring the medicine packet in..”