Chapter 1269: Chapter 770: An Ji in Critical Condition (Second Update)

An Ji was lying on the bed at this moment, his fever making his face flush and his breathing rapid.

An Youyou strode over, quickly took An Ji’s wrist, and couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

An Ji had visibly lost a lot of weight.

His wrist seemed to be nothing but skin.

She kept her focus, concentrating entirely on taking An Ji’s pulse.

The more she took the pulse, the tighter her brow became.

Yuan Kai watched An Youyou’s manner from the side, his whole body tense to the point that he could hardly contain himself.

He paced back and forth in the room.

Finally, after a moment, he couldn’t hold back any longer, "How is it? Say something!"

Seeing the look on this young Imperial Physician’s face, Yuan Kai had the illusion that Du Zhimiao was about to die.

To Yuan Kai, he felt some guilt towards Du Zhimiao.

Back in the day, when he returned to the Cang Kingdom after defeat, due to the sudden death of the old emperor, the Crown Prince smoothly ascended the throne. Who could have anticipated that once the Crown Prince became Prince, he immediately targeted Du Jianghong, claiming he colluded with enemy forces at Mobei, leading to the execution of the entire Du family!

While Du Jianghong’s private agreement with the Daxuan Kingdom was exposed, it couldn’t be separated from Yuan Kai; despite looking down on Du Jianghong, disdainful of those scholars who only talked, when Du Jianghong was truly executed, Yuan Kai couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

No matter how much he wished to deny Du Jianghong, Du Jianghong’s strategy to cease war between the two kingdoms, reducing Cang Kingdom’s innocent casualties, was indeed commendable. Yet the emperor, for his absolute supremacy not to be challenged, turned many lives in the Du family into sacrificial pawns, merely to scare the court.

When Du Jianghong entrusted his son Du Zhimiao to Yuan Kai before dying, it truly overwhelmed Yuan Kai.

He thought Du Jianghong would resent him, yet unexpectedly, he became the person Du Jianghong trusted the most.

Moved by this sentiment, Yuan Kai used every means to send Du Zhimiao out of the Cang Kingdom, using a great fire to cover up the fact Du Zhimiao was still alive.

After extinguishing Du Jianghong’s whole family, Yuan Kai thought that once the emperor consolidated his reign, he would restrain himself, becoming a good emperor. Yet unexpectedly, after ascending the throne, the emperor began to massacre loyal subjects, ignoring the counselors’ advice. Anyone in the court who opposed him ended up facing dire consequences.

Yuan Kai had been stationed at the border for many years, knowing little about court affairs.

He also thought court affairs wouldn’t implicate him, existing as an outsider, yet unexpectedly, the emperor reached out to him, demanding he hand over all his military power.

Yuan Kai naturally refused; he wasn’t foolish to that degree.

The emperor now wanted him to hand over military power, obviously aiming to take him down?!

If he lost his military power, his fate might be the same as the Du family’s—a full-scale execution.

Yuan Kai used the excuse of chaos at the border needing his command as a delaying tactic, refusing the emperor’s retraction of his military power.

Such a move naturally angered the emperor.

Yet considering Yuan Kai indeed held military power, if things truly escalated, the emperor might not be completely guaranteed victory. Moreover, the internal Cang Kingdom remained unstable; local uprisings still occurred, suppressed yet persistently causing turmoil and hardship to the people.

Obviously, the emperor didn’t abandon the thought of reclaiming Yuan Kai’s military power; he was keenly aware that this time visiting the Daxuan Kingdom and actively sending Princess Chaoyang for marriage was with the intent of getting Daxuan Kingdom to send troops to reclaim Yuan Kai’s military power. If Daxuan Kingdom agreed to send troops, Yuan Kai had no recourse, and the final result would be handing over his military power.

As Yuan Kai was at a loss, hesitating whether to rise in rebellion or put down the sword in submission, Du Zhimiao suddenly appeared at the border, asking him to join in an uprising against the emperor, clearly informing him that even if Daxuan sent Princess Chaoyang for marriage, Daxuan wouldn’t send troops to assist the emperor. As long as they could rally local and court opposition forces, overthrowing the emperor’s reign would be easily attainable.

It was then that Yuan Kai realized Du Zhimiao, in nine years at the Daxuan Kingdom, had secretly returned to the Cang Kingdom multiple times, winning over many forces. The emperor’s brutal rule was ultimately unpopular, making the process challenging yet less difficult than envisaged.

Yuan Kai naturally chose to rise up with Du Zhimiao, witnessing Cang Kingdom’s turmoil and the emperor’s brutal injustice left him with little hesitance, thus covertly leading troops with Du Zhimiao back to Phoenix City.