Chapter 297: Chapter 298: There’s More to It

Chapter 298:

The system was exasperated, shouting in Hua Manman’s mind.

"That wasn’t a hint, that was an outright declaration! You can’t give any more clues, or I’ll really have to punish you!"

Hua Manman couldn’t give it a clear reply.

She could only stare at Prince Zhao without blinking, screaming frantically in her heart.

’You guessed it!!’

’You have to trust your own judgment!’

Li Ji smiled. "I understand. Thank you."

He didn’t press Manman on how she knew something would go wrong with the Imperial Ancestral Temple. He could sense some kind of restriction on her, and that violating it would likely cause her harm.

So, as long as she was unwilling to say, he wouldn’t ask.

Hua Manman was still a little incredulous. "You really understand?"

Li Ji said, "I’ll find a way to get out of the assignment to repair the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

Hua Manman’s eyes instantly lit up.

’He really gets it!’

’As expected of the man I’ve set my sights on. Even if his personality is a bit rotten, his brain is still sharp!’

Li Ji: "..."

’If you’re going to praise me, then just praise me. Why did you have to slip in an insult?’

Li Ji had someone summon Feihua Zhenren.

"Do you have a method that can make someone so sick they can’t get out of bed for a short period?"

Feihua Zhenren was completely baffled.

People had only ever asked him how to cure illnesses. This was the first time someone had asked him how to get sick.

Li Ji explained, "I have an assignment I don’t want to do right now. I need to get sick to get out of it."

Feihua Zhenren understood. "So, Your Highness is thinking of feigning illness!"

Li Ji reminded him, "It can’t be feigned. It has to be a real illness, or it won’t fool the imperial physicians from the palace."

Feihua Zhenren thought it over and actually came up with a solution.

"I have a prescription here. After drinking it, it will make a person dizzy and cough nonstop for a short time. However, the dosage must be controlled with extreme precision. You must not use too much, or it will cause irreversible damage to the body."

Li Ji said without hesitation, "We’ll use this prescription."

Feihua Zhenren wrote down the prescription and repeatedly warned him to be cautious with the medicine and not to be greedy with the dose.

To avoid being discovered, Li Ji split the list of required medicinal herbs into several parts and purchased them from different apothecaries.

Feihua Zhenren hadn’t exaggerated. Soon after drinking the medicine, Li Ji felt his head spin and his throat become dry and itchy, making him want to cough uncontrollably.

News of Prince Zhao’s illness soon reached the palace.

The Emperor sent an imperial physician to examine Prince Zhao.

The Imperial Physician returned and reported that Prince Zhao had likely caught a cold. It wasn’t life-threatening, but he needed plenty of rest. It would be best for him not to go out into the wind and to minimize contact with outsiders for the time being.

With this, Prince Zhao would be unable to assist the Second and Fifth Princes in repairing the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

When Li Yan learned of this, he was naturally overjoyed.

One less person competing with him meant that he would receive more praise and trust after the matter was completed.

However, Li Ying’s mood was not so cheerful at this moment.

He had deliberately let word of Prince Zhao repairing the Imperial Ancestral Temple reach Li Yan’s ears precisely to provoke Li Yan’s jealousy.

Given Li Yan’s personality, he would never let such a golden opportunity to show off slip by. He would surely find a way to muscle in on the assignment of repairing the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Indeed, events had unfolded just as he had predicted.

The Second Prince, the Fifth Prince, and Prince Zhao were to jointly oversee the repairs of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

When the accident at the Imperial Ancestral Temple happened in the future, all three of them in charge would suffer a great misfortune.

This was a golden opportunity to kill three birds with one stone.

But then, something unexpected happened—

Prince Zhao had suddenly fallen ill and could no longer assist the Second and Fifth Princes with the repairs.

His temporary withdrawal wouldn’t affect Li Ying’s plan, but Li Ying still felt a bit regretful.

Liang Yong asked cautiously, "Prince Zhao’s illness is too coincidental. Could it be that he also knows the Imperial Ancestral Temple is going to collapse?"

Li Ying sat by the brazier, pulling his thin clothes tighter around himself as he asked in a soft voice.

"Has Lin Qingzhi mentioned to anyone else that the Imperial Ancestral Temple will collapse?"

Liang Yong shook his head.

"She has never mentioned this to anyone. Logically, no one else should know."

Li Ying took the tattered little sachet from his sleeve, his thumb gently rubbing its surface.

He replied casually, "Perhaps it’s just a coincidence."

...

For a long time after, the Prince Zhao Mansion was closed to all visitors.

The official reason given was that Prince Zhao was ill and needed to recuperate in peace.

Li Ji held a fist to his mouth, letting out a low cough.

Hua Manman offered him a bowl of pear soup with fritillary bulbs.

"Have some of this. I heard it’s good for the throat."

Although she knew Prince Zhao was only coughing incessantly because of the medicine and wasn’t truly sick, coughing so much was definitely bad for his throat.

Li Ji took a sip of the soup and frowned.

"It’s too sweet."

Hua Manman scooped up a spoonful with the spoon and tasted it. "I think it’s fine."

Li Ji said, "Is that so? Let me try again."

So Hua Manman fed him another spoonful.

She didn’t notice it herself, but Si Yun, who was standing nearby, saw it clearly.

The same spoon was first tasted by Prince Zhao, then by the Princess Consort, and finally went back into Prince Zhao’s mouth.

’Isn’t that basically an indirect kiss?!’

Si Yun felt it was too much to watch and quickly found an excuse to slip away.

As soon as she stepped out, she ran into Chen Wangbei. She quickly stopped and reminded him in a low voice.

"The Princess Consort is inside. If you don’t have anything urgent, you might want to wait a bit before going in."

Chen Wangbei also knew that his prince and princess consort were extremely affectionate. He was well aware that the Prince would be displeased if he disturbed their private time together.

So he replied in a low voice, "I understand. Thank you."

Inside the room, Li Ji finished the entire bowl of pear soup with fritillary bulbs.

He felt his throat was a little more comfortable and asked.

"How much do you know about ’earth dragons turning over’?"

Hua Manman didn’t expect him to ask this so suddenly. She was stunned for a moment before replying.

"I don’t know much about it either. I’ve only heard my elders talk about ’earth dragons turning over’ before."

"They said that an ’earth dragon turning over’ is also called an earthquake. It’s divided into many magnitudes, and the higher the magnitude, the greater the damage."

"In severe cases, mountains can collapse and the earth can split open."

Li Ji was lost in thought.

The Imperial Ancestral Temple was built at the founding of the dynasty and has stood firm for all these years.

This meant it was built to be extremely sturdy.

An earthquake that could make it collapse in an instant must be of a very high magnitude.

Li Ji asked again, "Is the range of an earthquake’s effects large?"

Hua Manman nodded without hesitation. "Yes, it’s large. When an earthquake occurs in one place, it’s very likely that several surrounding counties and towns will be affected by aftershocks."

Li Ji: "Then if an earthquake happens at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Shangjing should also be affected, right?"

Hua Manman first nodded, then froze.

She remembered that the original novel never mentioned an earthquake in Shangjing City. It only said that the Imperial Ancestral Temple collapsed due to an earthquake.

But the Imperial Ancestral Temple wasn’t very far from Shangjing. If an earthquake happened at the temple, how could there be no tremor at all in Shangjing?

’That defies common sense!’

’Could it be... that there’s another reason for the Imperial Ancestral Temple’s collapse?’