Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 695 - 635: Not Like Me

Chapter 695: Chapter 635: Not Like Me

Emperor Kaihuang had just woken up at noon and felt much better.

It wasn’t just his body that had improved; his spirit was also significantly uplifted.

He even felt better than before he had personally led the troops into battle.

Emperor Kaihuang couldn’t help but worry, wondering if this was merely a fleeting recovery, so he immediately had Cao Demeng summon the Imperial Physician.

After a while, Cao Demeng finally brought the Imperial Physician over.

After examining Emperor Kaihuang for a while, the Imperial Physician immediately knelt down and congratulated him.

"Congratulations, Emperor Kaihuang, congratulations, Your Majesty. Your health has improved a lot more than before. This truly is a miracle!"

Naturally, Emperor Kaihuang didn’t believe in miracles.

However, acknowledging the significant improvement in his health, rather than a fleeting recovery, brought him considerable relief.

At that moment, Emperor Kaihuang, whose mind was also exceptionally clear due to his improved mental state, noticed that along with the Imperial Physician’s joy, there seemed to be a trace of fear.

"Cao Demeng, why did it take so long to fetch the Imperial Physician?"

Cao Demeng immediately knelt on one knee, but said nothing.

Emperor Kaihuang, noting Cao Demeng’s unusual behavior, turned to the Imperial Physician and whispered, "What is the matter?"

The Imperial Physician knew he could not hide the truth any longer and decided to speak openly.

"To report to Emperor Kaihuang, Empress Dugu is seriously ill. All of us from the Imperial Physician Institute were with Empress Dugu at that time. However, Empress Dugu strictly ordered us not to disclose her condition. She said that since you were unwell recently, she did not want to disturb your rest. Hence, your servant..."

Seeing that the Imperial Physician had spoken, Cao Demeng no longer hid the truth and shared how he had found the Imperial Physician, whom Emperor Kaihuang trusted the most, after initially finding the Imperial Physician Institute unattended and then going to Empress Dugu’s place.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Kaihuang became furious.

"The Empress is ill; why didn’t you tell me? Let’s go! Let’s see her!"

Although Emperor Kaihuang sometimes feared the fatal questions asked by his Empress, he still liked her, who aside from being a lady of high society, retained a hint of girlish innocence and mischief.

When Emperor Kaihuang arrived at Empress Dugu’s chamber, he found her lying on the bed, looking twenty years older than before.

"Jialuo! What has happened to my Jialuo?"

Empress Dugu hadn’t heard Emperor Kaihuang call her so tenderly for many years.

"My man, no matter how many years pass, you still look so handsome."

Emperor Kaihuang waved his hand, having everyone in the chambers withdraw, and the spaciously grand chamber was left to just the two of them.

"What’s wrong?"

"It’s just that I suddenly felt unwell. Perhaps it’s because of the fatigue from the recent trip to Longyun Path. After all, I am getting on in years."

After chatting about mundane family matters for a while, Empress Dugu seized the opportunity to bring up the main issue.

"What do you think, who is better, the Crown Prince or King Jin?"

Emperor Kaihuang was taken aback by Empress Gudu’s sudden question.

"The Crown Prince has matured a lot recently. He understands not just to draw people to his side, but to use both kindness and severity, and even to pressure others with power, indeed showing the makings of a true emperor."

As he spoke, Emperor Kaihuang looked at Empress Dugu in his arms.

"But I think King Jin is better. I know that deposing the Crown Prince might lead to problems. But since they are brothers, they naturally won’t engage in fratricide after the succession. Moreover, for the future of Great Sui, I believe King Jin is the more appropriate choice. Emperor Kaihuang, what do you think?"

Emperor Kaihuang did not immediately answer because he too had harbored such thoughts.

He wasn’t a Crown Prince who became Emperor, so he felt he could understand some aspects of the Crown Prince’s predicament, but to say he completely understood, Emperor Kaihuang felt he could not.

It was precisely because he did not understand that Emperor Kaihuang chose to give the Crown Prince more opportunities and forgiveness.

Although the Crown Prince had made significant progress in the past year, even showing signs of what an Emperor should be like,

he had to admit that compared to King Jin, the Crown Prince still lacked far too much.

Thinking about King Jin’s performance in the battle to pacify Southern Chen, although Emperor Kaihuang felt the realm was in peace now, he wasn’t the least bit worried that King Jin could handle any future conflicts with Tujue or other disturbances.

But if it were the Crown Prince taking action...

At this thought, Emperor Kaihuang couldn’t help but reflect on the environment in which the Crown Prince had grown up and his own path to the throne.

Emperor Kaihuang deeply sighed and said faintly, "Unlike me."

At this moment, a junior eunuch with incredibly sharp ears outside the door naturally pretended to hear nothing.

But internally, he began to scheme.

After Emperor Kaihuang had discussed some other matters with Empress Dugu for a while, he finally left the Empress’s chamber.

As Emperor Kaihuang left Empress Dugu’s chamber, he suddenly noticed a tree near the entrance of the chamber had broken for some unknown reason.

Emperor Kaihuang frowned and demanded, "What happened here?"

After all, with Empress Gudu seriously ill, a tree breaking at this time seemed an ill omen.

Then a junior eunuch came over and explained, "Your Majesty, this tree broke suddenly, and we don’t know why. We were about to remove it, but upon noticing something unusual with the surrounding leaves, we dared not disturb it."

Emperor Kaihuang, hearing this, became curious.

A broken tree, what could be unusual about that?

Thus, he walked toward the broken tree.

Arriving near the tree, he noticed some fallen leaves with holes made by insects.

At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But upon closer examination, one could see that the wide leaves bore holes that serendipitously formed the character "Stratagem."

Seeing the character on the leaves, Emperor Kaihuang could not help but exclaim.

"Indeed, does Heaven still favor ’Stratagem’?"

Saying this, Emperor Kaihuang turned and walked away.

Cao Demeng closely followed behind Emperor Kaihuang, sensing that his mood was somewhat off.

Once they returned to his own chamber, Emperor Kaihuang gestured to Cao Demeng, who then handed over a leaf he had found beneath the broken tree.

Emperor Kaihuang had given Cao Demeng a cue, so Cao Demeng later sent someone to secretly clear the area around the broken tree and retrieve several leaves to bring back.

At this moment, Emperor Kaihuang examined the sizable leaf in his palm, then lightly sniffed it, before scoffing.

"Just a trick with honey smeared on the leaves. Crown Prince, you’ve become clever."

Cao Demeng did not understand why Emperor Kaihuang suddenly said this, particularly since Cao Demeng had only been guarding the Empress’s chamber and did not know what exactly Emperor Kaihuang and Empress Dugu had discussed.

But at this moment, Cao Demeng realized that the Crown Prince was likely in trouble.