Since then, several days have passed.
Early morning, Yan Mansion.
When Yan Shifan came out of his room as usual and passed through the courtyard, he happened to bump into a maid who looked in a hurry.
Yan Shifan recognized at a glance that the maid in front of him was the one who was responsible for decoction for Yan Song.
At this moment, the maid held a clay pot filled with medicinal residues in her hands, and a strong and pungent medicinal smell came from the clay pot.
When the maid saw Yan Shifan, a look of panic flashed across her face, and she quickly stepped aside and said respectfully: "I have met Mr. Xiao Ge!"
Seeing this situation, Yan Shifan couldn't help but frown slightly. He immediately turned his gaze to the clay pot in the hand of the maid and asked.
"How is father's condition, and what's going on with these medicine residues?"
When the maid heard this, her face became even more panicked. After being stunned for a long time, she forced out a smile and responded.
"Xiao...Mr. Xiao Ge, Mr. Yan Ge's physical condition is very good and he should be able to recover soon!"
"As for these medicinal residues, they were all left over not long ago, but they were just processed today..."
Because the medicinal smell emanating from the clay pot was too pungent, Yan Shifan lost interest in continuing to ask questions.
In his opinion, this was just because the maid in front of him was lazy and did not dispose of the medicine residue left a few days ago. This also explained why the maid was so panicked when she saw him.
After that, Yan Shifan waved his hand impatiently and gave instructions.
"Okay, okay, hurry up and pour out the medicine dregs. I won't hold you accountable this time!"
When the maid heard this, a look of gratitude suddenly appeared on her face, and she kept saying.
"Thank you, Mr. Xiaoge, thank you, Mr. Xiaoge!"
After that, the maid hugged the clay pot containing the medicine residue and left in a hurry.
Yan Shifan looked at the maid's leaving figure, shook his head helplessly, and couldn't help but sigh: "These guys are always lazy all day long, huh, don't let me catch you next time!"
After Yan Shifan finished speaking, he immediately stepped into the hall. A variety of delicacies were already placed on the table. Seeing this, Yan Shifan couldn't help but wonder.
"Hey, why hasn't father come here yet? Today is a day for cabinet discussions. Normally, father should have arrived long ago!"
Immediately afterwards, a trace of panic appeared in Yan Shifan's heart for no reason: "Did something happen to my father?"
Just when Yan Shifan was about to go to Yan Song's room to check on the situation, he heard footsteps outside the door, and Yan Song appeared in the hall with the support of the maid.
When Yan Shifan saw this, a look of joy suddenly appeared on his face, and he hurriedly greeted him.
"Father!"
"Um."
Facing Yan Shifan's greeting, Yan Song opened his cloudy eyes, glanced at Yan Shifan, then lowered his eyes and said no more.
Only then did Yan Shifan realize that something was wrong with Yan Song.
His face was extremely pale, and his whole person had no energy as before. It was no exaggeration to say that it only took a gust of wind to blow down the current Yan Song.
When Yan Shifan saw this situation, he immediately panicked. He quickly stepped forward, pushed away the maid who was previously responsible for supporting Yan Song, and then carefully helped Yan Song to his seat.
"Father, are you okay?"
"Father, why don't you go today? I'll ask you for leave now and ask for a doctor!"
After Yan Shifan finished speaking, he was about to leave. Unexpectedly, he was stopped by Yan Song just after taking a few steps.
"return!"
When Yan Shifan heard this, he suddenly stopped. When he turned around, he suddenly discovered that Yan Song was barely supporting his body with one hand, his eyes full of unwillingness.
"I, Yan Song, have been the chief minister of the cabinet for more than 20 years. I have never missed a cabinet meeting, and today is no exception!"
When Yan Shifan saw Yan Song being so stubborn, he immediately fell to his knees with a thump and cried.
"Father, I beg you, please don't go today, your body will collapse!"
"My child will go and ask for leave for you right away. Yes, my child will go and ask for leave for you right away!"
Yan Shifan kept kowtowing on the ground as he spoke. He wanted to use this method to persuade Yan Song to change his mind.
Seeing this situation, Yan Song seemed to have made up his mind and turned his head to the side, not looking at Yan Shifan.
Then, Yan Song turned his gaze to the maid who was already frightened and scolded.
"Why are you still standing there? Why don't you help me out quickly? Ahem!"
The maid had never seen such a scene before, and she was already in a state of confusion. After hearing Yan Song's scolding, she subconsciously stepped forward, carefully supported Yan Song, and walked out of the hall.
Before he had gone a few steps, he saw Yan Shifan chasing after him with three steps in succession. Seeing this, Yan Song couldn't help but frown and said.
"No need to say any more, I must go today!"
Hearing this, Yan Shifan wiped away the tears on his face with his sleeves and begged Yan Song.
"Since you, father, are determined to go, then let the child go with you!"
After Yan Song heard Yan Shifan's words, he thought about it for a moment, then looked away from Yan Shifan, and said slowly: "Yes."
Seeing this, the maid immediately stepped aside. After that, Yan Shifan was seen carefully supporting Yan Song and walking towards the place where the sedan chair was parked.
Yan Shifan's pace was extremely slow, and the father and son walked step by step like this. No one spoke, and time seemed to have stopped.
During this process, Yan Shifan could clearly feel that Yan Song was enduring great pain at this moment. His body was shaking constantly and he coughed from time to time.
In the past, it only took a few steps to reach the place. Yan Shifan supported Yan Song and walked for nearly five minutes!
"Father, please slow down and be careful where you step!"
Yan Shifan said this, and then carefully helped Yan Song get into the sedan.
Shortly after Yan Song got on the sedan, it seemed that he couldn't bear it anymore. He covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and coughed a few times.
Suddenly, he saw that the handkerchief was soaked with bright red blood. Seeing this, Yan Shifan panicked and didn't care about anything else. He quickly stepped forward to help Yan Song up and shouted with all his strength.
"Quick, come quickly, call for the doctor right away!"
"Quick, go quickly!"
…
Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
At this moment, Jiajing put on his robes under the waiters of his personal eunuchs. At this moment, Lu Fang entered the Qianqing Palace with silent steps as usual.
When Jiajing saw Lu Fang arriving, he immediately looked away and asked.
"Lu Fang, I plan to formally propose the promotion of the newspaper at the cabinet meeting later. What do you think?"
When Lu Fang heard this, she immediately lowered her head and asked Jiajing tentatively: "Your Majesty, do you mean to open an agency similar to the Information Agency in other parts of the Ming Dynasty?"
Hearing this, Jiajing nodded, and immediately continued: "Well, now that the imperial newspaper is on sale, it has been widely welcomed!"
"Then this means that my previous conjecture was correct. Next, we only need to set up more newspapers selling agencies and information agencies across the country."
"At that time, agencies across the country will be led by the Information Bureau here in Beijing. After the newspapers are printed in Beijing, they will send sample newspapers to the Information Bureau across the country, and then the newspapers will be printed separately."
"In this way, we can speed up the promotion of the newspaper. Once the newspaper is truly promoted, the day will not be far away when I regain my right to speak!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she immediately flattered him: "Your Majesty, you are wise!"
At this moment, there was a burst of hurried footsteps from outside Qianqing Palace, and not long after, the guiding eunuch was seen hurriedly walking in, with a look of horror on his face that could not be concealed.
After entering the Qianqing Palace, he immediately knelt on the ground and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, news came from the Cai Tai Hospital that the chief minister of the cabinet, Yan Song, is seriously ill!"
When Jiajing heard this, his face was full of shock. After looking the eunuch up and down, he immediately said in a stern voice: "What did you just say, Yan Song is seriously ill?"
Seeing this, the leading eunuch kept kowtowing on the ground and cried: "Your Majesty, what this slave said is true!"
Hearing this, Jiajing was at a loss for what to do for a moment, and just stood there stunned for a long time. After that, Jiajing came back to his senses, turned his eyes to Lu Fang, and ordered in a deep voice.
"Lu Fang, go to Yan Mansion immediately to see how Yan Song is doing!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she didn't dare to show any slightness and immediately responded.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
Just when Lu Fang had just walked a few steps, Jiajing stopped him: "By the way, tell the Imperial Hospital that no matter what method they use, I must rescue Yan Song!"
When Lu Fang heard this, her steps suddenly stopped, she turned around and responded respectfully.
Soon, Lu Fang and the guiding eunuchs left Qianqing Palace one after another. Jiajing was the only one left in the huge palace.
After that, Jiajing was seen sitting back on the dragon chair with a sense of loss, gently stroking the carved dragon head with his hand, not knowing what he was thinking.
…
In the cabinet, at this moment, Xu Jie put down the memorial in his hand and looked at the vacant position beside him, wondering.
"Strange, it's already this hour, why hasn't Yan Song come over yet?"
As soon as Xu Jie finished speaking, Gao Gong on the side responded: "Yes, not only Yan Song didn't come, but even Yan Shifan didn't come to the cabinet!"
Zhang Juzheng on the side heard this, put the brush in his hand back to its original position, and turned to speak.
"Is it possible that something delayed you on the way, or does your Majesty have something to discuss with them?"
This conjecture proposed by Zhang Juzheng was quickly agreed upon by Xu Jie and Gao Gong. Xu Jie supported his chin with one hand as he thought this.
"Not long ago, Yan Song just received more than four million taels of silver for the national treasury. It is only natural that Your Majesty summons him alone!"
The more Xu Jie thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt, so he simply stopped thinking about it and returned his attention to the unprocessed memorials in front of him.
Just as everyone was concentrating on the memorials in their hands, there was a sound of footsteps from outside the cabinet.
When everyone saw this situation, they thought it was Yan Song and Yan Shifan who came, so they didn't take it to heart.
Xu Jie had even imagined in his mind how he would explore Yan Song's words later!
However, to everyone's surprise, the visitors were not Yan Song and Yan Shifan, but Feng Bao, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony.
The moment Feng Bao entered the cabinet, he took the lead and saluted Xu Jie and others: "I have met you all!"
Seeing this situation, Xu Jie thought that Feng Bao was here to convey something to the emperor. After nodding slightly, he immediately asked Feng Bao.
"Eunuch Feng, when you come to the cabinet this time, do you have any instructions from His Majesty?"
Hearing this, Feng Bao nodded immediately, turned his gaze to Xu Jie, and spoke unhurriedly.
"Well, Mr. Xu Ge is right. His Majesty asked me to inform you that today's cabinet meeting has been cancelled."
After hearing this, Xu Jie's face was full of surprise and he spoke subconsciously.
"What!"
It was not only Xu Jie who was shocked by this. Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were also quite surprised when they learned the news. After all, Jiajing would not be absent from cabinet discussions if nothing major happened.
Not long ago, Jiajing also proposed to everyone in a subtle way that they would discuss the promotion of newspapers at this cabinet meeting.
For this reason, everyone was fully prepared, but now, Jiajing suddenly sent Feng Bao to say that today's cabinet meeting was cancelled!
The abnormality in this aroused everyone's vigilance.
After Feng Bao brought the words to the cabinet, he did not stay too long in the cabinet and immediately turned around and left, leaving only three people who were confused.
After Feng Bao left, Xu Jie began to sort out the currently known situation in his mind: "First, Yan Song, Yan Shifan and his son have not arrived at the cabinet for a long time, and then the emperor suddenly sent Feng Bao to inform that today's cabinet meeting was cancelled. What’s the connection between this?”
While Xu Jie was still racking his brains to think about the possibilities, Zhang Juzheng on the side seemed to suddenly think of something. After hesitating for a long time, he turned his eyes to everyone and lowered his voice.
"Do you think there is something wrong with Yan Song's health?"
Zhang Juzheng's words were like a bolt of lightning, erasing all the confusion in Xu Jie's mind.
After hearing what Zhang Juzheng said, Xu Jie slapped his thigh suddenly and said excitedly.
"Yes, this will explain everything!"
"Yan Song's health has some conditions, which has just caused the father and son to fail to arrive at the cabinet on time."
"As for His Majesty, after learning that Yan Song's body was in some condition, he sent Lu Fang to Yan Mansion to inquire about the news."
When Xu Jie said this, he paused for a moment and then continued.
"Otherwise, it should be Lu Fang who comes to the cabinet to bring a message!"
(End of chapter)
