By the third Revert to a previous save, the Tianyou Emperor had completely lost interest.
"Empress, let's retire early," he said, removing the Empress's hand before closing his eyes to sleep.
At this moment, his mind was anything but calm.
Why was he forced to Revert to a previous save even after the child had left?
This realization made the Tianyou Emperor feel that all his elaborate efforts to cheat and send the child away were nothing but a joke.
No matter how frustrated he was, Jiang Huanghou remained completely unaware. In the darkness, she cast a suspicious glance at the man beside her.
His Majesty was in his prime—how could he show no reaction at all?
Had His Majesty's vitality declined to such an extent that he was urgently selecting a prince to pray for blessings on his behalf?
Jiang Huanghou worried all night without sleeping.
Early the next morning, when the Tianyou Emperor went to the Morning court session, she got up to help him dress and sneakily glanced at his lower abdomen. Sure enough, it was completely flat below the belly.
Jiang Huanghou thought to herself: This concerns a man's dignity, so she definitely couldn't say it outright, nor could she easily ask an Imperial Physician about it.
After returning to Fengqi Palace, she directly summoned the Chief Imperial Physician and had him prescribe numerous dietary remedies for kidney tonification and virility enhancement.
As soon as the Chief Imperial Physician left, a young eunuch immediately went to report to Wen Guifei.
Wen Guifei was chatting idly with Jing Pin and a few others when she heard the young eunuch's report. Puzzled, she asked, "Why would the Empress have the Chief Imperial Physician prescribe dietary remedies for kidney tonification and virility enhancement?"
Jing Pin's eyes shifted thoughtfully before she continued, "I heard that yesterday His Majesty granted the Empress an audience and even had her serve him in bed."
Wen Guifei narrowed her eyes: "Right after serving him in bed, she seeks such medicine from the Imperial Physician… Could it be…" Is the Emperor impotent?
None of the women present dared to say it aloud.
But they all silently agreed that His Majesty was impotent.
His Majesty hadn't favored the rear palace for over a month, and recently he had shown no interest in holding court. Could it be that it wasn't due to physical weakness or aversion to wind?
But rather because he was impotent, which was why he sent the Seventh Prince to pray for blessings?
When it came to showing concern for His Majesty, they certainly couldn't fall behind. Soon, Wen Guifei, Jing Pin, and several other consorts also summoned Imperial Physicians to prescribe tonics.
As soon as they took action, the entire rear palace became aware. Everyone quickly guessed the truth about the Emperor.
Thus, that very day, after the Tianyou Emperor had barely escaped from the cycle of repeating the Morning court session ten times, food boxes continuously arrived before him.
The Tianyou Emperor frowned at the table full of food boxes and asked Feng Lu, "What's going on?"
Feng Lu shook his head, "This servant doesn't know either. Just before court ended, the Empress sent a food box, saying it contained tonic soup. Afterwards, Wen Guifei and the other consorts also sent food boxes."
Since it concerned the Emperor's dignity, no one dared to explicitly say they were sending kidney-tonifying and virility-enhancing soups. When delivering them, they all claimed they had personally prepared the soup and begged His Majesty to please taste it.
Just as the Tianyou Emperor was about to order someone to open the food boxes for inspection, Chancellor Jiang and officials from the Six Ministries arrived outside.
Being as diligent as he was, he naturally summoned them in first.
Chancellor Jiang presented a detailed memorial on 'military reform,' bluntly stating that in these peaceful times, the excessive military power held by the Western Path nobles was not a good thing.
These Western Path nobles referred to none other than Duke Wen and his faction.
The Tianyou Emperor had long held similar thoughts, but due to the influence of the Western Path nobles, military reform had been repeatedly delayed.
After carefully reading the memorial and listening to Chancellor Jiang and the Six Ministries officials explain their ideas, his previously gloomy mood slightly improved.
The council meeting reached a temporary conclusion, and the Tianyou Emperor thought of the soups sent by the consorts. Unable to finish them all himself, he ordered the food boxes to be distributed among the officials.
Chancellor Jiang and the others were overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, but when the food boxes were placed before them, they were all taken aback.
Deer antler and dragon bone soup, deer whip and black chicken soup, angelica and mutton soup… These were all tonics for kidney health and vitality.
What did it mean for the consorts to collectively send such soups to His Majesty?
Everyone’s gaze instinctively drifted toward the Tianyou Emperor’s lower abdomen: No wonder His Majesty was in such a hurry to send the Seventh Prince to pray for blessings—the Dragon Vein had weakened to such an extent!
At the same time, the Tianyou Emperor stared at the soup in front of him.
Feeling the intense, questioning gazes of the ministers, he turned to Feng Zongguan with a dark expression.
Feng Zongguan felt utterly wronged: The consorts had specifically emphasized that these were merely ordinary nourishing soups, and it was Your Majesty who ordered them distributed.
Before the Tianyou Emperor could even attempt to explain, Chancellor Jiang rose and said, "Your Majesty, this old servant is advanced in years and cannot bear such rich nourishment. You handle countless affairs daily and must take care of your health!"
Officials from the other six ministries also rose one after another, urging the Tianyou Emperor to take care of his health.
The Tianyou Emperor gritted his teeth and insisted, "We are in excellent health!"
Chancellor Jiang soothed him, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty is strong and vigorous, full of vitality!"
The officials from the other six ministries echoed in unison, "Your Majesty is strong and vigorous, full of vitality!"
After repeating this three times, the Tianyou Emperor felt deeply insulted.
To make matters worse, time had not reversed at this moment.
Suppressing the urge to flip the table, he waited until Chancellor Jiang and the others had left, then sent someone to investigate.
Good heavens—the entire palace was spreading rumors that he suffered from kidney deficiency and was… inadequate in that regard.
After Feng Zongguan repeated the news to him eight times, the Tianyou Emperor felt utterly disheartened.
Was it just because he had neglected the Empress last night? How had he become impotent in a single day?
But that wasn’t the end of it. Immediately afterward, Empress Jiang came to apologize.
With red-rimmed eyes, she explained, "Your servant was merely concerned about Your Majesty’s health and privately summoned the Chief Imperial Physician to prescribe some nourishing herbs. I don’t know how it was discovered by those with ill intentions, leading to misunderstandings about Your Majesty…"
The Tianyou Emperor couldn’t bring himself to reprimand her and patiently comforted Empress Jiang for a few words. Just as he had managed to calm her, she knelt on the ground and repeated her explanation…
The entire day passed in fits and starts, feeling as long as a year.
Exhausted, the Tianyou Emperor sent Empress Jiang away and then coldly ordered, "Feng Lu, pass down the order: anyone who dares to send nourishing medicine from now on will be fined six months' salary and placed under house arrest for one month. Any servant in the palace who dares to spread unfounded rumors will receive forty strokes of the cane."
Feng Lu nodded and hurried off to carry out the order.
When he returned, he found the Tianyou Emperor leaning wearily on the dragon throne, feigning sleep.
Thinking the emperor was asleep, Feng Lu fetched a blanket to cover him. But before he could approach, the Tianyou Emperor asked, "Where is the Seventh Prince now?"
The Tianyou Emperor had been wondering: Was the distance not far enough, so the effects persisted?
Feng Zongguan bowed and replied, "Based on the carriage’s speed, he should have reached Huaizhou by now." The Seventh Prince was young and couldn’t endure the rigors of travel, so he certainly wouldn’t be moving quickly.
The Tianyou Emperor rubbed his temples: He would have to endure for half a day longer. Once the child had traveled farther, he would see if things improved.
And so, he patiently waited another half a day.
But that half-day was even more tumultuous—time seemed to reverse almost every second.
Staring at the mountain of memorials he had already reviewed six times, the Tianyou Emperor could endure it no longer.
Xiao Qi must be brought back immediately, and from now on, he must remain by his side at all times!
The Tianyou Emperor immediately drafted an edict, ordering the shadow guard to ride posthaste with the oral decree to bring the person back.
From Yujing to Huaizhou, the journey by carriage would take three days, but if the shadow guard traveled day and night, they could catch up in at most one day.
After the Tianyou Emperor barely endured one day, he found himself trapped within a span of two ke (approximately 30 minutes). This day simply refused to pass.
Unprecedentedly anxious, the emperor felt as if a whole jiazi (60 years) had gone by before time finally moved forward.
Not long after, news came from the shadow guard: the Seventh Prince had fallen ill and could not be moved.
The Tianyou Emperor sighed inwardly, thinking, "One who digs a pit for others falls into it himself!"