Hearing him speak, it felt like I had brushed past the gates of hell and returned.
Indeed, to be with a ruler is like being with a tiger.
It's better not to meet, not to be companions.
Prince Xia's ailment was a persistent, recurring high fever. He secretly used a mercury thermometer to measure it; it had reached a staggering 42 degrees Celsius.
Gu Zhaobei employed every method to reduce the fever: medication, cold compresses, and even the method of bathing to lower body temperature, all to no avail.
While Prince Xia soaked in the wooden tub, he shivered uncontrollably, startling Gu Zhaobei greatly.
However, it was precisely at this time, with Prince Xia completely undressed, that Gu Zhaobei discovered numerous abnormalities about him.
For instance, his pupils turned blood red, the whites of his eyes were completely covered, turning entirely red.
His fingernails also began to grow abnormally, seemingly trending towards the sharpness of a cat's or wolf's claws.
Gu Zhaobei secretly noted these strange phenomena in his mind, while also remaining vigilant.
Ever since discovering these anomalies, he instructed his subordinates to move Prince Xia and tried to keep his distance from him as much as possible.
He had a feeling that Prince Xia had been struck by some powerful technique, perhaps a new illness, and he was unsure how it might be transmitted.
Would it spread through bodily fluids like AIDS, or through droplets like the common cold? Thus, he became cautious.
"Young Master, the most important thing is to reduce the fever. You can trust the imperial physicians in the palace."
Gu Zhaobei gave the Young Master six capsules of ibuprofen sustained-release, diluted and placed in small bottles, one capsule per bottle, for a total of six bottles. If Prince Xia's fever persisted, the Young Master was to administer one bottle to Prince Xia every six hours.
What Gu Zhaobei gave the Young Master was a common antipyretic from a later era, hoping it would help Prince Xia preserve his life. There was little else he could do.
The Young Master politely saw him off.
He also had someone send him five bags of rice, a barrel of oil, a pound of salt, and one hundred taels of silver as a token of gratitude.
With the floods and famine, there would surely be shortages of clothing and food. The Young Master's gesture was quite benevolent.
Gu Zhaobei finally realized that perhaps they had watched too many palace intrigue dramas. Although the Young Master desperately wanted to inherit the throne, he ultimately would not kill his own father.
Even now, as Prince Xia's condition worsened, he had not given up on treatment. Looking back, they seemed to have misunderstood the Young Master earlier.
But this might also be the innate goodness of human nature emerging in the face of a natural disaster. In normal, stable times, if the Young Master were surrounded by enemies and facing adversity, blood might truly have stained the palace gates.
However, circumstances are always changing, and so are people's mindsets.
Gu Zhaobei didn't ponder further; it was their family matter anyway, and his safest bet was to return home safely.
From Prince Xia's ship, he transferred to the temporary boat that had brought him, and then, using a ladder from the temporary boat, he reached his own vessel and returned home.
As for the rice, oil, and salt sent by the Young Master, Gu Zhaobei bundled them up and carried them back with both hands.
After waiting anxiously for three days on his own boat, Gu Qingcheng finally saw her father return safely.
However, when her father reached their boat, Gu Qingcheng noticed the familiar mask on his face. He didn't take it off when he saw her and even whispered,
"Don't come near me."
"What's going on?" Gu Qingcheng's first thought was that Prince Xia's illness was contagious. Had her father also contracted it?
Gu Zhaobei waved at her and said,
"Don't approach me. Give me a separate cabin. I'll get my own meals every day, and you don't need to take care of me. Let's maintain strict isolation for seven days, understand?"
Upon hearing the sensitive number, Gu Qingcheng immediately understood what her father was worried about.
Prince Xia had invited him to treat an illness. What kind of illness? Hearing her father's words, it was undoubtedly a contagious and rather serious one.
Gu Zhaobei took out alcohol from the storage cabinet and sprayed it on himself and the food he had brought. Then, he left the food there and told Gu Qingcheng,
"Disinfect yourself later. I'm going to stay alone for now."
"Okay, the first cabin on the right on the second floor is unoccupied. You can stay there; it's fully equipped," Gu Qingcheng quickly replied.
"Alright. Don't worry, I'm in good health now and I'm fine. It's just that I'm concerned about the people over there, so I'm doing a self-observation period," Gu Zhaobei said.
"Dad, you don't need to say more, I understand."
Gu Qingcheng had basic common sense and saw her father's expression; how could she not understand what he was going through?
Gu Zhaobei nodded, a look of relief on his face, and headed directly upstairs. He opened the first cabin on the right and began his isolation.
Not only that, but being a doctor, he was cautious. As he went upstairs, he walked backward, spraying alcohol from a spray bottle along the path he had taken.
Only after entering the cabin and closing the door did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, he quickly removed his mask, took off all his clothes, packed them into a garbage bag, sealed it tightly, and prepared to dispose of them in the cruise ship's incinerator when he was allowed to go downstairs.
Next, he entered the bathroom and observed his reflection in the mirror.
Fortunately, apart from looking slightly haggard due to exhaustion, there were no other symptoms. His eyes were not bloodshot like Prince Xia's, and the nails on his fingers were smooth, showing no tendency towards animalization.
Gu Zhaobei breathed a sigh of relief, feeling very puzzled.
He actually didn't know what illness Prince Xia had that caused those symptoms.
Moreover, after boarding the ship, he hadn't seen the Princess or Prince Xia's second son again. Where had they gone?
Weren't the Princess and Prince Xia always inseparable, like Siamese twins?
It was truly difficult to imagine the Princess being away from Prince Xia for so long.
Unless!
The Princess had met with an accident!
She was no longer able to care for Prince Xia!
That was the only reason she might not be by Prince Xia's side.
Gu Zhaobei shook his head, not daring to think further.
He took a relaxing bath in the bathtub, then lay down on the bed and slept soundly.
With such luxurious modern amenities, no matter how many questions he had, he couldn't resist the allure of sweet slumber.
When he woke up, he looked out the cabin window; it was already dark outside. He figured he had slept for a day, which explained why he was hungry.
Gu Zhaobei took abalone and sea cucumber stewed with pork ribs, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of meatball and black fungus soup from the storage cabinet. He ate his fill.
Then, he put his used items into sealed garbage bags, just like the sealed clothes from yesterday, piling them in the bathroom.
Now that he was in the observation period, as long as seven days passed, he would generally be out of danger.
At that moment, there was a knock on the cabin door.
"Who is it?" Gu Zhaobei quickly asked.
"Old Gu, it's me. How are you? Are you okay?"
Outside, he heard his wife Hu Lanfang's anxious voice, tinged with tears. It was clear from her tone that she was very worried.