[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son":3,"chapter-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-77":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Am the Xu Family's Son",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2307855,4510,"Chapter 77: Zhao Fang","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-77",77,"\u003Cp>【In previous chapters, Gu Tingbing was from the fourth branch of the Gu family! This has been corrected. Special note.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weather was unusually hot today, and the court was also on holiday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Sun Shi and Xu Zaijing arrived at the Empress’s palace, Xu Zaijing noticed that the palace maids and eunuchs serving seemed to have increased significantly—likely those from the Emperor’s personal retinue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After being announced, Xu Zaijing and his mother entered the main hall where the Empress resided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they entered, they heard the Emperor waving his hand saying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No more of this hot tea—bring me some chilled plum soup; I’m parched. Where’s the prince?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress immediately gestured for the attendants to replace it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s asleep in the side chamber.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sleeping is good—don’t disturb his dreams.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, two cups of plum soup were brought in and consumed by the Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor let out a comfortable sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, why are you so thirsty?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s too hot. Just walking a few steps left me parched.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t the palace maids prepare tea and soup?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Isn’t the tea here in the Empress’s palace the best? I’ve been missing it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned to look at his own Empress, yet felt he could never look his fill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last night he had rested in Consort Rong’s quarters, yet his thoughts had been on the Empress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Sun Shi and Xu Zaijing enter, the Emperor nodded with a smile—he still remembered this sensible and capable young nephew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, Empress,” Xu Zaijing bowed with his mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rise. Someone, bring Fang’er here—let him meet people,” the Empress ordered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Your Majesty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female official responded and went to fetch the child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prince was already four years old, at the age when he began to understand and speak, and was slowly growing mischievous—both a source of frustration and joy for the Empress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female official turned through a doorway into the room and saw the attendant maid fanning the prince beside his bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prince slept restlessly, his head turned toward the maid fanning him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he lay on his side, the entering official could see his face, but the maid fanning him could not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The official’s pupils dilated in shock—she realized something was wrong with the prince!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prince’s face was flushed crimson, his forehead drenched in sweat, and he was frantically rubbing his neck with his own hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This discovery shook her to her core, nearly causing her to collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forcing herself upright, she screamed: “Someone! Quick, someone!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the official’s cry, the Empress’s face turned pale with alarm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s expression darkened, his eyes filled with anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is this commotion?!” barked a senior eunuch behind the Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, summon the imperial physician! Hurry! The prince is in distress!” The official, legs trembling, staggered to the doorway and cried out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress rushed toward the prince’s room at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her complexion, once flushed, had turned visibly ashen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s eunuchs sprinted out to summon the attending physicians.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress entered the room and saw the prince clutching his throat, his face red and swollen, turning purple. She screamed at the top of her lungs:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Summon the physician! Summon the physician! Where is the physician?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice had become utterly shrill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor’s face was grim and panicked; he roared in a strained voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go fetch him now! If anything happens to my son, I’ll have your entire families executed!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, the Empress shoved aside the attending maid and took the prince into her own arms, pounding his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But something was lodged in the prince’s airway—he showed no sign of coughing it up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi and Xu Zaijing had also followed the crowd to the room’s entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A middle-aged imperial physician was dragged in by the eunuchs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Make way! The physician is here! Make way!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he approached the Empress, the physician remained calm—until he hadn’t yet seen the prince.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once he pushed through the crowd and saw the prince’s condition, his face turned ashen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He immediately understood the prince was nearly suffocated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The physician’s hands trembled as he knelt on the ground: “Your Majesty, forgive me—the prince has been choked by a foreign object for too long. I—I—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor kicked the physician hard in the chest, sending him sprawling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go summon another! Hurry! Hurry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing glimpsed the prince’s condition through the gap left by the physician’s passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, knowledge from his past life flooded his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing shoved aside the eunuchs and maids blocking his path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi’s face was filled with anxiety, but she could do nothing—seeing her son move forward, she whispered urgently:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jingge’er, what are you doing?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reached the Empress’s side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress was in utter panic, her eyes brimming with tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fang’er, Fang’er, try to spit it out! Where is the physician?! Why aren’t they here yet?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, the physician—he—he—” the maid said, glancing at the kneeling physician.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty, let me try,” Xu Zaijing said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Get out of here, you—” The Empress’s face twisted with fury, her voice trembling with panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was her healthiest son—she had shielded him from so many hidden daggers and open blades—how could this happen now?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress’s mind was on the verge of collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when she saw it was Xu Zaijing standing before her, her eyes flickered with a sliver of hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor, watching Xu Zaijing approach, was filled with panic and fury toward the physician—he snapped at Sun Shi: “What is he doing?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi immediately knelt: “Your Majesty, forgive me—Wu Lang only cares for the prince.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor stared at his son’s face, voice cracking with tears:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s just a boy of ten—what can he do? My son! My son!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His final words carried utter despair; had it not been for the eunuch behind him holding him up, he would have collapsed to the floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The physician trembled even more as he knelt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress, however, saw a last straw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jingge’er, Jingge’er, what are you going to do? Tell me!” The Empress’s hands shook, her voice pleading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The prince, Zhao Fang, in her arms, was struggling harder to breathe—he had never felt such agony in his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mother’s pounding on his back did nothing—he felt his chest would burst, his throat emitting a hoarse, dying-goose sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body strained desperately to draw in air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his worst moment, when he wanted to tear open his own chest, when he was about to faint—he heard Xu Zaijing say: “Your Majesty, let me try.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Empress, having pounded his back countless times, placed the prince’s lifeless, ashen face into Xu Zaijing’s arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She collapsed to the floor, whispering:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jingge’er is blessed! Jingge’er is blessed! My son! My son! My child!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the Empress was no longer the Empress of Zhou—she was merely a mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had seen the physician’s face—she had already prepared for the worst. She had endured the piercing pain of losing children before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing was her last, fragile thread of hope and comfort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The author’s bowl has no oil; reader support eases a thousand sorrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All kinds of recommendations, monthly votes, tips—please, I beg you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thank you for your support. If you find typos or awkward phrasing, please kindly point them out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(`) Sending love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1220,"2026-06-20T10:32:38.675Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","88bb48dc63df3b6d08868e70d32cb80fab2bff393426b1faffb88c740756deed","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-78","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-76",790,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-am-the-xu-family-s-son-cover.jpg"]