Ch.210 Blizzard (5)
His words are quite naive, but they were genuine, innocent and sincere.
The emperor looked at Gu Zhen with a smile, his smile then deepened, as he praised: "Zhen’er is so attentive."
Everything was extremely well prepared for this winter hunting trip. In this hunting palace, there was plenty of food and daily supplies, there was no shortages for any items. Even if they were trapped here for a month or two, it wouldn’t be a problem, the only thing was that their travel was limited, but it was a different story for the common folk.
If there was really a blizzard, the blizzard would damage the houses and freeze the crops, cattles, sheeps and poultries to death. Since ancient times, there were quite a number of poor folks who couldn’t survive the cold winter and froze to death.
Gu Jing noticed the emperor's bias, and became even more anxious, he then said hurriedly: "Father, if you are trapped here, who will deal with the imperial matters?"
"Father, you are the backbone of this kingdom, please think this through!"
Gu Jing hated Gu Zezhi even more in his heart. He could have used this to please his father, but now Gu Zezhi had ruined his opportunity.
"Your highness," Gu Zezhi said calmly, "You should head back to the capital first, and keep some men here to deal with the blizzard."
When the emperor heard this, he couldn't help but laugh. Well, he was so distracted by Gu Jing and Gu Zhen, this pair of brothers, that he was almost sidetracked.
Gu Jing's eyes, who had seemed somewhat frustrated at first, immediately noticed an opportunity from Gu Zezhi's words.
He asked hurriedly: "I ask for your permission for me to stay and preside over the situation!"
This is something he could do, but the five-year-old Gu Zhen couldn’t!
Moreover, if he could handle this matter well, no matter it being in the imperial court or amongst the common folk, it would be of great prestige, especially in the imperial court, those ministers will know that he could participate in imperial matters.
Not only that, he was the one who had noticed this blizzard, and his father would be able to witness his capabilities from this.
This was a great opportunity, one that he must not miss.
In order to persuade the emperor, Gu Jing continued to add on a bargaining chip for himself: "Father, I have visited Linpu Town in person a few days ago to check the county annals of nearly 30 years, and also asked around the town along with the county magistrate, hence I do have quite the understanding in terms of the people’s sentiments, and would be able to handle the situation properly."
The emperor didn't speak for a long time, as heturned the jade thumb ring on his thumb.
When Gu Jing finished speaking, the emperor looked at Gu Zezhi again with a smile, and asked, "Zezhi, what do you think?"
The emperor was more and more satisfied with Gu Zezhi, especially compared to his elder brother Gu Chenzhi…...
Gu Zezhi thought about it briefly and suggested: “I recall that Liu Shijing, the official from the Ministry of Industry, is rather skilled at this type of practical work. He has been in Jiangnan twice to deal with floods and has dealt with it effectively. He is also from Liaozhou. It snows heavily there, so he might have experience in dealing with snowstorms and blizzards."
"Okay, then we’ll go with Liu Shijing!" The emperor felt that Gu Zezhi's words sounded reasonable. He smiled and said, "Zezhi, you stay too."
Gu Zezhi stood up, accepted his orders, and then proposed: "Emperor, how about letting Zhen to stay as well?"
".….." Gu Jing couldn't intervene at all. He didn't expect things to develop in a completely different direction.
The emperor was shocked by Gu Zezhi's proposal again, and subconsciously moved his gaze towards Gu Zhen, who was snacking on the side, and couldn't help but wonder if Gu Zezhi had forgotten that Gu Zhen was only five years old.
Emperor:"……”
Gu Zezhi could naturally tell what was going through the emperor’s mind, and said with a smile: "Emperor, just for him to experience such a situation."
Gu Zhen looked at the emperor expectantly, his black-and-white eyes were shining, filled with hope, all that was left was to ask him to stay.
