Ch.211 Blizzard (6)
The emperor saw as Gu Zhen acted this way, his heart softened, he then gave it another thought: Yes, instead of asking Gu Zhen to constantly study, it's better for him to experience more things in the world. Although he was still young, he would remember some of the things he has seen with his very own eyes and heard with his own ears.
"Zezhi, you have to take good care of Zhen’er."
The implied meaning of the emperor's words was that he agreed to this idea.
Gu Zhen blinked, and couldn't help but confirm this fact yet again: "Father, can I really stay here?"
The emperor was amused by his surprised look, and nodded: "Do you want to stay?"
"Yes!" Gu Yu nodded vigorously.
Seeing how lovely the father and son pair were, Gu Jing's heart sank little by little, and his heart went cold.
This Gu Zezhi was going against himself for every single matter. If he really became the crown prince, doesn't it mean that Gu Zhen would have yet another powerful support?!
Gu Jing settled down and recommended himself again: "I can stay too, and help take care of the Sixth Brother."
As long as he can stay, he still has the opportunity to take credit for this matter. As long as the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty could see his contributions, the emperor couldn’t just wipe away his merits.
However———
"There’s no need for that." The emperor vetoed his proposal without hesitation, and said in an unquestionable tone, "You can return to the capital with me."
"Father!" Gu Jing's face turned pale, as if he had been slapped on the spot.
He was completely excluded from this matter. He spent so much thought on this, wouldn't it mean that he was handing over all his blood, sweat and tears to someone else?!
The emperor raised his hand and made a gesture, indicating that there was no need to say anything more.
Gu Jing could only keep silent, his thin lips pursed into a straight line.
The emperor’s gaze wasn’t on him anymore, and directly ordered: "Zhou Xin, pass on my verbal order, we’ll set off to the capital in three days."
So, on the same day, the whole of the hunting palace had heard the news.
According to previous years’ practices, they would stay in the hunting palace at least until the 21st of the month. Now that it has suddenly been pushed forward for so many days, everyone would inevitably gossip and discuss amongst themselves in private, but no one dared to ask the emperor about this and could just start to pack.
The emperor’s verbal statement did not mention anything about the blizzard, but it only took a few hours before the whole of the hunting palace knew that it was the second prince who checked the county annals and speculated that a blizzard would hit anytime now. Only then did the emperor decide to head back to the capital and ordered Liu Shijing, Gu Zezhi and the Sixth Prince to stay back and preside over the situation.
Hence, someone immediately suggested that the Sixth Prince was too young of age, and it was not appropriate for him to stay in the hunting palace to call the shots. It would be more appropriate for the second prince to take up this role, but the emperor had rejected all these suggestions.
Following this, many clans and honoraries also raised this issue.
All of a sudden, the original peace in the hunting palace no longer existed, and chaos unfolded.
Several princesses rushed to look for Empress Wei, and wanted Empress Wei to help persuade the emperor. In result, Empress Wei only listened calmly, but didn't say a word, as if she didn’t hear them at all.
Empress Wei was not as calm as she seemed. Gu Zhen was only five years old. This would be the first time for him to leave her side.
In contrast, Gu Zhen was not worried at all and was excited.
Empress Wei was not someone who couldn’t differentiate what was good and what was bad. She knew that Gu Zezhi proposed to keep Gu Zhen back in the hunting palace for Gu Zhen’s own good.
Gu Jing was a prince who was about to reach adulthood, and Gu Zhen was still a child. Although he was the son of the emperor’s legitimate wife, in this dynasty, they focus more on the superiority of the capable, this kingdom also doesn’t crown a young emperor. It will not be easy for Gu Zhen to fight over him.
