Go all out.

The Hall of Diligent Governance.

Emperor Hui had never been so angry.

When the Tubo, Western Xia, Uyghur, and Liao dynasties launched large-scale invasions, Emperor Hui would feel anxious and resentful, but he would not be this angry.

The Xie family were all his subjects. Xie An disobeyed the imperial decree to be exiled to Yazhou, yet he dared to run away and establish a new country!

And Xie Zhaozhao, Jing Chen loves her so much, yet she actually ran away to commit adultery!

That's fine. It's only been less than half a year since the establishment of the organization, and they've already sent him their credentials and are negotiating with him on an equal footing.

They said they wanted to borrow the road to do some serious business and enjoy the scenery, but let alone 10,000 shi of grain, even 1 million shi wouldn't be allowed to pass!

That frivolous girl who hasn't even grown her hair yet also became an empress and wants to attack Daqian.

This is truly a sign of the world going to the dogs; even women are rebelling!

Emperors are so worthless, even women can become emperors!

"My esteemed ministers, what should we do?"

The Grand Tutor said, "Your Majesty, can you even listen to what I'm saying?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? You haven't even said anything yet, how can you think I'm not listening?"

"Your Majesty, the most urgent matter is for you to quickly bestow the title of Prince upon His Highness the Second Prince (Zhou Shaoyu), no, to make him Crown Prince..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Minister of Rites angrily retorted, "Has the Grand Tutor lost his mind? Does he intend to depose the Crown Prince and install a new one?"

The Grand Tutor said, "Making the Seventh Prince the Crown Prince was a joke. If the Second Prince had been made Crown Prince much earlier, none of this would have happened!"

They argued heatedly in the imperial court, their faces turning red with rage.

Once the Xie family is mentioned, it's an endless saga of past grievances.

"Stop arguing!" Emperor Hui roared. "Make a decision quickly."

The pro-war faction advocated for war, while the peace faction argued, "What will we use to fight? We'll need to organize an army of 500,000 to fight them. Do you know how many soldiers, money, and provisions that will take? The national treasury is empty. How can we fight?"

The pro-war faction said, "Then go and negotiate! They've already brought the enemy to our doorstep, and all you do is talk nonsense."

The majority of the pro-war military officers, in their anxiety, uttered a rebellious remark: "Alas, if only Madam Gu were still alive. Back then, when we fought the Wei clan, the money, provisions, and weapons were all donated by her personally..."

In short, the entire court fell silent.

So, just how much silver and grain has the eldest daughter of the Xie family hoarded? That she dared to launch a major attack against the Jade Dragon Kingdom only six months after its founding?

Emperor Hui remained silent, watching his ministers argue.

The Crown Prince has been terrified these days. The ministers in the court openly and secretly think that he is not only a useless person, but also an obstacle.

They're just occupying the toilet without doing their job, and they're even blocking Emperor Jingchen's path.

Many times, Crown Prince Zhou Jingqi cried in front of Consort Jing, saying that he did not want to be the Crown Prince and that the court officials would skin him alive.

Consort Jing always said, "Jingqi, you must hold on. Let the officials in the court argue if they want. As long as they are afraid of death, they will find their own way to deal with it."

However, it was truly terrifying that the officials in the imperial court would fight each other every time.

He didn't want to come, but his mother forced him, saying that if he didn't become the crown prince, Zhou Jingchen would kill him.

Emperor Hui looked at the bluish-gray circles under his youngest son's eyes, sighed, and said, "Jingqi, go back and rest. Your father will handle these matters."

Quanfu immediately took Zhou Jingqi to rest.

Emperor Hui said to Hua Zisheng, "Take some men to Qingpu Garden and tell Jingchen that I haven't seen Heng'er for a long time and miss him very much. Tell him to bring the child to me so I can see him."

Hua Zisheng said with a smile, "That's right. The little prince's birthday is on the first day of the ninth month. He's already eight months old. He should be able to sit up and eat his snacks by himself by now."

Emperor Hui ordered him to lead fifty imperial guards, and Hua Zisheng's heart skipped a beat.

Your Majesty doesn't want to see the child; you want to snatch it away!

The group went to Qingpu Garden and knocked on the door for a while before a servant came.

Hua Zisheng asked with a smile, "Is His Highness in the manor?"

The servant exclaimed in surprise, "Steward Hua? My master has been in mourning for his parents for a long time!"

"Where did he go to observe mourning for his parents?"

"Ouyang Old House".

"Where is Master Heng?"

“Let’s go together. Master Heng is so young, and his mother isn’t by his side. Wouldn’t it be too pitiful if His Highness wasn’t by his side either?”

Well, they've vanished without a trace.

Emperor Hui ordered the Palace Guards to search for Zhou Shaoyu at the Gu family's old residence in Ouyang and bring him back. He also wrote a special imperial edict: "You must return upon seeing this imperial edict, or I will severely punish you."

Meanwhile, the Grand Tutor was urgently dispatched to the south to negotiate with Lu Feiyan.

As for Xie Zhaozhao's letter requesting passage, he wrote "disagree" with a flourish of his pen, and denounced Xie Zhaozhao's wolfish ambitions, saying that if she dared to utter any more wild words, he would separate her from Zhou Qiheng forever.

The person who sent Xie Zhaozhao the letter back to the country was none other than Zhang Yanyan's husband, Liu Mingxuan, and Minister Ma of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Report: Due to the severe winter snow and ice, Yongxing Military Prefecture has suffered heavy casualties among people and livestock. The people are starving and destitute, and robbery, murder, and arson are rampant. The border troops are short of supplies and are engaging in serious conflicts with the disaster victims and famine victims..."

"Report: Bandits have robbed the official salt transport ships, resulting in eight salt ships being punctured and sunk, and all the salt bags being stolen."

"Report! People south of the Huai River are storming the government offices..."

The officials began to argue fiercely.

After arguing for a while, they looked at Emperor Hui and saw that His Majesty had already leaned back on the dragon throne and fallen asleep!

Everyone fell silent.

The people from the Palace Guard went to the old residence of the Gu family in Ouyang. The people at the old residence said, "His Highness took his son to go horseback riding."

The men from the Palace Guard rushed to the fields and saw Zhou Shaoyu carrying Zhou Qiheng, followed by Nanxing leading a horse.

Zhou Qiheng was eight months old and couldn't speak, but his eyes were very bright. He had already seen a person riding a horse coming from the road.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!