Knowing the Empress's worries, Cuiyu comforted her, "Young Master Ruyu is clever; perhaps he will gain His Majesty's favor and have a brighter future."

"The future is bright, being by the emperor's side..."

She couldn't solve the problem that the Empress was worried about, so Cuiyu remained silent and offered no further comfort.

She believed her master would understand.

...

When I woke up, everyone was gone, except for Eunuch He, whom I knew from yesterday.

The child opened his eyes and got out of bed with considerable movement, which Grandpa He noticed very quickly.

"Young Master Ruyu is awake?"

Qingyin nodded blankly. Her pretty, porcelain-doll-like face still had a few stray hairs standing up because she had just woken up, making her look both innocent and adorable.

The smile in Eunuch He's eyes deepened unconsciously.

Regardless of whether this young master is His Majesty's child or not, with that face, it's no wonder His Majesty dotes on him.

Eunuch He helped Qingyin change into an exquisite brocade robe sent by Emperor Chongzhao. Clothes make the man, and this made the already handsome young master even more so.

Eunuch He knew that Qingyin had a speech impediment and spoke rather slowly most of the time. He would always ask Qingyin for her opinion before doing anything.

One can't help but sigh that none of the eunuchs who could serve the emperor were simple.

After Qingyin finished her breakfast, Eunuch He carried her to the side courtyard of the Taiji Hall where His Majesty worked.

This was also what His Majesty had instructed beforehand.

In the main courtyard of the Taiji Hall, Emperor Chongzhao, having finished his court session, was discussing southern political affairs with several ministers.

Li Yuanzhen stood quietly by the side, always attentive to His Majesty's needs.

Soon, a young eunuch quietly entered and tugged at Li Yuanzhen's sleeve.

Li Yuanzhen knew something was wrong outside and guessed that the young master from the Taihe Hall had woken up and been brought over.

He whispered something to the young eunuch, and without a sound, a different eunuch appeared in the hall.

In the side courtyard, Eunuch He saw the familiar head eunuch and bowed first: "This servant greets Eunuch Li."

Li Yuanzhen looked at Eunuch He, who was following behind Qingyin and taking care of her, and nodded with a reserved smile.

"Alright, take good care of Young Master Ruyu. His Majesty is currently discussing state affairs with several ministers and will be here shortly."

Eunuch He bowed his head and said, "Yes."

After confirming that the young master was in relatively good condition, Li Yuanzhen quietly returned to the palace.

Inside the inner palace, several ministers were discussing the current situation in the south with Emperor Chongzhao. In recent days, the south had experienced several droughts, resulting in a complete crop failure. Although no one in the south had starved to death yet, chaos was already brewing.

Emperor Chongzhao frowned, fiddled with the ring on his hand, and remained silent.

The ministers looked serious, but they were also a little apprehensive. The new emperor was not the conservative ruler he had been before. In other words, he was not easy to control. If things went wrong, he would really do something terrible. You should know that when this emperor first ascended the throne, blood was spilled in the capital for three days and three nights. For a whole month, no wealthy family in the capital dared to hold a banquet, for fear of offending the emperor and being punished.

Chen Yucheng, the minister in charge of finance, was a truly honest and upright official who couldn't stand seeing the people suffering. Seeing his silent colleagues, he felt a surge of anger.

These people are quick to act when they get something good, but when something bad happens, they hold it in tightly. He can't stand to see it happen.

Chen Yucheng said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I believe that given the current situation in the South, we must prepare for disaster relief. The South is powerful, and if the people go hungry for too long, it is hard to guarantee that more trouble will not arise."

Another minister with a long beard, Suotu, sneered, "Lord Chen is quite insightful, but the national treasury has always been limited. If it's all given to the south, what will happen to the warriors in the north? You should know that the northern barbarians have been keeping a close eye on us all along."

Chen Yucheng stroked his beard and glared: "Does Lord Suo intend to watch the people of the South starve to death?"

"That's not what I thought."

...

The noisy voices of the group reached Emperor Chongzhao's ears, only causing him great annoyance.

After discussing for a long time, they still couldn't come up with a solution, and only raised difficult questions. Emperor Chongzhao was so frustrated that his head felt like it was about to explode.

He coughed lightly, and everyone immediately fell silent.

We await His Majesty's decision.

"Alright, that's enough for today. All of you ministers, go back and think it over carefully. Tomorrow I would like to hear your insightful opinions."

The subtext is that we must come up with a solution for him tomorrow.

As they prepared to leave, the relaxed expressions on everyone's faces immediately turned into bitter ones.

As they left, the slower ones noticed that the Grand Eunuch Li Yuanzhen was urgently speaking to His Majesty, seemingly mentioning something like "We've arrived," "If...", and "Young Master."

These ministers were not fools. Based on just a few words, they deduced that the eunuch had mentioned the young prince who was highly valued by His Majesty and had been brought to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for a night, seemingly a hidden gem from overseas.

The group of people were distracted and suddenly became curious about what kind of child this was who could be favored by the emperor, who was known for his aloofness.

"Your Majesty, Young Master Ruyu has arrived at the side courtyard."

Emperor Chongzhao waved his hand, having finished his official duties, and decided to take a look at the child. "Alright, go ahead."

In the side courtyard, with His Majesty's attitude made clear this time, many toys appeared in front of Qingyin for him to play with, but the little wooden horse was always kept in Qingyin's peripheral vision.

He held a nine-linked ring in his hand, slowly unraveling it, with a pile of unraveled three-linked rings, four-linked rings, and so on beside him.

The palace eunuchs noticed his interest in unraveling the ring and brought it over specifically for him.

This is what Emperor Chongzhao saw: a little child holding a nine-linked ring puzzle, having already solved six rings, and trying to figure out the next step.

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