Chapter 67: Keep a low profile and bide your time
Lord Sun was asking about the current situation at the border. He wanted to know how Chi Hongyuan would break the impasse if he were in his place.
"Since we are on the verge of battle, why do we need to change the commander at the last minute? Why can't we wait until we have dealt with the enemy's offensive before making any plans?"
Chi Hongyuan's answer was beyond everyone's expectations, not because it was insightful, but because it was ridiculously stupid.
Lord Sun's pupils shrank, and he turned to ask Chi Hongyuan some tactical questions.
"I would like to ask Your Highness, given that our army is short of food and fodder, and the food and fodder support from the rear will not arrive for another half month, how will Your Highness stabilize the people's hearts and dispatch the soldiers to mediate with the enemy in half a month?"
Lord Sun only asked the most basic questions about attack and defense and the most common problems when two armies fight each other, but Chi Hongyuan's answers were unsatisfactory, even worse than the prince's strategy.
The ministers who were listening to the speech shook their heads imperceptibly and sighed in their hearts. Their only hope was shattered before their eyes.
The emperor listened and shook his head in disappointment, wondering how he could have had any hope for an abandoned child who had been thrown into the cold palace for many years. He was really trying all kinds of methods to cure his illness.
Facing the disappointed looks from others, Chi Hongyuan kept his head down.
Lord Sun was different from the others. Apart from the initial shock, his expression never changed. When the emperor was about to ask Chi Hongyuan to leave, Lord Sun spoke first.
"Your Highness, please raise your head. I taught you when you were a child that as His Majesty's prince, you don't have to be servile when speaking to others. Raise your head and straighten your back."
Lord Sun guided Chi Hongyuan patiently, and he raised his head as Lord Sun said.
"Your Highness." Lord Sun looked at Chi Hongyuan meaningfully. "The situation in the court is tense now. There is no commander at the border. The situation is critical. Although there are fewer disputes in the cold palace, how can the eggs in an overturned nest remain intact?"
The old man spoke earnestly, and even the other ministers were moved. Chi Hongyuan's eyes flickered, and the timid look in his eyes changed imperceptibly.
"You and Empress Rong have had a hard time these past few years. As a filial son, how could you not know that a mother's status is determined by her son? Therefore, please carefully consider the question I just asked before answering."
The emperor sat on the dragon throne, listening to what Lord Sun said, and vaguely felt that something was wrong.
As soon as Lord Sun finished speaking, Chi Hongyuan remained silent for a long while, not knowing whether he understood or not.
When Chi Hongyuan raised his eyes, his timid and wandering look had become firm and resolute, and he gave corresponding tactical answers to the questions raised by Lord Sun before.
His eloquent speech was completely different from the timid Ninth Prince a quarter of an hour ago. They were not like the same person. The tactical angle that Chi Hongyuan talked about was very different from what they thought, but it was very insightful.
The ministers, who had originally thought that the crisis at the border was difficult to resolve, were dumbfounded. The emperor was so smart that he could not imagine that his son was just concealing his shortcomings before, and after he finished answering, he slammed the table.
"How dare you! Since you have such talent, why do you pretend to be mysterious and hide your incompetence in front of me! You are committing the crime of deceiving the emperor. What will happen to you?" The emperor did not expect that his seemingly stupid son was just pretending.
The emperor was the most suspicious, and what's more, this man was the grandson of General Rong, which made him even more suspicious.
The emperor was furious, and all the ministers present knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, please calm down."
At this moment, Chi Hongyuan, who was the target of the attack, knelt down in fear and pleaded guilty: "Please calm down, father, and listen to my explanation first. I dare not stand out in front of others. I have no choice. If I hadn't restrained my edge, how could I have lived to this day?"
With red eyes, Chi Hongyuan explained to the emperor what he had experienced over the years.
"My father is kind and merciful. Although he sent my mother and I to the cold palace, he still allowed me to study at the Imperial Academy. People in the palace flatter the powerful and bully the weak. After I was sent to the cold palace, even the palace servants bossed me around."
Listening to Chi Hongyuan's appeal, the ministers in the imperial study all had strange expressions on their faces, but because they lowered their heads, the emperor did not pay attention to them, so no one pursued the matter.
Chi Hongyuan's voice choked up, "Father, you don't know that the palace people don't treat me and my mother as human beings. Whenever I go to the academy to study, after being praised by the teacher, my desk and even the articles I wrote will be scribbled all over."
He described every detail of what happened back then, which shows how much of a blow these things had dealt to the young Chi Hongyuan.
After the emperor threw the deposed empress and his unimportant son into the cold palace, he never paid attention to them again. As for not forbidding Chi Hongyuan from going to the Imperial College, he didn't want the world to say that he was too ruthless in the matter of the Rong family being exterminated.
Chi Hongyuan told the emperor about his experiences. Although he was surprised, he knew that these things were bound to happen. It was just that he was too lazy to pay attention to his son before.
"Your Highness, don't be afraid. Tell him all the grievances you suffered in the past. His Majesty will understand you."
Chi Hongyuan paused for a long time before continuing. Lord Sun looked at him gently and led him to continue.
Chi Hongyuan, with a hollow look in his eyes, seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and continued to talk about the harsh treatment and humiliation he had suffered in his early years.
"Later, my secretary disappeared and my pen was broken. I endured all this and wanted to study hard so that the emperor would notice me. But not long after, someone pushed me into the lotus pond."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed. The ministers who were listening felt a little regretful. If they had known that the Ninth Prince would say these things, they should have retreated outside the hall and waited.
At this moment, the Ninth Prince was talking about old things, which were actually His Majesty's family affairs, and they always felt awkward listening to them.
"You said that when you fell into the water, someone pushed you in?" The emperor was trembling in his heart. He had neglected Chi Hongyuan a lot in those days, but at that time he thought that Chi Hongyuan fell into the water because he was playful and careless.
"Yes, I dare not lie to you, father." Chi Hongyuan nodded solemnly, "I still remember clearly what that man said when he pushed me into the water and cursed me on the shore."
"What?" Realizing that someone wanted to attack Chi Hongyuan back then, the emperor's expression became serious.
"That man said, 'You are just a stray dog. Do you think you can ever make a name for yourself?' I curse you to drown in this pond. Even if you don't die, you will be drowned into a fool and spend the rest of your miserable and lowly life in mediocrity and lowliness!"
Chi Hongyuan repeated the curse of the man. This was not to exaggerate his own misery, but every word was heart-wrenching and absolutely true. The person who pushed him into the water wanted him to die, but he did not die.
However, since then, Chi Hongyuan has indeed become "honest". He no longer goes to the Imperial College and even doesn't say much at palace banquets.
Noticing his changes, many princes and palace servants ridiculed Chi Hongyuan, saying that he had become a fool.
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