"Your Majesty, the eldest prince, he, he..."
The eunuchs who had gone to deliver the imperial edict to Doudou to confer the title of crown prince came back in a hurry, panting and unable to speak clearly.
Seeing the eunuch's grim expression, Gu Huai thought something had happened to Doudou and hurriedly asked, "What on earth happened to the eldest prince?"
The eunuch didn't even dare to catch his breath before speaking, stammering to Gu Huai: "The eldest prince is missing. His servants said that he went to court early in the morning."
Gu Huai raised his eyebrows. Very good. The palace is so big that it won’t be difficult to hide.
"Your Majesty, could something have happened to the eldest prince? Should we..." the chief eunuch said with some concern.
Now the emperor and the empress only have one prince, the eldest prince. If something happens to the eldest prince, how sad the emperor and the empress will be.
If something like this happened shortly after the new emperor ascended the throne, I'm afraid the world will be in turmoil again.
"Don't panic, send people to search the palace carefully," Gu Huai paused and said again, "and guard all the gates of the palace."
The eunuch chief muttered, "Yes, yes, that's right. We must guard the palace gates tightly and not let the bad guys take the eldest prince away."
Gu Huai's mouth twitched. Who said that it was a bad guy who took Doudou away?
He thought it was most likely that the boy knew that he was going to appoint a crown prince and slipped away in advance.
He had calculated everything, but he had missed this!
"Your Majesty, the Empress asked me to come and ask you if you are free now. They are going to see off the envoys from the Baiyue Kingdom, and would like to ask Your Majesty if you are free to go with them?" Lian'er said.
Of course Gu Huai had to go. If it weren't for Doudou's matter, he would have gone there long ago.
After he finished explaining how to find Doudou, he changed into casual clothes and rushed to the South Gate. Xie Yunjiao and others were already waiting for him.
Gu Huai came over and greeted Jing Kai, and Jing Kai got into the carriage.
Gu Huai looked at Jing Kai's carriage and was stunned for a moment. Why did Jing Kai suddenly want to ride in a carriage? Shouldn't he normally ride a horse?
"My eldest brother said he didn't rest well last night and wanted to rest in the carriage for a while before riding a horse." Xie Yunjiao said.
Gu Huai understood. So that's how it was.
Last night, Jing Kai, he and Xie Yunjiao drank a little wine, and then he and Xie Yunjiao went back to rest.
I guess I have a headache because I drank too much.
If he hadn't had to get up early this morning to attend court, and if he hadn't been thinking about appointing a crown prince, he might have drunk too much.
"Why don't you give him some sobering medicine? He'll feel better." Gu Huai said.
When he woke up this morning, Xie Yunjiao gave him some spiritual spring water, fearing that drinking alcohol would affect his performance when he went to court.
"He said it was boring to take medicine all the time."
Jing Kai's ideas are different from others, so she doesn't force him.
Gu Huai looked around and said, "Where's your son? His uncle left today, why didn't he come to see him off?"
"Don't you know where he went? I thought he didn't come because he was unhappy about you appointing him as the crown prince." Xie Yunjiao said.
Gu Huai told Xie Yunjiao that Doudou did not attend court, but the people in the palace said that he went out early in the morning.
He had reason to suspect that Doudou had run away and hidden.
Xie Yunjiao said, "I guess he knew it in advance and is angry with you. You should try to comfort him."
Gu Huai said, "I understand."
***
Doudou looked at Jing Kai in front of him. He was sitting in the carriage seriously and didn't hide. Why didn't Jing Kai drive him out?
"Don't you want to leave? Why should I chase you away?"
As if he guessed what Doudou was thinking, Jing Kai said.
Doudou said to Jing Kai with a smile: "Thank you, uncle. You really are my good uncle."
"Where are you planning to go? Are you going to walk around the city and go back out of spite, or do you want to walk a little further before getting off?" Jing Kai asked.
If Doudou said he wanted to go farther away, he would take him farther, but not too far, because he was afraid that Xie Yunjiao would know that Doudou was missing and would worry if she couldn't find him.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already written the letter, but I haven’t decided where I want to go yet.
You take me with you first." Doudou said calmly.
Jing Kai looked at Doudou and thought that this kid was really brave, running away from home at such a young age.
He also said that he had already written the letter.
Xie Yunjiao has a headache because she has a son like this.
"They were the ones who wanted to trick me first. I was so young, and they wanted me to inherit the throne so they could go out and play." Doudou paused and said, "I want to go out and play too."
Jing Kai looked at Doudou, feeling mixed emotions.
He had heard Xie Yunjiao praise the child for being sensible.
It seems that I was too sensible when I was young, and now that I am older, I have such rebellious thoughts.
but……
"We really can't let them have it too easy," Jing Kai said.
What a fool that couple is! Not only did they leave the Baiyue Kingdom to him to manage, but they also wanted to leave such a big Jiuzhou Kingdom to a tiny Doudou to manage. How could that be possible!
"Just follow me and play all the way. When you want to go back, tell me." Jing Kai said.
Doudou smiled and replied, "Okay."
***
Gu Huai and others searched almost the entire palace but couldn't find Doudou. It was almost certain that Doudou had run away from home.
Later, Xie Yunjiao found the letter Doudou left for them in Doudou's bedroom, and only then did she confirm that Doudou had really left home.
After learning about this, Ruan Qinghe and the old lady even stopped playing mahjong, their hearts filled with worry.
"How could he be so cruel? He left home at such a young age and didn't even take Lian Jin with him. What if something happened on the way?" Old Mrs. Lian said worriedly.
Lian Jin had entered the military camp and was undergoing training, so he had no idea that Doudou had left the palace.
Ruan Qing glanced at Xie Yunjiao and Gu Huai unhappily and said, "It's because these two parents are unreliable. The child is so young and yet he wants to put the burden of governing the country on other people's shoulders.
That's why people can't bear the heavy responsibility and run away from home!"
After she finished speaking, she glanced at Gu Huai intently.
Gu Huai laughed dryly, thinking that he had offended his mother-in-law.
"Mother, please don't be angry. We just want to appoint a crown prince in advance so that the brothers won't fight with each other in the future." Xie Yunjiao said.
"Brother? Where did this brother come from?" When Ruan Qing reacted, he stared at Xie Yunjiao's belly without blinking.
"Are you pregnant? Why didn't you tell us in advance about such a big thing?" Ruan Qing said excitedly.
"No, not yet. I'm just saying if I have a child. Besides, even if I have one now, it may not be a boy." Xie Yunjiao said helplessly.
Come on, Ruan Qing was just being nice, but now he started to look at her in a bad mood because of what she said.
"It was all for nothing. No wonder Doudou ran away from home. My poor grandson is so young..."
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