The following day, Xie Chang'an's seat remained empty until the morning reading session began.
Without needing to be wary of Xie Chang'an, Ye Jingchen slept exceptionally soundly during this morning reading session.
As soon as morning class ended, Yun Shu came up to Ye Jingchen and asked why she hadn't seen Xie Chang'an.
"Your Highness, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion sent someone to ask for leave on behalf of the young master, saying that he is sick and therefore will not be coming to school today," Fangfei said to Ye Jingchen.
"How did you get sick? You were perfectly fine yesterday!" Yun Shu's mood was visibly low, and she looked worried.
However, this did not stop him from eating heartily at breakfast.
"The reason Xie Chang'an is sick must be because he's too thin and doesn't eat enough!" he said while eating.
"I never get sick!" he said, showing off his chubby arms that looked like lotus roots.
Although Wu Zemin and Gu Beichen didn't say anything at the time, they ate half a bowl more porridge than before for breakfast.
Ye Jinghe also ate more than half a bowl, but he ate more not because he agreed with Yun Shu's point of view, but simply because he was in a good mood because he couldn't see Xie Chang'an.
In the Chengqian Hall, just after the emperor finished his morning court session, Zhang Shunde came to report that the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo requested an audience.
Ever since Physician Zhang came, the Emperor had been waiting for someone from the Eastern Palace to come and report Ye Jingchen's illness. However, instead of the Eastern Palace, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion came first.
The Duchess looked haggard, and tears welled up in her eyes before she could even speak when she saw the Emperor.
She said Xie Chang'an suddenly developed a high fever again last night, and was up most of the night. He only just fell asleep this morning after the fever subsided.
Her haggardness and worry seemed genuine, and besides, the only son of the Duke of Zhenguo's family was already in poor health, so the emperor did not suspect anything.
The Duchess also said that Xie Chang'an was delirious with fever in the middle of the night, but he was still thinking about coming to the palace to study. Even when he was talking nonsense, he was using classical Chinese phrases and seemed to have had a nightmare.
In short, it was clear from his words that Xie Chang'an's high fever was caused by his time in the palace serving as the Crown Prince's study companion.
The Duchess tearfully complained that Xie Chang'an had been in poor health since childhood and was often sick, making him unsuitable to be the Crown Prince's study companion!
The emperor also felt from the bottom of his heart that the young master of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was not suitable to enter the palace as a companion to the emperor. However, this was the Crown Prince's strong request, and he even went out of the mansion to invite him himself. The emperor could not interfere and could only force a smile to appease the Duchess.
After finally getting rid of the person, he felt even worse than during the last morning court session.
At this moment, the commander of the Imperial Guards reported that someone had accused the Jiang family of harboring evil intentions and colluding with foreign tribes.
Their investigation revealed that Jiang He, the half-brother of the Jiang family patriarch, owned a luxurious mansion in the imperial city and kept a northern barbarian woman as his mistress.
The relationship between Dayuan and Beiman is extremely hostile, with constant warfare. The presence of Beiman people in the imperial city is absolutely forbidden!
The emperor immediately ordered the Imperial Guards to conduct a thorough investigation of Jiang He and his family.
The Da Yuan family has suffered for too long.
Those who are not in that position do not know its difficulties.
Many people believe that the emperor has supreme power, controls the life and death of the people, and can do whatever he wants.
He thought so too before he became emperor.
But when he actually sat on the throne, he discovered that even as emperor, he couldn't do whatever he wanted.
The powerful families, led by the Wang and Jiang families, along with other large and small families in Dayuan, had already infiltrated the entire court and the harem. They interfered with his decisions in court and competed with the people for profit outside, colluding with each other in an attempt to undermine his imperial power.
He had long wanted to take action against the powerful families, but they were deeply entrenched and complex, and any move they made would have far-reaching consequences, so he couldn't act rashly.
However, this time, if we can confirm that Jiang He is suspected of colluding with foreign tribes, and that treason is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family, we can definitely take this opportunity to launch an attack and shake up the foundation of the Jiang family.
Ye Jingchen had no idea how much turmoil his message to the emperor would cause in the capital in the coming days. All he cared about was whether he could skip a few days of school; he didn't need to worry about the power struggles in the court.
Xie Chang'an fell ill and was sick for three days.
Yun Shu was very worried after not seeing her friends for three days, and she didn't even have much energy to eat.
Children's friendships come so suddenly and so purely.
That afternoon, which was supposed to be the time for the six arts of a gentleman, namely etiquette and mathematics, Ye Jingchen noticed that Yun Shu was in a bad mood, so he suggested that the teaching location be moved to the main street of the imperial city, and that they could also go to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to visit Xie Chang'an.
Of course, Ye Jingchen said this "by the way" quietly to Yun Shu.
The instructors who taught etiquette and arithmetic strongly disagreed with this. Learning is a solemn matter, especially learning etiquette and arithmetic, which are very mentally taxing. It would be impolite and difficult to concentrate to study on the main street of the capital!
Ye Jingchen didn't argue with them, but simply asked Fangfei to consult the emperor.
After all, whether or not they could leave the palace was up to the emperor; the lecturers had no say in the matter, so there was no point in trying to persuade them.
Of course, Ye Jingchen has always preferred to persuade people with reason, and he will make the lecturers approve of his learning methods.
In Chengqian Palace, the emperor met Fangfei and heard her say that the crown prince wanted to leave the palace to study on the streets of the imperial city. His first reaction was to refuse.
In the past few days, the Imperial Guards, starting with Jiang He, have uncovered many secrets of the Jiang family. However, the Jiang family has also become aware of this, and the two sides are secretly vying for power. If the Jiang family finds out that the Crown Prince has left the palace, they will definitely take action.
However, upon further reflection, he realized that Ye Jingchen's departure from the palace at this time could be a good opportunity.
Using the crown prince as bait, if the Jiang family really dares to act recklessly and attack the crown prince, this is definitely a good opportunity to uproot them completely.
However, this would put the crown prince in a very dangerous situation. Even if he sent many people to protect him secretly, he could not completely prevent accidents from happening.
After a moment's hesitation, the emperor came up with a brilliant idea.
Fangfei returned to the East Palace to report that the Emperor had agreed, but the Fifth Prince was too young to leave the palace.
Since the emperor had spoken, the lecturers naturally had no choice but to comply and accompany him.
Yun Shu was the happiest.
This trip out of the palace not only allowed me to visit my friends but also spared me the hardship of studying—it was truly a double blessing.
Wu Zemin and Gu Beichen were also quite looking forward to it.
Because in their inherent understanding, both etiquette and numerology are very noble, and how could they learn them in such a noisy place as the main streets of the capital?
Only Ye Jinghe felt like the sky had fallen.
He overheard his brother and Yun Xiaopang's whispered conversation. They claimed they were going to study, but they were actually just going to visit that annoying Xie Chang'an!
His brother was going to see Xie Chang'an, but he couldn't go with him. He wouldn't know what his brother said or did with Xie Chang'an. This feeling was awful.
What I hate most is the emperor. He's already four years old, not a child anymore, so why can't he leave the palace!
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