Chapter 123 Strange Phenomena of the Heavenly Decree
In the brightly lit hall, Grand Eunuch Fuquan stood beside Emperor Xirui, his head slightly lowered, his eyes concealed, not daring to look at the emperor in front of him.
He had been by Xiruidi's side since childhood and knew his character well.
Now he knew that although Emperor Xirui looked all smiles and very amiable, he was already burning with rage inside.
"Minister Gu, this heavy snow has come at a truly inopportune time. I wonder if you have any solutions?" Emperor Xirui sat upright in his chair, smiling as he looked at Gu Huiming below.
No one could tell that he was inwardly hurling the most vicious curses at the Prime Minister Gu in front of him, wishing he could tear the Prime Minister Gu to pieces and leave him lying dead on the spot.
Unfortunately, he did not have the ability to make his words come true.
He's just an ordinary person.
He couldn't understand why those lowly people had the opportunity to possess the same abilities as those monsters.
He, the emperor of the Dayong Dynasty, could only live like an ordinary person, trembling with fear every day, lest someone plot to assassinate him and rebel.
Especially Gu Huiming, who stood before him, a veteran of two dynasties, a trusted minister of the previous emperor who supported his ascension to the throne and controlled the government for forty years.
Seeing that he was about to abdicate, but seeing that Gu Huiming still looked robust, he couldn't shake off his resentment.
How can he live so long?
When will Gu Huiming finally die?!
Just like now, faced with a sudden heavy snowfall, if an emperor wants to provide disaster relief, he needs the approval of a chief minister.
Emperor Xirui felt that he was not like an emperor at all.
Gu Huiming glanced up at Emperor Xirui above, his eyes calm and unwavering, showing no trace of the awe one would expect from an emperor.
He bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I am just an ordinary person. The sudden heavy snowfall is not an auspicious sign. This strange phenomenon must be a warning to Your Majesty. If Your Majesty can issue an edict of self-reproach, the snow disaster will surely be averted!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the ministers in the hall moved towards the center, stood behind Gu Huiming, bowed, and echoed his words in unison.
"Your Majesty, please issue an edict of self-reproach!"
Emperor Xirui, who was sitting on the throne, immediately turned pale. He stood up abruptly, looked at the ministers below, and pointed at them with a trembling finger.
"You! All of you! Good! Good! Good! It's all my fault!"
His gaze swept over the people below, overlapping with those he had been forced to do in the past. These people hadn't changed; their faces were expressionless, without guilt or unease, only calm.
At that moment, Emperor Xirui suddenly felt that all the people in the hall seemed to be just replicas of one person.
It is a copy of Gu Huiming's work.
The expressions on these people's faces were remarkably similar to those of Gu Huiming.
At this moment, Emperor Xirui seemed to have suddenly lost all his strength. He looked at the people below and said, "If I issue an edict of self-reproach, will the heavy snow stop?"
His face was expressionless, like a puppet.
Gu Huiming lowered his eyes and said, "If Your Majesty issues an edict of self-reproach, Heaven will be moved by Your Majesty's sincerity and the snow disaster will surely be averted, protecting the Dayong Dynasty's land and its people, and ensuring favorable weather and abundant harvests. This has always been the case, and Your Majesty should have understood this long ago."
Emperor Xirui stared at Gu Huiming with empty, numb eyes; he had no way to resist.
Finally, he said, "Very well, then let me issue an edict of self-reproach. You may write the edict as you see fit."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly stood up and left the main hall.
Standing behind Emperor Xirui, Fuquan hurriedly followed and left. Before leaving, he glanced at Gu Huiming below and met the other's dark eyes. He was startled and hurriedly looked away, only to feel his back suddenly become wet.
Emperor Xirui walked back to the inner palace, intending to relax in the imperial garden, but unexpectedly, just as he sat down in the pavilion, a young man walked in.
"Greetings, Father!" the young man bowed respectfully.
The boy was Emperor Xirui's only son and the crown prince of the Dayong Dynasty.
Emperor Xirui glanced at him, his anger growing even stronger.
He glared at him angrily: "Get out!"
The crown prince remained calm and politely replied, "Yes."
After saying that, he withdrew from the pavilion.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Xirui's anger did not subside in the slightest; on the contrary, it rose even higher.
He stood up, breathing heavily, his eyes sweeping across the pavilion. Suddenly, he kicked the stone table in the pavilion, causing it to fall over instantly, collide with the stone benches, and then shatter.
Looking at the mess in front of him, his anger subsided, and he felt a little better.
On the other side, the Crown Prince walked all the way to Changchun Palace, which was the palace where his mother, Consort Zhaoxi, lived.
As he walked into Changchun Palace, he saw Consort Zhaoxi leisurely feeding the fish by the pond.
"I have met Mother!"
"What's wrong?" Consort Zhaoxi glanced at the Crown Prince and noticed his furrowed brows.
The crown prince recounted what had just happened.
Upon hearing this, Consort Zhaoxi's eyes flashed with a hint of disdain, but she said indifferently, "Don't worry about him. His days are numbered. He's just a grasshopper in autumn. You only need to follow Chief Minister Gu and learn how to govern the country."
The Crown Prince nodded slightly: "Alright."
As Consort Zhaoxi watched the Crown Prince leave, the warmth in her eyes slowly faded, leaving only a coldness.
Suddenly, her fingers holding the fish food twitched, and her expression visibly brightened with joy.
She casually tossed the fish food into the pond, then turned and walked into the main hall.
As soon as I entered the main hall, I saw a familiar figure sitting on the chaise longue.
"You've come!" Imperial Noble Consort Zhaoxi stepped forward, knelt on the thick carpet under the chaise longue, reached out and hugged the person in front of her, pressed her cheek against his abdomen, and looked extremely satisfied.
Gu Huiming placed his hand on her head, his expression unchanged.
Feeling the touch on her head, Consort Zhaoxi looked up at him and asked, "When can I be with you?"
Gu Huiming patted her head and said, "It will be soon. Once the plan succeeds, the two of us will be able to enjoy it for eternity. Don't be in a hurry."
Consort Zhaoxi nodded slightly: "Alright, I'll wait."
As she spoke, she took off her clothes, and a cloud of white smoke rose from her body.
When the smoke cleared, a huge black spider appeared. Its abdomen was round and its legs were thick, making it easy to tell that it was a female spider.
Upon seeing this, Gu Huiming's expression remained unchanged: "Don't let outsiders see this."
"good."
The female spider spoke in a human voice, then shrank back and occupied half of the chaise lounge, nestling beside Gu Huiming.
The two maids standing at the door seemed to have seen nothing, lowering their heads slightly and concealing their brows, appearing obedient.
The next day, the people of Kyoto received Emperor Shirui's edict of self-reproach.
Then, the snowflakes that were falling heavily actually stopped slowly.
Shao Yanzhe glanced at the still gloomy sky. Just now, the proctor of the examination hall read Emperor Xirui's edict of self-reproach to all the candidates present, and then he watched as the heavy snow stopped.
He was astonished; he never imagined that the emperor's edict of self-reproach could actually stop the heavy snowfall.
He had some understanding of the Dayong Dynasty and knew that the current Emperor Xirui had been on the throne for forty years, but he was just a puppet emperor. His only function in power was to issue an edict of self-reproach.
The government was controlled by Grand Secretary Gu Huiming, who could be considered the uncrowned king of the Dayong Dynasty.
Shao Yanzhe initially did not understand why Gu Huiming wielded such power and why he had not yet plotted to usurp the throne.
Now he understood; they probably wanted to make Emperor Xirui a tool for issuing an edict of self-reproach.
Shao Yanzhe was multitasking, gossiping in his mind while answering the questions.
The exam questions were not difficult, and he answered them easily.
Then, dramatically, a torrential rainstorm occurred, and Emperor Xirui issued an edict of self-reproach. Following this, hail fell, and Emperor Xirui issued another edict of self-reproach.
When Shao Yanzhe came out of the examination hall, he looked somewhat dazed and seriously doubted whether he was really in the real world.
Instead of some kind of game world?
Emperor Xirui's edict of self-reproach was very effective in dealing with unusual disasters. No matter what the disaster was, as long as Emperor Xirui issued the edict of self-reproach, the disaster would disappear without a trace.
When Shao Yanzhe and Zhou Jiming returned to the Zhou residence and were about to go back to their own courtyards to rest, they saw Xuan Yao standing on the tiled roof.
He glanced at Xuan Yao, assuming he was just sunbathing, and didn't pay much attention.
Xuan Yao, who was standing on the roof, noticed his gaze and nimbly jumped down.
"Meow! You're finally back!"
Only then did Shao Yanzhe notice the seriousness in Xuan Yao's eyes.
He suppressed his smile and asked, "What happened?"
Xuan Yao said, "After you pass the imperial examination, just get a minor official position and leave the capital. Things are about to get chaotic here."
Shao Yanzhe asked, "How did you know?"
Xuan Yao said, "During the days you were taking the exam, I saw that the dragon aura in the palace had weakened a bit. If it continues to weaken at this rate, I'm afraid this emperor will die soon."
Shao Yanzhe nodded. The succession of the throne is always accompanied by bloodshed.
"Wait, I remember that Emperor Xirui only had one son, so there shouldn't be any major trouble, right?"
Xuan Yao, however, was quite certain: "It's bound to get chaotic. I haven't seen a suitable young dragon to take over."
Shao Yanzhe's expression immediately turned strange: "You mean to say that the Crown Prince is not the Emperor's son?"
Xuan Yao rolled his eyes at him and said, "If the Crown Prince wasn't the Emperor's son, why would Emperor Xirui keep him alive?"
"Didn't you say there was no young dragon capable of succeeding Emperor Xirui?"
"Yes, I only saw a phantom young dragon. This means that the dragon energy on the young dragon is too weak to withstand the fortune of the Dayong Dynasty. Even if it succeeds to the throne, it will probably die soon."
Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe understood that this meant the Dayong Dynasty was about to enter a chaotic struggle for the throne, which was indeed very dangerous.
"Okay, I understand. I will choose to play it out later."
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