Chapter 358: Secret Talk in the Palace
After watching Prince Xin and his entourage leave, Xia Daohua followed Lao Wei and Xiao Douzi and continued on their way.
When they met the young emperor, Gu Mingzhen was also there. Before Gu Mingzhen could speak, the young emperor arranged seats for Lao Wei and Xia Daohua: "You can sit wherever you like, don't be polite."
Gu Mingzhen was stunned for a moment, and then a smile instantly appeared on his lips and eyes. He watched the little emperor and Xia Daohua talking to each other affectionately, and then reminded the little emperor that it was time to get down to business.
The little emperor's smiling face immediately became tense. His childishness and seriousness made him particularly adorable.
He ordered everyone to leave and asked Xiao Douzi to guard outside. Except for Gu Mingzhen, only the little emperor, Old Wei and Xia Daohua were left.
Xia Daohua knew that there was something confidential to be said.
"Sister Xia, the late emperor is not dead."
“…”
Why are you telling me such a confidential matter?
Xia Daohua was confused at first, but when she saw Lao Wei's tearful face, she suddenly understood.
So that's how it is. No wonder after the late emperor passed away, Gu Mingzhen let Old Wei, who "knew the inside story", go and allowed him to leave the palace to retire.
It turned out that there was actually nothing wrong with the two troublesome brothers. They just pretended to have passed away, but actually abdicated and lived a carefree life like ordinary people.
However, these two brothers are really amazing. They are more naughty than each other on weekdays. When they met the army approaching, they just quit their jobs! The reason why Prince Xin did not succeed to the throne, but was named Prince Xin and rushed to his fiefdom, was because he was responsible for taking good care of those two naughty people!
…
"Sister Xia, the northern barbarians have already reached Taiping Pass..."
The little emperor looked at Xia Daohua with a serious face, and even stretched out his little hand to hold the corner of her clothes, with a face full of sincere admiration:
"I have already issued an imperial edict to defend the king, and have also ordered the elite imperial guards to guard the passes of the capital, but yesterday, Prime Minister Cai submitted a memorial saying that the Changping Warehouse in the capital had caught fire..."
Xia Daohua just couldn't stand the cute little kid's eager expression, so she comforted him directly:
"It's okay, we don't lack food."
The little emperor's face lit up: "Are you really not short of food?"
"We are not short of food. I dare not say anything else, but we have as much food as we want, and we can transport it to wherever we want. We dare not brag about the amount, but we can say that the soldiers and civilians in the capital will have enough food to eat, and there will be no problem eating for two or three years.
It’s just a pity that I have to pay for the food, but I don’t have much money…”
"Isn't it just silver? That's easy. There's still a lot of silver in the inner treasury. Besides, even if there's no gold, silver or copper, I still have a lot of gold and pearls, jewelry, porcelain and lacquerware, bonsai ornaments..."
The little emperor counted his belongings one by one on his fingers, with seriousness written all over his face.
Xia Daohua looked at him and almost wanted to pinch his chubby cheeks. When she came to her senses, she found that she had actually done it.
Not only did he pinch it twice, he also pulled it to both sides.
Gu Mingzhen and Lao Wei's eyes almost popped out. They were extremely grateful that there were no outsiders at the scene. The little emperor was really wise to dismiss everyone in advance!
The little emperor mumbled something incoherently. He looked at Xia Daohua helplessly and said incoherently:
“Sister Xia, people are no longer delicate and it’s children’s paper. Can the edges be so solemn?”
Xia Daohua took back her hand and said with a smile:
"Okay, Sister Xia, I'll listen to you. Why do you have to pay for everything yourself? This huge capital city doesn't belong to you alone. Let all the officials and merchants pay some money! Otherwise, if the capital city falls due to poor defense, can they still escape the butcher knife of the northern barbarians?"
When Gu Mingzhen heard this, he was moved.
We should indeed be on guard against certain people, otherwise, they might open the city gates and let the northern barbarians in!
(End of this chapter)
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