A few months after Gu Heng and his family were exiled to Lingnan, the late emperor personally led a large army to conquer the Southern Dynasty.
Only after being captured did the last emperor realize his mistake: "I only regret that I failed to heed Minister Gu's advice and ruined the foundation laid by my ancestors!"
When the late emperor saw the last emperor beating his chest and stamping his feet in frustration, and heard him mention Gu Heng more than once, he became interested.
An investigation was ordered, and it was discovered that Gu Heng was indeed a loyal and capable minister.
Unfortunately, loyal ministers are destined to be rejected by foolish rulers, and end up with their entire families being exiled.
At that time, the late emperor had sent people to Lingnan to summon Gu Heng, but Gu Heng refused.
After Helian Jue arrived in Yuezhou, he personally visited the place several times, only to be turned away many times.
It was only after Gu Heng's grandson was poisoned by miasma that Physician Feng, sent by Xie Yuan, saved his life, and only then did Gu Heng relent.
He served as an advisor to Helian Jue, and many of Helian Jue's decrees were written by Gu Heng.
Gu Heng's talent was absolutely no less than that of the prime ministers Wang and Cui.
"The Sage originally intended to restore the Five Ministers system of the late Emperor. Now that Minister Wang and Minister Cui have both taken sick leave, there is no one to govern the Council. I want to take this opportunity to achieve the Sage's plan."
Xie Yuan didn't try to hide anything from Gu Heng, an old man who came from Lingnan.
Gu Heng nodded slowly. With his shrewdness, he naturally knew that Wang, Cui, and the others were not really sick; they probably wanted to manipulate the Empress.
Gu Heng: ...How ridiculous! Do you really think Empress Xie is an ordinary woman?
She had struggled alongside the emperor through the impoverished and harsh conditions of Lingnan.
The emperor's empire owes half its credit to her!
"Very well! Since it is the will of the Sage and the Empress, then this old man will do his best to give it a try!"
...
"Gu Heng? The Gu family of Wu County?"
Upon hearing that Xie Yuan had appointed a commoner as prime minister, Cui, Wang, and others gathered together again.
"Like the Xie family, the Gu family is an old and established clan in the Southern Dynasties. The two families have also maintained intermarriage relationships for generations—"
"Yes! I've sent people to investigate, and it turns out that Empress Xie and Xie Heng are related."
So, Empress Xie has really started taking this opportunity to install her cronies?!
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