Chapter 2127 Old Fox
"In the future, this will be nothing more than a laughingstock in the capital. Not only will he remain untaught and immature, he'll also leave people with the impression that he's timid and inexperienced, unfit for responsibility," Minister Liu said. "I no longer expect him to achieve anything great, nor do I want him to have no future at all."
Minister Liu said, "It would be best to let him go."
He sighed and said, "That's fine. I originally thought he wouldn't learn much as a study companion in the palace, so I wanted him to go to Suzhou to study for a while. Now I'm just going to the Western Regions instead."
Madam Liu said angrily, "How are they the same? His father is exiled to Suzhou, so he can still be taken care of by his family when he goes there to gain experience, but going to the Western Regions..."
"That's perfect. Let him see what life is like without his family to support him." Seeing that his wife, though still frowning, wasn't very opposed, he said, "It's settled. Tell someone to pack up right away. I'll pick a few people to send him off, and we'll chase him along the way tomorrow morning."
He stood up and said, "I still have to write a letter to His Majesty to apologize."
Madam Liu was startled. "What?"
Minister Liu glanced at her and said, "Don't forget, he is still the Crown Prince's tutor. Leaving the capital without permission is nothing, but going to the Western Regions without permission, what kind of crime is that?"
Only then did Mrs. Liu remember this matter.
"Fortunately, Bai Shan left a letter. We have to deal with it a lot better. We just need to make up the leave note."
The prince is no longer a child, nor is he as mischievous as he was a few years ago, so he doesn't really need a reading companion.
Now that Bai Shan and other study companions are gone, no one will mind the absence of Liu Huan.
Minister Liu immediately stood up and went to the palace to apologize to the emperor first, and then he would act according to the emperor's attitude as for the prince.
The emperor didn't expect that such a thing would happen to the Liu family. He laughed heartily with schadenfreude. After he finished laughing, he felt that it was not good to do so in front of his ministers, so he quickly stopped laughing, but his face turned a little red from holding it in.
Minister Liu pretended not to see it and lowered his head to continue stating the crimes of his grandson.
The emperor then laughed and comforted him, "Young men all have ambitions to achieve great things. I heard that he and Yin, Bai Shan, and Bai Cheng have always been good friends. Seeing his friends go to the Western Regions, it's normal for him to follow them out of excitement."
The emperor said: "Everyone has been young before. When I was fourteen, I was able to lead my family soldiers to the battlefield, and nothing happened to me, right?"
Minister Liu said, "How can he compare to Your Majesty? But Your Majesty is right. It's better to let go than to block the thoughts of young people. This child is determined to escape. I'm afraid he wouldn't be happy if I brought him back. So I'd like to ask Your Majesty for mercy and allow him to accompany me to the Western Regions. Let him experience the wind and sand and know that the outside world is not so easy to navigate."
The emperor thought of his sons and sighed, "Yes, they always feel that they are being treated unfairly at home. How could they understand the difficulties outside?"
Minister Liu said, "Let them go out and try their luck, and you'll find out."
The emperor nodded and began to dig. Which job was more difficult recently? He could let the prince go out and be tortured, so that he would know how good his family was.
Because of the topic of having a naughty child at home, the emperor could empathize with Liu Shangshu, so he generously forgave Liu Huan's truancy and considerately gave Liu Shangshu a handwritten letter so that he could ask for leave from Kong Jijiu.
Minister Liu left with gratitude, then went to the East Palace to apologize to the prince and ask for leave for Liu Huan.
The prince rarely had time to play with the little grandson in the East Palace, so he agreed to it without much hesitation when he heard about it.
Among so many study companions in Chongwenguan, the only ones he could remember, apart from his own confidants, were Bai Shan, Bai Cheng and Yin Huo.
He didn't have a deep affection for Liu Huan, so he didn't feel uncomfortable with his study partner leaving him, but he ran off to the Western Regions...
The prince comforted Minister Liu by saying, "It would be good to go out and study to broaden your horizons."
Minister Liu accepted the offer with a deeply moved look on his face, thanking the Crown Prince for his magnanimity. He said that if he returned from the Western Regions without improvement, he would be ashamed of heaven and earth, ashamed of the Emperor, ashamed of the Crown Prince, and ashamed of his parents...
Then Minister Liu took the opportunity to ask for a long vacation for his grandson and the crown prince.
The prince agreed readily.
So Shangshu Liu also received the prince's handwritten letter. He breathed a sigh of relief and then left the palace. Then he took the jar of wine he brought from home and went to find Kong Jijiu to drink.
The emperor and the crown prince didn't feel much about Liu Huan's truancy, but it was different for Kong Jijiu.
He frowned, glanced at the wine on the table, and was about to kick him out, but Minister Liu grabbed his hand and sighed, "Zhongda, what do you think we should do with this child? It's okay that he's not as educated as his brother, but he's almost an adult, yet he still has a childish temper and actually did something like running away from home."
"If he really was a playboy, I wouldn't say anything. I'd just let him be a guard for the rest of his life. Even if he couldn't live a life of wealth and luxury, at least he'd have enough to eat and drink, and he'd have good connections. But he refuses to hang out with Zhao Liu and the others, and prefers to follow Bai Shanyin or a few others around. What's the point?"
Kong Jijiu, who considered Bai Shan and Yin Huo his favorite students, was unhappy. "What's wrong with following Bai Shan and Yin Huo around? It's better than fooling around with Zhao Liu, right?"
He said, "Look at Lu Yue and the others. They are making trouble now. What good future can they have?"
Minister Liu sighed, "I know that too. But I'd rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix... Alas, it's too late to say anything now. He's gone off to study in the Western Regions. Is it really that easy to go there?"
"I had originally thought of letting him take a leave of absence or resign from the palace after this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, and then go to Suzhou to study. It would be great if it could calm his temper. But who knew he wouldn't listen? Isn't it because Suzhou is his father's territory?"
"I think he did a good job," Kong Jijiu praised. "Going to his father's place of residence to study, what's the difference between that and just wandering around the capital?"
At this moment, he no longer thought Liu Huan's skipping school was abominable. He waved his hand in disdain and said, "Are you here to ask for leave for him? Okay, I get it. Leave the handwritten letters from His Majesty and His Highness, and you can go. I agree."
Minister Liu, who still had much to say, said:
Kong Jijiu held the wine jar and said, "You can go now."
Minister Liu, who wanted to continue drinking and chatting with him, tried twice but found that he could not continue the topic. He could only stand up and say goodbye with regret, leaving him the handwritten letters from the emperor and the prince.
As soon as he left, Kong Jijiu snorted coldly, "Old fox."
When the old fox Minister Liu returned home, Madam Liu was watching someone packing up, looking distressed. Seeing two carts' worth of stuff piled up, and the amount still growing, he quickly stopped her and said, "Just pack a few. Isn't this too much?"
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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