Chapter 3483 Extra Gu Zhong 8
The emperor was most worried about the empire and the crown prince. He warned him again and again, and finally let him go, saying softly, "Please ask your mother to come in, I want to talk to her."
Seeing that the emperor's breath was getting weaker, the prince couldn't help but glance at Gu Zhong and retreated to find his mother.
When the queen came in, the emperor was already unable to speak. Gu Zhong glanced at their clasped hands and quietly stepped aside.
The emperor placed his hand lightly on the queen's and said in a barely audible voice, "Zi Tong, thank you for all the hard work you've put in this life..."
The queen's vision blurred. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, held his hand and whispered, "It's not hard. In the next life, I am willing to accompany Erlang."
The emperor smiled and said, "Okay..."
The two stopped talking, just holding hands and looking at each other. At some point, the emperor's eyes closed slightly, and his hand fell softly into the queen's palm.
The queen nudged him with trembling hands and called softly, "Your Majesty..."
The emperor did not respond to her and did not move.
Gu Zhong hurried forward to feel the emperor's breath, then knelt down after a moment, "Your Majesty, His Majesty has... collapsed!"
The queen lowered her head and cried for a while. After trying hard to calm herself down, she stood up, took Gu Zhong's hand and walked out, announcing to everyone: "Your Majesty, you have passed away——"
Zhou Man felt heartbroken and knelt down with everyone else. Immediately, cries were heard in the hall, and even someone as reserved as Old Tang burst into tears.
Zhou Man and Xiao Yuanzheng led the people from the Imperial Hospital into the room. After confirming that the emperor had really passed away, they assisted the crown prince and other princes in burying the body.
Gu Zhong was also the chief eunuch of Taiji Hall, in charge of all affairs.
Gu Zhong could not breathe a sigh of relief until the crown prince ascended the throne and the late emperor was buried.
He did not linger for long. As soon as the late emperor was buried, he handed over the affairs of Taiji Hall to Eunuch Wu.
But how could Eunuch Wu dare to accept it directly?
He went to find the new emperor.
The newly crowned Crown Prince had been juggling a variety of official and personal duties since the death of his father, and he missed his father most at that moment. Therefore, he didn't agree directly, but said, "He was always by our father's side. Although he's gone, his contributions were immense. Let him continue to lead the charge, and you can assist him."
Eunuch Wu responded in a low voice.
Gu Zhong did not want to continue to be the chief steward. Although he had power and could continue to accumulate wealth, the emperor changed his ministers. He and the prince did not have a deep relationship, and he was far inferior to the prince in front of him as he was to the previous emperor.
Besides, the prince's temper...
But Gu Zhong did not dare to insist on leaving at this time. He knew the prince well, and if he refused again, he was afraid that the prince would be angry.
Gu Zhong was worried, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he said politely to Eunuch Wu, "In this Taiji Palace, although I'm called the Chief Eunuch, I'm actually still following His Majesty's lead. We just need to obey His Majesty's orders."
"But the one His Majesty is most accustomed to using is you, Lord Wu. From now on, we will have to trouble you more in the Imperial presence."
"Master Gu is too polite," Eunuch Wu said with a smile. "We are new here, so how can we be as familiar with Taiji Hall as Master Gu? Your Majesty has already spoken. From now on, I will definitely assist you well. Simply give me your instructions."
Gu Zhong smiled, and both of them smiled brightly, but only they themselves knew that they were not calm in their hearts.
Gu Zhong had been with the new emperor for a while, and although he was still respected, people in Taiji Hall and even the entire palace began to take sides. Was it him or Eunuch Wu?
This is not something they can decide. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, let alone two tigers with overlapping hunting areas.
Although the food in the mountains is not what Gu Zhong wants to eat now.
After thinking about it, he could only go find Zhou Man.
Zhou Man was also very busy. When the new emperor ascended the throne, Xiao Yuanzheng felt that he had accomplished his mission. However, he felt guilty because the previous emperor had been poisoned by Meixiang and had not discovered it. So not long after, he wrote a letter to ask for his remains.
As per custom, the new emperor tried to retain Zhou Man twice, and after he wrote a letter for the third time, he agreed with a stroke of his pen. Zhou Man was then promoted to the position of Director of the Imperial Medical Bureau and Director of the Imperial Hospital, and his official land was increased again.
Of course, the workload has also increased a lot.
Many of the future plans for the Imperial Medical Bureau were things that Xiao Yuanzheng had been unwilling and reluctant to make drastic changes before. After Zhou Man took over, he simply sorted out these things slowly and planned to implement them step by step.
So there is a lot to do.
Once Zhou Man gets busy, he tends to forget himself. When he was stopped by Gu Cai on the way out of the palace, he subconsciously moved to the side, trying to go around the obstacle and go out.
Gu Cai quickly raised his voice, "Master Zhou, Master Zhou..."
Zhou Man came back to his senses and finally saw the person standing in front of him. "Little Master Gu? Are you here to get medicine? Master Gu no longer needs to take medicine. Just pay more attention to daily maintenance."
"No, it's Godfather who wants to treat you to a meal," Gu Cai said with a smile, "Godfather knows you're very busy right now, so I don't want to take up too much of your time. Tomorrow I'm off, so I want to treat you to a simple meal at Chongwen Hall. Are you free for lunch?"
Zhou Man was stunned for a moment and then said, "He wants to host a dinner in the palace? I am an outsider..."
It is a taboo for external officials and eunuchs to be too close to each other. Even if two people have a good relationship, they rarely interact openly.
Gu Cai smiled and said, "Don't worry, Lord Zhou. Godfather has made this matter clear to everyone. Everyone knows that it was Lord Zhou who treated Godfather when he came out of the Dali Temple. That's why Godfather recovered so quickly."
He smiled and said, "My godfather has specifically asked His Majesty to allow him to set up a banquet in the palace to entertain you. It was His Majesty who chose the Chongwen Hall as the venue."
Chongwenguan was the prince's territory. Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, Yingnu has also been named the prince, but the East Palace is still the new emperor's territory. After all, it has only been a short time since he was promoted from prince to emperor.
Zhou Man nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll go to Chongwenguan for lunch tomorrow at noon."
Gu Cai happily agreed and asked, "Is there anything in particular you would like to eat, sir?"
She still has to observe national mourning at this moment, what can she eat?
She thought for a moment and said, "Tofu, I like tofu. I want more of all kinds of tofu."
If you can’t eat meat, then eat tofu. It tastes most like meat.
Thinking of this, Zhou Man felt hungry. She touched her stomach and nodded to Gu Cai, saying, "It's getting late. I have to leave the palace. You should go back and report as well."
Gu Cai agreed and happily went back to find Gu Zhong. On the way, he met Gu Ji.
Gu Cai hurriedly stopped, lowered his head and stood aside to avoid the attack.
Gu Ji is now the chief official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a fourth-rank official, only below Gu Zhong and Eunuch Wu. He is one of the most powerful figures in the palace.
Gu Ji saw him and walked over to him, smiling and asking, "Junior brother, are you coming from the palace gate? Are you leaving the palace again today?"
Gu Cai lowered his head and said, "No, I just went to Chongwen Hall to pass on a message for my godfather."
Gu Ji nodded and said, "I just vaguely saw Lord Zhou heading towards the palace gate. Why, didn't you see him?"
Gu Cai was not good at speaking and said dryly, "I saw it."
But there was no more words.
See you tomorrow
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