Before even reaching Changzhou, Gu Yuzhi couldn't contain himself and kept lifting the curtain to look outside. At this moment, he was eager to return home. After all, judging by the time, his elder brother's reply should have arrived by now, along with the rewards...
The reward should be on its way by now...
Gu Yuzhi was quite pleased with himself. As soon as they arrived at the residence, he jumped off the carriage excitedly without needing to be carried. He ran into the house and called out, "Chen Dianyi, Chen Dianyi, has my imperial brother's reply arrived yet?"
Xie Changshi accompanied the Emperor on this trip to Xinliang, while Chen Rong, the Imperial Attendant, took charge of all affairs in the mansion. If the Emperor's letter arrived, the gatekeeper would definitely hand it over to Chen Rong immediately.
Upon receiving news that Prince Wen would be returning today, Chen Dianyi had his servants prepare hot water, food, and other necessities early in the morning. Seeing Prince Wen hopping around, Chen Dianyi hurriedly bent down and said, "Oh, Your Highness, slow down, slow down. The Emperor's letter has arrived, and I will get it for you now."
Gu Yuzhi's eyes lit up. He climbed onto the stool and sat down. Xu Mama brought in a bowl of warm soup: "Your Highness, please have some soup first. Knowing that Your Highness was returning today, the kitchen prepared all of Your Highness's favorite dishes."
"Granny Xu, you are so kind." Gu Yuzhi served the soup quickly but also with good manners. He put the bowl aside, craned his neck to look ahead, and when he saw Chief Secretary Xie enter, he hurriedly waved and said, "Chief Secretary Xie, come quickly. Consort Chen said that the Emperor's letter has arrived. Please read it to me in a moment."
He had only just begun his studies, but to avoid forgetting what he had learned during this time away, Gu Yuzhi would find ways to memorize and study whenever he had free time, and he was very diligent.
As of yesterday, he was finally able to recite the entire Three Character Classic from memory, but he still doesn't quite understand its general meaning. He can recognize many characters when they are put together, but he is stumped when they are separated.
Therefore, he still needs Xie Changshi's help to write this letter.
Gu Yuzhi secretly made up his mind that he could read the next letter from his elder brother himself.
Chief Secretary Xie smiled and agreed, then sat down to the lower left of Gu Yuzhi.
Chen Dianyi arrived quickly, entered the room, and handed over the letter with both hands: "Your Highness, this is the Emperor's reply to you."
Gu Yuzhi jumped off the stool, took the letter, looked at it over and over, and then squeezed the letter. Something felt off.
He handed the letter to Chief Secretary Xie. Although he didn't speak, his big eyes blinked rapidly, clearly urging him on.
The envelope was very light. When Xie Changshi opened it, he found only a thin piece of paper inside. The contents of the letter were also very simple: "Your Majesty, you have had a hard journey. After you arrive in the northern desert, I hope that you will abide by the law and always remember that you are Prince Zhong. You must never break the law. Consort Tai Xian is doing well in the palace. There is no need to worry about her."
Gu Yuzhi blinked, looking at Xie Changshi with disbelief: "You... that's all?"
He took the letter and looked at it several times, his eyes welling up with tears. He pouted and said with a wronged expression, "I wrote a lot to my brother."
How could you be so perfunctory, Your Majesty?
He took the envelope again and looked inside. There was nothing there. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and asked in a tearful voice, "Chen Dianyi, where is my mother? Didn't my mother write to me?"
That shouldn't be the case. Even if my elder brother doesn't have much to say to me, my mother must have a lot to say.
His Highness feels wronged, His Highness wants to cry...
Gu Yuzhi tried hard to keep a straight face and not burst into tears, but tears still streamed down his face uncontrollably.
Chen Dianyi was filled with panic: "This..."
He really only received this one letter.
Chen Dianyi looked at Xie Changshi for help, and seeing his calm and collected expression, he secretly wondered if the Emperor had revealed something to Xie Changshi.
"Your Highness, there's no need to be sad. His Majesty receives mountains of memorials every day and is extremely busy. It must be quite an achievement for him to find the time to reply to Your Highness." Chief Secretary Xie gave Xu Mama a wink, and Xu Mama quickly stepped forward and carefully wiped away his tears with a handkerchief.
Seeing Gu Yuzhi looking at him with teary eyes, Chief Secretary Xie felt extremely distressed. No matter how noble His Highness's status was, he was still just a five-year-old child...
He had seen how much His Highness had longed for the Emperor's reply during this time, but now the Emperor's reply was clearly perfunctory, while Consort Tai Xian's letter...
All Xie Changshi could say was, "Your Majesty, your desire to play is far too great."
"Your Highness, perhaps you should wait a little longer?" Chief Secretary Xie took a few steps back, half-kneeling as he looked at Gu Yuzhi. "Perhaps the Emperor's reward is still on its way, and Consort Taixian's letter arrived along with the reward?"
Gu Yuzhi suddenly stopped. Oh right, what about his Mid-Autumn Festival reward?
But there wasn't a single word about any reward in the letter that Chief Secretary Xie just read!
Gu Yuzhi's grievances reached their peak at this moment, and he couldn't help but snort, "Prefect Xie is lying! My brother doesn't miss me at all, and he hasn't prepared any rewards for me!"
After saying that, he turned and left with a sullen face.
Gu Yuzhi declared that he was truly angry! He didn't want to talk to anyone!
Chief Secretary Xie sighed. "Your Majesty, your joke has really gone too far."
After returning to the main courtyard, Gu Yuzhi sat on a stone chair, resting his chin on his hand, feeling increasingly angry.
Shu Xiaohan and Wen Xiuzhu exchanged a glance, and unusually, neither of them argued with the other at this moment, choosing instead to silently accompany Gu Yuzhi.
After a long while, Shu Xiaohan sighed, "How could the Emperor use his 37° mouth to say such cold words?"
This child became a "left-behind child" at such a young age. Even if his relationship with the emperor was indifferent, the emperor was still his family in his heart. He wrote many letters to him, but all he got were a few light replies, without even a word of concern. No wonder the young prince felt bad!
Having sat for so long, Gu Yuzhi wasn't so angry anymore. Hearing what Shu Xiaohan said, he asked curiously, "Teacher Shu, what is a 37° mouth?"
"Human body temperature," Shu Xiaohan explained briefly, "We humans all have our own body temperature. If it exceeds this temperature, we will have a fever, which is what you call a fever. Of course, if the human body temperature is too low, the person will also suffer from heart failure due to hypothermia and eventually die."
Gu Yuzhi nodded, somewhat bewildered: "However, my brother didn't say it; he wrote it down."
He tilted his head: "Shouldn't we say that with my brother's 37°C hands, how could he write such cold words?"
“That’s right!” Shu Xiaohan quickly affirmed, and seeing that Gu Yuzhi’s mood had obviously improved, she breathed a sigh of relief. “But Your Highness, I have a feeling that Chief Secretary Xie didn’t lie to you. The Emperor will probably reward you. It’s just that the reward wasn’t sent by express, so it’s going rather slowly. It should arrive in a few days.”
Gu Yuzhi had actually realized this by now. Although his elder brother's letter did not mention these things, Chief Secretary Xie had just said that his mother's letter would come along with the rewards.
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