In the hall, Eunuch Liu had been waiting anxiously for a long time. As soon as Gu Yanwei came out, Eunuch Liu immediately stepped forward, forgetting even the most basic etiquette.
"Your Highness, you finally came out. Something big happened in the palace."
"What's wrong?"
Eunuch Liu walked up to Gu Yanwei and whispered in his ear, "The emperor suddenly became seriously ill and is now lying in bed unconscious. The palace is waiting for you to take charge of the situation."
Before he could even wait for Shen Qingqiu, Gu Yanwei followed Eunuch Liu back to the palace.
When Shen Qingqiu packed up his things and came out, Liu was the only one left in the hall.
"Mother, where is His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince?"
Liu also had a worried look on her face and said, "Eunuch Liu came here in a hurry just now. It seems that something big happened in the palace. Your Highness followed Eunuch Liu into the palace in a hurry. Let me tell you something."
"What happened?
Liu shook her head. "I don't know about that, but seeing how anxious His Highness is, I'm afraid it has something to do with the Emperor. You should go to the palace and take a look!"
When Gu Yanwei arrived at the imperial study, the door was already surrounded by important court officials.
Lord Li Xin was the first to see Gu Yanwei and stood up and said, "Your Highness the Ninth Prince, all the ministers are waiting for you. Why are you here just now?"
Li Xin's voice attracted other ministers outside the door, and more and more eyes were on Gu Yanwei. At this moment, Gu Yanwei had no time to care about them and walked straight into the imperial study.
Behind him, he could hear the voices of Li Xin and other ministers discussing.
"Lord Li, you said that the emperor is seriously ill and we don't know how he is doing. Could it be that the Ninth Prince will really inherit the throne? Then what should we do as you and I who stand by the Eighth Prince?"
Li Xin, however, looked confident and said nonchalantly, "Why panic? The emperor is still unconscious and the ceremony of enthroning the crown prince has not yet been carried out. He cannot be considered a true crown prince."
Zhao Zhongliang looked at Li Xin as if he had suddenly realized something. "Sure enough, Lord Li is a very shrewd man."
Li Xin smiled contemptuously and said, "Just wait. There will be a tough battle in the palace in the next few days. If we win this battle, we can rest assured in the future."
In the imperial study, Gu Yanwei slowly walked to the bedside. At this moment, the emperor's eyes were tightly closed, but even though he was unconscious, his brows were still furrowed.
Gu Yanwei looked at him for a long time before he looked up at the imperial physician beside him and asked, "How is father?"
The imperial physician sighed and said, "Your Highness, the emperor is now bedridden because he is overthinking. In addition, he took a large amount of Wu Shi San a few days ago, and the remaining poison has not been cleared. This is why the poison has caused an attack in his body and he is now bedridden!"
"Excessive worry." Gu Yanwei frowned and silently repeated the words of the imperial physician. Suddenly, his heart felt like it was being stabbed by a knife and was in unbearable pain. "Excessive worry, it's because of the Queen's matter, or his mother's matter."
He looked at the emperor's pale face and felt unspeakable pain in his heart. If he had known this would happen, he would never have brought up the matter again. He only thought about how to overturn the verdict for his mother, but never thought about his father.
The Emperor and Concubine Shu had a deep affection for each other. After learning the truth of what happened, he naturally blamed himself and could not forgive himself. However, the instigator behind this incident was the person who had accompanied him all his life. How could he accept this?
Gu Yanwei held the emperor's hand tightly, his red eyes like a wounded wolf, and he whimpered softly, "Father, I'm sorry."
Eunuch Liu didn't want to disturb Gu Yanwei at this moment, but he had no choice. Before the emperor fell into a coma, he was most worried about state affairs. At the moment, the most important thing was for someone to take charge of the situation.
"Your Highness, the war with the Xiongnu is not over yet. You must cheer up. Now, the whole court is waiting for you to make the decision."
After a long while, Gu Yanwei slowly stood up, turned around, looked at the reflections on the door, and sneered, "Do you think it's so easy to preside over the situation, eunuch?"
Having said that, he walked out slowly. He knew in his heart what would greet him. Chen Jie also sighed and clenched the sword in his hand, as if to cheer up Gu Yanwei and himself.
The ministers who had been waiting outside the door for a long time saw Gu Yanwei coming out and bowed to him, "Your Highness."
Zhang Jie Li stood up from the crowd and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor is seriously ill and cannot get up. Someone needs to take charge of the court. Please ask Your Highness to temporarily take over the Emperor's affairs tomorrow."
"Hey, Lord Zhang, I'm afraid this won't work." Li Xin suddenly said.
"Why not? The Emperor had previously issued an oral order to make the Ninth Prince the Crown Prince. Now that the Emperor is seriously ill, the Crown Prince should shoulder the heavy responsibility of supervising the country."
"That's true, but the Ninth Prince has not yet had his canonization ceremony, and has not completed the rituals, so he is not yet considered the Crown Prince."
"What do you mean? Are you saying that the emperor's words are no longer valid in your eyes?" Zhang Jie Li said angrily.
"Hey, Lord Zhang, don't dare to accuse me of such a serious crime. The emperor's mind is hard to predict. The emperor has not yet officially conferred the title to the ninth prince. Maybe he has other plans in mind to oppose the crown prince. Who knows?"
"But according to the date, today is the ceremony to confer the crown prince. Now that the emperor is seriously ill, the ceremony has to be postponed."
"So..." Li Xin interrupted Master Zhang and said, "We can't act so rashly. If we let the Ninth Prince govern the country while the emperor is in a coma, what if the emperor makes a different decision after waking up? If something happens, neither you nor I can bear the responsibility!"
"You are obviously talking nonsense here!"
Li Xin glanced at Zhang Jieli with contempt and said nothing more. Instead, he looked at Gu Yanwei provocatively.
Before Gu Yanwei could speak, Zhao Zhongliang spoke again, "I think what Lord Li said makes sense. Since the founding of the country, only after the canonization ceremony can one be considered a true prince. Now letting the ninth prince govern the country is really inappropriate."
"Lord Zhao, Lord Li, the appointment of the ninth prince as the crown prince is the emperor's oral order," Eunuch Liu said anxiously.
"Eunuch Liu, I know you are a favorite of the Emperor, but since ancient times, eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Moreover, you have been serving the Emperor all along, so you should also know that the Emperor has never liked the Ninth Prince. On the contrary, the Eighth Prince is deeply loved by the Emperor."
Li Xin's words choked Eunuch Liu so much that he was speechless. He was right. For many years, the emperor did prefer the eighth prince more, but Eunuch Liu naturally knew why. In the emperor's heart, he cared more about the ninth prince. He knew it better than anyone else.
Seeing that Eunuch Liu was speechless, Li Xin was even more proud and said, "My dear colleagues, since the position of the crown prince has not yet been established, in my opinion, our dynasty has always respected seniority and inferiority. After the crown prince is deposed, the eighth prince is the oldest. The eighth prince is resourceful and capable of taking on important tasks."
"This..." The ministers hesitated, no one dared to stand up and speak, and no one dared to stand up against Li Xin.
Looking at the situation in front of him, the Eighth Prince, who had been silent all this time, revealed a smug smile. He raised his head and looked at Gu Yanwei who was standing on the steps, and his eyes met his.
The two men's eyes met in the air, fighting like two daggers.
"Li Xin, you are so brave. The emperor is just seriously ill and unconscious now, but you and the eighth prince want to rebel?" Finally, Wang Yanming stood up.
"Sir Wang!" Li Xin shouted, "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Slandering an important official of the court is a serious crime!"
"Isn't it true that the Emperor intends to make the Ninth Prince the Crown Prince, but you are here making alarmist remarks and disturbing everyone. You don't want to rebel, so who wants to rebel?" As he spoke, his eyes were already looking in the direction of the Eighth Prince.
"Sir Wang, we are all thinking about the court. The position of the crown prince has not yet been truly confirmed. This old minister is just trying to recommend a more competent person to the court in this time of crisis."
Lord Wang sneered, "The Ninth Prince is kind-hearted, intelligent, and saved the Emperor during the Princess's rebellion. Isn't that enough for him to be the Crown Prince?"
"Humph." Li Xin waved his hand and said, "If you want to sit on the throne of the emperor, you can't just rely on kindness. If you use kindness too much, you will become indecisive. The Eighth Prince has always acted decisively and was resourceful. He was the best choice for the crown prince at that time."
"You..." Li Xin was born into a civil service family and was eloquent. Wang Yanming was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time.
Li Xin looked at the ministers outside the imperial study with a sneer. He had been planning with the Eighth Prince over the years, and more than half of the people in the court had already become his and the Eighth Prince's people.
"I suggest that the Eighth Prince temporarily take over as regent during the Emperor's serious illness. Do you have any objections?"
As if they had discussed it beforehand, the ministers all raised their hands and shouted in unison: "The Eighth Prince is resourceful and wise. We request that the Eighth Prince temporarily take over the duties of the regent."
Only a few civil and military officials in the court remained in resistance.
At this time, under the recommendation of everyone, the Eighth Prince looked up at Gu Yanwei and slowly walked up the steps until he was at eye level with him.
"I really don't deserve it, but since everyone trusts me so much, I won't refuse. While my father is seriously ill, I will take care of state affairs temporarily." As he said this, he looked at Gu Yanwei, who was standing aside and remained silent.
Over the years, he has been walking on thin ice in the palace. Whether to be the crown prince or the emperor, he never thought that he could fight with them in this treacherous palace. He just wanted to save his life and reverse the verdict for his mother. Now his mother's revenge has been achieved, but his father has been indirectly harmed because of it.
Gu Yanwei laughed at himself in his heart, maybe they were right, he was simply not qualified for the position of Crown Prince, and was simply unable to face himself, and then, he sat on the throne with peace of mind.
Like a walking corpse, Gu Yanwei returned to his own bedroom. Shen Qingqiu had been waiting for a long time. When he saw him come in, he immediately stood up and walked towards him.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
