Chapter 886 A Journey to Wei (8)
Seeing her like this, Yun Yichen almost burst out laughing, but he held it in to play along.
"It's all because I'm incompetent that my wife has suffered. Tomorrow I will go to the Emperor and ask him to bring the Empress to apologize to my wife. If she doesn't forgive me, I will join forces with the Jin Kingdom to attack them."
Yun Yichen spoke convincingly, especially his part about attacking him, which seemed no joke.
Gu Shuyan was just teasing Yun Yichen, but upon hearing his words, she quickly turned around and shouted, "No!"
When Gu Shuyan's gaze fell upon Yun Yichen's smiling face, she realized that she had been tricked by him.
"You're deliberately teasing me."
Gu Shuyan immediately became unhappy and clenched her fists to punch Yun Yichen, but Yun Yichen grabbed her hand and pulled her close.
"Shushu is finally willing to throw a tantrum at me now! To be honest, only now do I feel like I'm living like a human being. I have you, our child, and I can go wherever I want without caring about what others think. But it wasn't like that before. Even if I cared about someone, I didn't dare to show it, let alone let those people know. I thought that would protect the people I cared about, but as it turns out, I still couldn't protect you."
Yun Yichen's words were spoken softly, as if they were blown away in an instant, but to Gu Shuyan they felt like a gentle breeze brushing against her heart.
She knew that Yun Yichen had changed a lot since this trip. He was no longer the aloof prime minister he once was. He even personally changed the child's clothes and cooked soup for her.
She only thought that Yun Yichen was going out because it was new and exciting, but she didn't know that Yun Yichen was thinking something else entirely.
Being taken away back then must have left a deep shadow in his heart!
Gu Shuyan gently took his hand, and then she slowly said, "From now on, no matter where we are in the world, our family will be together."
Although it was just a very ordinary sentence, Yun Yichen's heart skipped a beat.
"Okay, we'll be a family together."
Compared to the harmony here, Bai Moqin in the palace seemed somewhat irritable.
"My elder brother is already difficult to deal with, and now we have such a difficult sister-in-law on top of that. When will our plan ever succeed!"
Bai Moqin paced back and forth in the Empress's palace, making the Empress dizzy. She couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty's anxiety is useless. We should discuss this further at this time."
"They certainly won't stay in Wei for long. In such a short time, by the time we come up with a plan, they'll have already made their escape."
Bai Moqin believed she understood Yun Yichen well. This man had often come up with unexpected tricks in the Great Zhou Dynasty. If she didn't hurry, Bai Moqin was certain that after recognizing his ancestors and offering sacrifices to Heaven, he would definitely be able to leave without saying goodbye with his wife and children.
The Empress still believed Bai Moqin's words, but now they had already alerted the enemy. If they made any further moves, it might backfire.
The Empress remained silent, and seeing this, Bai Moqin walked over.
"Alright, don't worry. Things have come to this point, and we're not really helpless against them. At worst, we'll just go all in."
As Bai Moqin said this, a sly glint flashed in her eyes.
Nothing more was said that night!
The next day, the Ministry of Rites prepared all the necessary documents to report, but when they arrived at the main hall, they learned that their emperor was not attending court again.
Not only that, the emperor also instructed the Ministry of Rites to inform that it was Yun Yichen who was to be recognized as a member of the ancestral clan, and that all matters should be handled directly with Yun Yichen. As long as Yun Yichen had checked and found nothing amiss, the ancestral worship ceremony would be held that afternoon according to this procedure.
The Minister of Rites almost spat out a mouthful of blood as he watched the eunuch walk away.
Where in the world is there an emperor like this? He doesn't care about anything and even makes people ask others for advice. When did the etiquette system of the Wei Kingdom become like this?
Shaking his head, the Minister of Rites swallowed all his grievances. Regardless of the emperor, there was still the retired emperor. He would ask the retired emperor first.
With this thought in mind, the Minister of Rites quickly arrived at the Emperor Emeritus's sleeping quarters. After having a eunuch announce his arrival outside, he learned that the Emperor Emeritus had drunk too much the previous day and was still asleep.
Upon hearing this, the Minister of Rites explained the purpose of the visit, but the Emperor Emeritus replied as follows:
I have long since abdicated and no longer concern myself with court affairs. If the Minister of Rites has any questions, he should ask the Emperor!
This wasn't the first time he'd seen the retired emperor act so dismissively. Now, holding onto the memorials he couldn't hand over, he was in a terrible predicament.
On his way out of the palace, the Minister of Rites saw the Vice Minister of Rites waiting for him.
"My lord, what did His Majesty say?"
The Vice Minister of Rites was a subordinate personally promoted by the Minister of Rites. When asked about it, the Minister of Rites shook his head and said, "Just like before, nobody cares. They just told me to take it to that person."
The person the Minister of Rites was referring to was naturally Yun Yichen. Yesterday, thanks to his arrival, I was finally able to attend court for a day.
Now that he's not coming, the court has somehow returned to its previous state.
Looking at the Vice Minister of Rites who also looked unwell, the Minister of Rites said, "I'm afraid our days ahead will only get harder."
It's bad enough that the country has no ruler, but there's no one who can actually manage things. The Wei court was still functioning before because the old imperial tutor was holding it up all by himself.
But the old imperial tutor will grow old one day, while His Majesty is in his prime. How will they live in the decades to come?
The Vice Minister of Rites felt the same way. Thinking about his seemingly endless official career, he knew these days were truly unbearable.
The two left the palace together. Looking at the huge high wall in front of them, the Vice Minister of Rites asked, "Sir, what should we do next? The ancestral worship ceremony is this afternoon."
The Minister of Rites glanced at the high wall, then sighed, "What can we do? We'll have to go and discuss it with that person!"
The two boarded the carriage and headed straight for Yun Yichen's residence. Yun Yichen had them let in, and his eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the documents in their hands.
"Do you two gentlemen have important business with me?"
Yun Yichen still referred to himself as a commoner. Upon hearing this, the two quickly replied, "Your Highness is too kind. We have come here on His Majesty's orders."
"Oh? His Majesty gave instructions that made you two officials make this trip."
Yun Yichen remained seated without making a move. The Vice Minister of Rites was about to speak up and tell the truth, but was interrupted by the Minister of Rites.
"Actually, it's nothing major. It's just the ancestral worship ceremony this afternoon. After His Majesty reviewed it, he asked me to show it to Your Highness again, so that there might be nothing Your Highness finds inappropriate."
Yun Yichen watched the actions of the Vice Minister of Rites and listened to the words of the Minister of Rites, and then pondered for a moment.
"Since Your Majesty has already examined it, there must be no problem, so I don't need to examine it any further."
Yun Yichen still used the formal title, but it was much better than the self-deprecating title he used before.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
