One statement from Yu She had shut everyone else up.

He had truly caused the conversation to become a bit too heavy. The senior officials had nothing to say in response.

Yet, Yu She scanned everyone in the room. His gaze was filled with slight anticipation.

He liked talking about this. He wanted to say some more.

An awkward period of silence later, it was still Senior Cabinet Official Sun who ultimately got out with difficulty, “Yes, that could cause death.”

Yu She nodded. In a tone that he believed was calm and not awkward at all, he said, “Originally, I wasn’t willing to listen to him, but I couldn’t withstand his frequent onslaught of reminders. I could only listen to him. What he said wasn’t wrong in the first place, anyway. One really should limit their poison intake.”

Senior Cabinet Official Sun forced himself to say, “Exactly so.”

Yu She nodded. He picked up his handkerchief and daintily wiped off his fingertips. Then, he ordered someone to take away the bowl and chopsticks so he could continue looking over the documents.

The senior cabinet officials made eye contact and rapidly finished their meals before going back to commenting on the booklets.

Outside, Zhong Wan slammed his head against a pillar. He didn’t want to go inside to see Yu She at all.

The little eunuch in charge of serving Yu She walked over. Just as he was about to speak, Zhong Wan shushed him. “Don’t announce me. I’ll just wait here for him.”

Thanks to Yu She, Zhong Wan was no longer curious in the slightest about what the Cabinet looked like inside.

He even felt a bit fortunate that he didn’t have such a crazy colleague.

The little eunuch nodded before silently retreating.

Zhong Wan sat down. He drank tea while waiting. Almost two hours later, the little Hanlins started carrying booklets out of the room. Zhong Wan knew that it was almost time. He stood and walked out of the palace alone.

Zhong Wan told everyone to help keep the fact that he had gone looking for Yu She a secret; they were only to say that he had made a trip back to the estate before returning. In less than five minutes, Yu She walked out.

Yu She’s brows were furrowed. On one hand, he scolded the family soldiers for not following his orders. On the other, he honestly couldn’t handle Zhong Wan continuously tugging at his sleeve. Reluctantly, he held onto Zhong Wan’s hand.

The horse carriage driver put the?stool?away, lit the lanterns, turned the horse carriage around, and started on their way back to the estate.

There was a brazier inside. Zhong Wan’s hands were even colder than Yu She’s though, and Yu She had been walking outside in the wind for a while. Yu She’s expression was a bit dark. Zhong Wan took this opportunity to be mushy. “My body is cold too..The weather today is honestly terrible.”

Yu She hesitated for a moment. He undid his cloak and wrapped Zhong Wan up with it.

Zhong Wan sighed, pleased. He asked in a low voice, “Why did you have so much business to attend to today?”“Prince Yu has temporarily hidden himself away. Those on his side have all either retired or quit..” Yu She said in his deep voice. “Though he doesn’t have any allies in the Cabinet, because there are less people working in the?lower levels, trivial matters have naturally gotten pushed up.”

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Zhong Wan said, “He’s testing you.”

Yu She made a sound of acknowledgement. “I didn’t say anything.. Those senior officials whom the emperor will listen to are the trusted subordinates that he has personally promoted over all these years. They wouldn’t listen to me. Even now, they haven’t expressed any inclinations to join my side either. Saying too much is useless. Besides..”

Yu She calmly said, “I don’t have any possible replacements.”

These past few years, Yu She had never thought about fighting for the position of crown prince. He had also never trained any people. Speaking of this, he was probably even less powerful in the Court than Xuan Jing.

Zhong Wan thought about it. “Old Imperial Preceptor Shi left a few people for me. One of them is an assistant astronomer in the Imperial Astronomy Department.”

Yu She held down Zhong Wan’s disobedient hands. Lowly, he asked, “What? You want to have that assistant astronomer tell the emperor that he discovered in the stars that I must be the crown prince?”

Zhong Wan laughed. He said, “I’ll get in contact with him tomorrow.”

Before waiting for Yu She to respond, Zhong Wan rushed to add, “I naturally won’t let anyone discover that I ever went. If I return late tomorrow, I won’t come pick you up.”

Yu She fell silent for a moment. Then, he nodded. “Okay.”

It was late at night. Soft murmurs could be heard from Yu She’s carriage as it traveled along the official path. Nice and peaceful, like the upcoming maelstrom had nothing to do with these two people.

A few days later, Emperor Chongan had the rare energy to attend morning court. After morning court, he told Yu She to stay behind.

The weather was slowly getting warmer. Emperor Chongan strolled around the imperial gardens with the aid of his cane.

Yu She followed behind him. Emperor Chongan didn’t speak. Not a word left Yu She’s lips either.

“These past few days, you’ve been quite stressed out about Cabinet business. I’ve heard about this.” Emperor Chongan turned his head to look at Yu She. “Ziyou, if you didn’t understand in the past, you should understand now after this period of hard work, right? This throne isn’t easy to sit on.”

Emperor Chongan stopped in his tracks. He gazed off into the distance at the spring blossoms, dazed. “At your age, I too wanted to help the previous emperor carry some burdens. After actually inheriting the throne, though.. I felt that things were truly very tiring.”

Yu She didn’t respond.

Emperor Chongan continued to walk forward. He said in a low voice, “These past few years, I’ve eaten late and woken up early to placate the inside while stabilizing the outside. I’ve exhausted all my energy. I personally believe that even if I had made a mistake in the early years, I’ve already compensated for it by now. Who.. could be up next?”

Emperor Chongan stared at Yu She as he had said this. Yu She’s gaze was cold. He didn’t answer.

Emperor Chongan kept walking. Bibo Pond was close by. He hesitated for a moment before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

Ridicule flashed through Yu She’s eyes.

Emperor Chongan was scared that he would suddenly fly into a fit and push him into the water too.

He? relied on Yu She heavily now, but was still guarded against him.

The fact that a biological father and son had gotten to this step was quite ironic.

Emperor Chongan continued to say, “I heard the senior cabinet officials say that you’re very diligent while reading the booklets everyday. You don’t speak much, but do a lot. Additionally, even after entering the cabinet for so long, you still only watch and learn. You’ve never intervened in a single matter.”

Emperor Chongan lamented, “I remember when Qiong’er was there.. he practically wished that the entire cabinet would listen to him.”

“I’m not talented nor well-learned,” said Yu She in a nonchalant manner. “There’s not much I can help with anyways.”

Emperor Chongan continued to walk. He asked, “Then after you have learned for so long, have you experienced the difficulty of being someone in power?”

Yu She did his best to hide the scorn in his eyes. He fell silent for a moment before saying, “It’s very difficult, but sometimes, having this sense of difficulty is a blessing. If I have too peaceful of a life.. I fear that I won’t be able to live for too long.”

Emperor Chongan gave Yu She a long, hard look. He sighed. “Just say a few nice things. As a way of being filial to me. Okay?”

Yu She lowered his gaze.

Yu She didn’t look like Little Imperial Consort Zhong. Only his eyes and eyebrows slightly resembled Emperor Chongan’s eyes from when the other had been younger. Emperor Chongan stared into Yu She’s eyes and softly said, “You grew up in the palace, Ziyou. Did you know? You started walking really late. All the other kids learned how to walk before they turned one. Only you—you were almost two, but still wobbled and walked very slowly. However, every time you saw me, you wouldn’t care about those things. You would run very fast. One day in the imperial gardens, you saw me from afar and started running toward me at once. None of the palace servants could catch up to you. You were running too quickly, so tripped on a stone step. Both of your little hands were covered in blood. At that time, my heart honestly hurt so much that I felt like it was going to break..”

Both of Emperor Chongan’s hands rested on his wooden cane. He coughed twice and said while panting, “Thinking back now, I’m immensely regretful. At the time, why did I care about etiquette so much? I ought to have run forward a few steps too and picked you up well before you could’ve fallen..”

Yu She’s expression was normal. “I learned to walk late. Since young, I’ve been in the habit of falling over. After falling enough times, I’ve long since gotten used to it. There’s no need to mind, Emperor.”

As he coughed, Emperor Chongan laughed bitterly. “You still blame me.”

Yu She’s expression was calm. “It’s the truth. I’ve truly gotten used to it.”

Emperor Chongan knew that it was too late to try and start warming up Yu She’s heart now. He didn’t say anything else regarding that topic. He waved his hands. “Nevermind. Accompany me a bit longer.

“These past few days, Prince Yu has been locked up at home and very well behaved,” Emperor Chongan said. “Say.. Does he really not want to fight anymore, or is he crafting another plan?”

Upon hearing this, Yu She, who was walking behind him, said, “I’ve never had a clear understanding of Prince Yu’s thoughts. I daren’t guess.”

“You’ve been his son for many years. If even you can’t guess, I’m even less capable.” Emperor Chongan walked up the stone stairs step by step. “The Imperial Astronomy Department came to report the astronomical phenomena today..”

Emperor Chongan was truly in poor health. He had started panting after merely climbing a few steps. He stopped and slowly said, “Originally, everything was only normal. They talked about how the spring rains would be this year and whether or not there would be floods this summer. However, this time, they also mentioned.. They said that this year, Mars might be approaching?Antares.”

Mars stayed at Antares. Great calamity befell the Son of Heaven.

Emperor Chongan took his time saying, “Ziyou, who is it that wishes harm against me?”

Yu She’s expression was unchanged. He answered, “The matters of astronomical phenomena can be both believed or disregarded.”

“I’ve been in poor health this year, but I feel that I should be able to last two more years. It probably isn’t the Heavens that wants me to go.” Emperor Chongan’s voice grew colder. In a low voice, he said, “The Imperial Astronomy Department also said that the two stars next to Antares are flashing. One is fortunate, while the other is unfortunate.”

Emperor Chongan gazed at Yu She. His eyes were dark. “These two stars have always represented the imperial princes. One is going to be fortunate and the other is going to be unfortunate. Tell me. Which is which?”

Yu She’s expression slightly changed.

Emperor Chongan pressed down on Yu She’s shoulder briefly. “The fortunate one has been trapped by the unfortunate one. If that’s the message.. isn’t it a bit obvious?”

Yu She inhaled deeply. “I was born in the middle of July: truly the unfortunate one. Right now, Xuan Qiong is under house arrest. He also truly is..”

Yu She scoffed. He didn’t continue speaking.

“I do believe these superstitious messages. In the early years, someone said that I have no luck in regards to offspring. I really did lose many princes and felt depressed for a long time.” Emperor Chongan narrowed his eyes. All of a sudden, he changed the topic, saying, “But as of now, I have three nice and healthy sons alive. What does that mean?

“First, they said that Mars will stay at Antares. Then, they said that a prince will be trapped. Now, they’re saying that the fortunate prince might be able to divert this astronomical phenomenon.” Emperor Chongan’s voice was completely cold. “Prince Yu has been waiting for many days. So he’s been using all his energy in this regard! He wants to use the words of the Imperial Astronomy Department to make me name Xuan Qiong as crown prince. He’s also using your birthdate against you. How terribly evil..”

Yu She’s heart finally fell back into place. He couldn’t help lamenting to himself that Zhong Wan really understood Emperor Chongan quite well.

Emperor Chongan’s?glabella?was a bit dark. His expression was foul too. “It’s my fault. I wasted too much time before naming you as prince of the first rank. So long that these people think that they can change my mind.

“Don’t worry,” said Emperor Chongan, placating Yu She. “I’ve just given the imperial decree to officially name you prince of the first rank.”

Yu She knelt and thanked the emperor for his grace. This entire process was extremely proper. He didn’t say any excessive words of gratitude.

Emperor Chongan ordered him to stand up. He laughed bitterly. “Why have I heard that you’re very talkative around Guiyuan? You spend everyday together and nobody can separate you two. But you have nothing to say to me?”

Emperor Chongan furrowed his brows and thought about it. He said, “Oh right.. Who did I hear this from again..

“They said that since I’ve admitted you to be my son, the Imperial Clan Court and Ministry of Internal Affairs have both sent a lot of stuff to your estate. And people are already starting to write down where you stay each night now.” Emperor Chongan burst into laughter. “How come I heard that the entire booklet is filled with..”

Yu She calmly said, “All Zhong Wan.”

Yu She’s expression changed a bit. He found Zhong Wan slightly embarrassing. However, he also couldn’t resist saying, “H-he didn’t even know what the booklet was for. He thought that I was required to go find the person whose name was written under the date on that day. Thus, he asked for dozens of those?journaling booklets. When he had nothing to do, he would simply write his name onto them, filling every page out to the brim. As of now..”

Yu She couldn’t help adding, “He’s probably already scheduled the next few decades of my life.”