Dong Gong Mei

"Father." Li Xuanye bowed again.

He fell to the ground, and the emperor's earnest exhortations came slowly into his ears.

"...You must remember that you are the Son of Heaven. You should educate the world and teach the people. You must be fair and prudent, and benefit all the people...You must not be weak, you must not be controlled by others, you must not indulge in pleasure, and you must not indulge in love...My son..." His voice gradually became lower, "...I entrust the country to you...You must protect it well..."

"Yes..." Li Xuanye felt a pain in his heart. He raised his head and saw the emperor half leaning on the imperial couch with his eyes slightly closed, as if he had fallen asleep.

"Father——" His eyes became hot and tears burst out, and he stood up suddenly.

His vision was blurred and his fingers were trembling. He stretched them under the emperor's nose and was stunned again.

Warm and weak, it's breathing.

The emperor fainted again.

Cao De appeared behind him at some point and reminded him in a low voice: "Your Highness, the imperial physician said that His Majesty will be less and less awake in the future..."

Li Xuanye held the emperor's hand tightly, and tears fell instantly.

In the Purple Palace Square, Gu Yong stood silently.

Behind him was the palace, and in front of him was a huge crowd.

The incident happened suddenly, and all people knew was that the emperor was ill, but his life or death was unknown.

No one who heard the noise dared to delay. The courtiers, eunuchs, and concubines on duty all came forward. Together with the officials who were originally trapped in the palace and unable to leave, they filled the huge square like a tide in an instant.

Everyone turned to Gu Yong, wanting him to give an explanation: It doesn't make sense that when something happened to the emperor, you, Gu Yong, would be the only one blocking the door?

Even if you are not allowed to visit, you should at least say something, right?

For no reason, the palace gates and the city gates were closed. This makes people think a lot - if something happened to the emperor, what would Gu Yong do?

Some of the ministers were tacitly aware of this, some were uneasy, and some were secretly competing: "Why can you, Gu Yong, give us such a hard time? It was difficult for Zhao Ziyi to suppress us at the beginning."

Someone could not help but ask, "Master Gu, you have just been promoted to Prime Minister, the head of all officials. We can only ask for your instructions. May I ask, what exactly does Your Majesty think?"

"Yes! Sir Gu, please tell me what we should do next?"

The palace maids were also panicked.

If something happens, what should these weak women do?

The two high-ranking concubines, Ming Fei and Xian Fei, came out first.

  They have neither children nor strong families. If something happens to the emperor, if they don't fight for a good position for themselves, are they just waiting to die?

All the officials made way for them, waiting for someone to throw a stone to ask for directions: How is the emperor? What happened inside? They are court officials and should have the right to know.

As the two of them walked up the stone steps, they were stopped by someone: "Stop!"

Concubine Ming and Concubine Xian both raised their eyes and sneered.

It’s Gu Yuci.

  Why would an unpopular princess who hasn't yet climbed to the top be putting on airs in front of the two of them?

The virtuous concubine twitched her lips and was about to speak, but who knew——

"My two ladies, what do you want to do?" Gu Yuci asked, "Without the Crown Prince's order, no one is allowed to step into the Purple Palace!"

"Eh..." Concubine Xian frowned and looked Gu Yuci up and down for several times, "If I remember correctly, you are the eldest daughter of the Gu family, right?" She chuckled, "The Gu family is really amazing. A girl in the boudoir is not inferior to a man!"

After all, Concubine Xian is one of the Four Concubines. This status was not obtained for nothing. She helped the Empress fight the Queen Mother and made considerable contributions.

He wanted to control Gu Yuci and thought it would be easy to do so.

This was said without any sharpness, but the irony was obvious: A lady from the boudoir, you are controlling us women in the harem, isn't that too shameless? But Gu Yuci didn't care about this irony at all.

What kind of humiliation, blows, and injuries has she not suffered along the way?

  She is still her!

Still as charming as ever!

Gu Yuci raised his eyebrows and smiled brightly: "The Prime Minister is my father, and the Crown Prince is my cousin. He is here on orders, and I am assisting my father. What's wrong with that?" His smile faded, and his tone suddenly turned cold, "If Concubine Xian wants to force her way in, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

The virtuous concubine raised her foot, and then it froze.

Although she became one of the four concubines in the harem, she had no children and felt a little insecure.

Ming Fei sneered and pulled Xian Fei aside: "Sister, don't be anxious. The harem is full of changes. Today you are bullied and tomorrow I am bullied. No one should think that they will always be in a high position. Isn't it true? Who would have thought that the former Concubine Pei would become a commoner."

"How dare you!" As soon as the voice stopped, Gu Yuci flew into a rage, "Come here, the prince has ordered that the palace is a restricted area and no one is allowed to trespass! Please ask the two ladies to leave!"

"……you……"

The two concubines were "invited" away by the imperial guards, and the faces of the officials on the ground changed several times.

In the past, when the daughter of the Zhao family was the Crown Princess, she was extremely honored and favored. Even if she was occasionally a little arrogant, she had never been so cruel - usually the Crown Prince would do such cruel things to favor her.

  Now the Zhao family has fallen and the Gu family has risen. The young lady of the Gu family is so spoiled. If she were to become the Crown Princess and then the Empress, and join forces with the Emperor, how would these people have a chance to breathe?

Zhao Zirou walked forward calmly.

  She also wanted to know what happened inside - was the emperor dead or alive? If he was alive, why didn't he let everyone know the news? If he was dead, should she close the net?

However, just as she reached the stone steps, Gu Yuci stretched out his arm and blocked her completely.

"Madam Zhao, I know you are anxious, but please still follow my orders."

Zhao Zirou frowned, then smiled softly, "Miss Gu, when you came to the Pearl Mirror Palace as a guest before, we talked and laughed a lot and got along very well. How come you are so ruthless now? I'm really at a loss as to what to do."

This is a hidden message, reminding Gu Yuci: You can get to where you are today thanks to my help, so don't burn your bridges after crossing them.

Gu Yuci felt no psychological pressure at all. He glanced at her and turned his back.

"People go up, water flows down. Madam, the past is the past, and the present is the present. You used to be a concubine, but now you are only a concubine. You shouldn't ask me why I am so impartial, you should ask yourself - why did you fall to this point?"

She didn't even bother to look at me.

Zhao Zirou pinched her fingers.

You are so good, Gu Yuci.

  When you asked me to help you, you didn't have this expression on your face. Now that the Zhao family is in trouble, you have turned your back on me?

Zhao Zirou sneered in her heart.

  I thought to myself, who do you think you are, Gu Yuci, to dare you to plot against me?

I can build a bridge for you, but I can also tear it down for you.

Then she smiled at Gu Yuci again, her voice even softer and more graceful: "Miss Gu, it's windy here, be careful not to hurt your throat when you speak. It's true that people want to move to higher places, but there's also a saying that it gets cold at the top, and it depends on whether you can stand it."

Everyone was just waiting to see the show and were busy looking at Gu Yong's reaction.

But Gu Yong was standing in the square with his sleeves fluttering, unmoved at all.

I admired her secretly in my heart, and just when I was about to say something, I suddenly heard someone in front of me say, "Madam Zhao."

Gu Yuci turned around and looked up: "You don't know, I have experienced many hardships and never give up. I only believe in one sentence in my life - do you want to hear it?"

"Appreciate further details."

Gu Yuci laughed out loud, full of vigor and vitality: "I would rather be in the cold at the top than be tortured at the bottom! I, Gu Yuci, was born to be strong and I won't be left behind!" (End of this chapter)