“What? Absolutely not!” the old Prime Minister, Zou Yan, and the Minister of Personnel, Liang YunPing, exclaimed at the same time in the Imperial study. In a rare moment of unity, the two, who were usually at loggerheads, were now on the same page, both opposing the words of the Emperor above them.
“Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot do this!” The old Prime Minister stepped forward and, cupping his hands, said, “The Capital cannot be left without a master for a day, besides, Your Majesty, you are the body of the country, of great importance. How can you leave the palace at will and risk your life by traveling alone?”
“Prime Minister, We are only going out of the palace while being incognito, not marching to go to war, so how are We risking Our life?” Hong Xu frowned and sounded very displeased.
“Your Majesty, there are still assassins in the palace, and it becomes even more unpredictable when you go outside. Is that not taking risks?” Hong Xu’s displeasure did not make the Prime Minister flinch; on the contrary, he took a step forward and replied.
“――We will take along a lot of guards!” Hong Xu stared at the old man for a while, but found that he could not intimidate the other at all, so he had not other option but to grit his teeth and take a step back.
“It is even less safe when there are more people! Just looking at the imposing guards who do not look like ordinary people, it is hard not to draw attention to a group of people!”
Are you saying We should not go anywhere and just foolishly stay in the palace?” Hong Xu glared at the old Prime Minister, in his gloomy eyes lay a searing threat of ‘you dare to say yes, see what will happen’.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 74 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
But the old Prime Minister was no fool. Having understood the Emperor’s blatant threat, he angrily avoided Hong Xu’s gaze, then pulled a few hairs from his beard on his chin out of boredom.“This lowly Official thinks so!” Yet there was one foolish egg who could not resist jumping right out and inviting lightning when he saw that the Prime Minister did not answer. “Your Majesty, it is better to be safe than sorry――”
Hearing this, Hong Xu gritted his teeth angrily, wishing he could immediately come over, grab his neck and choke him to death!
“Minister Liang, are you cursing Us even before We have left the palace? Or, do you think We are as weak as a tender boiled chicken without the ability to defend Ourself and can only be slaughtered by others?”
“This lowly Official was anxious, this lowly Official has no such intention!” Liang YunPing hastily bowed his head, in his heart angrily cursing the old fox next to him who had dug a pit for him to jump into.
Hong Xu waved his hand and interrupted, “All right! We have summoned you today to inform you about something, not to listen to a bunch of useless nonsense. We want you to look after the Capital while We are away, so as not to cause any major disruption! In addition, We want you to be witnesses! We want you to testify that We suddenly fainted during a meeting with you in the Imperial study, and that the Imperial Physician has diagnosed that We are suffering from an illness caused by overwork and need to stay in bed to recuperate. If both Our beloved subjects, who have always been at odds with each other, can testify at the same time, the credibility will naturally be greater, and then We will not be suspected of having left the palace and the Capital!”
With that, he walked out of the Imperial study with great strides without giving them a chance to voice their opinions.
The old Prime Minister and the Minister of Personnel, who had been left behind, looked at each other, then coughed, wiped their faces that had turned into a worried expression, and also walked out with large strides.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 74 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
When Hong Xu returned to Xia He Palace, he found that, as he had instructed, Lin De had sent everyone except a few trusted maids, whom he had selected, to the outer hall. His plan to leave the palace had to be carried out in secret, for the reasons the Prime Minister just mentioned, but the most important reason was that the people in Bei Ling must not know that their Third Prince had left the palace with him! The current situation in Bei Ling was delicate, and the First Prince, An JinLuo, already knew that Xiao JinYu was not dead. It would be really bad if they would let him seize this opportunity!“Paying respect to His Majesty!” Seeing Hong Xu appear at the doorway, Imperial Physician Li, Lin De, Ming Yue, Chun Lan and one of Hong Xu’s closest bodyguards in the room all knelt down to greet him.
“You may dispense with curtseying!” Hong Xu said, waving his hand.
“Your Majesty, everything has been prepared as per your instructions, the carriage is already waiting at the east gate!” Lin De bowed and reported.
“Good!” Hong Xu nodded.
“Uh, Your Majesty, forgive this servant for speaking out of turn, but since the ‘Holder of Panacea’ has been found, why not have someone bring him to the Capital instead of you personally travelling all the way there? This seems――”
“What do you know!” Hong Xu suddenly scolded, “If it were as simple as that, why would We have to go to such lengths? Not to mention that he is not a person from Chu Jing or Our Court Physician, but his arrogant and eccentric nature alone caused that even when the people We sent to him humbly begged, he threw back a handful of poisonous powder. If you offend him by forcibly bringing him here, We fear he will not cooperate even if you threaten to kill him. Our JinYu has already been poisoned to such an extent, how dare We play with his life?” Just yesterday, he had learned of the whereabouts of the ‘Holder of Panacea’, but at the same time, he had also learned that if he wanted the other to provide critical care, he would have to go there in person!
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 74 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“Yes, this servant deserves to die. This servant should not have thought himself wise and made wild guesses!” Lin De said as he immediately fell to his knees in panic.Hong Xu took a deep breath, and said, “All right, get up! Come and help Us change Our clothes!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Lin De hurriedly jumped up, grateful that he had been pardoned, and served Hong Xu along with Ming Yue and Chun Lan and changed him into the clothes of an ordinary man. The Imperial crown in his hair was replaced by a white jade crown, and he wore an ochre-colored jacket with a beige lining and a leather belt around his waist instead of the original belt made of thirteen gold Imperial rings 1 . Even though the clothes were of a very ordinary texture, the clothes on Hong Xu’s body could not hide his natural majestic presence of a ruler and his noble aura!
Lin De carefully and solemnly held a long double-edged sword, which was only two fingers wide, and pinned it to Hong Xu’s waist on the right side. Hong Xu looked down and touched the weapon, which he had not touched for a long time, and could not help but sigh in his heart, Hopefully it will not be needed on this trip!
“――Your Majesty, you―― you haven’t had lunch yet!” Seeing Hong Xu go to the bed to pick up the sleeping young man and walk straight to the door, Lin De could not help but say.
“No need, We have prepared food for the road.”
At noon, the rattling carriage slowly drove out through the small door on the east side, under the cover of a group of people who went outside the palace to buy goods.
And behind them, on the high palace steps, a beauty wrung the silk in her hand, looking with tears in her eyes at the carriage that gradually drove away, saying, “Damn child, just casting me away and running away like that. I hate it, really hate it――”
Looks like the Prime Minister and that one foolish egg are having a hard time (⌒_⌒ ;)
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