CH 135.2

Chapter 135.2 – Cold

The Three Teachers came earlier than Qi Yang and the others, especially the Prime Minister, who was entrusted with leading the court by the Emperor. He entered the palace very early to report about the governmental affairs. The Nation Protecting Great General and King Lu came a bit later, and they were summoned separately by the Emperor.

Adding Qi Yang and Lu Qipei, the assistants that the Emperor arranged for the Royal Heir could be considered all there.

After the two entered the hall, they did not say much. After giving a salute, they retreated to the side and waited for the Emperor’s instructions with the Three Teachers.

After another of rest, the Emperor was not in good spirits, but his condition wasn’t worse either. His sharp gaze scanned over the few people present – seeing that their gaze was clear and did not flinch, he reined back his force a little.

The current Emperor was like a seriously injured tiger. If anyone dared look down on him because of it, they will probably receive ten times the reprisal.

Fortunately, the people that the Emperor selected personally indeed had upstanding moral character. After subconsciously probing them, he threw another big bomb when he opened his mouth, “Heaven does not spare years. I know that I’m in a bad condition and I won’t last long. I plan to abdicate the throne to the Royal Heir.”

As soon as that statement was made, not to mention Qi Yang and Lu Qipei, even the Three Teachers who were used to all kinds of ups and downs were shocked – after all, the Royal Heir had only been canonized yesterday, and the throne was already being passed on today. Not to mention that many of the officials in the court had not even see the little highness’s face yet, even the Three Teachers had not gotten the time to get more in touch with him. Such haste and urgency really made people feel uneasy.

The Prime Minister furrowed his brows and subconsciously shouted, “Your Majesty…”

The Emperor closed his eyes and looked unwilling to listen to him, indicating that he had made up his mind.

The rest of the crowd looked at each other, temporarily not sure whether they should persuade him or not. The difference between doing so or not was not significant – after all, the Emperor’s body was already at the end of its strength, and no one knew how many more days it could last.

Qi Yang and Lu Qipei looked at each other, and they tacitly understood that this was still the Emperor paving the way for the Royal Heir. After all, he still had several sons, but the throne was directly passed down to his grandson. He was afraid that there would be a lot of rumors outside, and that the Royal Heir would be criticized in the future for being out of position. So, he decided to set the tone ahead of time by abdicating. Plus, he could still help the Royal Heir take care of a thing or two before he died, so he would not be caught not knowing what to do when things happen in the future.

This way, the Crown Prince’s death, the passing of the throne to the Royal Heir, and the Emperor’s death, each of them would have a gradual transition. There would be room for him to grow and rest in between, and things would not fall on the Royal Heir all at once, crushing his immature little shoulders.

All the people present were smart people, and they quickly understood the Emperor’s thoughts.

Later on, Qi Yang realized that she had reached a tacit mutual understanding with Lu Qipei and awkwardly turned her head away. She herself didn’t know exactly how she felt right now, but she mostly had a little bit of anger, so she was much colder towards Lu Qipei that day.

Lu Qipei naturally noticed this, and her eyes dimmed a little. Then she looked around and saw that the Emperor was still resting with his eyes closed. The Three Teachers were gathered together and whispering, and no one paid attention to them. So, she boldly moved closer to Qi Yang and reached out to hold her hand, trying to break the invisible barrier between them.

However, whether it was coincidental or intentional, Qi Yang walked away and went beside the Emperor’s sickbed to guard her weakened father.

Upon seeing this, Lu Qipei sighed in her heart, knowing that it was impossible to turn this around for a while. She also understood that this time Qi Yang’s father was injured and her brother was killed, and she still had some involvement in what happened. It was already good that Qi Yang didn’t hate her, and she should allow her to vent a little.

Besides, after the Emperor passes away, Qi Yang would be sad again, so it was useless to coax her now. When she becomes sad and thinks of this matter again, there might be some awkwardness between them again. That Xie Yuan was indeed a big pit hole – he was already dead, but he could still cause such an incident and make things hard for her. Plus, she also had to worry about being caught.

Lu Qipei felt a bit depressed thinking about this, but she could only keep all her thoughts in her heart right now.

After a long time, it seemed that the Three Teachers had reached an agreement. The three of them looked at Qi Yang and her Prince Consort again, but the two of them didn’t express much. At this time, the Emperor also opened his eyes, and the Prime Minister approached and said, “We respect Your Majesty’s will.”

Hearing this, the Emperor finally relaxed. Enduring his pain and fatigue, he ordered, “Then, call the Minister of Rites for an audience.”

Right now, it was already dark, but the Emperor clearly wanted to settle this matter as soon as possible. He didn’t know when he would fall into a come again, so he had to finish more matters when he was awake.

King Qi and the others in the outer hall still did not know what had happened, but in the inner hall, the Emperor had already asked the Prime Minister to personally draft the edict. As soon as the Minister of Rites arrived, the abdication would be completely put on the agenda and the preparations would begin.

Author notes:

Lu Qipei (in tears): My father is indeed a big pit, I’m going to fall to death!

Xie Yuan (sneering): Heh, I’ve already fallen to death because of you!

Qi Yang (awkwardly): It’s fine, I’m just going to be awkward for a while. The wife that I finally got back, of course I’m going to protect!