"Father, you can't be so heartless!"
In the Qianqing Palace, the fifth prince, Huo Ling, hugged his father's thigh, crying with tears and snot, as if he had suffered a great grievance, and even hiccups.
However, the Emperor looked at Huo Ling, who did not want to be the crown prince, with anger and a half-smile, "Not want to be the crown prince?"
Was this foolish son trying to become Emperor directly?
- He's not even dead yet!
It was unknown whether Huo Ling was truly reluctant or pretended to be. Suppressing the floating thoughts, the Emperor directly rejected his request, "You are daydreaming."
"Father..." Huo Ling rubbed his eyes with a sleeve soaked in chili water, and then, unable to stop crying, looked at the Emperor with teary eyes, trying to move his father with his actions and words, "I am your youngest son, how can you treat me like this?"
"You didn’t care about me all these years, and now you want me to make you the crown prince?" Huo Ling muttered, pouting. "This is unreasonable."
Huo Ling, who was hit in the face, didn’t seem happy at all, and the Emperor who threw the pie at him was not happy either.
The Emperor looked at Huo Ling without expression, "So what?"
"Father! Please let me go!"
Holding onto his father's thigh tightly, Huo Ling's tears and snot stained the Emperor's robes. "Let me go, and let yourself go, and we'll all be happy. Isn't that good?"
Emperor: "..."
Having been held by Huo Ling, the Emperor, who couldn’t move an inch, suddenly twitched his veins, "Huo Ling, let go of me."
"I won't."
Looking at his displeasing son, who had chosen to be rather unfortunate, the Emperor couldn't help but press his temple. He tried to suppress his anger, but the coldness in his voice did not diminish. "Huo Ling! Let go of me! What dignity is this?"
"I won't!" With his teary eyes and red nose, Huo Ling firmly held onto the Emperor's leg, refusing to release him, and even proposed conditions to the Emperor or rather acted like a spoiled child, "Unless you don't make me the crown prince, I won't let go."
"Huo Ling!"
"I don't want to be the crown prince!"
Seemingly unable to feel the Emperor's anger, this was the first time Huo Ling had a sense of existence in front of the Emperor. Not only did he grab the Emperor's leg, but he also dared to look the Emperor in the eye, protesting resolutely – he did not want to be the crown prince!
He ignored the good life enjoyed by idleness and wanted to be this laborious crown prince?
- It's not like he's at loose ends.
The enraged Emperor used force to lift his robes, taking advantage of Huo Ling's relaxation, and promptly kicked him. "The edict has been issued, and there's no room for negotiation."
While keeping an eye on the Emperor, Huo Ling rolled on the ground to avoid the foot that was kicked towards him, then rolled back to continue hugging the Emperor's thigh tightly. With tears streaming down his face, he declared, "I don't care, I just don't want to be the crown prince."
"Let whoever wants to be the crown prince, it's none of my concern."
"Huo Ling!"
"I don't want to be, I just don't! I don't want to be the crown prince!'' Towards the end, Huo Ling burst into tears without any regal bearing.
This was the first time the Emperor found out that his youngest son was so stubborn, and thought it was annoying.
The fourth prince, the Qi king, who had lost an arm and was now under suspicion, looked at the farce in front of him, and couldn't help but feel extremely complicated.
What he wanted, he couldn’t get. What he didn't want, he cried and screamed not to get.
How did things come to this point?
As the Qi king was lost in thought, on the other side, Huo Ling, who was crying and refusing to be the crown prince, was almost about to pull down his father's pants.
"Huo Ling!"
Once again, kicking Huo Ling away and saving his pants, the Emperor turned his head and called to a particular figure who wanted to lower his own presence, wishing that neither the noisy father and son would remember his stewardship.
Steward An, who felt that he would be silenced, had a bitter heart, but his expression did not change. He quickly came to the Emperor's side and, taking advantage of his own body size, blocked the way for Huo Ling to try and roll - literally "roll" - back to the Emperor's feet.
Huo Ling, who rolled over with the help, bumped into Steward An's leg, causing a tremor in his fatty flesh, but couldn't push through Steward An and instead bounced back, rolling to the feet of the Qi king.
Qi king Huo Jian: "..." I've heard that the King of Yan is foolish, but I didn't expect him to be this foolish?
Confused, Crown Prince Huo Ling: "..."
At this moment when their eyes met, Huo Ling's eyes suddenly lit up.
In the midst of Huolian's doubt, Huo Ling supported his somewhat dizzy head with one hand and tugged at Huolian's robe with the other, as if he had found a "scapegoat". He turned his head to look at the emperor next to him, his face filled with joy, "Isn't there still the fourth brother?"
"Am I so stupid, how can I be worthy to be the crown prince?" Huo Ling, who had a good sense of self-awareness, nodded to himself, "Fourth brother has a better future than me."
"So, Your Majesty...," mouth twisted, Huo Ling continued, "consider the fourth brother?"
Hearing this, Huolian, almost unable to kneel steadily while being grabbed at the robes, couldn't help but glare at Huo Ling and instinctively tugged at his own robe.
However, he didn't move it.
Huo Lian: "... Yān prince is not foolish, is he? Isn't he good at dealing with this 'source of misfortune'?"
While Huo Ling and Huo Lian were secretly "competing", the emperor, who understood Huo Ling's intention, paused, waved to let An De step aside, then lifted his head expressionlessly towards Huolian, who knelt on the ground with his head lowered out of fear, and Huo Ling, who was grasping Huolian's robe as if he had caught hold of his hope for the rest of his life.
The emperor: "..."
Huo Ling: "...?"
The emperor: "............"
Huo Ling: "...!"
In the midst of the silence, Huo Ling did not know if he had understood the emperor's intention. Under the emperor's expressionless gaze, he reluctantly let go of the hand holding Huolian's robe.
Flattening the wrinkles on Huolian's robe that he had grabbed, Huo Ling smiled at his fourth brother Huolian, then tried to change course quickly as if in a struggle for his life, blinked his swollen, chilli-affected eyes, and tried to tentatively and stubbornly inquire of the emperor, "Your Majesty, do you... have any 'lost pearls in the sea' outside?"
As Huo Ling's words fell, the scene fell silent for a moment.
Under everyone's gaze, Huo Ling subconsciously rubbed his slightly sore eyes, trying to put on the most innocent expression, but forgot the fact that his sleeves had been touched by chilli water, so tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes again.
Before he could scold him, the emperor found that his youngest son had been brought to tears. Not knowing what expression to show, the emperor took a deep breath and reprimanded, "Huo Ling, have you delved into 'dog's belly' in your studies? Is that how the term 'lost pearls in the sea' is used?"
Having been troubled by Huo Ling's "interference," the emperor's attention was accidentally diverted. When he realized that he had deviated from the main point, he made a fist and coughed lightly against his lips.
Seeing that the emperor did not directly answer his question, thinking that his father was indeed concerned about "lost pearls in the sea," Huo Ling's eyes lit up. He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, then rushed to the emperor and grabbed his robe, "Father, who is it? How old are they? Where are they? Tell me, and I will find them for you!"
The emperor: "..."
The robe tugged by Huo Ling did not move.
His expression growing increasingly grim, the emperor seemed too lazy to get angry. He lowered his head and, looking up at Huo Ling, slowly and coldly pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile, a cold smile that even a "stupid person" like Huo Ling could detect.
"Get lost—"
Huo Ling became the first prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty to be driven out of the Gan Qing Hall... Oh no, the crown prince.
As he was being driven out, he still held a piece of bright yellow fabric in his hand. As for whose fabric it was and why it appeared in his hand, Prince Qi Huolian, who was enjoying more than a few words of "Aren't you going to leave too?", had no words.
When Prince Qi and Prince Qin were individually detained in the celestial prison, no one dared to predict the emperor's thoughts about the two princes, they received neither favors nor ill-treatment. Neglected, Prince Qi did not receive proper care, and it was not until his condition worsened that the responsible person in the celestial prison hurriedly sent a message upwards, fearing the consequences.
Under the emperor's tacit consent, Prince Qi was allowed to leave the celestial prison. When he regained consciousness and his injuries were under control, before returning to the small cell in the celestial prison with the medicine provided by the imperial physician, the emperor summoned him.
Kneeling in the Gan Qing Hall, Huolian tearfully accepted the emperor's reprimand and regret.
Just as Prince Qi Huolian, relying on his genuine performance (acting), was about to evoke the emperor's compassion, his foolish younger brother, Prince Yin Huo Ling, burst into the Gan Qing Palace.
And then... there was no 'and then.'
Feeling extremely conflicted, Huolian looked at Huo Ling, who had been driven out and seemed on the verge of tears, trying to find a sense of camaraderie in their shared plight, but he coldly snorted at Huo Ling.
"Shameless."
Huo Ling: "......??"
Completely unprepared to continue the conversation with Huo Ling, Huolian, followed by the Imperial Forest Army, who had been waiting at the door of the Gan Qing Hall to guard against him, passed by Huo Ling without glancing at him.
A cold wind blew on his face when Huo Ling passed by, leaving him somewhat dazed.
It wasn't until Huolian's figure completely disappeared from his sight that Huo Ling blinked as if waking from a dream. Subconsciously tilting his head, he asked the attendant next to him, "Little Anzi, do you think I have just been looked down upon?"
"Your Highness, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?" Little Anzi, feeling excited at being singled out, observed Huo Ling's changing expression while pondering how to respond based on his expression.
Moving his neck from side to side, Huo Ling asked, "Tell me, what's the truth? And what's the lie?"
"The truth is... Your Highness, you may be resented by the fourth prince."
"And the lie?"
"The lie? It's that the fourth prince... dislikes you."
"......"
After speaking, Little Anzi quickly bowed his head, unsure if he had struck a nerve with Huo Ling, feeling uneasy and anxious.
If it were any other prince, Little Anzi might not have spoken thus, but the in the case of Prince Yin Huo Ling... he decided to take a chance.
Little Anzi guessed right. Huo Ling showed no sign of annoyance and even seemed to suddenly understand, "Oh, it seems my feeling was not wrong, the fourth brother truly doesn't like me."
"Fine, if he doesn't like me, then so be it. I don't like him either." Patting Little Anzi's head, unconcerned about what Prince Qi might think, Huo Ling shrugged, "Alright, go about your business. I don't need your guidance anymore, I know how to get to my mother's palace."
"But..."
"What?"
"But, the palace steward asked me to escort you out of the palace."
The emperor had only one word for Huo Ling, but the palace steward, An De, was good at grasping the emperor's intentions. Without words, he made sure that Little Anzi escorted Huo Ling out of the palace without fail, earnestly hoping that before the emperor calmed down, the newly arrived crown prince Huo Ling would not appear before him, lest he be silenced at some point.
Looking at Little Anzi in front of him, Huo Ling grinned. Just as Little Anzi thought he was about to be reprimanded, Huo Ling reached out and put his arm around Little Anzi's shoulder, looking calmly at him, "Can't I take a look at my mother's palace first, and then leave the palace?"
Xiao Anzi: "......"
Unlike An De, the steward who dares to join the battle when the emperor and the prince argue, the inexperienced Xiao Anzi clearly couldn't resist the coquettish behavior of Huo Ling, and he hung his head in silence.
As a result of this compromise, Xiao Anzi ended up following Huo Ling to the palace where Concubine Ye resided - the Yushu Palace.