Distressed, Huo Ling ran towards Ganqing Palace, shouting, "I've been wronged," attracting the attention of many people.
Since Huo Ling became the crown prince, the people in Ganqing Palace had become accustomed to the Emperor's bad mood every time Huo Ling left. When the guards at the gate saw Huo Ling, although they didn't hear clearly what he was shouting due to the strong wind, they still instinctively made way for their crown prince.
After letting him pass, they suddenly realized, there seemed to be someone else in Ganqing Palace?
The guards in armor looked at each other, then turned their gazes elsewhere as if nothing had happened.
Anyway, it wouldn't be unlucky for them if the Emperor was angry.
With that in mind, the guards guarding Ganqing Palace could then wholeheartedly "contribute to" the relationship between the Emperor and his son, and be loyal to their duties.
Similarly loyal to his duty, An De, who accompanied the Emperor and Prince Anle in their casual conversation, suddenly shivered.
He felt like something bad was about to happen?
Just as the thought arose, An De heard a familiar voice.
"Emperor, I've been wronged!"
Listening to the voice, which seemed to be complaining of grievance and despair, and thinking of everything he had experienced recently, An De felt a headache coming on.
However, he couldn't afford to feel unwell, because the Emperor's head was hurting even more.
"An De, whose voice is that?"
Even though he recognized who it was as soon as he heard it, the Emperor still refused to believe it. He turned to look at An De, hoping for a denial, but all he got in return was silence.
Seeing this, the Emperor slowly turned his head back, and even his expression gradually returned to its initial calm state.
"Your Majesty?"
Prince Anle looked confused, completely unaware of why the Emperor, who had just been prepared to agree to his request with a smile, suddenly stopped talking and tensed up.
He couldn't move this old body of his, and he just wanted to find a younger person to take his place. Was that such a difficult request?
Completely clueless, Prince Anle was not in the right state of mind. However, the Emperor didn't have time to worry about whether he was understood or not. He stared at the door, hoping against hope that the person who appeared wasn't who he thought it would be.
Against his will, it was precisely the person he was hoping it wouldn't be who appeared in his sight, crying like he had lost his own father... Huo Ling.
Phew!
Huo Ling had completely confused the Emperor. What did he mean by "crying like he had lost his father," when he was clearly crying like a dead dog.
In the blink of an eye, the Emperor had mentally prepared himself. When Huo Ling, crying like a dog, came rushing towards him, and firmly and accurately clung to his thigh, the Emperor not only wasn't surprised, but he also had a feeling of his heart finally being at ease.
Thankfully, it was just a thigh hug.
After finally realizing that he still had a son named Huo Ling, the Emperor's bottom line changed every day, like the ups and downs of this indescribable life.
Having successfully hugged the beloved Emperor, just as Huo Ling was about to complain about his "injustice" and hoped that the Emperor could intercede for him, he suddenly noticed Prince Anle's presence and realized that there was an outsider in Ganqing Palace.
Huo Ling: ...Someone's there? He should tone it down.
Prince Anle, who had been granted a seat by the Emperor, subconsciously leaned back in his chair, even grabbing the armrests. He tilted his head, looked at Huo Ling clinging to the Emperor's thigh, then cast a glance at the Emperor, who seemed indifferent and accustomed to this, and Prince Anle, feeling like he had opened a new world, was completely dumbfounded: "Your Highness?"
- "This is the heir of Da Zhou?"
- "Da Zhou is doomed!"
Facing An Le Wang's incredible and desolate gaze, which was full of hatred and disappointment, Huo Ling, who had intended to restrain himself, abandoned his previous thoughts and directly smiled at An Le Wang. "The uncle is absolutely right."
- An Le Wang: "......?"
Before An Le Wang could understand his meaning, Huo Ling immediately continued, "Let me become the crown prince. Wouldn't Da Zhou be doomed even faster?"
- With Huo Ling's words, An Le Wang finally realized that he had let out what was on his mind.
Realizing this, An Le Wang quickly expressed his loyalty to the emperor, "Your Majesty, that's not what I meant. What I meant was..." After pausing for a moment, An Le Wang struggled to express the remaining words, "What I meant was... the crown prince still has a lot of potential for development."
- "Your Majesty, do not despair, do not give up hope, the crown prince is definitely still salvageable!"
- "Yes, that's what I meant, really."
The emperor completely disregarded what An Le Wang was saying at this point. His attention was focused solely on Huo Ling, wiping away tears and snot from his robe. When Huo Ling sincerely asked, "Father, do you really have no 'pearl in the ocean'?" the emperor not only did not feel annoyed but even continued to ponder - why weren't there any "pearls in the ocean" outside of the palace?
- If there were, what would happen to Huo Ling?
With these thoughts, the emperor lowered his head and, in a rare gesture, even returned a smile to Huo Ling.
- Huo Ling: "......?!"
With a start, Huo Ling subconsciously let go of the emperor's hand.
- "Father, your smile is scaring me, can you not smile like that?" Huo Ling felt wronged, extremely wronged; he felt that the "father-son relationship" today was in a precarious state.
- Faced with Huo Ling's complaint, the emperor maintained the same smile as before, "Is this the kind of smile you meant?"
- Huo Ling: "......" Oh no, has he really driven the emperor crazy? Is Da Zhou going to perish at the hands of his father first?
- Well, that would be great; he wouldn't have to take the blame.
- Whether it was a coincidence or some telepathic connection, just as Huo Ling was thinking, the next moment the emperor directly kicked him off the steps, and he rolled down gulping and gulping.
- An Le Wang, who had no presence, thought, "Da Zhou is indeed finished."
- An De, the steward who also had no presence, thought, "I don't know what to say. I better just keep smiling."
- Huo Ling rolled down the steps and only stopped at An De's feet.
- Though Huo Ling was unhurt, he still leaned by An De's feet, looking very dejected, and muttered, "Father, how could you do this to me? I haven't done anything wrong."
- "You didn't do anything wrong, but I just feel itchy when I see you." The emperor tidied his robe, which Huo Ling had messed up, and said impatiently, "Think about my foot, bear with it." After spending a long time with Huo Ling, the emperor not only learned how to deal with "foolish people" but also shattered his own wise and intelligent image in the hearts of many.
- Now that another person who knew more than he should appeared, An Le Wang.
- An Le Wang's eyes flickered, and after realizing that he couldn't continue to stay there, he ignored whether the emperor felt his request was excessive and looked at the emperor, asking tentatively, "Your Majesty, if you have important matters to attend to, then this official will...?"
- The emperor suddenly realized that there was still An Le Wang in the hall. His expression stiffened, but the next moment he nonchalantly nodded at An Le Wang and glanced at An De on the side.
- An De, receiving the clear signal, immediately pulled away Huo Ling's hand from his leg and said, "Your Highness, forgive me, we need to send An Le Wang out of the palace."
- "......Oh."
- Huo Ling released his hand indifferently and sat down in a seat.
- After An Le Wang and An De left, only the emperor and Huo Ling remained in the grand hall.
- "Speak up, what did you come here for? Are you playing hooky?" Having already lost face in front of An Le Wang, the emperor, in a strange state, not only calmly asked why Huo Ling had come, but even had the leisure to deal with piled-up business.
- Rubbing his sore bottom, Huo Ling glanced at the pile of documents on the desk. He was once again determined to find a scapegoat.
- Huo Ling, with his thoughts in turmoil, followed the emperor's line of questioning and stated his purpose.
- "Father, I don't want companions."
- The emperor paused with the documents in his hand, "Oh?"
- "Even if I want companions, I don’t want those three!" Huo Ling expressed himself firmly.
- With half-closed eyes, the emperor's gaze couldn't help but flicker - although he hadn't been busy enough to understand the dynamics between Huo Ling and his companions, it looked like he had chosen those three companions correctly.
- The more dissatisfied Huo Ling was, the more determined the emperor was in his thoughts. In a state of "I'm not afraid of your tantrums, I fear nothing," he even teased Huo Ling, "You don't want women, so I'll send you a few men. Since they have already been sent, there's no turning back."
- The emperor looked composedly at Huo Ling, not hiding his intent.
- —— You gave away the first two, will you dare to give these three to your mother? Needless to say, Huo Ling actually dared to give them away, but his mother was unlikely to take on these three troubles and instead would probably stand aside and enjoy the show, making Huo Ling fully understand the meaning of "schadenfreude."
- Huo Ling tried to struggle again, but even if he rolled on the ground until it was spotless, the emperor was not moved at all, and even asked if he was tired from rolling. If he was tired, there was tea to drink, and after drinking it, he could continue rolling.
- Huo Ling: "......" The emperor must have been driven insane by him.
- With his struggle ending in failure, Huo Ling left the Ganqing Palace empty-handed, heading to the imperial study to meet his future companions.
- On the other hand, after Huo Ling left, the emperor looked around the empty grand hall. He didn't feel like a lonely man trapped on the throne but even felt that the Ganqing Palace... gave him a headache.
After pressing on his throbbing temple, the emperor left a "review" on the reports accusing the crown prince Huo Ling before closing them and tossing them aside.
- Most of these reports were accusations against the crown prince Huo Ling.
- Huo Ling had just caused such a fuss here, and the emperor didn't know how many opportunities he had to see these reports on his desk. However, he was the only one who had eventually read them.
- Even now, he still didn't know - was Huo Ling really stupid, or just pretending?
The Emperor, who often overthinks, leaned back and sat quietly in the empty grand hall, lost in his thoughts.
After a long while, he chuckled.
"What a fool."
No, he still chose to believe that Huling was purposefully foolish, rather than genuinely so.