Blossom in Adversity

C171. Hearing Affairs of State.

Chapter 171: Hearing Affairs of State

Gu Yanxi returned to the palace and halted abruptly outside the imperial study. Closing his eyes, he told himself not to be hasty. "The three-foot thick ice wasn't built in a day," he thought. To solve this problem would require more than a single effort.

"Yan Xi?"

Pushing open the door, Gu Yanxi saw the emperor, his body adorned with golden needles, and a smile spread across the emperor's face. "I knew it was you just by your footsteps."

Suddenly, Gu Yanxi understood Ah Zhi's words. Even the slightest hardship suffered by his immediate family caused him great pain. With the Hua family exiled thousands of miles away, how much pain must Ah Zhi be enduring?

Ah Zhi was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, nor was she innately gifted. It was the fertile soil of the Hua family that had nurtured her into the flourishing woman she was today.

In her heart, there was probably resentment, resentment towards the emperor, and even towards all those with the surname Gu.

Bowing her head, Shao Yao carefully applied medicine and inserted a needle into the emperor's chest. Perhaps not entirely, she hadn't even had time to pity Shao Yao, so how could she blame her?

The emperor squinted slightly, "What happened?"

Gu Yanxi hesitated, "The eldest brother is restless."

"If he really doesn't want to live, then let him have his wish."

"I was thinking maybe we should try a different approach."

Meeting the gaze of his uncle, Gu Yanxi said, "Exile him, but without any special privileges."

The emperor sneered, "Do you think that once he's outside, he'll obediently go to work? Change the place, and he can still rise again using the bloodline privilege I gave him. As long as he still carries the Gu surname, this will be the inevitable outcome."

"What about stripping him of his surname?"

The emperor was taken aback, squinting as he thought for a moment, "Draft a decree, strip Gu Chengde of his surname, and exile him..."

His head was a bit foggy, so the emperor simply closed his eyes, "You choose a place, the more difficult the better."

"Yes."

As the Shao Yao started to remove the needle, she frowned slightly at the color of the needle tip, the effect was worse than she had expected.

"Yan-ge, when will the master arrive?"

"Probably in about ten days, why?"

The siblings exchanged glances, as the Shao Yao wrapped up the needle, she said, "I'm missing an ingredient here, all my stock is with the master."

Upon hearing this, the emperor said, "There are plenty of precious herbs in the imperial treasury, they're just sitting there, Lai Fu, take Shao Yao to pick out what she likes."

"No limit?"

"No limit."

After a day without good food, Shao Yao finally had a hint of joy, quickly and eagerly followed Lai Fu to the storage room.

"Yan Xi."

"Yes, uncle." Gu Yanxi helped him sit up and straightened out his clothes.

"Starting tomorrow, you will oversee the court affairs for a period of time, I'm really in a mess here." The emperor chuckled ruefully and shook his head, he couldn't imagine what would happen if he continued for another two months.