Heavenly Seven Dragons (Huan Zhu Dou Ren) 38: Unexpected Encounter

  Unexpected encounter

  The war in Tibet has been going on for nearly three years, and it is natural that the financial situation is tight. Fortunately, the Ministry of Revenue had undergone adjustments by Long Yintian earlier, so although there have been continuous wars in recent years, the country can barely maintain its normal operation.

  It is precisely because of this that the pro-war officials in the imperial court became more and more active, especially the military generals who were like fish in water. Most of the pro-peace civil officials, seeing that the emperor had repeatedly supported the pro-war faction, gradually stopped submitting memorials advocating for peace and shifted their attention to other areas such as people's livelihoods and water conservancy, creating a rare peaceful atmosphere in the imperial court.

  Although the court seemed calm on the surface, Long Yitian knew that this calm was only temporary. Once a problem arose in finance, this calm would be immediately broken. Some far-sighted officials also saw this problem and mentioned it vaguely in their memorials several times.

  However, officials who saw this inherent problem were mostly transferred to Hainan, Guangzhou and Gansu by Long Yitian as officials. On the surface, it was a promotion in name but a demotion in reality. The real intention behind this move could only be understood by a very small number of clever people.

  It was only a few days after the edict to summon Fu Ling'an back to Beijing was issued that two pieces of good news came one after another from the imperial harem, namely the births of the eleventh and twelfth princes. With the arrival of legitimate sons, those officials' private movements would likely increase again.

  However, the Empress Dowager was overjoyed because she had a legitimate grandson. She specially chose an auspicious day and went out of the palace to burn incense and worship Buddha, praying for the ancestors to bless the Aixinjueluo family with prosperity and good fortune, and to bless her legitimate grandson with peace and safety.

  The eleventh prince was named Yongyun, born to Consort Jia. Although Consort Jia showed signs of a difficult labor at the time, fortunately both mother and child were safe in the end. However, Consort Jia was severely weakened by this and would likely need to rest for an extended period before recovering somewhat.

  However, Jia Gui Fei's position in the harem was second only to the Empress, and it was likely unshakeable, after all, she already had three sons. This was unmatched in the harem.

  The Twelfth Prince was named Yong Zhuo, born to the Empress. Although the Empress had previously adopted Lan Xiang as her foster daughter, she had no children of her own, and it was inevitable that there were people gossiping behind her back. Now that the Twelfth Prince had finally arrived, the Empress treasured him extremely, also because he was a legitimate son, many people envied this.

  Compared to Yongyuan, Yongzhuo's identity is more eye-catching, and his situation is naturally more dangerous. Although the Empress Dowager is not very clever, fortunately, the people around her, Chen Xiang and Lian Jing, are all wise and intelligent, so whether Yongzhuo can grow up safely depends on them.

  It won't be long before Fuling'an arrives in the capital, and Long Yitian is strolling in the Imperial Garden, thinking about who to send to Zhaohui next. After all, the situation on both sides of the Jin River is quite special, and if it's not someone trustworthy, it's better not to use them.

  After careful consideration, among so many candidates, Long Yitian still thinks that Fulong An is the most suitable. Although his ability may be slightly weaker, it doesn't matter. What's most important is that the child has no private motives and is loyal to the royal family without any reservations. Moreover, he is also Fuling An's younger brother, so the soldiers there should be more willing to accept him.

  But if he really did that, Long Yitian felt that it would be somewhat unfair to Fu Heng. After all, Fu Heng was also a veteran general who had just come down from the battlefield and was able to serve in the capital with peace of mind. However, none of his sons were able to bring joy to his knees, as all the grown-ups were sent to the battlefield. Even if Fu Heng didn't say anything, he must have been resentful in his heart.

  Just then, a commotion broke into Long Yintian's thoughts, he looked up and glanced at the front, a hint of doubt flashed in his mind.

  This is the side hall of the Palace of Tranquil Heart, and except for a few princes who live in the Palace of Tranquil Heart on ordinary days, there are very few people who come here. After all, this is where the emperor lives, who would have the nerve to wander around here?

  Now it's just noon, and it's time for lunch, but what will happen at this time?

  Long Hui walked in the direction of the sound and turned around the corner, but what he saw in front of him was somewhat surprising.

  Only in this not-so-large courtyard, there were seven or eight slaves surrounding a tall jujube tree, waving their hands and shouting loudly with anxious faces, it was as lively as a vegetable market. Looking up along the trunk of the tree, Long Hanyan finally discovered the source of those slaves' anxiety.

  Originally a small figure was now trembling with fear on top of the jujube tree, his face had turned white, his lips were bloodless, and tears were welling up in his eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. It wouldn't be long before this child either fainted from fright or fell off the tree, and judging by the belt around his waist, he was clearly a young master.

  "8th brother, be careful and don't let go, the ladder will arrive soon, you mustn't let go!"

  "If you're afraid, just close your eyes first, but whatever you do, don't let go!"

  "Eighth Brother, be careful!"

  Listening to these servants making a ruckus, Long Hui's head was throbbing with pain, and he subconsciously furrowed his brow, the displeasure in his heart quite evident.

  Wu Shu, who was standing beside him, immediately shouted in a loud voice: "The Emperor has arrived!"

  These slaves heard it and didn't care about anything else, immediately "hula" all knelt down, the originally noisy courtyard instantly became quiet.

  As early as last year, Gao Wuyong was assigned a idle job due to his age and went out of the palace to enjoy his old age, but unfortunately, he contracted a 'serious illness' halfway and passed away in just a few days. The position of eunuch manager naturally fell to Wu Shu, who had been serving in the Nourishing Heart Palace.

  This Wu Shu has been a confidant of Long Yintian, who has been cultivating him by his side. He is more aware of many things in the palace than anyone else, but he is only loyal to Long Yintian alone. Even if bribed or threatened, no one can get any information from his mouth.

  Long Hui Tian didn't even glance at these slaves, but instead walked a few steps to arrive under the tree. At this moment, what he was most worried about was still Yong Xuan who was stuck on the tree and couldn't come down.

  Yong Xuan was already at a loss, seemingly having not expected his mischievous actions to be caught by the Emperor. Originally already fearful, he now felt his arms go limp and found himself falling from the tall tree.

  Long Hui didn't think much and directly used his lightness skill, turning around to firmly hold Yong Xuan in his arms. This sudden movement startled the surrounding servants so much that they almost fainted, because if anything really happened to this Eighth Prince, not a single one of these servants would be able to escape with their lives.

  However, Long Yitian didn't have the energy to scold these servants now, because all his attention was taken away by Yongyuan in his arms. This little person who was still shivering and hugging his own neck, was so scared that he didn't make a sound, but this made Long Yitian inexplicably feel a wave of tenderness from the bottom of his heart.

  "Yong Xuan, it's okay, don't be afraid." Long Yitian comforted in a soft voice while thinking of checking if Yong Xuan was injured from the collision. But unexpectedly, this little guy didn't even lift his head and stubbornly clung to his own neck, refusing to let go, and instead held on even tighter.

  Helpless, he could only hold Yu Xuan like this and head towards his own bedroom, while also instructing Wu Shu to prepare a bath, ginger soup and the like, in order to warm up Yu Xuan's body and calm her nerves.

  All along the way, those slaves saw that the emperor actually carried Yongzheng back to the bedroom, and their thoughts were numerous.

  It's said that there was a precedent with the third brother, so it wasn't unusual for the eighth brother to be brought back, but the third brother had already moved out of the palace and established his own estate. Currently, the emperor favored the fourth brother, Yongyan, and the eighth brother, Yongxuan, shared the same birth mother as the fourth brother, Jia Gui Fei. If one thought about it more deeply, the situation wasn't that simple.

  But slaves only dared to think about it in their hearts, and no one had the guts to discuss this matter in front of the emperor, unless he was tired of living.

  As he entered the bathroom, Long Yitian originally intended to let the palace maid serve Yong Xuan with bathing and dressing, while he himself was going to deal with those clumsy slaves, who actually allowed the Eighth Prince to climb to such a dangerous place, what were those slave guards eating?

  Ke Long Yin Tian didn't expect that the previous question would come back again, Yong Xuan was saying nothing and refused to let go, tightly grasping the dragon robe on his body. Although Yong Xuan didn't say a word of pleading or persuasion, he pursed his lips tightly and looked at him with great stubbornness in his eyes.

  Long Hui Tian couldn't help but sigh in his heart, he only now deeply felt that Yong Xuan's temper was not ordinary, once she made up her mind about something, ten horses couldn't pull her back, let alone not hitting the wall and turning back... even if she hit the wall, this child might not turn back... 'Ji Xiao Lan's evaluation of this child is really accurate...'

  Looking at Yong Xuan's pale face, Long Yintian felt a softening in his heart and unexpectedly waved away the palace maid inside, starting to undress Yong Xuan with his own hands.

  Even if you add up the number of times Long Hanyang has waited on others in his two lifetimes, it can be counted on ten fingers. Yet, for some reason, when facing these few little guys, he always compromises again and again.

  Long Hui had done everything, but Yong Xuan still seemed to be uneasy and grabbed his clothes. Under the circumstances, he could only untie Yong Xuan's belt while patiently comforting him: "Yong Xuan, if you continue to grab my clothes like this, your own clothes won't come off either. Or do you want those palace maids outside to come in and serve you?"