Brothers meet

  Long Hui nodded and turned to look at Yong Bi, asking with a hint of meaning: "Yong Yu, just now Yong Bi said you liked his handcuffs very much, is this true?"

  He has this question entirely because of the big truth that Yongbi said before.

  Although Yong Yao is young and willful, it's a fact that he's one of the princes favored by Long Hui Tian. Even if he does some things privately that aren't quite right, it's not for outsiders to criticize him like this in front of his face. In short, he's just very protective of his own people.

  As soon as Yong Bi heard that the Emperor was asking about this matter again, he immediately knew something was wrong and feared that his position might not be secure today.

  Although he did intend to give the pistol as a gift to Yong Ruo, it wasn't going to be now. After all, Yong Ruo was still too young at this age and there was also the danger of accidental discharge, so he intended to wait until Yong Ruo grew a few years older before giving it out.

  However, Yong Bi is more worried that the emperor will misunderstand him for giving Yong Yu eye medicine, heaven can see that he is pitiful, he just speaks the truth and has no other meaning at all.

  After all, today's affairs were all caused by that Fu Chaoheng, and Yongbi will thoroughly remember this guy from now on.

  Yong Yao didn't catch the real meaning behind his emperor father's question, and simply spoke out his true thoughts: "I just thought it was novel to use Yong Bi, so I wanted to try it out. Who knew he would be so petty, not letting me use it at all, and lecturing me with a bunch of reasoning..."

  Yong Bi was really at a loss for words now. He hadn't let Yong Yu play with this dangerous thing because he was thinking of her safety, but in her eyes it had become stinginess and nagging. What an injustice!

  Now he finally understood why his Ama always made excuses for the emperor's summons, and who could stand it if this continued.

  Although he was helpless in his heart, he still smiled and said: "My nephew originally wanted to give a new toy to Sixth Brother. Since Sixth Brother likes this pistol, my nephew will give it to Sixth Brother as a gift."

  Yong Yao raised an eyebrow and glanced at Yong Bi, clearly not believing his words. In his opinion, this was simply Yong Bi's perfunctory remark.

  Long Yintian secretly smiled to himself, having seen the reactions of these two little guys. Yong Bi was indeed a clever one, worthy of being Hong Yu's favored son. It could be seen that his impression of Yong Xiang was still quite good, and it would be best for them to get closer in private, at least then Yong Xiang could learn many things from him.

  "Yongyuan, since everyone says they want to give you that pistol, just be more generous and forget about those unhappy things."

  Yong Yao saw that the Emperor had spoken, and knew that this matter was already settled, so he smiled happily and said: "Hmmm...Alright then, I will listen to Your Majesty."

  Although he had cheered up Yong Yao, Long Yitian did not forget the main issue and directly asked: "Yong Bi, why didn't Hong Yu come with you? I remember that I have already sent someone to summon him."

  Yong Bi had long expected the Emperor to ask about his Ama, so he replied with a very calm expression: "Ama had too much to drink and was somewhat drunk, so he didn't come with me. Ama said that tomorrow morning, he would personally come to apologize to you."

  Long Hui Tian smiled and shook his head, thinking that the excuses about being drunk and unable to come were just pretexts.

  Since Hong Yu was transferred from the Ministry of Rites to the Ministry of Punishment, Long Yintian had summoned him seven or eight times, but he didn't show up every time with all sorts of excuses; moreover, in more than half a year, there were many things that didn't require his personal attention as the prince, yet he took the initiative to take over and then rushed to hand them over elsewhere. In short, he was just trying to avoid one thing - responsibility.

  Hong Yu was so cautious and on thin ice because of the emperor's unusual behavior over the past year or so.

  It's said that the emperor used to get infatuated from time to time, but it would only last for a month or two at most before he returned to normal. However, this time is different; the emperor has clearly changed his mind and isn't just infatuated. As for what the emperor truly thinks in his heart, no one can guess, but anyone with eyes can see that the emperor has already started making plans for the future.

  Furthermore, Hongzhao was indeed overwhelmed by the emperor's orders and thought of ways to avoid them. Just as he had just solved the big trouble in the imperial clan, before he could even catch his breath, the emperor directly issued an edict, transferring him to the Ministry of Punishments, which is the most troublesome among the six ministries.

  This is truly a bitter experience for Hong Yu, who has been idle for most of his life. Not only does he have to get up early and work late every day, but he also has to deal with those unruly Eight Banners disciples from time to time. Now he can personally feel the difficulties that Prince Zhuang faced when he was ordered to rectify the Ministry of Punishments back then.

  So who knows what kind of trouble the Emperor will assign to him next time he is summoned, it's strange if Hong Yu doesn't hide a bit.

  But as the saying goes, "If it's not a blessing, it's a disaster, and if it's a disaster, you can't avoid it." Long Huan had made up his mind to not let Hong You off today, so he didn't waste any more words with Yong Bi. Instead, he spoke in a half-threatening tone, neither fast nor slow: "Yong Bi, you'll be the one delivering the edict today. Tell Hong You that if he doesn't appear before me within the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, then for the rest of his life, he won't be able to set foot anywhere."

  "Uh... I obey your orders." Yong Bi was swept by Long Yitian's piercing gaze, and his heart skipped a beat. Although he still responded respectfully on the surface, in his heart, he was despairing.

  This clearly has nothing to do with him, but in the end he also had to suffer the consequences, and the one who caused it was his own mother. Even if he wanted to speak out, there's no place for him to say anything, it's like a mute eating bitter melon, having grievances that can't be expressed.

  But it's true that Long Yintian's threatening words were quite effective. Before the tea had even been served, Hong Yu rushed over, panting and out of breath. Although his footsteps were still a bit unsteady, he clearly still had some fear in his heart towards this fourth brother of the emperor. After all, a higher official can crush someone with their power, let alone when facing the emperor himself.

  Hong Duan had just finished paying his respects after entering the grand tent, when Long Yintian asked with a tone of amusement, sipping on the hot milk tea in his hand without even lifting his head: "Fifth brother, you've finally deigned to see me?"

  "Look at what you're saying, Your Majesty. This is nonsense." Hong Yu wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and smiled: "I'm afraid that if I drink too much, I might say something reckless and offend Your Majesty, which would be terrible."

  Long Hanyan put the porcelain bowl on the table, snorted with a smile, and replied without giving face: "You'd better not give me nonsense, those absurd things you said are still not enough? Among all the officials in the court, who can surpass you in absurdity?"

  "Hong Duan was also unsure of the emperor's intention, so he spoke extremely carefully and cautiously, trying to follow the emperor's train of thought: 'Hehe, that's right, my younger brother is indeed this kind of person, and it's probably difficult for him to change in the future.'"

  "Alright, you'd better not make a fool of yourself in front of me either. Come over and keep me company for a bit, don't just stand there like a wooden stake." As he spoke, Long Yitian casually pointed to the other side of the low table, his meaning couldn't be any clearer.

  Hong Duan hesitated at this point, he felt that he was now neither suitable nor unsuitable.

  If he just went over and sat down like that, wouldn't it be obvious that he was on an equal footing with the emperor? If others saw this, who knows what rumors would spread, and whether his title could be preserved or not would be uncertain. But if he opened his mouth to decline, then at the very least it would be cowardice, but at worst it would be disobedience to the imperial decree.

  Long Hui Tian saw Hong Xiao and suddenly remained silent for half a day, staring at him with a fake annoyed tone: "How is it? Do I have to personally invite you?"

  "This is inevitable." Although Hongdiao still had a smiling face, he knew in his heart that today he couldn't escape this fate, so he simply steeled himself and walked over, nervously sitting down on the chair.

  However, he didn't dare to take it seriously and slightly shifted his body, so that when speaking of etiquette, there was basically nothing wrong with him, and being so cautious was really hard for him.

  Looking at Hong Duan's fidgety appearance, Long Yintian was very relaxed and personally poured a bowl of hot milk tea in front of him, seemingly concerned and said: "Drink some warm stuff to warm up your body, you just drank wine and blew the night wind for a while, don't get sick again."

  Long Hui Tian's words made Hong Yu feel suffocated in his heart, it was not that he wanted to make trouble on this late night, but all because of a single word from Your Majesty.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Although he felt stifled in his heart, Hong Yu still had to put on a grateful face. After all, it was something that the Emperor himself had personally handed over, and although it wasn't explicitly stated, this was essentially a reward.

  He shot a meaningful glance at Hong Duan, and Long Hui Tian smiled faintly before starting to chat casually: "I recall that you used to love attending funerals in the past, but I haven't seen you do so recently. I was thinking of finding some time to join in on the festivities as well."

  After hearing this, Hong Duan, who had just caught his breath and was drinking tea, almost couldn't help but spit out the milk tea in his mouth. Although he managed to swallow the tea with great difficulty, he was tragically choked by it.

  Insert Bookmark