Chapter 168

168

📖 Est. 10 min read

Gu Ran is a young and powerful man, and has been able to see through many things since he was a child.

His biological father is the youngest son of Prince Rui, Prince Rui is old, the children of the family group of grandchildren all over the place, he did not have the energy to teach the youngest son's every move, Gu Ran's father has grown into a day in the flowers and wine of the mediocrity.

Gu Ran had been smart since he was a child, and he also wanted to be close to his father. But his father's absurd behavior over and over again completely chilled his little heart. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father didn't value him, so Gu Ran slowly became silent, and developed a temperament that didn't show off and didn't show his face to others.

Although Gu Ran is not emphasized, but he is not sad. He likes to read books, the government's talented teachers, although they teach these children things are not deep, but Gu Ran seems to be born to read in general, "thousands of characters" but two times will remember, but he did not tell the others, just try to start to read some simple books.

Once the two gentlemen came together, and they looked excited: "A great victory on the northern frontier ...... General Triumph ......"

Gu Ran was a bit curious, he did not make a sound at the window and listened to the conversation of the gentleman on the porch, this was the first time he heard about the deeds of the saint. His Majesty was completely different from his father, his young age had already spread his royal authority far and wide. The tone of the gentlemen discussing the emperor was respectful, fearful, yet reverent, Gu Ran gradually thought in his heart, the emperor is so powerful.

Gu Ran slowly went down to school and began to look forward to the second day when someone else would be able to follow up on the story of His Holiness' ripples.

But such opportunities were too few, and he took the initiative to go to Mr. Sitting down in the midst of Mr. Surprised, he leaned back and asked, "Sir, the Holy ...... Emperor".

The gentleman then rambled on.

This year, Gu Ran has become much more lively and cheerful, and powerful people will always stir up the blood of the onlookers, even if Gu Ran is a tiny child, he can't help but aspire to see the saint's valor with his own eyes.

That opportunity came quickly.

The palace sent eunuchs to select children from all the clan houses to be sent to Mrs. Wan's side for coquetry. Gu Ran has always been able to avoid this kind of opportunity to be in the limelight, but when he knew that Mrs. Wan was the mother consort of the saint, he stood out without even thinking about it, ran to the eunuchs in the palace, and earnestly said, "I can make tea, I can dress, and I can read, I can read to Mrs. Wan."

The eunuch looked at him in surprise, and then really let people bring a book, Gu Ran read word by word according to the word, do not recognize the word will frankly say, "I have seen it will not forget."

Beside him, Prince Rui refocused his gaze on this young grandson as if he was recognizing Gu Ran for the first time.

Gu Ran usually keeps a low profile, as if the large Rui Wang Fu does not have this person in general. But he is also very bold, what he wants to go out, whether it is to ask Mr. or run to the palace eunuchs, the onlookers can not see a trace of timidity and shyness from him.

He just knows to go for it, and only the word "submissive" remains.

Gu Ran was indeed taken to Mrs. Wan's side, and there were five children with him. Consort Wan was the mother consort of His Majesty, Gu Ran respected her and loved her. Since the purpose of coming to Mrs. Wan's side was to take care of her, Gu Ran naturally had to do his part.

He reads for Mrs. Wan, which is a point that no one can beat him among several children. These children are naturally intelligent, but not Gu Ran can be said to be unforgettable skills, the consort also remembered him, often looking at him smiling with the side of the close to the big palace maids said: "The emperor also loves to read, a few years ago, the Xuanzheng Hall of the candles are not extinguished day and night, but also have to go to me to urge to be able to have a moment of rest."

Gu Ran quietly pricked up his ears to hear the words.

The Grand Palace Maiden laughed a little and said, "If His Holiness loves books, he is knowledgeable, and the world is being governed in such a prosperous manner, and it is not in vain for a piece of our Holiness's heart and soul."

Consort Wan's expression flashed with thoughts, Gu Ran thought, since the Consort misses His Majesty, then why not see His Majesty?

Mrs. Wan also said, "I'd like to meet the emperor as well."

The Grand Palace Maiden bowed her head in embarrassment and said something in Consort Wan's ear. Consort Wan was stunned, and after a moment smiled, "You're right."

She put away her thoughts, but the look on her brow was even sadder, and she only suppressed it in her heart and didn't say anything. Gu Ran glanced at the Grand Palace Maiden and continued to lower her head and read.

The next day by day, I don't know when it started, Mrs. Wan's heart seems to be completely gone, her body exudes the smell of corruption and withering. When she started to lie on the bed thick, that big palace maid finally panicked and sent someone to inform the saint.

Mrs. Wan snapped, "No!"

But her voice was so weak that only Gu Ran heard her. Gu Ran looked at the room full of people with hurried feet, so she got down from the stool and calmly said, "The Imperial Consort said she was not allowed to send anyone."

The room fell violently silent, and the eldest palace maid came to advise, "Your Highness, don't you want to take a look at His Majesty?"

She said a lot, and the longing in Concubine Wan's heart burst forth. She couldn't help but nod her head, and there seemed to be life in that colorless countenance.

Gu Ran, however, was a little sad for some reason.

His Holiness quickly rushed over, and this was the first time Gu Ran had seen His Holiness. His Holiness was dusty and haggard in color, Gu Ran suddenly became excited as he exclaimed, "Imperial Uncle is here!"

His Holiness glanced hastily over him and rushed into the house.

Weeping, grief, death, panic.

Those days were so dim that they didn't see the light of day.

Gu Ran is received in King Rui's residence, and King Rui asks him how His Holiness is doing now. Gu Ran sees that His Holiness has fainted, but he is bowing his head and calmly says, "Sun's son doesn't know."

His Holiness' current situation cannot be known to others.

The Prince of Rui did not say anything, just once again looked at Gu Ran inquisitively. Gu Ran's face did not move, the bottom of his heart was apprehensive, after a long time, Prince Rui waved his hand and let him go, Gu Ran stepped out of the room door, as if he heard Prince Rui in the same side of the people whispered: "This son is unusual ......"

Gu Ran was in the mansion and didn't know the news outside. Some of the boys in the residence were jealous of his honor of being chosen to be next to Mrs. Wan, and time and time again, they took some unattractive means to annoy Gu Ran. Gu Ran doesn't care about this, he is just a little worried about His Holiness.

Has His Majesty awakened? Has Mrs. Wan been buried?

After another dozen days or so, the dark clouds covering the roof were suddenly dispersed by the blazing sun, Prince Rui sent someone to find Gu Ran, and he laughed in front of Gu Ran, patting his thighs in pain, "Wang Liqing ah Wang Liqing, you're finally dead!"

Gu Ran listened quietly.

Prince Rui stared at him with a burning gaze, "Did you know about the fact that His Holiness was in a coma for several days?"

Gu Ran paused, drooping his eyelids, still in the same tone, "Grandson guessed it."

Prince Rui looked at him steadily for a long time, opened his mouth and told Gu Ran about the fact that the saint would force out the black hand. Gu Ran couldn't help but smile after hearing this, this is the saint ah.

Gu Ran never thought he was special, nor did he think he was likeable. But after being led into the palace with the others, and vaguely knowing what the saint was going to do, he regretted that he was not likeable.

The rules of the palace are strict, but the emperor treats them as children but is very tolerant. Gu Ran also talked to General Xue Yuan, who was famous for his battle in the northern border, and this general looked scary, but his words were good. Especially when it comes to His Majesty, the pride and joy in General Xue's eyes can't be hidden, Gu Ran likes all the people who like His Majesty, and he respects this general, but he just feels that General Xue's speech seems to have a few deep meanings, and he can't understand it.

After that, it was like a dream, Gu Ran was brought into the palace by the saint.

Gu Ran was giddy, he wasn't happy for the fact that he was chosen by the saint, but he was also happy for the fact that he was chosen by the saint. It was complicated to say the least, and the leap in his heart was only thinking: the most powerful man in all the world was about to become his father?

This man is going to be his father!

From then on, the saint became the father, the father treated Gu Ran extremely well, and Gu Ran never gave a good son. The saint learned to be a good father, and he learned to be a good son.

Once, Gu Ran dreamed during the night, and he dreamed again that he had returned to the Hebei Summer Palace and saw the scene where the Grand Palace Maiden persuaded Mrs. Wan to suppress her thoughts. He couldn't help but walk up to the two of them, his ears close, and heard what the Grand Palace Maid said.

The eldest palace maid said: "His Majesty is very busy, the palace and the capital can go back and forth in just a few days. His Majesty's health is not good, if you really miss you will naturally come. But if you do not come, you this miss will only become the burden of the saint, you do not say, so as not to let the saint labor."

Mrs. Wan collected her thoughts in silence.

A wave of anger rose in Gu Ran's heart as he bellowed at the palace maid from the side, "Daring!"

But no sooner had this cry been uttered than he awoke from his dream. Gu Ran went to his father in a panic and spoke with the saint about what happened in his dream, to say something about the eccentricity of that big palace maid.

The Holy Emperor's expression slowly changed, he repressively clenched his fists, a few moments of pain and sadness showing, "Ran Ge'er, Father knows."

However, Gu Ran felt that Father had already known.

He was escorted out of the palace by the palace guards, and General Xue walked out with him, saying in an icy tone, "You've upset him."

Gu Ran looked up at him blankly.

General Xue lowered his head, his eyes that were sunken like deep pools seemed to be able to devour people's hearts as he warned, "This will not happen again."

Gu Ran's penetrating view of things wasn't nonsense. After this day, he could vaguely discern something from his father and General Xue. After Father and General Xue returned from their long campaign in Western Xia, this vague feeling became even more obvious.

General Xue is special to Father.

Father is unique to General Xue.

The more time passed, the more the uniqueness between them became more pervasive, and after Gu Ran figured it out, he followed his father's wishes and treated General Xue as his mother's consort.

It's just that General Xue would always have a twisted expression for a few moments every time he saw him with a filial face.

"Your Highness," the young chaperone beside her ran up to her, her white face the residue from the pastry, "what are you thinking of again?"

Gu Ran returned to her senses and calmly said, "Zhi Zhi Er, why are you so good at eating."

Chu discussion obediently put down the hands of the things, holding a handkerchief to wipe over the hands and face, "back to your highness, today is the nephew came over to lecture, I'm afraid that nephew hungry, only went to send pastries, just nephew not eat, I gave to eat."

Gu Ran sighed helplessly, his gaze looking from Chu Zhi's side to the front, right into the eyes of the famous scholar Chu Wei.

Chu Wei saluted with him, and Gu Ran nodded politely.

Chu Zhi sighed in a small adult manner, "Nephew is getting less and less like to talk."

Gu Ran was thoughtful.

Children always grow up extraordinarily fast, General Xue retraced the Silk Road back, Gu Ran has been like a green willow, a leap high, until the sweet potatoes and corn throughout the Daheng, Gu Ran has been close to the crown.

The accompanying readers around him have also grown up and started to serve as officials. This growth along the way there are many temptations and bumps in the road, but his father will Gu Ran well protected, Gu Ran's heart is also non-common firmness, the family of heaven has no affection, it is only that those people are not his father.

But what was excessive was that when he was crowned he was thrown into supervision and watched General Xue abduct his father to the northern border.

Father and General Xue stayed in the northern border for three months, and when they returned to the capital, Father seemed to smile, but General Xue's face was ugly and stiff.

When Gu Ran asked for peace, he happened to overhear the conversation between his father and General Xue.

"Xue Jiuyao, what about that great gift you mentioned?"

"......"

Father grunted and laughed, teasingly, "You can't even find the place where you put it yourself, such a big grassland, you don't even think about it when you bury things."

General Xue said in a muffled voice, "Anyway, that area is all already His Majesty's land, and the things are buried under His Majesty's land."

Father cracked up laughing.

General Xue outside, is a profound and unpredictable joy and anger difficult to distinguish the Privy Councilor. To his father but always like a young brat, Gu Ran smiled and walked out of the palace.

This time, Father and General Xue went out to the northern border, not for fun and games, but because the northern border Khitan out of civil unrest, Father waited for this civil unrest has waited for a long time, in the nomadic people's territory to build colleges to preach them the Daheng language, with the prosperity of the mutual market to provide the nomads with all the things they want, all of which doomed the nomadic people today.

Daheng went out and fixed the border which was mixed up because of civil unrest, Daheng's cavalry swept away the snowy shame, letting the nomads properly see the growth of Daheng over the years, and as the victories came one after another, the nomads began to have people surrender.

One by one, the words spoken by his father came true, but the pace never slowed down. He had told Gu Ran, "There are still many things I want to do, but many of them are no longer done, and they need to be handed over to you, Ran'er, I hope you won't let my father down."

Gu Ran saluted and bowed, solemnly saying, "My son knows."

Father once said that he would make Fusang pay.

To make Fusang speak Daheng's words and think that they are Daheng's people, and to make Mr. Wang regret and become a sinner that they Fusang people spit on.

Gu Ran remembered this, and if Father had not done it, then he would have gone on to do it.

*

After Gu Ran took a wife and had a child, Gu Yuanbai began to think about abdicating.

Being an emperor for a long time is not good for anyone. Gu Yuanbai's body wasn't working, all the more reason why he needed to take care of himself as he got older. Gu Ran already had a virtuous reputation, and he was a good successor.

But the decision to abdicate is not so good.

Standing at the pinnacle of power for decades, say one for decades, suddenly to give the position to the young, Gu Yuanbai also some reluctance and melancholy.

But he's been in power long enough, to the point where it's time to let go.

Gu Yuanbai began to make preparations, he believed in himself, but not decidedly in Gu Ran. He needed to keep the imperial power down before abdicating, and raise the power of the civil official group and military honored officials, so that it would be balanced with the imperial power in three ways. If the emperor in the future was not a good emperor, the overly centralized imperial power would only cause disaster for Daheng.

Political Affairs Hall, Privy Council and Supervisory Office also need to be rectified, checks and balances together have been integrated into the blood of Gu Yuanbai, like breathing and eating generally natural.

There was so much for him to think about, and so much for a country changing owners, that by the time the dust settled, two years had passed.

Gu Yuanbai is not young anymore.

But he was like a mellow wine, still moving and gentle. His long years in a high position have given his every move an indescribable dignity and majesty.

The atmosphere of such a hand-raising is not in the least faded by the passage of time.

On this day, when Gu Ran and Xue Yuan came from the outside together, they saw the study closed tightly, and Tian Fusheng was waiting outside the study with an odd expression on his face.

When Xue Yuan stepped forward, he heard the saint inside the study say in a cold voice, "Get the hell out of here!"

Tian Fusheng whispered, "It's the new Scholar."

Xue Yuan quietly raised a finger at him, and Tian Fusheng was silenced.

Tian Fusheng was too old to hear what was going on in the study, but Xue Yuan could still hear.

Xue Yuan tilted his ears sideways, a few points of white frost coloring his temples. His long unveiled face could no longer stir up waves and drops, but after a while, he suddenly sighed.

He stepped forward and pushed on the door of the study, and light passed through the cracks, scattered dust settling in the light.

Under the pretext of having secret affairs to report, the scholar is anxiously expressing his feelings with the saint, and the strong love makes him even forget about life and death, until the sound of pushing the door behind him pulls him back to reality.

Xue Yuan entered the study through the doorway and gently closed the door again.

Gu Yuanbai sat behind the table, his face filled with anger. Xue Yuan's eyes carefully swept over him, making sure that he was all right before moving to Scholarship.

The Scholar glared at him with red eyes, jealousy and fire mingling, and said fiercely, "Rebellious minister!"

If His Majesty can even look at Xue Yuan, why can't he look at him?

The scholar is young and handsome, in addition to the size of the official position, I think it is not inferior to Xue Yuan. After the abdication of the emperor will be with the Privy Councilor with the tour of the landscape, this time the face of the emperor may be the last opportunity to see the emperor, full of love can no longer hold back, would rather die than want the emperor to look at him.

Xue Yuan was scolded as a "rebellious courtier", and before he could say anything, the tea bowl in the hand of the saint was already thrown out, smashing down heavily on the body of the scholarly scholar, "Get out of here!"

The Scholar's expression was painfully hideous as he looked at Xue Yuan with hatred.

Xue Yuan had rarely moved his hand himself.

He practiced in the officialdom in the midst of a look that never changes color, should smile then smile, looks very graceful, is a good talkative gentleman. But the violence in his bones has never left him, he will still be furious, will use cruel means to export the evil in his heart.

In front of the saint, Xue Yuan did not move the scholar scholar, he smiled and watched him being taken away by the palace guards. After the next duty, he went back to the house, sat in the study and sent people to invite the scholar scholar to come.

The first-born is here, Xue Yuan took a sip of tea, lifted his eyelids and pointed to the seat across from him, "Sit."

In the dimness, the white frost on his temples was all but hidden. Only his tall figure remained, as lofty as a mountain.

Once Scholar Lang sat down, Xue Yuan laughed, got up and walked behind Scholar Lang, palming his head and slamming it hard against the corner of the table.

Blow after blow, the Scholar's screams went unheeded as blood crumbled across the table and dripped from the sharp corners.

After a long time, Xue Yuan sighed and muttered to himself, "You should be happy that you ran into someone other than the me from a few years ago."

That day, the scholar was covered in blood, was carried into the carriage after the back door sent back to the house.

Xue Yuan had done his work long ago without missing any cracks, but this time he had deliberately left some loose ends, using this as a warning to those who wanted to hit on his saint's idea.

From the beginning to the end, no one had been able to cross Xue Yuan and walk to the side of His Majesty.

Gu Yuanbai laughed after hearing the news, embracing Xue Yuan at night and teasing, "How old is he, but he's still like a barrel of vinegar."

Xue Yuan gently dropped a kiss on the top of his head, ageing his arms around him, "I've already sprouted gray hair."

Even though Gu Yuanbai was loved by time, he inevitably had a few silver strands that the moonlight had crossed.

Xue Yuan hooked up one of his silver threads and intertwined it with his own, "All have been companions to such an extent, where is there room for insertion?"

Gu Yuanbai's eyes curved and he smiled noncommittally.

He thought languidly in his mind.

A lifetime, ah, passed in Daheng. It's good.

Author's Note: Ancient times are over! After that, it's time for modern times.