Keeping his grandson but sending his son away, everyone can see who Zhu Bowen values more. Zhu Ziwen is happy but also bitter in his heart, as he is afraid that it will be difficult to get over his father's problem.
Zhu Bowen handed the imperial edict to the two men, and after they read it, he conveyed the contents word for word.
Hua Zhi's face twisted after hearing this. "So the emperor made such a big fuss because he was jealous? Just like other mothers-in-law are jealous of their daughters-in-law?"
The Zhu family's grandparents and grandchildren stared at her together. What a crappy metaphor!
"Not really, he really wants to use you." Gu Yanxi shook her head, "I know him, maybe it's because I hid something from him because of you, but more importantly, he thinks I'm out of control, and he loves the obedient Gu Yanxi who does whatever he's told."
Hua Zhi expressed her understanding, "To put it simply, you were originally his. Even if he doesn't want you anymore, you are still his. He is the only one who lost your share. You can't be separated from him first, especially if you have someone more important than him in your heart."
"…" The words are rough but the truth is there, it seems to be true, but why does it feel so wrong? !
Zhu Ziwen couldn't help but say, "Cousin, what you said today is a bit... floating."
After saying this, he felt that the word "floating" was not used correctly, but he really couldn't think of a better way to describe it.
"Just understand what he meant." Hua Zhi looked at Yan Xi, "If you go back and plead for mercy, will he take back his words and not put this task on me anymore?"
Gu Yanxi shook her head without even thinking, "No."
"Then you don't have to think that you've caused me trouble because you didn't give in. It won't make any difference as long as the situation is still weighing on me."
Gu Yanxi was indeed annoyed that he was not smart enough this time. If being submissive could make the emperor show leniency to Azhi, he would have been willing to give in ten times or a hundred times. But no, no matter how much he gave in, it would be useless. The emperor wanted to leave his name in history and wanted his life not to seem so mediocre, and to achieve all these required a large sum of money.
"But he will provide you with more convenience."
Hua Zhi smiled, "I'm not worried about that. No matter how you look at it, he's more anxious than me. If he wants to get things done faster, he'll have to make things easier for me."
Gu Yanxi wanted to say more than that. The emperor must have prepared a back-up plan. He couldn't really put all the pressure on Azhi alone. He thought highly of Azhi and recognized Azhi's ability to make money, but he should only regard Azhi as the most important link, not all.
First of all, it was the Ministry of Revenue, which was in charge of the world's money and grain. It should have been decided long ago to ask Minister Zhu to cooperate. There was also the Ministry of Works. The construction of the canal had to be coordinated by the Ministry of Works. The emperor must have made arrangements for these, but he did not expect that before he could give in or take out these things to appease her, Ah Zhi raised these as demands, so the emperor was so angry and humiliated.
Moreover, "I'm afraid the emperor will keep urging you."
Hua Zhi raised her eyebrows, "It would be strange if I didn't urge him. He can't allow me to delay it for ten or eight years, but things can't be done by urging him."
Gu Yanxi looked at her quietly, but said something shocking, "The emperor's body has been ravaged by the poison and is no longer as good as before."
"Be careful with your words!" Zhu Bowen shouted harshly. Zhu Ziwen had already run to the door and opened it. The housekeeper was standing in the corridor guarding it, and there was no one nearby.
He turned around and shook his head at his grandfather, his heart beating so fast that it seemed like it would jump out of his mouth.
"It's okay, no one is approaching." Gu Yanxi's expression remained unchanged. He had been paying attention since he entered the study, and he knew that Zhu Haocheng wanted to stay outside before, but was dragged away by Zhu Haodong.
"You can't say this no matter if there are people around or not." Zhu Bowen looked at his granddaughter, "Especially you, Zhi'er, the king is the king, we are all subjects of Daqing, I know you feel unfair, you have to swallow it even if it means chewing it into pieces, it is not a good thing if you lose your reverence in your heart."
"Yes, I remember." Hua Zhi really remembered it after being enlightened by her grandfather last time, but this did not mean that she would die for the emperor.
"I said this myself, it has nothing to do with Azhi." Gu Yanxi couldn't bear to see Azhi being scolded, so she took the blame on herself. "I said this not out of disrespect, I just wanted Azhi to know that the emperor can't afford to delay, he will definitely urge her."
Hua Zhi suddenly understood that the one who suffered the most in this matter was Yan Xi. What the emperor did was a betrayal of his family, so he was unwilling to give in.
Hua Zhi shook her head slightly at her grandfather who was about to speak, and changed the subject, "What are you going to do about Haoyue?"
"She is a concubine in the palace. If I have any contact with her, it will not be good for her or me. However, her entering the palace has something to do with me. I will ask Lai Fu to take care of her and make her life in the palace easier. This is all I can do for her."
"If Haoyue uses her tricks to deceive the emperor..."
"She doesn't dare."
Hua Zhi thought about it and realized that it was true. Since there was no better way, she simply put it aside and turned her attention to the Fourth Prince. She felt that the Emperor did not raise the Fourth Prince just to compete with Xiao Liu, but more likely to stimulate Yan Xi. With the Emperor's twisted mentality now, she guessed that he wanted to let Yan Xi know that he not only had a nephew, but also a son to love
Hua Zhi once again thought of her mother-in-law who was jealous of her daughter-in-law.
Old Master Zhu did not ask what the two were talking about. He did not want to know about some things that he knew would cause trouble. What he wanted to know more was, "Little Six... Why did the Sixth Prince go to the Hua family? When did it happen?"
Hua Zhi described the situation when she saved Xiao Liu. "I didn't think much about it at the time. Seeing the little kid bleeding, and with Doctor Shaoyao by his side, I couldn't just stand by and watch him die."
If it were someone else, they might not save him. The old man didn't say it out loud. In this capital, not causing trouble is the consensus of the people living here. "So he has been kept in the Hua family ever since then?"
"yes."
"With your incident before, I'm afraid the emperor will dislike him."
"He likes the eldest prince, but what happened? Didn't he have hope for more than ten years but still not be given the position of crown prince? This forced him to a dead end." Hua Zhi smiled, "We should take the path of doing practical things. Isn't it said that whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world? Then Xiaoliu should win the hearts of the people first."
Zhu Bowen nodded at her. He looked down on her because he was timid and weak, but he was also worried about Zhier being this big.
But when he thought about how many schemes she had set up and how many things she had done in places they didn't know about, he felt sad. Other girls of this age are either married or preparing to get married, and they don't have to calculate all these things like she did.
"Do you want to inform your grandfather about this?"
Hua Zhi thought about it and still shook her head, "It would only cause them more trouble if I told them, so I won't tell them."
Zhu Bowen disagreed. There was no point in hiding such a big thing. But Hua Zhi said, "Don't tell grandfather, lest he gets anxious. I can handle this mercenary matter."