Kneeling in the center of the palace hall, Xu Han still had his head bowed to the cold ground. No one could see his expression.
At this moment, the gloom in his eyes lingered for a long time.
He had planned for so long, yet it was resolved so simply? He... was really unwilling!
The Prince of Ning was indeed a man of great depth! He must have been on guard against him for a long time!
Thinking of this, Xu Han's bad premonition grew stronger. He suddenly had a feeling that he had fallen into the Prince of Ning's scheme of feigning defeat!
Just then, Wei Ying suddenly let out a soft laugh. His clear voice rang out in the hall, "Lord Xu, this king will not blame you. After all, you were just deceived by villains, weren't you?"
Xu Han wiped the sweat from his temples and replied with a forced smile, "The Prince of Ning has always been magnanimous."
The emperor, who had been sitting on one side watching the show in silence, suddenly stepped down from the dragon throne. He walked slowly between Wei Ying and Xu Han, patted their shoulders, and said with a beaming smile, "Uncle has always been loyal to our Great Yan Kingdom. This time, it was my oversight. I accidentally believed others' words. To make up for Uncle, I've decided..." Here, the emperor looked at Wei Ying thoughtfully, while Wei Ying looked back at him calmly.
No one present noticed the sudden change in the emperor's address.
However, these people with their heads bowed and ears pricked up were quite curious, waiting for the emperor to continue.
The emperor scanned the crowd, then suddenly gave a soft smile and continued lazily, "Uncle, you shall... continue to assist me. After all, you've been away from the court for too long. Without your help, I always feel something is missing. Now that everyone knows our Prince of Ning's whole - hearted loyalty to me and to the Great Yan Kingdom, I've decided to let him show his talents and continue to serve our Great Yan Kingdom!"
Wei Ying: "???"
Chu Qing: "???"
Others: "???"
Chu Qing lowered her head and gently covered her mouth to barely hold back her laughter.
He truly was her great - grandson!
He said it was to make up for Wei Ying, but this was what he came up with!
After a grand speech, in short, it was to tell Wei Ying not to have any more concerns and to continue to assist him whole - heartedly!
However, the truth was that Wei Ying had actually been secretly assisting the emperor all along. There was no difference between now and before!
Wei Ying, who was being "compensated" like this, raised the corner of his eyebrow and looked at the emperor meaningfully. When the emperor felt Wei Ying's gaze, he even slightly raised his chin, with a hint of smugness in his eyes.
"Then, I thank Your Majesty." Wei Ying's voice trailed off gently.
"Uncle need not be so polite." The emperor replied with a squinted smile.
...
Xu Han, who was kneeling on the ground, was having a thousand and one thoughts in his mind.
He thought the emperor would reward the Prince of Ning with something substantial, but instead... this was what happened?
Continue to assist the emperor whole - heartedly...
This made the shrewd Xu Han can't help but guess what the emperor's real purpose was.
Did the emperor really trust the Prince of Ning completely, or did he have other motives?
This really puzzled Xu Han.
"Minister Xu." The emperor saw from afar that Xu Han was still kneeling on the ground motionless, so he called out to him loudly.
Sure enough, the man trembled, then knelt properly in a panic.
"Your servant is here."
Xu Han was extremely uneasy in his heart and hoped that the emperor would quickly put this matter behind.
A hint of darkness flashed across the emperor's eyes, and then he said, "Minister Xu, do you still think the Prince of Ning is colluding with the enemy and betraying the country?"
Xu Han's pupils constricted, and then he kowtowed heavily, "Your servant is stupid and ignorant!"
Chu Qing, who was coldly watching everything, was now looking at the figure kneeling on the ground indifferently, with undisguised sarcasm in her eyes.
This old guy was really adaptable!
"Minister Xu need not blame yourself too much. Get up first. After all, you're old. Kneeling for too long may make it hard for you to stand up." The emperor hooked the corner of his lips and still looked smiling.
Seeing that the emperor didn't seem to be going to dig deeper, Xu Han silently let out a sigh of relief in his heart.
But... what did it mean that kneeling for too long might make it hard to stand up? No matter how he thought about the emperor's words, he felt something was off!
As for whether the emperor would really not care too much about him, Xu Han wasn't too sure. He hoped... it was just his over - thinking.
Just as Xu Han had just stood up shakily, Wei Ying calmly said to him, "Lord Xu, I'd like to introduce some people to you here. I hope Lord Xu will be discerning in the future and not be so easily deceived by others."
Xu Han swallowed his unwillingness and bowed with a guilty look on his face, "I'm already grateful enough that the Prince of Ning doesn't blame this old servant. But this old servant has an impertinent request. After all... my little daughter is still the prince's concubine. I hope the Prince of Ning will take good care of my daughter in the future and not neglect her because of this old servant's ignorance."
Just as Xu Han was halfway through his words, Chu Qing's expression turned cold. After he finished every single word, Chu Qing pursed her lips and gave a soft smile, then calmly said:
"Does Lord Xu think the Prince of Ning will take it out on your daughter? It seems that in Lord Xu's heart, the prince is such a narrow - minded and fussy person. I don't agree with this!"
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it was extremely harsh.
Xu Han originally just wanted to pour some more dirty water on the Prince of Ning casually, but unexpectedly, the Princess of Ning, Chu Qing, poured it back without a trace.
Biting back his anger, Xu Han could only grin and say, "Then... this old servant has judged the gentleman's heart with the heart of a villain."
The emperor was really headache - stricken seeing Xu Han being so shameless. How could he have such a shameless Minister of Revenue!
He had tried every means to get a divorce letter from him before, but now he seemed as if his whole family had been wronged. The emperor just felt extremely disgusted.
Oh... right! The divorce letter! He had almost forgotten that the divorce letter that Minister Xu wanted hadn't been given to him yet!
Thinking of this, the emperor beckoned Eunuch Li over, then whispered some instructions in his ear.
Eunuch Li was first a bit surprised, then he realized what was going on, nodded, and stepped back to do what the emperor had told him.
Wei Ying was really too lazy to talk so much nonsense with Xu Han. He just said slowly, "Let's talk about other things later. Lord Xu might as well meet these people first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Yi and Wei Er led in a group of dazed people.
Xu Han didn't really care at first, but in a casual glance, he seemed to see a familiar figure.
Looking further, all four people in the group were familiar!
The Prince of Ning! He had actually found these people!
And brought them here!!!