122 Good Job
The gauze lamp beside him made a subtle crackling sound. The flames danced rapidly, illuminating the faces of the Emperor and Chu Yi.
The eunuch quickly took off the silver gauze lampshade outside and carefully trimmed the wick with scissors.
Chu Yi stretched out his finger and teased the parrot twice before continuing, “I remember Gu Ce, I saw him a few times in the palace when I was young. He’s a person who would rather break than bend.”
Gu Ce often stationed in Yangzhou during his lifetime, only returning to the capital to meet the Emperor when he was congratulating the Emperor and debriefing him.
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At the age of six, Chu Yi met Gu Ce for the first time. At that time, Gu Ce was only in his early 20s. He had a jade-like face and was cold and otherworldly.
A little eunuch whispered in Chu Yi’s ear that the world praised Gu Ce for being as white as snow on the mountain and as bright as the moon among the clouds.
At that time, the Seventh Imperial Uncle was shooting an arrow in the palace. That arrow missed and almost hit Chu Yi, but Gu Ce grabbed the tributary arrow just in time. It only cut off a few strands of hair on Chu Yi’s temples.
If not for Gu Ce, although the arrow was not fatal, it would have scratched Chu Yi’s face.
The Seventh Imperial Uncle did not feel guilty at all and even said that he had heard that Gu Ce’s archery was number one in the world and had the ability to pierce through willow trees at 200 steps. He wanted Gu Ce to shoot an arrow for him to see.
The late Emperor had ordered Gu Ce to shoot an arrow. Gu Ce took the initiative to blindfold himself, but he shot an arrow at the Seventh Imperial Uncle, also shooting off a few strands of hair at his temples.
The late Emperor was furious, but there was nothing he could do about Gu Ce. This was because the arrow that Gu Ce shot out while blindfolded was almost 300 steps long, causing the entire hall to cheer. Everyone praised him and congratulated the late Emperor on obtaining such a good general.
Under the situation of a thousand people working together, even the late Emperor could not punish Gu Ce.
Chu Yi remembered this incident, and another one that happened when he was 10 years old.
When he was 10 years old, the State of Yue invaded. The late Emperor wanted to make peace with the State of Yue, and someone in the imperial court suggested sending a hostage to the State of Yue to show his sincerity.
Even though Chu Yi was young at the time, he knew that the hostage sent to the State of Yue would only be him. Therefore, at that time, he was quite concerned about the war between the two countries.
At that time, Imperial Duke Wei, Gu Ce, and the other nobles were all fighting. However, because Gu Ce had fallen to the State of Yue without reinforcements, the State of Yue occupied Yangzhou and had unstoppable momentum.
As a result, Imperial Duke Wei and the other pro-war factions were slapped in the face. The noble families led by the Yuan and Wang families became even more arrogant, pulling a group of fence-sitters into the pacifist’s camp.
The pacifists prevailed.
In the end, Imperial Duke Wei and the others were outnumbered and could only watch helplessly as the late Emperor issued a decree to negotiate peace.
After that, the late Emperor officially proposed peace negotiations with the State of Yue. He compensated the State of Yue with a total of 10,000 taels of gold, 20,000 fine horses, and the Yellow Water Ocean east of the State of Great Jin. He even sent Chu Yi to the State of Yue as a hostage.
Before that battle, the Great Jin and the State of Yue were equally matched. After this battle, the Great Jin was at a disadvantage.
And he had been gone for eight years.
Whether it was at that time or in the next eight years, he had also repeatedly thought about the “Battle of Yangzhou” in the dead of night…
Chu Yi did not move for a long time. He lowered his eyes and stared at the words “Gu Ce” on the memorial.
The candle flame beside him reflected in his dark pupils and shone with an unknown light.
“Chirp?” The colorful parrot was unwilling to be left alone. When Chu Yi did not move, it took the initiative to rub its cheek against his hand.
Chu Yi’s thick and long eyelashes fluttered. Looking at the lively and noisy little fellow under his finger, he suddenly thought of Gu Yanfei’s cat, Qing Guang, who had rubbed against him like this.
His fingers moved again, stroking the small, soft top of the parrot’s head, as gently as he had teased the kitten that day.
The Emperor watched this scene with interest. He did not expect his son to like teasing birds.
“Father, let’s do as Gu Jian wants,” Chu Yi suddenly said meaningfully.
“Whatever you say!” the Emperor said without thinking, his smile loving and indulgent.
After trimming the wick, the eunuch covered the silver gauze lampshade again, unsurprised by the Emperor’s attitude.
The Emperor had always been easy to talk to when facing the Eldest Prince. As long as the Eldest Prince said something, the Emperor would agree, as if he wished he could immediately hand the world to the Eldest Prince.
If not for the strong opposition of more than half of the ministers in the court, the Emperor would have appointed him as Crown Prince long ago.
Occasionally, the Emperor would lament to himself that he only wanted to be an idle Emperor who played with birds and walked dogs.
Chu Yi smiled and said, “I want to go to the Ministry of War.”
This time, before the Emperor could speak, the parrot mimicked him again. “Whatever you say!”