Zhou Yun Sheng watched him flee with an expressionless face. He raised his hand to wipe the blood off his forehead and let out a cold laugh. His personal maids were all already hypnotized, they were loyal to him, so they all had their heads lowered, pretending that they didn't see this scene.
Li Jin awkwardly fled back to the Yang Xin temple and looked at a memorial in a daze. At the top of the memorial was a list presented by Supervisor Qin Tian, it was a list of carefully selected promotions.
Among these was a 'Yu Guo Gong', the three words were circled by a pen and had a note from Gao Min saying that this person was Gao Lang. Yu Guo Gong, in the second dream, wasn't Gao Lang referred to as Yu Guo Gong? Does this mean that the dreams were true?
Li Jin Tian's hands started trembling, he fiercely threw away the memorial. It was too late to regret, everyone already knew that Gao Lang was about to be promoted again. In order to please Gao Min, he'd even given Gao Lang an official residence in advance, the Gao family had already moved in.
Li Jin Tian felt like he'd swallowed hundreds of flies and he couldn't spit them out, his heart was extremely uncomfortable. He drank several pots of herbal tea, but his mood couldn't calm down, then he suddenly heard his servant announce that Gao Gui Jun's personal servant was asking for an audience.
"Come in." Li Jin Tian felt more anxious, but he still didn't send the person away. He really was obsessed with Gao Min.
"Slave sees the Emperor, the master sent me to relay some words, that is, Qi Gui Jun has entered the royal study, unauthorized. He says he wants to take a prince back to his palace. How do you want to deal with him?" The maid's face had faint disgust. Obviously, she felt that Qi Xiujie was not qualified to adopt a prince.
"What 'deal with'? Qi Gui Jun's adoption was authorized by me, who dares to oppose me?" Just because he pampered Gao Min, even his small maid thinks she can overstep her bounds? Li Jin Tian's tone was very cold.
The maidservant realized her mistake, she saw the Emperor's cold eyes and quickly left.
In the Imperial study's doorway, Zhou Yun Sheng was facing off with Gao Min.
Even after days of torture in the prison, this person's backbone is still so straight. His eyes always have that arrogant look. Why is he so arrogant? Qi Jia is long gone, his broken body has the only Qi blood left.
Thinking of this, Gao Min gave Qi Xiujie a contemptuous smile, but before his smile could completely bloom, a young maid whispered something into his ear that made him pale.
Zhou Yun Sheng smiled, waved his hand and casually said, "I'll go in first." Then he walked straight past him into the imperial study.
"I don't know what demon you released on the Emperor to make him forgive you, but I'll never let you live freely!" Gao Min coldly threatened, then he felt that his ruthless threat sounded like he was fighting with another concubine for the Emperor's favor, so his expression turned even uglier.
Zhou Yun Sheng sneered and walked away. He certainly wouldn't enter the study during study time, it was now lunch break and the princes were eating their meals, so he didn't need to search for them.
He seemed like he was casually adopting one, but he had a goal. It was the future Emperor's, Li Xu Yan, most loyal dog, Six Princes.
Six Princes was named Li Xudong, his mother was a dancer sent from a small border country, her status was very humble, and she died after giving birth. After Li Jin Tian was reborn, his eyes only saw Gao Min and Gao Min's son, Five Princes. He had no feelings for any of the other children, he didn't care about their life or death.
Six Princes had humble origins and he had no one to protect him, his life in the palace was miserable. Now, he was constantly bullied, in the future, he will snap and kill three palace servants in retaliation, gaining Gao Min's attention and sympathy. He'll then adopt him and carefully cultivate him.
Li Xudong had a big temper, but he knew how to repay grace, after Gao Min fathers him he will be infinitely loyal. When he turns fourteen, he'll follow Gao Min to every military campaign and gain illustrious military power, showing everyone that he was secretly a very talented person.
Since Zhou Yun Sheng wanted to raise the next emperor, he'd naturally pick the strongest candidate. The boy was already thirteen years old, so he should have a sense of self, but if Gao Min could raise him, Zhou Yun Sheng believed that he could raise him too. Besides, even if he couldn't raise the prince into a capable emperor, he had other ways to destroy Gao Min.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yun Sheng walked into the cafeteria and was assaulted by the smell of rice. Li Xu Yan was surrounded by the other princes, all trying to flatter him, he seemed to be the star prince. In the corner, a weak looking prince was hording his lunch box, he gulped down his food with vigor, as if he was starving.
"Younger imperial brother, eat more slowly, you might choke. Here, have this braised pork ribs." Li Xu Yan was very intelligent and had good communication skills, so he never offended or treated anyone coldly, both his insides and outsides were praiseworthy.
That emaciated prince was Li Xudong. He quickly covered his food box, revealing an embarrassed expression, then bowed his head to Li Xu Yan in thanks, but said he was full.
The little prince huddled himself deeper into the corner, then secretly pulled up his lips, revealing a mocking smile. If Li Xu Yan was really so kindhearted, how could he not notice his distress? With his unique status, he didn't need to sneak him food every day, he just needed to speak to the attendants and his situation would greatly improve. But Li Xu Yan was a partial, manipulative person, so he chose to sit on the sidelines to wait and see.
This hypocrisy made Li Xudong feel nauseous.
Zhou Yun Sheng, who was standing by the window to secretly observe, couldn't help but chuckle. He'd thought Gao Min father and son had already captured Li Xudong's gratitude, but it seemed to not be the case. Also, the current Li Xudong had no value, why was Gao Min paying attention to him? He had to admit, Gao Min had good vision for people. Li Xudong was now only a wolf cub, he'll bite anyone who approached him, but when he ripened, he would loyally protect his Lord.
Zhou Yun Sheng went inside and all the princes saluted him, including Li Xu Yan. But he didn't pay any attention to them, he went straight to Li Xudong and forcefully pulled away his tightly gripped food box.
"Old brown rice and boiled cabbage, who gave you this type of lunch?" The lunch box was already eaten clean, but Zhou Yun Sheng's nose could smell exactly what was in it.
Li Xudong looked up at him, speechless. He didn't understand why Qi Gui Jun would pay attention to himself.
"Where is your servant? Call him in." Seeing that Six Princes didn't answer him, Zhou Yun Sheng pulled his ears.
Li Xudong came back to reality, his ears reddened as he whispered, "The attendant is in the bamboo grove outside eating his lunch, he'll come in later to clean up."
Zhou Yun Sheng waved and a nearby eunuch immediately ran out to bring in Six Princes' attendant, he also brought back the unfinished food box.
Zhou Yun Sheng looked at the food box and sneered, "Flavored white rice, stewed chicken, four seasons seafood soup, what a rich lunch. Mind if I ask, are you the prince or is he the prince?"
The attendant's legs trembled in fear, he quickly kneeled and kowtowed for mercy, but Zhou Yun Sheng ignored him and directly took Li Xudong away. In the eyes of outsiders, he was still a pardoned criminal, disposing of slaves will inevitably attract all kinds of gossip. He'd leave the slave for Li Jin Tian to deal with, he would thoroughly make good use of his favor.
"Qi Gui Jun, I, I have a class later, if I leave the Teacher will be angry." Li Xudong rubbed his hot ears. He'd never experienced such a gesture of intimacy since the day he was born.
"What class, we have to move into the Zi Chen Palace. From today on, you are my son." Zhou Yun Sheng touched Six Princes' head.
Because of malnutrition, Six Princes was much smaller than Five Princes, he looked, at most, ten years old. But in fact, the two were the same age, thirteen years, their birthdays were only separated by a month or two.
"I'll be your son?" Li Xudong was very surprised, he consciously held the hand pressed on his head.
"I have no family to back me up, but I'm strong enough to protect you. I'm alone and you have no parents, let's depend only on each other in the future, okay?" He bent over slightly and earnestly looked into the boy's eyes.
His eyes were very clear, bright, no hypocritical care, only a sincere invitation. Depend only on each other, these should be bleak words, but when he said it, it only brought warmth. Li Xudong's dream was to love and be loved by someone else. His eyes reddened, but he stubbornly refused to cry, and fiercely nodded his head.
Zhou Yun Sheng straightened up and laughed, the sun shone on his smile, simply dazzling. Li Xudong gaped at him, then also foolishly laughed along.
————-
Yang Xin Temple, the Head Eunuch timely reported the news, "The Emperor, Qi Gui Jun has adopted Six Princes."
"Six Princes? Why not Twelve Princes?" Li Jin Tian found it very strange. In the last world, the Qi family had secretly hidden and brought up Twelve Princes, then they supported him on the throne. He'd thought that Qi Xiujie would make the same choice again.
[In the last world – ZYS has hypnotized Li Jin, so Li Jin has a memory of his last life that's false. Qi Xiujie was NOT loyal to him, he just thinks he was. I've tried my best to make things understandable, but this plot is more complicated than most, so read carefully.]
After all, the twelfth prince was only six years old, the youngest prince. He has not yet formed an independent personality and thoughts, he was much more malleable than Six Princes.
The eunuch's breathing stifled, then he cautiously replied, "The Emperor…have you forgotten? The Twelve Princes is gone."
"Gone? How did that happen?" Li Jin Tian was startled.
The Head Eunuch bowed deeply, he trembled as he explained, "Three years ago, Five Princes was poisoned into a coma, you'd called all the doctors to the Tian Chen Palace to treat him, at the same time, Twelve Princes had a serious fever… … so he, he…."
Although the Head Eunuch didn't finish, Li Jin Tian could already understand. Because the doctors were told to focus their care on Five Princes, Twelve Princes' care was delayed. The prince who continued his own bloodline and the throne in the last world is gone? The child who was painstakingly hidden by the Qi family for five years is gone?
A huge panic attack struck Li Jin Tian, as if his throne was at stake. He'd thought that in this life, everything was moving in a good direction, but it looks like he was wrong. He'd thought that everything was under control, but in fact, everything was out of his control.
Li Jin Tian couldn't help but tremble. He didn't know that Twelve Princes becoming Emperor was just a memory implanted into him by Zhou Yun Sheng. What Zhou Yun Sheng wanted was this panic and doubt. Li Jin Tian didn't remember all the kindness Gao Min had done for him, he could only focus on the wrongs.
Human nature is such a fragile thing.