Although Li Youdao was mentally prepared, he was still surprised when he saw Emperor Chen.
Sitting on the bed, Emperor Chen looked haggard, his eyes half-open and half-closed, and he seemed to be dying.
"Your Majesty!" Li Youdao knelt down from a distance and kowtowed to the ground.
When he raised his head again, tears were streaming down his face.
"Your Majesty, please take care of your dragon body!"
Emperor Chen opened his eyes and glanced at Li Youdao, then returned to the half-open and half-closed state.
"Prime Minister Li, Da Chen's empire depends on you."
After hearing these words, Li Youdao broke into a cold sweat.
What does "Da Chen's empire depends on me"? Isn't there a prince? What does it have to do with me? ah! Yes, Your Majesty, are you worried that I will become a powerful minister?
Li Youdao hurriedly kowtowed and defended: "Your Majesty is in the prime of his life, and he will recover quickly even if he is slightly ill. No matter how talented and capable the ministers and civil and military officials are, if they lose your Majesty's guidance, it will be difficult for them to stay together."
Li Youdao expressed his views in a cryptic way, meaning: Your Majesty, please rest assured. Without His Majesty's leadership, our ministers will be like a piece of loose sand, only criticizing each other endlessly. What else do you have to worry about?
I don’t know if Emperor Chen heard the implication of this sentence, but Emperor Chen did not continue on this topic, but talked about another thing.
"Prime Minister Li, please settle down. I heard that you adopted an adopted daughter..."
Li Youdao did not dare to hide anything, and he had not concealed this matter in the first place, so he answered truthfully: "Prime Minister Lin knew that I have no children and has always kept it in mind. I happened to see this woman who was kind and righteous, and thought it was really rare." , so I advise you to accept your adopted daughter."
"Haha." A smile appeared on half of Chen Di's face: "Bring it to me another day to see."
Li Youdao quickly agreed.
"I heard that there is a flower hall in your house, and the flowers in it are so beautiful. I... If I have a chance, I would like to see it."
Emperor Chen was so weak, chatting about irrelevant things without saying a word.
While they were chatting, there was no sound. Li Youdao was so frightened that he did not dare to move. He stood there and looked sometimes at Emperor Chen, sometimes at the prince.
Prince He Cong has been standing on one side of the chest of drawers in Yangxin Hall, quietly looking at the records in the small bamboo tube.
These records record various major events related to Li Youdao in great detail. Some records span two or three years to fill a page, and some records are filled in only two or three months.
Through these records, Prince He Cong quickly gained a very in-depth understanding of Li Youdao, such as his hobbies, his shortcomings and his strengths.
What outstanding achievements he has made as an official over the years, and why he was promoted, how many friends he has been corresponding with, what their positions are, etc., are very detailed.
Even if Li Youdao recalled some things by himself, he might not be able to remember the details clearly, but this small drawer accurately and comprehensively recorded everything related to Li Youdao.
Chen Di, who was sitting on the bed, snored slightly. The imperial doctor tiptoed over, carefully checked around Chen Di, and then tiptoed away.
Of course, Li Youdao didn't dare to wake up Emperor Chen, so he had to wait there.
It wasn't until half an hour later that Emperor Chen woke up: "Prime Minister Li is still here..."
"Yes, I am here!"
"Go back, I have nothing to do, I just want to see you."
Li Youdao responded and then slowly left.
As soon as he reached the entrance of the palace, he was stopped by the prince again: "Prime Minister Li, stay here. Father, I still have something to say."
Li Youdao returned to the palace. Emperor Chen pointed to the Crown Prince He Cong beside him and said, "I am ill. The Crown Prince will be in charge of the government during this period. Prime Minister Li will give me more assistance."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will do my best to serve the prince as hard as I can."
"Go ahead..."
Li Youdao resigned again and left the Yangxin Hall. When he was blown by the wind, he was shocked to realize that the sweat on his back was already breaking out.
When Emperor Chen woke up from his serious illness, he was the first to summon Qi Xinghe, General Yu Lin, which took him three quarters of an hour, less than half an hour.
The second one summoned Li Youdao, which took two hours.
The ministers in the imperial city were all talking privately, wondering what Emperor Chen had said to Prime Minister Li.
However, only Li Youdao himself knew that Emperor Chen slept for almost two hours during these two hours, and his conversation with him did not exceed ten sentences, and none of them were about military and national affairs. They were all about filial piety.
Although he is in a high position, he is the prime minister with the least sense of presence. Because all the limelight was stolen by Lin Ruoquan, when talking about Prime Minister Chen, the first thing that many people think of is Lin Ruoquan.
This summons made many courtiers re-examine the Prime Minister Zuo, who was usually not favored by the Holy Emperor.
After Li Youdao left the palace, Emperor Chen never summoned anyone again. The night passed in a hurry. When the sun rose the next day, the door of the palace finally opened wide, and the court meeting that had been interrupted for seven or eight days began again.
Emperor Chen did not go to court, but lay down in the Yangxin Hall to recuperate. Listening to the sound of bells and drums coming from the Jinluan Hall, it made this place feel particularly quiet.
The prince should be sitting in the Jinluan Hall at this moment, right? Next, the ministers will pay homage to the empty dragon chair as usual, pretending that I am still sitting there.
Emperor Chen was thinking this, but he couldn't stand up and walk out of the Heart Cultivation Palace. He could only imagine the scene in the Jinluan Palace.
"Xiao Fuzi!"
Emperor Chen called out, but the hall was empty and no one answered.
Anger suddenly rose in his heart and he raised his voice: "Xiao Fuzi!"
"Your Majesty, slave Feng Tai is here!" An old voice came from behind him, and following the sound of footsteps, an old eunuch in his fifties came to Emperor Chen.
"Where is Xiao Fuzi?" Chen Di asked.
Feng Tai replied respectfully: "Your Majesty asked Xiao Fuzi to accompany the prince to the court yesterday, and also named the slave to serve your majesty."
Emperor Chen felt in a daze: "Did I arrange it?"
"That's your Majesty." Feng Tai replied.
"Okay, nothing's wrong..." Chen Di wanted to wave his hand, but he couldn't lift his arm at all.
Feng Tai asked thoughtfully: "Your Majesty, would you like some ginseng soup?"
Emperor Chen felt agitated for no reason. He stared at Feng Tai coldly and said, "What? Are you afraid that I won't be able to breathe and die?"
Feng Tai was so frightened that he immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed: "I don't dare, I don't dare!"
Emperor Chen became more and more annoyed when he saw his forehead banging on the ground, and shouted loudly: "Come here! Drag this slave down to me and beat him hard!"
There were guards waiting outside the hall. After hearing Emperor Chen's order, they immediately rushed in, grabbed the old eunuch Feng Tai from left to right, and dragged him directly to the outside of Yangxin Hall. He picked up a stick as thick as a bowl and hit Feng Tai on the head. On the waist and hips.
At first Feng Tai screamed twice, but soon there was no sound.
