“Uncle Wang,” Gu Tang said with a smile, looking at Gu Tailin, “I heard that you have already met Qin Junche… uh…”
He lightly tapped his forehead with his finger: "He is the one I brought back from the Andromeda Galaxy, the one I intend to marry and make empress. Uncle, you are my elder, please give me your opinion and tell me what you think of him?"
Gu Tailin: "..."
He Hui: "..."
Deng Yunfei: "..."
"Your Majesty," Gu Tailin bowed to Gu Tang, "the position of Empress of the Empire is no small matter. Countless noble ladies in the capital city eagerly await Your Majesty's favor. Even if Your Majesty does not favor women, there are countless talented young men in our Empire."
He raised his eyes and looked intently at Gu Tang: "If Your Majesty insists on making him Empress, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of the people."
Gu Tang smiled and said, "So, yesterday, Uncle Wang deliberately dragged Qin Junche out for drinks, and then, in his drunken state, he repeated all those rumors about me to him?"
"I did it all for the empire..."
“Uncle Wang.” Gu Tang raised his hand, interrupting Gu Tailin, “There’s no need to say such things, I don’t like to hear them anyway.”
Deng Yunfei: "..."
Gu Tailin: "..."
Only He Hui.
A complex light flashed in his eyes, and his gaze toward Gu Tang became even more profound.
"Although I will not punish you, Uncle, for this... But..." Gu Tang's tone became dangerous and low, "My beauty has thrown a tantrum because of this and moved out of the palace overnight, and I can't coax her back. What do you say we should do, Uncle?"
"Your Majesty!" Deng Yunfei couldn't hold back any longer, "Just for a man of unknown origin, you...!"
"Did I give you permission to speak?" Gu Tang's cold gaze swept across Deng Yunfei's face.
"Do you think I've forgotten what happened back then? You've been rising through the ranks so smoothly in recent years that you've become arrogant?" Gu Tang's lips curled slightly, but his gaze toward Deng Yunfei grew even colder.
"It seems..." he said coldly, "that I really should remind you who the monarch of the Galactic Empire is now."
After Gu Tang finished speaking coldly, he turned around and strode towards the study.
The three who remained looked at each other.
Finally, Deng Yunfei couldn't hold back any longer: "What does he mean by this? Does he really intend to punish us all for the sake of a man?"
He Hui glanced at Deng Yunfei.
He turned around and looked at Gu Tang's tall figure as he walked away, a warm feeling appearing in his eyes.
But that warmth was fleeting; when he looked at Deng Yunfei again, he had already returned to his usual self.
He Hui's handsome face was expressionless, with only a faint smile on his lips: "It's probably you who will be punished, not us!"
He Hui straightened his clothes and turned to walk towards the study: "Since His Majesty has decided to take charge of affairs, I happen to have something to report. Please go ahead, both of you."
"What are they doing?" Deng Yunfei asked, somewhat bewildered. "He Hui, he..."
He looked at Gu Tailin: "Could it be..."
Gu Tailin shook his head: "No."
His tone was firm, but he didn't explain why.
That very afternoon, His Majesty the Emperor issued his decree.
With instability in the northern border of the empire, Minister of the Military Affairs Department Deng Yunfei was transferred to take command of the Northern Army.
The deputy minister will temporarily manage all affairs of the military.
The decree was implemented quickly, and Deng Yunfei had no chance to resist. Under the supervision of the personal guards sent by Gu Tang, he packed his bags and headed towards the northern frontier.
On the surface, there seems to be nothing wrong with this decree.
Deng Yunfei, with his military background, is indeed a rare military talent.
The Northern Frontier is the region bordering the Andromeda Galaxy, and it's also where Gu Tang just wiped out the space pirates.
Since even His Majesty the Emperor, who has just returned from there, feels uneasy, then there must be some hidden danger.
It was only natural to send Deng Yunfei to handle it.
However, the powerful and wealthy families in the capital city sensed something unusual about it.
They secretly exchanged information in private.
Some say that during the coup that nearly plunged the Galactic Empire into chaos nine years ago, the then Crown Prince, Gu Tang's elder brother Gu Feng, actually did not die.
He was only seriously injured.
Then, under the protection of the assassins, they took advantage of the chaos to leave the empire.
Not long ago, the former crown prince, who had disappeared for nine years, returned to the Galactic Empire.
He is the rightful heir to the imperial throne.
Now that he's back, Gu Tang's position on the throne is naturally less secure.
So he started to get anxious.
It is all too common for former princelings like Deng Yunfei to be targeted and removed from the center of power.
In the sweltering summer of the capital city, a storm had just been stirred up because His Majesty the Emperor's marriage proposal had been rejected.
This seemingly secretive rumor has only made things more mysterious.
Gu Tang, who was at the very center of true power, calmly looked at the mountain of memorials.
He read very quickly and rarely left annotations on the memorials.
His son, Gu Yan, stayed by his side.
Although Gu Yan is only eight years old, he looks very mature and composed.
His delicate features gradually revealed the aura of a future monarch.
He looked at his father's annotation at the end of one of the thick memorials, which contained at least tens of thousands of words: "Copy this rambling memorial ten times and hand it to me in three days. If you dare to be so verbose again, it won't just be ten times what you're facing in the future!"
This was the first instruction given by Gu Tang after he had been looking at it for three whole hours.
Gu Yan wanted to laugh.
But I dared not laugh out loud.
He tried very hard to control himself, and his thin, upright figure trembled several times as he stood next to Gu Tang.
"Laugh if you want to." Gu Tang had already opened another memorial.
"Father," Gu Yan called out obediently, "I won't laugh."
"Do you know why you have this extra assignment in your homework today?" Gu Tang asked.
He snapped the memorial in his hand shut and turned to look at Gu Yan.
Gu Yan obediently shook his head.
“Because…” Gu Tang rested his chin on his hand and said earnestly to Gu Yan, “Six years… no! At most four more years! After you turn twelve, these…”
He pointed to the mountain of official documents piled up beside him, which hadn't decreased much even after three hours of observation.
"This is all your work now!"
Gu Yan: "..."
He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Gu Tang's arm: "Father, are you going to abandon Xiao Yan?"
Gu Yan looked up at Gu Tang.
Although my father is often away from the capital for months at a time.
He often wouldn't see the other person for months at a time.
However, as long as Gu Tang stays on the capital planet, he will personally take care of everything, including martial arts, reading, and many other aspects of Gu Yan's life.
Everyone in the palace knew that Gu Tang truly doted on his son to the core.
"What are you thinking about?!" Gu Tang rubbed Gu Yan's little head.
"Your father raised you with great care and hardship." He looked at his son's face, which was becoming more and more handsome and more and more like that man's. "You've been educated and made successful. Don't you intend to be filial to your father?"
He asked.
Gu Yan nodded quickly.
“So twelve years old… okay! Thirteen years old at most!” Gu Tang conceded again. “I will absolutely not do these things again. I will leave everything to you.”
“Son…” Gu Tang reached out and pinched Gu Yan’s soft little face: “You are the future monarch of the Galactic Empire. You have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders. You must do your best!”
"I will." Gu Yan looked up at Gu Tang.
Although his father had explained, he still felt uneasy.
He always felt that things weren't that simple.
"Father, will you really not abandon Xiao Yan?" he asked.
"No." Gu Tang reached out and pulled Gu Yan onto her lap.
He opened a new book of government documents and said to Gu Yan, "You're so young, yet you always have such wild thoughts. To keep your little head from getting so full of these thoughts, come and read these things with me now."
He didn't care whether this content was too much for eight-year-old Gu Yan.
The father and son really did just that, and started watching it seriously together.
After finishing each book, Gu Tang would ask Gu Yan for his opinion.
Then he would tell Gu Yan his thoughts.
However, most of the time, he would just read it and that was it, without making any annotations.
"Father," Gu Yan said, becoming curious as he read to the end, "Since you think some of these decrees are wrong, why don't you just have them amended?"
“Because before they are actually implemented, the ministers of each department will oversee them,” Gu Tang said calmly. “Irrational decrees like this will not be truly implemented. Of course…”
He smiled slightly at his son: "Your idea is very good. When you sit in this position in the future, you can do what you want to change or stop according to your idea."
Gu Yan nodded obediently again.
But he still didn't understand why, apart from those words that sounded like he was spiteful to the ministers, his father, the emperor, clearly reviewed every single memorial but never left any instructions.
“Father.” Gu Yan thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, “The whole capital planet is saying that Father transferred Minister Deng Yunfei to the northern frontier because there are rumors that my uncle, who disappeared nine years ago, did not die, but has returned to the capital planet.”