"Master." Gu Yan stared at Qin Junche with his bright eyes for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Hmm?" Qin Junche nodded.
"Why don't you want to be my mother?" Gu Yan asked.
Qin Junche: "..."
He met Gu Yan's expectant gaze.
Just thinking about him possibly following behind him, calling him "Mother" over and over again, sends chills down his spine!
"Master." Gu Yan seemed to like calling Qin Junche that.
Two two-seater rattan sofas and a small coffee table are placed on the terrace.
Gu Yan was originally sitting opposite Qin Junche, occupying a sofa by himself.
At this moment, he grabbed the glass bowl and ran to Qin Junche's side.
He sat down next to Qin Junche and offered to share the fruit in his bowl with him: "If Master becomes Empress, he can stay in the palace with Xiaoyan and Father Emperor forever."
Qin Junche: "..."
He thought for a moment and said, "Isn't it good as it is now?"
He found it a little strange.
Despite this being only their second meeting, the future monarch of the Galactic Empire displayed an unusual level of intimacy towards him.
There is even an excessive level of trust and dependence.
He felt Gu Yan's small body pressed tightly against his.
That feeling of dependence made him feel very close to them.
What Qin Junche didn't say was that deep down, a secret joy was slowly growing within him.
He has absolutely no relation to Gu Yan, but they might be related because of their similar appearance.
In addition, he is Gu Tang's son.
Qin Junche always felt that looking at him would soften his heart.
—This is the son of the person I like.
—The blood of the person he loved flowed in his veins.
That's roughly the feeling.
"Hmm—" Gu Yan frowned and thought about it seriously for a while.
“But if my master also lives in the palace, we can eat together every day,” he said. “When my father is not here, I can see my master every day, which would be even better.”
"Is your father often away from the capital planet?" Qin Junche asked.
"Yes." Gu Yan nodded vigorously.
He stuffed two more pieces of apple into his mouth, chewed them quickly, and swallowed them before saying, "So Xiao Yan needs to grow up quickly, so that when Father Emperor leaves the capital again, I can go with him."
Gu Yan spoke happily, as if even an apple wasn't so hard to swallow anymore.
That evening, when Gu Yan returned to the palace from Qin Junche's place, it was almost time for him to go to bed.
Gu Tang was already waiting for him.
Whenever he was in the capital city, no matter how busy he was, he would always make time to visit Gu Yan before he went to sleep.
Knowing that his son had come back from Qin Junche's place, Gu Tang didn't say anything, but simply told him, "Go to bed early."
He thought for a moment and added, "If you really like this mentor, you can have him teach you the art of leading troops in battle on weekends."
"Master is very powerful." After a day of learning, Gu Yan had already realized that the martial arts master his father had found for him was indeed very powerful.
Qin Junche gestured casually and gave pointers off the top of his head.
Even Gu Yan, who grew up in the palace and was surrounded by the best of everything, was deeply impressed.
From that day on, besides asking Qin Junche to teach him fighting techniques every other day,
Three days a week, Qin Junche would accompany him to the military headquarters to learn the art of command.
Gu Tailin and the others saw this but said nothing.
Another month has passed in the blink of an eye.
Summer is coming to an end, and the sweltering heat can no longer ravage the capital city.
As night fell, the wind began to cool.
The rumors that were once rampant gradually subsided.
Whether they were commoners or nobles on the capital planet, or even military personnel who saw Qin Junche every day.
They have all gradually adapted to his new identity.
They seemed to have forgotten that this young and handsome man was brought back by His Majesty the Emperor to be made Empress.
Even Gu Yan stopped asking Qin Junche why he was unwilling to be his mother.
Qin Junche hasn't seen Gu Tang for a month.
However, Gu Yan's relationship with him is getting better and better.
That day, Gu Yan finished practicing martial arts under Qin Junche's guidance.
He took a shower at his house, changed into clean and soft clothes, and then had dinner with him.
The two went to the second-floor terrace of Qin Junche's villa as usual.
Now, the casual chats after dinner seem to have become an agreement between the master and his apprentice.
Looking at Gu Yan's still flushed face and the faint worry between his brows, Qin Junche couldn't help but pinch his soft cheek and ask, "What are you worried about?"
Thanks to Gu Tang's education of his son, Gu Yan behaved like a little adult from the very beginning.
Qin Junche was already quite used to communicating with him in such an equal tone.
"I'm worried about Father Emperor." Gu Yan rested his chin on his hand, his eyebrows furrowed, looking rather unhappy.
"Oh?" Qin Junche asked calmly.
He hadn't seen Gu Tang for a month.
Life on the capital planet of the Galactic Empire was no different from his previous life in the Andromeda Galaxy, except that he needed to teach Gu Yan.
It is said that it only takes 21 days to form a habit.
A month later, he found that his lingering feelings for Gu Tang seemed to have faded considerably.
Gu Yan turned to look at Qin Junche and asked in a low voice, "Master, can I trust you?"
He paused, probably afraid that Qin Junche would misunderstand, and quickly waved his hand, saying, "It's not that I don't trust my master, but..."
Gu Yan's eyebrows furrowed: "But my literature teacher said that lovers always feel like they're separated for three autumns if they don't see each other for a day. Yet my master never goes to the palace to see my father..."
Gu Yan counted on his fingers in a cute way: "You two haven't seen each other for thirty years. Don't you and Father miss each other?"
Qin Junche: "..."
He never asked Gu Yan about other aspects of education.
However, it is also known that Gu Yan, who was raised from childhood to be the future monarch, actually learned a lot.
They certainly learned more than just martial arts and leadership skills from him.
Economics, politics, literature, art... As the crown prince, young Gu Yan actually had a very tough time.
“Father has been particularly busy lately.” Gu Yan stuck out his little tongue. “And ever since he had me learn martial arts from my master, he hasn’t asked me about my studies in that area.”
In the past, his father would personally test his martial arts skills.
They would also regularly set aside time to guide him.
However, his father seemed to trust Qin Junche very much, and never asked about this matter again after entrusting him to him.
"Mm." Qin Junche nodded.
Although he hadn't seen Gu Tang during this time, he had witnessed all the changes in the situation on the capital planet.
After that late night, when I followed Gu Tang out of the palace to attend that somewhat strange and mysterious secret gathering.
Gu Tang brought up the matter concerning his brother from nine years ago.
Qin Junche began to take notice.
What happened back then was never a secret.
Or rather, the current monarch of the Galactic Empire never intended to keep what happened back then a secret.
He never stopped people from remembering the crown prince who died in the coup nine years earlier.
He continued to entrust important responsibilities to his elder brother's former trusted subordinates.
Apart from those who had previously transferred Deng Yunfei to the northern frontier, there were also those who had been loyal to the former crown prince.
They all now hold important positions.
It is no exaggeration to say that they even firmly control the power of the Galactic Empire.
If they want to impeach Gu Tang and install a new monarch.
The transition of power can be completed smoothly without even causing chaos.
Even Deng Yunfei, who was transferred to the northern frontier.
On the surface, the other party has left the center of power.
In fact, Gu Tailin already controlled half of the military power in the Galactic Empire.
Deng Yunfei's taking over the Northern Army meant that he and Gu Tailin, one in the south and one in the north, controlled the entire empire's military power.
Even Qin Junche couldn't understand what Gu Tang was thinking.
He looked at Gu Yan's worried expression and thought about the rumors he had heard in the capital over the past month.
Anyone who has met Gu Yan knows that he doesn't actually look like Gu Tang at all.
He is more like the former crown prince, Gu Feng, Gu Tang's older brother.