Drive a RV and go farming in ancient times.

After listening to Xu Huaiyi's analysis, Gu Huanxi couldn't help but sigh, "If that's true, then Emperor Jianxing is also a ruthless person. He can do this to himself and take poison? He's not afraid of getting into trouble. Don't emperors cherish their lives? In order to defeat the Chu Palace, he made a huge sacrifice this time!"

This also indirectly reflects Emperor Jianxing's fear and helplessness towards the Prince of Chu's Palace.

Xu Huaiyi snorted and laughed, "Since ancient times, which emperor was not a ruthless person? Emperor Jianxing was the second son, and the throne should have belonged to his elder brother, the King of Qin, but in the end he ascended the throne. Why? Wasn't it because he was ruthless enough to set up a trap to break his brother's leg?"

The King of Qin had a kind temperament, was both civil and military, and was well-received for his interpersonal skills. He was originally the best candidate for the crown prince. However, he later had an accident while riding a horse, which made him unable to walk, and he missed the throne. Since then, his temperament has changed, he has become taciturn, and has lived in a villa on the outskirts of Beijing all year round, growing flowers and raising fish, and has almost no sense of existence.

The Queen Mother in the palace probably knew the truth. Although she acquiesced to her youngest son's ascension to the throne, the relationship between mother and son was very cold. She was keen on worshiping Buddha and didn't care about anything else.

These gossips are no secret in the capital, and you can find out by asking privately.

But no one dared to discuss it openly.

Gu Huanxi said, "He's risking his life this time. If he's not careful, he'll lose his life. I'm curious, what did Meng Yao tell him? Unless it's absolutely necessary, or if he doesn't have some means to save his life, would Emperor Jianxing dare to gamble with himself?"

After all, it's okay to use the prince to ward off disaster for him. Although the effect is slightly worse, it's more stable and safer.

Xu Huaiyi stroked his chin and thought, "Could it be that Meng Yao revealed the strength of the King of Chu to him? Not to mention the factions that have been secretly cultivated for so many years, those private soldiers alone are enough to cause trouble for the court. Most of the court's troops are now busy suppressing the Japanese pirates and fighting the Tartars. There are about 100,000 people guarding the capital, and we don't know how many soldiers the King of Chu has. I estimate that there are at least 50,000. If there are more than this number, once all of them are mobilized, even if the court can resist, it will inevitably result in a lose-lose situation. If Meng Yao uses this excuse to persuade Emperor Jianxing, then Emperor Jianxing really dare not take the risk of fighting this battle, and must take it slowly."

Gu Huanxi rolled his eyes, "Slowly taking action is self-harm?"

Xu Huaiyi said confidently, "This can be regarded as the explanation given by Emperor Jianxing to the Chu Palace. Let them vent their anger and vent their anger. Then they will not have so much resentment in their hearts, and naturally they will not rush to start a rebellion, causing chaos in the world and making the people suffer."

Gu Huanxi raised his eyebrows. "So, this can also be said to be Emperor Jianxing giving in and showing weakness? Or is it a disguised apology?"

Xu Huaiyi coughed, "How could the emperor bow his head? At most, he would give the Chu Palace a way out. If the Chu King does not want to turn hostile and force the palace now, he will naturally take the step down. The two sides have reached a temporary settlement, which is tacitly understood."

"What if the King of Chu doesn't back down? More than a dozen people have died in the mansion, and Emperor Jianxing is the only one. Isn't this far from enough?"

"You can't compare them like that. Emperor Jianxing is an emperor. What's the weight of an emperor? In the eyes of the world, the deaths of those in the Chu Palace are not as important as his. Besides, didn't you notice that many people died in the Chu Palace, but they were not the most important direct descendants, especially the Chu Palace and the Crown Prince. They are fine. Nothing has happened to them. Those grief, vomiting blood and weakness are probably said for outsiders to hear, just like Emperor Jianxing said he was unconscious for most of the day. It's just an exaggeration and a show. Don't take it seriously."

Gu Huanxi was thoughtful. "It seems that the Chu Palace has been prepared for this. Maybe they are also trying to take advantage of the situation and completely ruin the reputation of Emperor Jianxing so as to find a reasonable excuse for their rebellion?"

After she finished speaking, she felt a chill running up from the soles of her feet, and couldn't help but mutter, "If that's the case, the King of Chu is even more cruel."

The lives of servants are worthless, but the masters in the mansion are their relatives. Using more than a dozen lives as stepping stones is really cruel and merciless.

Xu Huaiyi said in a deep voice, "The royal family is ruthless. It's not surprising that they would do something cruel and inhumane. We should just stay away from them."

Gu Huanxi thought, there is only one person living at home, why should I stay away? She rubbed her brows and asked, "How do you think things will develop next?"

Xu Huaiyi said, "Next, Meng Yao should go to the Chu Palace to be a lobbyist."

"Persuade the King of Chu to take over the step given by Emperor Jianxing?"

"Well, Meng Yao will definitely reveal some future trends to the King of Chu, hinting that he has no chance of success if he rebels now, and that he needs to wait a few more years before ascending to the throne. The King of Chu is not stupid, and he will be able to see that it is not appropriate to start a war right now after weighing the pros and cons himself. Even if he wins with all his might, it will be a tragic victory. Moreover, the throne was not obtained legitimately, and he will not be able to sit on it in the future. In addition, the border wars cannot be resolved, and he will inherit a mess at that time. How miserable will it be?"

"It would be good if Meng Yao could be a good lobbyist."

"It's almost certain. Even Emperor Jianxing is cooperating, so it shouldn't be difficult for the King of Chu to do so."

Gu Huanxi said curiously, "This Meng Yao seems to be quite capable. I wonder what her identity was in her previous life. She actually knows so many things about the palace. Could she be a concubine?"

The fact that Emperor Jianxing dared to take advantage of the enemy's trick showed that he knew in advance that someone was going to poison him, and he also knew who the poisoner was. Since this person was a spy planted by the Grand Empress Dowager, his identity must be very secret, and no one would have thought of it. Only in this way could he hit the target with one strike.

But Meng Yao knew that if she didn't reveal the person to Emperor Jianxing in advance, how could Emperor Jianxing dare to cooperate?

It is possible that Meng Yao, in order to gain the trust of Emperor Jianxing, revealed some secrets of the palace, which only a concubine could obtain. With her status as the legitimate daughter of the uncle's mansion, she would not be a palace maid.

Hearing this, Xu Huaiyi became interested in gossiping. "Based on her age, she definitely can't be Emperor Jianxing's daughter. Then she must be the eldest prince? Good god! In this life, she married her own aunt to her ex-husband in the previous life. What was she thinking? Doesn't she feel awkward?"

Gu Huanxi rolled her eyes at him and said, "You are surprised by what you have seen. In the royal family, there are many cases where aunts, nephews, and sisters serve a man. There is no psychological barrier at all."

Xu Huaiyi clicked his tongue twice in an exaggerated manner, yawned, and felt sleepy. He told her to go to bed, "Don't think about it anymore. Even if the sky falls, there are still tall people to hold it up. I guess you can't afford to fight. Let's go to sleep..."

Just as he said, this tense situation that was on the verge of breaking out suddenly dissipated after tormenting everyone for a few days.

It comes violently and goes strangely.

No one knew why. Some people saw Meng Yao entering and leaving the palace and Prince Chu's mansion, but they had no idea what role she played. At most, they guessed that it might have something to do with her.

Putting all these aside, the tense atmosphere in the capital has been relieved, which is a great thing. From top to bottom, everyone is happy and grateful.

No one wants to go to war. If there is chaos, everyone will be hurt to some extent.

The people breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile finally appeared on the faces of the civil and military officials. However, the morning court had not resumed yet, and Emperor Jianxing was still recuperating from his injuries. All matters, big and small, were delegated to the cabinet, and an imperial decree was issued, ordering several adult princes to come to the court to govern the country. A rumor was also leaked that whoever performed well in governing would have the opportunity to become the crown prince.

With such a big bait thrown out, who among the princes with a little ambition could resist taking the bait?

Except for the eldest prince, the second prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince, all of them received the imperial edict with gratitude, expressed their loyalty generously and forcefully, and then could not wait to go to the cabinet and follow a group of elders to deal with state affairs. Their attitudes were correct and positive, and each one was more hardworking and active than the other.

Emperor Jianxing had suppressed them too harshly before, making them feel that their future was hopeless. Suddenly, a pie fell from the sky and they saw the throne beckoning at them again. Who would not fight for it with all their heart and effort?

As for whether it was a pawn used by Emperor Jianxing to counter the King of Chu, or a gun to decentralize power and eliminate the influence of the King of Chu's Palace, they didn't care.

Opportunities are rare, so grab them first and then think about other things. Being able to be a pawn is also good, at least it means that you are useful. Others are not qualified to be one, so they want to be one, but they are not qualified.

Therefore, no matter what their abilities were, they were all jumping around happily. With their joining, the situation in the court also changed. Whether it was a good thing or not was still unknown, but it was a change from the dull and depressing situation of the past to a lot more liveliness and vitality. Many officials seemed to have a second spring in their lives, walking with a breeze and acting more proactively.

From a certain perspective, this is a good phenomenon. It is better to have a group of people expressing their opinions in disorder than to have no voice and everyone pretending to be deaf and dumb and protecting themselves. In this way, the court can be revitalized.

The only exception is the eldest prince.

He did not get involved and stayed in his mansion, reading, writing, and teaching his children every day. He almost refused all social engagements and lived an even more low-key and boring life than when he was guarding the imperial mausoleum.

He had a legitimate reason for doing this, because the eldest prince's wife was gone.

The death of the eldest prince's wife did not cause any stir. The people of the capital just sighed and forgot about the news.

Her funeral was also very low-key, and not many people went to pay their respects. Only when Prince Li Ji and his wife from the Changle Marquis's Mansion arrived, there was some sadness on their faces. However, their sadness was limited. The eldest prince's wife Li Wanyu and Prince Li Ji were not born of the same mother, so how deep could their feelings be?

It’s just a pity that the benefits have been reduced since then.

On the other hand, the eldest prince treated him indifferently, without any sadness on his face.

Including other people in the palace, they all had sad faces on the surface, but deep down they felt relieved and happy. Ever since the eldest prince's wife fell ill, she has become more and more hysterical. She is so difficult to serve that the servants are almost tortured to collapse.

On the day of Li Wanyu's funeral, Han Jun went out of the city and did not return until the city gates were about to close, braving the snow and wind.

He called Gu Xiaoyu into the house, and no one knew what the uncle and nephew said behind closed doors. The next day, Gu Xiaoyu's eyes were swollen.

Gu Huanxi didn't ask anything. She just boiled an egg and rolled it around his eyelids a few times.

Gu Xiaoyu said in a depressed tone, "My uncle said that my mother's revenge was finally taken, but I don't feel very happy."

Gu Huanxi asked with concern, "Why are you unhappy?"

Gu Xiaoyu lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "My mother died young. Although Concubine Li is the murderer, it is not all because of her. There is also..."

Gu Huanxi understood and felt a little distressed seeing him like this. In ancient times, it was said that sons should not criticize their fathers, otherwise they would be unfilial. However, if a father really did something wrong, the child would be the one who would be hurt the most. She couldn't directly judge the eldest prince's fault, so she said, "Your father was too indulgent to Li Wanyu, which led to her ambition and disrespect to your mother, which led to all kinds of troubles later. But this was definitely not your father's intention. Looking at how he protected you afterwards, you can tell that he still loved you in his heart, otherwise he would not have agreed to let your uncle take you away, and he also gave you the best guards in the mansion..."

Gu Xiaoyu didn't say anything. Nothing he said would be inappropriate. He could feel his father's love and he never doubted it, but it was not enough. Before, he didn't understand and thought that royal family affection was weak and that it was always like that. But after coming to the Gu family and getting along with his adoptive father, he realized that fatherly love was not like that.

It's not just fatherly love, there's also affection between husband and wife. It's not like father and mother, who treat each other with respect and seem to be in harmony, but what is the reality?

If my father really treated my mother well, he would not have allowed Li Wanyu to lose her duties. The fact that he did not care about the affairs in the rear house was probably because he did not care.

If one cares, he will notice the other person's every move, just like the adoptive father. When the adoptive mother just sneezed, the adoptive father would wonder if she had caught a cold. He would have someone boil a bowl of brown sugar ginger water and would not feel at ease until he saw the adoptive mother drink it. Afterwards, he would nag and give instructions for a long time, even though the adoptive mother disliked him for being nagging, he would not change.

This is what it means to truly care about your wife.

Therefore, my father was largely responsible for my mother's early death, but he could not blame her.

My uncle scolded me for half the night last night.

Knowing that he was in a bad mood, Gu Huanxi thought of ways to cheer him up. She had someone make a few skis and took the children to Hutian Village.

There is a slope in Hutian Village, and the height difference is very suitable for beginners. After cleaning it up, she gave a demonstration first, and several children couldn't wait to try it on.

At the beginning, there were all kinds of situations, but even if they fell, there was constant laughter. After they found the trick and became more proficient, they turned into the free wind, chasing and playing with each other happily. Their cries scared away the sparrows in the trees and broke the cold silence of winter.

A Li was still too young, so Gu Huanxi made a simple sled for her and had someone push her to slide on the snow, which was very interesting.

After getting tired of skiing, we went to the lake to break the ice and go fishing. As long as we made a hole and sprinkled the bait, the fish below would rush to that place. It was much easier than fishing at other times. Which child could resist the joy of catching fish?

Gu Huanxi had people set up a tent by the lake to block the wind and cold, and also lit a honeycomb coal stove and boiled ginger and sugar tea. He reminded the children to drink a sip from time to time. He also placed an iron rack and processed the fish himself, applying seasonings on it, and grilling it for a while, and it began to emit an enticing aroma.

There was food, drinks, and fun to do. After a day, the gloom in Gu Xiaoyu's heart was finally gone.

After returning home, Han Jun came to thank her and brought a generous gift.

Gu Huanxi confiscated it and only said, "Since he calls me mother, it is my responsibility and obligation to care for him and take care of him. I cannot shirk it, and there is no need to thank him."

After hearing this, Han Jun felt extremely ashamed.