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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 88 (Part 2)

After everyone left, Emperor Jing said tentatively, “Lao Qi, you helped your father solve a big problem. If you want any reward, just speak up and I will definitely do it.”

“Father, I have two unkind requests, and I hope you can agree to them.” The Seventh Prince gently kneaded the puppy in his arms, his expression a little unpredictable.

Emperor Jing waved his hand generously, “You say it.”

“I earnestly request my father’s permission to have You Shu with me at all times. Today, he was driven out of the study, and I have been in a state of panic for a whole day. Also, I request my father’s permission to give this son a servant who must be intelligent, discerning, capable of judging the situation, running errands to convey messages, truly honest, and reliable. After giving it, don’t use the name of Qianqing Palace, just say he’s from the Cat and Dog House.”

Emperor Jing suddenly understood why his son suddenly showed his sharpness. Was it to protect the puppy? He wanted to laugh, but after thinking about it for a while, he couldn’t laugh anymore. His son couldn’t even protect a puppy, indicating how helpless he was. Moreover, this request for a servant also had a profound meaning. It seemed that Lao Qi wanted to put a spy next to him to look after him. Who is he afraid of? Who is he guarding against?

He lived in Shuangxue Palace at Ganquan Palace, but he asked for a hidden stake from Qianqing Palace. Apart from Concubine Hui or the Eighth Prince, who else could he be wary of? In the end, the emperor is the emperor after all, the deeper you think, the more doubts and suspicions you have.

The Seventh Prince understands that for a person with very deep suspicions, it is useless to complain directly. It is better to cover up and say a little bit, and the other party will naturally fill in the remaining information for you. 

He originally wanted to pretend to be ill and request his father to ask the imperial doctor to come and check his body, but he suddenly remembered that the imperial doctor who treated his father emperor seemed to be related to the Ouyang family by marriage. Back then, when he was detoxified, the imperial doctor was also among those doctors, but the treatment got worse and worse, eventually leaving him bedridden. From this, it can be seen that Concubine Hui’s hands are really long enough.

The two requests made by the son: one is to protect the puppy and the other is to protect himself, indicating that he lacks a sense of security. Emperor Jing hadn’t yet fully suspected Concubine Hui and Lao Ba, but he kept it in mind and said softly, “It’s okay to give you a servant, but it’s a bit difficult to let your puppy follow you to the study room. What if it bothers other people during the class?”

The Seventh Prince said anxiously, “You Shu is very obedient and will never disturb others. He can understand everything this son says, and he can also read and practice calligraphy with me.” 

After saying this, he pinched You Shu’s two front paws and made a gesture, “You Shu, please tell Father that you are very obedient and won’t make trouble in the class.”

You Shu quickly squatted up, bowing and nodding. He also slightly wrinkled the tip of his nose and let out a pitiful low hum.

One master and one pet both looked very naive, which made Emperor Jing laugh out loud, and he clapped his hands, saying, “Alright, you can take it with you if you like, but the ugly words are ahead, if it really makes a lot of trouble, you have to send it back to Shuangxue Palace.” Lao Qi is also very pitiful. He didn’t even have a companion around him, so he valued a puppy so highly. What about Lao Ba? Isn’t he the one who usually takes the best care of his imperial brother?

Emperor Jing’s eyes darkened, and he suddenly suggested, “It’s almost time for dinner. Let’s go. I’ll accompany you back to Ganquan Palace for dinner.”

The group of people went to Ganquan Palace in a grand manner. At that moment, Concubine Hui, her son, and nephew were already at the table for dinner. Upon hearing the sound, they welcomed them out with joy and ordered the servants to quickly add more dishes. 

During the banquet, Emperor Jing repeatedly praised Lao Qi and gave him a lot of encouragement. The Eighth Prince’s face was smiling, but his eyes were shrouded in darkness, while Concubine Hui kept asking without any trace what Lao Qi had done that made the Emperor so happy.

The mother and son, one of whom was jealous and forced to smile, and the other was uncertain with surprise. Although they pretended to show great affection for the Seventh Prince, their expressions and movements inevitably showed traces. Emperor Jing originally intended to test, so he carefully looked at everyone’s reactions one by one and realised that he had indeed neglected Lao Qi. It seemed that Concubine Hui and Lao Ba didn’t care much about Lao Qi.

There is no filial son by the sickbed for the long duration, let alone a mother or brother. Thinking of this, Emperor Jing’s opinion of Concubine Hui and the Eighth Prince instantly fell. Before leaving, he said with a hint, “My dear concubine, you have given birth to a good son for me. The seventh child has an unparalleled talent. If it weren’t for his bad situation, I would definitely make him the crown prince. It’s just a pity…”

Concubine Hui dreamed that the emperor would appoint her son as the crown prince, but unexpectedly, this sentence fell on Lao Qi. Lao Qi was her abandoned son, so how could he suddenly surpass all the princes and take the lead in Emperor Jing’s heart? It shouldn’t be!

As she was struggling, she didn’t notice that Xiao Shunzi brought back a thin eunuch from the Cat and Dog House. Instead, the aunt in charge of Shuangxue Palace called the person over and interrogated him, only to find that it was a young eunuch who had just entered the palace, so she allowed him to go in and serve.

The next day, the imperial edict came down, and the Seventh Prince was qualified to attend court at the age of thirteen. In other words, while his brothers still had to go to the study room every day to study, he had already gone to the Jinluan Hall, and even entered the cabinet, arguing with a group of old ministers and controlling the court. What kind of honour is this? And what kind of qualifications does the Seventh Prince have?

Concubine Hui almost fainted when she heard the news. She was about to ask the palace maid to go to her mother’s house to summon her brother, but her brother had already handed over a sign to meet her. The two of them held their breath and talked in low voices.

Ouyang Tao is a hussar general and the head of the Ouyang family. He, who has always been a strategist, now has a dark face and dispirited tone, “Didn’t I tell you back then that you must choose a good seedling and sacrifice the rest. Why did you choose the Eighth and abandon the Seventh? Do you know how outstanding Lao Qi is?”

“This, how could I know? Back then, he was very stupid and foolish. Even if I teased him for a long time, he won’t say a word. He didn’t even learn to call father emperor and mother concubine until he was three years old. He wasn’t half as smart as the eighth child. That’s why I.…”

Ouyang Tao interrupted his younger sister angrily, “If he doesn’t speak, he is stupid? I think you are the one who is really stupid! The Seventh Prince is called Neixiu! Not only is he extremely intelligent, but also has a mature and steady temperament. Now when he goes to court, anyone who meets me will sigh with pity, and even a few elders are convinced of him. Do you know what this means? It means that if we propose to make him the crown prince now, no one will object!” (Neixiu= an outstanding person who is unassuming)

“So what do you want to do? Sacrifice Lao Ba again? I will never agree! Back then, if you hadn’t proposed to give up a child, how could I have alienated the seventh child since childhood and didn’t dare to give him a little care? Now, I protect Lao Ba like my lifeblood, and you in turn ask me to abandon him. You are asking for my life!” Concubine Hui shed tears sadly, but didn’t dare to cry out.

Ouyang Tao thought for a moment and waved his hands, “The Seventh Prince’s legs are completely ruined, so let’s give him up.” The matter has come to this point and is already irreversible.

“When will we start?” Concubine Hui asked quickly, fearing that her brother would change his mind later.

“Let’s wait until the matter of Dragon City is resolved. The more outstanding he is, the more the Emperor will pay attention to you and the Eighth Prince. You can take more of his limelight now. When he dies, his achievements will be the biggest bargaining chip for the Eighth Prince. After all, they are brothers born from the same egg, so there shouldn’t be much difference.”

Concubine Hui breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn’t know that the Eighth Prince was so jealous that he feign his illness to the Taifu and came back early. At this time, he was listening outside the door. His eyes were red and his face was twisted. He obviously hated Lao Qi to the extreme. If it hadn’t been for this person, he wouldn’t have been compared so badly, and there would be no one to block his path. He disdained to touch Lao Qi’s light, but instead hoped that the other party would die soon.

Noticing that the volume of voices inside the hall was gradually decreasing, as if his uncle was about to come out, he quickly ran away. The palace maid guarding the gate was a confidant of Concubine Hui. Knowing that this matter was not a major concern for His Highness to hear, she didn’t report it. Unconsciously, he ran to the Cat and Dog House and remembered the little dog that Lao Qi had been holding in his arms all the time. He maliciously rushed up and asked the manager for a ghost mastiff weighing 70 to 80 pounds, which he dragged back to domesticate with an iron cage.

After taming it for about three or four days, he finally couldn’t hold it any longer. When he saw Lao Qi and his puppy playing in the back garden of Shuangxue Palace, he ordered the eunuch to let the ghost mastiff go and said, “Go, let the devil king bite that little dog to death.”

“Your Highness, if the Ghost Mastiff is ordered to attack, it will not retreat until it bites the puppy to death. If the puppy runs back to the Seventh Prince, His Highness will also be in danger. This slave cannot afford this!” The eunuch who specialized in taming the ghost mastiffs was frightened, his face turning pale with fear.

“I will handle it if Lao Qi gets injured. What are you afraid of?” This sentence played right into the Eighth Prince’s heart. He immediately took the key from the eunuch’s hand and released the ghost mastiff. He pointed at the puppy and shouted, “Devil king, go!”

The ghost mastiff broke open the cage door and ran towards the outside of the hall, with saliva continuously flowing out of its bloody mouth.

You Shu was playing happily when a passing hanged-ghost suddenly warned, “Be careful, someone wants to let a big dog bite you!” The ghosts in the palace were instructed by the old ghost to come and look after You Shu from time to time. After all, he is a small dog the size of a palm. He might be trampled to death by someone who doesn’t have long eyes while walking on the road. It can be said that he has no ability to protect himself.

You Shu reflexively ran towards his master, but out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a huge green shadow approaching quickly. It turned out to be a ghost mastiff. How could such a monster be raised in the palace? He was shocked, thinking that he might hurt his master, so he immediately turned around and ran towards the nearby rockery.

The Seventh Prince also noticed something strange and shouted at the top of his lungs, “You Shu, come back! Come to me!” But no matter how he called, the little thing refused to turn back and took the danger away from him without hesitation.

In a flash of lightning, the ghost mastiff had already approached, and its huge front paws fiercely scratched You Shu’s back, causing his skin and flesh to split. Several ghosts attempted to help him block, but were bounced away by the evil energy emanating from the ghost mastiff. They exclaimed, “It’s not good, this dog actually grew up eating human flesh!”

Upon hearing this, You Shu’s scalp went numb and he rushed into the hole in the rockery as fast as he could, tightly curling up into a ball.

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