Chapter 59: Appearing Righteous Part Two

When the Emperor wanted to kill people, sometimes it was urgent, and sometimes it wasn’t.

He waited years before dealing with the three big families in Yangtze-Metro. He slowly moved the members of these three families from their important official positions and placed them in positions that seemed prestigious but held no real power.

The Emperor created this slow and steady plan and took out all those people who he didn’t think need to exist in one night. The reason was simple; these people made him angry.

Now, the Emperor was urgent to kill.

Yu Donglai walked a dozen steps before looking back at the Royal Study. Then, he shook his head while smiling bitterly. He was glad that he dodged a tragedy but felt a little sad since he knew that Hou Junci, the Deputy of the Ministry of War, was going to die for sure. Since the Emperor wanted him dead, he couldn’t escape his fate. However, this thought of killing him didn’t only appear in the Emperor’s mind today.

What happened in Fangu was only an excuse that the Emperor needed.

While Yu Donglai was walking away blankly, someone suddenly called him from the back. He turned around and saw it was Huai Qiugong, the Head of the Ministry of Rites who sat in the Royal Study earlier but didn’t speak.

“Senior Huai, what is it?”

Yu Donglai didn’t dare to be disrespectful toward this senior who had served three emperors. Everyone knew that there were two unique officials in Great Sui who were also royal teachers. One was this old official who was the Head of the Ministry of Rites but didn’t manage the ministry, and the other was Zhou Banchuan, the Principal of the Martial Arts Academy.

Yu Donglai bowed toward Huai Qiugong respectfully.

Huai Qiugong laughed, stroked his white beard, and said, “I came here by riding on the horse-drawn carriage of Mr. Zheng of the Ministry of Revenue, and His Majesty kept him for a discussion. Since I have nothing to do and couldn’t walk home at my old age, I had to apologize to His Majesty and chase after you. What do you say? Do you have time to give me a ride home on the way?”

“On the way? His residence is in the opposite direction of the Royal Palace,” Yu Donglai thought to himself. As an experienced official, he knew that this senior wanted to have a word with him in private.

Yu Donglai quickly grabbed onto Huai Qiugong’s arm and said, “It is my honor to have Senior Huai on my horse-drawn carriage!”

While moving, the wheels of the horse-drawn carriage created a faint sound on the smooth green stone tiles on the road, making others sleepy.

Perhaps Huai Qiugong was really tired as an old man, he closed his eyes and leaned against the soft interior of the compartment, seeming to enjoy the slight shaking.

Yu Donglai knew that since Huai Qiugong called him, there was something that this old man wanted to say to him. Therefore, he was patient and covered Huai Qiugong with a silk blanket.

His action didn’t appear impatient, but the underlying meaning was different.

Huai Qiugong slowly opened his eyes and saw the silk blanket on him. He smiled at Yu Donglai and said self-mockingly, “Now that I’m old, I’m always tired. When it is quiet, I always get sleepy.”

“How come? Senior Qiu, you still appear energetic at this age,” Yu Donglai replied with a smile.

“Not energetic at all.” Huai Qiugong lowered his voice and said mysteriously, “I haven’t touched a woman in ten years.”

This old man was sometimes amiable in the sense that he didn’t act prestigious due to his status.

As the Head of the Ministry of Rites who was supposed to be polite and follow etiquette, he said something this vulgar. If other officials learned about this, they would be shocked.

Yu Donglai smiled awkwardly and didn’t know how to reply.

Fortunately, the old man didn’t plan to continue that topic. Instead, he pulled the silk blanket up and covered himself better.