The emperor was most worried about the world and the prince. He warned him again and again, and finally let him go and said softly: "Please come in, your mother, and I will talk to her."
Seeing that the emperor's breath had become weak, the prince couldn't help but glance at Gu Zhong and retreated to find his mother.
When the queen walked in, the emperor could hardly speak. Gu Zhong glanced at the hands they held together and quietly stepped aside.
The emperor's hand rested on the queen's hand, and he said almost inaudibly: "Zitong, I have worked hard for you in this life..."
The queen's vision became blurry. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, held his hand and whispered softly: "It's not hard, I will still be willing to accompany Erlang in the next life."
The emperor smiled and said: "Okay..."
The two stopped talking and just held hands and looked at each other. At some point, the emperor's eyes closed slightly and his hand fell softly into the queen's hand.
The queen shook her hands and pushed him, calling softly: "Your Majesty..."
The emperor did not answer her or move.
Gu Zhong hurriedly stepped forward and tasted the emperor's breath. After a moment, he knelt down and said, "Empress, Your Majesty, he... collapsed!"
The queen lowered her head and cried for a while, then managed to collect her emotions, stood up, took Gu Zhong's hand and walked out, announcing to everyone: "Your Majesty, you have passed away——"
Zhou Man was heartbroken and knelt down with everyone else. Cries immediately rang out in the hall, even those who were as restrained as the old Tang Dynasty could cry.
Zhou Man and Xiao Yuan were leading the people from Taiyuan Hospital inside. After confirming that the emperor was really dead, they assisted the prince and other princes in the burial...
Gu Zhong is also the chief chamberlain of Taiji Hall, in charge of various affairs.
He waited until the crown prince ascended the throne and the late emperor's funeral was held before Gu Zhong could breathe a sigh of relief.
He didn't linger much. After the late emperor's funeral, he handed over the affairs of Taiji Hall to Eunuch Wu.
But how could Eunuch Wu dare to accept it directly?
He went to see Xintei.
The prince who had just become the emperor had gone through all kinds of busy official and private affairs after his father's death. It was the time when he missed his father the most, so he did not agree directly, but said: "He is always by his father's side.
He has gone, but his hard work has paid off, so let him continue to lead the post of general manager, and you will help him."
Eunuch Wu responded in a low voice.
Gu Zhong did not want to continue to be the general manager. Although he was powerful and could continue to accumulate wealth, as the emperor and the courtiers, he and the prince did not have a deep relationship, and his presence in front of him was far inferior to that of the late emperor.
What's more, the prince's temper...
But Gu Zhong did not dare to insist on leaving at this time. He knew the prince well, and if he resigned, he would be afraid that the prince would be angry.
Gu Zhong was worried in his heart, but his face did not show it. Instead, he politely said to Eunuch Wu: "In this Tai Chi Hall, we are said to be the chief chamberlains, but in fact we still revolve around His Majesty. We only need to listen to His Majesty's orders."
That’s fine.”
"But the person that Your Majesty is most used to is Mr. Wu. From now on, we will have to do more work for Mr. Wu in front of the emperor."
"Master Gu is so polite," Eunuch Wu said with a smile on his face: "We are new here, how can we be as familiar with Tai Chi Hall as Master Gu? Your Majesty has already spoken. I will help you in the future. If you have any questions, just give me your instructions.
."
Gu Zhong smiled, and both of them smiled brightly. Only they knew that they were not at peace inside.
Gu Zhong has been with the new emperor for a while. Although he is still respected by people, Taiji Hall and even the entire palace have begun to take sides, whether they are on his side or on Eunuch Wu's side...
This is not something they can decide. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, let alone two tigers whose hunting areas overlap.
Although the food in this mountain is not what Gu Zhong wants to eat now.
After thinking about it, he could only go to Zhou Man.
Zhou Man was also very busy. The new emperor came to the throne, and Xiao Yuanzheng felt that his merits had been fulfilled. There was something about the late emperor who fell in love with him without realizing it. He felt guilty, so he wrote a letter to pray for the corpse not long after.
The new emperor tried to retain him twice as usual. After he submitted a letter for the third time, he agreed with a stroke of his pen. So Zhou Man was promoted to the rank of Director of the Imperial Medical Office and the President of the Imperial Hospital, and his career scope increased again.
Of course, the workload has also increased a lot.
Regarding the future plans of the Imperial Medical Office, many of them were things that Xiao Yuanzheng was unwilling or unwilling to take drastic measures before. After Zhou Man took over, he simply slowly clarified these matters and planned to implement them step by step.
So there are more things to do.
Zhou Man tended to forget himself when he was busy. When he was stopped by Gu Cai on the way out of the palace, he subconsciously stepped aside, trying to bypass the obstacle and go out.
Gu Cai quickly raised his voice, "Master Zhou, Master Zhou..."
Zhou Man came to his senses and saw the person in front of him clearly, "Master Xiao Gu? Are you here to get medicine? Master Gu doesn't need to take medicine anymore. Just pay more attention to daily maintenance."
"No, it's my godfather who wants to treat you to a meal," Gu Cai said with a smile: "My godfather knows that you are very busy now, so he doesn't dare to take up too much of your time. My godfather has a holiday tomorrow, so he wants to stay in Chongwen
We are treating you to a small meal in the library. Are you free during lunch?"
Zhou Man was stunned for a moment and then said: "He wants to treat guests in the palace? I am a foreign minister..."
It is taboo for foreign ministers and internal servants to have close relationships with each other. Even if they have a good friendship, they rarely communicate openly.
Gu Cai smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhou, my godfather has brought this matter to light. Everyone knows that Mr. Zhou was the one who examined my godfather when he came out of Dali Temple. That's why my godfather got better so quickly."
."
He smiled and said: "My godfather has specifically asked Your Majesty to allow him to set up a banquet in the palace to entertain you. Your Majesty chose this place, the Chongwen Pavilion."
Chongwen Hall is the territory of the prince. Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, Yingnu has also been named the prince. However, the East Palace is still the territory of the new emperor. After all, he has only been from prince to emperor for a short period of time.
When Zhou Man heard this, he nodded and said, "Okay, then I will go to Chongwen Hall for dinner at noon tomorrow."
Gu Cai happily agreed and asked, "Is there anything in particular you want to eat, sir?"
Now she has to observe national filial piety, what can she eat?
She thought for a while and then said: "Tofu, I like to eat tofu. Please buy more of all kinds of tofu."
If you can't eat meat, then eat tofu, which has the most similar texture to meat.
Thinking of this, Zhou Man felt hungry. She touched her belly and nodded with Gu Cai: "It's getting late. I have to leave the palace. You should go back and recover quickly."
Gucai agreed and happily went back to find Guzhong, but met Guji on the way.
Gu Cai hurriedly stopped, lowered his head and stood aside to avoid it.
Gu Ji is now the chief official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, fourth rank, only behind Gu Zhong and Eunuch Wu, and is one of the top figures in the palace.
When Gu Ji saw him, he came over and asked with a smile, "Junior brother, are you coming from the palace gate? Are you leaving the palace again today?"
Gu Cai lowered his head and said, "No, I just went to Chongwen Hall to deliver a message for my godfather."
Gu Ji nodded, "I just vaguely saw Mr. Zhou going to the palace gate. Why, didn't you see him?"