The thirty-seventh year of Yuanyou.
The Great Qi had already swallowed the lands of Great Yue and the Northern Di. Miaojiang voluntarily expressed its willingness to pay annual tribute to Great Qi, while the Qingyun Realm directly announced to the outside world that Great Qi's Princess Fu'an was the only female disciple of the Qingyun Sect.
Thus, the land under heaven was, in essence, unified.
Shen Qingping's official rank was promoted again, directly becoming the Minister of Personnel, in charge of the evaluation of officials.
The Eastern Palace.
Master Qingshan had been staying at the Eastern Palace ever since arriving in the capital of Great Qi at the end of the previous year, showing no intention whatsoever of returning to the Qingyun Realm.
Upon hearing this, Gu Mingning also started visiting the Eastern Palace every now and then, chasing after Master Qingshan, insisting on calling him master, and would have a small quarrel with Qingchi every three days and a big one every five.
The Eastern Palace was bustling with noise and excitement every day.
Having just finished dealing with thorny court affairs, Shen Qingping stepped into the Eastern Palace, but upon hearing the clamor, he immediately wanted to retreat.
Shen Qingping felt a headache coming on.
"Young man of the Shen family."
Master Qingshan called out to Shen Qingping and tossed him a book of boxing techniques.
Seeing Shen Qingping's astonished expression, Song Yu couldn't quite manage a smile. He hadn't expected that even in this second chance, Third Shen was almost working himself to exhaustion again, just like before.
"I know you're busy, old man, but you must also take care of your health."
Master Qingshan always felt an inexplicable pity for Shen Qingping, always hoping he would be strong and healthy, living a long life.
"Master, I've never practiced boxing since I was a child," Shen Qingping smiled awkwardly; he was completely clueless in this area.
"Have Qingchi teach you, or that young man from the Gu family, either is fine."
Master Qingshan chuckled happily, "You must practice it well. This old man has come to understand that the Eastern Palace relies on you."
"Of course," Song Yu slowly interjected, "Master, back then when I chose him as my study companion, he didn't refuse. Once he boarded my pirate ship, he can't get off."
"Pirate ship? What pirate ship? Where are the pirates?"
Qingchi, in between scuffling with Gu Mingning, still found time to ask, "If there are any, you must take me along!"
The smile instantly vanished from Master Qingshan's face.
Some disciples posed no threat to him in martial arts, yet they could utterly ruin his reputation among the master circles.
He must have been blind when he woke up back then to think this kid Qingchi had changed his ways.
"Qingchi."
Hearing Master Qingshan's voice, Qingchi immediately stood obediently before him. "Master, what do you need from your disciple?"
"Have you finished practicing today's boxing techniques?"
"Your disciple will go practice right now."
Qingchi swiftly slipped away. The smoothness of his movements made Song Yu nod repeatedly. He could learn this trick for later use against the old man.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best.
......
Song Yu hadn't expected this move to come in handy so soon.
One month before Song Shihuan's birthday, Emperor Yuanyou began harping on about abdication again.
"This emperor is old and useless..." Emperor Yuanyou put on a mournful, sentimental air.
"Your Majesty is extremely hale and hearty. You can still beat me so hard you break the sole of your shoe," Song Yu simply didn't buy Emperor Yuanyou's act.
Emperor Yuanyou was left speechless.
"Ah, next month is A'Huan's birthday. It's the first birthday since she was found and brought back. If you could enfeoff her as the Grand Princess during the birthday banquet..."
Song Yu wore an expression of 'just as I expected.' The same old routine, but he was no longer the naive self of the past!
"When you're truly too old to carry on, then I, your son, will succeed and enfeoff A'Huan as the Grand Princess. From what I see, A'Huan isn't particularly eager for that title of Grand Princess either."
Having said that, Song Yu imitated Qingchi's style and whooshed away, disappearing from before Emperor Yuanyou.
Emperor Yuanyou was stunned for a moment, then swore a curse at the empty air.
Shen Mingwen was urgently summoned to the palace.
The moment he saw Emperor Yuanyou, he was bombarded with a question that left him dizzy.
"Minister Shen, is there any way to make the Crown Prince ascend the throne immediately?"
Shen Mingwen was taken aback. "Your Majesty, is the Crown Prince unwilling?"
Emperor Yuanyou felt a bit embarrassed, but for the sake of his own happy life, he nodded with restraint.
Shen Mingwen couldn't believe his ears and eyes.
How could there be a Crown Prince who didn't want to become emperor?
"Perhaps... have the Princess persuade him?"
"Do you think this emperor hasn't tried?" Emperor Yuanyou sighed. "That scoundrel has already tipped off A'Huan. Whenever I mention ascending the throne, A'Huan starts evading the topic, making this dragon throne seem like a hot potato."
As he spoke, Emperor Yuanyou's eyes suddenly lit up. "How about having your third son help this emperor persuade him?"
"Ah?" Shen Mingwen's face was a picture of shock.
"Your third son has followed the Crown Prince since childhood, as close as if they grew up sharing the same pair of trousers. If your third son speaks, he will surely be able to persuade the Crown Prince."
The more Emperor Yuanyou thought about it, the more reliable it seemed, and he directly entrusted this glorious mission to Shen Qingping.
......
That night, Shen Mingwen looked at Shen Qingping, not knowing how to begin.
Should he say, 'Son, your father went to the palace and brought back a huge task for you'?
"Father, is there something on my face?"
Shen Qingping couldn't help but reach up and touch his own face.
"My son, His Majesty wants you to persuade the Crown Prince to ascend the throne as soon as possible."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingping was momentarily stunned. He was probably the person who best understood why His Highness was unwilling to ascend the throne—afraid of being worked to death on the dragon throne.
In the past, he had been full of aspiration to become Prime Minister. Now, just being the Minister of Personnel, he already felt utterly exhausted.
Not only did His Highness want to delay ascending the throne, but he himself also wanted to become Prime Minister later.
Thinking of this, Shen Qingping righteously and sternly refused Shen Mingwen.
"Father, your son dares not presumptuously discuss matters of the imperial throne."
With that, he also imitated Song Yu and Qingchi and made a swift escape.
Several days later.
"Sigh." Song Yu sighed.
"Sigh." Shen Qingping echoed with a sigh.
"Sigh?" Song Shihuan didn't know why the two were sighing and instinctively sighed along. "Father, Teacher, what's wrong?"
"A'Huan, your father doesn't want to become emperor so quickly. Being emperor is so tiring—rising earlier than the rooster, sleeping later than the dog, being watched by the censors every day, unable to leave the palace freely." The more Song Yu spoke, the more he felt the old man had ill intentions. Last time, he at least held on until A'Huan's coming-of-age ceremony. This time, he wanted to shirk his duties so early.
"And your Imperial Grandfather is in the prime of his life, at an age where he should be striving hard."
Song Yu glanced in the direction of the Zichen Hall. "He can't always be thinking about having fun."
As he spoke, Song Yu suddenly came up with a good idea. "A'Huan, how about after your birthday banquet, your father takes you traveling around?"
Out of sight, out of mind.
Shen Qingping also nodded on the side. If you're going traveling, please be sure to take me along, thank you.
Before Song Shihuan could answer, a voice full of anger sounded from behind the three of them.
"Thinking of slipping away?"
Emperor Yuanyou sneered. "Shen Xiao, tie up the Crown Prince."
A few moments later, Song Yu was trussed up.
Emperor Yuanyou reached out and patted Song Yu's shoulder:
"Come, your Imperial Father will take you to experience what it feels like to sit on the dragon throne."
Behind them, Song Shihuan stood there dumbfounded.
Wait... is Father going to become emperor so soon?
