Chapter 399: Chapter 235 We father and son are truly pitiable
After the Emperor finished instructing Song Dekang and the others, he asked Sun Kui to summon Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu.
Sun Kui personally went to Lanyuan Pavilion to invite them. Prime Minister He was playing chess with Zhao Yao and had to leave the game for later upon hearing the Emperor’s summons.
When Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu arrived at the Imperial Study, they saw Song Dekang and the others there, realizing the Emperor had something extremely important to discuss.
The two men first respectfully saluted the Emperor, then inquired what the Emperor’s orders were.
The Emperor said, "You both need to select one of your sons and send him to Lingnan."
Upon hearing the Emperor’s decree, Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu did not react as dramatically as Song Dekang and Zhang Gong did.
"Lingnan?" The surprise for Prime Minister He was Lingnan, "Your Majesty, are you sure you want the tenth prince to go to Lingnan?"
Grandmaster Liu echoed, "Your Majesty, Lingnan has always been a place of exile, inhabited by criminals, and is very dangerous. Moreover, it is full of miasma; are you sure you want the tenth prince to go to such a perilous place?"
Prime Minister He added, "I thought Your Majesty would send the tenth prince to Qingzhou."
Grandmaster Liu said, "Your Majesty, it would be better to send the tenth prince to Qingzhou."
"Wait a minute, Lao Her, Lao Liu, do you know that the Emperor intends to let the tenth prince..." Song Dekang and Zhang Gong stared in surprise at Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu.
Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu glanced at Song Dekang and the others and calmly said, "Isn’t this obvious?"
"Obvious?" Song Dekang and Zhang Gong exclaimed in unison, "How is it obvious?"
Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu gave Song Dekang and the others a disdainful look, "The tenth prince is the Emperor’s most beloved youngest son, isn’t it known to all?"
"We know, but didn’t the Emperor previously not want the tenth prince to inherit the throne?" Song Dekang looked at the Emperor, intrigued and curious, and asked, "Emperor, why did you suddenly change your mind?"
"The old sage at Baihe Temple said that the mission of the tenth prince’s birth is to bring a peaceful and prosperous era to the Great Zhou."
"What?" Song Dekang and Zhang Gong shouted in shock, while Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu remained calm. Even Chu Ying and Shen Hu appeared composed, as if they had known all along.
"Lao Her, why aren’t you surprised at all?" Zhang Gong asked in astonishment, seeing Prime Minister He and the others still so composed, "Did you know beforehand?"
Prime Minister He calmly replied, "I have long suspected that the Emperor would change his mind because the tenth prince is exceptionally intelligent."
Grandmaster Liu said plainly, "The tenth prince resembles the Emperor the most among all the princes."
Chu Ying said, "You could tell from the Emperor’s earlier instructions."
Shen Hu agreed, "The Emperor is paving the way for the tenth prince."
Song Dekang and Zhang Gong: "..." They suddenly felt very foolish.
"Your Majesty, why Lingnan?" Prime Minister He asked again, "Apart from being dangerous, it is also very poor and desolate."
"It is very far from the capital," Grandmaster Liu stated the most important point.
"I have thought long and hard, and still believe Lingnan is the most suitable," the Emperor replied, reluctant to send his youngest son so far to Lingnan, "Lingnan is distant from the capital and other places, allowing the tenth prince to stay away from the troubles of the capital."
"Moreover, no one pays attention to Lingnan, and once he is there, the tenth prince can do whatever he wishes," the Emperor smiled and said, "That rascal has a head full of good ideas, but he dares not show them for self-preservation."
Song Dekang and Zhang Gong were perplexed, unsure of what they were hearing, but dared not ask further, lest they appear foolish.
Chu Ying asked, "Didn’t the tenth prince already invent the stirrup and movable type printing technology? Could he create something even more remarkable?"
Prime Minister He asked directly, "Your Majesty, did the tenth prince do something again, prompting you to change your mind suddenly?"
The Emperor told them about Zhao Yao’s proposal to compile a dictionary, an idiom dictionary, and a foreign language dictionary.
Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu were utterly shocked.
"It seems the tenth prince truly has many brilliant ideas," Prime Minister He finally understood why the Emperor had a sudden change of heart, "Your Majesty, your decision to send the tenth prince to Lingnan is correct."
Grandmaster Liu agreed, "Sending the tenth prince to distant Lingnan is the most suitable choice."
Song Dekang and Zhang Gong remained bewildered, not grasping the conversation between the Emperor, Prime Minister He, and Grandmaster Liu.
Shen Hu said, "The tenth prince is extremely wise; staying in the capital or nearby when he reaches adulthood would be dangerous. If he goes to remote Lingnan, out of everyone’s concern, the tenth prince would be safe instead."