Several trusted ministers all respectfully bowed their heads, not daring to speak much.

Li Qitian was merely complaining and didn’t necessarily need a definite answer. He pursed his lips and harbored resentment for a while. Just as he was about to give orders, urgent footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall. An inner palace attendant wearing an iron-gray round-collared sunflower shirt quickly walked in, bowed, then whispered a few words in Li Qitian’s ear.

Li Qitian’s originally somewhat restrained emotions finally reached the edge of explosion after hearing the eunuch’s report.

“Outrageous! How dare he!”

Li Qitian suddenly roared in fury, startling everyone in the hall, who hastily knelt and kowtowed: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”

The several men were quite puzzled—what exactly was the Emperor angry about?

But Li Qitian said: “He is merely a subject. Going south to handle affairs—doing well is his duty. Moreover, if I hadn’t been willing to give him opportunities to distinguish himself, how could he have made a name for himself? Now he deliberately incites such public opinion!”

The eunuch knelt on the ground, not daring to respond.

Li Qitian asked again: “Do all the people in the city speak thus?”

“In response to Your Majesty, many people indeed discuss it this way, feeling that Your Majesty not personally going to welcome him is truly…”

“Nonsense! Utter stinking nonsense!” Li Qitian was so angry he cursed crudely.

The several ministers who had been in the hall were all shrewd people. Connecting the outside situation with the Emperor’s furious appearance, what was happening had become obvious.

Especially Lu Heng, who once again secretly shook his head while marveling at Qin Yining and Pang Xiao’s flawless calculations—they had figured out the Emperor’s temperament and all variables.

After Li Qitian finished cursing, he kept a grim face and said nothing, because he feared that in his rage, speaking further would result in undignified language that would diminish his status as Son of Heaven.

But the situation outside was also too infuriating.

Had everyone already forgotten about Pang Zhixi’s disobedience to imperial edicts? Now everyone was praising his achievements. He was merely a subject—after completing his assigned duties well, must he as Son of Heaven personally go welcome him?

“Your Majesty, what do you plan to do?” an elderly minister tentatively asked.

Li Qitian said in a low voice: “I shall wait here and see how long he can delay.”

“But Your Majesty, with crowds of people outside, even if Prince Zhongshun arrives late, it’s probably due to the people’s pushing and crowding,” Lu Heng said.

Li Qitian’s expression was grim, his teeth grinding audibly: “He relies on his merit to force my hand?”

“Your Majesty, the people’s behavior is spontaneous,” Lu Heng reminded with lowered eyes and a submissive manner.

But Li Qitian’s fury blazed even more fiercely because of Lu Heng’s seemingly casual remark!

Spontaneous? The people supported Pang Zhixi and even dared privately complain that he treated loyal ministers harshly, wanting him as Son of Heaven to personally welcome a mere subject! Storytelling had appeared in the city first, then popular sentiment followed. Before he could take action to suppress it, Pang Xiao had returned and camped outside the city refusing to enter, deliberately waiting until he became angry and issued a decree before willing to return to the city. Upon returning, he immediately created this situation.

Li Qitian was not stupid. Even if he hadn’t realized it initially, he now understood—he had fallen into a trap!

“Spontaneous? Then let’s see how long they can be ‘spontaneous’!”

Lu Heng said no more upon hearing this.

After waiting another half hour, scouts reported that Pang Xiao had with difficulty moved forward one street, with more and more people still gathering.

Had all the people in the capital gathered there?

Li Qitian finally became so angry he smashed his teacup.

The sharp, ear-piercing sound of breaking porcelain made people’s hearts tremble.

Lu Heng and the others respectfully lowered their heads again.

At this moment, everyone was clear that they no longer needed to offer detailed persuasion. With the Emperor’s intelligence, what couldn’t he figure out?

Though Li Qitian understood in his heart, that decision didn’t make him feel any better.

“Lu Heng.”

“This minister is here.” Lu Heng, whose name was called, knelt straight and listened quietly with lowered eyes.

Li Qitian said: “Tell me, what should I do now?”

Lu Heng couldn’t help but struggle internally.

If he went along with Li Qitian’s temperament, naturally he would thoroughly scold Pang Zhixi, then persuade Li Qitian to wait in place—he didn’t believe Pang Zhixi could take three days and nights to walk such a short distance.

But while such words might please the Emperor now, after the Emperor calmed down later, he might inevitably feel that he was being too slick and sycophantic.

Thinking of this, Lu Heng said calmly: “In response to Your Majesty, this minister’s view is that to prevent public opinion from expanding and for the sake of Your Majesty’s reputation and image among the people, Your Majesty would best satisfy the public’s expectations.”

What Lu Heng said was actually exactly what Li Qitian was thinking.

It was just that this judgment made him feel too stifled.

Li Qitian remained silent.

Lu Heng continued to consolidate his image as a loyal minister who dared to remonstrate directly, saying gravely: “Your Majesty, the people in the city are now gathered together. Regardless of whether chaos might occur, if you continue not to take a stance and allow Prince Zhongshun to enter the palace this way, public opinion will definitely continue favoring Prince Zhongshun. There might even be those with ulterior motives secretly slandering and promoting unfavorable discourse about Your Majesty. This minister believes that since things have reached this point, we should handle it rationally and minimize losses.”

Though Li Qitian was angry, Lu Heng’s words were very pertinent—every sentence was for his sake, and he understood this.

Li Qitian asked the other ministers.

The ministers were well-versed in official ways and most skilled at reading expressions. They immediately expressed the same opinion as Lu Heng.

Li Qitian’s face was as dark as water. After a long while, he said: “Prepare the imperial carriage. I will leave the palace to personally welcome Prince Zhongshun’s return to the capital.”

Immediately an eunuch acknowledged and began making grand preparations.

When the Emperor personally left the palace, the spectacle naturally wouldn’t be small. Everything had to be done according to protocol, making preparations quite cumbersome. Fortunately, the Imperial Guards and Banner Guards were always on standby.

At this moment, Pang Xiao was leading his horse and party slowly advancing through the crowd. The people also gathered intimately around Pang Xiao’s sides to admire the great hero’s handsome features up close. Just then, the sound of gongs and drums came from the distance.

“It’s the imperial carriage! The imperial carriage is coming!”

The sound of bronze gongs clearing the way approached from far to near. In the distance, a yellow canopy could be seen fluttering in the wind under the light gray sky. A figure in bright red round-collared arrow-sleeved regular court dress sat upright on a palanquin, approaching like stars surrounding the moon.

The Emperor leaving the palace shocked the people, made the Imperial Guards and Banner Guards vigilant, and even frightened the Five Cities Military Commission personnel into breaking out in cold sweat.

The Emperor was of imperial blood—if any accident occurred, all of them wouldn’t have enough heads to serve as burial sacrifices!

However, the people didn’t think this way.

In story books, enlightened rulers cherished talented people, and everything in reality was developing according to their expectations.

Thus, the previous voices criticizing the Emperor for treating meritorious officials harshly subsided, and people began praising with various voices:

“The Emperor truly values Prince Zhongshun greatly!”

“The Prince’s achievements this time must be too great—the Emperor couldn’t help but come out to personally welcome him! What great honor!”

“Yes! The Emperor is wise! The Prince is heroic!”

…

Voices rose and fell in the crowd as people knelt and shouted “Long live!”

Though the “Long live!” shouts drowned out the initial discussions, Li Qitian still heard the people’s comments clearly.

His coming here, while refuting the claims that he was jealous and harsh toward meritorious officials, also invisibly confirmed the fact that Pang Xiao was a great meritorious official.

Thus, if he were to punish Pang Xiao for disobeying imperial edicts again, wouldn’t he be giving people ammunition? A great meritorious official—not only would he not reward him, but he would find excuses to punish him. His reputation would surely plummet!

What a Pang Zhixi! What a vicious scheme!

Li Qitian’s heart was already burning with fury, but his face wore a very gentle smile, occasionally waving to acknowledge the kneeling people.

Seeing the Son of Heaven so approachable, everyone was nearly mad with joy. Shouts of “Long live!” rose again like mountains and seas, shocking people’s hearts.

Pang Xiao appeared overwhelmed with honor, handing his reins to someone else, stepping forward through the crowd, and kneeling in salute: “This minister pays respects to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty, long live, long long live!”

“Worthy brother, no need for such formality.” Li Qitian descended from his palanquin, helped Pang Xiao up with a face full of smiles, affectionately holding his hand and looking him up and down, then patting his shoulder: “After going south once, you’ve become much more robust.”

Pang Xiao smiled and respectfully said: “In response to Your Majesty, perhaps it’s from all the rough training in military camps—I became like this without noticing. How has Your Majesty been?”

“I am very well. It’s precisely because I have loyal ministers like you working diligently for me that I can focus wholeheartedly on state affairs. You have done very well.”

“Your Majesty is too kind! All of this is within this minister’s duties—I don’t deserve Your Majesty’s praise.”

As Pang Xiao spoke, he was about to bow again.

Since Li Qitian had come, he wouldn’t give people grounds for criticism. He immediately held Pang Xiao’s arm to prevent him from bowing, pulling him along: “Come, return to the palace quickly. I have many frontier matters to ask you about.”

“Yes.”

Pang Xiao respectfully acknowledged.

Li Qitian mounted his palanquin, and Pang Xiao finally mounted his tall horse. With the protection of the Five Cities Military Commission and the imperial procession, plus the people having their wish fulfilled to see the enlightened ruler meeting with his meritorious official, everyone was extremely excited and orderly withdrew to both sides.

The stalled procession finally began slowly moving, following behind the imperial carriage.

The people’s cheers shook mountains and earth.

Li Qitian had to maintain his dignity while also appearing approachable, suppressing his anger within his heart until he couldn’t bear it, his fists already clenched white.

Just as the procession had advanced only about a hundred paces, Pang Xiao, who had been sitting upright on his horse, suddenly swayed, held his temple with one hand, his eyes rolled back, and he toppled from his horse.

“Your Highness!” The people were all frightened and shouted in panic.

Huzi and the elite guards beside the horse quickly caught him with sharp reflexes. They saw that Pang Xiao’s eyes were tightly closed—he had fainted.

“Your Highness, Your Highness!”

“Quick, find a physician!”

The crowd became chaotic again. Li Qitian had just felt slightly better when he turned back to see this scene, becoming so angry his three souls left his body and seven spirits ascended to heaven.

How could a man as tall and strong as a small mountain faint for no reason?

He was certain that Pang Zhixi was doing this on purpose!

But the people didn’t think so.

Someone in the crowd was already saying: “The Prince must have overexerted himself worrying about southern frontier affairs. Traveling and working so hard along the way—that’s why he fell ill.”

“Perhaps he suffered some injury on the battlefield and developed a chronic condition!”

The meritorious official who was initially coldly treated by the Son of Heaven now had several more pitiable aspects…