Chapter 148: Zhu Houzhao's Troubles

For Gou Ye, however, the most important matters at present were still taking good care of his household and managing the newspaper office. As for other court affairs, they were merely passing thoughts—what did they really have to do with him?

If there was any connection at all, it was that the Crown Prince's sudden demise had temporarily stalled the Merchant Clan's acquisition of maritime trade and Western Regions commerce. Consequently, the celebration and official appointment of Gou Ye as the Guild President had been postponed until the privileges were truly handed over. Yet Gou Ye cared very little for such superficial formalities; titles like Guild President were nothing more than empty names in his heart.

Today, Gou Ye did not wake up early to head to the newspaper office as he usually did. Having toiled for so long, he granted himself a holiday for the very first time, indulging in a lazy, luxurious sleep. Had Yunniang not woken him up, Gou Ye would have happily slept straight through until the following morning.

"Brother Gou Ye, wake up already! It's well past noon, and we'll be eating soon. Why are you being so lazy today..." Before Yunniang could finish, Gou Ye pulled her straight into his arms and dragged her right under the covers.

"Brother Gou Ye, stop fooling around! Someone might see us in broad daylight. Oh, goodness! Brother Gou Ye, why aren't you wearing any clothes? Ugh... Brother Gou Ye, stop it! What on earth are you pressing against me? It's poking me!" The moment she said this, Yunniang realized what it was, shoved Gou Ye away, and scrambled out from under the blankets. Her face flushed crimson, resembling a ripe apple.

To diffuse the awkward atmosphere, Yunniang hastily changed the subject. "Brother Gou Ye, what would you like for lunch? I'll go make it for you."

Gou Ye grinned at Yunniang with a leering expression and said, "I want to eat you! Haha."

"You're incorrigible, Brother Gou Ye! Why are you acting so improperly again? Put your clothes on quickly. If Xuanyuan Changfeng or someone else comes over and sees you looking like this, what on earth would they think?" Yunniang replied, her face still burning with a shy blush.

"Xuanyuan Changfeng won't come. He told me yesterday that he's going to Yueyang Tower today to nose around for news from the palace. Since I finally have some peace and quiet today, I'll do whatever I please. Who else is going to disturb the two of us? Come here and give your husband a kiss." With a thoroughly shameless grin, Gou Ye puckered his lips. At first, Yunniang looked a bit embarrassed, but after a brief second thought, she shyly pursed her lips and leaned in to match his gesture. Just at that moment, a sudden knock on the door startled the two of them right out of their intimate moment.

"Young Master, someone is here to see you!" Laifu shouted from outside.

Annoyed at having his good mood interrupted, Gou Ye called back impatiently, "Didn't I say I'm not receiving guests today? Tell him I'm feeling unwell today and ask him to return tomorrow! Oh, and by the way, do you know who he is? Did he leave a name?"

"Alright, Young Master, I'll go tell him right now. I don't know who he is, but when he asked me to announce him, he seemed to mention the name Long Zhao."

Upon hearing this, Gou Ye scrambled out of bed in a panic and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Don't let him leave! Quickly, bring him to the main hall immediately. I'm coming right now!" Gou Ye never imagined that the visitor would actually be Zhu Houzhao, and he had almost chased the man away. Yet what felt even more awkward was that in his hasty rise, Gou Ye had forgotten he was only wearing a pair of undergarments, standing practically naked right in front of Yunniang. To make matters worse, Gou Ye's earlier arousal had not yet subsided. Seeing this, Yunniang froze for a moment, and when Gou Ye turned back to look at her, she hurriedly covered her face with both hands and spun around.

"I didn't see anything!"

Even though Gou Ye moved as fast as he could, Zhu Houzhao was still left waiting in the main hall for quite a while. When Gou Ye arrived, he saw Zhu Houzhao sitting alone in the hall, with a cloak draped over his head to shield his face. The young man sat slumped over, looking utterly devastated.

Seeing Gou Ye approach, Zhu Houzhao slowly raised his head and forced a faint, weary smile. "Brother, you're here."

"Yes, I've heard about your family matters. Please accept my condolences," Gou Ye comforted him.

"It's fine, it's all in the past now. I can bear it," Zhu Houzhao said with a trace of sorrow, clearly showing how deeply recent events had battered his mind and spirit. "My heart has been terribly troubled these past few days, but I couldn't summon you into the palace. Today I finally managed to find some free time, so I wanted to come find you for a chat."

Gou Ye patted his shoulder and gently took his hand. "Come on, let me take you for a walk in the back courtyard. There are rocks and streams there; we can talk there."

Gou Ye was not actually taking Zhu Houzhao to admire artificial mountains and running water; rather, he felt the main hall was too oppressive. Under such circumstances, venting these burdens out in the open might be much more appropriate.

When the two of them reached the garden, Zhu Houzhao leaned against the railing and said to Gou Ye, "Gou Ye, my eldest brother is gone. Do you know? For the longest time, I thought that as long as I lived happily under my father's wings, I wouldn't need to think about anything else. I wasn't the Crown Prince; once my eldest brother became Emperor in the future, I could still quietly live out my happy life. But who could have foreseen that such a catastrophe would strike so suddenly?

"These past few days, my father has been terribly worried. I know he is debating whether or not to invest me as the Crown Prince. I've already told him my thoughts—I only want to be a peaceful imperial prince. I've never wanted to be the Crown Prince, nor have I ever wanted to be Emperor, because I know I simply don't have what it takes.

"Yet I know what my father thinks, and what many of the ministers think. They insist on establishing me as the Crown Prince. Both my third and fourth brothers are superior to me in every conceivable way. In my heart, I truly believe that whichever of them became Crown Prince would be far more suited for it than I am. So why must this heavy burden fall upon my head? I don't want to be Crown Prince, and I certainly don't want to be Emperor.

"People always say I lack ambition and idle my days away, but the truth is, I understand everything clearly. I simply refuse to fight and contend with them. Sometimes, I truly envy you ordinary commoners—you can pour your hearts out to your families, and you can treat your siblings with genuine sincerity. But my brothers and sisters don't think that way. The more indifferent I act, the more incompetent they think I am, the more they look down on me, and the more they despise me.

"I know that if I truly become Crown Prince, it will inevitably fail to convince many people, and many ministers at court will be displeased. I understand all of this. But recently, I can sense that my father's decision seems to be pointing directly at me. I can't wrap my head around it, and I don't want to think about it either. Being Crown Prince or Emperor might be a blessing others would give anything for, but for me... sigh! What a terrible torment it is."