The Demon Lords

The Prime Minister was present, drafting the decree, naturally writing it himself.

"I am not in good health and fear delaying national affairs. Therefore, from today onwards, I command the Crown Prince to act as regent, leading the cabinet and handling state affairs. Let it be so."

Zhao Jiulang wrote swiftly.

Lord Zheng noticed that Zhao Jiulang wrote much more than the Yan Emperor spoke.

This is the basic skill; the Emperor may speak concisely, but when writing an imperial edict, you must add some official jargon and flattering words. If there are too few words, how can officials below speculate and learn?

Zhao Jiulang finished writing, put down the pen, picked up the edict, blew gently, checked it, and set it down again.

Wei Zhonghe immediately brought over the grand seal to apply it.

Generally, the Emperor’s edict requires a court meeting, but this generation’s Yan Emperor is too domineering; his edict is the divine will of Yan.

From this moment, the Crown Prince officially assumes the regency, overseeing state affairs.

In the next moment,

Lord Zheng felt an even stronger urge to resume his old passion for painting.

Ji Chengjue, moved his knees towards the Crown Prince;

The Fourth Prince, Fifth Prince, and Seventh Prince all moved their knees towards the Crown Prince as well,

All princes knelt together,

Their faces beaming with smiles,

In unison, saying:

"Congratulations to the Crown Prince for assuming the regency."

At this time,

Lord Zheng saw,

The Yan Emperor sitting at the head,

Also showing a father’s kind smile.

This scene,

Beautiful to the point of breathtaking.

...

The banquet concluded.

Lord Zheng was personally escorted out of the palace gates by Wei Zhonghe.

Before separating, Wei Zhonghe spoke:

"Lord Zheng, the Princess is staying at Consort Qin’s place tonight, you can rest assured."

Today, the Princess was officially named, naturally needing to stay one night in the palace, to show the Xiong Family that the Ji Family was treating their daughter well, ceremonially it was considerate.

After all, Lord Zheng has no residence in the capital;

In truth, the implicit meaning of this remark is that before Lord Zheng leaves the capital, the Princess will stay in the palace. Fortunately, Lord Zheng’s time in the capital will not be too long, maybe just three or four days, after all, Snow Sea Pass still needs him to manage.

Lord Zheng knew it wouldn’t be a big issue even if he weren’t at Snow Sea Pass, after all, Liang Cheng was there, but outsiders wouldn’t know this.

"Lord, where do you plan to stay tonight?"

Without waiting for Lord Zheng to reply, Wei Zhonghe continued:

"Previously, there was a memorandum from the Ministry of Works suggesting to build a Lord Pingye Mansion in the capital. It was rejected by His Majesty, saying it would be too extravagant to build a temporary Earl’s Mansion since you aren’t staying long, and Sixth Prince’s residence is big enough."

"Thank you, Master Zhang, I understand."

Lord Zheng had planned to stay at Sixth Prince’s place anyway,

How should I put it,

Given his relationship with Ji Chengjue,

There really was no need to hide it, and hiding it wouldn’t convince anyone.

Wei Zhonghe left,

Shortly after,

Ji Chengjue also came out, Master Zhang accompanying him.

Ji Chengsu was still raised in the palace, while the Fourth and Fifth Princes returned to their residences, not through this gate.

Seeing Zheng Fan, Ji Chengjue bit his lip, took a deep breath, and smiled;

"Let’s go, see my new home."

Lord Zheng boarded the carriage,

Master Zhang drove.

Upon entering the carriage,

Ji Chengjue’s face first showed a ferocious expression, then anger, and finally a look of grievance.

Lord Zheng said directly:

"You look uncomfortable yourself, but watching you makes me feel very uneasy."

Ji Chengjue raised his hand,

said:

"No, just when you weren’t around, I wanted to be natural, no pretending, but didn’t know who to show it to. Now that you’re sitting right in front of me, I want to be natural, let my real emotions out, yet find it a bit uncomfortable."

"You’ve had that mask on too long, now you can’t take it off."

"Here you go again with your damned apt metaphors."

"Hehe."

"So, how was that good show, did you enjoy it?"

"Exhausting."

"Exhausting?"

"More tiring than fighting wars outside."

"Can’t be helped, we’ve grown up like this."

Lord Zheng said: "The Crown Prince’s regency is official now."

"Hmm."

"Did he do it on purpose?"

"You mean to say, the Crown Prince is advancing by retreating?" Ji Chengjue asked.

Lord Zheng nodded.

Ji Chengjue waved his hand, saying: "Doesn’t matter, it’s Father who is pushing him forward, whether he stands or lies down, it’s the same result."

"True."

"With the regency, surely Father thinks I’ve been too strong in the past six months, suppressing the East Palace too fiercely, so he intervened to balance things out.

It’s tough, brothers fighting and competing is normal, but the worst is when Father can’t maintain fairness."

"You seem to be all thunder and no rain in the capital."

"So, next life I won’t reincarnate as a prince; no matter the position, you have to tread cautiously, you’re free."

"My freedom doesn’t concern you, my troops can’t help you much, at most one day when you can’t handle it anymore, you can bring your wife and children to come seek refuge with me.

If the Crown Prince’s offer isn’t sincere, I won’t hand you over."

"Thanks to you, truly moved."

"Hehe."

"By the way, didn’t eat well just now?"

"Hmm." Lord Zheng nodded, "Earlier I was focused on practicing with Zhao Jiulang."

"I didn’t eat well either, later we’ll go back and let Sisi cook some dishes herself, we’ll have a proper drink."

"Alright."