Zhang Tianlun glanced back at the great hall once more, his eyes shifting.

He lowered his voice and told Zhou Xing, "This emperor is very fond of children. Take plenty of men to the chancellor's residence and bring Beloved Minister Zong's child here. This emperor will raise him at his side for a while."

Zhou Xing hesitated. Everyone knew the Right Chancellor, Zong Sibo, had been blessed with a son late in life and treasured the boy like a jewel.

Anyone who dared touch that child would have Zong Sibo fighting him to the death.

But Zhang Tianlun's word was an imperial decree, and Zhou Xing couldn't defy it. He bowed. "Yes. Your subject will see to it at once." With that, he turned and hurried off.

As he left, Zhou Xing was thinking: Looks like His Majesty doesn't trust the Right Chancellor the way he used to.

Before, His Majesty had trusted Zong Sibo completely and would never have touched his child.

And it was true: Zhang Tianlun no longer trusted Zong Sibo as he once had. Seeing Zong Sibo and Kang Luo trading looks had made him feel threatened.

He was a deeply selfish, cold-hearted man; otherwise he wouldn't have tried again and again to have Ning Chen killed.

In fact, he was like most emperors in history. What they cared about was their own authority and their own interests. Their ministers could be corrupt, could be incompetent, but they had to revere the emperor and be loyal to him.

He couldn't stand Ning Chen because Ning Chen, for all that he was a genius sent by heaven, had no fear of imperial power, and his loyalty wasn't to the emperor but to the common people of the realm.

Look across all of history, and the emperors who could tolerate a subject like Ning Chen can be counted on one hand.

Ning Chen just had dumb luck. He'd met the Xuan Emperor, an enlightened ruler for the ages, who could put up with everything he did.

Under any other emperor, however capable Ning Chen was, he'd never have…