“Father,” Hua Rongtian hurried over.
Prime Minister Hua nodded.
The father and son waited silently for the carriage as if only the sound of rain existed in the world.
“Rongtian, I’m getting old,” Prime Minister Hua suddenly said.
Hua Rongtian turned to look at his father. Prime Minister Hua was nearly fifty. In the past, he had taken good care of himself and still looked like a man in his prime, but in recent years, he had begun to show his age.
“You need to work harder,” Prime Minister Hua looked at him. “The future of the Hua family will be in your hands.”
Hua Rongtian understood. The emperor wouldn’t allow a father and son to control the cabinet. Hua Rongtian had been secretly supporting the emperor since he was a prince and now enjoyed the emperor’s trust. His official position hadn’t changed much, but he was responsible for important matters. If the cabinet were to be reorganized, Hua Rongtian would undoubtedly be a strong contender for the next prime minister. However, he hadn’t even entered the cabinet yet because Prime Minister Hua was still there.
Hua Rongtian sensed that his father was thinking of retirement. “His Majesty relies heavily on you, Father. Why…”
“The court is short of capable people. If I can be of use, His Majesty certainly won’t discard me.” But he was no longer a trusted confidant, with many barriers between them.
Prime Minister Hua didn’t say the latter half out loud. He only leaned in and said softly, “You are different from me.”
No matter how capable an old minister from the previous dynasty was, they couldn’t compare to the familiar faces from when the emperor was still a prince. Moreover, the emperor didn’t believe Hua Rongtian’s abilities were inferior to Prime Minister Hua’s. At most, he lacked some experience. When the previous emperor was still the crown prince, Prime Minister Hua had already been by his side assisting him, so he had always been highly trusted by the previous emperor. However the previous emperor was suspicious by nature, and the Hua family’s influence was indeed worrying, so he gradually lost trust. Even so, until the previous emperor’s death, he had remained steadily in the position of prime minister.
Prime Minister Hua could see now that he would only have one chance to touch that peak in his lifetime, but the Hua family was different. The Hua family still had Hua Rongtian.
Now was a time of national crisis. If Hua Rongtian could seize this opportunity and firmly occupy a place in the emperor’s heart, even if his current qualifications were shallow and he could barely squeeze into the cabinet, there would be no doubt about his ability to sit in that position below one person and above ten thousand in the future. On the contrary, if Prime Minister Hua continued to occupy a place in the cabinet without making room, while everyone else was rushing forward, Hua Rongtian would be limited by his position and could only do so much to help the emperor. The advantage of being an “old acquaintance” would diminish.
This kind of opportunity only came once.
The carriage arrived, and Hua Rongtian helped Prime Minister Hua into it.
In the twilight, the heavy rain poured down, much like Prime Minister Hua’s current mood. Sometimes, seeing too clearly was a kind of pain. For instance, if he couldn’t see his situation clearly, he might have stubbornly stayed in court for another twenty years. Unfortunately, now he could see the outcome before even making a move. What was even more tragic was that, having reached this point, his heart was still unwilling to give up.
Prime Minister Hua was full of reluctance. The previous emperor had been incompetent, and he had used a large part of his energy to deal with him, never truly implementing his ambitions. But now, his stage was already coming to an end. For the sake of the family and his son, retirement was the best option.
He couldn’t help but wonder, what if he had chosen to support the second prince back then?
The answer was impossible. Even if he had ten chances to start over, he would still choose to remain neutral. Because if he had taken a side, it would have meant the entire family taking a side. Trying to protect the entire family through such means would ultimately lead to failure. The massive influence that the previous emperor wanted to eliminate, how could the new emperor tolerate it?
He could only use the previous emperor’s hand to put the Hua family in a desperate situation and then rely on Hua Rongtian’s support for the second prince to allow the Hua family to be reborn.
This wasn’t a question of having foresight or not, but rather that he never had a choice in the first place.
Family was sometimes a boost to reach the sky in one step, and sometimes a burden as heavy as a mountain.
Let it be! Rather than struggling reluctantly to the death, it was better to go home and teach his grandson, passing on all his unfulfilled ambitions to the next generation. Perhaps someday in the future, they would finally succeed.
In the rain, the sound of wheels pressing against the stone slabs rumbled, mixed with Prime Minister Hua’s indistinct voice, “Have more children.”
“I will try my best, Father,” Hua Rongtian said in a deep voice.