Outside the hall, as time passed, the hearts of the assembled ministers grew increasingly anxious, and some had begun to converse in hushed tones.
Zhou Shuren pricked his ears and could hear Scholar Ding speaking. Scholar Ding was puzzled, "The Emperor has fainted and the Crown Prince hasn't arrived. Instead, it's Prince Qi who is standing watch by the bed."
At these words, all the officials frowned, deeply worried that if something were to happen to the Emperor, the Crown Prince wasn't by his side but Prince Qi was. If something unforeseen were to occur, the silence settled in again.
Zhou Shuren sighed to himself. The doors of the great hall had opened only twice. His mindset was that of a spectator to a play, so he had been paying attention to the inside of the hall the whole time and, unexpectedly, Mr. Ding had also taken the chance to glimpse the situation inside during those few seconds the doors were open.
