Ying Changle had thoroughly enjoyed cursing them out in his head and had no attention to spare for wondering why his father was covering his mouth.
[Oh, and Aunt Zhenzhu’s harem is all men. There aren’t any women. Ohhh, she does have a few close female confidantes, but Aunt Zhenzhu lets them help administer the government, so they don’t count as part of the harem.
That fully proves Aunt Zhenzhu is straight—well, maybe with just the tiniest bit of bisexuality.
Mm-hmm. Someone who can become a queen really can do anything. She would never be like these old fossils, disapproving of this and disapproving of that.
Father, you’re just way too jealous. Broaden your horizons!
Even if Aunt Zhenzhu once loved Mother, that was only because Mother is insanely charming. You managed to marry an unparalleled beauty with off-the-charts combat power like Mother. You should be secretly celebrating your good fortune!]
Ying Ding: …I actually can’t refute that.
Yu Huan: Brat, the more you talk, the more outrageous you get. Your Aunt Zhenzhu thought Mother was a male general back then, that’s why she… Forget it. Think whatever you want. Your father is still getting jealous over that ancient nonsense every single day. Mother has explained it countless times. I’m tired!!!
Emperor: Hah. So the two of you actually had such a story, and We knew nothing of it. No wonder Minister Ying is jealous. If Yelü Zhenzhu were a man, Minister Ying would probably want to kill him.
Court officials:
Hahahahahaha, Ying Ding, if the Northern Di ruler were a man, you would probably start wondering whether those children were even yours!
That heartless Ying Changle still likes the Northern Di ruler this much and doesn’t take his own father seriously at all. Your wife even drove you to sleep in the study… Does anyone in your family actually respect you?
Tsk, tsk, tsk. A dignified marquis, yet you’re this oppressed at home. No wonder you act like a mad dog in court every day and specialize in torturing your colleagues with cruel punishments. So you’re just taking out all the anger you suffer at home because you have nowhere else to vent it. How pitiful. Hahahaha, serves you right. Karma!
[Heavens, the more I think about it, the more mind-blowing it gets. I suddenly realized Aunt Zhenzhu never lets the men in her harem interfere in government, and she never locks talented women away in the harem either. She gives them power and lets them display their abilities to the fullest.
Right, right. If she let harem men take part in government, that man would definitely support his own son for the succession. Maybe he would even try to rebel and seize the throne. Men get the tiniest bit of power and immediately start causing trouble…
AAAAAAH, is this how emperors think? Heavens! Earth! Buddha!!! Enlightenment has struck me like a thunderbolt!!!
Aunt Zhenzhu is really good at choosing worthy officials and making use of talent regardless of convention. Northern Di actually has a female chancellor now.
That female chancellor is obviously super capable, but before this she could only work as a strategist behind the scenes and didn’t even have an official post. Sure enough, it really does take a queen coming to power before more outstanding talent can be discovered.
Some women are incredibly capable, and some men are absolute trash. People should rise based on ability!]
Court officials: Hmph. So what if the Northern Di ruler is capable? It is only a small state. Not worth mentioning.
Seeing everyone’s attention drawn away by Ying Changle’s thoughts, Feng Zhang feared the serious matter would be delayed. He hurriedly kowtowed again and shouted,
“I beg Your Majesty to punish Princess Qinghe!”
The court officials immediately all dropped to their knees, kowtowing again and again as they shouted in unison,
“We beg Your Majesty to punish Princess Qinghe!”
The Emperor was so furious his head spun, yet he truly could not find another excuse to shield her.
[Hehe, you’re all so persistent. There’s a good show to watch now. Go on, wrestle with the Emperor and see who wins.]
Emperor & court officials: …
Grand Princess Qinghe resolutely stepped forward, knelt directly before the Emperor, and said calmly,
“Your Majesty, this subject does not intend to excuse herself. Punish me however I deserve. I ask only that Your Majesty wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival before passing judgment.”
The officials were bewildered. Could something happen after the Mid-Autumn Festival that would allow Princess Qinghe to escape punishment?
Princess Qinghe wielded immense authority. There were naturally countless methods available to her, making her extremely difficult to guard against. And she still held military command. They absolutely could not delay any longer!
Seeing his sister like this only made the Emperor even more reluctant to punish her.
Before this, his imperial sister had always said to him: Imperial Brother, I was the one at fault first. I was disobedient and unfilial, rebelled against my superiors, and committed crimes deserving ten thousand deaths. Do not lose your judgment for my sake.
Yet the more she said such things, the less he could bring himself to act. His sister had already died for him once. He had sworn he would protect her for the rest of her life. If he could not even do that, what right did he have to call himself her elder brother?!
Afraid that delay would bring further complications, the civil and military officials became even more impassioned and shouted,
“Your Majesty is wise! Princess Qinghe has rebelled against her superiors, disgraced the late Emperor, violated morality and human relations, and brought disorder to the imperial house. Her crimes are heinous. She must not be indulged or granted further delay. We beg Your Majesty to punish her immediately!”
Grand Princess Qinghe clenched her hands tightly but could offer no rebuttal. She felt nothing but despair. Even with her imperial brother protecting her, that barrier of status and propriety could not ultimately be crossed.
With a heavy bang, the Emperor hurled the wine cup in his hand and roared,
“All of you, return to your seats! Today is no occasion for discussing court business. Do not let foreigners laugh at Us!”
The officials remained kneeling and did not move.
The Emperor decided to make Senior Grand Secretary Gu his first target. He said gravely,
“Grand Tutor Gu, We love the people as Our own children. You are the imperial tutor, yet you torment the servants in your residence in such a fashion… We can barely bring Ourselves to speak of it! Go draft a memorial and submit it to Us. We would very much like to see how you sentence yourself.”
[Hehe, now this is fun. I knew the Emperor couldn’t possibly be unaware. He should have dealt with this old geezer who acts refined but is actually a total pervert ages ago! Hahahaha, who understands the satisfaction of finally having everyone discover how disgusting the person you hate most really is!!!
But “beauty paper” and “beauty-spittoons” were already old tricks played by Yan Song, the chief grand secretary of the Ming dynasty. It really is hard to decide what crime to charge this old geezer with. The Emperor sure knows how to give him a difficult problem.]
Senior Grand Secretary Gu was already overcome with humiliation and rage. He did not dare offer a single word in his own defense. He hurriedly accepted the decree, thanked the Emperor for his grace, and left at a brisk pace.
The Emperor swept his gaze over the officials, then looked at Changle with a smile, his eyes overflowing with gratitude. He wished he could shower the child with rewards immediately.
Ying Changle had no idea why the Emperor was looking at him like that. He hurriedly avoided his gaze and pretended not to notice.
The Emperor asked in a deep voice, “My ministers, are you still not returning to your seats?”
This time no one dared be the first to stand out. They were all afraid that if Ying Changle became displeased, he might expose some secret of theirs next.
Only Feng Zhang continued righteously,
“Your Majesty, Grand Princess Qinghe has always acted tyrannically and held the law in contempt. Now she has committed such an appalling crime, yet Your Majesty still shields her. Does that not merely encourage her wolfish ambition?
“Since ancient times, when has a princess ever commanded a great army? When women seize power and hens crow at dawn, disaster and disorder begin!
“Princess Qinghe possesses overwhelming power and enjoys Your Majesty’s protection. That is precisely why she dares act with such lawless audacity and openly disgrace the late Emperor…
“Surely Your Majesty knows how the current ruler of Northern Di rose step by step to her present position?
“This subject boldly begs Your Majesty, for the sake of the realm and the state, to grant Grand Princess Qinghe death!”
[Hehe. How sinister. He’s even using the queen of Northern Di to imply that Grand Princess Qinghe also intends to usurp the throne.
But Princess Qinghe isn’t married and doesn’t have children. Why would she usurp the throne? Who would she even pass it down to?!
Princess Qinghe has loved the young Dowager Consort faithfully for decades. Even when they couldn’t see each other for a very long time, her feelings never changed at all!
You could honestly call her a pure-love warrior. Seriously, I’m starting to ship the two of them a little.]
Grand Princess Qinghe looked at Ying Changle with tears in her eyes, thinking that no amount of gratitude could ever be enough!
Court officials: …We actually can’t refute that.
Emperor: Ship what? Changle, good child, stop talking about useless things and hurry up and tell Us what other dirt these old fossils have!
Feng Zhang glared viciously at Ying Changle, killing intent blazing in his eyes.
[I almost don’t even want to say it. Supervising Censor Feng, who prides himself on being the most upright and incorruptible official of them all, actually concealed news of his mother’s death just so he could postpone returning home for mourning.
Mother Feng simply died at an inconvenient time—right during the last few days of Lord Feng’s promotion assessment at the Censorate. He deliberately waited until the assessment results were released before reporting her death and requesting mourning leave.
The old woman only wanted to see her son one last time before she died, and she never even got that.
Oh, so you’re allowed to have ideals and ambitions and disregard “minor details” for the sake of your career, but a princess isn’t allowed to have ideals and ambitions too?!
Grand Princess Qinghe has spent half her life on campaign. She doesn’t deserve military authority? Then why don’t you resign from office right this instant?]
Feng Zhang felt all the blood in his body surge backward and rush straight to his head. His mind contained only one thought: Impossible. I only concealed it for a few days. How can this little demon child see even that?
It had always been a knot in his heart that he could never untie. Now that it had been exposed before everyone, all the fight went out of him. Without even waiting for the Emperor to rebuke him, he respectfully performed three kneelings and nine kowtows, then withdrew.
Seeing that they had lost their leader, the other officials thanked the Emperor for his grace, returned to their seats, and no longer dared say anything.
Grand Princess Qinghe conveyed a message to Ying Ding and Yu Huan with her eyes: This princess will remember Changle’s kindness. This is not a convenient place to speak. I will come to your residence later to offer my thanks!
Ying Ding and Yu Huan could only smile awkwardly. They had no control over their youngest son’s thoughts and had never imagined things would develop this way.
The Emperor was delighted. He immediately found some arbitrary excuse to reward Changle with a great many rare treasures.
Ying Changle was confused at first, but he was a little money-grubber and did not care about the reason. He immediately began waving his hands and feet in delight.
Before long, the rulers of Northern Di and the Turks returned from their tour of the lake and took the seats of honor on the Emperor’s left and right respectively.
Banbur immediately declared his position.
“Heavenly Khan, Khan Yelü is entirely correct. Destroying a country together is the fastest way to establish friendship. Within five years, this king and Khan Yelü will certainly divide Xianbei between us. The territory Your Majesty desires will naturally be handed over in full.”
[Huh? Destroying a country together? What a niche way to start a friendship!
Xianbei: Excuse me??? You’re casually chatting and deciding whether I get to keep existing as a country? Don’t @ me, thanks!]
Emperor: Ale is babbling some bird language again. We cannot understand a word, but We like hearing it.
The court officials’ gazes toward the ruler of Northern Di instantly became exceptionally respectful.
Yelü Zhenzhu had already persuaded Banbur, so the Emperor immediately fulfilled his promise and summoned Ying Chengqi forward to dine with them.
Only princes and princesses were permitted to eat at the same table as the Emperor. This was no different from publicly acknowledging his identity.
Ying Chengqi merely rose and said respectfully, “Many thanks for Your Majesty’s favor, but this commoner’s lowly person is truly unworthy.”
Court officials: This child resembles both his mother and his father, and both of his parents just happen to be sovereigns worthy of being remembered through the ages. His Majesty’s wariness is not entirely unreasonable.
The Emperor could barely conceal his anger, but he forced himself to endure it.
[Scumbag father, if you dare torment Aqi even in front of Aunt Zhenzhu, I’m going to lose it!
Aunt Zhenzhu, you too! Are you really so busy that you can’t spare even a tiny bit of time to come see Aqi again? No wonder Aqi isn’t close to you.
Neither of you deserves to be a parent. I don’t care how good you are at being rulers. I don’t think you’re impressive at all! Not even a little!]
Emperor: …
Court officials: Hah. If a sovereign allowed himself to be trapped by private affection for his children, that would be when the nation truly approached ruin. It would be a great tragedy for all under heaven!
The Emperor stood and intended to approach his son, but the majesty of an emperor made him look as if he were going over to demand an accounting instead.
Ying Changle hurriedly wriggled down from his elder brother’s arms and blocked Ying Chengqi with his tiny body, glaring at the Emperor with fierce babyish indignation.
[Scumbag father, don’t come over here! You’re not allowed to bully Aqi again. I’m warning you, if you provoke me, you’ve kicked an iron plate. Jie-jie-jie, I’m a great villain!
