Chapter 292 - The Truth

Su Shaoge turned pale after hearing that. After a while, he suddenly got up and walked to the empress, kneeling down in front of her respectfully.

The empress was surprised. “Shaoge?”

“Aunt, this time we probably…” While speaking, Su Shaoge closed his eyes as he couldn’t bear the blow. Then he continued, “Perhaps we will be done.”

Empress Su was astonished. “What?”

“Gu Shao and Minister Qiu had an agreement of three days.” Su Shaoge bent over in front of his aunt’s knees and whispered, “Yesterday was the first day. The officials didn’t know what happened in the Palace of Xuanming, so Gu Shao wouldn’t give too many instructions to Jin Suke and the others but would tell them to observe mainly and report to him about what they saw and heard in the Palace of Xuanming and how you coped with them this day after they came out of the imperial palace. Then Gu Shao would tell them what to do next.”

It meant, “In the normal course of events, Jin Suke and the others should do something today, yet what time is it now? They will have to leave the imperial palace soon, but there is still nothing unusual. It only proves that Gu Shao didn’t tell them anything or he told them to muddle through the three days randomly.”

No matter whether Gu Shao gave no instruction to Jin Suke and his fellows or told them to muddle through, it meant that he had confidence in the crown prince taking the throne.

Otherwise, no matter how shrewd and patient he was, how would he stay out of it at the critical moment?

Empress Su just felt dizzy, but Su Shaoge had sharp eyes and agile hands and supported her. Then she asked in panic after a short break, “How can Gu Shao be so confident?”

Su Shaoge pursed his lips and didn’t make sounds. In fact, he didn’t need to reply, yet the empress knew it. Who could ensure that the crown prince would take the throne except Emperor Xianjia?

“When he is critically ill these days, I personally stayed with him at daytime and night. I wouldn’t leave until I had to discuss with Daiguo in person.” Empress Su leaned against her nephew’s arm and looked at the ceiling of the hall. She just thought that she had lost all interests in life, murmuring, “Every time the royal doctors checked His Majesty’s pulse, I was present. I thought that he is really dying! Who knows that…”

She raised her sleeve and covered her face, sobbing or crying with self-mockery. “I thought that I should say sorry to him. We have been a couple and lived together for dozens of years, but I have the plan to murder him in order to help Prince of Zhao take the throne. However, it’s me who fell in a trap and was harmed from the beginning.”

The empress said in a sad and shrill voice and could hardly conceal her resentment. She was really sad. Even though she had decided to murder the emperor if necessary these days after Grand Princess Daiguo persuaded her, she still had a guilty conscience to him all the time, yet she was told that everything was a trap set by the emperor from beginning to end, while she hesitated and couldn’t fall asleep at night, which was pointless, and perhaps the emperor’s spies might have observed her carefully and reported to him frankly when she didn’t know.

Empress Su’s feelings could be imagined.

She felt more humiliated than scared of failure as she was cheated and tested.

“So, Aunt, you can’t just feel sad now.” Su Shaoge didn’t have time to comfort her unhurriedly. He had to help her sit down and then knelt again. This posture could make him whisper to the empress without offending her. He added in a deep voice, “After all, Prince of Zhao is still so young, and he is your only son, so you have to consider for him. And Changxing. Aunt, with her temper, she will probably suffer a lot in the future if nobody protects her.”

Empress Su was reminded by her nephew. She wiped her face randomly and then sniffed, showing a sad smile. “What should we do now? Since His Majesty set this trap, perhaps he has known that you came to see me.”

“It doesn’t matter even if he knows.” Su Shaoge was calm. “If His Majesty wants to cope with our Su Family now, somebody should have come when I entered the palace. Since there was nobody, it’s obvious that His Majesty still doesn’t want to take actions for now. It must be that the current satiation can’t satisfy His Majesty.”

The empress heard that and sobbed again. “He said that he was ill and should rest quietly, letting the fight for the title of heir to the throne become fiercer since the beginning of the year, and half a year has passed. Isn’t it enough for him to have a good laugh at us? If he is not satisfied, will he wait till we can’t hold up but take actions according to Daiguo’s plan, so he can wipe us out then?”

“Aunt, calm down.” Seeing that, Su Shaoge had to gently comfort her for a while. After she became stable, he added, “Since everything is His Majesty’s plan, he must have known when you told somebody to go out of the imperial palace and summon me today, yet he still allowed me to come here without difficulty and see you in private. It can be seen that even if His Majesty wants to lure us out, he intentionally gives our family a chance of survival.”

Then he added, “Because of the issue in Wuhuan, His Majesty has forgiven Father once. Since he is still willing to show mercy this time, what does he consider except the love between you as a couple? Aunt, do you think so?”

Empress Su knew that her nephew’s words were farfetched. Perhaps Emperor Xianjia did not interfere so they could see each other smoothly, but why did the emperor confirm that Su Shaoge would suspect Gu Shao as soon as he came and then suspect the emperor’s serious ill? The truth must be that the emperor believed that he controlled the general situation and didn’t fear that the meeting of the empress and her nephew could cause some problems.

He was even happy if the aunt and nephew of the Su Family did more evil things arousing the wrath of God and the resentment of men after plotting together, so he could rake things up against them later.

However, since Su Shaoge said that, the empress calmed down. “You are right. It’s not the time to cry, while till now, even though we didn’t harm His Majesty directly, we have made a plan and even wanted an imperial concubine to…”

The empress thought that it was improper to tell her nephew that they would fabricate a charge against an imperial concubine of having an affair, so she paused for a moment and then didn’t plan to continue. She just stated, “It’s a matter of course if His Majesty doesn’t plan to continue pretending but exposes these things and wants to sentence me to death or even depose Changxing and Prince of Zhao as princess and prince, let alone the Su Family…”

“But the plan to murder His Majesty is mainly suggested by Grand Princess Daiguo!” Su Shaoge said meaningfully. “You just keep silent with difficultly after Grand Princess Daiguo tried hard to persuade you, right?”

The empress was stunned and then understood, with coldness flashing in her eyes.

She still loved Emperor Xianjia even now. Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel sad after hearing that she had been cheated. She didn’t hate her sister-in-law, Grand Princess Daiguo to the bone as Consort Cui did, yet she wouldn’t feel any mental pressure if she took Daiguo as a scapegoat at the crucial moment.

She didn’t know that in Grand Princess Daiguo’s mansion, the grand princess was fiddling with a beautifully carved piece of ivory cup, showing a faint but beautiful smile. “I don’t know if my brother has been laid up enough. If he doesn’t get up, his loved eldest son won’t stand it even though he can insist. Who told him to have sharp eyes and choose the first legitimate daughter of the Wei Family as the crown princess? I just think that the crown princess is shrewd and decisive, while I didn’t expect that she would harm her husband mercilessly without the slightest hesitation.”

It was her husband Ji Weiguan who sat across from her. He chuckled after hearing that. “The crown princess’ method of work is beyond expectation indeed. I have never expected that she is the first one who finds something wrong with Gu Shao.”

“So Cui’s son doesn’t qualify to be the heir of throne of Great Rui.” Grand Princess Daiguo threw the ivory cup back to the table and leaned forward against her husband’s shoulder, saying lazily, “Even his wife is more decisive and capable than him. If Great Rui is left to him, I don’t know how he will destroy the country in the future.”

Ji Weiguan kept his composure and let his wife lean against him. He picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, saying with a smile, “Isn’t it great? If he were as wise and brave as His Majesty, it would be difficult for us to select another prince as the heir to the throne.”

“Right!” Grand Princess Daiguo leaned her head and pondered for a moment. Then she straightened her back and smoothened her thick and beautiful hair, suddenly saying with a frown, “Lu Hexiao is disappointing, but His Majesty is always partial to him. Do you think that…under the situation, His Majesty will end the plan in advance because he is worried about Lu Hexiao? In that case, our former arrangements…”

Ji Weiguan pondered for a moment and then shook his head. “Probably not.”

Grand Princess Daiguo asked in surprise, “Why?”

“This time, His Majesty set a trap in person and even fooled the Empress Dowager and the empress. I don’t think he would bother to do so only to clear away obstacles for the crown prince.” Ji Weiguan put the tea bowl on the table and added gently, “After all, if I say something rebellious, His Majesty is never the kind of people who are stubborn and don’t know how to adapt things to circumstances, right?”

Of course, Emperor Xianjia was not inflexible. He gave the late emperor his firm and solemn promise that he would be kind to his brothers and respect his father’s concubines such as Noble Consort Shentu, but then he killed all his half-siblings except Prince of Yi before the late emperor’s coffin was carried out of the imperial palace. And he pretended critically ill now to lure the traitors out. Technically, neither of them matched his identity as an emperor, yet he just did that.

So if Emperor Xianjia only wanted to clear away obstacles for the crown prince to take the throne, he wouldn’t need to do so much. He just needed to kill Grand Princess Daiguo and her husband, the Su Family, Qiu Shuxia and the other people who took the lead and leave Huo Dan, Huang Jingting and the others alive who were in high positions but couldn’t cause serious disturbances with their power, methods and influence.

If they said that he had no reason, there was a saying, “If you want to condemn somebody, you can always find out a charge.”

Did Emperor Xianjia silently kill about forty princes and princesses and their families?

Each of them was accused of crimes which were too numerous to record, and the common people who watched aside and didn’t know the truth were in a mad rush to be the first to shout, “Great! They deserve it.”

A superior didn’t need to consider such a trifle because many subordinates would help him make it perfect.

Grand Princess Daiguo muttered, “Do you mean…”

“The crown prince has been taught by His Majesty’s personal example as well as verbal instruction for nearly twenty years.” Ji Weiguan crooked his fingers and gently knocked on the table, with his eyes darkening, saying meaningfully, “In all fairness, his methods of managing the state affairs are nice, but his skills of the emperor are much inferior. Unfortunately, His Majesty suffers from an obstinate disease and is afraid that something unexpected may happen at any time, so he can’t toughen the crown prince without meddling.”

He paused for a moment. “This time, His Majesty ignores anybody else in order to help the crown prince. It can be seen that he is really on the decline these years although he can get better after being critically ill.”

He sighed. “Probably this is His Majesty’s last time to save the critical situation for the crown prince.”

Ji Weiguan sighed with regret. “Unless His Majesty is really dying and needs the crown prince to enter the imperial palace to take the throne at once, he won’t ‘get better’ easily. He will surely let the crown prince experience the hardships and pain under the cover of glory of the lonely emperor since ancient times.”

So how would Emperor Xianjia end it in advance?

Grand Princess Daiguo heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. “His Majesty loves his eldest son so much, which moves me and makes me feel relieved.”