Fierce Consort

Chapter 97

He minded his own business while watching his mother empress pamper his younger brothers to the heavens. They even violated the rule of the vassal princes. When the brothers came of age and received ther vassal states, they still remained within the capital.

The previous emperor's health had never been good. Once Emperor Xi could assume some responsibility, he gradually handed all the court affairs to him while focusing on his health. He rarely asked about things. The empress grew more domineering. Whenever Emperor Xi raised any objections, the empress would use filial piety and brotherly affection to suppress him.

After the previous emperor passed away, Emperor Xi almost failed to ascend the throne. It was only with the help of the loyal Zhenguo Duke that he was able to assume his rightful place.

Of course, this matter wasn't finished yet. As long as the people involved weren't dead, it was still a disaster waiting to happen.

The empress became the lofty empress dowager, and used her position to frequently restrict Emperor Xi.

This sort of wear and tear would grind down any amount of feelings and filial piety. As someone raised to be the successor, how could Emperor Xi be an innocent person? Especially since his two brothers weren't young and innocent anymore, and with the backing of the empress dowager, they networked with officials and nobles. This often made Emperor Xi feel stifled.

New grudges piled onto the old. There were naturally arguments.

On her deathbed, the empress dowager had still scolded Emperor Xi for being vicious, saying the royal family truly didn't have any brotherly affection.
However, no one could clearly say who was in the right.

The chaos in court lasted for over half his reign. Only after the empress dowager passed away and the two vassal princes died unpleasant deaths did things calm down.

The Zhenguo Duke knew his majesty was reminded of his past and felt emotional!

"Your sincerity is admittedly good, but unfortunately people's hearts change. You may be sure at this moment your brother will definitely treat you as well as before. However, with the passing of time and the influence of external factors, many things can easily change. Nothing changes faster than a person's heart."

Emperor Xi's words were a little bleak. This sort of change made the audience tighten their hearts and hold their breaths.

Yan Yan didn't seem to feel the change in atmosphere. She frowned and muttered for a while before answering: "This one doesn't understand the things your majesty is talking about. But this one does know that passing the days requires gold and silver. If the day your majesty speaks of truly comes to pass, this one will at most take my belongings and move out to live by myself."

"Wouldn't you be upset because of this?"

Yan Yan pondered even longer this time. After a while, she finally raised her head and responded: "Since your majesty has said hearts may change, it clearly isn't something that can be prevented. He can change if he wants and I can remain unchanged. We can cross that bridge when we get to it. As long as he treats me as his sister, I will treat him as my brother. If he truly changes, then we'll just go our separate ways. All I seek is a clear conscience."

This simple question and answer, back and forth, would be viewed as comedic material that was easily forgotten if the two were ordinary people. But because one was Emperor Xi, people couldn't help but ponder deeply.

The words of higher ups have always been profound. A seemingly unremarkable phrase could contain a lot of implications. Those who could remain in politics all understood this. They all pondered Emperor Xi's words over and over, falling just short of breaking them down and combing them over finely.