Chapter 220: Family Background
On the journey back, Shen Miao thought about Empress Xian De's words and her heart could not calm down for a long time.
Consort Jing was at a stage that 'mother and child was safe' and Empress Xian De did not have any wrongs because of the matter, thus everything looked like it had ended satisfactory but Shen Miao felt that something was not quite right. Upon returning back to the residence of Prince Rui, the skies was almost about to brighten and thus it was too late to sleep, moreover Shen Miao did not have any mood to rest.
When Jing Zhe and Gu Yi saw it, they instructed the small kitchens to make some sweet soup for the both of them. When Shen Miao and Xie Jing Xing returned to the room, the doors were locked and they sat in front of the table before Shen Miao looked at Xie Jing Xing, "Consort Jing is pregnant. What will the Lu family do?"
It was reasonable to say that Consort Jing' child was very precious since Emperor Yong Le did not have other children and if she was carrying a son then if there was no accidents, the future position of the Monarch would logically go to the child in Consort Jing's womb. Logically it would be like this but from Empress Xian De's words, this was not so, which made the matter somewhat thought provoking. Could it be that Emperor Yong Le still had other children otherwise how could it be so? The Lu family current had no fear due to Consort Jing but was Emperor Yong Le's plans for the Lu family this shallow?
Shen Miao did not feel that it was possible.
When Xie Jing Xing heard those words, he said plainly, "Imperial Older Brother has taken action against the Lu family. There is no difference if one survive or not."
Those words meant that the child in Consort Jing's womb was one matter and the Lu family's ending was another. At least Consort Jing would temporarily save her life with the child but the Lu family would fall according to plan.
Shen Miao frowned, "I spoke to Her Ladyship the Empress and felt somewhat strange. One heard that Her Ladyship the Empress had a miscarriage and it was caused by Consort Jing. Not mentioning if it was intentional or not, no matter how magnanimous Her Ladyship the Empress is, how could she watch Consort Jing living safely and well for so many years?"
Xie Jing Xing was pouring a cup of tea for her and his actions paused when he heard those words.
Shen Miao stared at him, "Tell me honestly why the Emperor do not have any children till now? Was it deliberate or without any choice?"
No matter how she thought, she felt that it was just too strange for Emperor Yong Le not to have any children. Every Emperor, be it if he was a wise Monarch or incapable ruler, would want to have more children. The more children there is, the more checks and balances there would be and the Imperial court would be more stable. Even Fu Xiu Yi did not have a shortage of children. Previous Shen Miao felt that it was strange that Emperor Yong Le was so outstanding in court and the commoners lived and work in peace, so how would the court be unstable now? She then understood when she knew about the reason of descendants. Just because of one point, which was that Emperor Yong Le did not have any children, the court would be rather vocal. Speaking of which, Emperor Yong Le was considered very capable. If it was any other Emperor, if they did not have son, one feared that they would long be gone and demoted to an ordinary person, much less keeping the power balance for years.
Xie Jing Xing looked back at Shen Miao after a long time and his gaze was somewhat strange, "You really want to know?"
"Ever since you were brought back unconscious from the Imperial Hunt, I felt that some things would change but at that time I just arrived in Long Ye and did not know much of the situation in Great Liang and thus was unable help in anything. Thus other than going to Feng Tou Zhuang to look for that person, one was unable to help in anything." Shen Miao said, "I do not like being passive. If there is a day that you have to do something big, I would find that I am useless. But I do not have any knowledge so even if I have the heart to help, how could I even help?"
Xie Jing Xing looked at her for a while and he suddenly sighed. Half of the sigh was gratification and the other half was teasing as he stroked her head, "Not only our Jiao Jiao can scheme against others, she can also be considerate of others."
Shen Miao brushed his hands away, "You can't always let me be a rice worm that only knows how to eat."
"I dared not underestimate you." Xie Jing Xing smiled, "Since you want to know, I will not conceal it. You told me that you had a realistic dream and that dream was very tragic. Now what I will be telling you is not a dream but things that indeed happened."
"It would take at least half a year with fast horses to reach Ding capital from Long Ye. Did you always want to know how I became the son of the Marquis of Lin An? Even though one knew of one's identity for so many years, one did not return to Great Liang. It was not because I did not want to return but I could not return." The gaze in his eyes gradually became sharper.
Xie Jing Xing's real name was Xie Yuan and his styled name was Jing Xing, the meaning was from the phrase of 'behold a tall mountain that have an upright scenery (高山仰止，景行行止)'. That meant that the person who gave him the name had hope that he could be a noble and upright person. Not mentioning if the meaning of those words were achieved but the person who gave that name had deep love for him.
The person who gave him the name was his Imperial Father, Emperor Xiao Wu, Xie Yi Long but the one who gave his styled name was his Imperial Mother, Empress Jing Xian, Empress Xiao.
Originally Emperor Xiao Wu was the most outstanding Emperor of the dynasty of Great Liang. He had military power in his hands, calmed the four seas, was very handsome and heroic. If there was one thing not good, it was because he was the youngest son and the Imperial family of Great Liang would only pass the throne to the eldest and not the younger ones and this was the rules since the beginning. However Xie Yi Long was too outstanding and the more outstanding a person was, one would not even put such light matters in his eyes and it was difficult to press his ambition down. It was unfortunate that Xie Yi Long was the former and in addition, the Crown Prince at that time was inferior to him so Xie Jing Xing embarked on the route to fight for the heir apparent at the end.
The route to fight for the heir apparent was very smooth for Xie Yi Long as he had the innate advantage. He was the son of the Empress and had many meritorious military accomplishments thus Xie Yi Long devised a plan to frame his blooded Eldest Brother, the Crown Prince and angered his Imperial Mother to death, controlled his Father and successfully ascend to the Imperial throne and became Emperor Xiao Wu.
In the journey of the fight for the heir apparent, one was bound to give up some things, like family relations and like love. At that time Xie Yi Long felt that all these were not important as he was an ambitious person so he married the daughter of the Prime Minister Xiao's family. The Xiao family was the head of the civil officials and by marrying the Xiao family's daughter, he could win the majority of Great Liang's civil officials' aristocratic families. Moreover the daughter of the Xiao family was an exceptionally beauty and was intelligent and magnanimous. There was no disadvantage of having an intelligent beauty so this marriage was extremely advantageous.
After ascending to the Imperial throne, Emperor Xiao Wu and Empress Jing Xian had proper respect and concern for one another and Emperor Xiao Wu was a wise Monarch and Empress Jing Xian was famously virtuous under Heavens and it looked ideal. Not long later Empress Jing Xian gave birth to Xie Chi and he became the Crown Prince. Originally Great Liang's land had gradually expanded and the strength of the nation had gradually became the strongest among the three country so everything looked blissful.
But the most difficult thing to retain in this world was remain unchanged.
Empress Xiao was married to Emperor Yong Le when there was chaos and the husband and wife complemented each other in literary and military knowledge. Xie Yi Long had ambitions and Empress Xiao was composed. Xie Yi Long had high level of means and methods and Empress Xiao was resourceful and intelligent.
However when the enemies outside gradually disappeared, the spear would be aimed at the people around.
Emperor Xiao Wu was one with ambitions. At the beginning he used many means and ways to gain the throne and his ambitions came from his desire. He gradually became suspicious that the Xiao family had the intentions to be the relatives that weld power. The more Empress Xiao was virtuous and intelligent, the more suspicions Emperor Xiao Wu had. In order to balance off the power of the Xiao family, Emperor Xiao Wu opened up the Inner Palace. There were a number of aristocratic families in the Xiao family and he promoted them and let the Xiao family fight with them and in the Inner Palace, he let Empress Xiao fight with those women from the aristocratic families.
Empress Xiao was intelligent and proper. After marriage, she had always been adhering the family teachings of treating one's husband as Heavens and in addition Xie Yi Long was an outstanding talent among people, they had gotten along for many years. However all those mess of women started to give birth to Princes and rack one's brains to even threaten Xie Chi's position of the Crown Prince and finally Empress Xiao could no longer sit back and ignore it.
Every female, even the weakest of all female, would all become a beast in order to protect one's child, moreover Empress Xiao was not a weak white rabbit. In Xiao family, an aristocratic family, for her to become the most outstanding Young Lady, naturally she had brains, thus she started to counterattack strongly.
To be able to walk with Emperor Xiao Wu over from the chaotic days, Empress Xiao's ability naturally could not be underestimated. How could those rich, beautiful and delicate females could compete? It was just inviting humiliation to oneself. Xie Chi was safe and sound and Empress Xiao was repeatedly victorious. She had shown her strength and her brains were extremely good that it shocked those female and no one dared to act rashly.
However the intelligent Empress Xiao would also make a mistake. The more outstanding she was, the more upset Emperor Xiao Wu was.
Emperor Xiao Wu became more guarded against her and even began to find her mistakes. At the beginning it was only placing some opponents for Empress Xiao in the Palace then he would watch on coldly at their battles. At the end, it was consciously be bias with the other party and whatever Empress Xiao did was wrong. He also started to directly suppress the Xiao family without hesitation.
Empress Xiao felt very upset but she had thought that Emperor Xiao Wu was her husband and one would be confused at some point in one's life. She only need to protect her position and let Xie Chi grow up safe and sound and watch as Xie Chi smoothly succeeded in ruling the country.
Who knew that those females would have ideas on Xie Chi?
At that period of time, Emperor Xiao Wu suddenly warmed up to Empress Xiao and Empress Xiao did not why he behaved as such. After not long, Prime Minister Xiao suddenly took the initiative to resign from his post.
Xie Yi Long was one who had good means and methods. Even though the Xiao family was vicious, they could not compete with Xie Yi Long. It took a few hundred years for the Xiao family to have a Empress from their family, for this Empress, the Xiao family would not hesitate to sacrifice themselves.
When Empress Xiao knew of the matter, it was already too late. She then know that all the warm nights were only an act of XIe Yi Long's schemes and felt nauseating but she did not think that she would be pregnant.
This flesh in her womb was different from Xie Chi as it came to this world by Xie Yi Long's deliberate and hypocritical schemes. When Empress Xiao was pregnant, she would often think that if it was a son, he must not be like his Father. He could have ambitions and create crafty plots and machinations but he could not make use of another's sincere heart. That was the most despicable behavior and was also the most shameful thing.
After getting pregnant, there were many areas that became inconvenient for Empress Xiao but she did not expect someone to take advantage of her current situation and take action upon Xie Chi.
Xie Chi was drugged.
It was a very strong and sudden poison and if it was not because of the old relations between the Prime Minister Xiao and the head of the Gao family that the head of the Gao family personally take charge, one feared that Xie Chi could not survive at that time. Even though he had survived, the master of the Gao family had diagnosed that the poison had entered the organs and one was only prolonging the time. Xie Chi could not live pass thirty five and this poison would also affect his descendants. From that time onwards if he had any children, it was inevitable that they would have congenital deficiency or they would also have the posion in their body. In any sense, it was all not a good thing.
The master of the Gao family was a rare God-like doctor under Heavens and for him to say such things, Xie Chi's doomed fate was almost fixed. The other party was targeting Xie Chi's life, even if they could not have his life, they wanted to ruin his entire life.
Empress Xiao had never expected that she would end up in such a situation as she was the most outstanding Di daughter in the Xiao family, was a revere Empress and virtual reputation under Heavens. In order to protect her, her family clan had voluntarily retired from Great Liang's officialdom and two of her children, one could not complete one's life under such sinister schemes and the other was the fruit that grew under the poisonous scheme.
The one who did the poisoning was investigated but it was the favoured consort that Emperor Xiao Wu just raised. Empress Xiao brought that favoured consort tied up to the Imperial Gardens and sliced her flesh, piece by piece and she personally watched as she took her last breath. All the palace maids and eunuchs in the Imperial Gardens were trembling as they watched and they almost fainted. However Empress Xiao felt that there was no meaning to it.
Emperor Xiao Wu naturally scolded and blamed the favoured consort and he personally judged the crimes of the favoured consort and comforted Empress Xiao. As Empress Xiao heard his gentle words, her heart was as cold as ice and her mind was filled with caution and vigilance.
Did Emperor Xiao Wu know of this matter or not? Empress Xiao felt that after being married to Emperor Xiao Wu for so many years, she should examine him carefully again. Even if Emperor Xiao Wu did not know about it, this favoured consort was raised up to go against Empress Xiao. One did not kill Bo Ren but Bo Ren died because of one. (Bo Ren is a character in Three Kingdoms and this is a phrase usually used to describe regret, remorse and sadness that one has cause another's death)
At one side, defences started building up in Empress Xiao's heart but at the other side, she pretended to be wan due to the misfortune that befell on her son.
The untreatable poison in Xie Chi's body was not circulated out but who would know if others would know about it in the future? However the most worrying thing for Empress Xiao was that it was almost time to give birth to the child in her womb. Emperor Xiao Wu was suspicious of the Xie family's treatment of Xie Chi and if the child in her womb was a son, if anything happen to Xie Chi, the child could replace Xie Chi's position and sit on the Crown Prince's position. One do not know if he would be the next Xie Chi? If it was a daughter, Empress Xiao was not willing to let him stay in the Palace and be manipulated daily and unable to control one's destiny.
The most important thing was that Empress Xiao would be starting to fight back. After giving birth to this child, she wanted to return individually all the suffering the Xiao family, Xie Chi and her experienced. With a newly born, there would many inconvenient things and maybe he would be controlled by others, so she had to find a way out.
'Substituting a raccoon for the Crown Prince' was generally speaking that the Crown Prince that was replaced would be far away from everything that he should have and that raccoon would be able gain everything that did not belong to one.
Empress Xiao gave the newly born child to her confidant and said, "Behold a tall mountain that have an upright scenery (高山仰止，景行行止). His styled name will be Jing Xing (景行). If one day he grows up to be a man of indomitable spirits, he can scheme and plot but he can never use another's sincere heart." She took a hard look at her child for the last time and said, "Send him away."
In two months that a number of horses died in exhaustion, that half a year journey from Long Ye to Ding capital, because Xie Yuan's first contact to this world and what welcome him was that he had to flee. In those days of escaping, his eyes were widen and he was babbling as he learned to fight with this world.
In the residence of the Marquis of Lin An in Ding capital, Princess Yu Qing was about to give birth.
Empress Xiao's confidant originally followed Empress Xiao's order and wanted to send Xie Yuan to an ordinary wealthy family to be away from the Imperial court disputes. However that day when the confidant was investigating in the streets, one had accidentally learned that Princess Yu Qing was also about to give birth and the child's name was already set as Jing Xing.
The confidant had thought that it was truly a coincidence.
That was a night that filled with wind and rain. There was a heavy rain that fell in Ding capital and the rainwater diluted the blood that was in the courtyard, dimmed the female painful screams and also covered up the faint baby's cries.
That child with the name of Xie Jing Xing was one that was very fated with Xie Yuan as he die before he was born. The confidant hesitated for a moment when holding the baby but he had made a decision that he was happy for life.
He turned Xie Yuan to Xie Jing Xing and from then onwards his name was Jing Xing and there would no longer be any styled name. He was the little heir of the residence of the Marquis of Lin An that held the expectations of Empress Xiao and the hope of Princess Yu Qing to live in this world well.
Not long after, the wealthy household that was initially chosen was completely eliminated in a night. No one knew why but those who knew were clear that Emperor Xiao Wu had discovered some clues and rush over to eliminate. One did not know it was fortunate or a bane but because of the confidant's momentary slip, Xie Jing Xing had avoided this struggle between life and death.
It seemed to be a fated destiny.
There were nonstop filthy things in the residence of the Marquis of Lin An. Madam Fang and her two sons kept creating issues and Xie Jing Xing's only support was Xie Ding's favour. However Xie Ding's favour was not often a good thing as Xie Ding would often not be in the residence as he would be in battle most of the year. It was very difficult for XIe Jing Xing, a young child, to survive at the mouth of beasts. If Empress Xiao's confidant did not help secretly, one feared that he would long become soil in the ground and had a reunion with the genuine heir of the residence of the Marquis of Lin An. Not only that, the Emperor of Ming Qi was also suppressing the Xie family secretly.
In such an environment, Xie Jing Xing gradually grew up. He was thankful that the confidant placed him in such a cruel environment so that he would not be too uncomfortable when facing his future rugged route. He trifled without respect and casually and rode his horse undisciplined all around Ding capital streets and alleys. He was unbearable and made one have headaches but just like Empress Xiao's expectation, he grew up to be a man with indomitable spirits. He did not use another's sincere heart. Even though he had an casual and ridicule appearance, he respected every sincere heart, like Princess Rong Xin, like Su Ming Feng, like the Marquis of Lin An and like Shen Miao. He had lived very well in Ming Qi's Ding capital and he only relied on himself, thus he had the ability to act against the enemy in the dark.
How about Empress Xiao?
In those years, Empress Xiao had been missing her youngest son and was saddened by her eldest son's experience that she decided to fight back.
Weren't you afraid that this Empire would end up in the hands of the Xiao family? Weren't you most concern about this? Then I will snatch it from your hands and stomp on it under one's feet. At that time would you feel a little regret for what you had done today?
Empress Xiao was a daughter from the Xiao family and her abilities and stratagems did not lose to a male. Because of the anger she became even more spirited, whereas Emperor Xiao Wu started to get old. His state of mind and attention were are dispersed by all the concubines in the Inner Palace and all his ambitions had gradually faded away after he was free of worries.
Life sprang from sorrow and calamity and death came with ease and pleasure.
When Emperor Xiao Wu passed away, there was only Empress Xiao accompanying him. Empress Xiao said, "May Your Majesty rest assure. As we are husband and wife, ChenQie will not let you feel too lonely during the journey to the underworld. All the females and concubines that you have favoured before in this Palace, ChenQie will let them accompany you during the journey and all of your children, with the exception of the Crown Prince, ChenQie would not miss out on any one of them."
Emperor Xiao Wu's eyes widen.
"And there is still more." Empress Xiao seemed to have thought of something and leaned over to speak by his ears, "Our youngest son is living well. Those people that Your Majesty sent to Ming Qi had killed the wrong people. After a few more years when this government is settled down, ChenQie will bring him back to be recognised by the forefathers since the Great Liang Empire needs someone to continue governing. ChenQie's heart is tender so the brothers still bear the surname of Xie. If ChenQie's heart is as hard as Your Majesty, the dynasty name of the empire of Great Liang would have been changed."
"Your Majesty, walk the journey down well. ChenQie will hold on this Empire first." Empress Xiao stood in front of the bed smiling very softly.
Emperor Xiao Wu could not close his eyes at the hour of his death.
Empress Jing Xian became Empress Dowager Jing Xian.
Xie Chi became Emperor Yong Le.
Xie Jing Xing was still in Ming Qi's Ding capital and was grouping along the dark road. He ignorantly came to knowledge of his own family background but was told that his birth Father was seeking to kill him and his birth Mother had trapped his birth Father to death. Currently the wind direction was at its most critical, thus one could not take unnecessary actions.
The events of the world all arose from many causes and just like what Empress Jing Xian said, she really clean up the Inner Palace of Great Liang. All those mothers and sons that once threw their weight around and targeted them became Emperor Xiao Wu's companions. She then said to Xie Chi, who had become Emperor Yong Le, "AiJia is cold and cannot manage matters outside but AiJia can still give you a clean Inner Palace. From now onwards there are no vile characters in the Inner Palace. You only need to promise AiJia one thing, that is to keep this empire in the palm of your hands and never let it collapse."
The Lu family and Ye family were Emperor Xiao Wu's confidants and were extremely cunning. As the saying went, a centipede dies but never falls down. Because of the complicated forces, they were not easily uprooted thus Emperor Yong Le had been secretly scheming to deal with these two families.
Empress Dowager Jing Xian passed on two years later. Her head suddenly fell to the desk when she was reading the Lu family's memorandum and did not wake up anymore. The Gao family said that it was due being physically and mentally exhausted that she had exhausted all her energy. However the day before she even spoke to Emperor Yong Le with a glistening expression if they should change to a new tactic for the year's grand ceremony and perhaps they could think of a way to let Xie Jing Xing take a trip back to Great Liang.
It was difficult to predict matters of the world. In her entire lifetime, she was unable to have the opportunity to reunite with Xie Yuan again.
On that day, Heavens had separated the people.
Chapter 221: Exploratory Discussions
The life of Empress Jing Xian was truly legendary. From a pampered Young Lady to an Empress, experiencing the departing hearts between husband and wife, being framed and separation from one's child. At the end she even gave a tooth for a tooth and an eye for and eye, and cleaned up the entire Inner Palace of Great Liang so thoroughly, which made one delighted. She was the kind of person that would be unwilling to fall in the face of adversity and if there were any regrets, it would be the first that Xie Chi's poison could not be cured and the second, she was unable to have a reunion with Xie Yuan.
Both brothers, Xie Chi and Xie Yuan were also more like Empress Xiao. Empress Xiao was originally a great beauty that everyone sought for and it was not over to say that she was absolutely beautiful. Not only did Xie Chi and Xie Yuan inherited Empress Xiao's beauty, they also inherited her means and methods. As Xi Jing was in the Imperial family, there were still some shadow of Emperor Xiao Wu, like when engaging with politics and balancing the powers at both ends, he could not help but relied the power of marriage. However Xie Yuan was different. He was far away in Ming Qi and was on opposing side with the Imperial family of Ming Qi. There were no traces of Xie Yi Long's shadow and he did accomplish the expectations that Empress Xiao had of him. Even though he was not considered a good person, he was definitely not a despicable person.
Shen Miao had not expected that Xie Jing Xing's life experiences would have so much twists and bizarre turns and she could not help but admire Empress Xiao Xian. Empress Xiao Xian resembled her previous life but at the end became this Empire's winner. However Shen Miao was unable to do it like Empress Xiao, to have the determination to cut one's loss quickly and able to withstand the pain of separation of one's flesh and blood.
Seeing her complicated expression, Xie Jing Xing instead felt funny, "There is no need to pity me. I have never seen her before and naturally do not have any attachment to her."
She was a young man that grew up alone in storms, with a birth Father chasing to kill and had never seen one's birth Mother before. Instead he had an even more open mind to things and many things would just amount to a smile from his perspective.
However it was because one did not have any expectation of others thus one did not care about another's feelings.
Shen Miao was silent for a moment before speaking, "I will accompany you to walk to the end."
Xie Jing Xing's eyes slightly moved but he continued to smiled and teased, "Since you sympathise with me, why not compensate it to me?"
His devilish smile swept the sentimental atmosphere away. Shen Miao glared at him and suddenly thought about something and said, "But in this case, His Majesty's illness..." She did not continue speaking.
Since the Gao family had asserted that Xie Chi could not live past thirty five, then how long... Could Emperor Yong Le live?
"Imperial Older Brother has already passed his thirty sixth birthday this year." Xie Jing Xing said, "It can been seen that sometimes assertions are not accurate. However," His eyes got cold, "Imperial Older Brother's health is getting worst."
"Does the Lu family and Ye family know of this matter?" Shen Miao asked.
"One heard that after Emperor Xiao We passed on, my Imperial Mother had already wiped out everyone who knew of the matter in the Palace. Currently the people who knew of Imperial Older Brother's illness, other than the head of the Gao family, you, me and Imperial Sao, there should not be anyone else living."
Shen Miao's heart jumped as she thought about Empress Jing Xian's swift and forceful methods that helped to resolved many future worries.
"Then did Her Ladyship the Empress knew of the Emperor's illness before married she married him? Or was it after marrying the Emperor..." Shen Miao asked.
Xie Jing Xing looked at her with a smile but not a smile, "What do you want to ask?"
Shen Miao thought that if Empress Xian De knew that Emperor Yong Le would not live past thirty five, would she marry to Emperor Yong Le? After all it was not an easy task to be widowed at such a young age. If she knew of it after marriage, then wouldn't be deceiving her entire lifetime?
"If it was you, how would you choose?" Xie Jing Xing asked.
Shen Miao said, "When I marred to you, I have not like you to the stated that I am willing to be widowed." After saying those words she had a look of annoyance, thinking if this was considered cursing Xie Jing Xing or not.
However Xie Jing Xing was very satisfied hearing those words and pulled her over before placing Shen Miao's head in his embrace and said in all smiles, "Oh? Does it mean that now you like me to a state that you are willing to be widowed?" Not waiting for Shen Miao to reply, he thoughtfully said, "As such when you married to me you actually liked me."
"Who liked you?" Shen Miao was suffocated by him pressing her into his embrace and spoke in anger. However she heard Xie Jing Xing's leisurely voice, "Just say that you like me. I am one who has tender and protective feelings for the fairer gender and would not bear to let you be widowed so young."
Shen Miao did not get angry and instead laughed and retorted, "Being widowed? Rest assured. Currently there are not many females alive that would stay widowed obediently. There are lots of rumours between women and places of pleasure can be found everywhere in Long Ye." She no longer carried herself like the past in front of Xie Jing Xing and would occasionally make Xie Jing Xing frustrated to dead.
Sure enough, Xie Jing Xing paused upon hearing those words and stared at her carefully before gently speaking, "Want to look for places of pleasure?" His tone was warm but Shen Miao felt that he back of her neck was inexplicable chilly. Not waiting for her to speak, Xie Jing Xing suddenly stood up and carried her before striding towards the bed, scaring Shen Miao so much that she shrieked but Xie Jing Xing still said, "You reminded me to work hard so this Husband would naturally not dare to be lazy."
Tie Yi, who was guarding outside, was unexpected caught off-guard by this couple's action that his old face became red. He could not leave or stay and it was extremely funny to see his tanned face become red.
After the couple gasp for breath and fussed around, they finally stopped. Shen Miao lay on Xie Jing Xing's arms and asked him, "You have not answered my question previously. Does Her Ladyship the Empress know of the matter or not?"
"Imperial Sao is such an intelligent female, if she was deceived and married in, the matter would be big." Xie Jing Xing sighed, "At the beginning when Imperial Mother was selecting a wife, she had once called Imperial Sao into the palace to talk. One need not need to think. Imperial Mother hated people who used others sincere hearts in her entire life. Even it was to balance the political forces, she would still be conscientious to the other party."
Shen Miao said, "To marry even upon knowledge, Her Ladyship the Empress sincerely like the Emperor."
Xie Jing Jing did not speak.
Empress Xian De's maiden family was a family of literature and history. When talking about real power, it was much lacking when comparing to other aristocratic families but at the end Empress Dowager Jing Xian chose Empress Xian De for Emperor Yong Le because Empress Xian De's maiden family, the residence of Zhang Historian, was absolutely loyal. Moreover Empress Xian De was like her title, gentle, honest, sincere, intelligent and magnanimous. Empress Dowager Jing Xian and Emperor Xiao Wu were different. Emperor Yong Le could promote his other consort to balance the political powers but there was only one wife and this was the partner that one would be spending one's life with. One's character was important as she should be able to share the fortune and misfortune with the other and was considered a daughter of a noble house and able to withstand storms and resist the splendor.
Empress Xian De's family was loyal and one would not know if Empress Xian De truly had feelings for Emperor Yong Le. After all, it was a luxury to talk about sincere feelings in an Imperial family. However Empress Xian De had always been calm even knowing that Emperor Yong Le was unable to live past thirty five.
Shen Miao said, "If it is just for power, she should plan for herself."
XIe Jing Xing smiled, "Imperial Sao is very smart but not greedy."
It would be the best if one was not greedy. Many roots of tragedies could not escape from the word greed. Greed for power, greet for wealth or greed for feelings.
Shen Miao thought for a moment and said, "Now that Consort Jing is pregnant, how do you all plan to deal with the Lu family?"
Xie Jing Xing was playing with Shen Miao's long hair and said carelessly, "What does Lu Jing's pregnancy got to do with us? Water that can float a boat can also swallow it. The Lu family thought that by using the Dragon's seed, they could rest without worries but they have thought incorrectly. Some opponents would definitely turn around when a Monarch has a Dragon seed and how many in Lu family army would bend with the wind? They can be biased towards the Lu family but could also be biased towards the Imperial family."
Shen Miao looked at him "It could not be just that right?"
Xie Jing Xing raised his brows, "What do you think?"
"After preparing for this long, it is obvious that Consort Jing's pregnancy is an accident and you did not expect this at all." Shen Miao said, "If Consort Jing is not pregnant, how do you plan to deal with the Lu family?"
"Easy." Xie Jing Xing said, "Imperial Older Brother had been scheming against the Lu and Ye family since enthronement and had been searching for evidence on the Lu family using the army privately. Now most of the evidence are collected and it is time for it to be brought out to the open. At that time, all the mouths under Heavens would be sealed and that is the first thing. The second thing is." Xie Jing Xing said, "Even though the Lu family has large military power in Great Liang, it is not like there are no other Generals. Those Generals have mostly become Imperial Older Brother's people and there is still the Mo Yun Army that is cumulating power. Now matters have become much easier. Once the evidence are brought up to light, either the Lu family confess but Lu Zheng Yi had been arrogant for an entire lifetime and would definitely not admit to the crimes and instead turn against the Imperial family. Then one can round up the gang and eliminate in one stroke."
When Shen Miao heard him speak, she thought that Xie Jing Xing and Emperor Yong Le were indeed brothers as they really deal with people to a state that there was no way to turn it around. It was very simple and crude but very effective. Was this perhaps inheriting some characteristics of Empress Xiao?
She said, "If this is the case, why is there the need to prepare for so many years? It can be completed at the beginning." By resolving this early on, it would save a lot of time.
Xie Jing Xing leaned towards her years, "Little girl, you have to know that we the Xie family's men do not like wading in mud and water and also do not like evenly matched adversaries. If one were to take action, one will do it to the level that everything is uprooted. The Lu family's roots are too deep and it if was done earlier, it would be harder to clean up. Now that the time is ripe, isn't it better to clean everything all up?"
Shen Miao frowned and she heard Xie Jing Xing speaking again, "I know that you like to gamble. At the beginning when you have little powers, you dared to scheme against Prince Yu but it was too dangerous. The damage can be too great and I do not like it." He said, "Sacrificing too much is also a defeat."
Shen Miao had to admit that Xie Jing Xing's words made sense. At the beginning, she dared to go against Prince Yu and Fu Xiu Yi because she was fighting alone. By using a stone to hit jade, the jade would always be more injured but afterwards when the Shen family got implicated, she have too much considerations and could not be as bold as before.
Moreover this was even so with Xie Jing Xing. If it was an evenly matched opponent, the more it was dragged on, the one suffering would be the commoner of Great Liang. If one had enough strength like now and, it would be easier to clean everything up and one could also minimise the amount of sacrifices.
"But the Lu family is like this, how about the Ye family?" Shen Miao still had doubts and was hesitating to talk about it but finally spoke.
"Previously Imperial Older Brother planned to pull the Ye family since the Ye family had no descendent and just a crippled Young Master that could not make any waves." Xie Jing Xing said, "But since you have told me your dream, Ye Mei and sibling are enemies. How could one draw enemies over? This is self-destruction." He then said, "Rest assure, I will avenge for you."
Shen Miao was silent for a long time before speaking softly, "Thanks." For another party to change a plan that was started way early was not something that could be said that easily. Not mentioning how troublesome it is to re-plan everything that was related to it, when one scheme, the most fearful thing was variables but Xie Jing Xing was willing to take care of all possible outcomes in the future.
How fortunate was one to encounter such a person.
Xie Jing Xing saw that her expression was different so he lifted her chin and looked carefully, "Oh?" He then continued, "So moved to such a state? Why not repay me with yourself?"
Shen Miao pushed him and scolded, "What nonsense are you spouting. How do you plan to deal with the Ye family?"
Xie Jing Xing thought for a moment, "This is not difficult. Since the Ye family is not our Imperial family's people, then naturally they are with the Lu family. Once one is able to find evidence of the two families' private exchanges, the Ye family would fall into misfortune if anything happens to the Lu family. Aren't you usually smart? How could you not even know how to frame now?"
Shen Miao looked at him stunned. Xie Jing Xing could actually speak of framing others a serious crime in such an upright and frank way. Those who did not know would think that he was doing something that was aspiring big matter. Moreover it was not such a simple matter to frame a Prime Minister of a country.
"The Ye family..."
"It is actually better to deal with the Ye family than the Lu family. The Ye family have nothing more than a complicated power dynamics in the circle of the civil officials but once something happens to the Lu family and the Ye family gets implicated, those civil officials would make clean up their relationship with the Ye family since they are not fools. For so many years, the two confidants that Emperor Xiao Wu left behind had lost much strength and glory than before."
Shen Miao thought about it and said, "It is not that their strength has been worn out but your strength has grown to a point that it is no longer restrained by them."
The cubs had finally grown up to be the king of beasts thus all those clowns that were jumping around in the mountains and forest should now be individually cleaned up.
Xie Jing Xing looked at her and teased, "You respect me so much?"
Shen Miao said expressionless, "Respect those that can be respected."
"Since Furen is so supportive then one has to serve Furen well." Xie Jing Xing said solemnly before flipping over and pressing Shen Miao under him.
Shen Miao, "..."
*****
In the Ye residence.
Ye Mei and Ye Ke were chatting in the room.
Ye Mao Cai was a self-proclaimed scholar, thus the furnishing of the room was naturally elegant. In every turn, there would be paintings, books and orchids around but upon careful inspection, all the books and painting were famous masterpieces and the orchids were all of highest grades. Even the paperweight on the table was also valuable. It could be seen that the wealth of the Ye family was not false. It was true that they were scholars but it would not be true that all scholars were poor.
There were delicate snacks on the table.
Ye Mei was wearing a embroidered lotus robes that had an inner crystal yellow top. Be it the material or the workmanship of the clothes, they were both of top-notched. She had been born with an outstanding looks so when she wore as such, she looked more noble that those noble ladies in the Palace. With a natural romantic bearing, she was very charming and seductive.
Ye Ke sat across from her. His clothes were also as simple as before but there was another layer of fabric, it was obvious that the Ye family treated the siblings quite well.
"Older Sister, what did you mean with those words?" Ye Ke asked with a frown.
Ye Mei picked the teacup up from the table and took a sip before speaking faintly, "Previously Ye Furen was searching for females and insisted that I was her daughter. This entire thing was confusing and messy that one did not know if it was real or not. However it is a good place for us to go. After Father and Mother died, one is no longer able to look after the store and being a Young Lady of an official family is much better than being a daughter of a merchant. It is also the same for you. With Prime Minister Ye as a Father, your official career would be much smoother."
Ye Ke smiled bitterly, "I naturally know of this truth but doesn't Ye Mao Cai not believe our identities?"
In the past, Ye Mei and Ye Ke would not believe that there were free things that fell from the skies but after person from Ye family came to search for relatives came, both siblings could only believe that there were such good things in the world. One heard that a few decades ago, Ye Furen was harmed by veiled characters and her daughter was stranded outside. Finally when searching for relatives, they had found Ye Mei. As for whether it was true or not, from Ye Mei's perspective, this was definitely not real.
Because Ye Ke and her were siblings that were born together.
However people would always be prejudiced, for example that Ye Furen, who looked very normal, was insistent that Ye Mei was her daughter and no matter how others persuaded her, she did not listen and insisted on bringing Ye Ke to the Ye residence due to Ye Mei's relation.
Ye Mei and Younger Brother were vigilant and had high defenses but afterwards Ye Mao Cai came to see them. Compared to Ye Furen, Ye Mao Cai was much more sober and spoke frankly that Ye Mei and Younger Brother was not Ye Furen's children. However because of Ye Furen's insistence, Ye Mao Cai did not want to obstruct and because of Ye Furen's health, he was willing to conceal this lie and give both of them the identity of the Ye family's children.
Ye Furen was an exceptionally astute person so she would not jump into the fire easily without knowing the pros and cons about the matter. She thought of ways to enquire about the Ye family's situation and learned about the current delicate position of the Ye family and Imperial family. In addition, the Ye family had a unhealthy Young Master and was considered to have no qualified successors to carry on one's undertaking. Thus Ye Mao Cai needed a pair of 'siblings' to block the mouths of the world.
Mutually benefiting from each other and with each taking what one needed plus a handicap person would not be able to create any storm, won't the wealth of this Ye residence end up in Ye Ke's hands? Moreover with the name of the Ye family, it would be a smooth matter for Ye Mei to marry into noble families without a care for jaded food and brocade clothes. Even if Ye Mao Cai had other ideas, both siblings were not fools and could to think of ways to get what they wanted.
Thus Ye Mei and Younger Brother entered the Ye residence and became the Young Lady and Young Master of the Ye family. Ye Furen trusted them and Ye Mao Cai guarded against them but this was no different for Ye Mei and Younger Brother. The Ye family was just a springboard and a backing that could help them move faster in the future.
Ye Mei said, "It is not important if one trust the identities or not. You and I are from a merchant family so just treat him as a businessman. It is just that this business looked like a loss. I had not thought that it would become like this."
"Like this?" Ye Ke did not understand, "Older Sister, do speak clearer."
Ye Mei said, "Previously I had thought that the Ye family was strong in Long Ye and one did not need to worry about anything. Even though there is a delicate relationship with the Imperial family, one could still balance it off. However in recent days, one felt that something is off. The Ye family is not as good as I have thought and seemed to be in a precarious position. One step forward would be living with a peace of mind but if the step was taken wrongly, it would be an abyss that one would suffer a double loss."
When Ye Ke heard of it, his expression became a bit unsightly, "You are saying that the Ye family's situation is dangerous now?"
"I do not know if it is dangerous." Ye Mei smiled coldly, "Ye Mao Cai, that old fox, concealed it very tightly and is unwilling to let us know about the Ye family's predicament. Even though Ye Furen trusts me, she trusts Ye Mao Cai more so it is even more difficult to gain information from her than mounting to Heavens. However the more it is so, the more one's intuition is uneasy. One always felt that this Ye residence is not good."
"Perhaps you have thought too much." Ye Ke thought about it and shook his head, "The Ye family is after all the Prime Minister of Great Liang so how could it be like what you have said? As for the Ye family to be wary of us, it is most likely because of the short time period. After all, we are all on the same boat and at the beginning didn't you suggest to get people to assassinate Rui WangFei? Else the Ye family would not have agreed with it. It was a pity that Rui WangFei is fortunate and was actually saved by that scholar and avoided that calamity."
Ye Mei's eyes hang down and she suddenly laughed, "She really have a good fortune and is really lucky."
"But Older Sister," Ye Ke looked at her, "At that time why did you want the Ye family to kill Rui WangFei? Is it truly because to enter the residence of Prince Rui? I felt that this decision was rash and there were much to consider."
Ye Mei paused a little and thought for a while before speaking, "If I tell you that when I first saw her, I did not want the to live in this world, would you believe it?"
Ye Ke was startled but Ye Mei had fallen into her own deep thoughts.
When she reached Long Ye with the Ye family, it was just when Xie Yuan returned from the Imperial hunt Ye Mao Cai gave her the antidote and wanted her to put up an act of lending a helping hand upon seeing the reward list. Naturally for the Ye family to be able to have the antidote, one feared that they were involved in how Prince Rui was injured. If Ye Mei use the identity of the Ye family to help, one would inevitably suspect the Ye family. It was better and logical to say that one was looking for relatives and subsequently the Ye family discovered them.
Ye Mai Cai wanted to use Ye Mei to be related to the residence of Prince Rui. With Ye Mei's beauty and in addition that she was Xie Yuan's benefactor, the longer she stayed in the residence of Prince Rui, the more natural things could happen.
Ye Mei saw Prince Rui, Xie Yuan, at that time.
Towards men, love was not worth mentioning to Ye Mei. She was one with ambitions and means and males were just tools to achieve her goals. If there was a better and more outstanding, she would just change to another one. To her, it was like a beauty has to be matched with gorgeous clothes, precious jewelry and wealthy house so naturally one would want a noble husband.
Xie Yuan was the best one she had seen from when she grew up.
He had great powers even though he was young and he had a beautiful appearance. Even just laying down quietly, he was filled with a nobility air and caught others' eyes. What was more was that Ye Mei heard from Ye Ke that Xie Yuan was one who was powerful and had means. It was normal for her to want such a great person like that and Xie Yuan's coldness made her want to conquer him.
One had heard that Xie Yuan had a consort but Ye Mei had not seen her before. She came to know that the female was a daughter of a Ming Qi's General and disapproved of it. A daughter of a General was rude and rough and she only came alone from afar, without any backing, so Ye Mei did not even think that the other party had the qualification to be her opponent.
It was until the moment she saw Shen Miao.
There was even some dirt on Shen Miao's clothes, her hair was not very neat and she had a travel worn expression but when she stood in front of Ye Mei, she had a dignified and majestic manner as if one was a ruling and overbearing beast and declared one's sovereignty.
It was clearly Ye Mei that was the most glamorous and Shen Miao was in a sorry state.
But at that moment, Ye Mei had a ridiculous feeling. It was as if even she exhausted all her energy and strength, she was not be able to snatch any single strand of thing from this female's hands.
In the days that followed, Shen Miao was quite cold to her and occasionally Ye Mei could feel the light disgust and hate from her.
Since ancient times, female's feelings would oppose. Not only did Shen Miao felt uncomfortable with her, Ye Mei also felt uncomfortable with Shen Miao.
Hearing that Shen Miao has the doting love from parents, care from her Eldest Brother, good friends and sisters and even have the love from Xie Yuan. Even though there was a cold war, the on-looker saw everything clearly. If there was no feelings and love then why was there a need for a cold war? It was obvious that one loved her to the bones that every move would implicate one's own emotions.
The more one compared, the more Ye Mei could not be reconciled. For what reason does all the good things in the world be enjoyed by Shen Miao only? She does not know how to act coquettishly so for what reason could she gain Xie Yuan's favour?
The most irreconcilable thing was that someone inferior living better than her. Ye Mei was jealous and felt disgusted. She loved to snatch other's things and make them belong to hers. But Shen Miao's things looked too difficult to be snatched.
Then what could be done? Make Shen Miao disappear.
Therefore Ye Mei told Ye Mao Cai that only with Shen Miao death, there would be an empty Consort position for Prince Rui and she would have the capability to grasp Xie Yuan's heart.
Instead of saying that Ye Mei wanted to snatch Xie Yuan away, it was better to say that Ye Mei just did not want to see Shen Miao living better than her. Ye Mei did not want to lose to Shen Miao.
Ye Mao Cai already had thought of getting Ye Mei to climb up to the residence of Prince Rui so he agreed to it finally.
But no one had expected that Shen Miao did not die and there was even someone who was willing to protect Shen Miao with their lives. And because of the rash action from the Ye family, Xue Yua seemed to have some suspicion and watched the Ye family very tightly. Ye Mao Cai was angered by Ye Mei because of this matter.
In Ye Mei's life, she had never fail in getting what she wanted before. She would make use of everything and everyone, until everything was smooth and she was able to snatch the other person thing over. No matter if it was a thing or person or one's heart.
However, she had run up against a snag with Shen Miao.
She was unable to snatch Shen Miao's man, unable to take Shen Miao's life and could not rob Shen Miao's fortune away.