Chapter 260: Is Xiao Fu Bao Disliked? The Whole City Loves Me With Their Lives
Chapter 260: The Emperor's Thoughts
At this moment, the emperor was quite speechless.
He looked at his younger brother, who was grinning with a face full of flattery, feeling both frustrated and helpless. After a long pause, he sighed lightly and said, "You..."
Prince Qi still remembered what happened when Suisui fell ill.
At the time, his main thought was to make sure that Chen Dalang and the Marquis Jinyang wouldn’t get away unscathed!
Chen Dalang’s situation was no longer a concern.
The coal mine in Qingzhou was about to be opened, and the relevant news should soon be delivered to Qingzhou’s local authorities.
The Chen family, with their ungrateful hearts, would soon be forced to work in the mines.
Prince Qi thought, I hope they work themselves to death!
Now, only the Marquis Jinyang remained.
That bastard, Prince Qi wasn’t going to handle him personally.
If they got involved, there was a risk of being dragged into a conflict over Suisui.
So, Prince Qi decided it was best to have someone else handle it.
Some of their relatives were unscrupulous enough that with money, they could do anything.
Prince Qi was asking the emperor about this matter when the emperor, hearing him out, was thoroughly speechless.
The emperor sighed and said, "I don’t know!"
Although brotherly conversations weren’t supposed to leak out, the emperor was accustomed to maintaining his face and dignity.
So, out of habit, he immediately rejected Prince Qi’s request.
Then he saw his younger brother looking as though he was about to collapse on the spot.
The emperor thought to himself, This is too frustrating!
The emperor wanted to speak but hesitated, unsure of what to say. After some time, he sighed again and said, "Marquis Anyang’s household has been rather unstable recently. I wonder how things are going with his sons? Are they causing trouble?"
When Prince Qi heard the emperor mention the Marquis Anyang’s household, his eyes suddenly brightened.
Right!
Why hadn’t he thought of that earlier!
Marquis Anyang’s household had fallen on hard times, and the Marquis’s sons, aware of the impending downfall, had begun fighting fiercely over the family estate.
Although Marquis Anyang was still alive, his sons were already squabbling over inheritance.
Since the family had fallen on hard times, the sons weren’t being very cautious and were more than willing to accept money to get things done.
The problem was…
The household had many strong men, and if they weren’t afraid of the imperial authority, they could easily dominate the capital.
Prince Qi didn’t have a particularly good opinion of Marquis Anyang, but that didn’t stop him from using the situation to his advantage.
In fact, such a situation was perfect—money could be used to get things done without the risk of leaking information.
Prince Qi nodded in satisfaction, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The emperor sighed inwardly, "…!"
It got even more frustrating.
Originally, the Emperor thought that Prince Qi would take the opportunity to bring up the Tang family matter.
The Emperor was well aware of the trouble Madam Tang had caused. His informants might not be everywhere in the capital, but he knew most things.
The key was whether he wanted others to know that he knew.
However, after talking for a while, Prince Qi didn’t mention the Tang family at all.
The Emperor thought to himself, "It’s fine if he doesn’t bring it up."
The trouble caused by Madam Tang wasn’t something the Emperor cared much about. What mattered more to him was the response of the Empress and the Crown Prince in this matter.
Since there was already a Tang family Empress in the palace, the Crown Prince’s consort could not be from the Tang family! Moreover, since there was already a Crown Prince Consort in the East Palace, if another Tang family woman entered, she could only be a secondary concubine or something of that sort.
Even if the Crown Prince ascended the throne, a Tang family woman could not become the Empress.
By then, if the Empress Dowager and the Empress were both from the Tang family, and the Crown Prince was afraid of being undermined by the maternal side, would that complicate things for him? The Crown Prince wasn’t stupid, and he would understand this logic.
A Tang family woman could be a concubine or a beloved consort, since they were from his maternal side. It was normal to show them some favor to maintain the glory of the Tang family.
But she could never be the next Empress!
The Emperor understood this very well.
His own harem was made up of many women, but the highest-ranking one, the Shufei, was from the Xie family. He loved her deeply and had many children with her, in order to maintain the honor of the Xie family.
But beyond that, he wouldn’t tolerate it.
If someone exceeded their limits, it would mean they were trying to reach for his imperial power, and that was something the Emperor could not accept. Whether the Empress understood this or not, the Emperor was still observing her actions.
He had married the Empress in his youth, and though their relationship had grown cold over the years, he didn’t have the intention to depose her.
He was very satisfied with the Crown Prince, and the Empress had done nothing wrong. She had managed the harem well over the years. If he casually deposed the Empress, it would affect the Crown Prince’s status.
Besides, only a fool would depose a faultless Empress.
The Emperor considered himself a wise ruler and hoped to earn a good posthumous title.
So, depose the Empress?
There was no need.
Besides, if he deposed her, he would have to choose a new one.
That would complicate matters even more, so it was easier to just leave things as they were without overthinking.
However, if the Empress made a mistake, the Emperor might...
Prince Qi didn’t give much thought to the Tang family matter.
To him, after he had kicked Minister Tang a few times in the court, he thought the matter was practically settled.
The brothers quickly moved on to other topics.
Prince Qi, eager to show off his beloved son, talked the most about Suisui’s accomplishments.
When Suisui returned to the estate, the bountiful harvests at the farm.
When Suisui heard that her mother liked cherries, the cherry trees at the farm all turned red overnight.
…
The Emperor, who had already been curious about Suisui’s good fortune, paid close attention to this.
Had he not said too much, he almost wanted to use Suisui for something.
The horses in the Taipu Temple were about to give birth…
If Suisui could help, wouldn’t there be more foals?
If cows could give birth to three calves, there’s no reason horses couldn’t do the same, right?
They had worked so hard to breed these horses, and now the Taipu Temple had trained them so well.
If one mare could give birth to two fine foals...
The thought excited the Emperor.
He casually mentioned wanting to keep Suisui in the palace for two days.
No more than two days, then he’d send him back.
However, Prince Qi immediately put on a fragile expression, as if he was about to break into pieces.
The Emperor: ...!
So frustrating!
When you needed help, I didn’t hesitate for a second! But when I need you, you act like you’re about to shatter?
Prince Qi might look foolish, but he had his own survival instincts.
So, seeing his elder brother’s disapproving gaze, he quickly pouted and muttered softly, “Elder brother, this kind of fortune, we can’t see or touch it. We don’t know if it’ll affect Suisui, so we can’t use it carelessly.”
This was indeed a reasonable point.
The Emperor even began to wonder if Suisui’s hardships in the past were caused by this very issue—her fortune backfiring.
Thinking of this possibility, the Emperor’s expression darkened, and he decided not to pursue the matter of keeping Suisui in the palace for now.
Suisui slept for nearly an hour.
When she woke up, her mother was sitting by the bed watching her.
Hearing the movement, Qi Wangfei smiled and extended her hand: "Suisui, are you awake? Would you like to go to the cleansing room?"
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