At night, Song Jiaye was like a different person from his daytime self. In his dreams at night, he would be scared, cowardly, and occasionally reveal his deep affection for the empress.
But during the day, Song Jiaye was just a jerk.
He finally set his sights on the Li family.
I watched as he gradually guided the Zhong family to report the Li family, hinting that they could gain benefits for their family and honor for Concubine Yu in exchange.
However, when the Zhong family actually submitted the memorial, he flew into a rage at the eldest Zhong: "No, revise it!"
I saw cold sweat about to drip from the eldest Zhong's forehead. He asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with it?"
They were probably completely confused at the moment. After all, this matter was authorized by Song Jiaye, and they had written the memorial according to the emperor's instructions. So why was it suddenly no good?
But Song Jiaye, this so - called "client," was being extremely unreasonable. He only said it was no good without specifying what was wrong, forcing these old men to revise it again and again. By the time they got to the third version, I saw the old man's hands twitching as he walked in with the memorial. Yet Song Jiaye still said it was no good. The old men's faces turned deathly pale, and they said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, we deserve to die ten thousand times. Please take back your order. We were wrong."
Look at how he had forced these old men. They would rather say they didn't want to take on this "project" and asked the emperor to find someone else.
Finally, Song Jiaye deigned to speak and tell them what was wrong.
"The empress has been living in the deep palace for a long time. She has never had contact with the Li family. How can there be any talk of conspiracy?"
The eldest Zhong then realized where the problem lay, but his expression was not good.
It was only natural for his expression to be bad.
They had whole - heartedly helped Song Jiaye suppress the Li family, willing to take on the condemnation of the world. What they wanted was nothing more than for their daughter, Zhong Yuxiu, to rise in the harem, even ascend to the position of empress.
But the emperor was hitting the Li family hard while still protecting the empress. If the emperor refused to punish the empress, wouldn't all the things the emperor had promised the Guo family go up in smoke?
Song Jiaye was an extremely shrewd man. In the moment the eldest Zhong looked stunned, he already knew what was on this man's mind. He walked over, gently patted the eldest Zhong on the shoulder, and said, "She is my bottom line. I can satisfy you on other things, but not on this."
After saying that, he walked out of the imperial study alone.
Well, he had forgotten about me, this background character again.
He might have forgotten about me, but I had to be a qualified background character. I lifted my skirt and quickly followed him. Before I could catch up with Song Jiaye, someone caught up with me first.
There was no way around it. The ancient clothes were so cumbersome that they seriously affected my speed.
The eldest Zhong stopped me. These old scholars actually looked down on women like me who had won the emperor's favor through that kind of means. They even gave me the nickname of "seductive concubine" behind my back. But now, this old scholar actually bowed to me obediently.
Sure enough, when one has a request for someone, things are different.
"Imperial Concubine Xiang, the emperor's mind is hard to fathom. Since you stay by the emperor's side, could you please clear up my confusion?"
Naturally, I looked down on someone like the eldest Zhong, who could even frame the loyal just for his own self - interest. But I wasn't a fool. Even if I had never been involved in the harem battles, I had watched enough palace - intrigue dramas. Once I offended this kind of villain, I would be the next one to die.
There was nothing I could do. I was like a clay Buddha in a flood, unable to protect myself. Even though I felt a thousand pities for the Li family, I couldn't say anything. I couldn't give any advice to the eldest Zhong either. I might as well just be a stupid concubine.
"You're flattering me, sir. You're a grand scholar. How could it be my turn to clear up your confusion?"
"What about today's..."
"Oh, just do as the emperor says. It's not easy for the empress, a woman. Why do you have to keep hounding her?"
Taking advantage of the time when the eldest Zhong was thinking, I quickly slipped away.
I couldn't let him grab me and keep asking questions.
In the end, the eldest Zhong finally understood the emperor's intention. The memorial presented to Song Jiaye finally passed. The crimes of the Li family were set, but Song Jiaye planned to handle this matter secretly.
He had no choice but to handle it secretly.
The Li family had a high reputation, and every soldier in the Li family's army was a ten - man fighter. If this matter was not handled properly, not to mention whether he could bring down the Li family, even his own life might be in danger.
So, apart from me, very few people in the palace knew about this. Even Zhong Yuxiu seemed to be kept in the dark.
However, once a person has something on their mind, the pressure increases. Even though Song Jiaye was the emperor with excellent psychological qualities, he still couldn't bear it and came to my place every day. He didn't say much. When he came, he just drank, and after drinking, he would start acting drunk.
One day, he started acting drunk again. He hugged the wine bottle tightly and shouted at me, "Xiaoyu, I didn't want to do this either. You can understand me, right?"
I thought he was really drunk. Thinking about all the grievances the empress and the Li family had suffered, I summoned up my courage and questioned him.
"You're going to kill the entire family of the empress. How can anyone understand you?"
"But it was you who were first disloyal to me. I'm the emperor! Why doesn't anyone submit to me? I'm the emperor, but I have to watch the faces of the court officials. What's the point of being an emperor like this?"
It was just that he himself lacked the courage and couldn't hold the situation in check. No wonder he had to use these underhanded and devious schemes. People without real ability could only resort to scheming.
"Your Majesty, the Li family is truly full of loyal and good people. Your Majesty, why don't you just demote them to commoners and let them go?"
I don't know if he was really drunk or just pretending, but Song Jiaye hugged the wine cup and actually shed tears.
"Don't I know that your Li family is full of loyal and good people? Don't I know that you, Li Qiyu, are completely devoted to me? But precisely because you are all so perfect and good, I can't keep you by my side anymore. Demote them to commoners? Hmph," he sneered twice and took another big gulp of wine. "It's easier said than done. Who can guarantee that your father and brother won't lead the Li family's army to cause trouble? As long as your Li family exists, the army will always belong to the Li family, not to me."
The cunning rabbit is killed, and the running dog is cooked.
Countless historical lessons tell us that this is an eternal truth.
"But... why don't you trust the Li family to guard the country for you?"
"I want to trust." His eyes were hazy, and I didn't know where he was looking. "But I dare not. Although I'm the emperor, this throne is like sitting on the edge of a cliff, in a precarious situation. As long as I take one wrong step, I'll fall into the abyss and be doomed. Xiaoyu, do you know? This throne doesn't belong to me. It originally belonged to my elder brother. It was me, I killed him, and that's how I got this throne. Haha, what serious illness? It was all the poison I had prepared long ago!"