The Emperor disliked the members of the Grand Secretariat, especially the veteran officials left by the Late Emperor, who had served three dynasties. They constantly flaunted their seniority in front of him, comparing him to the Late Emperor at every turn and invoking the Late Emperor’s name to pressure him. It was utterly infuriating.
Whenever the Emperor made even the slightest mistake, these people would start lamenting the Late Emperor, reminiscing about his heroic demeanor, his diligence, his wisdom, his humility in seeking out talented individuals, and his status as a timelessly enlightened ruler.
The Grand Secretariat’s mourning of the Late Emperor was merely a tactic to take advantage of the Emperor’s youth, using it to manipulate him, establish their own rules, and secure benefits for themselves.
What did the ministers mean when they constantly taught the Emperor to be humble and seek out talented individuals?
It meant: Your Majesty, do you want a good reputation?
Then you must listen to us.
Listening to us is being humble and seeking out talented individuals, and being humble and seeking out talented individuals makes you a timelessly enlightened ruler.
Thus, the Emperor would gain a good reputation, while the ministers would obtain tangible benefits—a sharing of imperial power.
Unfortunately, the Grand Secretariat failed to understand the principle of adapting to circumstances. While this approach had worked well with the Late Emperor, it had the opposite effect on the current Emperor.
This rebellious young Emperor, every time he heard the ministers lament the Late Emperor, would roar inwardly:
“What, was the Late Emperor a once-in-a-millennium enlightened ruler, and am I a once-in-a-millennium tyrant?
If you love the Late Emperor so much and want to accompany him so badly, why don’t you just die!
Why don’t you go and follow the Late Emperor to your deaths!”
Qiao Gui, who had always been by the Emperor’s side, was the first to notice his growing annoyance with the ministers and often fanned the flames:
“This humble servant truly doesn’t understand. You are the ruler of the world, so naturally, all matters, big or small, should be decided by Your Majesty. What are these ministers trying to do? They truly have no respect for Your Majesty.”
Over time, the Emperor had developed a visceral disgust for these old men of the Grand Secretariat.
Thus, whoever liked the Grand Secretariat, he disliked.
Whoever disliked the Grand Secretariat, he liked.
When Su Fengyi said that Minister Song was annoying, the Emperor became interested and even forgot about catching the little white tiger. He pressed eagerly:
“What happened? What happened? Tell me, quickly!”
Now that the Emperor wanted to hear it, Su Fengyi deliberately teased him:
“Forget it, let’s not talk about him. It’s too unlucky.”
No, don’t stop! I’m waiting to hear it!
The Emperor was almost driven mad by his elder sister. It was a pity that the Eastern Depot eunuchs were too far away to overhear the gossip firsthand. Otherwise, why would he have to wait eagerly for her to tell the story?
The Emperor tugged at Su Fengyi’s horse reins and said:
“Hurry up and tell me! Are you going to tell me or not? If not, I’ll send eighty matrons to your residence to teach you etiquette. Are you afraid or not?”
How ruthless.
Su Fengyi hurriedly waved her hands:
“No, no, no, don’t send a single one. I’m perfectly content as I am now. Your Majesty, please don’t send anyone to bother me.”
Then, pretending to be reluctant, she said:
“Fine, I’ll tell Your Majesty. That old man is truly wicked. He said it’s improper for me to ride a horse in the palace and forbade me from doing so in the future. He also said I’m not allowed to bring bows and arrows into the palace, claiming that even our father never rode horses in the palace or carried weapons here…”
Again with the Late Emperor!
Again with the rules!
The Emperor’s eyes turned sharp, and even his eyebrows shot up as he asked:
“Are you really that useless? Did you just let him say that? Is that how our grandfather taught you?”
Su Fengyi raised an eyebrow and blinked:
“Do I look that easy to mess with? I told him to get out of the capital within the day. If he doesn’t leave, I’ll kill his entire family tomorrow.”
“Your Majesty, let me tell you, tomorrow you better not stop me. I said I’d kill his entire family, and I’ll kill his entire family.”
Hearing this, the Emperor felt at ease—completely at ease, every pore of his body relaxed.
From the moment Qiao Gui reported that the Princess and the Grand Secretariat were conspiring, the Emperor’s restless, surging, and clamorous fury had dissipated in an instant.
So, the Princess hadn’t betrayed him after all.
The Emperor let out a long sigh of relief and laughed:
“That’s exactly how it should be. This is my good elder sister, our grandfather’s eldest granddaughter.
If you had learned the pettiness of those noble ladies in the capital and tried to act all virtuous and demure in some spineless, disgusting way, I would never acknowledge you again.
This is the empire our grandfather fought for, the empire of our Su family. We won’t let outsiders teach us what rules are.
Elder Sister, do you have enough people in your residence? Tomorrow, I’ll have Lu Hong send some to assist you.
I heard from Qiao Gui that the Song residence is overflowing with wealth. That old man Song’s gold and silver are no less than what’s in my private treasury.
They all demand that I be frugal, yet they live in extravagance themselves. It’s truly detestable.”
Su Fengyi could tell: her threat to kill the entire Song family was just to intimidate Minister Song, but the Emperor—he was the one who truly wanted to take action.
Now that the two had finally cleared the air, they were once again a pair of wild, unruly, conniving, and lawless siblings.
With this matter resolved, the Emperor turned his attention to another issue and asked her:
“Since you ran into that old man Song along the way, what brought you here in the first place?”
Ah, after all this time, she could finally get to the main issue about General Shen.
Su Fengyi grinned and said:
“I was just about to tell Your Majesty something strange. Guess what rare thing I encountered today?”
What rare thing could it be? The Emperor had already heard from Qiao Gui that the Princess had abducted Shen Quan.
He had been furious when he heard it. First, she had insisted that he sentence Shen Quan to immediate execution, and today, without even a word of notice, she had abducted him and run off.
Treating imperial decrees as child’s play—the Princess was far too dismissive of his edicts and far too disrespectful of him as the Emperor.
If she weren’t his twin elder sister, such blatant disrespect would never have allowed her to live this long.
But some things, like the matter with Minister Song just now, were distant and unclear. It was possible that the Eastern Depot hadn’t been able to uncover the full picture.
Judging by the Princess’s expression, Qiao Gui had likely gotten it wrong again this time.
Qiao Gui was loyal and diligent, managing the Emperor’s personal affairs, tirelessly reviewing memorials day and night, and overseeing the Eastern Depot’s investigations into matters big and small in the capital. He worked tirelessly, both mentally and physically.
Loyalty was hard to come by, and even if there were occasional mistakes, the Emperor considered himself a magnanimous person and didn’t hold it too much against his own people.
Qiao Gui was one of those people the Emperor was willing to be lenient with.
Still, the Emperor couldn’t help but wonder: one mistake, then another—was it because there were too many matters to handle, or was Qiao Gui too soft by nature? Perhaps his abilities weren’t quite up to par.
Was he unable to control the people of the Eastern Depot?
After all, back when their grandfather used the Imperial Guard, he had never seen them bungle things like this.
Su Fengyi spoke mysteriously, and the Emperor grew impatient, scratching his head and ears. He scolded, “Stop being so cryptic! Are you going to tell me or not?”
Su Fengyi chuckled and said:
“What I encountered today, Your Majesty, is something you’ve definitely never experienced. When I went to the execution ground today, I actually ran into someone trying to rescue a prisoner.”
Your Majesty, let me tell you, this isn’t me speaking ill of others behind their backs, but your Eastern Depot people really aren’t very capable at handling things—they need more training.
If I hadn’t been there just in time, the prisoner would have been rescued!
Tell me, isn’t that thrilling? Isn’t it fun? Isn’t it rare?”
Thrilling! Fun! Rare!
As soon as the Emperor heard this, he felt envious—he’d never experienced such a thing, and he wanted to try it too!
Ah, why didn’t he get to encounter it? How infuriating.