"And you—" Xie Chang'an turned his gaze from Dao Ren to Ye Jingchen, "Don't you want to go back to the palace today?"
"Ahem—although, well, my father is a bit—well, he didn't quite understand the situation. At least his intentions were good—not so good. But I think his desire to befriend you is genuine; it's just that his methods were a bit off." Ye Jingchen tried to make amends for the emperor.
While catering to someone's preferences is not wrong, if he truly wanted to befriend Xie Shaoling, shouldn't he have advised Xie Shaoling to maintain his integrity? How could he—
Sigh, he didn't even figure out what other people really liked, yet he tried to please them. His flattery backfired, and instead of being kicked, he broke the horse's hoof. What a fine father he is!
Ye Jingchen's expression was subtle, and Xie Shaoling's expression was also hard to describe.
Recalling the past, he felt pain all over his body.
Because he was not only punished by the emperor for breaking his leg, he was also subjected to family discipline.
The stick was so thick that his father personally hit him thirty times, almost killing him!
"Although I had my leg broken and was bedridden for a month because of the Yunshui Tower incident, I had the same thoughts as you at the time and didn't hold it against him. Then I was tricked by him again!" Xie Shaoling said through gritted teeth.
“I was playing dice with a bunch of rich kids at the casino. He somehow got information and bribed the casino owner to rig the game so I kept winning.”
"The bookmakers' trickery was so obvious that they were exposed on the spot. But the bookmakers turned around and accused me of bribing them beforehand. Those playboys then went to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to demand justice."
"One of the family rules of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is that one must not enter a gambling den, let alone sit at a gambling table. Although the truth was eventually found out and my innocence was cleared, it is an indisputable fact that I violated the family rules by going to the gambling table. My father personally beat me with thirty strokes of the cane and made me stay in bed for another month."
Ye Jingchen fell silent after hearing this.
Xie Chang'an, who had also been disciplined by his family, also fell silent.
My father's situation is truly tragic, but—
“You broke the family rules, so you deserved to be beaten. Even if it was because the emperor secretly interfered that you were exposed, you are not wronged!” he said.
"I risked family discipline to go to the gambling den, not because I was interested in gambling, but because that gambling den was problematic. The owners behind it were those few spoiled brats who used the gambling den to amass wealth, causing countless families to be ruined and destroyed!"
"I painstakingly planned and lured them in, intending to expose their cheating tricks in person during the final bet. But instead, he bribed the bookmaker, handing over the evidence to those spoiled brats. Not only did he ruin my plan, but he also caused me to be punished by the family!" Xie Shaoling said, slamming his fist on the table in anger.
Every time he recalls these past events, the more resentment he feels.
For the first twenty years of his life, he was full of vigor and ambition, but Ye Shengping was the only one who made him repeatedly experience what it meant to feel frustrated!
Xie Chang'an: ...
Ye Jingchen: ...
At this moment, Ye Jingchen had only one thought in his mind: the emperor was definitely Xie Shaoling's nemesis!
A hard counter!
Even if he was the emperor's son, to be fair, he had to admit that the emperor was a terrible, extremely terrible emperor!
He's like that brainless, incompetent teammate!
But then again, was the emperor really that stupid when he was young?
Gaining someone's favor is as easy as eating and drinking for Ye Jingchen, so he really can't understand how the emperor made such a simple thing into a hellish difficulty.
"And then you two broke up?" Ye Jingchen asked cautiously.
Xie Shaoling seems very angry right now, so please don't take it out on him. He's just an innocent little brat!
Xie Shaoling remained silent for a moment before continuing to speak.
“Those spoiled brats have always been at odds with me. They finally managed to scheme against me, so naturally they wanted to make a big fuss about it. But I was still recovering from my injuries at the time, so I ignored them. One day, his eunuch came to me and told me not to pay attention to those spoiled brats' provocations and to focus on recovering from my injuries. He said he had come up with a good way to avenge me.”
"Later I found out that his so-called good method was to invite those playboys to the royal hunting grounds, set traps there, and make them appear to have died in an accident. If I hadn't been worried and dragged my injured body to the hunting grounds that day, he might have succeeded."
"Given his situation at the time, if he had offended so many powerful and influential families behind these纨绔子弟 (spoiled brats) all at once, his chances of becoming the crown prince would have been over!"
“After I stopped him, we had a big argument. I felt that he shouldn’t treat human life so lightly, and he felt that I was ungrateful. We had different beliefs, so we broke up.”
At first, Xie Shaoling was very emotional, but as he spoke, he calmed down.
"Oh, I also scolded him, saying he didn't value human life and wasn't fit to be a wise ruler," Xie Shaoling added calmly.
Ye Jingchen: !
He stared wide-eyed at Xie Shaoling with an incredulous look.
Although what he said is correct, how could he dare to do it!
"Are you brainless? He's such a petty person, how could you say that about him?!" Xie Chang'an reacted even more strongly than Ye Jingchen, and immediately started cursing.
"Little Chang'an, you've got some nerve, daring to insult your father like that—" Xie Shaoling said angrily, grabbing Xie Chang'an by the collar and lifting him up.
"Uncle Xie, don't be angry. Brother Chang'an is just concerned about you!" Ye Jingchen quickly stepped forward and pressed down Xie Chang'an's hands, which were about to rebel, and smiled ingratiatingly at Xie Shaoling.
He was afraid that if he didn't intervene, the father and son might start fighting in front of him.
Although he had learned about the past grievances between the emperor and Xie Shaoling, this matter was still quite difficult to handle.
From Xie Shaoling's perspective, the emperor was indeed a terrible person, and Xie Shaoling's assessment of him, though offensive, was not wrong.
A monarch may indeed hold the power of life and death, but he cannot kill whomever he wants!
Those who can kill whomever they want are all considered tyrannical rulers in history books!
As rulers, they should be staunch advocates of the rules; otherwise, how can they govern the country with rules? How can their subjects trust them?
But from the emperor's perspective, didn't he feel aggrieved?
He condescended to befriend Xie Shaoling and did so much for him, but in the end, Xie Shaoling not only didn't appreciate his kindness, but also criticized him and even called him "not the appearance of a wise ruler"!
The emperor must have been mentally broken at that time, right?
And this collapse has continued until now.
The emperor is definitely still holding a grudge, otherwise he wouldn't be so eager to destroy the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion!
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