Ye Jingshu knew in her heart that if she went to discuss it with her younger brother, he would absolutely not agree to send Ye Jinghe away.
The emperor's younger brother is currently focused entirely on Ye Jinghe, so if she goes to see him, she'll only be making a fool of herself.
The only one who can change the younger brother's decision is the Emperor.
She could only place her hopes on her father, the emperor.
"My brother didn't like Ye Jinghe before, but ever since he fell into the water, he's been like a bewitching spell. He not only brought Ye Jinghe back to the East Palace, but he's also been so good to him. Father, don't you find that strange?" Ye Jingshu asked excitedly.
The emperor's expression was somewhat subtle. After a moment, he slowly spoke, "Rather than saying he's been bewitched, it's more accurate to say he's had an epiphany. Jing Shu, you've been studying at the Wenhua Hall for some time now. In your opinion, what are Jing He's strengths?"
This question stumped Ye Jingshu.
She disliked Ye Jinghe so much that she could easily list his flaws if asked, but did Ye Jinghe have any merits?
She thought about it for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "Is he very smart?"
Even though she disliked Ye Jinghe, Ye Jingshu had to admit that he was indeed very smart, smarter than a four-year-old child.
The emperor calmly said, "He is intelligent but poisoned, and he has no maternal family to rely on. He is all alone. If he wants to live with dignity in this palace, he can only rely on Jingchen. For Jingchen, these are his advantages."
It took Ye Jingshu a long time to fully digest the meaning of the emperor's words, but after she understood them, she subconsciously covered her mouth.
She only saw how good her brother was to Ye Jinghe, but never thought about these things.
But did the Emperor really intend to bring Ye Jinghe back to the Eastern Palace?
If that were the case, she found her younger brother rather frightening.
After all, he's only eight years old!
"We cannot judge anything by appearances alone. Jing Shu, you don't need to worry about Jing Chen. He is very smart, knows what he wants, and has a clear goal. As for you, you must think twice before you speak or act in the future, and never act rashly," the emperor admonished.
Ye Jingshu nodded in a daze.
Her father's words filled her with mixed feelings. At one moment, she was gratified by her younger brother's intelligence, knowing how to win over the princes and consolidate his position as crown prince at such a young age. At another moment, she felt that her younger brother was becoming more and more unfamiliar. And then, a trace of pity arose in her heart...
She suddenly remembered what her younger brother had said to her when she first arrived at the Wenhua Hall. At that time, her brother had indeed been treating Ye Jinghe as a pawn.
It was because of her brother's words that she was able to tolerate Ye Jinghe always staying by his side.
But later, she discovered that her younger brother was being far too good to Ye Jinghe, so good that she couldn't detect a single trace of acting. Moreover, Ye Jinghe always took advantage of having her younger brother's backing to provoke her—
She then forgot what her younger brother had told her at the beginning.
The Empress Dowager passed away early, and the maternal grandparents' family was not in the court. Although the Emperor doted on the siblings, the younger brother's position as Crown Prince was not actually secure. The concubines in the harem who had princes and their maternal families were all eyeing the throne covetously.
The emperor's younger brother said he needed her help.
At first, she really did want to be a gentle and caring older sister.
But was the Emperor's brother really just using Ye Jinghe because he treated him so well?
Ye Jingshu remained somewhat dazed until she left Chengqian Palace.
"I wonder if saying this will lessen Jing Shu's resentment towards Jing He!" After Ye Jing Shu left, the emperor sighed to himself.
When the emperor first realized that Ye Jingchen really wanted to cultivate relationships with the other princes, he just thought he was naive.
After all, his personal experience speaks for itself, and with the allure of the throne, it's impossible for them to be of one mind.
However, when he saw Ye Jingchen gathering more and more princes in the Wenhua Hall and often bringing them to the Chengqian Palace to keep him company as a lonely man, and experiencing the joy of being surrounded by his children and grandchildren, he couldn't help but feel a little anticipation.
In the past, he didn't care much about the other princes and princesses besides the Empress's children. He had never even held them in his arms. He knew something about Ye Jinghe's situation, but he didn't care at all...
He has so many children, but their existence is of little significance except to serve as a whetstone for Ye Jingchen.
Just like his father, who also had many princes and princesses, the princesses were unable to participate in the struggle for imperial power, but they all survived and became tools to consolidate imperial power, while his brothers who dared to compete with him for the throne were all sent away by him.
He was like that himself, so he felt that his children were too.
Therefore, he did not want to devote too much affection to the other children, because they were destined to become stepping stones for Ye Jingchen on his path to imperial power.
But after falling into the water, Jingchen suddenly became close to him, no longer as reserved as before. He would act cute and playful, just like a child from an ordinary family interacts with his father.
He experienced the joy of being a father through Jingchen.
It was also Jing Chen who led him to have deeper interactions with the other princes, making it impossible for him to simply regard them as whetstones.
He now hopes that Jing Chen can remain true to his original aspirations and break the curse of fratricide that has plagued the royal family since ancient times.
As for all the obstacles Jingchen encounters on this path, as long as he lives, he will help Jingchen overcome them all!
"After finishing her studies, the eldest princess went to Chengqian Palace."
"He seemed lost and disoriented when he left." Ye Jingchen received these two pieces of news before going to bed that night.
Thinking of what Ye Jingshu had said before leaving school, Ye Jingchen had a bad feeling.
Could Ye Jingshu be going to the Emperor to ask Ye Jinghe to leave the Eastern Palace?
If Ye Jinghe found out, wouldn't he cause a huge uproar?
Ye Jingchen never dared to underestimate Xiao Jinghe, nor did he ever dare to treat him simply as a four-year-old child.
There was also a genius in his family with a photographic memory. They had some bad experiences when they were young. Because he had a bad memory, he could choose to forget things he didn't want to remember, but his younger brother couldn't. He always remembered those experiences from his childhood clearly, and even after ten or twenty years, he still held a grudge and would grit his teeth whenever he mentioned them.
No matter how hard he tries to correct it, the bad experiences he had as a child still made him develop a stubborn and irritable personality. He is a normal person at other times, but as soon as he talks about those things from his childhood, he becomes a completely different person.
But the things they experienced in their childhood were nothing compared to the torment Ye Jinghe went through.
It is said that childhood unhappiness is difficult to heal in a lifetime.
Even with others to share the experience, the younger brother almost developed antisocial personality disorder. How could those children who grew up being loved possibly understand Ye Jinghe's inner turmoil, who suffered so much alone?
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