"I know you are intelligent and have your own methods of governing the country. I have more confidence in entrusting Eastern Chu to you. As for Xuanyuan Zhi, you spare his life. From now on, you need not worry about him. If he harbors any further thoughts, deal with him directly, without regard for me!"
He also knew that the reason he pleaded for the eldest and second eldest brothers was entirely because of him.
As a father, he naturally hoped that all his sons could live in peace and grow old in safety.
As emperor, he did not want anyone to threaten the throne of Eastern Chu. The second son was ruthless and vicious, even more so than Xuan Yuan Yu. Although Xuan Yuan Yu was gentle and easily manipulated by Consort Su, he was at least kinder than the second son. That is why he chose Xuan Yuan Yu over the second son, not because Consort Su's family background was better than Consort Liang's.
He thought that as long as he properly trained Xuanyuan Yu, he could carve out a piece of jade, but as it turns out, rotten wood cannot be carved!
If the second son can reform himself after being exiled to the north, that would be good. But if he still harbors ambitions to usurp the throne, then there's no need to be polite to him. He should be killed, or there will be endless trouble in the future!
“I understand.” Xuan Yuanzhan understood what he meant.
Actually, he thought similarly to him. He could give Xuanyuan Zhi a chance for his sake, but that would be the only chance.
If he commits the same offense again, he will naturally not show any mercy. Besides, he will no longer be around then, so he will no longer need to worry about anything.
Xuanyuan Peng took a breath and continued, "And then there's Xuanyuan Duo. Xuanyuan Duo isn't very smart; he's the type to go with the flow and is easily swayed. As long as Xuanyuan Zhi and Xuanyuan Yu aren't around, I believe he won't dare to do anything evil again. Of course, if he does it again, you don't need to be lenient!"
He knew his own son best. Xuanyuan Duo was the most brainless and cowardly man. If it weren't for Xuanyuan Zhi and Xuanyuan Yu instigating him before, he wouldn't have dared to do these things. Now that Xuanyuan Zhi and Xuanyuan Yu were exiled and torn apart by five horses respectively, only Xuanyuan Duo was left. He couldn't cause any more trouble.
Whether it's exile or demotion, it's all out of Zhan'er's mercy. In his view, as long as they are spared their lives and can continue to produce offspring for the Eastern Chu royal family, that's enough.
"I know." No matter what Xuan Yuanpeng said, Xuan Yuanzhan would agree.
Xuanyuan Duo is a brainless person, so it's okay to give him a few more chances.
After all, he only had Xuanyuan Duo left in his bloodline. As long as Xuanyuan Duo didn't deliberately court death, he could turn a blind eye to his actions and give him a few more lives.
Of course, if he were to one day betray the country like Xuan Yuanzhi and do something that harms the interests of Eastern Chu, or use some kind of evil magic like Xuan Yuanyu to usurp the throne, then he would naturally not be polite to him.
However, he was right. With Xuan Yuanduo's cowardice, he definitely wouldn't dare to do it without Xuan Yuanzhi and Xuan Yuanyu by his side.
"There's one more thing," Xuan Yuanpeng said to Xuan Yuanzhan, as if he had just remembered something. "Do you not plan to take any more concubines in the future?"
Xuan Yuanzhan didn't expect Xuan Yuanpeng to ask these questions suddenly, and replied without hesitation, "I don't want to. Having Ning'er in my life is enough."
Xuan Yuanzhan originally thought that Xuan Yuanpeng would get angry if he said this, but he didn't expect that he would just nod silently: "If you don't want to, then don't. It's not easy to have a true love by your side. It's good to be with one person for life."
Having been through it all, he knew all too well how painful it was to favor women he didn't love. He clearly didn't love those women and didn't want to touch them, but in order to continue the royal bloodline, he forced himself to favor them.
If she could have given birth to a few decent sons, that would be one thing, but not one of her three sons was any good, and one of them was even an imposter. If it weren't for his favor, Su Huiyan wouldn't have been able to find a fake son even if she wanted to. So the root of all this is still with him.
So, instead of indulging in so many women he doesn't love and fathering so many useless sons, it's better to stick with one. If he can have more, that's fine, but if he can't, they already have a little one.
Raising a child well is the same.
Xiao Bao has a noble background. His father will be the future emperor of Eastern Chu, and his mother will be the future empress of Western Liang. Moreover, judging from Zhan'er and his wife's character, Xiao Bao will definitely not be bad in the future.
Thinking of Xiao Bao, Xuan Yuanpeng couldn't help but mutter again: "You only love your wife, and I don't care about you. I only love your mother. This devotion is perhaps a quality inherited from our Xuan Yuan family. I don't want to force you to take more concubines or favor women you don't love. However, Xiao Bao is your eldest son. You must let Xiao Bao return to Dong Chu and be included in our Dong Chu royal family's genealogy. You must also make him change his surname back."
"I understand," Xuan Yuanzhan said helplessly. "Didn't you already say all this before? Ning'er has already gone back to pick up Xiaobao!"
Seeing that Xuanyuan Zhan was getting impatient again, Xuanyuan Peng angrily raised his hand and smacked him on the head: "I'm just afraid that after I die, you will pretend to be generous and send your son away again. It's one thing to send him away, but you are also unwilling to let your wife have another child. Then our Eastern Chu royal family will be extinct!"
Xuan Yuanzhan was stunned by Xuan Yuanpeng's attack and remained in a daze for a while.
As far as I can remember, no one else but Bai Fuya would do this so often.
Xuanyuan Peng used to speak to him politely and rarely got angry like he has these past few days, even resorting to violence.
This also means that he has completely changed his attitude towards him and now treats him like his own son!
Although he may have treated him like his own son before, there was still some distance between them because he was unwilling to get close. Now, that distance has completely disappeared, and they have become father and son.
Xuan Yuanzhan's lips unconsciously curled up as he looked at Xuan Yuanpeng and assured him, "Once Xiao Bao is brought back, we will discuss it properly. I will definitely try my best to get Xiao Bao to change his name back to Xuan Yuan and to change it back to our Eastern Chu family genealogy."
Why was Xuanyuan Peng so dissatisfied with these words? He glared at Xuanyuan Zhan and said, "What do you mean by 'strive for it'? It's 'definitely,' 'I must make Xiaobao change back to our Xuanyuan surname and return to our Eastern Chu family genealogy,' otherwise I will not be able to die in peace!"
"Okay, okay, I'll definitely!" Seeing how serious he sounded, Xuan Yuanzhan had no choice but to agree.
Since he's said that, how could he refuse?
I believe that if he discusses it properly with Ning'er's mother, she won't necessarily refuse.
Seeing that Xuanyuan Zhan had finally agreed, Xuanyuan Peng breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Regarding the issue of offspring, you will inherit the throne of Eastern Chu, and your wife will inherit the throne of Western Liang. One child is definitely not enough. You and your wife are still very young, and you can have more children. Even if you don't need to inherit the throne, it would be good to have more children to enjoy your company!"
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