"You unfilial son! What a rebellious son!"
Upon receiving the news, the sage was nearly enraged.
What are those bastards outside shouting?
Cleanse the court of corrupt officials and punish the treacherous ministers!
Can a wise ruler allow treacherous officials to hold power?
Isn't this a veiled insult, calling him a tyrant?
The sage always wanted to be a wise and benevolent ruler in a prosperous era; otherwise, he wouldn't have shamelessly used "sage" as a synonym for emperor.
In fact, during the years since the emperor ascended the throne, he has done an excellent job in both civil administration and military affairs.
Putting aside everything else, his achievement of unifying the North and South alone is enough to make him go down in history.
But the sage was not satisfied; he wanted to be like the First Emperor, becoming an emperor who was unprecedented and unparalleled throughout history.
He suppressed powerful families and promoted the imperial examination system.
To preserve his imperial reputation, even though he clearly preferred the third prince born to Consort Xiao, he dared not place too much importance on him.
The saint has paid a heavy price.
As a result, some people in the capital were clamoring for something like "removing the emperor's inner circle of corrupt officials."
ha!
Where exactly are they "purging" the emperor's inner circle?
They clearly want to rebel.
"An unfaithful son! An unfilial son!"
In his anger, the sage disregarded all etiquette and began to curse.
"Your Majesty, please don't upset your health!"
Consort Xiao was nearly forty years old, but she was very well-preserved.
Her already stunningly beautiful face showed few signs of aging.
Instead, it adds to the charm of a mature woman.
She was born into the Lanling Xiao clan, a prominent family in the south, and grew up in Jiankang.
Although she was abducted to the north more than 20 years ago, she still retains the soft, melodious Wu dialect.
She was beautiful, with a soft, sweet voice that seemed to melt one's heart, and the noble elegance unique to women from a prominent family. No wonder she had been favored for over twenty years.
Xiao Zhaoyi has another remarkable quality: she did not regard the sage as an emperor, but rather as her husband.
She never asked the sage for wealth or power, and the sage felt the warmth and comfort of an ordinary couple in her.
In particular, when the emperor was in a dilemma, in order to appease Empress Ashina, who had been childless for many years after her marriage, Consort Xiao took the initiative to offer up her own flesh and blood, thus resolving the emperor's predicament.
It can be said that, for the sage, Consort Xiao was his confidante and his wise and helpful wife.
Even after all these years, when Consort Xiao was no longer young and had even reached the age of becoming a grandmother, the Emperor still showed her great favor.
They also extended their affection to the Third Prince.
Therefore, even when the emperor was in a state of rage, his trusted eunuchs could only tremble and hide in a corner, while Consort Xiao could speak up to comfort him.
Because she knew that even if the saint was angry, he would not take it out on her.
"Ah Miao, do you know what that unfilial son has done?"
"He's actually spreading rumors in the streets; he's plotting a rebellion!"
Upon hearing the voice of his beloved woman, the sage indeed refrained from further outbursts.
With his hands braced against the table, panting heavily, he finally regained some of his composure.
However, when the word "rebellion" was mentioned, a murderous glint flashed in the sage's eyes.
Cleanse the court of corrupt officials and punish the treacherous ministers!
This statement is practically the perfect fig leaf for rebellion.
There are clear historical examples of this.
The sage did not consider himself a tyrant, but he also knew who the treacherous official being vilified in the rumors was—the commoner prime minister Jia Yi!
Thinking of Jia Yi, the sage's anger subsided somewhat.
This person is really outrageous!
It is a dog, but it lacks the awareness of being a dog.
Taking advantage of its master's power, it indiscriminately tore and bit, causing a great uproar in the capital.
If it weren't for the fact that Jia Yi had successfully angered Prime Minister Zheng, one of the Five Ministers, to the point of vomiting blood in court and being forced to resign, the Emperor would have truly wanted to fulfill his promise to his sister and kill Jia Yi.
The sage did not break the contract intentionally, but Jia Yi still had some use.
The sage silently set a goal in his heart: as long as Jia Yi completed it, he would send Jia Yi's head to his elder sister.
It will only be a few months from now. His older sister has always been kind to him and considerate. The saint thinks his older sister won't hold it against him.
And that was indeed the case, although the elder sister had given Nanling to the fifth brother in a fit of pique.
Yet she can still unleash a "dragon's roar" on her own brother.
This is how it shows that my sister doesn't hold grudges.
If the older sister really gets angry with him and has other ideas, she won't be able to maintain her true nature in front of him.
They might even pretend to be wise and magnanimous.
My older sister hasn't changed; she's treated me the same way she always has.
Therefore, the sage judged that his elder sister was still his good elder sister, and the relationship between the siblings was not affected by Jia Yi!
Jia Yi deserves to die, but he can't die yet.
Now, Jia Yi has become an excuse for some traitors to rebel.
A treacherous official?
Jia Yi's actions were indeed inappropriate, but he did make some contributions.
At least under his relentless attacks, the once-solid alliance of powerful families has begun to crumble.
The sage believed that if he had just a few more months, he could further weaken the powerful clans.
That rebellious son of mine is so hateful; he won't even give him this little bit of time.
The more the emperor thought about it, the angrier he became. His anger, which had subsided somewhat due to Consort Xiao's consolation, surged up again.
Consort Xiao remained silent.
A sage may condemn a prince as a rebellious son, but Consort Xiao cannot echo his sentiments.
In private, she treated the saint as her "husband".
But Consort Xiao knew very well that she and the Emperor were not a legitimate couple.
She was just a favored concubine, a mere mistress!
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