After Xie Yuan said this, the entire hall fell silent.
The court officials were completely taken aback when the usually composed and gentle Empress suddenly uttered such a remark.
It's still so direct and crude.
fart?
Only a shrew from the streets would curse like that.
And what kind of place is this?
In the imperial court, before all the officials, Empress Xie actually—actually—
"She panicked! She must have felt threatened, which is why she lost her composure!"
"It seems the sage has indeed fallen for someone else!"
"So what if the emperor and empress were once deeply in love? After ten years, didn't they eventually descend into jealousy and suspicion?"
"..."
The court officials were first taken aback by Xie Yuan's "fart," and then they saw Empress Xie turn away and leave.
Then, they were surprised, guessing, and secretly pleased.
The emperor and empress's relationship was so strong that no one else could interfere. The entire palace and even the entire capital were impregnable. The court officials did not want to face this situation.
Without vulnerabilities, how could they exploit them?
Over the past three years, they have watched helplessly as Helian Jue's power as emperor has grown stronger day by day.
Even in Helian Jue's absence, the vast capital city remained peaceful and stable.
The court officials weren't hoping for chaos in the capital, but rather that the emperor and empress were controlling the situation too tightly.
No one else gets any benefit at all.
Furthermore, with the continued implementation of the imperial examination system, the monopoly of aristocratic families was visibly weakened.
The imperial power is being gradually strengthened by the emperor and empress, and the situation of "sharing the world with aristocratic families" will completely cease to exist.
Whether it was powerful families, prime ministers, or the heads of the Nine Ministers and the Six Ministries, they all felt threatened by the concentration of imperial power.
Naturally, they would want to obstruct it for their own benefit.
After several years of observation, the most effective method was to destroy the stable relationship between the emperor and empress!
When discord arose between the emperor and empress, powerful families could then place beauties in the harem.
However, once the emperor favors another woman and has a prince with their own family bloodline... the families can still try to influence the future.
Now that the mourning period has passed, the sage no longer has a legitimate reason to act.
Most importantly, the sage himself took a beautiful woman as a concubine!
The Empress is also getting anxious!
The supreme couple, Helian Jue and Xie Yuan, are no longer a united front!
"Not enough!"
"Empress Xie controls the court; she refuses to be a virtuous empress. We must help her!"
"...How can we help? Do we have to do what we did a few years ago—"
In the study, several high-ranking officials, led by Wang Yu and Zheng Xian, were holding a small meeting.
The person who asked "how to help" even gestured with their hand across their neck.
His meaning was clear to everyone present.
When Helian Jue ascended the throne, he sent people to Lingnan to welcome the imperial carriage.
Xie Yuan and the four young princes encountered wave after wave of assassination attempts on their way back to the capital.
Although it was later proven that Empress Xie was indeed a formidable woman capable of ruling alongside Helian Jue, she treated the ambush as a fishing trip.
However, many families were very determined to kill Xie Yuan and take his place.
"..." When this matter was brought up, everyone's feelings were somewhat complicated.
At that time, they really didn't expect Xie Yuan to be so powerful.
So many ambushes, so many carefully trained assassins, yet they were all wiped out by her female soldiers.
Although the female soldiers also suffered heavy casualties.
However, in the end, Xie Yuan and his son arrived in the capital safely, while many of the families involved either died or were exiled to Chang'an New City.
That was the second round of "pruning" by the Emperor and Empress.
Over the years, the emperor and empress, through round after round of pruning and trimming, have gradually turned the once mighty aristocratic family into a tree with its branches and leaves withered and desolate.
After being "scammed" so many times, people have truly learned their lesson.
Now, another opportunity has presented itself, and everyone is somewhat hesitant.
Should we take action?
Kill Xie Yuan?
Or perhaps we should use someone else to do the dirty work?
But can it succeed?
Hopefully, Xie Yuan won't use this against us again.
Everyone was so flustered by the Emperor and Empress that they were almost developing PTSD, and no one dared to make a decision easily.
"Don't rush, there are probably people who are more anxious than us!"
Wang Yu is indeed a cunning old fox.
After pondering for a long time, he glanced in the direction of the palace and uttered these words softly.
...
"Empress Dowager, Fourth Prince is indeed your grand-nephew, and the head of the Yang family." (Qianqian Xiaoshan)
"Even if Your Majesty doesn't value him as the Vice Minister of Rites, you should at least consider your feelings!"
"All I did was offer her some advice, urging her to be a virtuous empress. How could she act like a shrew from the streets, publicly berating and insulting him—"
"Oh dear, that's so crude! I'm ashamed to even utter it!"
"Empress Dowager, the Empress's humiliation of my husband is clearly a sign that she doesn't respect you, her imperial grandmother!"
A middle-aged woman in her forties knelt before the Empress Dowager, covering her face with a handkerchief, and spoke with great seriousness.
Empress Dowager: ...With this level of sowing discord, she won't last more than three years in the harem!
"I am the Empress Dowager, and the Yang family is the Yang family!"
“I am indeed a woman of the Yang family, but I have long since married into the Helian family.”
She has been married for fifty or sixty years, and all her brothers and nephews have died.
The current head of the Yang family is her grand-nephew.
To be honest, the Empress Dowager didn't have much affection for this grandson.
We only see each other a few times a year, and apart from that blood relation, there's no other connection between us.
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