Xie Rou turned around and stepped into Zuixianlou. The shopkeeper was already waiting at the door and respectfully led her to the private room on the third floor.
The door opened and Xie Yunqi was standing by the window, the moonlight outlining his thin figure.
"Brother..." Xie Rou's throat choked and she couldn't stop crying anymore.
Xie Yunqi turned around and saw her in a somewhat embarrassed state, his eyes stern: "What's going on?"
Xie Rou's nose felt sore, and she suddenly knelt down in front of Xie Yunqi: "Brother, I was wrong. If I hadn't complained to my grandmother and mother, no one would have known that you had a crush on the princess, and the Xie family wouldn't be like this today..."
Xie Rou had never thought that her unintentional complaint would force Xie Yunqi to leave the Xie family. She had never thought that the Xie family would fall into decline so quickly without her eldest brother.
Xie Yunqi listened to Xie Rou's crying quietly, his expression becoming increasingly stern.
He raised his hand to signal her to stand up, and said in a low voice: "Did your grandmother ask you to be a lobbyist?"
Xie Rou hurriedly shook her head, tears streaming down her face: "No!"
"I came here on my own, big brother. The Xie family is in chaos now. My second uncle and third uncle have almost squandered all the family property. My second brother was framed and has been exiled thousands of miles away. My grandmother has been coughing up blood these past few days and has been holding on..."
He grabbed the corner of Xie Yunqi's clothes, as if he had grabbed the last straw: "Brother, I know you hate grandma for forcing you, but the Xie family really can't do without you. Just... just for the sake of our family, can you come back..."
Xie Yunqi suddenly chuckled, and there was unspeakable desolation in that laughter.
He walked to the window and looked in the direction of the Xie family mansion in the distance. "Xie Rou, do you know why your grandmother would rather die than uphold the ancestral motto of 'It is better to support a tyrant than to establish a female emperor'?"
Xie Rou was stunned.
Before coming here, her grandmother had told her that she had to do this because they were of the same family.
"Because the glory of the family has always been dependent on the imperial power." Xie Yunqi turned around, his eyes flashing with a sharp light, "But now the world has changed, the power in the hands of the family has surpassed and overwhelmed the imperial power. If the princess can ascend the throne, the Xie family will only have two options.
Either they become a stumbling block to the new dynasty and are uprooted, or…"
"What else?" Xie Rou asked anxiously.
"Or I can find a new way for the Xie family myself."
Xie Yunqi reached out and took out a jade pendant from behind, which was engraved with the Xie family's emblem.
"The premise for me to go back is that I have the final say in the Xie family."
Xie Rou took a breath and said, "Brother, are you going to take away my grandmother's rights?"
"No!"
Xie Yunqi placed the jade pendant on the table and said, "I want to abolish that corrupt ancestral precept, break it up, reorganize it, and build a new Xie family."
Crown Prince Chu Lang is of mediocre talent and is unable to shoulder important responsibilities. If Chu Qingluan ascends the throne, he will certainly inherit the will of the current emperor, which is to consolidate and divide the power in the hands of the aristocratic families.
What he had to do before that was to hand in a letter of allegiance and gain the trust of the royal family.
In this way, the Xie family can go further.
Xie Rou quickly figured out the key and couldn't help but shudder.
"Brother, are you saying that the aristocratic family... is destined to decline?"
"It's Nirvana and rebirth." He corrected: "Instead of waiting to be liquidated, it is better to take the initiative to break the shackles."
Xie Rou looked at his resolute profile and suddenly remembered the princess's eyes that could see through fire. At this moment, she finally understood that her brother chose the princess not only because of affection, but also because he saw an opportunity for the Xie family to be reborn from the ashes.
"I knew that Big Brother wouldn't really ignore us." Xie Rou burst into laughter, and her tense heart relaxed.
"But if this happens, what about my aunt and the prince? I'm worried that they will..." Xie Rou said worriedly.
The Xie family had been supporting the prince on the surface before, but if they really turned against him collectively this time, the prince's position as heir to the throne would most likely be lost. In the end, they might even resort to desperate measures.
Xie Yunqi's eyes darkened slightly, "My father's advocacy of making him the crown prince was a wrong move. Haven't he done enough ridiculous things over the years?"
Last year, when the Yellow River burst its banks, Chu Lang withheld relief money to build a garden; this spring, he secretly sold Jinshi places. What's even more ridiculous is that last month, when the northern army reported an urgent military situation, he delayed the military situation for three days just to train a falcon.
How can a crown prince like this, who is not worthy of his position, be responsible for the country and the people?
"If he knows what's good for him, he should resign the position of crown prince. But he wants to form a clique for personal gain." He stared at Xie Rou with a sharp gaze, "If the Xie family is still tied to him, they will be buried with him sooner or later."
Xie Rou shuddered when she heard that.
She seemed to have seen the scene of the Xie family and the prince sinking on a large ship, and a feeling of suffocation suddenly surged in her chest.
"No! Brother! Even if father made a wrong decision, the other people in the Xie family are innocent. Can you..." Xie Rou said anxiously.
"Xie Rou!" Xie Yunqi interrupted her: "Do what you should do well, as for other things, you don't need to worry about it."
Xie Rou was stunned. Thinking of Zhao Baiyu and others whom she had just met on the road, her heart sank little by little.
"Brother, what you are teaching me is that Rou'er is too naive." She raised her head slowly, tears welling in her eyes. "But my grandmother is old and my father is bedridden. If it really comes to that..."
Xie Yunqi's eyes moved slightly, and he turned around and took out a document from the drawer: "Three days later, someone will take my father and grandmother to the villa outside Beijing to recuperate. As for you——"
"I'm not going anywhere. Wherever my brother is, Rou'er will be there." Xie Rou said hurriedly.
"No!" Xie Yunqi refused without thinking.
"Brother!" Xie Rou was anxious. She didn't want to follow her father and grandmother to the villa. She was already eighteen years old. If she really waited until the situation in the court stabilized and her brother remembered to bring people to pick her up, it would be too late.
She didn't want to count the days on her fingers in the other courtyard, nor did she want to hide behind her brother like a coward.
She is talented, beautiful and smart, and can definitely help her brother.
"I know that my eldest brother is worried about my safety, but I am already eighteen years old. I am also the legitimate daughter of the Xie family. If something happens, I can't always hide behind."
After thinking for a while, she told Xie Yunqi about how she had just met Zhao Baiyu and others and how she was rescued by the princess, and added:
"Brother, since the princess is willing to save me, it means she is not completely hostile to the Xie family. If I can join the princess like you do..."
Seeing Xie Yunqi's expression relax, she took advantage of the situation and said, "Let me stay in the capital. I can participate in the selection of female officials in the princess's mansion, even if I can only be a lowly female official or a maid in the princess's mansion."
Xie Yunqi still didn't say anything, just stared at her.
As a last resort, Xie Rou had to grit her teeth and reveal her final bargaining chip.
"Actually, there is one thing you must not know yet, brother."
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