When the princess saw that Xiao Jin's face darkened and his eyes were fixed on her, she was terrified and immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty!"
She began to kowtow repeatedly. She hadn't expected Xiao Jin to be so furious about this, and her heart was instantly filled with anxiety. It wasn't that she was afraid of anything else, but she was afraid that he would take his anger out on Heng'er.
"What are you saying, Your Highness? You have done nothing wrong. You have only arranged a good marriage for Xiao Heng."
Xiao Jin's voice was devoid of emotion, but it was precisely this that made the Princess even more afraid.
Everyone knows that the more indifferent the emperor appears on the surface, the more intense his anger becomes, and the more ruthless he will scheme against others.
The eldest princess was already trembling with fear, just waiting for the guillotine to fall on her head.
"Your Majesty, I should not have acted on my own initiative. I should have consulted with my elder brother. I deserve to die a thousand deaths!"
This time, Xiao Jin didn't speak again. He scrutinized his kneeling elder sister, his narrow eyes narrowing as he understood.
It's not hard to guess what his elder sister is thinking, after all, she only has one son, Xiao Heng, over the years.
Now that he has sent him to guard the frontier, he knows it's to toughen Xiao Heng up, but what does his elder sister think? She's secretly plotting something.
At this critical juncture, marrying the daughter of the Song family wasn't about getting Xiao Heng to take her to the frontier, but rather about keeping Xiao Heng in the capital!
Xiao Jin couldn't help but wonder, was this her elder sister's own idea, or Xiao Heng's?
Is my nephew really that afraid of hardship? Doesn't he want to challenge himself?
Xiao Jin felt a little disappointed, but since things had come to this point, there was no point in saying anything more. He waved his sleeve and said, "Get out. You can decide his marriage yourself. I won't interfere."
The princess was startled. She had a vague feeling that Xiao Jin had abandoned her, abandoned them, and left them to drift with the tide...
This won't do!
The eldest princess wanted to plead with Xiao Jin for forgiveness again: "Your Majesty, I can annul the engagement, but Your Majesty is not pleased—"
"Enough! I will no longer interfere in Xiao Heng's marriage. You may leave!"
Xiao Jin interrupted the princess with a stern rebuke; he really didn't want to listen to this person's sophistry anymore.
The princess opened her mouth, but in the end she followed Xiao Jin's instructions and withdrew. She felt she couldn't withstand Xiao Jin's anger, so she decided to slip away as soon as possible.
After the eldest princess left, Xiao Jin fell into deep thought...
He wanted to find Xiao Heng a daughter of a king from a different surname, to give him a powerful in-law family.
After all, he thought Xiao Heng was really useless. He had been raised and educated by him since he was a child, but he had no kingly demeanor, lacked responsibility, and was dull and incompetent.
Xiao Jin could see clearly that if he were to truly decline in the future and his lifespan were to end, Xiao Heng would definitely not be a good emperor.
He wanted to find a good empress for Xiao Heng. Although she might not be both literate and skilled in martial arts, she would definitely be strong enough to suppress Xiao Heng's ambition, restrain him, and prevent him from doing foolish things.
But unexpectedly, because her elder sister was afraid that Xiao Heng would suffer, she wanted to keep him in the capital and specially chose a "good marriage" for him before this happened.
The daughter of the Song family should naturally be a delicate and frail young woman, without a powerful family background, and could only rely on Xiao Heng. How could she possibly be a good empress?
It seems he needs to come up with another idea. It's time to take a concubine, choose someone he doesn't find repulsive, and serve her to see if he can have a child or two.
There should be quite a few young ladies from prominent families at tomorrow's flower viewing banquet. He needs to personally meet them before making a decision.
No one knew what the emperor was thinking. He had tried to interact with women during his selection of concubines, but none of them made him feel comfortable, so he had to send them all away.
He was served by only eunuchs; there were no palace maids, and not even one was allowed into his bedchamber.
The Empress Dowager was aware of this and tried to get him to interact with the palace maids, but after dozens of attempts, it was still to no avail, so she simply stopped pressuring him.
Whenever the Empress Dowager thought of this, she would sigh with regret and feel guilty.
After all, Xiao Jin's abduction was partly due to her inadequate care, and she always regretted that it would have been better if that incident had never happened.
Later, seeing that Xiao Jin was raising Xiao Heng by her side, she stopped interfering. After all, they were both of Xiao family blood, and she could give an explanation to the late emperor and the court officials.
Xiao Jin hadn't expected Xiao Heng to be so incompetent. Oh well, he'd try getting close to women again. If he still couldn't succeed at the flower-viewing banquet tomorrow, he would have no choice but to abdicate in favor of a capable minister from another family.
Thinking of this, Xiao Jin's eyelashes trembled, and he made up his mind; he was truly unwilling to accept this...
Hopefully, he'll find someone he likes tomorrow; otherwise, he'll just have to accept his fate.
...
The eldest princess was completely unaware of this. She was still gloating, thinking that tomorrow she would surely appease her younger brother, and then Heng'er could stay in the capital.
She was unaware of the truth that the emperor was infertile; she only believed that he could not have children and therefore could not have sex.
Little did they know that Xiao Jin was completely averse to women and felt disgusted by them.
Upon returning to the Princess's residence, she checked her arrangements to make sure she hadn't overlooked anything, as the drug's effects should allow the Emperor to favor women.
After the check-up revealed no problems, she finally felt relieved and prayed that everything would go smoothly the next day.
...
The next day.
The Princess's residence was adorned with a profusion of flowers, with various precious blooms stretching from the front gate to the main hall. The clusters of vibrant and rare flowers amazed all the visitors.
The eldest princess did not need to personally receive the guests; instead, she had her son, Heng'er, greet them. Seeing how humble and polite he was in his interactions with people, the eldest princess nodded in satisfaction.
The prince consort whispered in her ear, "Princess, look at our Heng'er, he has really grown up. This is a good opportunity to make friends with distinguished guests. You are truly farsighted. I admire you."
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