Chapter 119
Emperor Jingxi was summoning his close ministers in the Imperial Study. Besides Zhao Changde, there were two others: Sun Jing, the Minister of War, and Sima Lan, a Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy.
They were discussing matters concerning the northeastern border. Logically, with bandits rampant in the border areas, robbing and plundering, causing widespread suffering, the imperial court should have sent troops to fight them long ago. However, the actual situation in this area was somewhat complicated.
This was the territory of the late emperor's sixth son, Emperor Jingxi's sixth elder brother, and the deposed Prince Mu.
During the reign of the late emperor, although Emperor Jingxi was the legitimate son, he was not favored. The late emperor favored a concubine who was originally a musician, and by extension, he also liked the son born to that concubine, who was Prince Mu.
The late emperor wanted to make Prince Mu the crown prince, but unfortunately Prince Mu was neither the eldest son nor the legitimate heir, and his mother was of poor birth, so he could not gain the trust of the people. Therefore, the emperor could only show more favor to Prince Mu.
The harem is the place where people fawn over the powerful and bully the weak. The emperor's likes and dislikes determine the wind direction. Although Emperor Jingxi was the crown prince, the palace servants treated him well on the surface, but they didn't care much about the details. Gradually, even some people in the court sided with Prince Mu.
Fortunately, the late emperor died suddenly, allowing Emperor Jingxi to ascend the throne at a young age. Otherwise, things could have been very complicated, and who knows how many twists and turns the succession to the throne would have been.
When Emperor Jingxi ascended the throne, Prince Mu was naturally sent far away and banished to the northeastern border.
But King Mu was not giving up. He gathered a group of people and claimed that Emperor Jingxi's ascension to the throne was illegitimate and that the late emperor's death was suspicious, demanding a thorough investigation.
Emperor Jingxi had long disliked him, so he seized the opportunity to quickly kill him and reclaim the territory.
There was a slight hiccup when King Mu was killed, because he was, after all, Emperor Jingxi's brother in name only. According to the style of a benevolent ruler, he should not kill his brothers and sisters. Many ministers even advised Emperor Jingxi that it would be bad for his reputation.
Emperor Jingxi only half-heartedly listened to the advice, executing only the ringleaders and ignoring the coerced followers. He killed King Mu, but spared many of King Mu's subordinates.
As a result, this decision to leave him behind caused problems. As the saying goes, "Even a centipede with a hundred legs does not fall down when it dies." Although King Mu was dead, his men continued to cause trouble in his name.
The northeastern border is now occupied by King Mu's men who have become bandits, claiming to save all living beings and oppose the tyrant.
The problem lies in the fact that this area was previously under the jurisdiction of King Mu. The local people were far from the emperor, and many only knew King Mu, not the emperor. As a result, quite a few people believed the lies told by King Mu's men.
If Emperor Jingxi had ordered the entire population to be killed, it would have seemed to confirm his reputation as a tyrant. If he had only killed a portion of the population, it would have been inevitable that such incidents would not occur again in the future. Furthermore, there were questions about how to govern the land after the conquest and who should be in charge of it.
Just as Zhao Changde finished explaining his idea, and Sima Lan was about to speak, the Grand Eunuch Liang Danxin entered.
“Your Majesty, the princess is coming this way.” Liang Danxin’s voice was soft, but his speech was fast. No one knew Qin Su’s position in Emperor Jingxi’s heart better than him. “I heard from the palace servants that the princess was looking at cats in the Imperial Animal Garden, but for some reason her eyes turned red and she insisted on seeing Your Majesty.”
Emperor Jingxi's expression hardened, and he asked sternly, "The princess is crying?"
Since she was old enough to understand, Qin Su has been more concerned about her image than ordinary children. She rarely cries or makes a fuss, and she would never bother to see him when he is handling political affairs.
Liang Danxin replied, "He said he shed tears."
Emperor Jingxi could no longer sit still and immediately got up to go see his daughter.
Qin Su had already arrived. As soon as she saw Emperor Jingxi, she rushed towards him like a little animal finding a safe haven, bumping into his leg and crying out, "Father!"
Emperor Jingxi picked her up and saw tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes, which were red like a little rabbit's. He asked with concern, "What happened? Who made my princess angry?"
Zhao Changde, Sima Lan, and the other two bowed their heads, some drinking tea, pretending not to see the dignified emperor coaxing his daughter like an old father.
Qin Su looked up at him with her small face, wanting to say something, but her remaining rationality made her remember that there were outsiders in the room.
She glanced at the others, and Emperor Jingxi understood her meaning, so he dismissed everyone in the room, even Liang Danxin.
"Now you can talk, right?" Emperor Jingxi sat down with Qin Su in his arms, took a handkerchief and wiped her face. "Why are you crying like this?"
Qin Su was on the verge of tears: "Father, will you die?"
Emperor Jingxi was taken aback, not expecting his daughter to cry for this reason. He felt both touched and amused: "Everyone dies, and of course I will die in the future."
"But aren't you the Son of Heaven?" Qin Su tugged at his sleeve, her eyes pleading. "Don't people always say you'll live forever? Ye Yan also said that Heaven will bless you and that you'll live a very, very long time."
Emperor Jingxi didn't know how to explain Confucianism, imperial power, and the interaction between heaven and man to his daughter, so he could only coax her by saying, "I will indeed live for a very, very long time."
Decades is a very long time, and hundreds or thousands of years is also a very long time. He knew that Qin Su wouldn't delve into the differences between them now.
Unexpectedly, Qin Su sniffed and said, "Cat Cat said that Father Emperor will die when Xiao San turns sixteen. Father Emperor, Xiao San is already one year old. Is fifteen years really a long time?"
She was taught arithmetic by Emperor Jingxi himself, and she had already calculated everything clearly on the way here.
Emperor Jingxi was stunned and asked, "What did you say?"
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