"...But isn't the emperor still the emperor, and the regent still the regent? He can't rise to the level of the emperor!"
As for the Regent, you already have control of the court, so why do you keep thinking about taking it a step further? Tell me, he doesn't even have a wife and children, what's the point of taking it a step further?
Even if you become emperor, who will inherit the throne? In my opinion, he'd be better off getting married and having a son first, before making any further plans!
"Sister, keep your voice down," Chu Susu reminded her. "If these words get out, you will offend both the Emperor and the Regent."
Chu Nian: "I just think these men are so boring. It's like they have nothing better to do than fight over each other all day long. They don't realize that what they have is already pretty good, and fighting over more might not make it any better."
I didn't understand before; I always dreamed of eternally enjoying the emperor's favor. But after dying once, I realized that the emperor's favor towards me was only because my grandfather and father held military power and supported him. He had no real love for me whatsoever!
She looked heartbroken as she spoke.
Chu Susu thought of herself again. In the past, she was valued because the Regent had sent her to infiltrate the Emperor's inner circle; now, she was also valued because the Regent wanted her to control the Emperor...
Ha, so ultimately, all these men's affection for women stems from what the women are useful to them. If they're useless, then there's no love for them whatsoever.
Thinking about this, she felt that all these men were disgusting and annoying, and none of them were worthy of her sincere feelings.
Then Chu Nian murmured again, "Men, they're all scumbags. If men were reliable, pigs would fly!"
"Sow?" Chu Susu exclaimed in surprise, finding the word rather... quite fitting when compared to the word "man"!
Seeing Chu Nian nod, Chu Susu, who was originally saddened that she hadn't figured out how she had lived in both her lives, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The Qianqing Palace.
The emperor, with a smile on his face, saw off Li Xiao, who had almost beaten Chu Nian on the spot and whose face had turned pale with anger. After returning to the palace, he instructed the palace servants: "I am tired and need to rest for a while. You may all leave. You may not enter the palace unless I summon you."
"Yes." Although many of the palace servants were the regent's spies, they still had to give the emperor face. They couldn't openly "eavesdrop," so they respectfully agreed and withdrew.
After everyone had left and the palace doors were closed, the emperor's gentle expression suddenly changed, becoming stern and majestic, and his voice was deep: "How are the Empress and Consort Lian doing?"
A voice came from the shadows: "Your Majesty, after Consort Lian left Qianqing Palace, she went to Kunning Palace. Strangely, she seemed to have a very congenial conversation with the Empress in Kunning Palace. The Empress even ordered someone to go to the Imperial Kitchen and take the blame for Consort Lian stealing wine and fruit."
The emperor asked in surprise, "Isn't Niannian always at odds with Susu? How come the two of them are getting along so well?"
A voice from the shadows said, "That's the strange thing. If Consort Lian, after her near-drowning incident, had figured things out and realized that she still needed the Emperor to survive, and would wholeheartedly assist His Majesty, that wouldn't be surprising. What's strange is why the Empress would forgive her and even take responsibility for her stealing fruit and wine?"
The emperor, recalling Lian Nian's previous stubbornness, said with some disbelief, "Nian Nian is so spoiled, can she really... change her ways this time?"
A voice from the shadows said, "I see that she is very much favored by the Empress now." After a pause, it continued, "She couldn't possibly have realized that trying to please His Majesty wouldn't yield good results, so she's turned to trying to please the Empress instead!"
The Emperor said, "Susu was initially forced into the palace by that scoundrel Li Xiao. I originally thought she was dull and incompetent; now it seems she was mostly just pretending to be weak to deceive others. However, I wonder if she's truly loyal to me or to Li Xiao..."
A voice from the shadows: "Does Your Majesty still harbor illusions about her? I have always believed that she has always been Li Xiao's best friend."
The emperor fell silent. In his view, only someone with Chu Susu's methods was worthy of being his empress; otherwise, there would be no peace in the harem. If there was no peace in the harem, how could he concentrate on handling affairs of the court?
The minister in the shadows must have known his thoughts, so he didn't try to persuade him further and also remained silent.
In the evening, the emperor heard that Consort Lian was still in the Empress's palace. It was said that the two women were getting along very well, like "a thousand cups of wine are not enough when drinking with a bosom friend." The emperor found it very strange: these two women used to be mortal enemies, each with their own fate. How come they suddenly have a good relationship now?
Out of curiosity, the emperor ordered people to set up a cabinet in the Kunning Palace.
When the palace servants learned that the Emperor was coming this way, they were all startled. Although the Empress had openly taken the blame for Consort Lian's theft of the imperial kitchen, the Regent was free to enjoy the wines, drinks, and fruits, many of which were rare and valuable. The Empress also benefited from the feast, so naturally no one dared to say anything.
But the emperor is different. These are things that the imperial kitchen usually tells the emperor to be rare and precious. Now the emperor has discovered that there are so many of them in the empress's palace. The two women have been eating and drinking here all afternoon, and they are still eating, drinking and chatting in the evening. Where does the whole palace place the emperor?
Suhe quickly informed the Empress that the Emperor was coming soon and gestured for her to quickly put away the food and drinks so that the Emperor wouldn't be angry when he arrived.
Chu Nian had excellent hearing, and although the report was given in a very low voice, she still heard it clearly. She smiled and said, "The Emperor is here? Where is he? Empress, why don't we have him join us for a chat?"
Suhe saw that her face was flushed from drinking, and with that gorgeous makeup, she was even more eye-catching than during the day, and even more likely to seduce men into committing crimes.
She sensed that Chu Nian was already somewhat drunk. "Didn't you see she even said something like 'partnering with the Emperor'?" she thought. She quickly turned to Zhao Susu and said, "Your Majesty, this Consort Lian seems a little drunk. Please don't offend the Emperor and anger him further. Perhaps we should send her back to Xukun Palace." In her heart, however, she was quite disgusted: With such a beautiful woman as Consort Lian here, would the Emperor even give the Empress a second glance?!
Unexpectedly, the Emperor's voice rang out from outside: "What, do my Empress and Consort have some private matters to discuss that they cannot let me know? As soon as they heard I was here, they wanted to send the Consort away?"
The Empress's expression changed: Chu Nian said countless treasonous things here today, has it all reached the Emperor's ears? Logically speaking, a lot of the people around her should have been purged long ago, not to mention the Emperor, even the Regent's people are probably gone.
She quickly turned around and led the palace servants to bow to the emperor, who was already striding towards them, shouting "Long live the emperor!" three times.
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