"Don't want my touch anymore?" Shen Xihe gazed at Bu Shulin with an ambiguous smile.
Seeing her take a step forward, Bu Shulin abruptly shifted inward on the bed, tugging at her wound and grimacing in pain.
Shen Xihe let out a soft, amused hum: "You should be more careful from now on."
The playful expression faded from Bu Shulin's face as her eyes grew profound: "I was careless. I never imagined His Majesty would already harbor intentions to kill me."
"His Majesty is gradually entering his twilight years, while the princes have come of age with fully grown wings. He will grow increasingly impatient." Shen Xihe clasped her hands before her, moving with light steps and elegant grace toward the window. Her gaze penetrated through to the bamboo grove outside, the swaying bamboo shadows flickering in her misty, elusive eyes. "Moreover, His Majesty is far from reaching a state of paranoid urgency. For him to act this way, aside from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he must already have a well-thought-out plan."
"A well-thought-out plan?" Bu Shulin carefully pondered these words, her gaze sharpening. "You mean to say His Majesty has planted spies within the Shunan Army, near my Father!"
If she were killed here, by the time the news reached Shunan, Father would be grief-stricken. The spy would seize the opportunity to strike, fabricating a story of Father dying from sorrow. Even if someone noticed something amiss, the court-appointed successor would immediately arrive to take over. To protect themselves and their families, they would remain silent.
What a brilliant move to eliminate someone without shedding blood!
"What you've considered is only part of it." Shen Xihe reached out and gently brushed the emerald leaves on the windowsill. "Nothing in this world is absolute. His Majesty cannot guarantee that this move will leave no traces, yet he still acted. This means—"
Shen Xihe turned around, her sheer skirt shimmering as it swayed, her radiant eyes meeting Bu Shulin's: "It means His Majesty does not fear going to war with Shunan."
Bu Shulin's heart tightened: "Where does His Majesty get such confidence?"
Even as the emperor, if he assassinates a subject first, he has no moral ground. Could he truly rally the surrounding garrisons to besiege Shunan with a single command? Wouldn't he fear that these forces, seeing their own vulnerability, would grow cold and suspicious of the emperor?
"His Majesty never intended to use the surrounding garrisons to suppress Shunan." Shen Xihe's gaze grew solemn. "His Majesty has long privately assembled a secret army, which has been in development for five or six years. Now that this secret army has matured, His Majesty will no longer be constrained by others. What he truly needs is a perfect opportunity to unleash it, using it to intimidate all sides."
"His Majesty actually formed a secret army privately?" Bu Shulin was only learning of this now, her face paling in shock.
To assemble an army, and to do so for five or six years without arousing suspicion—even for an emperor, this was no easy feat.
Funding and provisions were one challenge, but the most difficult was manpower. A secret army could range from hundreds to thousands of soldiers. For such a large number of people to disappear without reports or investigations meant that local authorities were covering for His Majesty, indicating his absolute control over the regions where talent was selected.
"His Majesty has reigned for twenty years, sweeping away the decline of the previous emperor's era. Over these years, aside from his heavy self-interest, he has neither promoted sycophants nor pardoned corruption. He is regarded as an enlightened ruler by both civil and military officials and deeply loved by the common people." Shen Xihe reminded her.
This time, Bu Shulin had suffered a great calamity and had no choice but to swallow her anger. Without evidence, she could not expose the emperor's ruthlessness.The Youning Emperor was a ruler with almost no flaws beyond his obsession with power and reputation. He was not given to lust, diligent and upright, courageous and resourceful, and appointed people on their merits. Had he legitimately ascended the throne in a time of peace and prosperity, his reign would have been one of great tranquility and order.
Yet the timing was wrong. His troubled childhood saw the Youning Emperor stranded in the northwest, supported by the Shen family and indebted to the Gu family. Moreover, he had an elder brother whose brilliance completely overshadowed his own.
After his smooth accession, the death of his brother remained shrouded in mystery, with many suspecting him of foul play. Countless eyes watched him closely, and at the slightest sign of weakness, sighs would be heard lamenting the premature death of Qian Wang, suggesting that had Qian Wang ascended the throne, the situation would have been entirely different.
In his early years, he was constrained by powerful families, with the Gu clan dominating half the court. Many of his imperial decrees were rejected by the Chancellery, and regional military power was rife with nepotism, all scheming for their own princes. With the northwest growing increasingly powerful and prosperous, he found it difficult to sleep at night.
He learned to bide his time, gradually dismantling the eunuchs' influence and weakening the great families. He was just one step away from becoming a legendary enlightened ruler. Only when he centralized military power would the empire truly and completely become his. "I don’t understand why His Majesty’s suspicion runs so deep," Bu Shulin sighed softly. "My father and your father only wish to protect the people in their regions. As you said, His Majesty has the makings of an enlightened ruler. Even if we harbored rebellious intentions—which we do not—we would find no pretext for them.
As long as His Majesty does not lose virtue, even if we were to commit treason, the people would not stand for it.
We could have maintained a harmonious relationship between ruler and subject, working together to create a golden age. Yet His Majesty cannot tolerate us.
Does he truly believe that by overthrowing our Bu family and your Shen family, he can directly govern these regions? Even if he sends his most trusted aides, with great power and vast distances, can he guarantee they will not develop ambitions of their own?"
"Eliminating the eunuchs, suppressing the scholar-official clans, and centralizing military power," Shen Xihe's lips curled into a faint, cynical smile. "These are unparalleled achievements. If His Majesty succeeds, we will be recorded in history as treacherous ministers who overstepped their authority. How the annals portray us will be entirely up to him."
"All for the sake of an empty reputation?"
At times, Bu Shulin struggled to understand the emperor. During her years in the capital, she had observed that His Majesty never postponed court sessions due to illness, held himself to strict standards, and set an example for all officials. He deserved praise for his diligence and love for the people. If she were not the Shunan Prince Heir but an ordinary subject, she would have sung his praises.
Such an emperor, Bu Shulin refused to believe, was unaware that the Shen and Bu families, and even the previously exterminated Gu family, had never harbored disloyal intentions.
Yet he lacked the magnanimity to tolerate them.
"It’s not just about an empty reputation," Shen Xihe replied with cold rationality. "His Majesty has his own position. It’s not that he doesn’t trust us, but as an emperor, he cannot focus solely on the present. Today, my father and brother have no rebellious intentions, and you and your father wish to remain loyal subjects.
But what about the future? Will my brother’s descendants remain content? Will your Bu family’s heirs remain loyal forever? Can you guarantee that?"
Bu Shulin opened her mouth but could not utter a single word of assurance.
"You cannot," Shen Xihe stated with certainty. "His Majesty does not wish for such a disaster to occur after his passing. The Shen family’s roots in the northwest run too deep, and the same is true for your Bu family. By replacing us, His Majesty doesn’t need the new appointees to remain loyal forever. It will take them a very long time to establish themselves and potentially become the next Shen or Bu family—enough time for his successors to prepare their defenses."No one had ever spoken to her like this before. Bu Shulin was deeply shaken in her heart. As a daughter of the Shen family, who was similarly distrusted by the emperor and marked for elimination, Shen Xihe could remain so fair-minded—without resentment, anger, or bias—that Bu Shulin was filled with admiration. "Youyou, you possess the magnanimity of an emperor."
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