Chapter 389

Just as the Duke of Duan left, Empress Dowager Ning'an turned around and looked at the seven-colored gauze cabinet behind her, letting out a deep sigh.

"You're already the emperor, yet you still use such childish methods to test your ministers?"

Emperor Longqing coughed, then slowly stepped out from behind the gauze cabinet and knelt before Empress Dowager Ning'an.

"I, your son, beg your pardon, Empress Dowager; I had no choice but to kill Consort Duan. Back then, that scoundrel Gu Shijie sent that lowly woman's scandal straight to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court, and I couldn't suppress it even if I wanted to."

"I am the ruler of a state! Even an ordinary man faced with such a matter would never let it go lightly!"

"I only feared hurting your heart, Empress Dowager. These days you've ignored me, and I am truly anxious…… I……"

Emperor Longqing grew choked up at the emotional point and could not utter another word.

Empress Dowager Ning'an looked at her son before her, and suddenly a wave of headache struck.

The happier he felt at the moment he angrily killed Consort Duan, the more fearful he is now.

The Duan clan is not so easily provoked, and she too is fuming with anger.

Although Consort Duan deserved death, after all she was my niece's aunt, so a quiet execution would have sufficed; but my son abused her corpse and fed it to wild dogs, which also slapped me in the face.

Now my nephew Duan Tianming holds troops in the borderlands, and lately the Western Rong border has been unstable, faintly showing signs of major war, which is why he fears.

Having her step in to settle the Duan affair, she now feels somewhat uneasy; in truth, thinking about it, her son truly cannot bear the weight of Southern Qi's realm.

These past years, if she hadn't intervened, Xiao Yin would have seized the throne long ago, and they mother and son would likely have had no place to bury their bodies.

She knows her own son well: he loves grand achievements, is incompetent yet fond of acting recklessly, unable to control his emotions……

Empress Dowager Ning'an felt that Emperor Longqing was truly mistaken beyond reason in the Duan affair.

Leaving aside whether he could become emperor, it was the Duan clan that helped solidify his position at court.

Xiao Yin's hidden threat was also resolved thanks to the Duan clan's efforts.

Before, the Duan clan could still check Xiao Yin, but now that they've treated the Duan people this way, they will surely hate her son intensely.

The Duan clan merely wanted to save face; directly whipping and feeding his consort's corpse to dogs amounts to slapping the entire Duan clan in the face.

Empress Dowager Ning'an was so angry she didn't want to deal with her son, but since it had happened, she could only use her authority to warn the Duan clan.

Gu Shijie uncovered the Consort Duan affair; although everyone had already broken ties, there was still room for reconciliation.

As long as her elder brother leads the Duan clan to surrender part of their military power and supports the Third Prince to settle in Quzhou, they could live as wealthy landowners.

Empress Dowager Ning'an will surely protect the Duan clan's descendants for lasting peace.

That's all she can do for the Duan clan; her son obviously harbors hatred toward them.

When her son ascended, he owed his rise to the eight great clans, yet he was also controlled by them.

Although he holds a high position, many things are not under his control.

Empress Dowager Ning'an understands what her son wants to do, but the eight great clans are deeply entrenched; they cannot collapse overnight.

She let out a deep sigh, looking at her son: "Your Majesty, I am old too; I can no longer bear some things, and the road ahead must be walked by you yourself."

"The urgent task is still to select a heir from among your sons."

She felt embarrassed to say the rest; her son is not only talentless and incompetent, but also physically frail.

When he was a child, if it hadn't been for the late emperor's fondness for Xiao Yin, who often came to her chambers to visit Xiao Yin and incidentally glance at this child,

it's likely her son's clumsy appearance would never have caught the late emperor's eye.

Having him practice martial arts is not his forte; he's too lazy to exercise, and when writing essays he often slacks off.

Even now, Empress Dowager Ning'an thinks it remarkable that her son managed to succeed in the succession struggle.

At this point Empress Dowager Ning'an feels more disappointed in Emperor Longqing, and would rather pick a clever child among her grandchildren to inherit the throne early, so as to prevent her son from squandering Southern Qi's realm.

Emperor Longqing repeatedly assented, yet a glint of coldness flickered in his lowered eyes.

He could not fail to hear his mother's thoughts: she despised him as a good-for-nothing and even wanted to replace him with his own son.

He isn't dead yet!

So many people wish for his death, even his own birth mother hopes his son will replace him.

He insists on making, in his lifetime, a decision that will shine in history; he does not want to spend his life living in the shadows of the Duan clan and Consort Ning'an, for he is the emperor of Southern Qi, the one who places the pieces, not a piece among them.

It's not as people say, that he has a formidable mother and gains status through her.

Furthermore, they claim his emperorship was only because Xiao Yin yielded it to him; each time he hears such words, Emperor Longqing's heart grows a bit more resentful.

He slowly rose and sat beside Empress Dowager Lin'an, personally helping her review his writing.

"Is it true that Bei Di intends to have Princess Yuanqing marry the Ninth Prince?"

Empress Dowager Ning'an's eyes flashed, and she said slowly: "Now the Western Rong side is mighty, and in this Duan affair you have been too harsh."

"The Duan troops are stationed at the Western Rong border; if something goes wrong there, and Bei Di no longer stands with us, then Southern Qi is not far from destruction."

Emperor Longqing also knew this, looking at Consort Ning'an he said: "Mother, what do you mean?"

Empress Dowager Ning'an pondered a moment: "Xiao Yin is the hardest to deal with; this time he has restored his former reputation in the army, and if he continues to grow stronger through competition, now that you have offended the Duan clan…"

"In the end, you and I, mother and son, will die without knowing how."

"We must stabilize the Duan side, and likewise stabilize Xiao Yin's side."

"Hasn't Xiao Yin just lost his consort?"

"Princess Yuanqing of Bei Di has long admired Xiao Yin; this is such a good match that if you don't intervene, it cannot be refused."

Consort Ning'an curled her lip in a sneer and coldly laughed: "Besides, Bei Di and Xiao Yin have been at war for years, already bearing hatred; if Xiao Yin were to marry the beautiful Bei Di princess as his consort, even his subordinates would feel resentful."

"By then Xiao Yin's prestige in the capital will surely be diminished."

"Thus we both suppress Xiao Yin's momentum and hand Bei Di's Princess Yuanqing, this big trouble, over to him; whether he accepts it or not, he will be cursed, and this is an excellent stratagem—no need to regret it."

Emperor Longqing immediately nodded, hurriedly rose, and said: "I, your son, will here gather the Ministry of Rites officials to draft the marriage alliance documents."

The Empress Dowager slowly shook her head: "Again I dreamed of the plains; the Bei Di marriage alliance policy must not cause a farce like that of Princess Changping."

"When the time comes, Princess Yuanqing will surely meet Xiao Yin; you just need to find a pretext and, before all those people, bestow marriage upon Xiao Yin and the Bei Di princess."