Chapter 281

Xiao Jingheng slowly unfolded the imperial edict in his hands.

Its contents, he had read countless times over the years, and he knew them by heart.

But this time, after reading every word of the edict, Xiao Jingheng casually tossed it into the censer and set it ablaze.

The intensifying flames cast a twisted smile upon his face,

And a misty haze of tears in his eyes.

"Father, I remember that after the passing of the Empress, Consort Yu monopolized your favor. She belittled me in front of everyone, calling me a motherless wild child. Whenever I went to the Office of the Imperial Secretariat, Jinglian would mock me for days on end and beat me in front of our brothers."

Xiao Jingheng murmured to himself, gazing at the ashes rising from the heated censer. His hands, naturally resting by his side, gradually clenched into fists.

"I dared not fight back because I had the love of Consort Yu and the favor of my father. But I had nothing else. At that time, you told me, Father, that my elder and second brothers died young, so I, as your eldest son, must display the demeanor of a crown prince. You advised me not to quarrel with Jinglian and said that you would reprimand him. Yet, when you turned around, you took Jinglian with you to Autumn Hunting and even forgot about the seventh-day memorial for the Empress."

"Father, from childhood to adulthood, I understood that you loved Jinglian. Even Jingyan, despite your high expectations, received more attention from you than I did. Even if I excelled in everything, because of your estrangement with the Empress, you refused to spare me a glance."

He took a deep breath, holding back the moisture welling up in his eyes. With a short sigh, he shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Although I am not your favored candidate for the throne, I now sit on this imperial seat and must fulfill your wishes. I have always remembered the lessons you taught me and have shown kindness to Jingyan and leniency to Jinglian."

As the edict burned to ashes, the fragments scattered and filled the air.

They flew towards Xiao Jingheng, clouding his vision, and evoking tears.

Xiao Jingheng rubbed his reddened eyes and looked at the unextinguished ashes in the censer. He picked up a teacup, symbolically poured tea into it as an offering to the heavens, and extinguished the remaining flames.

"But now, Jinglian has committed such a grave mistake, which brings disgrace not only upon our ancestors but also upon the entire imperial family. I have no choice but to handle this matter impartially and return justice to the subjects of the realm. I implore you, Father, resting in the netherworld, to understand the difficulties your son faces."

With these words, Xiao Jingheng leaned back, his body supported by something, and though he smiled, tears continued to flow.

In his mind, fragments of his strategic calculations for the whole situation played over and over:

Xiao Jingheng recalled how he had used Consort Yu's love for Song Zhao, exploiting her allergy to peach blossom pollen as an excuse to force the Empress to deal with the peach blossom tree planted by Princess Dowage Yu.

He had accurately predicted the long-standing conflict between the Empress and Noble Consort Chen. In such a mess, the Empress would undoubtedly use her schemes to pressure Noble Consort Chen into taking action. After Noble Consort Chen cut down the peach tree, Princess Dowager Yu, who was already in poor health, passed away. Xiao Jingheng took the opportunity to secretly have her poisoned, making it appear as if she died from anger, which fueled Prince Rui's resentment towards the Ning Family.

Surprisingly, Xiao Jingheng didn't punish the Ning Family but instead rewarded them shortly after, further provoking Prince Rui's deep-seated grudge. Xiao Jingheng knew Prince Rui's impulsive and vengeful nature all too well, so his subsequent move was to make sure Prince Rui continued to target the Ning Family.

When the Ning Family returned their military power, Xiao Jingheng agreed to their request to retire from service. He knew that Prince Rui would definitely not easily let go of the Ning Family and would privately investigate the losses suffered by the father and son.

Later, when Prince Rui presented the evidence he had gathered to Xiao Jingheng, he could immediately tell that some of the evidence was a mixture of truth and falsehood, far from being entirely accurate. However, Xiao Jingheng chose to turn a blind eye and allowed Prince Rui to distort the truth, even escalating the matter in court and pressuring his courtiers to force him to deal with the Ning Family.

In the end, the father and son of the Ning Family met their deaths, and Xiao Jingheng used the opportunity of reopening the case to expose all the false accusations against the Ning Family as Prince Rui's fabrications. The crimes of framing loyal subjects, colluding with enemy nations, and threatening high-ranking officials were more than enough to enrage the people, uprooting Prince Rui's foundation.

At that time, the entire world would despise Prince Rui as a despicable villain, while Xiao Jingheng, even if he had mistakenly killed a loyal minister, would be seen as deceived and somewhat forgivable.

Moreover, he had even given the Imperial Pardon, the first one since the establishment of the dynasty, to Noble Consort Chen, allowing her to personally save someone.

If Noble Consort Chen couldn't save her own family, how could she blame him?

In this game, Xiao Jingheng emerged victorious, even more decisively than when he plotted against Prince Rui and lost the position of Crown Prince.

The external military power held by the Ning Family and the personal guard force held by Prince Rui could both be openly retrieved by him.

In this world, from beginning to end, it could only be Xiao Jingheng alone. Anyone who threatened his reign, regardless of whether they had intentions of rebellion or not, would have only one path ahead: death.

[In the previous section of Xiao Jingheng's self-narration, the Empress Dowager mentioned is not the Empress Dowager but Xiao Jingheng's biological mother. Xiao Jingheng's mother was the Noble Consort of the late Emperor, and Xiao Jingheng was born of a concubine. His mother was wicked and had been involved in plotting against the Empress and the imperial heir in the palace, which made the late Emperor dislike and reject her. After Xiao Jingheng ascended to the throne, he posthumously honored the Noble Consort as the Empress Dowager Zhao Ding, intentionally moving her burial place away from the late Emperor's tomb to be buried together with him, with the purpose of disgusting the late Emperor and not allowing him to rest in peace.]