Novel Full Chapter 1181 - 171: Cooperation with the Xie Family—A Calculated Move from the Beginning (Part 3)
Chapter 1181 - 171: Cooperation with the Xie Family—A Calculated Move from the Beginning (Part 3)
Noble Princess Consort Ying winked at Xie Yi and said, "Just because I have no family background and no children, the Emperor can confidently favor me."
Xie Yi was slightly stunned upon hearing this, and after a while, she laughed at herself, "I see."
Originally intending to tease Xie Yi, Noble Princess Consort Ying didn’t expect Xie Yi not to go mad, feeling quite uninterested, she stood up and said, "I’m leaving now. I’ll come again next time you go crazy."
"I want to see the Emperor," Xie Yi suddenly said.
"You want to see the Emperor?" Noble Princess Consort Ying laughed, "Do you think the Emperor will see you?"
"Tell the Emperor, I still have things about Xie Wan I haven’t said."
This piqued Noble Princess Consort Ying’s interest. She looked at Xie Yi playfully, "You want to tell the Emperor that it wasn’t you who caused the late Empress’s death?"
Xie Yi didn’t speak again and turned her back, no longer looking at Noble Princess Consort Ying.
"Interesting." Noble Princess Consort Ying left the Cold Palace holding the palace maid’s hand.
"Consort, do you truly intend to relay what she just said to the Emperor?" the palace maid asked, "This maid thinks she is deceiving you."
"I’m curious." Noble Princess Consort Ying smiled, "I’ll relay it." The days in the harem were too dull, she needed to find some amusement; otherwise, she would be bored to death. "Come on, let’s go to the Imperial Study."
Noble Princess Consort Ying indeed went to the Imperial Study and relayed Xie Yi’s words verbatim to the Emperor.
The Emperor didn’t rush to the Cold Palace to see Xie Yi after hearing it, instead, he waited until he finished reviewing the memorials before going.
Noble Princess Consort Ying requested to accompany him, and the Emperor did not refuse.
The Emperor went in to see Xie Yi himself, leaving Noble Princess Consort Ying and Sun Kui outside. Noble Princess Consort Ying originally thought she could stay by the Emperor’s side and hear Xie Yi speak about the late Empress, but she didn’t expect to be shut out by the Emperor.
Seeing Noble Princess Consort Ying looking very disgruntled, Sun Kui lowered his head, trying hard to suppress his laughter.
Noble Princess Consort Ying walked quietly to the window and pressed her ear against the window to eavesdrop.
Sun Kui pretended not to see. Actually, he also wanted to eavesdrop, but he didn’t have Noble Princess Consort Ying’s courage.
Inside the room, the Emperor sat down on the old but thoroughly cleaned couch.
Xie Yi knelt below.
"What do you want to tell me?" The Emperor’s tone was cold, but his expression showed no impatience.
"Your Majesty, Xie Wan does not love you." Xie Yi showed a smile of revenge when she said this. "She once told me herself that she doesn’t love you; she can only be a good Empress." She recalled this suddenly two days ago. At that time, she was young and had entered the palace with Xie Wan. She deliberately asked Xie Wan if she liked the Emperor; Xie Wan didn’t answer then, and she thought Xie Wan was shy and was very angry at the time. Later, she heard Xie Wan tell the palace maid beside her that she didn’t love the Emperor nor dared to love him, all she could do was be a good Empress.
She heard these words when she had just woken up, groggy, and later forgot about this incident. Only two days ago she dreamed of this, she remembered.
Seeing the malice in Xie Yi’s eyes, the Emperor lightly chuckled, "Do you think I care whether she loves me or not?"
This sentence made Xie Yi’s smile freeze; she said incredulously, "You don’t care?"
"I don’t care." The Emperor flicked his sleeve, "Do you know why you are never as good as Xie Wan?"
Xie Yi couldn’t bear to hear this, especially because it came from the Emperor’s mouth. Her pale face showed anger, she roared, "I’m not inferior to her. I am the legitimate daughter; she’s a low-born concubine daughter. She’s not as good as me."
"Xie Wan is smarter than you and more self-aware." The Emperor supported his face with his right hand, looking at Xie Yi amusedly, "Xie Wan knows I don’t love her, so she cleverly chose to be a good Empress."
"You don’t love Xie Wan, you’re lying to me; you obviously loved her so much... when she died, you stopped court affairs for her, it’s impossible for you not to love her." Xie Yi still remembers the Emperor’s grief after Xie Wan’s death.
"Although I don’t love her, I have great respect for her." Regarding the late Empress, the Emperor genuinely respected her and felt indebted to her. "Do you think she didn’t know you guys poisoned her?"
Xie Yi’s complexion changed, "What do you mean?"
"When Xie Wan was seriously ill, she discovered that you guys drugged her. To protect you and your mother, as well as Duke Zhen Country Mansion, she chose to keep it secret and even ensured I wouldn’t notice." The Emperor said, "Before Xie Wan’s death, she didn’t ask me for anything; the only thing she asked was for me to marry you."
"Impossible!" Xie Yi shrieked sharply, "You’re lying to me!"
"If it weren’t for Xie Wan, I wouldn’t have married you as the successor Empress." At that time, the Emperor indeed hadn’t thought about marrying the daughter from the Xie family as the successor Empress.
"No way, I am Duke Zhen Country’s legitimate daughter; you couldn’t not marry me." Xie Yi’s expression turned ferocious, "If it weren’t for my young age, I would have married you originally, Xie Wan, that bitch, wouldn’t have. I was supposed to be your Empress."
"The reason I agreed to marry Xie Wan at the time was precisely because she was an unfavored concubine daughter." The Emperor looked at Xie Yi with mockery in his eyes, his tone indifferent, "If it had been you at first, I would never have agreed to the alliance, much less marry you."
"Impossible!" Xie Yi couldn’t accept this fact, "I am the Xie family’s legitimate daughter, how could you refuse to marry me?"
"Just because you are the Xie family’s legitimate daughter." The Emperor sneered, "When I agreed to an alliance with the Xie family, it wasn’t because I needed assistance from the leading noble family Xie, but to deal with the noble families later." In those years, when Xie family proposed an alliance, the Zhao family had already conquered most of the territory. Although Zhao Yao needed more weapons and provisions at the time, without the Xie family’s help, the Zhao family would have succeeded in the end.
The Xie family proposed to support the Zhao family because they saw the Zhao family was about to succeed; otherwise, why didn’t the Xie family cooperate with the Zhao family from the beginning?
Xie Yi seemed not to understand the meaning of the Emperor’s words. She asked with confusion, "What do you mean?"
The Emperor patiently explained again, "Agreeing to marry into the Xie family was to deal with the noble families in the future, and the Xie family was the head of these families."
Normally not very clever, Xie Yi understood the Emperor’s meaning this time. With a rumbling sound, these words were like a bolt from the blue. Her mind went blank, her complexion full of shock.
The Emperor continued slowly, "Both the former Emperor and I detested the noble families; why would we want to cooperate with the leading family, the Xie family, to become in-laws?"
Xie Yi’s body trembled slightly, her gaze toward the Emperor was full of fear.
"Collaborating with the Xie family was firstly to deceive the aristocratic families, making them think our Zhao family was willing to marry into the noble families, making them believe it was profitable, also making them think our Zhao family was like any previous Imperial Family. Secondly, it was to eliminate all the aristocratic families."
Xie Yi collapsed to the ground, her body shaking more violently.
"Xie Wan was smarter than you; shortly after becoming Empress, she realized my intentions, so she chose to be a good Empress." The Emperor walked to the side of the collapsed Xie Yi, looking down at her from above, his tone icy and full of mockery, "Of course, I agreed to Xie Wan’s request to marry you as successor Empress mainly because you are foolish. With Xie Wan as this previous jewel, you would properly do the Empress’s duties and properly manage the harem for me. Besides, once you have children, you would be dissatisfied with Xie Wan’s son as Crown Prince, you would want your son to become Crown Prince."
The Emperor continued, "Your brother valued Xie Wan’s son, insisting that her son become Crown Prince. He didn’t want your son to become Crown Prince; you resented him for not helping you. Without me needing to take action, you would deal with your brother yourself."
Xie Yi’s complexion became paler and paler, the fear in her heart grew stronger.
"For yourself and your son, you could sacrifice your brother, even the Xie family." The Emperor’s words carried a hint of pleasure in his smile, "Over the years, you’ve done well; I’m very satisfied."
Xie Yi raised her gaze, looking at the Emperor like he was a monster. She stammered, lips trembling, "You... this... all this... you... planned it all along..."