Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Father Emperor froze.

My wet nurse hurriedly took me from him, terrified that something might happen to me.

Meanwhile, the eunuchs scrambled to wipe down Father Emperor’s robes, preparing a change of clothes for him.

The beautiful scene of mutual appreciation between a ruler and his subject was interrupted, and the ministers took their leave in a hurry.

Father Emperor called out to Zhang Shihuai, saying calmly, “I am pardoning you today because I saw my Changping. You have a young daughter at home as well, don’t you, dear official?”

Zhang Shihuai hastily knelt to express his gratitude.

“This subject thanks Your Majesty for your boundless grace, and I thank Princess Changping for saving my life.”

Father Emperor waved his hand and dismissed him.

I started crying.

I hadn’t even seen what that poor sap Zhang Shihuai looked like from start to finish!

His thanks were completely meaningless to me.

Father Emperor pinched my little cheek and let out a loud laugh.

It was clear he was in a fantastic mood, though he still grumbled while changing his clothes.

“Zhang Shihuai was banging his head against the floor loud enough to wake the dead. Are the Imperial Uncle and the Ministers of the Six Ministries all useless? Why didn’t they try to persuade me or hold him back?”

The head eunuch smiled and said, “The Imperial Uncle and the Ministers knew Your Majesty is merciful, which is why they didn’t intervene. If you ask this servant, I’d say that Official Zhang was in the wrong, and those who are wrong should be punished. Your Majesty is clear in your rewards and penalties; we servants are truly in awe.”

I curled my little lip.

[Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies…]

[With that donkey temper of yours, even the Imperial Uncle is terrified. Who would dare try to persuade you?]

[If the Imperial Uncle doesn’t dare, the Ministers of the Six Ministries certainly won’t.]

[Only my Mother Empress was virtuous and kind enough to risk her life to advise you. While she was alive, there was at least one person who told you the truth, and you were still a wise ruler.]

[But you forced her to keep having children until she died from it. Since then, there hasn’t been a single person in the world who tells you the truth, and you’ve gone further and further down the path of becoming a tyrant.]

[It’s only because of your achievements in your youth that you’re still categorized as a ‘wise ruler.’ Otherwise, you’d be nothing but a total tyrant.]

The smile on Father Emperor’s face vanished.

“Zhao Xi, you don’t need to feed me nothing but sweet words. You should have seen it-I really did want to kill Zhang Shihuai back then…”

The head eunuch, Zhao Xi, fell to his knees with a thud.

“This servant wouldn’t dare speak lies, Your Majesty.”

Father Emperor stared at him, let out a long sigh, and said, “Get up.” He then picked me up and headed for the inner palace.

The moment he arrived before Mother Empress’s memorial, he couldn’t help but start venting.

“Am I really that terrifying? The Imperial Uncle didn’t dare stop me when I was angry, and neither did Zhao Xi. Weren’t they afraid I would actually kill Zhang Shihuai?”

“Zhang Shihuai only made a minor mistake. If someone had just stopped me, I might have snapped out of it, but not a single soul did.”

“Don’t they think about it? If I kill Zhang Shihuai by mistake today, I could kill someone else by mistake tomorrow. Aren’t they afraid that one day my blade will fall on their own heads?”

“It infuriates me!”

For some reason, I really felt like sucking my thumb.

Since the thought occurred to me, I did exactly that, rambling in my mind while I sucked away.

[Exactly! You really are that scary.]

[Later on, you don’t just kill great heroes by mistake; after the Grand Tutor dies, you’ll seize his estate and even have his corpse whipped.]

[You’re practically on par with Wu Zixu, except Wu Zixu was seeking revenge for his father. You, on the other hand, did it purely to vent your personal spite just because the Grand Tutor told you the truth! Hmph!]

In his mind’s eye, Mother Empress reached out to take me, offering a respectful, smiling bow to Father Emperor.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty, on retaining a fine official.”

“And even more congratulations are due to Great Xia for having such a wise ruler. To live in a prosperous age under a wise monarch is the greatest blessing for the people of Great Xia.”

Father Emperor’s eyes grew slightly misty as he looked at her image.

“Ningxian, do you truly think I am good?”

He could almost see Mother Empress smiling as she threw herself into his arms.

“That is natural. I trust my own eyes. From the moment we first met, I knew I had found the right man for my life.”

“You are a good husband and a good emperor. You clearly wanted to kill Zhang Shihuai, yet you were able to control your temper.”

“Based on that alone, you have already surpassed ordinary men. To have met you is the greatest fortune of my life.”