EWRN - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Emperor Wants to Ruin the Nation (I)
The enthronement ceremony concluded successfully. As the court session dispersed and the ministers moved away from the Hall of Imperial Governance, they waited until they were sure no one was watching before daring to discuss the matter in hushed tones. They had seen the Crown Prince before—a gentle and refined man who possessed a royal air. Speaking with him was like being caressed by a warm spring breeze, putting one at ease and disarming all vigilance. But the Crown Prince today—or rather, His Majesty—exuded an immense, oppressive aura. Even old ministers who had served for decades couldn't help but feel their hearts tremble with fear. General Hou himself felt a palpable killing intent. This was not the Crown Prince they knew; this was the bearing of an emperor who had held power for decades. The ministers began to speculate whether the late emperor's spirit, unable to rest in peace, had possessed the new sovereign.
Huo Jinyu, of course, was oblivious to the ministers' speculations. Two eunuchs followed her to the study adjacent to the audience hall. It had been just over a month since her imperial father had passed away, and her imperial mother had followed him soon after his death from illness. They had left the fifteen-year-old Huo Jinyu, not yet of age, to face these brothers with their wolfish ambitions, these ministers with their treacherous designs, and this prosperous nation seething with dangerous undercurrents.
How truly cruel.
With practiced ease, Huo Jinyu walked to the desk and sat down. The two eunuchs stood quietly below, awaiting her command. Looking at the towering stacks of memorials on the desk, she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
This pack of old scoundrels, always finding ways to make trouble for her.
Huo Jinyu had no intention of reviewing the memorials. In her previous life, she hadn't finished reviewing them even by the time she died. They were all from a bunch of idle old scoundrels!
She calmed herself and began to think. At this moment, neither the Second Prince, Huo Jinye, nor the Third Prince, Huo Jincheng, had become a significant threat. The ones she needed to watch were their maternal families.
The Second Prince's mother, Dowager Consort Xian, was Bai Lanyu, the sister of the current Prime Minister, Bai Qun. The Prime Minister's family had placed many obstacles in her path before. If not for her imperial mother's protection, she feared she would have lost her position as Crown Prince. Prime Minister Bai had to be eliminated sooner or later. In her past life, out of respect for an old minister, she had not moved against him and had kept him in his post. In the end, she had nurtured a tiger that came back to bite her. In this life, he must be eliminated!
With that thought, Huo Jinyu pulled over a sheet of Xuan paper, wrote down the Prime Minister's name, and crossed it out.
Next was the Third Prince, Huo Jincheng. His mother, Dowager Consort Rong, was Wang Caijie, the sister of the wealthy merchant Wang Shu. Wang Shu's wealth could rival a nation's, a feat not accomplished without Dowager Consort Rong's machinations at court. Huo Jincheng was still young. If she were to keep this major threat by her side and raise him to be one of her own dogs, wouldn't that be wonderful?
In her past life, Huo Jincheng had originally been close to her. But she had been so overwhelmed by state affairs that the Second Prince, Huo Jinye, had exploited the opportunity. He was always taking their youngest imperial brother out to play, and who knew what kind of bewitching poison he had fed him. By the time she had a moment to think of the Third Prince again, his eyes were already filled with estrangement. The laughable thing was that she had thought it was because she had neglected her brothers. Not only did she grant them princedoms, but she also granted their every request. Later, she even entrusted military authority to Huo Jincheng. She had cherished the bonds of kinship, but all she received in return was a damnable betrayal. A pack of ungrateful, white-eyed wolves that could never be tamed!
Huo Jinyu wrote down the names of her two imperial brothers but did not cross them out. Indeed, an emperor should be most ruthless. For now, she would keep these two little wolves. If they could be raised into dogs, she would let them live. If they couldn't be tamed, if their ambitions remained, then they could not blame her for being merciless.
And then there were the ignorant masses of the Great Yuan Kingdom. For decades, she had poured out her heart and soul, contributing so much for these people, shedding so much blood and sweat. Yet, simply because she was a woman, they cursed her endlessly. It turned out that giving them an age of peace and prosperity, letting them live and work in contentment, was wrong! All of it was wrong!
In this life, she would make these fools feel what it means for the state to be in turmoil and the nation on the brink of collapse! She would make them displaced and homeless. Then, at the very end, she would step in to save them, and they would weep with gratitude. Because only after they have lost it will they learn to cherish it!
"Heh heh." Huo Jinyu let out two cold laughs. She could hardly wait. She could hardly wait to see the sight of those traitors, their faces streaked with tears of fear and regret. She looked up at the two eunuchs. Eunuch Wang and Eunuch Li had served her since childhood. Logically, they should be the ones she could trust the most, but right now, she trusted no one.
A sharp gaze swept back and forth between them. Eunuch Wang and Eunuch Li didn't dare to breathe, frozen in place, not daring to make the slightest move. This oppressive aura was something even the late emperor had never possessed.
"Eunuch Wang, tidy up the desk for Us," Huo Jinyu said as she stood up and stretched her limbs.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Eunuch Wang replied.
Huo Jinyu walked out, with Eunuch Li following closely behind. When Eunuch Wang approached the desk, he was startled by the words on the Xuan paper. Was His Majesty testing him? Eunuch Wang dared not overthink it. He quickly flipped the paper over and placed the tidied memorials on top of it. Then he hurried out to catch up with Huo Jinyu.
In the Emerald Flower Garden.
Huo Jinyu walked slowly through the garden with her hands behind her back. It was autumn, and the scent of osmanthus was soothing, seeming to wash away the murderous aura clinging to her.
Just as Huo Jinyu was standing under an osmanthus tree, eyes closed, enjoying the fragrance and tranquility, several palace maids burst into the garden, shouting noisily. "Third Prince! Where are you?" "Third Prince?" "Third Prince, come out, stop playing!"
Huo Jinyu frowned and opened her eyes, looking in the direction of the commotion. The palace maids soon found their way to her location. Startled by the sight of Huo Jinyu in her bright yellow dragon robes, they immediately fell to their knees in terror. "This servant pays her respects to Your Majesty!" As the other maids arrived, they too knelt.
"What is all this fuss about? Such a loss of decorum!" Huo Jinyu questioned in a harsh tone.
"Your Majesty, the Third Prince is missing," a palace maid replied cautiously.
Huo Jinyu said nothing and walked through the line of kneeling maids. The two eunuchs hurried to keep up. She headed toward a rockery in the corner of the garden. Sure enough, behind it, she saw Huo Jincheng lying in the grass, feigning sleep.
Huo Jinyu approached him, her body blocking the sunlight from his face. The Third Prince felt the light dim and assumed a palace maid had found him. He opened his eyes, only to be startled by the yellow robes. He scrambled to his feet, mimicked the ministers by patting the dust off his clothes, and knelt. "This subject pays his respects to Your Majesty."
Seeing this, Huo Jinyu's lips curled into a slight smile. "Jincheng may simply call Us Imperial Brother. Rise."
The little boy, who barely reached her knees, immediately stood up and called out, "Imperial Brother!"
"Why are you here all alone? Where are your maids?" Huo Jinyu asked.
"Imperial Brother, the tutor always makes me recite strange things. I don't want to, so I ran out," the Third Prince said with bold justification.
"Nonsense! You must study the knowledge your tutor imparts with diligence. How can you treat it as a game?" Huo Jinyu said sternly. "Eunuch Wang, escort the Third Prince back to his studies. As for that bunch of useless maids, let them kneel there for an hour and reflect on their failings. Jincheng, come to Imperial Brother's chambers for dinner tonight."
If she was going to raise a dog, she had to start with the small, everyday things.
Watching Eunuch Wang lead the very reluctant Third Prince away, Huo Jinyu turned and returned to her own bedchamber.
The grand plan to ruin the country and exact revenge required long-term planning.
Comments
Post a Comment