novelraw Chapter 596: The Overbearing Imperial Noble Consort Who Failed in the Succession Struggle 8
Chapter 596: The Overbearing Imperial Noble Consort Who Failed in the Succession Struggle 8
"Whoa! Host, your move is absolutely brilliant! These two actually started to resent each other for real!"
"And they're biological mother and son, tsk, feels so fake and plastic!"
After a bout of crying and fussing, taking advantage of the moment when An Ning had had enough and got up to tidy herself, inside her spiritual sea, the system had already skillfully entered its melon-eating mode.
Indeed, right now it was watching the mother and son pair in the scene, clicking its tongue in amazement.
"What's so surprising about that!"
Boredly leaning over the edge of the bathtub, amidst the billowing steam, An Ning casually scooped up some freshly added flower petals, letting the warm bathwater rise past her shoulders.
Only then did she slowly speak:
"In the imperial family, forget about mother and son, there are plenty of cases where fathers and sons become enemies and kill each other."
"Not to mention this Crown Prince..."
How to put it? Whether from the original owner's memories or An Ning's observations these past days.In a sense, aside from being slightly willful regarding the matter of the original owner, that emperor in the next room had no real faults to speak of in other aspects as a ruler.
He certainly didn't lack any of the art of imperial statecraft.
Especially when it came to choosing a successor in his final moments.
The current Crown Prince, Xiao Ye, the present Eldest Prince, is twenty years old, was enfeoffed as a prince at fifteen. Both his literary and martial arts are first-rate, and he lacks neither intelligence nor strategic acumen. Even with the Crown Prince by his side all these years, his followers have only grown in number.
Apart from having a capable maternal family, his personal abilities are also widely praised within the court.
Deposing and appointing a Crown Prince is no small matter in any dynasty. It can be said that if it weren't for this, the earlier incident would never have been resolved so easily.
It's just that, compared to the original owner's own son, who was obviously benevolent yet weak and couldn't handle pressure, this new Crown Prince seems more like a pure and qualified ruler.
But a ruler?
Perhaps thinking of something, An Ning couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement:
"Forget the distant past, just take the emperor next door. When the Empress Dowager was still alive in his early years, was their relationship really that good?"
"Uh, it actually wasn't that great either!"
It was just surface harmony!
The system couldn't help but scratch its head.
Look at the Empress all these years. Although back then he was forced to marry her because of the Empress Dowager, she was still his own cousin. For so many years, not only did she not have a single child, she hadn't even given birth, let alone raised one.
But then again, if he doesn't even step into the Empress's palace on the first and fifteenth days of the month, how could there be children?
What's even more extreme is, the moment the old Empress Dowager passed away, his own maternal uncle's family had their noble titles stripped and officials dismissed. Even earlier, right in front of the old Empress Dowager, the current emperor didn't hesitate to issue an edict to have his own cousin executed by waist-chopping and exile his uncle-by-marriage. He had done such things in his earlier years.
Thinking of this, the system couldn't help but suck in a cold breath:
"Tsk, suddenly remembered, the one next door is also a real ruthless character!"
Hah, it's strange how his overly gentle demeanor these days nearly fooled it with his good-tempered appearance just now.
But thinking about it this way.
"Suddenly feel like the original owner's dog-like temper surviving until now is also quite impressive."
The previous series of events, although partly due to the Empress Dowager's strong desire for power and constant promotion of imperial relatives to interfere in governance, but to be ruthless to this extent...
Well, not surprising either!
Thinking of those relatively famous emperors in the history books, the system suddenly realized, ah, there are actually quite a few!
Forget about killing relatives, there are plenty who killed their sons, fathers, or brothers!
"Indeed!" An Ning nodded:
"In a sense, this Crown Prince is actually the son most similar to the current emperor."
Whether in personality, methods, or other aspects, all of them.
Just like this time. The conflict between the Crown Prince and Beauty Qi, having the throne kicked away by his own mother is one reason. Most importantly, it's the strong, ruthless, and eager-to-grasp-power face hidden beneath that gentle, unambitious facade.
Although with the new Crown Prince's sharpness, he might have noticed something earlier, but having it laid out so blatantly, and directly harming himself in the process...
Without a doubt, the radar belonging to a ruler would definitely be triggered, and subconscious guard and wariness are inevitable.
And also... An Ning thought to herself:
With the personalities of this mother and son pair, if the original owner in the previous life hadn't died early and missed it, otherwise, they would have inevitably reached a point of drawn swords and blazing anger sooner or later.
Her actions today merely accelerated things a bit.
"Of course, there's another very important point..."
"The fox mourns the death of the hare..." Amidst the misty steam, An Ning, her features blurred, slowly uttered four words:
"Although not entirely accurate, it does bear some resemblance to the current situation."
"While Imperial Father was alive, he held power over the world. Yet now, before he is even buried, while his bones are still warm, the Imperial Noble Consort and young son he doted on a hundred ways are already in precarious danger.
Especially after this battle, no one will doubt the current emperor's affection for the Imperial Noble Consort, not even the emperor himself lying next door.
As the successor, the next emperor about to step into this position, putting himself in another's shoes, seeing this scene, do you think he would truly be happy?"
Even if the one about to wield the knife is his own birth mother.
Within the spiritual sea, An Ning's voice unconsciously carried a hint of chill:
"System, tell me, upon seeing this scene, what does that Crown Prince, about to step into the same position, think? Does he think, 'Mother, suppressed for so long, can finally hold her head high'? Or does he think, 'Imperial Father, a dignified ruler of a nation, who held power over the world, decisive in killing and punishing, yet in the end, met such a miserable fate.
A dignified emperor, forced back to life by sheer anger!
The system: "..."
"So this is the legendary difficulty of putting oneself in another's shoes when in different situations? Even for blood-related allies."
Unable to hold back a sigh, the system was unusually perceptive for once.
An Ning, however, thought of the previous lifetime. The more one experiences, the more one realizes that emperors, or people in general, are largely similar!
Forget about princes and their mothers in the imperial harem, what about imperial princesses? They say women are more likely to sympathize with women, but in reality, that's not entirely true.
For the vast majority, people in different classes and situations are inherently hard to empathize with.
Just like Yue'er in the previous life. Born noble, the Crown Prince who possessed everything from birth. Also an absolutely rational, high-IQ talent. For people at the bottom, she was actually hard to empathize with.
An Ning could see that, as a ruler, whether it was her compassion for the people or her many benevolent policies, they didn't stem from any deep sense of compassion for these people. Ultimately, it was a necessity to maintain the stability of her own rule. For the sake of her name in the historical records a hundred years later.
Rulers, regardless of origin or gender, only those useful to me are the ones who need compassion and care!
But regarding this, An Ning had nothing more to say. Judge by actions, not by intentions.
Rulers need 'benevolence,' that's true. But a truly benevolent person, lacking the necessary ruthlessness, would most likely also find it difficult to hold their position steady.