"Mm."
Zhong Yan's eyes widened. "Aren't you afraid she'll join forces with the Qin family and push you off?"
Zhu Yan smiled. "A Yan, do you know what the most important thing is in the way of a ruler?"
"Of course, it's to hold everything in your hands and make everyone submit."
"What you're talking about is fear, not submission," Zhu Yan said. "The ancients said: The ruler is the boat, the people are the water. Water can carry the boat, and it can also capsize it. So even if you want to govern the world with benevolence, you should be benevolent to the people, not to the officials. A wise ruler is benevolent to the people, while one who is benevolent to officials is merely weak. I don't need them to obey my every command; I just need to use their hands to let the people of the world know that I am a benevolent ruler." Su Dan Xiaoshuo Net
Zhong Yan asked doubtfully, "Is that enough?"
Can one rule the world simply by being a benevolent ruler in the eyes of the people?
Zhu Yan laughed. "That's certainly not enough. Besides the love of the people, I also need the resolve to awe them. This resolve doesn't necessarily have to come from the army. As long as I can take their heads from the midst of a million soldiers, their troops will be routed. They are all my subjects. I don't need all of them to submit to me; I just need a few to clearly recognize who the true monarch and power holder of the nation is. That's enough."
Her goal was to "please" not the officials, but the people of the world.
She didn't fear someone like Nangong Cai, because she could replace her in an instant.
Zhong Yan seemed to understand some of it, yet not entirely.
In his opinion, governing a nation shouldn't be this simple, and in reality, it wasn't. What Zhu Yan described was merely the most effective method of checks and balances.
Many emperors failed to employ such methods.
"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. I haven't even asked you why you're here yet."
Zhong Yan remembered the real reason for his visit and said somewhat cautiously, "Father sent in his request, saying he wants to visit me in the palace tomorrow. May I agree?"
"Of course," Zhu Yan said. "You should have the awareness of being the future mistress of the imperial harem. You can make decisions on such matters yourself and don't need to come and ask me."
Zhong Yan's eyes curved with a smile. "Actually, I also wanted to come and see you."
Zhu Yan hooked his chin with her hand and looked straight into his eyes. "Mm, you know how to say nicer things than before."
"Just nicer things than before?" Zhong Yan grabbed her hand, leaned in, and pecked her lips a few times. "Are you even better at serving me than before?"
Zhu Yan burst into laughter. "This should be my achievement."
"Oh?"
Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Isn't it?"
Zhong Yan also laughed heartily. "Your Majesty is right, it's all your achievement."
The two of them laughed wantonly in the Imperial Study, their voices reaching the outside, which to the palace servants meant that Zhong Cè Jun had become even more favored.
Correspondingly, Qiao Cè Jun had completely fallen out of favor.
His living standards plummeted. It was late spring now, the days were mild and breezy, but the nights were a little cold. At this time of year, the charcoal used in Dai Yue Palace was the best, second only to that in the Empress's chambers. But now, even the lowest grade was unavailable.
Qiao Yu had been the legitimate son of the Qiao family since birth. He had lived over twenty years without ever suffering a single hardship. Now that he had lost favor, he couldn't even afford charcoal. His body couldn't adapt, and he fell ill within a few days.
Coincidentally, Wei Ningjun risked danger to visit him in the palace.
Since that incident, although Zhu Yan hadn't done anything to her, and Qiao Yu hadn't reacted, her mother was afraid to let her enter the palace again and had confined her at home for nearly a month.
Wei Ningjun had always been worried about him. Although the rumors outside said that His Majesty was benevolent and kind, enduring a consort who had cuckolded her and not having him executed.
Wei Ningjun, however, worried that all of this was a lie. She had been struggling with her mother for days, determined to escape and visit Qiao Yu in the palace. After finally breaking free, the first thing she did was snatch a colleague's tablet and enter the palace.
She sneaked into Dai Yue Palace. There were very few people here now, and the servants were lethargic in their work, completely oblivious to her.
Seeing Qiao Yu's flushed face, burning with fever, lying unconscious on the bed, she roared in fury.
No one from outside came in, but Qiao Yu was disturbed awake.
She picked him up, intending to carry him out. "I'll take you to the imperial physician."
Qiao Yu grabbed her hand with force. "No, put me down, put me down!"
As he refused and struggled, Wei Ningjun had to put him down first and helped him back onto the bed. She then got up to pour him some water, only to find that there wasn't even tea in the palace.
She angrily threw the teacup away.
"A bunch of ungrateful servants!"
Qiao Yu, weak, said sarcastically, "If it weren't for you, they wouldn't dare treat me like this."
Wei Ningjun felt a pang of guilt.
Although Qiao Yu had made the first move that day, she had clearly noticed that the other party's body was not right, and she had an opportunity to interrupt, but she didn't.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know your identity at the time."
"Heh," Qiao Yu scoffed. "Are you saying that if I were just an ordinary palace servant, you would have been in the right? Should I thank you? Perhaps you would have even taken me as a concubine and led me out of this suffering?"
Wei Ningjun had indeed thought that way at the time.
But she didn't dare say it now. "I didn't. I don't have any consorts at home. I wanted to marry you, but I didn't expect you to be... I'm sorry, it's all my fault."
"Of course, it's your fault."
Qiao Yu, too weak to care, said, "But I know I made the first move that day. You just didn't refuse. I have nothing to blame you for. You should leave, and don't bother me again."
After saying that, he pushed her slightly, intending to lie back down.
"How can that be?" Wei Ningjun became anxious. "Didn't His Majesty say you could leave the palace and marry me? Why don't you..."
"I don't like you," Qiao Yu refused without hesitation.
Wei Ningjun's expression froze, and a sharp pain pierced her heart. She looked at the person before her, as if trying to see into his very soul.
Qiao Yu, made uncomfortable by her gaze, turned his head irritably.
"Hurry up and get lost."
Wei Ningjun grabbed his hand and blurted out the words that followed, without even thinking. "I'm pregnant with your child."
Qiao Yu's mind went blank for a moment, then he stared at Wei Ningjun with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Wei Ningjun also blinked in surprise, then decided to go through with the lie. She placed his hand on her stomach. "You can blame me, but you can't shirk responsibility for this child. You also said that you made the first move that day. We both made mistakes. You can't just blame me alone, and you can't let our mistake continue to affect the child."
Such a statement was utterly shameless.
Yet, Qiao Yu could not refute it.