Huangfu Xi's face flushed red.
He suddenly understood, no wonder this time the invitation was only for the emperors of the surrounding countries, it was to take this opportunity to resolve his crisis and help him through his difficulties!
At this moment, he felt even more ashamed and unable to face anyone!
"Princess Consort, I... I truly owe the Prince such a debt of gratitude for his good intentions. In the past, I was too arrogant, always thinking of comparing myself to the Prince. He could govern Yun Country well, and I thought I could govern it better than him. But the reality is not so!"
"There's nothing wrong with you comparing yourself to the Prince, but your direction is wrong. The Prince truly puts the common people first, while your starting point was to surpass him. However, you ended up doing something extremely detrimental to the common people. You weren't comparing his achievements, but your own face in public!"
"To put it more bluntly, you didn't like living under the Prince's spotlight, and you couldn't stand hearing people praise the Prince, so you became jealous and acted against him."
"For example, the letter I sent you at the beginning of spring, asking you to prepare for water shortages, you disregarded it. In the end, Yun Country fell into drought and attracted the wolves from surrounding areas. Tell me, isn't this entire situation caused by your imbalance?"
Huangfu Xi fell into deep self-reproach, unwilling to admit it, but it was as the Princess Consort had said!
"Locusts passed through, and then a drought. The people in the country had no way to live, and countless people died of thirst and starvation. You didn't know how to rectify it, but instead believed Liu Sheng's nonsense and sent troops to attack us. Now, I want to ask you, what were your intentions!"
Huangfu Xi opened his mouth, but found no words to justify his decision at the time!
He believed Liu Sheng, and it was true, there was also selfish intent. His initial thought was to have Fan Zehao kill Liu Sheng on the battlefield!
But things did not go as expected. When Liu Sheng went to the military camp to muster troops, not a single person was willing to fight, even under the threat of defying the imperial decree and having their nine generations exterminated, no one stepped forward.
Seeing his awkwardness at being unable to辩解, Zhao Jiaqi sighed deeply.
Fine, the past is the past, why bother arguing with him further? It was just that if these words weren't asked, her heart wouldn't feel at ease.
Even if she was doing good deeds for her own merit, she couldn't let others treat her like a fool and bully her!
"Huangfu Xi, I can overlook past matters, entirely out of respect for the late Emperor Huangfu Jintao. If there is a next time, I guarantee that I will make you descend just as you ascended. I can support another emperor."
Huangfu Xi's expression was distressed, but he knew this was the truth!
"I swear here today, I will never again do anything detrimental to the Prince! If I violate this oath, may lightning strike me and may I die without a whole corpse."
Zhao Jiaqi had heard too many such oaths this year, but the human heart is unpredictable, and she didn't believe these words at all!
"Let's talk business!" Zhao Jiaqi adjusted her seat and continued, "This time, the Prince used his birthday as an excuse to invite them all. Firstly, it's to give you some breathing room and allow the common people time to escape the battlefield and find places of refuge!"
"Secondly, with them all present, the Prince and I intend to broker peaceful development between you. If this expectation is not met, and they still insist on acting against Yun Country or wish to divide it, then the inner city will not stand idly by!"
"As for how the war is fought, the Prince naturally has a plan. Today, I am telling you everything because it is both a warning and a caution. This is the last thing our couple can do for you!"
She had also fulfilled her promise to Huangfu Jintao and his kindness in recognizing her.
Today, Huangfu Xi felt too much touched and ashamed to know where to begin or how to speak!
When the words were finished, Zhao Jiaqi was also tired and did not keep him for lunch at her residence!
Looking at his lonely departing back, Zhao Jiaqi only felt pity for him.
Those in power are always lonely. They are schemed against by ministers in court, by women in the harem, and even by their own children after they are born!
In his lifetime, he has heard more lies than truths. Is such a person not pitiable?
Yet there is a saying, the pitiable must have something detestable about them, and the detestable must have something tragic to suffer.
At noon, Fan Zehao sent someone back with a message, saying that he would eat at the military camp for lunch and that she should go to the military camp after eating and resting.
With a heart full of curiosity, she went to the military camp by her own carriage after lunch without resting.
Before even reaching the military camp, she could hear Zhang Heng's resounding voice drilling the soldiers, sounding very imposing!
At some point, a viewing platform had been set up on the training ground, and her husband was currently watching the soldiers train.
Seeing his wife ascend the viewing platform, Fan Zehao extended his large hand towards her, smiling and saying, "Wife, come and see, see if our soldiers' martial arts training has an unstoppable momentum. If they don't use a move, it's one thing, but once they use a move, it must be to the point of making the opponent feel death!"
She placed her hand in her husband's palm and sat down beside him, looking at the soldiers on the training ground. Although she didn't understand martial arts, seeing their punches and kicks so swift, she assumed they must be good!
Then she looked at her husband, his eyes shining with such exuberance, he was completely like a young man!
Regardless of whether these soldiers were good or bad, or what flaws they had, in his eyes, they were his own children.
Even if his own children were stinky, he would absolutely say they were fragrant, after all, who would dislike their own children!
"Husband, you're not actually letting those emperors come to watch your soldiers train, are you? This show of force won't do!"
At his moment of excitement, his wife潑 a bucket of ice water on him.
Conversely, he was not angry but very happy, grinning at her and revealing a row of teeth, "This is certainly not enough to intimidate them. This is just the normal procedure. The real show is yet to come!"
This piqued Zhao Jiaqi's interest.
"Tell me about it? Let me be happy too!"
He smiled and shook his head at her, "If I show it now, there will be no surprise later. After all, there are eyes everywhere in and out of this military camp!"
Reminded by her husband, she instantly understood!
These emperors were indeed trying every means possible. Whatever they and their couple wanted to do or say, these emperors wanted to know!
Were they not tired? Weren't their ears going deaf from listening?
Fine, since it was for intimidation, she could wait a little longer.
The couple sat on the viewing platform, and as waves of soldiers changed below, Fan Zehao suddenly asked Zhao Jiaqi, "Wife, Junjun didn't seem very happy when she came back this time. Go and see what's wrong later!"
His words startled Zhao Jiaqi. Why were they suddenly talking about Junjun?
She hadn't noticed Junjun being unhappy when she saw her this morning!