Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 432 Breaking the Cold Night

Prince Duan's Mansion.

The snow fell softly, rustling incessantly.

Several scholars and advisors, such as Liu Yin, sat in the study, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

With the dramatic changes in the power structure of the court, they couldn't help but feel anxious.

"The Crown Prince is using the success of the western expedition to install his cronies and eliminate dissidents. If this continues, I'm afraid there will be no place for us in the court."

"Prime Minister Lu submitted another memorial today, demanding an investigation into the officials Xiao Song has recommended over the years. Even Lord Xie Yanzhan has been implicated because he recommended a protégé of Xiao Song back then, and has been suspended from his post pending investigation. Isn't this blatant ruthlessness?"

"Even more pitiful is Prime Minister Xiao... I heard that several censors jointly submitted a memorial demanding that he be executed by slow slicing, his head hung on the city gate, and his entire family wiped out... This, this is simply... leaving no way out for him..."

Everyone said something to me.

Li Huan, however, remained calm.

It was even a little too calm.

He leisurely held his teacup, listening to his staff's discussions, without rushing to express his opinion.

He only spoke slowly after everyone had talked until their throats were dry.

"Thunder and rain, both are the Emperor's grace. We, his subjects, should simply obey his decree and not worry too much. Let us wait and see."

Everyone looked at each other.

Liu Yin stared blankly, his face turning pale: "Your Highness. What time is it? We can't wait any longer..."

"Rest assured, sir." Li Huan raised his eyes, his tone calm. "I know what I'm doing."

"Your Highness..."

Li Huan waved his hand, "With Father Emperor still alive, even if the Crown Prince acts arbitrarily, he still has to consider the relationship between ruler and subject. If we can't keep our composure, we'll only give others something to criticize us for."

Seeing his attitude, the group had no choice but to reluctantly take their leave.

The person is gone, but the tea is still warm.

Li Huan got up and strolled towards the west side room.

The daughter, Aning, was playing with building blocks with her wet nurse.

Aning was not yet three years old. She was a beautiful and delicate child, raised to be charming and lively. She was very much loved by Li Huan, and her temperament was inevitably a bit spoiled.

She had stacked the blocks very high, but when she saw Li Huan, they collapsed with a crash. Her little mouth twitched, and golden tears streamed down her face.

"It's collapsed... I've been building this up for so long... Father... it's collapsed... Waaah..."

Li Huan reached out and picked her up, placing her on his lap. He coaxed her gently, "A-Ning, you did a great job building it. It's just that the blocks were being naughty... Father will help you build another one, taller and more stable than the last one, okay?"

"Father is the best." A-Ning hugged Li Huan's neck with both hands, her tears turning into a smile.

Xue Yuechen brought in the brewed ginger and jujube tea. Upon seeing this scene, a complex emotion flashed across her eyes, but she quickly concealed it.

"A-Ning, don't be willful. Come down quickly, don't tire your father out," she gently scolded her daughter.

Ah Ning twisted her body, but instead hugged him even tighter.

"No! Ah Ning wants Father to hold her..."

Even a child can be clever; she knows who's in charge in this household.

"It's alright. I'm not tired." Li Huan, as expected, doted on his daughter, patting her back with a smile, not taking it to heart.

"Your Highness spoils her too much," Xue Yuechen said with a hint of reproach.

"The child is still young, it's alright to spoil him a little." Li Huan glanced over casually. "Does the Princess Consort need something from me?"

Xue Yuechen then said nothing more.

She placed the bowl on the table and said softly, "Your Highness, have you heard about Prime Minister Lu's recommendation of generals from humble backgrounds and his petition for General Qi to take over the capital garrison?"

Li Huan placed A Ning on a small chair beside him, picked up a piece of osmanthus jelly and fed it to her, saying slowly, "General Qi's western expedition was meritorious, so it is only right that he takes over the capital garrison..."

She raised her eyes and smiled, "Didn't your third uncle also rise to the rank of guerrilla general based on his military achievements? Everyone's talents are being put to good use, the princess should be happy."

“My third uncle earned his future through his own abilities, which also reflects well on the Xue family, so naturally I’m happy for him. But…”

Xue Yuechen's voice lowered, filled with barely concealed worry.

"General Qi is deeply loved by the army and became close to the Crown Prince during the western expedition. Now that the Eastern Palace is powerful, veteran officials such as Chancellor Lu and Grand Tutor Lu have all sided with the Crown Prince... It seems that the court is about to become a one-man show for the Crown Prince. Is Your Highness not worried?"

Before she even married into the Duan Prince's mansion, Madam Fu told her that she was destined to be an empress, a woman who would rule the world.

She used to think so too.

With the Crown Prince's position unstable and Li Huan gaining power, he rivaled the Eastern Palace. At that time in the capital, as the Princess Consort of Duan, she was the center of attention wherever she went.

Later, when the crown prince took over the reins of government, the situation gradually became delicate.

Now, thanks to his achievements in the western expedition and the elimination of the Xiao faction, the Crown Prince's prestige and power are at their zenith. In contrast, the Prince Duan's mansion seems to have been forgotten and has fallen into silence.

Xue Yuechen felt a pang of bitterness. She thought of her eighth sister, who had married into the Zheng State Duke's mansion and was now neglected by her husband's family; and her ninth sister, who had married into the Wei Prince's mansion but lived a life of constant anxiety, like a widow. And then there was her sixth sister, once the most looked down upon, but now living the most carefree and unrestrained life…

Her throat felt tight and constricted.

As the eldest daughter of the Xue family, on whom high hopes were placed since childhood, she found it difficult to convince herself to do nothing...

My grandmother is getting old, and my father is rather useless. Even if my third uncle achieves merit and is promoted, that's only for the third branch of the family; there's a distance between him and the first branch. How can we rely on him...?

Xue Yuechen was very anxious.

Li Huan, however, seemed not to understand.

He picked up a handkerchief and gently wiped the crumbs from his daughter's mouth, his gentle gaze revealing almost no emotion.

"The Crown Prince is the Emperor's chosen successor. Now he has made great contributions and rectified the court, which is good for the country and the people. As long as the Emperor is healthy, the country is stable, A-Ning is doing well, and the whole family is harmonious, there is nothing wrong with me being a leisurely prince."

"Your Majesty..."

Li Huan looked up, his tone becoming more serious, "The Princess Consort seems to be overthinking things, but is she unwell? Perhaps we should summon the imperial physician to take a look?"

Xue Yuechen's eyes reddened slightly. "Life is unpredictable. I'm just feeling a bit sentimental..."

Li Huan chimed in, "Life is unpredictable; it's already a blessing to be able to find peace. Why doesn't Your Highness try to relax a bit?"

Xue Yuechen wanted to say more, but A-Ning reached out and tugged at Li Huan's sleeve, calling out in a childish voice, "Daddy, A-Ning wants more."

She opened her mouth wide, like a fledgling bird waiting to be fed.

Li Huan's face immediately lit up with a loving smile, and he took another piece and fed it to her.

The father and daughter were enjoying each other's company, their laughter filling the air, creating a particularly heartwarming scene.

Xue Yuechen looked at the man's gentle and refined profile and sighed deeply.

She was getting tired of this life of mutual respect and courtesy.

Li Huan was always gentle and considerate, yet also distant. He was the refined and courteous Prince Duan in the eyes of others, an impeccable husband, but he never belonged to her.

Despite being married for many years, she could never truly enter Li Huan's heart.

Sometimes she even felt that in Li Huan's eyes, she was nothing more than a decoration he used to embellish his image.
-
That night.

After putting A-Ning to sleep at Yingyue Residence, Li Huan returned to his usual quiet room next to the study to spend the night alone.

After the eunuchs helped him bathe and change his clothes, they withdrew quietly.

Li Huan extinguished the lamp but did not go to bed. Instead, he stood alone by the window, gazing at the swirling snow outside. His cold face seemed to blend into the chilly night, and the emotions in his eyes were unreadable...

The backyard of Prince Duan's mansion was a vast expanse of silvery white.

In the stillness, even the sound of falling snow was exceptionally clear.

After a long while, just as he was about to turn around and go back to rest, a short, startled cry suddenly came from outside the window.

Xiang Yang hurriedly whispered.

"Who's there? Breaking into the Prince's mansion in the middle of the night, how dare you..."

Li Huan paused, quickly straightened his clothes, and went out to open the door.

Xiangyang stood tensely in the snow, his hand on his waist knife, his eyes scanning the corner warily at a woman wrapped in a dark cloak.

The woman's voice choked with sobs, almost tearful.

“Brother…it’s me.”

Li Huan looked at her in surprise and lowered his voice, "Foolish! The Prince Duan's residence is not a place for you."

He turned to look at Yang, "Send her out through the side gate."

"I'm not leaving!" Before Xiangyang could make a move, Ping Le emotionally pushed Xiangyang aside and rushed forward to block Li Huan's path.

"You're the fool."

She grabbed Li Huan's sleeve and shook it violently, her tone filled with a desperate madness.

"Brother, wake up. I am your sister, your own sister born of the same mother. We are the blood relatives..."

Xiang Yang drew his sword with a sharp motion, but was stopped by a look from Li Huan.

"Go down."

Xiang Yang bowed and replied, "Yes."

Li Huan strode into the study.

Seeing this, Ping Le followed without hesitation, squeezed through the door, slammed the door shut behind him, pressed his back against the door panel, and stared at Li Huan in the darkness with bloodshot eyes.

"Brother, Mother died tragically in the palace, Father is seriously ill, the Crown Prince is pressing us relentlessly, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and the Xiao family relatives are either dead or arrested, and Grandfather is also imprisoned. The Xiao family is on the verge of being wiped out... How long are you going to endure this? Do you really want to wait until the Crown Prince holds a knife to your throat before you take action?"

(End of this chapter)