No matter how dissatisfied Xiao Changyan was, he dared not disobey the emperor's order, and he certainly could not injure himself and escape at this critical juncture.
In this way, he did avoid an unexpected disaster that was more likely to cause harm than good, but His Majesty was not someone who could be easily fooled. No matter how cleanly he did it without leaving any evidence, His Majesty knew that he did it on purpose and it would anger His Majesty.
He is not Xiao Huayong, and is destined to be hostile to His Majesty. He does not need to care about how His Majesty views him. If he angers His Majesty at this time, he will create a great enemy for himself.
He is not Xiao Changqing, and he has no ambition for the throne, so he doesn't care what His Majesty thinks.
Xiao Changyan made sufficient preparations and left Beijing in a mighty manner, but Shen Xihe was thinking about something else.
"Is the massacre of the village true?"
Xiao Huayong was bent over his desk reviewing some of the memorials assigned to him by the emperor. Shen Xihe, who had a rare opportunity to be idle, sat beside him for a long time, hoping to die soon. Suddenly, he asked.
The fingers holding the pen paused, and Xiao Huayong did not answer but asked: "What do you think?"
Your Majesty has been on the throne for more than 20 years, and the dynasty has experienced a revival. Although people do not lock their doors at night, they can still be said to be at peace. Bandits do exist, but they are very rare. It is hard to find such brutal and vicious people as massacre a village.
Even if there really are such people, they would not dare to make such a big fuss, unless there is some incredible wealth in this village that would make them die for money.
Therefore, Shen Xihe did not believe that they were real pirates. But if it was not such a shocking event, His Majesty could not have made a big fanfare, mobilized enough troops, and had to send a general to calm the situation.
Therefore, the massacre of the village was by no means groundless.
Thinking of this, Shen Xihe did not accuse His Majesty of a crime: "Your Majesty is not such a despicable person."
Is your majesty powerful
Of course it is serious, otherwise King Qian would not have died in vain and would not have been able to sit on the throne.
Is Your Majesty unfaithful
Shen Xihe couldn't really judge this. Some things weren't really black and white. The demise of the Gu family was an inevitability of political struggle. Even if the current Gu family didn't survive this, such a thing would still happen.
This has nothing to do with the emperor's selfishness. As a daughter of the Shen family, Shen Xihe's heart naturally leans towards the Shen family and she also protects the Shen family. But if one really stands on the standpoint of a daughter of the Shen family and criticizes His Majesty for being wrong, it is indeed a bit too much.
Your Majesty is not wrong to be wary. Shen Xihe can only guarantee that her father and brother have no intention of treason, but she cannot guarantee what future generations will think if the Shen family is allowed to continue like this. From this point of view, Your Majesty is not at fault.
But His Majesty is unwilling to take a step back, nor is he willing to trust her father and brother. If His Majesty could be more tolerant and allow her father and brother to go away, live freely and become rich, it would be a win-win situation.
But they all understood that this power could not be given up. Once given up, what awaited them would be the emperor's butcher knife. Only when people died could His Majesty be truly at peace.
This is also the fastest way to control the northwest. The Shen family is deeply rooted in the northwest. Even if the emperor can be merciful for a while and let Shen Yueshan's family go, and at the same time treat the large families in the northwest who follow the Shen family well, as long as Shen Yueshan is alive, his influence will still be there.