This display of action stunned everyone within the Hundred Gardens.
Had Princess Rong He truly gone mad?
Feng Gu, standing beside Emperor Xiaochang, felt the urge to call for guards at the sight of Ji Zizhao radiating killing intent.
Princess Rong He was too terrifying. What kind of noble young lady from the imperial city behaved like this?
Ji Renran collapsed onto the ground in disarray, her tears genuine this time.
It hurt!
Empress Zhong was the first to recover. She looked at Ji Zizhao with a furrowed brow.
Knowing Ji Zizhao's close relationship with the Fourth Prince, she naturally wouldn't make things difficult for Ji Zizhao. However, others were not so accommodating.
As expected, Consort Xi's voice rang out, "In the Emperor's presence, who dares to be so audacious!"
This exclamation jolted everyone present awake.
They looked at Ji Zizhao, who still stood high and mighty, as if she were already a dead person.
Han Jingyu and Xue Yongnian, among others, were sweating profusely.
Even with merits in Luoyi, one's achievements had not yet reached the point of being able to act impulsively before the Emperor!
Emperor Xiaochang stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable. "The Ji family has been neither public nor private in service to the nation. The First Emperor did not forget the Ji family's contributions to Yulin, nor shall I. But man is born with only two eyes. The Ji family's left eye looks to the nation, and the right eye looks to the people. When have their eyes ever held their Emperor!"
The breath of everyone in the Hundred Gardens hitched. In an instant, they all knelt on the ground.
"Your Majesty, please calm your wrath, Your Majesty, please calm your wrath..."
Amidst the continuous pleas, even Consort Xi, usually skilled in eloquent speech, knelt with the others, holding her breath obediently.
In the blink of an eye, besides the Emperor and Empress, the only one left standing in the Hundred Gardens was Ji Zizhao.
Xie Jingqi clenched his sleeve tightly. "Fourth Brother, quickly think of a way. Father is truly angered..."
Xie Jinglan glanced at his younger brother beside him. "As you said, Father is truly angered."
When an emperor's rage is kindled, a million lives are lost.
No one dared to meet the gaze of Yulin's Son of Heaven at this moment.
Including them, his dragon sons.
His dark eyes fell upon the figure still standing tall and straight in the breeze, and Xie Jinglan felt a headache mixed with helplessness.
Even the Seventh Prince and Third Prince, who were usually the most favored, acted like obedient cats under their father's wrath, kneeling and admitting defeat. Yet, Ji Zizhao not only dared to provoke their father but was also so composed.
Such audacity...
However, it was precisely this audacity that made Xie Jinglan not worried.
How could someone with such courage be a mere brute?
He suspected that Ji Zizhao's more powerful move was still to come.
Ji Zizhao was unaware of how grand she appeared in the Fourth Prince's eyes. She had never claimed she wouldn't kneel. Even if she didn't adhere to such feudal customs and systems, since she was caught in this murky water, some rules still needed to be followed.
She would kneel, but how to kneel was a science.
Emperor Xiaochang, his heart burning with suspicion and rage, suddenly saw Ji Zizhao turn towards him. Just as he was about to scold her further, he saw Ji Zizhao slowly bend her knees.
She knelt, then bowed her forehead to the ground, and after a long pause, she cupped her hands and bowed slightly towards Emperor Xiaochang.
From beginning to end, Ji Zizhao's expression was calm. Though her head was held high, her eyes were always fixed on the Emperor's feet.
A distant memory surged into his mind, and Emperor Xiaochang's body trembled violently.
This, this was...
Empress Zhong, standing closest to Emperor Xiaochang, saw the shock and reminiscence beneath the Emperor's strained expression. She, too, was startled. Though she didn't know what had happened, she had never seen the Emperor so grief-stricken and desolate.
"The Ji family pacifies the world for the nation! They ensure peace and health for the people! The Ji family has indeed never taught its descendants to mention the Emperor often! It is only because, in the hearts of the Ji family, Yulin has always been ruled by the single surname Xie! To be adorned with merits is the glory bestowed by the Emperor upon the Ji family! We are fortunate to have received it! To lose it would be the Ji family's fate! But the Ji family dares not forget the Emperor's regard for them! The Ji family also will not forget that all that the Ji family possesses today is a gift from the Emperor!"
Emperor Xiaochang, "..."
He understood his apprehension towards the Ji family better than anyone.
Otherwise, during the initial battle in Luoyi, he had deliberately handed over power to the Second Prince precisely to guard against the Ji family. Instead, it had led to disaster, with all the men of the Ji family dying in a foreign land.
Therefore, Emperor Xiaochang now had every reason to suspect Ji Zizhao was mocking him.
But it was hateful that she wore such a sincere expression, leaving him with no grounds to refute her.
The people in the Hundred Gardens had varied thoughts, but their hearts were remarkably unified: they truly hadn't realized that this eldest daughter of the Ji family was not only skilled and daring but also a master of flattery.
The Emperor, with age, became more suspicious and sensitive. Even they were on tenterhooks when interacting with him daily, let alone the Ji family. All the men of the Ji family had died in Luoyi due to the Emperor's suspicion. Even if the Emperor had no ill intent, for the eldest daughter of the Ji family to speak such words today...
They probably couldn't even achieve such tolerance.
Xie Jingqi was truly impressed!
The flattery was so effective that even he found it comfortable.
Looking at his father's expression, it had indeed cleared up significantly.
Xie Jinglan's gaze followed Ji Zizhao's movements.
He suspected that everyone present saw Ji Zizhao as a sycophantic flatterer.
Yet, Ji Zizhao possessed a nature that repaid kindness and sought revenge for grievances, distinguishing clearly between them.
Now that she could utter such fine words, he suspected the price their father would have to pay was yet to come.
Seeing the Emperor's expression soften, Ji Zizhao knew her gamble had paid off.
The Emperor harbored apprehension towards the Ji family, but he also felt guilt.
Since that was the case...
Then, in this round, she had won!
"Whether it is for the Ji family's men to have their grievances redressed, or for the current peace and well-being of the Ji family's women, it is all the Emperor's grace. This humble subject merely spent some silver to thank the Emperor and win his favor, so what is wrong with that?" As Ji Zizhao spoke, she glanced at the people around her.
Everyone, "..."
These words...
Seemed to have no fault.
Emperor Xiaochang looked at Ji Zizhao for a long while, then suddenly said, "As Princess Rong He has said, I have accepted this grand gift. By right, should I not also repay Princess Rong He with something?"
Ji Zizhao affirmed, "Your Majesty is wise."
The dark clouds that had just dispersed from Emperor Xiaochang's face once again gathered.
As expected, the Ji family's ambition was still unquenched, and they still harbored desires for hereditary succession. If so, his earlier apprehension towards the Ji family...
Before Emperor Xiaochang could finish his thoughts, Ji Zizhao's words followed, "This humble subject implores Your Majesty to abolish the Ji family's hereditary succession and also to strip this humble subject of her title as Princess!"
Instantly, the dark clouds that had shrouded Emperor Xiaochang's face...
Froze.
It was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, stunning everyone to their core.
What had they just heard?
Princess Rong He had gone to such great lengths, spent so much silver, not only to abolish hereditary succession but also to relinquish her own protective title of Princess?!
Is there a physician present?
Someone here has gone mad!
Ji Renran was stunned on the spot. Looking at the back kneeling before her, she felt as if she had misheard something.
Her mother had put so much thought into it, and she had taken such a risk to orchestrate this scene. Shouldn't Ji Zizhao have been cornered with no recourse? Shouldn't Ji Zizhao, however reluctant, have asked the Emperor for hereditary succession?
Everything had proceeded according to plan...
Why had it all changed with Ji Zizhao?