Chapter 630: Lifetime Agreement

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

She had only thought of this matter and wondered if it would implicate her and the Yu Residence. She had not expected the consequences of this matter.

She panicked a little.

Zhou Linghuai smiled and asked, “Are you afraid now?

Yu Youyao nodded vigorously. “With Cousin around, l i m not afraid.”

Her obedient and soft appearance really made him want to bully her into crying.

Zhou Linghuai rubbed his forehead. Just now, when she was really crying, he wished he could kneel down and beg her not to cry. Now that she wasn’t crying, he wanted to bully her and make her cry.

He was going crazy!

Yu Youyao tugged at her cousin’s sleeve and said in a delicate voice, “Cousin, quickly tell me about the palace.” At this point, she pouted and felt aggrieved. “It’s all related to me. I can’t just sit back and do nothing. I can’t not know anything about the people in the palace!”

After this matter, Yu Youyao finally knew that the so-called nobles in the palace could be unscrupulous, scheming and even make sacrifices for their own interests. Compared to this, the private matters in the inner residence and the filth between the nobles were nothing.

That was why her cousin did not want her to get involved in the matters of the palace.

Seeing Jiaojiao’s soft and aggrieved expression, Zhou Linghuai did not know what to do with her. He raised his hand and messed up the bun on her head.

“You’re really capable.”

Yu Youyao blinked and looked innocent. “Didn’t Cousin teach me all of this?”

Her moist eyes blinked gently, and Zhou Linghuai immediately felt half his body go numb. He could only change the topic. “The palace has a long story. I have to mention the Empress who has been sick for a long time.”

Yu Youyao took a piece of peony cake and was about to eat it. “Nanny Xu mentioned earlier that the Empress is from the Ning Residence. The Ning Residence is the same as the Zhenguo Marquis Residence. They’re both old noble families that have titles passed down from their great ancestors. The Zhenguo Marquis Residence is a royalist party, so it’s inevitable that they’ll fall. However, the Ning Residence has always been very prominent and was once ranked among the three dukes.”

She did not know much about the Ning Residence.

Nanny Xu had mentioned it a little, and her grandmother had also mentioned it a little, but it was only one-sided. Now that her cousin had deliberately mentioned it, it seemed that it was definitely not that simple.

At the thought of this, Yu Youyao thought of the outcome of the Ning

Residence. “Not long after the emperor ascended the throne, the Ning Residence was punished. Some died, and some were exiled. The emperor took into account their relationship as husband and wife and did not vent his anger on the Empress. As a result, the Empress lost her beloved son and fell sick for a long time.”

Zhou Linghuai nodded. “This is just an excuse on the surface. Back then, Emperor Gaozu was crowned emperor with a mustard grass python robe. He doted on his first wife, who had gone through thick and thin with him.

However, in the early years of the Empress’s life, she followed Emperor Gaozu on expeditions to the north and south and fell sickly. In a few years, she died. Emperor Gaozu was very sad, so he gradually stopped visiting the concubines in the harem, and the selection was put on hold.”

Yu Youyao also knew that perhaps it was because of Emperor Gaozu’s influence, later on, every emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty did not seem to value women much. There were even two Casanovas.

Emperor Mingzong only doted on the imperial palace maid beside him. There was even a time when he wanted to abolish the rules for her. This imperial palace maid was very smart. She rejected all the conferments and took the initiative to take the childless medicine. As a palace maid, she was specially doted on for more than 20 years.

Later on, Emperor Xianzong encountered many beautiful women but there was only one in his heart. For the rest of his life, his harem was empty, and he only married one empress.

Even the current Emperor Xiaozong was focused on one woman and had an empty harem. He had not been selected anyone to enter the palace for many years.

Yu Youyao glared at him. “Cousin, I realized that your Yin Imperial Family seems to be quite infatuated with one woman at a time. Not to mention the Great Ancestor, Mingzong, and Xianzong, even the current emperor only dotes on Concubine Lu. The imperial examination has been rigged for so long, and the crime of Ning Yuanbo’s residence has yet to be completely addressed.

Also, your father only married your mother…”

Zhou Linghuai smiled and said, “That’s not surprising. It’s human nature to be influenced by your surroundings. Inheriting traits is not just limited to one’s bloodline. Emperor Gaozu was the glorious creator of the Yin Clan. It’s inevitable that future generations will trace the merits of their predecessors.

This is an instinct engraved in their bones.”

Yu Youyao couldn’t help but ask) “Is Cousin the same?

Zhou Linghuai nodded. “I also hope to make extraordinary contributions and establish peace.”

On Yu Youyao’s birthday, when he named the zither, he realized that Yu Youyao liked Shaoyu more than Shaoyi.

She admired Emperor Shun for his benevolence and virtue in governing the country. At that time, the Yu Country was filled with beautiful dances, attracting phoenixes and ten thousand beasts to celebrate. How peaceful was that scene?

That was the pureness in Yu Youyao’s heart.

However, Yu Youyao did not impose all of this on him. Later, she suggested the name Shaoyi.

Since all of this was what Yu Youyao hoped for, even if he had to overcome all obstacles, he had to make it happen for her.

Of course, his parents’ tragic death had also made him understand that if he couldn’t reach the peak, he would still be a fish on someone’s chopping block. He only wanted to be the knifeman who could control life and death.

They had been in love for half their lives. What was benevolence?

Since Yu Youyao had promised to be with him for a lifetime, they naturally had to live and die together in this life.

Her cousin had never hidden his ambition from her, but this was the first time he had been so clear.

Yu Youyao was so nervous that her heart was beating wildly. Only then did she realize that she had gone astray just now. “There’s no precedent of a crippled empress being reestablished in the Great Zhou Dynasty so far, which is why the Empress hasn’t been punished.”

Emperor Gaozu respected the Empress Yuan, and this would more or less affect his descendants.

When the Empress was in the palace, she married the current emperor, who was still a prince. She had a relationship with him and even gave birth to his eldest son.

After the previous emperor’s death, as his daughter-in-law, the Empress had observed filial piety for him. She was a daughter-in-law who would observe mourning for her in-laws for three years.

Moreover, a married daughter was like water that had been splashed out.

As long as there was no clear evidence that the Empress had lost her virtue and was not worthy of the throne, the fault of the Ning Residence should not be blamed on the Empress.

Not to mention that the Ning Residence had also helped the current emperor.

If they did not even let the Empress off, it was inevitable that it would disappoint all the ministers.

At that time, the emperor had just ascended the throne not long ago, so he naturally couldn’t do as he pleased.

The emperor did not vent his anger on the Empress, not because he cared about their relationship as husband and wife, but because he could not rebuild the family.

Zhou Linghuai nodded and continued the previous topic. “When the emperor was in the palace, Duke Ning was once assigned by the previous emperor to teach the fourth prince how to ride and shoot. Although he wasn’t known as the Grand Tutor, he was indeed a Grand Tutor. The previous emperor valued literature over martial arts, and the fourth prince wasn’t the most suitable candidate to be emperor. Later on, it was also the Ning Residence that supported the current emperor to ascend the throne. Other than my father, the six princes of the previous emperor all died tragically for various reasons. As the throne didn’t come gloriously, the emperor’s status wasn’t stable after he ascended the throne..”

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