HCB Chapter 528 Joy of Life 84
Chapter 528 Joy of Life 84
Li Chengqian paused, looking at the weeping Empress. He was still too embarrassed to reveal what he had done, and only said vaguely, "Your subject has done wrong, and now I know I was wrong. Please, Your Majesty, plead with your grandmother for me and ask His Majesty to forgive me."
Li Chengqian knew exactly how outrageous his mistake was, and he understood that Emperor Qing would never let him off the hook.
Being deposed as crown prince is too lenient; he might not even be able to save his own life in the end.
He didn't want to die, and he certainly didn't want to be deposed as crown prince.
However, his trusted confidants and the retainers and advisors he supported have probably all been killed by Emperor Qing.
He dared not leave the Empress Dowager's palace to seek help from the court officials, fearing that Emperor Qing would send people out of the palace to hunt him down.
Therefore, he could only place his hopes on the Empress and the Empress Dowager.
But seeing the Empress in this state, how much help could she possibly give him?
A sense of despair rose in Li Chengqian's heart. He secretly resented why the Empress had been involved in the entanglement between Emperor Qing and Ye Qingmei, which ultimately led to the slaughter of her entire family by Chen Pingping.
If he had a powerful maternal relative to support him, how could he have ended up in this predicament of being trapped in the palace with no one to speak up for him in court?
Li Chengqian complained about the Empress, but forgot that if he really had a powerful maternal family background, why would Emperor Qing have made him the Crown Prince?
Just like now, if Emperor Qing wanted to make Li Chengze the crown prince, in order to prevent the Li family's imperial power from falling into other hands in the future, the first thing he would do would definitely be to eliminate Consort Shu's maternal family.
This is also why Consort Shu distanced herself from Li Chengze.
Once Li Chengze successfully ascends to the throne, her family, like the Empress's family, will inevitably face destruction.
If Li Chengze ultimately fails, then death will be the only outcome awaiting him.
Consort Shu was learned and insightful. She had long seen that Emperor Qing had no intention of changing the crown prince, and that the possibility of Li Chengze successfully ascending to the throne was extremely slim.
After weighing the pros and cons, Consort Shu chose her family over her son.
Her distant attitude indicated that she did not support Li Chengze's bid for the throne, and also represented a clear separation between her family and Li Chengze.
This was a reluctant but necessary choice, both to protect the family and to protect oneself.
Li Chengze naturally understood his mother's predicament and tacitly accepted her decision.
He rarely went to the palace to see Consort Shu unless necessary.
This unspoken understanding is perhaps the deepest and most sincere bond between this mother and son.
However, this tacit understanding is understandable, but unacceptable, for Li Chengze now.
Under the nest, have the eggs finished?
Even after the original owner's downfall, how could Consort Shu and her family escape the new emperor's purge?
Even if they miraculously escaped this fate, they were destined to be driven out of Kyoto's political center and endlessly marginalized.
From then on, he had to live cautiously and prudently, as if walking on thin ice, for fear that he might inadvertently offend the emperor and bring about another catastrophe.
If you want to gain a foothold in Kyoto, the political center, how can you do nothing?
But if Li Chengze had succeeded in taking the throne, how could he have been so fond of a maternal family that had not provided any assistance during his struggle for succession?
By then, even if he holds great power, he will probably only regard his maternal family as dispensable, and may even harbor resentment towards them for their alienation at crucial moments.
Risk and reward are two sides of the same coin.
If you don't want to take risks, you can choose to live a peaceful life in a secluded corner; why send your daughter to the palace?
Since she was in the power struggle in Kyoto, and her daughter had not only been sent to the palace as a concubine but had also successfully given birth to a prince, becoming part of the struggle for imperial power, why did she deliberately distance herself at this crucial moment and try to stay out of it?
No pain, no gain.
The game of power allows no hesitation or retreat. Once you choose to back down, it means giving up the initiative, and the side that loses the initiative is destined to be swallowed up by the tide.
The cruelty of factional strife lies in its relentless refusal to give the weak a chance to breathe, and its absolute lack of pity for those who attempt to protect themselves.
In the imperial court, it is normal for political parties to coexist, with various forces deeply entrenched and vying for power to maximize their own interests.
However, once the struggle for succession is involved, this complex situation becomes instantly simplified.
Because no one can truly remain neutral, everyone needs to clearly define which side they are on.
Supporting a particular prince means betting on a particular future.
A family can observe for a while, but it cannot observe forever.
Because any ambiguous attitude or wait-and-see behavior will become a target for attacks from all sides.
The rules of the game in the imperial court are so ruthless—either stand firm and fight with all your might, or be swallowed up by the tide and become a pawn on the chessboard.
And this is precisely the essence of the power struggle.
So after Li Chengze subtly contacted his maternal family and realized that they still chose to protect themselves, he understood his future attitude towards them.
Although Li Chengze's identity as a transmigrator allowed him to inherit the original owner's memories, memories are ultimately just memories.
It's like watching a grand drama; although it can evoke fleeting emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, it ultimately fails to provide genuine empathy.
The emotions in our memories belong to the past, while the new soul needs to establish its own judgments and connections.
For Li Chengze, the original owner's memories only account for a part of his attitude towards the people around him; the majority of his feelings were based on his actual interactions with these people.
He will carefully weigh how much the other person is willing to give for him and whether they are trustworthy, and these factors will directly determine how he will repay them.
The result of this assessment is quite clear: in Li Chengze's heart, Consort Shu and her maternal family are not as important as Fan Wujiu and Xie Bi'an, who are by his side.
However, since the original owner valued them, Li Chengze treated them more gently.
Okay, let's do it like before, polite and distant, and not interfere with each other.
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