Ning Shu was very irritated with these ministers. They accepted the official’s salary but still wanted to make use of their numbers to control her, this emperor. Every single one of them wanted to go down in history, so why didn’t they just commit suicide by ramming their head against the wall and admonish the emperor with their deaths? What use was kneeling all the time?
“The crown prince’s prestige in court is quite high, so many people are pleading for leniency on your behalf.” Ning Shu tugged at the corners of her lips. “How impressive, you’re all uniting against us for personal interest.”
Ning Shu pointed at the ministers. “You, you, and you. What you mean is that our imperial decree can be casually disobeyed? That it can be disobeyed in a moment of rashness? That just because it wasn’t intended, it’s okay to disobey our imperial decree?”
Every single one of them was trying to blur the main point.
“These subjects don’t dare.” The ministers that were kneeling on the ground kowtowed. None of them dared to say anything anymore.
Mu Xue furrowed her handsome brows, then glanced at Ning Shu. She was confused what she had come for today.
“Imperial Mother, it was this subject daughter’s fault. This subject daughter had been rash.” Mu Xue kowtowed, then said, “This subject daughter will definitely reflect properly.”
Ning Shu scoffed, then said coldly, “The crown prince truly loves the ministers like they’re your own children. We only berated these ministers a little, and now you’ve immediately taken all the wrongs upon yourself. Yet you were actually able to be so ruthless towards your own sister.”
Mu Xue clenched her fist as a dark expression flashed across her face. She quickly glanced at Ning Shu, to find that Ning Shu’s face was filled with loathing and ridicule.
Mu Xue’s heart was filled with confusion. Why wasn’t this woman dead yet? It didn’t make sense.
“This subject daughter has wronged.” Mu Xue didn’t know what to say except this. No matter what she said, this emperor could always find fault with her words.
Ning Shu had spoken a lot, it was way past what her body could endure, so she had no choice but to sit down. Her body trembled slightly.
Mu Qing’s gaze was complicated as she looked at Ning Shu. Most of the time this old witch looked more dead than alive, yet she was actually being so lively right now. She was probably forcing herself to appear this way.
Blood surged up in Ning Shu’s throat. She glanced towards Court Lady Qiu and Court Lady Qiu immediately carried a cup of tea to her. She started gulping it down to swallow down the blood in her throat.
After finishing the cup of tea, she gave a cold humph. “If there’s a next time, we’ll remove you from the position of heir apparent. If you keep refusing to reflect and do not learn to be strict with yourself, even if it risks the stability of the nation, we’ll still remove you from that status.”
“Fifth, let’s go.” Ning Shu spoke towards Mu Qing who was pretending to be a pillar.
Mu Qing instantly felt the crown prince’s dark gaze sweep over her face.
What exactly was this old witch trying to do?
Was she purposely trying to pit her against the crown prince?
Mu Qing felt that she didn’t have the power to face off against the crown prince. Although she had the power that the old witch gave her, she didn’t have as much prestige as the crown prince did in court.
It was obvious based on what happened just now. As soon as something happened to the crown prince, over half the ministers would kneel down to plead for leniency for the crown prince.
Mu Qing silently estimated her chances of success fighting against the crown prince. Right now the old witch was still purposefully increasing how much Mu Xue hated her. Mu Qing felt that the old witch was trying to get her killed.
Of course it was good if she could become emperor, but if she couldn’t, then she’d simply become a whetstone for someone else. This old witch was sure evil, she was purposefully pitting them against each other.
“Why are you still standing there for? Let’s go.” Although Ning Shu was urging Mu Qing, her tone contained obvious doting affection. When Mu Qing heard, her legs went weak.
Her usual interactions with this old witch were nothing like this. This old witch was extremely heartless so her current act of being a warm caring mother was clearly based on sinister motives.
Mu Xue was still kneeling on the ground. When she saw Ning Shu’s attitude towards the fifth prince, her brows furrowed. She seriously couldn’t understand. Why did Mu Nichang dislike Mu Xue so much? They were both her children, so why was there such disparity?
Mu Qing quickly walked to Ning Shu’s side and stood behind her, trying to decrease her sense of presence.
When Ning Shu saw how timid she looked, she rolled her eyes. Even if Mu Qing didn’t want to confront Mu Xue, she still had to.
Mu Qing sensed Ning Shu’s malicious gaze and felt the urge to puke blood. This old witch must hate her. It was probably revenge for how rude she had been towards her back then.
#comment: Ah, this title reminds me of that arc with the little bun. Oh how Ning Shu has changed since then…
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