Shen Mingzhu watched the fleeting look in Shen Mingyuan's eyes, and her heart sank gradually. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. So she just closed her mouth and clenched her fists tightly. Her not - very - long fingernails dug into her palms. The pain made her sober up a bit. She looked up and stared at Shen Mingyuan quietly.
A look of hesitation gradually appeared on Shen Mingyuan's handsome face. When he met Shen Mingzhu's gaze, he still couldn't help showing a bitter smile. Finally, he heaved a deep sigh and said, "Sister Princess should know that the Empress Dowager didn't like me much before. It was only out of consideration for you that she tolerated me a bit."
Shen Mingzhu was silent for a moment, then said to Shen Mingyuan, "But in the end, Mother still chose to support you to ascend the throne. Is it because of this?"
Shen Mingyuan nodded and finally said, "Yes. In the end, it was still for Sister Princess' sake. Actually..."
As he spoke, a look of indescribable hesitation flashed in his eyes, and his eyes began to dodge. But finally, he forced himself to look at Shen Mingzhu and said, "If the Empress Dowager only had Elder Brother as her child, she wouldn't have thought so much. She would have just destroyed everything."
"She supported me to ascend the throne. Firstly, she wanted me to avenge Elder Brother. Secondly, it was to protect Sister Princess. By then, no matter what happened, we could come up with countermeasures so that you wouldn't be left isolated and helpless."
Shen Mingzhu's heart trembled slightly. Seeing the gratitude in Shen Mingyuan's eyes, she felt that fate was really playing tricks on them.
Who could have thought that in the end, it would be Shen Mingyuan who ascended the throne? Elder Brother had died in an unclear way, and she still didn't know all the truth until today.
Shen Mingzhu felt her heart getting colder and colder. Her fingers were stiff and she was in a daze for a while before she replied, "It's also because of your outstanding talent that Mother took a fancy to you."
Shen Mingyuan laughed. Looking at Shen Mingzhu, he said, "Sister Princess thinks too highly of me. The reason why the Empress Dowager chose me was that she knew I would never hurt you, so she trusted me so much. Otherwise, even if I were the smartest person in the world, she would never really help me."
Shen Mingzhu was silent.
She knew why Mother thought so.
Once during the winter hunting, she was being playful and went into the woods without paying attention. She almost got trapped. At that time, Shen Mingyuan was still an unfavored prince, but he rushed to look for her. In the end, he almost lost his life.
From then on, Mother treated Shen Mingyuan much better.
Seeing the look of deep thought on Shen Mingzhu's face, Shen Mingyuan finally couldn't help sighing.
He really didn't want to say that there were other motives for the Empress Dowager to support him.
Because he wasn't the Emperor's child. In the end, when she pushed him to the throne, she actually had a hint of revenge in her mind. But this fact was too disgraceful, and he didn't want to tell Sister Princess.
Shen Mingzhu looked at him. She couldn't describe the feeling in her heart. Finally, she motioned for him to continue.
Only then did Shen Mingyuan continue. He felt his throat tighten, so he went on, "I'm being too verbose. It took me so long to tell this one thing."
He was silent for a moment and subconsciously avoided Shen Mingzhu's gaze. Then he continued, "Elder Brother's matter was a coincidence. Before the accident happened, Elder Brother was in a fit of anger with Father."
"Why?" Shen Mingzhu blurted out subconsciously. But then she frowned. Based on what she had found out these days, she found the answer. "Was it because the noble families had touched the foundation of the court, so Elder Brother wanted to take action against them, but Father hesitated, worrying that it would end up with both sides getting hurt?"
Shen Mingyuan nodded. "It was exactly because of this. Father and Elder Brother had been arguing for a long time. Finally, Elder Brother took a step back and went south in person to look for an opportunity."
Shen Mingzhu thought for a moment and then found something wrong. "But... but why did Mother blame Father?"
Shen Mingyuan glanced at her quickly, then finally avoided her gaze and said, "Well, because..."
"Because Father hesitated. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate for Elder Brother to inherit the throne if he took such action." As Shen Mingzhu said this, he couldn't bear to look at the expression on Shen Mingzhu's face. But finally, his worry about Shen Mingzhu overcame his fear. So he looked up at her and sighed slightly.
"Because of Father's hesitation, those noble families gradually became bolder. Finally, Father and Elder Brother had a big fight, and Father had other ideas. So he wanted the noble families to teach Elder Brother a lesson."
Shen Mingzhu stood there stunned.
When Father was still a prince, his maternal clan wasn't prominent. But in the end, he ascended the throne by marrying into a noble family. After that, he favored the noble families even more.
At first, this wasn't a big deal. In the court, the balance of power had always been about one strong and one weak, taking turns, so as to really achieve "balance".
But no one expected that the noble families had gotten too much and developed too fast. In the end, some of them had gradually become moths in the court.
"But they were too bold." Shen Mingyuan didn't know how to continue talking about this matter. Because in the end, he had accidentally become the beneficiary. "Father just... just wanted to teach Elder Brother a lesson, but they really took action against Elder Brother. Finally..."
He saw that Shen Mingzhu had a blank expression on her face, but her eyes were gradually filling with tears. For a moment, he was flustered and took out a handkerchief for Shen Mingzhu. His heart ached. "Sister Princess..."
"So Father finally regretted it. Mother hated him. And I was kept in the dark from beginning to end."
When facing Shen Mingzhu, Shen Mingyuan completely lost his former cold and proud demeanor. He just watched her cry helplessly and said, "Sister Princess, this is really just a coincidence. This matter, this matter is really..."
For the first time in his life, Shen Mingyuan felt that he was bad at expressing himself. Finally, seeing the cold look on her face, he could only heave a deep sigh.
"I see."
Shen Mingzhu's eyes were red, with a hint of strong mockery in them. "Do you have the list?"
"Yes!"
Shen Mingzhu knew clearly that now was really a good time to take action against the noble families.
Before, Father didn't dare to take action because he still remembered the old feelings when he ascended the throne and was also worried about the unstable situation in the north. But they had affected the foundation.
It was different now. Chen Jin had come back with the good news of victory.
She frowned and took the list that Shen Mingyuan had prepared in advance. She scanned it word by word and finally memorized all these things in her heart. She confirmed with Shen Mingyuan, "Except for Prime Minister Zhou, no one else in the Zhou family knew about it?"
Shen Mingyuan nodded.
For a moment, Shen Mingzhu felt a bit lucky in her heart. Thinking of Zhou Chengyu, who had been causing trouble with Prime Minister Zhou recently, she had an idea in her mind.
Shen Mingyuan saw that her face was cold. When she looked up at him, there was even a hint of indescribable coldness in her eyes, like a sharp sword out of its scabbard, captivating.
He stood there stunned. Seeing Shen Mingzhu get up, he actually subconsciously chased after her.