AUBTN -Chapter 175 Let the Tigers Fight While I Watch

If she were exposed, she wouldn’t just be disgraced—she’d be utterly ruined, beyond redemption!

After a brief moment of panic, an intense will to survive and a flood of hatred instantly seized her mind.

It was that old shrew!

It had to be her! She wanted to use this matter to destroy me!

And those two mad dogs, Shen Jue and Lu Yan! If not for them, how could this long-buried incident have been dug up?

Li Yunxi’s gaze instantly turned icy and resolute.

Since you show no mercy, don’t blame me for being ruthless in return!

Rather than wait to be destroyed, it’s better to strike first!

As long as I eliminate the Empress Dowager—the greatest threat—who would dare investigate me?

“Prepare the carriage! I must go to the palace at once!”

Half an hour later, in the Imperial Study…

The young emperor, only fourteen years old, sat frowning over a pile of towering memorials.

Though he held the title of Son of Heaven, the Empress Dowager had always controlled the reins of government, leaving him suffocated and powerless.

At that moment, Li Yunxi entered briskly, dressed in plain mourning clothes, her face perfectly portraying grief and indignation.

“Your Majesty!”

Tears flowed before words could escape, her beautiful eyes streaked with sorrowful rain, leaving the young emperor completely flustered.

“Your Highness, what’s happened? Who has wronged you?” The young emperor quickly rose to support her.

Li Yunxi pressed herself into his arms, sobbing as she recounted, “Your Majesty, you must stand up for your sister! Mother… Mother has been misled by some vile slanderer and now doubts my virtue. She has sent people to investigate my past, trying to ruin my reputation! I am your true sister, the legitimate daughter of our late father. By humiliating me, she insults the entire royal family, bringing shame upon Father even in the afterlife!”

Her words, full of tears, subtly twisted the narrative—turning the Empress Dowager’s political suppression into a personal affront against the late emperor and the royal family.

The young emperor frowned deeply at this revelation. “Is this true? How could Mother act so?”

Seeing his reaction, Li Yunxi pressed the advantage. Wiping her tears with a silk handkerchief, she said softly, “Your Majesty, I act for your own good. Mother now holds absolute power and acts without restraint. Today, she distrusts me without reason; tomorrow, she may cite your youth as a pretext to rule through her curtain of influence! In the long run, will this empire bear the surname Li… or Zhao?”

This statement struck the young emperor’s most sensitive and deepest fears.

His face went pale, lips trembling. “Then… what does Your Highness suggest we do?”

A flicker of triumph glimmered in Li Yunxi’s eyes, but her expression remained one of benevolence and sorrow. “Your Majesty, though Mother is not our birth mother, she is the one who raised you—we cannot be unfilial. Yet she has been uneasy lately, perhaps overworked by state affairs. I have heard that Mount Wutai is a sacred Buddhist site, peaceful and solemn. Why not… invite Mother to move the imperial residence there, to pray for our Great Wei and enjoy her remaining years in tranquility? In this way, Your Majesty fulfills filial duty, and Mother can be far from courtly strife, resting in peace. Isn’t that the best of both worlds?”

A pretense of prayer, but in reality, it was house arrest!

Though young, the emperor was no fool. He instantly understood his sister’s intention.

On the surface, he said he would consider it—but in reality, he intended to delay.

Once he had comforted the princess, he immediately ordered Shen Jue and Lu Yan to the Imperial Study.

Before long, a eunuch outside the hall loudly announced their arrival:

Hearing this, the young emperor, as if clutching a lifeline, immediately said, “Quick! Bring them in at once!”

Shen Jue and Lu Yan walked into the hall one after the other, their steps measured and deliberate.

One exuded a gentle, almost ethereal aura, the other was stern and unyielding, yet both carried an oppressive presence that was impossible to ignore.

After performing their bows, their gazes swept over the young emperor before they lowered their eyes.

“Your Majesty, may I ask the purpose of summoning us to the palace at this time?” Lu Yan asked, bowing respectfully.

The young emperor seemed to find his anchor. He dismissed those around him and urgently asked, “Ministers, you have arrived at just the right moment. I… I have been troubled lately and do not know what to do.”

“Is this regarding the Empress Dowager’s request to have the Princess Royal retire for her cultivation?” Lu Yan furrowed his brow.

“Exactly! I wonder what advice you two ministers might have?”

Lu Yan was about to speak, but Shen Jue stopped him with a single glance.

Then Shen Jue spoke gently, his voice soft yet piercing the haze clouding the emperor’s mind.

“Your Majesty, I once heard a story. Two fierce tigers fought over territory in the mountains, tearing each other apart until blood and flesh were scattered. A clever hunter, however, aided neither of them. He merely sat atop the highest peak, sipping tea and enjoying the spectacle. Only when both tigers were exhausted and could no longer roar did he slowly descend the mountain and, without effort, take both of their pristine pelts.”

Lu Yan, standing beside him, added, “Your Majesty, as the ruler of ten thousand chariots, sovereign of all under heaven, both the Empress Dowager and the Princess Royal are your closest kin, and also your subjects. The art of rulership lies in balance. When ministers quarrel, the monarch need only watch and weigh the consequences, so that the decision benefits the realm most. Hastily choosing a side only puts oneself at a disadvantage.”

Their words, one subtle and one direct, one abstract and one concrete, both pointed to the same answer: sit atop the mountain and watch the tigers fight.

The young emperor was suddenly enlightened.

Of course! Why must he choose a side?

Why let them lead him by the nose? He is the emperor!

All the difficulties he had faced stemmed from placing himself in the positions of a son and a younger brother, forgetting the most important identity he held: that of the sovereign.

He drew a deep breath, and his previously childish face now carried a steadiness beyond his years.

“I… understand,” he said, looking at Shen Jue and Lu Yan with gratitude. “Thank you both, ministers, for clearing my doubts.”

He then returned to the dragon throne and, addressing the palace attendants sent by the Princess Royal, said lightly, “Go and tell my elder sister that I am grateful for Mother’s dedication to the state. As for the matter of praying at Mount Wutai, it concerns great affairs, and filial duty is involved. I must consider it carefully and plan for the long term.”

With a single phrase—“plan for the long term”—Li Yunxi’s scheme was temporarily halted.

He gave the same reasoning to the Empress Dowager: family and state matters require careful consideration, temporarily suspending any investigation she had dispatched.

Shen Jue and Lu Yan exchanged a glance, each seeing satisfaction in the other’s eyes.

The chessboard was set, and the most important pieces were in place.

The two tigers they had provoked—Empress Dowager and Princess Royal—would now see whose claws were sharper.

Overnight, the wind in the capital seemed to turn cold.

The court, which had been tense and turbulent just days ago, fell into an eerie silence under the emperor’s Tai Chi-like maneuver of “planning for the long term.”

Princess Royal Li Yunxi failed to send the Empress Dowager to Mount Wutai, and the investigation team the Empress Dowager had dispatched was politely, but firmly, blocked by the young emperor on the grounds that family and state matters required careful weighing.

For the moment, the two fierce tigers were trapped in invisible cages. Neither could harm the other; all they could do was glare venomously across the palace walls at each other.