Chapter 444: Chapter 444
Her gaze swept over her mother's face, which remained as pure and innocent as ever. Thinking of her mother's various behaviors over the years and her daily waking hours, the young Commandery Princess Xie found herself uncharacteristically silent for a moment.
She was just about to tactfully refuse, "Mother, perhaps you should play with Father instead..."
Unfortunately, in the next second, she met her mother's exceptionally bright and sparkling eyes.
An Ning was wearing a pink and white gauze long skirt today. Large clusters of crabapple flowers embroidered on the cuffs and hem complemented each other, making it seem as if she were standing amidst a boundless spring scene—lively and extraordinarily radiant.
At this moment, her almond-shaped eyes were smiling, her gaze as gentle as water, carrying a warmth that somehow outshone the vast spring scenery outside the window by twelve degrees.
Instinctively, Xie Jun pursed her lips. The words of refusal she had prepared could no longer be spoken at this moment.
Forget it. *Sigh.* Since things have come to this, when we actually play the game later, I'll just have to secretly and deliberately let Mother win a few more times!
Letting out an almost imperceptible sigh, looking at her exceptionally lively biological mother before her, the little girl A-Bao instinctively made this decision.
However, after the better part of an hour...
She... she had lost. Lost...
Lost to her own mother, who was lazy and languid every day, who shared her father's love for refined elegance and leisurely pleasures. And this happened right after she had just beaten her grandmother...
In less than half an hour.
Xie Jun lowered her head once more to look at the previous game's layout. It was still that casual, seemingly offhand playing style. It appeared haphazard, without any discernible pattern, yet it had precisely blocked all her avenues of advance.
This made her recall how, several months ago, her mother, with that same nonchalant attitude, having barely practiced a few times, had effortlessly disarmed her, flicking the long sword right out of her hand.
She distinctly remembered that her grandmother hadn't seemed the least bit surprised back then, only saying to her meaningfully:
"Jun'er, where do you think your truly top-tier natural aptitude came from?"
"Could it possibly be from your father?"
Xie Jun, who at the time had thought it was about martial arts: "..."
Glancing at her mother, who, mere moments later, had already started intimately whispering into her father's ear, laughing with a particularly bright and pure smile, and considering her mother's usual lazy, utterly study-averse behavior, the young Miss Xie fell silent once more.
To make matters worse, the culprit responsible for her current state was right beside her. In between cozily nestling against her husband, she didn't forget to turn her head and boast triumphantly to her daughter, who was clearly questioning her life choices:
"Didn't I tell you before? A-Bao, don't underestimate people. Your mother here, whether among her sisters in the boudoir or when playing against your father, has never lost before!" Not a single game.
This wasn't false. For someone like the original host, a pure slacker, embroidery and painting were truly torturous. If there was one subject where she could stand out among her sisters, it was undoubtedly Go.
Although, well... those two aunts... Father...
These reference points... actually, ahem...
Hearing this and looking at the crisscrossed board before her, the young Commandery Princess Xie choked up for another moment.
At no time had Xie Jun understood the meaning behind her grandmother's words—"Never underestimate anyone"—more clearly than she did now.
She's still so young after all. Watching her daughter's unusually heavy retreating figure today, An Ning couldn't help but click her tongue. She then turned her head and continued discussing music with the child's father beside her with great enthusiasm.
In short, under the invisible little disciplinary rod of her biological mother, An Ning, the eight-year-old child Xie Jun, whose little tail hadn't even truly started to rise in pride, had it thoroughly whacked down by her mother in one blow.
Meanwhile, within the imperial palace...
Having once again hinted to the emperor that he should take advantage of her entering the palace to decisively eliminate the Grand Princess, to no avail, Murong Qing was uncharacteristically agitated.
Staring dumbfounded at her own system, she could hardly believe it:
"How can there be an emperor in this world?"
Hesitant, overcautious, lacking even a shred of decisiveness. Couldn't he see the court situation becoming increasingly unfavorable over these past few years?
"Does he think that by acting this way, the Grand Princess will have no just cause to move against him?" Gambling now still offered a chance of survival.
Or did he think that just because she had a granddaughter, the other party wouldn't strike?
He didn't even understand the importance of seizing the crucial initiative. Occupying this position yet not daring to fight for it—this person is actually the emperor!
Watching the current emperor once again storm off in a huff, at this moment, even Concubine Yu couldn't help but feel a wave of intense helplessness. If only he weren't so cautious, making it impossible for her to...
Meanwhile, that very night, sensing the movements from the Grand Princess's Residence, and even within the imperial city... within her spiritual sea, the system couldn't help but express surprise:
"I... I thought the Grand Princess was going to wait for the emperor to make the first move?" This emperor currently seems to only harbor apprehension, not...
It was met with its host's clearly astonished tone in reply:
"Why must one always place oneself in the role of the victim? Let me ask you, would Li Shimin have waited for his elder brother to strike first?"
"I desire power, I scheme to seize it, I obtain it. Let me ask you, is this something to be ashamed of?"
As for whether her younger brother has treated her fairly? Please, we're talking about the imperial throne. Who bothers with such niceties? If you're going to rebel, why burden yourself with moral shackles?
Don't you know that delays breed complications? Opportunities of this nature are often the most fleeting, gone in the blink of an eye.
As for future public opinion? Once Chengdu is accomplished, excuses?
*Heh.* Gazing into the distance at the flickering flames within the imperial city, An Ning was utterly unconcerned. Aren't there plenty of those to go around?
In any case, this night was destined to be remembered in history.
In the darkness, flames, the clashing of swords, the thunderous roar of weapons meeting, mingled with endless bloodshed, spread wildly through the originally silent night.
Sensing the commotion, many people near the imperial city were frightened awake, scrambling out of their beds, filled with anxiety and fear. Even Xie Huai, usually a sound sleeper, was now wide-eyed with dark circles, holding his wife tightly.
His heart was filled with incessant worry for his mother and daughter, who were right in the midst of it all within the imperial city.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, this rebellion did not last long. Early the next morning, before dawn had even fully broken, everything had already come to a definitive end...