"How dare I!" Lin Xiaosu stood up and bowed northward, "Your Highness, please convey to Princess Consort An not to speak this way, it would be too much for me to bear!"
The Seventh Prince smiled gently, "Mother’s thoughts are actually also mine, but for now, only the heart needs to know!"
"Thank you, Your Highness, that is indeed appropriate!" Lin Xiaosu sat down, "Your Highness should speak of the most crucial person now!"
"Exactly! Can Your Highness mention this to Your Majesty?"
The Seventh Prince slowly shook his head.
"Why is that?" Lin Xiaosu frowned.
"Sir, Qing Ying can answer this question for His Highness!" Qing Ying said, "Throughout history, offending generals cannot be easily pardoned, it concerns their mentality, you should understand. His Highness does not want to mention it, because he knows well the difficulty of this matter."
Qing Ying spoke rather vaguely, but Lin Xiaosu understood as well.
Why can’t offending generals be easily pardoned?
Because when border generals are wrongfully imprisoned, and their families experience drastic changes, they will have extremely strong mentality shifts, breeding resentment towards the Dynasty, which makes it easy to provoke calamity when on the battlefield.
Therefore, there is the unwritten, but conventionally established rule that offending generals cannot be easily pardoned.
"Offending generals cannot be easily pardoned, this conventional rule seems reasonable, but it also requires specific analysis for specific issues!" Lin Xiaosu said, "Your Highness might as well try thinking from another angle. With Xuelong imprisoned, all the schemers belong to the Crown Prince’s faction. Your Majesty was ill at that time and unable to govern. When his health slightly improved, he personally went to the Heavenly Prison to visit Xuelong and caned Sun Chong to comfort Xuelong, even going so far as to abolish the Crown Prince last night... From this, it can be seen how important General Xuelong is in Your Majesty’s heart, even the Crown Prince cannot suppress him. If General Xuelong knew this inside story, how could he not be moved to tears? If the thirty thousand soldiers at the border knew, how could they not dedicate themselves to serving the nation?"
The Seventh Prince’s eyes suddenly brightened.
Indeed, it was the Crown Prince who sought Xuelong’s downfall, not Your Majesty!
Your Majesty abolished the Crown Prince for Xuelong’s sake and placed him, the border commander, ahead of the Crown Prince. What more could you ask from him?
Xuelong didn’t know about that mysterious "Cause and Effect Mistake," he would only express all his gratefulness to Your Majesty.
In such circumstances, why would Xuelong harbor resentment toward Your Majesty?
He would only shed his blood until he dies at Zheyuntai.
"Mr. Li’s words are indeed eye-opening!" The Seventh Prince stood up quickly, "I shall return to the palace now!"
He ran off directly, yes, ran...
Lin Xiaosu stood up to see him off, but the Seventh Prince was already outside, waving his hand backward, "No need to see me off!"
With these two words, he had already run out of the courtyard.
Because the name Xuelong was the biggest thorn in his heart.
Whenever he thought about it, it hurt unbearably.
But now, Lin Xiaosu’s few words cleverly changed perspective, becoming the most persuasive argument he wished to present before his father tonight, to unlock his heart’s deadlock, rightful stature, and release Xuelong.
The Seventh Prince had already left.
As the lights had not yet been lit, Qing Ying’s face presented a kind of mystique in the darkness.
"Sir, you seem a bit different than before."
The voice came softly.
Lin Xiaosu felt a slight tremor.
If anyone could see through him, perhaps Qing Ying was one of them.
She was a High Rank Steward Assistant of the Heart Pavilion, engaged in espionage work, what the other world might call a spy, with an insight beyond ordinary imagination.
Moreover, she had always been the closest person to Li Chengnian.
Had she really discovered something?
Lin Xiaosu gazed through the night at her, her face showing no abnormality, only a bit of obsession, "The previous Sir was indeed wise, but only wise as the Heart Pavilion’s strategist, whereas today’s Sir exudes the demeanor of a State Preceptor, showing that Sir has always been concealing and biding time within the Heart Pavilion."
Lin Xiaosu laughed, this reasoning was quite good.
The former Li Chengnian was falsely wise, but the current Lin Xiaosu was truly wise, a difference explained well by concealing and biding time.
As the facts proved, he entered the Heart Pavilion with ulterior motives.
How could someone with ulterior motives appear too clever?
Lin Xiaosu lay quietly on his bed.
The bed was new, made of ebony, with a classic design, extremely large, enough for three or four women to fit on together.
Even though Qing Ying couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, as soon as he deployed his Primordial Spirit, Lin Xiaosu could clearly know she was perched on a tree outside the window.
This girl started fulfilling her duty loyally, transforming into his personal guard.