Chapter 949: The Young Empress (82)

The throne itself no longer held such irresistible appeal for Su Qing.

He only wanted to borrow the Xiao family's empire to help him obtain the person he had desired all along.

After he was gone from this world, he would return the empire to the Xiao family.

This thought had arisen because of Xiao Yun.

He had to admit that Xiao Yun was truly kind-hearted and innocent. For her sake, he was willing to protect the Xiao family's empire well.

Seeing the expression on Su Qing's face, the old emperor ultimately agreed.

Even if he refused, Su Qing still had countless ways to seize the throne from him. All he could do was hope that Su Qing would honor his promise and one day pass the throne to Yun'er's child.

As he wrote the edict of succession, the old emperor was filled with regret.

He should never have allowed his sons to fight freely among themselves under the pretext of choosing the most outstanding heir.

In the end, not only had he failed to choose a successor, but he had ruined all of his sons, and the empire had ultimately fallen into the hands of someone outside the Xiao family.

When news spread that the old emperor had passed the throne to his imperial son-in-law, all of Qi Kingdom was shocked.

Strangely enough, the court officials were not nearly as disturbed.

Su Qing's efforts over the years had not been in vain. At least more than half of the ministers would never kneel and beg the old emperor to retract his decree.

"Father Emperor passed the throne to you?"

Xiao Yun thought she must have misheard.

How was that possible?

Su Qing nodded and handed her the imperial edict. After reading it, Xiao Yun murmured, "This is indeed written in Father Emperor's own hand."

But Father Emperor still had other children. No matter how one looked at it, the throne shouldn't have gone to her husband.

"Is the Princess worried about something?" Su Qing asked.

Xiao Yun shook her head. Somehow, she felt that something was off.

"I want to see Father Emperor and ask him why he passed the throne to you. Otherwise, I won't feel at ease."

"Then I'll accompany the Princess."

Naturally, Xiao Yun agreed.

The following day, the two entered the palace together. Upon seeing that the old emperor was safe and sound, Xiao Yun let out a sigh of relief.

How could she have suspected her husband?

Su Qing's abilities were extraordinary, but he had never shown any ambition toward the throne.

Otherwise, how could he have stayed by her side for nearly twenty years without changing? No matter who it was, surely some hint would have slipped out.

Moreover, in front of both Xiao Yun and the old emperor, Su Qing once again declared that one of Xiao Yun's children would change their surname to Xiao.

Hearing this decision, the old emperor felt much more reassured.

As for everything else, it would have to wait until after his death.

Because the old emperor was still alive when he transferred the throne to Su Qing, there was little unrest. The princes themselves were incapable, while the imperial son-in-law had worked diligently for twenty years. His talents were plain for everyone to see. On top of that, he had only one wife—the princess—with whom he had both sons and daughters, and he intended to have the future heir change their surname to Xiao. As a result, opposition became even quieter.

Most people believed that the old emperor had simply concluded that his sons were inadequate and thus entrusted the throne to Su Qing.

Just as Su Qing was preparing to ascend the throne and slowly lay plans to invade Western Saint Kingdom—

Tang Guo, too, had begun making her own preparations.

Tang Nuoyue found it rather strange.

Over the past two years, her younger sister, the Empress, had frequently summoned her to the palace. Sometimes they drank tea, sometimes they played chess, and other times they simply watched performances together.

As a result, she had missed countless opportunities to travel with her Wangfu. She had no idea how many outings she had already owed him.

Fortunately, Shan Ge was an easy man to satisfy and never threw a temper over it.

Instead, he believed that the Empress summoned Tang Nuoyue because she trusted and cherished her, and that there was no need to concern themselves with anything else.

Such understanding and consideration from Shan Ge left Tang Nuoyue deeply content.

Sure enough—

Ever since Xiao Jin had been driven away, life had become peaceful and worry-free.