I Am Truly Not a Treacherous Minister Your Majesty

Chapter 71: Siblings

When the Prince of Rongsheng saw Xia Yuxiao, she was in the study playing with her cats.

As her pets, the cats were naturally well taken care of by the palace staff, so they were not particularly afraid of people. Although they would choose to avoid most people, when facing someone very familiar, they would not only not hide but also stare at that person.

Facing the gaze of several cats, Xia Yun saluted the graceful figure.

“Your Majesty, I, Xia Yun, have come by your command.”

“Oh, Xia Yun,” Xia Yuxiao’s tone was very calm, and then she casually pointed to a chair beside her, “Sit down first.”

“No, no, Your Majesty, I will stand…”

“When I tell you to sit, you sit.”

“…Yes.”

Xia Yun nodded helplessly and then sat down on the chair.

Xia Yuxiao fed the last bit of meat in her hand to the black cat in front of her, then turned around. The maids beside her immediately brought a basin of water, and she washed her hands in the water, then turned back to look at Xia Yun.

To be honest, it had been a long time since this pair of siblings had met alone like this.

“Well, your life has been quite regular during this period, and you haven’t lost your shape.” Xia Yuxiao showed a slight smile and then said.

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s concern, my life has been quite leisurely, and I have had time to take care of my body.” He said respectfully.

Although Xia Yuxiao hadn’t said anything yet, Xia Yun didn’t believe that she had Qin Ji capture him just for a chat.

“Well, your life… Oh, I remember I gave you quite a bit of money before.” Xia Yuxiao seemed to just remember this, “Do you know why I called you here?”

“I really don’t know.” He said in a low voice.

“There is a reason for calling you here,” Xia Yuxiao said, wiping her hands, and then sat down beside Xia Yun, asking in a low voice, “Xia Yun, tell me, what have you been doing recently?”

“I…”

“We are siblings.”

“Yes. I have been… managing various affairs in my territory. This year, there was a great disaster in Hexi County, but in my territory, the harvest was quite good, so I sent a lot of grain to Hexi County.” As he said this, he looked up at Xia Yuxiao, “Is there something you want to know, sister?”

“What I want to know, I already know. Brother, I think there’s no need for you to hide anything from me. There is no one else here, just the two of us. Tell me, what are you really doing?”

Xia Yuxiao frowned and asked.

For most people, when the emperor asks you to tell the truth, it’s a difficult choice. Sometimes telling the truth is good, sometimes it’s not.

The emperor’s mind is hard to fathom. Sometimes when the emperor asks you to tell the truth, they genuinely hope you can speak the truth so the two can discuss things; but sometimes, if you really tell the truth, you are not far from death.

“I…” He looked at Xia Yuxiao, and suddenly, he gave in, “I have been busy dealing with the issue of military personnel in the court recently.”

“Oh?” Hearing his words, Xia Yuxiao became somewhat interested, “Why are you dealing with the issue of military personnel again? Military affairs should be handled by the Grand Marshal.”

“Exactly. In the previous battle in the northern border, although our army suffered minor casualties, there were still some losses. Grand Marshal Qin needs to replenish the troops, so he ordered various places to prepare to provide a certain number of soldiers. To help the Grand Marshal complete the plan, I made a private decision to help recruit and train soldiers…”

“I didn’t know about this.”

Xia Yuxiao shook her head helplessly.

Xia Yun was lying. No matter how unreliable Qin Ji was, Xia Yuxiao wouldn’t believe her brother’s nonsense. Not to mention that the losses in the northern border war were not significant enough to require replenishment. Even if it were true, Qin Ji wouldn’t casually hand over the recruitment information to a prince.

This guy only trusted himself and a few reliable subordinates. It was absolutely impossible for Xia Yun to handle it.

“Whether you did it or not, don’t mention it again. Anyway, the related matters are Qin Ji’s responsibility,” Xia Yuxiao said, then took out a few stacks of memorials, “Today, I called you here for another matter.”

“Feel free to speak, I will not hide anything I know.”

“Why did you try to assassinate me? And the Grand Marshal?”

Xia Yuxiao asked softly in his ear.

This soft inquiry made him break out in a cold sweat instantly.

He had thought about being questioned by His Majesty, but he never expected it to be like this. Compared to just now, Xia Yuxiao had made a complete 180-degree turn.

So direct?

Suppressing the psychological pressure, he calmly replied:

“Your Majesty, I never attempted to assassinate you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Yuxiao casually threw a stack of papers at him.

In it, there were numerous letters of correspondence between him and his accomplices, almost all of which were about how to overthrow Xia Yuxiao and Qin Ji.

And in some of the letters, the plans for implementation were explicitly stated.

It could be said that he was now completely transparent, with every letter in familiar handwriting.

“Xia Yun, have I not been lenient enough with you?” Xia Yuxiao sighed and said, “In our mother’s eyes, we are among the closest in the royal family. From childhood to adulthood, have I ever made you unhappy? Or have I not done well enough? Even when you insisted on competing with me for this position, I did not blame you.”

“In my heart, you are my brother. No matter when, I can understand any mistake you make. When you wanted to promote education and created such a huge deficit, I used my own money to cover it; when you wanted to recruit talents, I helped you by posting notices. Why, in your eyes, does none of this matter? Did my actions only earn your resentment?”

Xia Yun did not speak.

Or rather, he had no reason to speak.

Was his sister not good enough to him? That’s nonsense. Xia Yuxiao had already done her utmost for him. When she had not yet been confirmed as the heir to the throne, Xia Yun had suddenly appeared to compete for the throne, almost causing her to lose the position. Even so, Xia Yuxiao only gave him a title and kept him close as a precaution.

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Why did he resent her?

Was it really dissatisfaction with something?

Xia Yun had thought about this question but could not understand it.

Finally, he understood.

He was not opposing his sister. What he hated was nothing more than the entire Great Xia.

And as the emperor of Great Xia, Xia Yuxiao naturally became the target of his hatred.

It was not hatred for his sister, but hatred for the imperial power.