Wasn't he supposed to be beaten to death? Why did this powerful cousin love him so much?

It was late at night when the banquet ended.

A biting chill permeated the air, and the palace lanterns flickered and swayed in the howling night wind, casting long, thin shadows of sparse branches onto the cold palace walls.

Jiang Sese wrapped her fox fur coat tighter around herself and slowly walked out of Wenhua Hall with the flow of people.

Fuyun and Hongdou helped her into the carriage. A heater was burning inside, which dispelled the chill, but it couldn't dispel the heavy, suffocating feeling in her heart left by Chen Shixuan's words.

The wheels crunched as they rolled over the snow on the palace road.

The carriage had just left the palace gates when it suddenly stopped.

Jiang Sese's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously tensed up as unpleasant memories flooded back.

Upon seeing this, Fuyun immediately said, "This servant will go and take a look."

But after Fuyun went down for a short while, she called Hongdou down as well.

Jiang Sese was stunned for a moment, and just as she was about to speak, the carriage curtain was neatly lifted from the outside.

A chilling aura rushed in, and then a face she knew all too well stepped in.

Jiang Sese's tense nerves instantly relaxed, but she still couldn't help but exclaim softly, "What are you doing here?"

Xie Jue casually closed the carriage curtain to ward off the cold wind before sitting down next to Jiang Sese.

His arrival made the carriage seem a little smaller, but it was immediately filled with a reassuring warmth.

"Didn't we agree that I would go to the Xie family and then go to the Princess's Mansion with you?" Jiang Sese looked at him, her eyes filled with genuine doubt, but even more so with surprise.

Xie Jue did not answer immediately, but simply reached out and gently cupped her slightly cool hands in his warm, broad palms.

Xie Jue carefully examined her face, his voice low and gentle: "Yes, originally. But I thought it was late and cold, so I wanted to come and pick you up earlier."

Xie Jue paused, then his gaze fell on her face again: "You've been in the palace for so long, aren't you cold?"

The warmth of his palm seeped through her skin, soothing her slightly cool fingertips, and seemingly calming her previously troubled emotions.

Looking into his focused eyes, Jiang Sese couldn't help but smile, her earlier frustration dissipating considerably: "The hall is heated by an underfloor heating system, it's very warm, not cold at all."

Jiang Sese leaned closer and lowered her voice, saying with a hint of pride that Emperor Jingyuan had also ordered a box of Jade Face Cake to be packed for her.

Xie Jue raised an eyebrow slightly and asked her why His Majesty had suddenly given her snacks.

Jiang Sese then vividly recounted what had just happened in the hall—from Emperor Jingyuan's sudden inquiry into politics to her using snacks as an excuse to discuss grain prices, farm tools, and border trade.

As she finished speaking, Jiang Sese couldn't hide her pride: "His Majesty even praised my casual remarks as being more substantial than all the memorials presented in court today, and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to come to the Princess's residence another day to have me write a detailed report on the method of distributing grain into granaries."

Xie Jue, however, fell into deep thought.

Jiang Sese waited a while but didn't receive any praise, so she couldn't help but turn her head to look at him: "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

Xie Jue snapped out of his daze and reached out to pat her head.

"You're right, you're very well said. But His Majesty's praise of you in public this time is probably not just for your benefit. His Majesty is using you to give a warning to the powerful families who manipulated grain prices before."

For aristocratic families to maintain their dignity and respectability, they need money.

Jiang Sese blinked, not interrupting him.

Xie Jue slowly said, "Your Majesty is learning from the lessons of the previous dynasty's demise due to powerful families and officials."

"Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, what you have been most wary of is the powerful and entrenched families of the previous dynasty, as well as the corrupt officials who form cliques and engage in rampant corruption, which will ultimately shake the foundation of the country."

"The downfall of the former Great Zhou Dynasty had two root causes. First, powerful clans carved up their own territories, monopolized land and the court, and undermined imperial power. Second, officials of all ranks were corrupt and inefficient, exploiting the people and deceiving the emperor. The powerful clans and officials colluded to empty the national treasury and drive the people into rebellion."

"Therefore, after His Majesty ascended the throne, he has been doing two things: first, vigorously supporting the imperial clan, granting them honor and a certain amount of real power to check and balance the court officials; and second, constantly suppressing and dividing powerful families and officials."

"But everything in excess is bad. The imperial clan is now too powerful, which is not a good thing."

To put it bluntly, it meant keeping the imperial family well-fed and healthy, while cracking down hard on powerful families and officials.

During Emperor Jingyuan's reign, the most comfortable life was undoubtedly that of the imperial family members. They enjoyed the emperor's favor and stipends, and as long as they didn't commit any major offenses, they could live a life of wealth and honor. Next were the common people. Emperor Jingyuan reduced taxes and levies and severely punished corrupt officials, so the lives of the common people were indeed much better than before.

The only ones who felt uncomfortable were the officials and powerful families.

Officials were easily punished, and the slightest carelessness could lead to dismissal or even imprisonment. Powerful families were constantly weakened and scattered, and many once illustrious clans now lived in constant fear and trepidation.

Jiang Sese understood immediately: "To put it bluntly, His Majesty is like raising a pig, fattening up the imperial clan so it can gnaw on the two tough nuts to crack: the powerful families and the officials. It's managed to gnaw on the nuts, but the pig has become too fat and strong, its appetite is growing bigger and bigger, and it's taking up more and more territory. Sooner or later..."

She paused, then said, "...It could be like the War of the Eight Princes in the Western Jin Dynasty, where a group of princes raised by the imperial family fought each other to the death, exhausting their resources! Or like the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, where the princes and imperial families became a huge burden on the national treasury, draining the people's wealth!"

Xie Jue: "The Western Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty?"

Jiang Sese: "...It was mentioned by that gentleman who passed by my house before, about two countries I'd read about in ancient books."

Xie Jue looked at Jiang Sese's guilty eyes with a smile.

Xie Jue chuckled softly, warming her hand in his palm: "Eat the Jade Face Cake as usual. You are His Majesty's Princess Chenjia, you have nothing to fear from anyone. You did very well, not a single word said in court today was wrong."

Jiang Sese breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

The carriage swayed gently as the horse-drawn carriage started moving.

Jiang Sese leaned against Xie Jue, hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help telling him what she had overheard at the palace banquet: "...Just now at the banquet, Sister Shixuan told me that she had her two personal maids' faces surgically altered and given to Wen Shiyu as his concubines. I really don't understand..."

Xie Jue's expression remained largely unchanged after hearing this.

In his view, it was common practice in aristocratic families for the matriarch to give her capable maidservants to her husband as concubines in order to consolidate her favor or control other concubines. Chen Shixuan's actions were therefore perfectly reasonable.

But when he saw the undisguised confusion and subtle resistance in Jiang Sese's clear eyes, his thoughts immediately changed.

Xie Jue frowned slightly, as if he also felt it was inappropriate, and nodded, saying, "I don't quite understand what Chen Shixuan is doing either. The maidservant has served her since childhood and should be her closest person, so why turn this affection into a rift between wives and concubines... If I were Wen Shiyu, I definitely wouldn't accept it."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Sese felt a sudden sense of estrangement and resentment due to the generational differences, which was instantly dispelled by his clear and firm stance.

Jiang Sese wrapped her arms around his, pressed her face against his, and happily said, "Yes! I know!"

Xie Jue was slightly taken aback by her sudden intimate embrace, and then the tenderness in his eyes almost overflowed.

Xie Jue raised his other hand and gently stroked the stray hairs at her temples.