Protect Our Clan Leader
Chapter 1118 - 81 Shou Zhe Achieves Success and Fame! Happy to Obtain Treasures

...

Emperor Longchang gave Wang Shouzhe a stern look and muttered under his breath, "Oh, Wang Shouzhe, you are indeed lucky that my self-control has improved over the years."

Had it been during my younger days, with my fiery temper, heh heh heh...

Right then! He couldn't be bothered to waste more words with Wang Shouzhe and pretended to recuperate his divine soul, closing his eyes without another word.

At his side, An Commandery Prince's face turned pale and sweat beaded his forehead.

Today's banquet was definitely the most thrilling one he had ever experienced in his lifetime.

With each passing moment, he could feel the emperor's wave-like rage, feeling as if at any moment he might call forth hundreds of executioners to turn Wang Shouzhe into mincemeat.

Such audacity!

An Commandery Prince could never have imagined that Wang Shouzhe would be so boldly audacious as to blatantly criticize the Great Emperor right to his face by praising his achievements grandly yet also directly pointing out the flaws in his governance.

After a few sentences, he felt his back was soaked wet and was filled with dread.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Emperor Longchang calmed himself a bit, and after recuperating, looked deeply at Wang Shouzhe, "Wang Shouzhe, your words are precious like gold and jade, awakening and thought-provoking, making me ponder deeply."

"You flatter me, Your Majesty." Wang Shouzhe graciously bowed, "These words of mine are merely rustic villager's talk; I am grateful for Your Majesty's magnanimity in not holding them against me. In truth, Your Majesty's life overall has more merits than faults, worthy of being a rare pioneering emperor who will surely be celebrated in history."

With Wang Shouzhe's biting critique as a premise, his speech, though somewhat harsh, truly eased the mood quite a bit.

The mood of Emperor Longchang improved slightly, and he said with a smile, "Wang Shouzhe, your wisdom and demeanor are unique in my lifetime; no one else in the world matches you. Although my son Ming Yuan is kind-hearted, he is somewhat dull and cannot compare to you."

"For the sake of the eternal foundation of Great Qian Land, after some thought, I feel it might be better to pass the emperorship to you. You need not worry about bloodline issues, as our Wu family has always been progressive. When the time comes, we will simply find a virtuous and moral Commandery Princess for you to marry into her family."

"What do you think, Wang Shouzhe?"

Wang Shouzhe broke out in a cold sweat, his face turning pale.

Are you trying to take revenge on me like this, Great Emperor? Even playing this Cao Cao entrusting his legacy strategy, it's way too pretentious. And talking about marrying me into another family... My descendants and future generations are plentiful; if I dare mention marrying into another family, I fear Ruolan might chop me up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your high regard," Wang Shouzhe internally criticized the emperor bitterly but had to stand up again and bow, "Wang Shouzhe is just a simple rustic villager. My favorite activity is staying at home farming, developing the family, and educating my descendants. The position of emperor might seem gloriously boundless, but the responsibilities and troubles are also endless. Not to mention being an emperor, I can't even handle being a city lord or a prefectural governor."

Emperor Longchang said cheerfully, "If Wang Shouzhe loves tranquility, why then join the struggle for the emperorship? Isn't it better to live as a wealthy landlord in Changning rather than stir up storms in the Imperial Capital?"

Wang Shouzhe's brow twitched, and he glanced at Emperor Longchang, speaking somberly, "Your Majesty, may I speak plainly?"

"Err..." Emperor Longchang's smile twitched, hesitating for a moment before waving his hand, "Never mind, just don't berate me."

"Your Majesty asked why Wang Shouzhe joins the struggle for the emperorship?"

Wang Shouzhe took a deep breath.

He had been suppressing his emotions for a long time, and finally, he found an outlet. He grew unintentionally impassioned as he spoke, full of complaints, "Does Your Majesty think I want to meddle in this mess?"

"The struggle for the emperorship, how perilous can that be?"

"My Wang family is merely a Rank Six Prominent Family, and if possible, I would stay as far away from the trouble as I can. Isn't it all because of that damned Kang Commandery Prince forcing us? I was just fine in Ping'an Town, clearing fields and farming peacefully. But then, Kang Commandery Prince's minions had to expand their power and forced the Qian family and our Wang family to take sides and join."

"If it were just about forcing, it would be tolerable if Kang Commandery Prince truly possessed the makings of a great emperor and was a virtuous ruler. But what is he really? Narrow-minded and vengeful, utterly unprincipled in his actions."

"If my Wang family boarded that sinking ship, who knows where we'd be misled, and it's more likely we'd just become expendable stepping stones."

"And that's not even the worst part. What I fear most is that once we're on board, they'd use our Wang family to conduct dishonorable activities like smuggling or colluding with the enemy. So, Your Majesty, should I do well or not?"

"Does it mean my Wang family deserves misfortune, to be targeted by a pack of wolves? What choice do I have? In order to protect the Wang family and for the future of Great Qian Land, must I not rack my brains and exhaust all efforts? Have I had it easy?"

With that, Wang Shouzhe unleashed a torrent of grievances, his words firing out rapidly like a machine gun.

Even Emperor Longchang, with his thick-skinned demeanor, felt his face heat up with embarrassment.

Reflecting on it, the misdeeds of Kang Commandery Prince were indeed troubling and somewhat excessive.

No wonder Wang Shouzhe harbored such deep resentment.

And indeed, Kang Commandery Prince was just as Wang Shouzhe described; if not placated, once he ascended to the throne of the Great Emperor, the Wang family might indeed have a tough time surviving, perhaps being quietly crushed out of existence without anyone noticing.

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