Chapter 175: Must Learn to Adapt
Sang Zhi looked up in astonishment.
"Admitting you’re wrong when you haven’t done anything wrong just emboldens others and hurts yourself. You have to stand up for yourself. Everyone has a moral compass and can tell right from wrong. If a child can tell the difference, how could an adult not?" Ye Qianning understood his predicament. Feeling a hint of exasperated affection for him, she added, "Constantly admitting fault just makes people bolder. Your apologies merely give the villains an easy way out and provide those who want to be biased a legitimate reason to side with them. Brother, have you ever thought that if you insisted on making the truth known, you might actually be protected?"
Sang Zhi was utterly shocked by her words. ’Insist on arguing for the truth? Would Father really protect me?’
He had never considered any of this. For as long as he could remember, everyone had told him the same thing: don’t anger the various Concubines, and don’t offend the other Princes.
Even when he was bullied, he was told to apologize first if anyone asked...
No one had ever told him to argue for the truth...
’In this vast Imperial Palace, I’m just a jinx, a bad omen. Father has probably long since forgotten he even has a son like me.’
"Brother, you have to believe me. Apologizing isn’t the way to survive. You need to learn how to adapt and improvise. If you have to, pretend to faint. In short, the more pitiful you seem, the better." Ye Qianning decided she first had to correct his way of thinking.
’The most common tactics in the harem were crying, causing a scene, and threatening suicide. Be aggressive when no one’s watching, then act pitiful when there’s an audience. It’s all a competition to see who can look more miserable.’
’Royal families are the most heartless. But in the Emperor’s eyes, when it comes to the harem, whoever seems more pathetic is the one in the right. These tactics weren’t without basis.’
Sang Zhi hadn’t even processed her earlier words when she hit him with another barrage. ’The way to survive?’
Seeing that he still didn’t seem to understand, Ye Qianning thought for a moment and asked, "Brother, do you know where the Emperor is summoning me?"
"The Imperial Study," Sang Zhi said.
"Can you get inside?"
Sang Zhi’s face was a mask of horror.
"I’m not telling you to go inside the room, just to get close on the outside. As long as you can hear what’s being said, that’s enough." ’Even she didn’t have the nerve to let this little stick-in-the-mud enter the Imperial Study.’
"If I ask Mr. Li, it should be possible."
"You and Mr. Li are that close?" Ye Qianning was a bit surprised.
"When he first entered the palace, he was assigned to my mother’s residence," Sang Zhi said, not elaborating further.
’So that’s why Sang Zhi was allowed to leave the Imperial Palace in a carriage. His mother must have been a very kind person. No wonder he’s never been deprived of material comforts, even though he’s ostracized.’
’Judging by Mr. Li’s attire, he must be a chief eunuch or someone of similar rank who personally serves the Emperor. Even the Concubines would have to show him some respect.’
"Why do you want me to get close to the Imperial Study?" Sang Zhi asked, confused.
"Did you understand what I was just saying?" she countered.
After a moment’s thought, Sang Zhi shook his head.
"Since you don’t get it, I’ll lead by example today. Do you know what I did at the Prime Minister’s estate?"
"Didn’t you cut down his plaque and shave down the threshold?"
Ye Qianning let out a cold snort and leaned in close. "The moment I walked in the door, I had my Hidden Guards cripple all thirty of the guards at the Prime Minister’s estate. Then, in the main hall, I beat up his third daughter—knocked out several of her molars, even. And I cursed out his wife, Lady Gao."
Sang Zhi’s expression grew more and more grave as he listened. "You dared to insult the Prime Minister’s wife and beat his daughter? Do you have a death wish?"
"That’s nothing. The most important part is that I had Prime Minister Gao whipped forty-one times. They had only delivered a few of the lashes by the time Mr. Li arrived."
Sang Zhi paled in horror, utterly speechless.