Chapter 197 The Fierce Woman

Just as Liu Fu and the others had predicted, the drama between the Liao Emperor and Grand Tutor Xiao became even more exciting.

The Liao emperor commissioned a dragon throne for Grand Tutor Xiao, but it was not intended for Grand Tutor Xiao to actually sit on it.

This is similar to someone politely inviting you to dinner next time. The Liao emperor commissioned this golden dragon throne to be presented to the Grand Tutor, and it was a golden dragon throne that was on equal footing with him. The purpose was to show goodwill to Grand Tutor Xiao, Liu Fu, and Xiao Ying'er.

This expresses the Liao Emperor's regard for the Xiao family and Xiao Ying'er, and also represents his regard for Liu Fu. It could even be said that the reason behind all this is that the Liao Emperor did this out of respect for Liu Fu.

As one of the two most powerful families in the Liao Dynasty, the Yelü family was always the royal family of the Liao Dynasty and the only way to select the emperor's successor. The Xiao family, on the other hand, was always the family that produced empresses. Every emperor was selected from the Yelü family, and then an empress was selected from the Xiao family as a substitute. This was a procedure that had remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

The Xiao family has always been second-in-command. The Liao Emperor sent this dragon throne to them for the same reason: it was a symbol, but you could not sit on it. That was the Liao Emperor's bottom line.

But Grand Tutor Xiao had clearly lost his head. Although he was also an old fox, he had always lived in the shadow of the Liao Emperor, bowing and scraping before him.

But a large family like the Xiao family had been bowing and scraping before the Yelü family for hundreds of years.

Having already become the second most powerful family in the Liao Kingdom, how could they not have the ambition to become number one?

This led to the rather chaotic situation that followed.

The Liao emperor thought the Xiao family should be prepared to be second in command for eternity, so he bestowed upon them the dragon throne and set it up for worship. However, he did not expect that the Xiao family not only wanted to be second in command for eternity, but also wanted to be first in command for eternity. Therefore, Grand Tutor Xiao did not present the dragon throne sent by the Liao emperor for worship, but instead sat down on it in front of the Liao emperor.

Although Liu Fu learned of this scene from other people's reports, and he did not actually witness it in person at the Xiao family on the day the Liao emperor presented the dragon throne, he could still imagine with the ministers the awkward situation the Liao emperor must have been in and the dissatisfaction he had shown.

As an emperor, the Liao emperor was already quite aggrieved by presenting a dragon throne to his subject. He didn't even dare to touch Xiao Taishi and instead chose to kill all those who had the dragon throne made. The Liao emperor had already done so much and had obviously made a lot of concessions. However, after he personally led the imperial guards to deliver the dragon throne to the Xiao family to meet Grand Tutor Xiao, Grand Tutor Xiao actually sat on the dragon throne in front of him. It would be strange if the Liao emperor wasn't furious at such a scene.

What followed was even more dramatic.

The Liao Emperor finally couldn't hold back. Grand Tutor Xiao, as a subject, dared to sit on the dragon throne in front of him. He immediately threw a punch at Grand Tutor Xiao's face, knocking out two of Grand Tutor Xiao's front teeth on the right cheek.

What was supposed to be a peaceful and amicable matter ended up turning into a bitter falling out.

Emperor Liao was furious and stormed off, but after a moment of realization, his anger subsided. He suddenly realized that this was tantamount to offending Liu Fu, and that slapping Grand Tutor Xiao was like slapping Liu Fu in the face.

He immediately panicked and rushed to send gifts and write letters of apology, personally delivering them to Liaodong.

On the other hand, Grand Tutor Xiao thought he had gained power and sat on the dragon throne in front of the Liao Emperor, which caused a bloody disaster. After that, how could he be willing to be the second-in-command for so many years?

The Xiao family had a rare moment of triumph, and Grand Tutor Xiao wrote two letters. One was addressed directly to his beloved granddaughter, Xiao Ying'er, and the other to his future grandson-in-law, Liu Fu. In these two letters, he relentlessly criticized the Liao Emperor, expressing his anger and injustice, and demanded that Xiao Ying'er and Liu Fu avenge his old face.

Originally, Liu Fu did not intend to deal with Grand Tutor Xiao's shameless behavior. He even felt that the Liao Emperor was having a good time beating Grand Tutor Xiao. However, this matter involved Xiao Ying'er after all.

After all, she was Liu Fu's future queen and empress, the woman who would accompany him for life, so he had to consider Xiao Ying'er's feelings.

On a fine day, Liu Fu finished his work early and was preparing to meet Xiao Ying'er in the evening to tell her about Grand Tutor Xiao's letter and see how she would react.

Unexpectedly, before Liu Fu could even go to find Xiao Ying'er, Xiao Ying'er herself came to see Liu Fu with a letter.

"This servant greets Your Majesty!"

Although she was about to be formally married as a princess and empress, and the affair between Xiao Ying'er and Liu Fu was common knowledge, Xiao Ying'er still acted politely and respectfully when she met Liu Fu, presenting herself as a servant.

"Oh, so it's Ying'er."

Liu Fu was somewhat surprised to see that Xiao Ying'er had taken the initiative to come to him, because generally Xiao Ying'er did not like to get involved in politics, and she usually would not show up when he was discussing politics in the court.

So what's wrong with this girl today?

"Ying'er, are you here because of your grandfather, Grand Tutor Xiao?"

Liu Fu got straight to the point, directly asking the question that had been on his mind.

Although Xiao Ying'er has come to the imperial court, the discussion here is about national affairs.

But in reality, Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu both knew that this was actually the king's family matter and should be left to Liu Fu to handle himself. They immediately exchanged a knowing smile, made a gesture of farewell, and walked out of the hall together.

Liu Fu tacitly approved of the departure of these two exceptional talents, because who knew what Xiao Ying'er would say to him later.

There might be some things that are inconvenient to say, and there might be some distance between the two of them here.

But Liu Fu was clearly overthinking things, because just as Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu were about to leave, Xiao Ying'er respectfully stopped them.

"You two prime ministers need not leave. What the king and I are discussing today is not a family matter, but a matter of state. So you two need not avoid suspicion and may stay here, shall we?"

Seeing that Xiao Ying'er had already said so, that the current princess, future empress, and mistress had all tried to persuade her to stay, how could she not give her some face?

Xun Yu immediately prepared to stay, while Zhuge Liang glanced back at Liu Fu, trying to discern Liu Fu's intentions from his eyes.

Liu Fu nodded in agreement, and Zhuge Liang and Xun Yu sat down together, returning to their previous seats.

"Ying'er, tell me, what do you want me to do for Grand Tutor Xiao's sake?"

“This servant has no right to tell Your Majesty what to do. Whatever you do is Your Majesty’s will. This servant only has a suggestion that I would like Your Majesty to hear.”

"Oh, what is your suggestion? Why don't you tell me?"

"Your Majesty, this servant requests that all of my Xiao family's direct relatives be tied up with ropes and sent to Liaodong!"

"ah?"

When Liu Fu heard Xiao Ying'er's words, he was stunned. He never expected that Xiao Ying'er would make such a decision.