Chapter 52 – He’s Supposed to Drink One Sip a Day??

When Su Miao heard her younger sister’s reckless words, her face immediately darkened.
“Nonsense! Grandmother and the others will never agree to let you enter the palace.”

She herself was only entering the palace to balance the Su family’s relationship with the imperial family—and to secure a sliver of survival for the Su family in the future.

If she could bear an imperial son, and that son eventually ascended to the throne, the Su family might remain safe and stable.

Since ancient times, emperors had always feared subjects whose merit overshadowed their master’s.

By the time the Su family had reached Su Zixuan’s generation, whether it was the Su Army under their command or the soldiers’ loyalty to them, their power and standing were already immense.

For the daughters of great clans, from the moment they were born, someone had to shoulder this burden of maintaining balance.

Su Miao did not resent it. In any case, marrying someone was marrying someone, no matter who it was.

But Su Ling had not thought it through at all. When she heard her elder sister scold her for being foolish, she grew angry.
“Why is it that if I want to enter the palace, it’s called making trouble? You think that way, and Grandmother thinks that way too. Am I so much inferior to you?”

Su Miao pressed a hand to her forehead, her head aching terribly. She really didn’t want to keep arguing over this inside the carriage.

The sisters fell silent for the rest of the ride, each brooding in their own corner.

While the Su sisters were sulking in the carriage, Tang Chaoyang was in the study taking Old Master Su’s pulse.

“Grandfather, you need to get proper rest. You can’t keep neglecting your health like this. You’re already old,” Tang Chaoyang said helplessly, watching the old man refuse to rest properly. “Do you still think you’re young?”

Old Master Su gave a cold snort and stroked his beard.
“Don’t underestimate me. Just yesterday, I sparred with Ziliang and the other boy—and those two little brats still lost to me.”

Tang Chaoyang mercilessly pierced through his delight.
“They were clearly letting you win, letting your old bones feel proud.”

Old Master Su clutched his chest and pretended he was suffocating, about to faint from anger.

Couldn’t this granddaughter coax him a little when she spoke?

Tang Chaoyang was exasperated. She pulled out a small bottle of freshly brewed medicinal wine from her pouch—a very small bottle, but enough to placate the old man.
“You’re only allowed to drink two sips a day.”

Old Master Su immediately dropped his hand from his chest and uncorked the little bottle with lightning speed.

A rich fragrance of strong liquor rushed up into his nostrils.

“Excellent wine!”

He eagerly took a sip. The bold, burning strength made his whole body feel invigorated.
“It’s been so long since I tasted something this fierce.”

“It’s medicinal wine, not just wine,” Tang Chaoyang corrected him.

Old Master Su ignored her. From youth to old age, he’d always loved a strong drink with a high alcohol content.

Unfortunately, when he was younger and always at war, he’d had to keep a clear head, so he’d strictly controlled his drinking.

Once he grew old and his health began to decline, he wanted to drink but his family kept him on a tight leash.

Truly miserable.

“This medicinal wine isn’t ordinary wine. Drinking it won’t harm your health and can even strengthen you. But remember, you still can’t overindulge. I’ll only give you one bottle every three days.” Tang Chaoyang still had to set limits.

Old Master Su rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Stingy little brat.”

Tang Chaoyang reached over, pretending to snatch the wine back. Old Master Su quickly hid it inside his robe and clutched it tight to his chest.

“…”

After she had finally coaxed the old man, Tang Chaoyang slowly said,
“Grandfather, the Su family’s path of retreat doesn’t have to rely on a son born by a Su daughter.”

Old Master Su had been worrying about the family’s future for a long time. He was weary and anxious.

He didn’t intend to hide the truth from her.
“This time you were able to return from Hancheng so quickly because I tactfully surrendered the military seal.”

“For generations, our Su family has garrisoned the frontier… The Su Army in our hands is a double-edged sword. Though it protects us, it also provokes the Emperor’s suspicions.”

Sometimes…in troubled times, the military seal wasn’t what mattered most.

A true general’s prestige and ability were more important than any seal.

The Emperor surely understood that, too.

Tang Chaoyang had a good idea of what her grandfather was truly worried about.

She remembered in her previous life how the entire Su family had been condemned to execution for treason.

Tang Chaoyang rose to her feet, then knelt down on the floor, pressing her forehead against the back of her hand.

She spoke softly, with solemn gravity.
“Grandfather, there is something I must say to you today, even if it makes me an unfilial granddaughter.”

Old Master Su’s smile faded.

Tang Chaoyang raised her head, her eyes shining as she looked at him.
“Heaven despises those with excessive merit. Loyalty repaid only with annihilation. If Heaven is unkind…must we not consider turning against it?”

Old Master Su had never imagined that his granddaughter would dare to utter such treasonous words.

The study fell silent.

Neither of them spoke.

Tang Chaoyang remained kneeling.

After a long while, Old Master Su finally spoke in a low, angry voice.
“Turn against it? Jin has internal turmoil and enemies pressing in from outside. If the Su family revolts, do you know what will happen?”

“The common people will be driven from their homes! Rivers of blood will flow!”

“The Su family’s loyalty is not to the ruler—but to the people. Even if the Su family falls, there will be thousands more—Li family, Huang family, all of them!”

Listening to her grandfather’s stern, forcibly hushed scolding, Tang Chaoyang knelt there silently, her eyes rimmed with red.

She sniffed, lowered her head to the floor again, and said,
“Chaoyang knows she was wrong.”

In her previous life, when the Su family was falsely accused of treason, all the factions in the empire had started stirring restlessly.

Tang Chaoyang boldly guessed that something must have happened in the palace back then. Did it mean the Emperor had been in danger?

Perhaps there was still a chance to change the Su family’s fate—even if only for a while.

So long as the Su family never truly stepped back from power, there would always be a blade hanging over their heads.

Even if this generation’s young Emperor didn’t strike, the next generation surely would.

But if that day came, Tang Chaoyang wouldn’t be able to intervene. After all, she was a Tang, not a Su. The future head of the Su family might not heed her counsel.

“Get up,” Old Master Su snorted. “Is kneeling there fun? I’m not dead yet.”

Tang Chaoyang, “…pfft, don’t say such things. May you live a long, healthy life.”

She stood up. The two of them acted as though the conversation had never happened.

Old Master Su waved a hand to dismiss her.

After she left, the study was empty except for the old man himself. He sighed deeply.

“Turn against it? That girl really dares to think such thoughts… If the new Emperor remains foolish, the Su family may not mind rising in rebellion.”

But he didn’t dare say that to Tang Chaoyang. He sighed regretfully—what a pity she was a girl.

He didn’t know how much longer he could live. He only hoped the next generation of Su heirs would have flexible minds and not be so stubborn—or the entire clan would be wiped out.

Old Master Su drank two more sips of medicinal wine, murmuring,
“Heaven despises those with excessive merit. Loyalty repaid with annihilation. If Heaven is unkind…must we not turn against it?”

Hahahahaha…what a good girl.

But—why is the wine all gone?

Old Master Su stared in disbelief at the now-empty little bottle.

Counting carefully, hadn’t he only taken three sips in total?

That girl said she’d give him another bottle in three days?

So he was supposed to drink one sip per day???