Nie Zhenting fell silent for a moment, then smiled and kept shaking his head.
Jin Jue did not understand and asked, "Why is Your Majesty laughing? Was there something improper in this old minister's words?"
Nie Zhenting waved a hand. "Grand Marshal, your heartfelt concern comes from the depths of your heart. There is nothing improper about it. But what did Mu Zhuozhen's miserable end have to do with this woman? Shang Jianxiong could neither sleep nor eat because of Shang Chaozong—was that this woman's fault? A ruler of a nation governs the court; whether his civil rule and military achievements are proper, whether his family, country, and realm prosper or decline—how could all that be swayed by a weak woman of the harem? Mu Zhuozhen and Shang Jianxiong ruined their own states, yet they blame it on a woman. Is that not laughable?"
Jin Jue's expression darkened slightly. Some words were only meant as persuasion and could not be taken literally, but the Emperor had met this woman for the first time and was already defending her so staunchly. That made him feel that things were going badly.
According to the news he had received, that Aque had only just arrived. At most, the Emperor should have seen her once. Yet after a single meeting, he had defied the goodwill of his military minister for the sake of a woman passed around like cheap goods. It weighed heavily on Jin Jue's heart.
This was no trivial matter. If a ruler of a nation doted on a woman too excessively, perhaps the woman herself was not at fault, but her very existence would become a grave mistake.
Had he not heard the saying that indulging in trifles sapped one's will? A land of tenderness was a hero's grave. If a