Empress Dowager Jiang said, "I have lived so long that I can claim to have seen all the vicissitudes of life. As a woman, I have no right to interfere in the great affairs of the realm, but I still know what goes on inside the palace. There was something I left unfinished earlier: among all the princes and imperial grandsons, who doesn't want to become emperor? You rose above all the other sons and grandsons partly through your own abilities, and partly through good fortune. You have been emperor for some time now. How does it feel to sit on the dragon throne?"
Xue Daohong pressed his lips together and did not answer immediately.
"It's all right. There are only the two of us here, grandmother and grandson. Whatever you have to say, speak plainly."
Xue Daohong said, "The pressure is immense. I live in fear and trembling."
Empress Dowager Jiang said, "The pressure comes from bearing Great Yong's realm and altars of state upon your shoulders. The fear and trembling come from constantly worrying that someone is plotting to seize your throne."
Xue Daohong shook his head. "I have never thought that way." In truth, Empress Dowager Jiang had struck upon his secret worries, but he refused to admit it.
Empress Dowager Jiang said, "Even if you don't think that way, others will. Which prince or imperial grandson doesn't want to become emperor? But killing them is not the only way to put an end to those ambitions."
Xue Daohong's heart tightened. Empress Dowager Jiang had finally come to the point.
Empress Dowager Jiang said, "I already know everything that happened in the Bohai Kingdom. Your imperial uncle is indeed a greedy man. Once something catches his eye, he will stop at nothing to make it his own.