"When Empress Xiao first returned to the mansion, she had the heart to assist a gentleman. If Emperor Yang does not follow the Tao, he is said to be unfaithful. Between father and son, there is still suspicion, when the husband and wife are married, what is the matter! The country is ruined, the family is ruined, there is no land, drifting in a foreign land, and the good feet are sad! The subject of "saying that people are not faithful" in the evaluation of Empress Xiao by Empress Shu of Sui should be understood as Empress Xiao rather than Emperor Yang of Sui. Here's why:
If the subject of "saying that people are not faithful" is Emperor Yang of Sui, then "Emperor Yang has not been faithful, then it is said that people are not faithful" is interpreted as Emperor Yang did not obtain the position of prince with the right way, so he thought that everyone was unfaithful. But this causal relationship is clearly neither logical nor historical. Tang Dynasty historians concluded that one of the reasons for Emperor Yang's demise was that he listened to and believed in favoritism, and a ruler who was suspicious of everyone would listen to it and be more cautious.
At the beginning of the commentary, it was said that Empress Xiao had a positive attitude when she first got married, and at the end, he said that Empress Xiao's ending was very sympathetic. The content that connects such contrasts should naturally be a change in the mentality of Empress Xiao, and this change also partially affects its final tragic ending, which is a more logical logic. If the middle content is explained as Emperor Yang's belief that people are not faithful, so that Emperor Yang does not have complete trust even in his relatives, then the description of Empress Xiao's psychological behavior at the beginning seems to be abruptly interrupted, and the content before and after is separated. Moreover, Emperor Yang of Sui's suspicion is heavy, and this reason has no direct causal relationship with the collapse of the country at the end.
The envoy used "Enlong is good and unswerving" to summarize the feelings of the two pairs of emperors and queens of the Sui Dynasty. "Enlong is good" refers more to the emperor's deep feelings for the empress, and Emperor Yang of Sui, who has always had consistent feelings for the empress, will not be suspicious of Empress Xiao. Although there are indeed inconsistencies in the Sui book, they are all because different people made up lies at different times. The preface and historical theory of the Sui book are all written by Wei Zheng, and with his ability, he will certainly not make such a contradictory mistake in the same paragraph.
The main thrust of the preface to the biography of the Empress of Sui Shu is that the Empress had an important influence on the family and the country. "Yin and Yang are cut into all things, and the family road is regularized in the world, from near to far, and the country is punished by their own family, and they are matched with the sky, and it is not too big! Rise and fall is a department, and it is also important! The final historiography should echo the preface at the beginning of the article. For example, the evaluation of Queen Dugu is "spoiling and transferring heirs and overthrowing the sect", so the focus of the comments on Queen Xiao should also be the impact of her own behavior on the outcome of her family and country.
To sum up, this comment of Empress Xiao should be understood as follows. When Empress Xiao first married, she had the heart of assisting a gentleman. But when he saw Emperor Yang of Sui obtaining the crown prince by immoral means, he thought that no one was completely selfless and trustworthy. It is precisely because of their selfishness that Emperor Yang and Yang Yin's father and son are suspicious of each other, and if this is still the case between father and son, what will happen between husband and wife? "When I see that the emperor is immoral, I know that I can't do it, and I don't dare to say anything", because of this change in mentality, Empress Xiao did not advise Emperor Yang's immoral behavior. This attitude of passive inaction ultimately partly contributed to the tragic end of Empress Xiao.