mesbooks Chapter 203 The man behind the scenes
Chapter 203 The man behind the scenes
Cining Palace.
The empress dowager leaned on the bed, looking at Emperor Jingxuan holding the medicine in front of her with mixed feelings.
"Your Majesty, have you been blaming the Queen Mother for all these years?"
Emperor Jingxuan remained calm and continued to feed the medicine to the Empress Dowager. After a moment, he slowly spoke.
"Why do you say that, mother? I have never blamed you."
The Queen Mother sighed slightly, with a trace of guilt in her eyes.
"If it wasn't for the Queen Mother's insistence... you and Xiao Qing..."
The Queen Mother hesitated to speak, as if those past decisions were full of regrets when she recalled them now.
Emperor Jingxuan gently put down the medicine bowl, his eyes calm and deep.
"Mother, there is no need to talk about the past. I am now the ruler of a country, and I should put the country first. Those feelings from my youth have long disappeared with the years."
The Queen Mother looked at the calm face of Emperor Jingxuan, but she felt even more upset.
"But mother knows that you have been worried about something in your heart all these years. If it weren't for me, she might not have left Beijing. You and her..."
Emperor Jingxuan was slightly startled. The figure of that person in his mind was still extremely clear, but so what?
She is gone after all.
"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Mother, just focus on recuperating and don't worry about these old things."
The Queen Mother shook her head.
"Your Majesty, I know how bitter you feel. I was wrong back then. I shouldn't have interfered with your choice. Now I see you working day and night for state affairs, and I can't bear it. I regret it, too. Will you forgive me?"
Emperor Jingxuan was silent for a moment, then his tone softened.
"I understand my mother's thoughts. Now the people of the country are safe and sound. This is my greatest wish. As for the rest, it is no longer important."
The Empress Dowager looked at the resolute face of Emperor Jingxuan and felt deeply moved.
She knew that her son had become a true emperor, responsible and decisive, but he no longer had any feelings for her as his mother.
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother won't live long. Are you still unwilling to forgive her?"
The Queen Mother spoke softly, with a barely perceptible resentment in her tone.
Emperor Jingxuan looked at the sad face of the Queen Mother, but his heart was calm.
"My mother will live a long life. Besides, you didn't do anything wrong, so why do you need my forgiveness? I'm afraid your regret is not forcing Xiao Qing to leave, but because of Xiao Qing's departure, I am no longer the obedient chess piece in your hands, right?"
After Emperor Jingxuan said this calmly, the empress dowager's face turned pale instantly.
She stared at Emperor Jingxuan in a daze, her eyes full of shock and pain.
"Your Majesty, you...how could you miss the Queen Mother so much?"
The Queen Mother's voice trembled and tears welled up in her eyes.
Emperor Jingxuan had a blank expression on his face, but his eyes revealed a hint of fatigue.
"Mother, I have experienced a lot and seen a lot in these years. In order to consolidate your position, you forcefully interfered with my feelings and forced Xiao Qing away. From then on, I understood that in this palace, feelings are the most luxurious thing."
The Queen Mother burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, I admit that I had selfish motives back then, but I was also thinking about your country."
Emperor Jingxuan sneered slightly.
"The country? My mother keeps saying that it's for the country, but what's the truth? You just want to control me and make me a puppet in your hands. Do you think I don't know about your collusion with those ministers?"
The Queen Mother looked at Emperor Jingxuan in horror.
"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood my mother. My mother has never thought of colluding with the ministers, let alone controlling you. Everything my mother has done is for the Great Wei, for your throne."
Emperor Jingxuan shook his head.
"Mother, you are still quibbling. You have been cultivating power in the harem and interfering in government affairs over the years. Do you think I don't know? If I hadn't been forbearing, I'm afraid the Wei Dynasty would have changed hands long ago."
The Queen Mother slumped on the bed, looking at Emperor Jingxuan in despair.
"Your Majesty, since you already know everything, then weren't you just acting when you looked at me all these years? You must have wanted to kill me a long time ago, right? To avenge your beloved?"
Emperor Jingxuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said,
"Mother, although I am disappointed with what you have done, you are my biological mother after all. But from today on, you should stay in this Cining Palace to recuperate."
The Queen Mother was disheartened.
"Your Majesty, I only ask one thing of you, let Prince Shun go."
Emperor Jingxuan sighed and looked at the empress dowager with extremely cold eyes.
"Mother, this is probably the real reason why you summoned me here today, right?"
The Queen Mother closed her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. But, Prince Shun, he is your biological brother. You are all my children. He is confused. Please don't..."
Emperor Jingxuan snorted coldly.
"Mother, you are still begging for mercy for him. I believe you are aware of the stupid things he has done. If I hadn't noticed it in time, I'm afraid the capital would have been in chaos. He has committed such a serious crime, how can I let him go so easily?"
The Queen Mother burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, Prince Shun was just confused for a moment. Your Majesty, for the sake of brotherhood, please spare his life."
Emperor Jingxuan looked grim.
"Mother, brotherly love? Has he ever thought about brotherly love? I never thought that the person who secretly colluded with Langchuan would be him? I underestimated my good brother. He came to the palace overnight because I discovered the secret letter between him and Langchuan, and asked for your protection, right?"
The Queen Mother looked at Emperor Jingxuan in despair.
"Your Majesty, even if Prince Shun is guilty, he is still your brother. If you kill him, how will people in the world view you? Aren't you afraid of being branded as a brother-killer?"
Emperor Jingxuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Mother, if I don't kill him, how can I explain to the people of the world? How can I explain to those soldiers who died in the battle to defend the Wei Dynasty? Prince Shun must pay the price for his actions."
The Queen Mother slumped on the bed, her eyes empty.
"Your Majesty, are you really so cruel? Don't you care about the feelings between mother and son and brothers?"
Emperor Jingxuan looked at the empress dowager in front of him, shook his head, extremely disappointed, and motioned Eunuch Li behind him to come forward.
After handing over the letters to the Empress Dowager, Emperor Jingxuan spoke in a cold voice.
"As the Prince Shun of Wei, my elder brother, he colluded with Rongdi Langchuan and intended to share the world with them. Mother, take a look, is this the handwriting of Prince Shun? As long as Xiao Mu is killed, the four cities in the northwest will be handed over to Langchuan. In order to disrupt the capital, he cruelly introduced the plague into the capital. Which of these things should not have killed him? And you, as the queen mother of Wei, are still begging for him at this moment. Mother, you have been really confused all your life!"
Emperor Jingxuan finished speaking in one breath, and really didn't want to face the empress dowager again, so he let out a long sigh.
"Mother, if there was one time when you really regretted it, it was not because of other thoughts, but because you had me as your son in your heart. However, I was overthinking it after all."
After saying this, Emperor Jingxuan turned around and strode out of the Cining Palace.