The silence in the house was not actually long, but Li Quan felt like it lasted almost a lifetime. His whole body was numb and he dared not move for fear of making even the slightest sound.
After a long while, I heard the emperor ask in an unclear tone: "What do you want?"
"I don't want anything. I just want my biological mother's bones. I want to leave the capital, take my princess with me, and never come back." Pei Yuanjun looked at the bluestone floor tiles in front of him and spoke slowly, enunciating each word.
There was not much sadness in his voice, he was just stating a fact, but this feeling made the emperor more hurt than ever. He reached out and clenched the pen in his hand. The pen barrel pressed against his palm and it hurt dully, but no matter how painful it was, it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. He lowered his eyes and did not look at Pei Yuanjun's face.
That face would make him feel even more troubled. It wasn't very similar, but he could find traces of it.
There is some resemblance to Prince Jing as well, but this resemblance is not the biological mother after all, so the feeling is a little different. From the perspective of the Emperor, the one who looks most like her is Pei Yuanjun.
"Your mother... I will not let her leave." The emperor's voice was soft but clear. Once again, he clearly realized who he had to protect.
This child is his most beloved child, and he will not let anything happen to him no matter what.
He had a bad reputation before, so he tried to plan for him and increase his strength so that he would be able to protect himself after he was gone in the future.
But now, Pei Yuanjun's voice has improved a lot. Even if something happens, not many people will object. What he needs to do now is this.
Recent events came to his mind one by one, and he had been thinking about them over and over again in the middle of the night when no one was around.
The fourth daughter of the Qu family has never been a troublemaker. She has lived in a farm outside the city for so many years in obscurity and has never caused any trouble. It seems as if such a person does not exist. Even when she was treated harshly by Qu Zhizhen's then legal wife, she did not cause any trouble.
From this point of view, he seems to be a docile, gentle and quiet person.
But ever since she returned to the capital and Pei Yuanjun wanted to let her into the palace, things have happened one after another. Now she heard that there were people who wanted to harm her reputation and push her into a filthy place at that time. If the emperor said that Pei Yuanjun had nothing to do with this, he would never believe it.
He could pretend not to see or understand before, but now that Pei Yuanjun has exposed it directly, he can no longer play deaf and dumb. Is it that someone has also noticed Pei Yuanjun's background and wants to harm him
If you can't get any benefit from him, then go to the daughter of Qu Mansion.
Thinking of the brocade box found in Changchun Palace, and the child that the woman had been longing for, the child she had given birth to with great difficulty, she would rather send the child out of the palace than keep him in the palace. All she wanted was for him to have peace, and as a father, was there really nothing he could do to give him
How will he face the woman he loves when he is dead
"Your biological mother is my empress, the queen of a country, and my first wife. Naturally, she cannot follow you. You are my legitimate son, the real legitimate son. I also hope that after a hundred years, you will help me to close the coffin with your mother." The emperor leaned his head on the chair, closed his eyes, and slowly revealed the truth.
As time went by, facing his son's grievance and anger, he could no longer hide it...
I originally thought it would be difficult to say, but I didn’t expect that it wasn’t that difficult when I said it. It was so easy to say it.
Others already know about it, so they keep doing it in secret.
Pei Yuanjun was still groping in the dark, and no one knew how he died in the end.
“But now… the prince…” The emperor didn’t know how to continue when he got here. It was not that he didn’t want to acknowledge this son, but this son was a legitimate son, a real legitimate son, and was more qualified to inherit the throne than the prince. There was nothing wrong with the prince at this time. If he acknowledged him, he was afraid that the government would be in chaos.
The prince, he has been dissatisfied with the prince for a long time.
But now is not the time...
"Please wait a moment. Your father will give you justice and reveal your true identity to the world. Just wait a little longer." The emperor's voice was hoarse, almost a mutter to himself. His eyes moved, but he did not open them, for fear of seeing his son's disgusted and horrified eyes.
After a long while, there was no sound from below. The emperor then opened his eyes slightly and saw Pei Yuanjun's extremely calm and handsome eyes.
Seeing that the emperor had opened his eyes, Pei Yuanjun calmly refused and said, "Your Majesty, all I want is peace and quiet, a quiet life, not that position. Your Majesty does not need to be embarrassed, and does not need to worry about recognizing me. I think it is good to be your son. Your father and son have saved my life."
His calm and peaceful attitude, without any excitement or surprise, made the emperor feel even more painful, as if he was stabbed by something. This was his son, not his uncle's son, his biological son and the son he valued the most. How could he be willing to let him be his uncle's son
He didn't know before, and he had such a bad temper, but now, this filial son is his, born to him and his beloved woman...
This child is smart. He might have guessed it when I told him that he was my offspring. That’s why he can talk to me so calmly now.
After Pei Yuanjun left, the emperor's eyes fell on his back outside the door, his mouth bitter. If possible, he would not want to go to this point. The one he felt most sorry for in this life was her, and only her. As for the rest of his family, country and the world, he was worthy of heaven, worthy of earth, and worthy of his ancestors...
In the most remote corner of the East Palace, there is an unused courtyard. It is very small and was used to store sundries in the past. Now it is Qu Xuexin’s residence, where she has lived since she entered the East Palace.
This is where she lived after she arrived at the Eastern Palace. The maid beside her was still Hongmei. Baimei didn't have the chance to enter the Eastern Palace with her, so the only one who followed her was Hongmei.
This place is worse than the one where ordinary servants live. Everyone knows that the person living here is a concubine of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and she is not favored, or has never been favored, and she has a broken leg. The servants in the East Palace have different opinions about Qu Xuexin's origins.
But under Ji Youran's order at the time, the sounds gradually died down. Most of the ordinary servants only knew roughly that this was a lowly woman who somehow got entangled with the prince. The prince was a favored son of heaven, so how could he like an ordinary lame woman? They also didn't know how this woman got entangled with the prince and forced him to take her into the East Palace.
However, it would have been better if she had not entered the Eastern Palace. Her life is worse than that of a servant. The Crown Prince has never summoned her, and even Concubine Ji has ignored her long ago. Compared with other concubines in the palace who have no status, this one is really miserable. I don't know if she came from some unclean place.
Hongmei came over the path carrying a tattered food basket. The food basket was so tattered that it didn't look like something from the East Palace.
There was a broken piece of the noodle frame. It must have been unwanted and was thrown away and then picked up and used again.
Compared to the top maid in the Qu Mansion, Hongmei was wearing the clothes of a maid in the Eastern Palace. The material was still good, but it was very old and it seemed like she had been wearing it for an unknown length of time.
Pushing open the shaky door, Hongmei was not in a hurry to go in. She reached out to wipe away a few tears before going in.
"Master, I'm back." Hongmei said, looking at Qu Xuexin lying on the bed.
She looked so skinny that she was no longer the young lady she used to be. Who would have thought that entering the Eastern Palace would lead to her death, with no hope at all.
"What's wrong? Have you been bullied again?" Qu Xuexin looked at Hongmei who was walking over, coughed softly a few times, covered her mouth with a handkerchief, and said in a hoarse voice.
Maybe he coughed too urgently, and it suddenly became more severe.
Hongmei hurried forward and patted her back gently. It took a long time for Qu Xuexin to recover. She raised her gloomy face and held the handkerchief tightly in her palm.
There was a faint hint of blood there.
"Master, are you... vomiting blood again?" Hongmei also noticed it and screamed, wiping her tears with her hand. "I will go find the housekeeper now and ask her to find a doctor for you, right away..."
“Don’t go, it’s useless… Ji Youran has absolute power in this mansion… With her around, I… won’t have a chance to make a name for myself.” Qu Xuexin was rarely sober at this moment. She only hated that Ji Youran had a good life. If Ji Youran had died at that time, she wouldn’t have suffered like this.
It will never end up in such a situation.
It's not that the prince doesn't pity her, it's just that the prince can't even see her. It's all Ji Youran's fault. Qu Xuexin still believes that Pei Luoan likes her, but it's Ji Youran who is harming her. She can't see the prince, and it's useless to say anything. She can't complain to the prince, and in the end she can only die in this corner of the East Palace.
She hates, how can she not hate...
"Master, Concubine Ji is not feeling well now... She may fall out of favor." Hongmei looked around. Not only had she heard a lot of news from the kitchen, but she also got something. She took out a letter from her bosom and said, "Master, look, there is a letter from Baimei. We... We will be able to see the light of day again soon."
"Bai Mei?" A hint of excitement flashed across Qu Xue Xin's gloomy face.
"Yes, it's Baimei, master... we will be saved, as long as Concubine Ji falls out of favor, as long as she falls from power, Miss... we... we can still see the light of day again." Hongmei cried as she handed the letter. When they were in Qu's mansion, they had never suffered any grievances. Now that they are in the Eastern Palace, what else have they not suffered
Even an ordinary housekeeper could come and scold them, deprive them of food, and force them to work. Even if the young lady was lying in bed, she had to do embroidery, otherwise she would not be given food.
Their young lady has been raised in luxury since she was a child. She has never suffered such hardship. All this is because of Concubine Ji. Compared with other people, Concubine Ji is their biggest enemy. Only without Concubine Ji can they live a good life. With Concubine Ji oppressing them, they will always be so miserable.
Qu Xuexin took the letter with trembling fingers. Her once white and tender hands had long since become dry. They were no longer as round and beautiful as they used to be in the boudoir. She was like a withered flower, with only a strong air of death and resentment. She was just holding on with a breath of hatred and poison...