"Has she been okay these years?" Murong Zheng asked softly, his voice full of nervousness. He stared at the eldest prince closely, afraid that he would not get the answer he wanted.
The human heart is such a strange thing. When you think she is bad, you put her in an iceberg and won't tolerate others saying the slightest good thing about her. But when you think she is good, you hope she will always be well.
He and the Empress Dowager had not seen each other for thirteen years.
During these thirteen years, they were separated by mountains and seas, and he had never paid attention to any news about the Imperial Grandmother.
I just know that he would often send people to visit the eldest prince and the third prince, and would care about their studies.
The eldest prince looked at his father and said calmly, "Back then, the Empress Dowager devoted all her energy to you. She left in order to avoid a greater rift between you and you. Although she has a free and easy personality,... In the years that my third brother and I have corresponded with her, she has never mentioned you."
This was not the answer Murong Zheng wanted, but the eldest prince said it without any hesitation.
He felt that his father should know how difficult it had been for the Empress Dowager and how bitter she had been feeling over the years. If he had not been truly hurt, why would he not have asked any questions all these years
Murong Zheng didn't say anything else. The image of the Empress Dowager when she left kept replaying in his mind. Her smile was as bright as the sun, but the disappointment in her eyes was as deep as the sea. Thinking of it now, he felt heartbroken.
How come I was bewitched by Dong? How come I...
"Is she okay after all these years?" It was the same question he had asked before, and at the moment, it was also the question he was most concerned about. He just wanted to know whether she was okay or not. As long as she was okay, he felt that he still had a chance to be filial to her and make up for what he had owed her over the years.
"Whether it's good or bad, I'm afraid she won't want to come back. Grandfather said that what the Empress Dowager hated most was the high palace walls. They were too restrictive. She was willing to confine herself to the palace walls for the sake of the former Regent King Qingtian and for the sake of our Great Zhou."
"Because I know that the Empress Dowager has given up so much for our Great Zhou, my grandfather has more respect for her."
The eldest prince said this calmly. This was a fact he had understood many years ago, even though he was still a child back then. But his father couldn't understand it. He felt that the Grand Empress Dowager was eyeing the power in his hands, so when someone instigated him, he developed a rift with the Grand Empress Dowager.
"I know all of this. You can go back first."
When everything that happened more than ten years ago was laid before Murong Zheng, he really didn't know how to face his son.
Even a child could see the truth, but because of my own paranoia, I missed it for more than ten years.
If the Empress Dowager had not given up on herself completely, the Dong family rebellion would have surely become a rebellion for the Great Zhou.
"Father, if you protect Dong again this time, the old ancestor will be disappointed, and my mother, brothers and sisters will also..."
The eldest prince was deeply influenced by the Queen's teachings and was a very kind person. Even though his father had disappointed him terribly, he still couldn't bring himself to say any cruel words.
However, he was really worried that his father would show leniency to Dong. If that happened, his father would really be hopeless.
My mother always said that my father doted on Dong because of her obsession.
But this obsession has endangered the foundation of the Great Zhou.
"Father..." Murong Zheng was reluctant to leave. He was really worried that his father would sink deeper and deeper into his obsession.
He didn't know that before he came, his father's obsession had been shattered into pieces as the truth was revealed.
"I know the Empress Dowager's painstaking efforts." These words put the eldest prince at ease.
He turned and left. The sunlight outside shone into his father's bedroom, bright and glorious, without any more haze.
(End of this chapter)