Chapter 62 Chapter 62 He is a little adult now, isn't he? ...

Just when Li Huaizhou's voice was about to become hoarse from crying, the door of the compartment at the back was suddenly opened from the inside.

The handsome emperor emerged, coldly gazing at the attendants. The maid guarding the door trembled with fear, her body trembling as she spoke in a trembling voice, "I've already told the Crown Prince that His Majesty is inside, but he didn't hear..."

The little prince didn't listen at all.

He was already immersed in the grief of losing his father and could not hear anything.

Li Rong walked out, waved away the servants, held the child in his arms, frowned at him and said: "Why are you crying? As a prince, you don't have any masculinity at all."

Li Huaizhou also gradually realized that he had misunderstood. He felt happy and ashamed at the same time. He nestled in the arms of Emperor Jianping and smelled the familiar soapberry scent on his father's body. He said in a muffled voice, "I thought my father didn't want me anymore."

Li Cheng's expression was slightly cold, and he tapped his head gently: "Li Huaizhou, you need to have some sense of judgment, think more about everything, and don't just cry when you encounter something unexpected."

"Father cannot be with you forever, you have to walk the road ahead by yourself."

Li Huaizhou knew his behavior today was inappropriate. If the Imperial Tutor were around, he would definitely be punished by writing large characters. However, the young prince was still a little dissatisfied with his father's reprimand.

He is not like this usually. Not only the Grand Tutor, but many civil and military officials praised him for knowing when to advance and when to retreat, understanding etiquette, and being well-educated.

However, whenever he encountered something related to his father, he would forget everything he had learned, fearing that his father would lie on the couch pale as he had done in the past few days.

He gently put his arms around Li Yan's neck and whispered, "I know I was wrong."

Li Cheng knew that the incident a few days ago had left a shadow in the child's heart, but he had just stayed in the cubicle alone for a long time and his mood had not yet adjusted. He was unable to soften his attitude and coax the child at this moment.

He carried Li Huaizhou into the compartment and placed him on the rosewood official hat chair in front. Seeing the prince staring at the scroll on the table in surprise, he said, "This is your mother. Did you forget so quickly, Zhou'er?"

Li Huaizhou frowned: "I haven't forgotten."

I just wonder why my father suddenly hid in here without making any noise. It's really strange.

At this moment, the chattering children stopped talking. Emperor Jianping was already taciturn, and without the guidance of the children, he became even more silent.

The Crown Prince looked at the bright-eyed woman in the scroll, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart. He had never seen his mother since he was a child, and all his memories of her were told to him one by one by his father.

My father said that when he was a child, he was in poor health and often had a fever. It was his mother who would stay by his bed with a little cloth tiger and coax him all night long.

My father also said that my mother embroidered many things for him in her spare time, from small dolls for him to large bellybands and clothes for him. My father was a little jealous when he talked about this, saying that he had begged my mother to embroider a sachet for him, but my mother always refused.

He thought he would get it if he waited, but he didn't expect that the consequence of waiting would be that he would never get it.

Whenever my father talked about these things, his face was always filled with a charming glow, as if these past events were a rare happiness in his life.

Li Huaizhou listened, feeling a little aggrieved, but more moved. He knew how difficult it had been for his father to be alone all those years, and now he knew that before he was born, before he could even remember, there had been a gentle and caring woman by his father's side, comforting his lonely heart.

The prince raised his head again and glanced furtively at Emperor Jianping beside him, and saw that his eyes were also fixed on the scroll, and his eyes were gentler than the prince had ever seen before.

Suddenly, it seemed as if a crystal bead slid down his cheek.

The prince was shocked, his mind numb at the powerful image. As far as he could remember, he had never seen his father cry. In his mind, his father was the emperor, omnipotent and indestructible, and nothing could stump him.

But now, my father was actually hiding in this compartment, looking at my mother's portrait and crying alone.

Li Huaizhou's nose felt sore and he couldn't help crying. He hugged Emperor Jianping and cried, "Father, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said those words that day. Please punish me. I have no complaints."

Li Cheng, using the Crown Prince's wailing as a glimpse into his own, was finally able to openly conceal his own sobs. He held the child he had fathered with Zhang Niang, feeling even more distressed. Both father and son were immersed in endless sorrow.

If Zhang Niang's spirit were in heaven, would she feel sad too when she saw her former husband and children so sad facing her own portrait?

Li Fu was guarding outside. When he heard the prince's crying, tears gradually welled up in his cloudy old eyes.

It's really unfair. I thought the clouds would finally clear and the moon would appear, but unexpectedly, Empress Liangyuan passed away suddenly.

How cruel God is, and how cold-hearted the emperor and the empress dowager who live in Xiyuan are.

The old eunuch kept sighing.

The child cried for a long time, and his voice gradually became hoarse. Li Cheng also slowly calmed himself down. He let the prince out, and the corners of his eyes were still red. He said to the prince:

"Perhaps, what Zhou'er said that day was correct. Your father was extravagant and imprisoned those bald monks and Taoist priests in Huangjue Temple and Sanqing Temple, making them chant scriptures and pray for your mother every day, hoping to bring back her soul."

"But so many years have passed and there has been no improvement. I have wasted my time and energy, and I pray to God to bring back your mother's soul."

"But the result is never what we want."

"Maybe, I was wrong. I thought mistakes could be made up for and I hoped to see your mother again. However, in this world, some mistakes can never be made up for."

He had committed a heinous crime, and looking at the child that Zhang Niang had risked her life to give birth to, he felt a little guilty.

It was because he was too self-righteous that he harmed the prince's mother and pushed her into the endless abyss.

He is guilty.

Emperor Jianping looked at his child with expectation and admonition in his eyes: "You are the legitimate son of Empress Xiaode, born from her womb. Your mother almost lost her life giving birth to you. Zhou'er, you must know that anyone in this world can blame your mother, but you cannot."

"Do you know why?"

"Because I am my mother's child." The prince said in a deep voice, sitting obediently in his chair.

"Yes, you are mother's child. When she was pregnant with you, she was looking forward to your arrival every day. She would give up her own life for you. She does not expect you to remember her in the future, nor does she expect your return. It's just because you are mother's only child."

"She loves you very much." She even loves you, far more than she loves him as her husband.

Li Cheng's last sentence seemed to have taken up all his strength.

The prince looked at his father in front of him, looking at his miserable and sad face, he felt that his father seemed a little strange at this moment.

It was something he had never seen before.

Presumably, before he was born, his parents must have been very loving.

Daddy loves Mommy and Mommy loves Daddy, so he was born under the care of love.

If his mother were still alive, he would have been the happiest child in the world. But now that his mother was gone, his father was often distressed by her thoughts.

He had to take over the responsibility from his mother and take care of his father.

Li Huaizhou deeply realized that night that he must be well behaved in the future, be even better and better, so that his father would not worry about him, and his deceased mother would not worry about him.

He's a little adult now, isn't he?