To Gu Jiangli's surprise, ten days later, the late emperor still hadn't closed his eyes. He was still clinging to life, as if he was waiting for the young emperor to wake up.

Just as Dr. Wu diagnosed, the young emperor suffered a serious illness when he was young and fell into a coma for several days.

This must be referring to this time.

Physician Lü was initially the physician who took care of Consort Yu, and it was from this time that he began to treat the young emperor. No wonder the emperor trusted Physician Lü so much.

He woke up half a month later.

Upon waking, he immediately went to the late emperor's palace to pay his respects.

At the entrance of Jinghe Palace, Consort Yun had been waiting for a long time.

Her eyes flashed with a fierce, determined light as she handed the young emperor a wooden tray with a bowl of medicine in the center.

"Your father is seriously ill, and he won't see anyone but you. So you're the only one who can bring this medicine in for him to drink. He is, after all, your father. You should do your filial duty and feed it to him yourself."

Consort Yun's expression was as if nothing had happened. She didn't care at all about Consort Yu who died in the fire, the princes and princesses, or the late emperor who was on his deathbed.

The young emperor glanced at her briefly, silently took the bowl of medicine, stepped over the threshold, and entered Jinghe Palace.

Gu Jiangli watched silently, knowing in his heart that the bowl of medicine was definitely not simple.

She wasn't sure if the young emperor had figured it out, but she hoped he wouldn't personally feed his father the drink.

Inside Jinghe Palace, on a bed, a man in his thirties lay on his back, without a blanket covering him.

Gu Jiangli moved slightly closer and realized that it wasn't that he didn't want to cover it, but that he couldn't.

The entire right side of the late emperor's body was covered with festering marks left by fire. The injuries were horrifying, making it seem like a miracle that he had survived to this day.

Hearing approaching footsteps, he stiffly turned his head and then spat out the ginseng slice he was holding in his mouth with great effort.

During this period, he was kept alive by ginseng slices.

"Ah Yao is here..."

The late emperor spoke with great difficulty, and the young emperor carried the medicine bowl to the bedside.

Upon seeing his father's appearance, his expression finally changed, becoming somewhat aggrieved and self-reproachful.

"Father."

Gu Jiangli was deeply moved.

Although the late emperor was seriously ill at this time, the father and son still showed deep affection at his bedside.

But then, Gu Jiangli's expression froze.

The late emperor spoke tremblingly: "Ayao, have you done all this just for the throne?"

The young emperor was stunned, as if he had been dumbfounded.

His mind raced before he quickly retorted, "Father, I didn't do it..."

Gu Jiangli was also extremely surprised. So, in the eyes of the late emperor, the fire was set by the young emperor to seize the throne?

“Ah Yao, even if you didn’t do these things, the throne would still be yours.”

The young emperor opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"The edict appointing you as Crown Prince is placed behind the plaque in the main hall. It was put there three years ago. As you know, I have shown all the edicts to Consort Yu, except for this one."

Upon hearing the words "Consort Yu," the young emperor's eyes welled up with tears, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall.

The late emperor continued, "I... once told Ayu that I wanted you to be the emperor, but she refused my proposal. Ayao, do you know why?"

Every word he spoke required considerable effort, and the young emperor listened silently, kneeling on the ground.

The young emperor remained silent for a long time before shaking his head, "Your subject does not know."

The late emperor chuckled and said, "Because she said you didn't want to be emperor, you wanted to be a carefree prince, traveling through mountains and rivers, seeing the world's wonders, and that I shouldn't use the shackles of the emperor to bind you."

“Ayao, if Consort Yu knew what you did in the afterlife, I wonder if she would regret advising me against it back then. You clearly wanted to be the emperor, yet you hid it so well.”

As Gu Jiangli listened, his heart ached as if it were being pricked by needles.

She would rather the late emperor just die and never say another word.

He had done nothing wrong, yet he had already lost his most beloved Consort Yu and his closest brothers and sisters.

The pain had brought him to the brink of collapse, and the late emperor's words of reproach were like knives stabbing him in the heart, pushing him into an even deeper abyss.

She hoped the young emperor would immediately stand up and refute her, telling his father that he hadn't done it, that it was all orchestrated by Consort Yun, that he had never intended to harm anyone, and that he had never thought of vying for the throne, and so on...

But the young emperor slowly lowered his head, showing no intention of defending himself.

"Ayao, come here." The late emperor, lying on the bed, called out to him again when he saw that he didn't speak.

The young emperor did not respond, so he stretched out his hand and handed over a wooden plaque.

"I have found several secret guards who are very loyal, but I haven't had time to train them yet. They are no longer needed now, so I'm handing them over to you. You can train them well. Anyway, you're going to be the emperor, and they can help you in the future."

The young emperor did not reach out to take it.

He gave a bitter smile and asked again, "Father, why me? I am... ignorant and incompetent, I do not understand the way of governing a country, I am not as intelligent and quick-witted as my elder brothers, and I am the son of a concubine you do not like. Why... why did you make me the crown prince?"

His voice was already choked with emotion, but he remained rational and asked the questions one word at a time.

The late emperor listened, then turned his head away, no longer looking at him, but instead gazing at the curtains above the bed. His gaze was deep and lingering, as if he were lost in beautiful memories.

He thought for a while before answering the young emperor's question.

"Ah Yao, Consort Yu was once a member of the martial arts world. When I first met her, she was dressed in red, riding a fine horse, wielding a long sword, and she saved me from the hands of mountain bandits."

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