"With the imperial edict, your throne is now legitimate."

"I saw Ayu; she and the children came to greet me."

"Go...go..."

The late emperor's hand suddenly went limp, and the wooden plaque fell to the ground with a "thud".

The young emperor silently shed tears, staring intently at the wooden plaque, but refusing to look directly at his father.

His shoulders were trembling, and he cried for a long time.

Gu Jiangli couldn't help but want to put her arm around his shoulder, but she couldn't do anything.

At such a young age, he went through all this in just a few days; how many people could have endured it?

She could completely understand why the emperor wanted to die all those years later.

He had long since given up on life; every day he lived would bring him pain.

Every day sitting on the throne reminded him that the late emperor and his mother had treated him as a tool, and that he had never been loved by his mother or father.

Every night, he would dream of that great fire and of Consort Yu resolutely walking into the inferno.

For the past twenty years, these memories have tormented him, making him want to tear him apart.

The reason he didn't choose to commit suicide was probably because he thought that his position was earned at the cost of too many lives.

He dared not choose to die easily, so he could only endure this suffering.

Gu Jiangli felt a pain in his chest, as if he had personally experienced everything that had happened to him.

The small, thin emperor in front of them had already wiped away the tears on his face.

He stood up unsteadily, picked up the wooden plaque that had fallen to the ground and stuffed it into his chest, then picked up the bowl of medicine and walked out of Jinghe Palace with lifeless eyes and an expressionless face.

Outside Jinghe Palace, Consort Yun and several ministers were waiting.

When Consort Yun saw him come out, she rushed forward with a joyful expression.

Upon seeing that the bowl of medicine hadn't been used, she flew into a rage again: "Why wasn't your father given his medicine?! Quick! Go back in and give your father his medicine..."

"Father has passed away." The young emperor interrupted Consort Yun in an extremely cold tone.

Everyone present was stunned, including Yun Fei. "You... what did you say? Say it again?"

Consort Yun asked again in disbelief.

The young emperor raised his eyes, looked directly into Consort Yun's eyes, pushed the medicine in his hand into her arms, and repeated:

"Father has passed away."

The officials wept incessantly.

Consort Yun also pretended to kneel on the ground and cry out.

The young emperor ignored the ministers on the ground without expression and walked away from the gate of Jinghe Palace step by step.

The mournful weeping behind him seemed irrelevant to him, as did his father's passing.

He just kept walking down this road, lifeless and devoid of any vitality.

He was like a puppet, participating in the late emperor's funeral, the enthronement ceremony, every court affair afterward, and every imperial concubine selection.

He didn't seem like a living person; he was more like a corpse that could be manipulated at will.

Physician Lü treated him every day and brought him medicine, but he refused to drink any of it, whether it was for calming the nerves or treating his heart ailment.

He believed he deserved to suffer, so he chose to torment himself.

Consort Yun and the Prime Minister killed many people in the palace, and the corpses of some palace servants served as a warning to the others who were still alive.

No one in the palace dared to talk about the fire, no one dared to mention Consort Yu, and no one dared to discuss how many sons the late emperor had.

All they knew was that this was a taboo in the palace, and that as long as they kept quiet and didn't discuss it, they could escape death.

Twenty years have passed, and those who knew the truth have gradually died. Those who were left with only a vague understanding all pretended not to know anything about it.

Under these circumstances, the emperor spent twenty years in solitude and suffering.

Looking at his memories, Gu Jiangli felt a sense of powerlessness and pain.

This tragedy happened right before her eyes, but she was powerless to stop it; she could only be a spectator, understanding the source of his suffering.

Even after learning about his past, she couldn't think of a way to alleviate his pain.

Her vision suddenly blurred, and she heard rustling sounds.

I opened my eyes, and the familiar curtains came into view.

The memory ended; she returned.

She sat up; the emperor, with his back to her, was getting dressed.

His silhouette suddenly overlapped with the silhouette of the sobbing little boy in his memory, and Gu Jiangli felt a pang of sorrow in his heart once again.

Hearing her movement, the emperor turned his head and said gently:

"Awake? Sleep some more, it's still early."

Gu Jiangli didn't say anything, got out of bed barefoot, took a few steps forward, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, and pressed her face against his back.

She wanted to comfort him, to reassure him, and to tell him that none of this was his fault.

She wanted him to stop blaming himself, to stop punishing himself, and to stop falling into the abyss of pain.

There are people in this world who care about him, who love him, who cherish him...

But she couldn't bring herself to say it.

She had witnessed his past pain firsthand, and that's why she understood that such suffering couldn't be alleviated by a few words of comfort.

She pressed herself close to the emperor, wanting to transfer her warmth to him.

Seeing this, the palace maids beside him all wisely withdrew.

The emperor asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

As he spoke, he gently took her hand and turned around.

Upon seeing that she was barefoot and without any outer clothing, he immediately frowned: "The ground is cold; you'll catch a cold."

He pulled Gu Jiangli back to bed, then draped a coat over her shoulders and covered her feet with the blanket.

Only after he finished doing all that did he look up at her.

Seeing that she didn't look well, he immediately asked anxiously:

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