Chapter 506: The Thousand-Year-Old (27)

"Your mother has escaped the cage of the palace, but my son is still in that cage. Your mother's only wish is to protect you. You are the only child in this world with whom your mother shares blood."

It would be a lie to say that Wen Wan wasn't moved. No matter what, she longed for a kind of family affection that she lacked, even if that affection didn't actually belong to her.

Wen Wan suddenly felt envious of the original owner of this body.

"I will definitely protect myself well. Mother, please take good care of yourself and don't worry me."

In the following days, Wen Wan stayed with the Empress, who cultivated many flowers and even planted bok choy.

"I heard from Xiao Cui that you've taken a liking to growing these things, so I wanted to try it out. I found it quite interesting, and it calmed my mind. I also heard that you made tofu, and I tried it. It was really delicious. My son is amazing."

"If Mother likes to eat it, I will have it sent over from now on."

Later, Wen Wan asked the Empress a question, "Mother, do you hate Father? Do you want to avenge the Lin family?"

The Empress remained silent for a while.

“I hate him, I hate him to death. I even asked myself countless times at the beginning whether the emperor felt guilty and indebted to me for a moment when he made this decision. I also wondered if the Lin family would hate me, their daughter, for being the empress, yet being unable to protect them. Now, every time I dream at midnight, I still feel hatred.”

"But revenge?" The Queen shook her head. "I don't want to."

"Why?"

"Although the emperor's actions were truly ruthless and broke my heart, as an emperor, he was not wrong. The one who was wrong was the Lin family, who were too arrogant. Those accusations were not false. As an emperor, the country and power are more important than them, so I will not seek revenge."

Upon hearing this, Wen Wan had to admit that, in some respects, her mother was indeed a clear-headed and strong-willed female leader.

"So I hate him, but I also understand him. From his perspective, I don't think he did anything wrong. So the best outcome for us is to never see each other again and to be strangers from now on. Whatever was love or anything else in the past, let it all go with the wind."

Looking at her daughter, the Empress patted her head. "So, Yu'er, if you ever have the chance to escape the palace, go. Don't stay. Even if it's for your mother's sake, don't stay. Also, I hope you won't end up like your mother, having your life arranged for you. Go find someone you love and spend your life with them."

"As the eldest daughter of the Lin family, being arranged to enter the palace and become the empress was a deal between the emperor and the ministers. No matter how much the emperor liked Consort Rong, she could only be a consort. After fighting for so many years, I still think Consort Rong is not much better than me."

"Mother is so insightful now. It seems that she has truly let go of everything."

"What can I do? When I learned that you might die, I really didn't want to live anymore. The world collapsed in an instant. Slowly, I had to come to understand that power, the position of empress, you can't take it with you when you die. A person can only live for a hundred years. After a hundred years, whether you are a commoner or an empress, you are nothing but a handful of dust."

Wen Wan stayed with the Empress for a few days before returning to the palace.

Wen Wan was very happy along the way. After all, with the Empress gone, who was forcing her to become the Emperor, she could relax a lot in the future.

After that, Wen Wan completely gave up.

Every day, she would take Xiao Cui, the male protagonist, and occasionally her cheap wife, Princess Meiyi, to eat, drink, and have fun, living a very happy life.

The smiles on his face became more frequent, and he wanted to do more and more things.

The emperor didn't seem to care, which puzzled many others. The emperor's actions didn't seem to reflect high hopes for the second prince; rather, it seemed like he had given up and was letting him develop on his own.

The emperor has fully recovered, and the princes below have temporarily abandoned their ambitions to seize the throne.

Not long after, Wen Wan gave birth to a little brother.

Wen Wan was shocked when she found out. Was this emperor really a... stallion? He was so fertile, he had already given birth to more than a dozen children and was still having more.

Then, Wen Wan didn't expect that the little prince's mother would die from postpartum hemorrhage as soon as he was born.

It could be said that she gave birth to this child with her life.

With his mother gone, the young prince naturally needs to find a concubine to raise him. Consort Rong had no choice but to adopt the third prince in the first place, so it's even less likely that she would raise another child this time. Isn't this just a constant reminder that she can't have children?

In the end, the young prince was raised by Consort Chen, who had been in the palace for a long time but had no children.

So the other party was obviously very happy to have another son.

Wen Wan also went to see the little prince. She really liked the soft and cute little prince. And for some reason, the little prince was particularly shy around strangers. Even when facing his mother, he would cry and fuss from time to time, let alone when facing other people.

Strangely enough, when he saw Wen Wan, he reached out to hug her.

And once they pick you up, they won't let go, all smiles.

Consort Chen also sighed, "It seems that Jiu'er really likes the Second Prince. She cried when we hugged him."

Wen Wan teased the child, saying, "I also think he likes me very much."

After that, Wen Wan would come to play with Xiao Jiu whenever she had time, and she also asked Gu Li to make her a lot of children's complementary food. Consort Chen was naturally happy, after all, Xiao Bao especially liked the things made by the Second Prince, and had a great appetite.

It's fair-skinned and chubby, looks very healthy, and is well-nourished.

The emperor still hadn't given up on wanting to have Wen Wan, but it just wasn't meant to be. The emperor even wanted to take her as a concubine, but Wen Wan strongly refused.

The emperor had no choice but to let the matter drop.

Wen Wan finally saw Princess Meiyi's appearance by accident. She also finally understood why Princess Meiyi wore a veil. It was because she was beautiful, and she also had an Adam's apple.

Wen Wan was shocked.

Is this the reason why Princess Meiyi is insecure?

However, it's not uncommon for girls to have an Adam's apple. After a brief conversation, Wen Wan and Mei Yi decided to cover it with a silk scarf, but they decided not to wear a veil anymore.

Wen Wan really liked Princess Mei Yi. Although she was aloof, she was very beautiful and wielded a sword very well.

Wen Wan felt it was a pity that she was trapped here.

"Meiyi, if there is a chance in the future, I will definitely let you leave. If you find someone you like, you can tell me, and I won't object. I can't give you happiness, so you have to find your own happiness."

Mei Yi looked at Wen Wan.

"You really don't like me?"

Wen Wan nodded. "I don't like girls. You're the wrong gender."

"You like Gu Li?"

These words were so shocking that Wen Wan nearly choked on her own saliva, and was almost scared to death by Mei Yi's words. "What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly like Gu Li? How could that be? We're just friends, nothing more..."