Chapter 110 "Perhaps I am too much like my father..."

Chu Jinglian stared blankly at Consort Rou, a hint of fear creeping in at what he was about to hear.

"Do you think that because your mother is the most favored concubine in the harem, His Majesty must love me very much?" Consort Rou's lips curled into a mocking smile. "His Majesty has no true feelings for anyone in this harem..."

“Mother Consort…” Although Chu Jinglian was scared and confused, when he saw the sad look on Consort Rou’s face, his heart ached and he stepped forward to hold her cold hand.

Consort Rou's heart softened, and she gently pulled Chu Jinglian to her side. This time, Chu Jinglian did not brush her hand away, but obediently sat down next to her, his eyes still moist, quietly looking at her, waiting for her to continue.

"I..." Consort Rou paused, then said, "The late Empress was my eldest sister. After she married His Majesty, they never consummated their marriage. In her impatience, she put poison in his tea..."

“But His Majesty would rather favor the tea-serving lady than touch my elder sister… My elder sister fell ill from depression, and although she enjoyed the honor of being Empress, she passed away only a few days later.” Consort Rou’s pale eyebrows furrowed slightly, her eyes filled with sorrow, as if she could see the despairing figure of the late Empress leaning against the window again.

“It was Father who insisted on marrying my elder sister to His Majesty, and he plotted against her. I know he harbors resentment. But my elder sister was innocent too… She was caught in the power struggle between two men, powerless to control her own destiny, and paid for it with her life, yet no one remembers her.”

This was the first time Chu Jinglian had heard the story of this unnamed aunt. She pursed her lips, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "That female official...?"

"That female official was the Crown Prince's birth mother. She was later made a Consort by His Majesty, but she went insane a few years later and died."

The light filtering through the window illuminated the swirling dust, and as the light gradually dimmed, candles were lit one after another, flickering and glowing.

Two figures were projected onto the Suzhou embroidery butterfly screen, one sitting and one standing, seemingly very intimate.

Chu Jingze sat down in front of the bed, lifting his robe, and took a bowl of rice porridge from the tray beside him. He scooped up a spoonful, blew on it, and fed it to Feng Mian's lips. "Hungry? I added two drops of acacia honey, it's your favorite flavor. Want to try some?"

Feng Mian turned her head away, her dark eyes fixed on him, a small flame burning in their depths. "Why? Isn't your uncle good to you? You're already the Crown Prince..."

"So what if he's the Crown Prince?" Chu Jingze put the spoon back into the bowl, making a clattering sound. "As long as he's here, I won't get what I want most."

"What exactly do you want..." Feng Mian asked, enunciating each word clearly.

His beautifully shaped eyes looked into Feng Mian's eyes, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought you could guess. If Father hadn't married you off to a distant place, or allowed us to spend the rest of our lives together, perhaps I wouldn't have made this move today."

Feng Mian looked at the person before her; the figure, appearance, and voice were all familiar, yet the person seemed utterly unfamiliar. She gritted her teeth and asked in a trembling voice, "Are you insane?"

"Perhaps." He even chuckled. "But I think maybe I'm too much like my father. But I should be better than him; you and I are just cousins, while he is..."

He gave a cryptic chuckle.

The hidden meaning in Chu Jingze's words made Feng Mian's pupils tremble. She said weakly, "Don't talk nonsense, you..."

"Do you think the Empress Dowager dislikes you and your mother so much only because you were mortal enemies with Princess Anle's mother? Is it because she discovered that her most precious and proud son is still thinking about and cherishing the daughter of her mortal enemy?" Chu Jingze interrupted Feng Mian.

"You probably don't know this. When I was born, I almost lost my life along with my mother. It was Aunt Anle's words that not only saved my mother and me, but also allowed me to sit on the throne of the Crown Prince and be raised by my father."

He leaned closer and said, "She said I look just like my father when he was young."

“Look, Father’s tendency to favor someone because of their family is even more serious than we thought.” He chuckled lightly, his fingertips tracing Feng Mian’s pale cheek. “Aunt Anle only praised me once, and he immediately took me under his wing. He’ll bring me to Aunt Anle every now and then to get a smile from her.”

"My poor mother, who went from a lowly tea-serving maid to the Imperial Concubine Chen in the harem, was overjoyed at first. She thought she had won His Majesty's favor, that such a high and mighty person loved her, who was as lowly as dust, and was willing to put aside the dignity of a noble lady for her sake."

"She truly fell in love with her father, but he never set foot in her palace again. The palace servants all said she had fallen out of favor and secretly flattered the Luo family to make things difficult for her. Given her background, no one was there to support her."

Feng Mian remembered Consort Chen, a woman whose beauty had faded and who seemed somewhat mad. She spent most of her time quietly brewing tea in the corridor. One day, the charcoal fire burned too brightly and the teapot went dry, almost causing a fire. Her uncle had reprimanded the negligent palace servants, ordering them not to mistreat Consort Chen.

She spoke with difficulty, "Perhaps, my uncle didn't know at the time..."

How could someone born in the palace not know the nature of people who fawn over the powerful and trample on the weak? Moreover, she vaguely remembered her uncle saying that he had not had a good childhood and that it was his mother who took care of him so that he could grow up safely.

Chu Jingze said, "Yes, he didn't know at the time. He only instructed the palace servants not to mistreat her and treated her like she was invisible, never even glancing at her. She had just given her heart away, but it became an obsession. When she accidentally discovered that everything she had gained was because of Princess Anle, how could she not hate? How could she not go mad?"

“I am favored by the Emperor because of Aunt Anle, but she is not happy at all. She hates Aunt Anle, she hates me, and she even hates you.”

As Chu Jingze recalled the past, a strange light appeared in his eyes, and Feng Mian's fingertips sank into the brocade quilt.

“You probably don’t remember, but at first I really thought that killing you would make her happy. So there were several times when I wanted to kill you. But you…” He raised his index finger and affectionately rubbed Feng Mian’s nose, “You were so silly, hugging me so intimately and calling me brother.”

Even when his mother went mad, he rushed in and protected him.

Feng Mian was only three years old that year, too young to sleep alone, and always clung to Chu Jingze. Chu Jingze wanted to visit his mother at night, so he had to coax her to sleep before going out.

That night, Xiao Fengmian actually learned to pretend to be asleep. After Chu Jingze left, she got up and secretly followed him all the way to the palace where Consort Chen lived, where she witnessed Consort Chen's madness.

The entire palace screamed and scattered. Chu Jingze rarely saw her so frantic, and for a moment he forgot to react. He tried to step forward to restrain her, but was bumped on the shoulder by a palace servant and pushed back to where he was. It was Xiao Fengmian who rushed over like a little firecracker, grabbed his fingers, and used all her strength to pull him out.

The little boy was about to fall flat on his face when his short legs bumped against the threshold, but Chu Jingze scooped him up and carried him out.

Feng Mian didn't really remember what happened when she was that young, and she never realized that Chu Jingze had actually thought about killing her. In her memory, Chu Jingze had always been gentle, occasionally liked to tease her, but no matter what he said, he would try his best to satisfy her.

It can't be like this, it can't be this crazy...

“I kept this a secret from Father, because I was worried that Mother would be punished for almost hurting you and me, so you obediently kept quiet. I thought that with you here, I would be very happy, so I never thought of killing you again.”

The candlelight crackled as Feng Mian stared blankly at the flickering flames. It took him a long time to regain his focus, "But no matter what, you shouldn't... you shouldn't have committed patricide and rebellion..."

He suddenly grabbed her chin: "You respect and love him, but do you know that he knew perfectly well that your father was wronged back then, yet he chose to stand by and do nothing?"

Seeing Feng Mian's pupils shrink, he continued, "He has always disliked your father. Before Aunt Anle gave birth, he deliberately sent your father away. He just didn't expect that Aunt Anle's childbirth would be so dangerous that she would lose her life."

"Do you think he didn't hate you at first? He went mad for over a month, taking his anger out on the General, but he still couldn't bring himself to take it out on you. It's also because you look so much like Aunt Anle." He suddenly laughed. "I dare say, if you had been unlucky enough to have been born looking like your father, you would never have the good life you have today."

He smiled as he looked at Feng Mian's pale face and gently rubbed her cheek with his fingertips. "Don't be afraid. Now it's your brother's turn to take charge. Your brother will always treat you well."

"I'm not alright." Feng Mian's body was weak and limp. She tried to pull away from his hand, but ultimately leaned weakly against the headboard. "I've never doubted you..."

"But I didn't completely trust him either." Chu Jingze chuckled softly. "Otherwise, why would he have kept the mine explosion and Baili Xunzhou's serious injuries from me?"

Feng Mian clenched her hands on the brocade quilt. "You knew everything?"

"I have more informants in the northern frontier than you know."

Feng Mian closed his eyes, deeply regretting, "How ridiculous that I actually asked you to send some officials to the Northern Frontier..."

"You can rest assured about that. The officials who have been sent to take up their posts in the northern frontier were all carefully selected by the Ministry of Personnel. I didn't do anything underhanded. They are indeed the best among the current dispatched officials. They will take good care of the northern frontier for you. You don't need to worry about them in the future. Just stay by my side and be at ease."

"If I can't go back, Azhuo will definitely become suspicious..."

"Don't call him that in front of me." Chu Jingze's face turned cold. "Do you think I'll let him off so easily?"

Feng Mian's face grew even paler as he recalled the Luo family's collusion with the Alna tribe: "What did you do? What deal did you make with the Luo family and the Alna tribe that made them willing to cooperate with you for so many years?"

"I promised to give them the sixteen cities in the northern frontier."

"You've gone mad!" Blood rushed to Feng Mian's head in an instant, his eyes turning bloodshot. "How many people of Dayong would rather die than surrender to the enemy, and you're just handing them over like that? How can the people trust the ruler of Dayong?! What are they supposed to do?!"

She shouted herself hoarse, almost using up all her strength, her chest heaving rapidly, and she nearly fell off the bed.

"Calm down." Chu Jingze helped her up. "I just delivered the city defense map and some intelligence to them. After all, the Dingbei Army is still guarding the area. Let's see if they have the ability to swallow it up."

He was calculating a lose-lose situation. With the Dingbei Army tied down by the Northern Barbarians, they couldn't spare the energy to pay attention to the changes in Shengjing. Meanwhile, the Luo family had been in power for many years, with many trusted confidants and old friends throughout the court. In addition, the Crown Prince's status was indeed legitimate. If no one came to his aid, his ascension to the throne would be as easy as it could be.

As for the northern frontier, either the Dingbei Army would be annihilated, and the northern tribes such as the Alna would occupy sixteen cities in the northern frontier, but after the battle with the Dingbei Army, they would inevitably be severely weakened, and the new emperor could then send troops to suppress them, thus achieving a great victory. Alternatively, the Dingbei Army would fight to the death to defend the cities, but the casualties would be heavy, and the new emperor could easily change the Dingbei Army and make it work for him with just a little manipulation.

As for the Dingbei Prince's family, whether they died on the battlefield or were assassinated after the war, it made no difference to the new emperor.