The emperor looked at the eighth prince, who was skipping and hopping back, with a puzzled expression.

"Didn't you just say you were going to study hard with the teacher? How come you're back so soon?"

After the emperor finished speaking, he looked up and saw Longyuan.

Just as she was about to say something to Long Yuan, before she could even open her mouth, she saw the child that Long Yuan was holding in his hand.

Upon closer inspection, it seems so familiar.

Suddenly, the emperor stood up abruptly and walked unsteadily to Long Mo's side.

"Long Mo, is that you? You've come back, haven't you?"

Long Mo, who was being led by Long Yuan, lowered his head, but the hatred in his eyes flashed by.

After composing himself, Long Mo finally raised his head, but his eyes were already brimming with tears.

"Father."

The emperor received an affirmative answer and was overjoyed.

"It's good that you're back safe and sound, it's good that you're back!"

The Eighth Prince, who was standing to the side, felt uneasy when his father mentioned the name Long Mo.

I had heard my mother say before that there was a maidservant in her life who used to use all her wits to get into my father's bed.

Later, she even gave birth to a prince named Long Mo.

Although the two-and-a-half-year-old Eighth Prince was still confused about many things, he remembered what his mother, the Consort, had said.

The first priority is to please the Emperor, and the second is that if anyone named Long Mo returns to the palace in the future, he will become his enemy.

At this point, the Imperial Noble Consort probably never imagined that this day would come so soon.

The reason why the Imperial Noble Consort told the Eighth Prince when he was so young was that...

All of this was out of fear that she would fall out of favor in the future.

If that woman's child were to return to the palace one day, he would surely seek revenge.

That's why we've been searching for that mother and child for over two years.

They wanted to eliminate any future problems.

However, there was still no trace of the mother and child. The Imperial Noble Consort naturally understood that the two must still be alive.

That's why the Imperial Noble Consort was afraid of being retaliated against one day.

If it were just a matter of being retaliated against, that would be one thing, but the Eighth Prince is still so young, so naturally they would keep some backup plans.

At this moment, the emperor held Long Mo tightly in his arms.

"It is your father who has wronged you; it is your father who has lost you and your mother."

"Don't worry, your father will make it up to you and your mother in the future."

Upon hearing this, Long Mo's tears began to fall in a steady stream.

"Father, Mother is gone."

The emperor stiffened as soon as Long Mo uttered those words.

How could that be?

Long Mo immediately lowered his head again, but his hands were clenched into small fists.

Long Mo knew he was still too young and would definitely not be able to control his emotions.

So whenever my emotions are running high, I clench my fists tightly and lower my head.

But in his heart, he kept telling himself that he must gain a firm foothold in this palace.

Then they secretly cultivate their own power.

One day, they will trample the enemies who harmed their mother and Wangjia Village underfoot, and then use their corpses to appease the departed souls.

The emperor finally calmed down and asked, "What exactly happened back then?"

Long Mo began, “Back then, when my mother and I went to pray for blessings, we were chased by a large group of men in black on our way back.”

Those guards all died at the hands of those men in black while trying to protect my mother and son.

The mother was seriously injured while protecting her son, but was fortunate enough to be forced to a cliff by the grace of heaven.

The mother had no choice but to jump.

The emperor's heart trembled upon hearing this, for Long Mo was, after all, his own son.

His mother suffered so much because of his momentary lapse in judgment.

The emperor did not interrupt, but continued to listen quietly to Long Mo's story.

Fortunately, the cliff wasn't deep, and there was a lake below, so I survived by sheer luck.

After his mother, he fled with his son.

They fled all the way to a mass grave in the back mountains of a small village.

By then, the rain had started to pour down, and I was unconscious due to a high fever.

My mother was on the verge of death when a passing farmer saved my life.

It's just a pity that my mother succumbed to her illness.

What Long Mo didn't mention was that his mother was gone.

What we want is for the emperor to feel guilty.

My mother was just a lowly palace maid, naturally no match for the status of an Imperial Noble Consort.

But who wants their woman to be such a vicious person?

She trusted the Emperor, even if she could tolerate the Imperial Noble Consort's persecution of her own mother.

They couldn't bear to kill their own children.

In his early years, Long Mo was taught excellent manners by the palace's tutors.

Even after more than two years, Long Mo still exudes noble manners in every gesture.

Seeing the emperor's sorrowful expression, Su Muyao tugged at Long Yuan's sleeve, insisting that he leave.

Long Yuan then went to take the Eighth Prince away.

But the Eighth Prince was not willing.

He felt that the young Long Mo had returned to steal his favor.

I've heard palace maids gossip that Long Mo was once the emperor's favorite.

In the Eighth Prince's heart, besides Long Yuan, who was favored by the Emperor, what made the other princes so special?

Her own mother was only slightly lower in rank than Longyuan's mother.

The mothers of the other princes were not as high-ranking as his own mother.

So why did the emperor favor the other princes?

The Eighth Prince harbored some prejudice in his heart.

At that time, I overheard the palace maids talking about Long Mo, saying that Long Mo looked very much like Long Yuan.

When His Highness the Crown Prince was not with the Emperor, the Emperor would hold Long Mo in his arms.

Long Mo, who was only two years old at the time, told his mother about it.

The two palace maids were discovered the next day, but their bodies were already cold.

Ultimately, the body was taken out of the palace by the head eunuch, and the Imperial Noble Consort issued an order that the two palace maids were of questionable conduct.

Therefore, no money was given to the families of the two palace maids.

They didn't even return the bodies to the two families; instead, they threw them into a mass grave outside the city for wild dogs to devour.

From that moment on, no one dared to gossip in front of the Eighth Prince.

"No, I don't want to, I want to stay with Father."

The Eighth Prince shook off Long Yuan's hand, which was trying to hold, and because he used too much force, he fell to the ground with a thud.

The emperor was even more furious when he saw the eighth prince behaving so unruly.

"I don't know how your mother taught you, or how you learned those rules?"

How dare you be so disrespectful to your elder brother! What will become of you in the future? You've become utterly lawless.

"Eunuch De, take him away and have a proper nanny teach him manners."

The emperor was already angry with the Imperial Noble Consort at this time, and the Eighth Prince was still so brainless.

If the Eighth Prince were even slightly smarter, he should have left immediately at this point, instead of causing trouble for the Emperor.

Although the two-year-old child doesn't understand anything, he is a member of the royal family.

You should learn to read people's expressions at this age, otherwise how can you survive in this cannibalistic palace?