Silence fell over the room; neither Yu Jingchen nor the Empress Dowager spoke.
"Mother..." Yu Jingchen broke the silence first.
"Don't call me Mother Empress Dowager." Upon hearing this address, the Empress Dowager turned her body away.
Upon hearing this, Yu Jingchen turned his gaze away and said, "I remember you used to like this title..."
"Your Majesty also said that it was in the past. I just told Your Majesty that compared to Yun'er, I understand things better. The late Emperor wronged me, and I abandoned him. Your Majesty, you have also wronged me, so naturally I will not want to have anything to do with you anymore. You are not worthy to call me Mother. I tolerated your rebellion in the past, but I have my bottom line and will not indulge you forever. Even if you were my own child, I would abandon you, let alone since you are just a half-brother."
"I raised you, and you gave me the position of Empress Dowager. We're even now, and we don't need to act as mother and son anymore." The Empress Dowager made it very clear, and she appeared indifferent, at least that's how she seemed.
Yu Jingchen's feelings were complicated. He had never imagined that the Empress Dowager would say these things to him. "From now on, we won't have to be mother and son anymore..." Why did those words sound so unsettling?
“You will always be my mother,” Yu Jingchen said.
"It is a great pity that Your Majesty's mother has passed away, and I have never given birth to a child," the Empress Dowager replied.
Yu Jingchen felt a lump in his throat after hearing the Empress Dowager's words.
"Since Your Majesty wishes to keep Yun'er, then let her stay. I will not force you. However, if I find out that you have hurt her once again, I will take her away at all costs, and I will never allow Your Majesty to have Yun'er again. Not only that, I will also make Your Majesty suffer and regret for the rest of your life. Does Your Majesty understand?" The Empress Dowager's tone was cold.
“…No.” Yu Jingchen didn’t want to see the Empress Dowager’s expression; rather than not wanting to, he was afraid.
"Then Your Majesty should remember what you said today. Anxin, let's go." The Empress Dowager walked straight past Yu Jingchen without any hesitation.
Yu Jingchen turned to look in the direction the Empress Dowager had left, but unfortunately, the Empress Dowager did not turn around, nor did she hesitate even as she left.
Yu Jingchen suddenly realized why he felt a sense of loss.
The Empress Dowager had already instructed An Xin to prepare a carriage. The carriage wasn't large; if there were any more people, it might not fit. There was only room for them to begin with.
“Since the Empress Dowager never intended to take Consort Jieyu with her in the first place, why did she say those things to His Majesty?” An Xin asked.
"I just wanted to confirm things, I didn't want to take any risks, my plans can't afford the slightest mistake," the Empress Dowager replied.
“What if His Majesty doesn’t keep Consort Jieyu?” An Xin asked.
"Then take Yun'er with you and go. Once you're gone, you'll never come back..." the Empress Dowager said.
“But now that Consort Jieyu is left alone, isn’t the Empress Dowager worried?” An Xin knew that the Empress Dowager was feeling distressed.
"I know the Emperor well, he wouldn't do that. If there were... I..." But the Empress Dowager didn't say it out loud.
"Now that she's left, will the Empress Dowager want to come back?" An Xin didn't really know why the Empress Dowager suddenly said she wanted to leave the palace, nor did she know where the Empress Dowager planned to go.
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