Chapter 321 Emperor Xuande Passes Away
Emperor Xuande fell ill after learning that General Gu Jian had won a great victory over North Vietnam. Xie Xun took over the government affairs, and Prime Minister Bai assisted him with all his heart.
Emperor Xuande was bedridden. Even the combined efforts of the Imperial Hospital could not improve his condition. Even Li Mumu could only make him less painful.
"Mumu, how long will it take for your grandpa to come back?"
Li Mumu looked at the frail old man, whose hair was mostly white. In fact, he was not that old, only in his fifties, which was the right age to make a living in modern times.
But now, the light in his eyes is getting dimmer day by day.
During the past six months, he only met with ministers occasionally to tell everyone that he was still alive. He no longer attended the morning court. With the assistance of Bai Xiang, Xie Xun looked more and more like an emperor.
"About half a month left." Li Mumu said truthfully.
"Can I hold on for another half a month?" asked Emperor Xuande.
Li Mumu knew that he wanted to see his grandfather, "Mumu will do her best."
…
Half a month passed, and Emperor Xuande was rarely awake. When he woke up, he would ask, "How many days are left?"
The people below were not sure whether he was asking how many days he had left to live, or how many days it would take for General Gu to return.
When I asked him again, he stopped talking. I didn't know if he was asleep or tired.
Every time at this time, Li Mumu would tell him that it would be soon, in three days, two days, or one day.
Emperor Xuande was holding on to this breath and just holding on.
Until Mr. Gu Jian returned to the court, he did not have time to see Xie Xun and went straight to Emperor Xuande's bedroom.
Hearing that General Gu had returned, Emperor Xuande actually opened his eyes, which had not been opened for a long time, and said, "Come, change my clothes for me."
His voice was loud and clear, and the palace servants looked at Li Mumu nervously. She had been in the palace these days.
I guess the palace people also guessed something.
Emperor Xuande even felt that the nervous eunuchs were taking too long to put on their armor, so he took action himself. Soon, Gu Jian was kneeling down without even having time to change into his armor.
"Stand up, you are now the great hero of Dongyao. There is no need for us to be polite to each other."
Gu Jian had never expected that Emperor Xuande would become like this during the six months he had been fighting. He looked at his little granddaughter whom he had not seen for a long time, his eyes full of doting.
The little girl has grown taller and become more beautiful, but she seems to have lost weight. Why didn’t these people give her food?
"Don't worry, I didn't bully her." Emperor Xuande smiled.
"That's not what I meant. I know the Emperor loves Mumu the most."
"Don't flatter me." Emperor Xuande sneered, "Gu Jian, we have been emperor and subject for a lifetime. Tell me the truth, you must hate me, right?"
Gu Jian lowered his head.
"It doesn't matter. Even if you kill me now, no one will avenge me." Emperor Xuande said with a wry smile, "I hate you."
Gu Jian's eyes tightened, "But the emperor didn't kill me."
"I hate you, but I can't kill you. I hate that you always like to play the devil's advocate. I hate that you're disobedient and don't act like a loyal subject. I hate that you all think the prince is good and support him. You all hope that I will die soon so that he can become emperor."
"Your Majesty, the prince is well. This proves that you, as a father, have taught him well."
"You are not being honest." Emperor Xuande snorted, and drank a sip of tea out of exhaustion. Then, feeling that the tea was cold, he ordered someone to change it. "Give me some more osmanthus cake. The Queen loves osmanthus cake the most. It is fragrant and soft."
Emperor Xuande looked outside the door, then smiled at the empty doorway, as if he was telling someone something.
"Gu Jian, the Crown Prince was taught by the Queen. He has Bai Xiang for literature and you for martial arts. It has nothing to do with me."
"emperor……"
"Why are you so anxious? Let me finish what I want to say." Emperor Xuande glared at him. "You have plenty of opportunities to speak. I only have a moment."
Gu Jian looked at Li Mumu again, and Li Mumu nodded.
Gu Jian also realized that this was Emperor Xuande's last burst of energy.
"Your Majesty, please speak."
"If you had been so obedient earlier, why would you have endured the pain of exile?" Emperor Xuande said, "I know you all look down on me, thinking I'm narrow-minded, heartless, and unfaithful, like a tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs. But that's because they weren't born into the royal family. I won't explain much, and I don't regret it. I hate you, but I know you and Prime Minister Bai are loyal ministers. You wouldn't abandon the people of the world just because you don't like me being emperor."
"I will do as you wish. I am leaving now. You will have the final say after this world ends."
"Your Majesty, I have absolutely no such intention."
"Of course I know you don't, but that kid is still young, and you haven't taught him the ways of being an emperor. He's still very naive. I hate you, but I've never neglected the people. I also want to be a wise ruler in the eyes of the people. You and Prime Minister Bai should assist him well."
"Your Majesty, I am going to retire. I am old now."
"You go on your way. Come back when you have something else to do." Emperor Xuande smiled and waved to Li Mumu. "I really like this girl."
"Your Majesty, please summon Prime Minister Bai."
Emperor Xuande shook his head and said, "It's too late. I won't wait any longer. This tea has been brewing for too long. I still can't eat the osmanthus cake."
"Your Majesty, would you like to see..."
"Gone, everyone is gone. In my life, I have made contributions and mistakes. I am not a good emperor, not a good husband, not a good father..."
He smiled and said, "The Queen came to see me with some osmanthus cake..."
He looked at the place just now, and the smile on the corner of his mouth was clean and pure, even with some youthful innocence.
Li Mumu knew that Emperor Xuande and the Empress were once a loving couple and had an enviable time together, but in the end someone betrayed their original promise.
Emperor Xuande passed away, and he should have seen the empress at the end of his life.
But Li Mumu felt that if a person really died, there would be someone close to him to lead the way to the underworld. Would the Queen really be willing to come and pick up this man who broke his promise?
Not only did he break his promise, he also killed her only child. She would probably never see him again in this life.
In fact, judging from the queen's coldness towards him in the end, this should be the case.
Everything was just Emperor Xuande's last fantasy.
It’s not that he doesn’t love, it’s just that he doesn’t love enough. Between power and love, he chose power and betrayed his love.
Xie Xun looked at Emperor Xuande who had closed his eyes forever on the bed, without a tear in his eyes. They had not had many opportunities to meet in the past six months.
Every time they met, he tried hard to tell him how to be a good emperor, and he would also teach him how to handle things.
But this is definitely not love, it's more of a responsibility.
Emperor Xuande would occasionally mention what would happen if it were the crown prince.
Every time at this time, Xie Xun would ask, "Since he can do so well and satisfy you, why can't you tolerate him?"
Emperor Xuande did not get furious, but just said that he didn't understand yet and he would understand it later.
"I will never understand a man who brutally murdered his own son."
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