If this happened to Zhou Zhaonuan and Zhou Zeyun, his father would have been heartbroken. Zhou Zeyu secretly took note of them.
He looked at his father but didn't even look at him. Zhou Zeyu pursed his lips. He was really a little aggrieved. With the help of the eunuch, he stood up and knelt in front of Zhou Beichen.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. I am sorry for causing you to worry about me. I am wrong."
Zhou Beichen lowered his eyes, his dark eyes were extremely deep. He stared at the man for a while, and Zhou Zeyu couldn't help but shiver. His actions today could not be considered as deceiving the king. After all, he was really hungry and dizzy. Even if he didn't pretend, he would definitely faint.
Unable to withstand the strong attack of Zhou Beichen's gaze, Zhou Zeyu had to lower his head even lower. Zhou Beichen suddenly sighed, turned the ring on his thumb, and asked casually.
"Zhou Zeyu, you're protesting by going on a hunger strike just to get me to keep you by Li Shuren's side and force me to spare her life. Do you think that's fun?"
Zhou Zeyu: “…”
Mu was shocked. He had never told anyone the purpose of his hunger strike. How could his father know? What's more, the person he was ostensibly forcing to go on a hunger strike was his mother.
"I don't know what your Majesty means. I beg for your guidance."
With the help of the young eunuch, Zhou Zeyu kowtowed reluctantly.
Zhou Beichen sneered, "You don't know, but I think you know a lot. Even if you go on a hunger strike to force Li Shuren to keep you by her side, she can't do anything without my approval. You fainted from hunger because you wanted the guards to carry you here, so that I could see your determination and spare your mother's life, thus achieving your goal."
Zhou Zeyu felt his scalp tingling when the method he had been thinking of for several days was explained so clearly. Why did his father seem to know everything?
He was a little scared. He looked up and timidly glanced at Zhou Beichen, "Father...Emperor."
He tried his best to muster up his courage and deliberately stretched out his voice just to make himself look aggrieved.
"I know that my little thoughts are no match for your Majesty's discerning eyes. However, Your Majesty, I only have my mother as my mother and you as my father. Now, I beg you to spare her life, considering that she didn't actually interfere with Prime Minister Li's rebellion. I beg you to let me stay by her side. I beg you."
Zhou Zeyu admitted that he had always been afraid of Zhou Beichen since he was a child. It was not for any other reason but because his father was too fierce and could take a life in the blink of an eye. Therefore, he tried his best not to provoke his father since he was a child.
But his mother and Empress Liang had told him before that he was different from those servants and officials who had committed crimes. He was the son of his father. Many times, his father scolded him because he was disappointed in him. They told him many times to get closer to his father, but he didn't dare.
If he hadn't really had no other choice this time, he would never have taken this step.
An idea suddenly occurred to Zhou Zeyu, as he thought about how Zhou Beichen was still his biological father. He mustered up his courage and quietly and silently called out to Zhou Beichen.
"Daddy, please, please don't let your son have only a mother and no father, okay?"
In the past, Zhou Beichen would have been furious upon hearing this, but now, the word "Daddy" reminded him of Zhou Zhaonuan's childhood. Whenever the little girl made a mistake, she would see his face change and would immediately coax him and please him by calling him "Daddy!"
He couldn't help but soften his expression, but his tone remained cold.
"The ground is cold. Get up first, Yu'er. Do you know that if I spare your mother's life, she will only be a commoner, imprisoned in the cold palace for the rest of her life, never to see the light of day? Would you be willing to do that?"
Zhou Zeyu lowered his head and thought for a moment. Finally, he looked up at Zhou Beichen with gratitude, "Father, I am willing. As long as you spare her life, I will do anything. Even if it means I have to stay in the cold palace with my mother for the rest of my life, I am willing to do so."
Frowning in deep thought, Zhou Beichen did not ask Zhou Zeyu to get up this time. He sat down on the chair by himself. Zhou Zeyu raised his eyes and glanced at him, feeling more and more uneasy. He was only five years old, almost six years old. It was impossible for him to avenge his mother with his own strength. He did not want to hate his father, but why did his father imprison his mother? His mother was obviously very majestic before, but now, he felt sad when he looked at his mother.
Zhou Beichen didn't ask him to get up, so he just knelt on the ground.
Deshun and Xiaoshunzi dared not breathe. After a long time, Zhou Zeyu found a pair of bright yellow dragon boots under his eyes. He bent down even lower, almost lying on the ground, and let out a soft cry.
"Father, please grant me your wish."
This was the first time Zhou Zeyu had spoken so much to him since he was a child. They were all his own children, and he favored Zhou Zhaonuan and Zhou Zeyun a little, but he gave all the respect and things that the other children deserved without exception from childhood to adulthood.
"Get up, I promise you."
Zhou Zeyu looked up, his eyes filled with gratitude towards Zhou Beichen, "That's great, thank you, father."
Zhou Zeyu kowtowed three times and immediately gave instructions to Deshun.
"I remember that Qili has served me for many years, so I have some affection for her. I will not kill her. I will let her live out the rest of her life in the cold palace. As for you..."
The look Zhou Beichen gave Zhou Zeyu was unclear, but Zhou Zeyu acted decisively and swiftly, kowtowed to Zhou Beichen again, and said, "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful to you for sparing my mother's life. I am willing to stay by your side and be her son."
Zhou Beichen nodded lightly, as if to agree. Zhou Zeyu was secretly delighted in his heart. As long as his mother was not dead, everything was possible. Now there were some things that he could not push too far. In the past few days, he thought carefully. The secret of Zhou Zhaonuan and Zhou Zeyun's favor was nothing more than being different from others. If he did the same, it would definitely backfire. So, he would find another way and intervene from other places.
They are all the emperor's children. As long as they don't do anything out of line, the emperor will not do anything to them. Now, he has achieved his goal.
Zhou Zeyu secretly made up his mind. Next, he would bring down Shen Nian'an. Hadn't she always been against his mother? If she was also abandoned and sent to the cold palace, he would not see how Zhou Zeyun and Zhou Zhaonuan could still hold their heads high.
"Alright, then find someone to pack up and go to Concubine Shu's place. However, you must remember that from now on, your biological mother is Concubine Shu, and she has nothing to do with Li Shuren in the cold palace."
Zhou Beichen lowered his eyes, his tone full of warning, which made Zhou Zeyu's heart tighten. He was obviously unwilling, but on the surface he tried hard to act very well-behaved and obedient.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
