Twenty-eight
Inside a palace, a gorgeously dressed woman was weeping until a palace maid arrived to announce, "Empress Dowager, the Emperor has arrived."
The woman was startled and quickly wiped away her tears.
When Ling Junyan went in, there was no trace of her crying.
"Why did Your Majesty choose to come to my place today?"
"I haven't seen you for a long time, Mother. I miss you so much, that's why I came to visit you. By the way, there's something I want to hear your opinion on."
The Queen Mother seemed to have no strength left. "You say."
Ling Junyan looked at her and said, "There is a house in the east of the city. There lives a child named Fu Shang."
Where Ling Junyan couldn't see, the Queen Mother's hand suddenly clenched the hem of her skirt.
Ling Junyan continued, "This child was raised outside. Upon investigation, it was discovered that he is the son of a criminal. He has neither a surname nor is he registered. The criminal's half-brother committed a serious crime, and as his nephew, he should be punished as well. However, he is only a child and is not included in the criminal's family tree. I feel pity for him, so I have come to ask for your advice. What do you think...what should I do?"
The Queen Mother held down her trembling body and looked straight ahead, while Ling Junyan stared at her indifferently as she tried to hold on.
After a moment, she spoke in a trembling voice, "This matter concerns the country. Since he is the son of a traitor, Your Majesty must not be soft-hearted."
Hearing her answer, Ling Junyan curled his lips, then stood up, slowly turned to face the Queen Mother, and said with a slight bow: "Your son understands. Thank you, Mother."
After saying that, he glanced at the Queen Mother, but she was still staring in that direction.
Ling Junyan didn't care. He then instructed the palace servants around him, "Take good care of the Queen Mother."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left without saying another word.
As for this queen mother who has no blood relationship with him, as long as she is willing to sit quietly in the high position, Ling Junyan can protect her safety, but if she does something she shouldn't do, he doesn't mind doing it without this queen mother.
When Ling Junyan's figure disappeared at the door, the Queen Mother finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to one side.
The palace maids hurriedly shouted, "Empress Dowager!"
The subtle sound reached Ling Junyan's ears, but he acted as if he didn't hear it.
Another place.
"Yun Qi?"
Yun Qi turned around when he heard the voice and asked, "Eleventh Prince?"
Old Eleven ran over excitedly and looked at Yun Qi, "Are you healed?"
Yun Qi was a little surprised, "How did the prince know that I was injured?"
The Eleventh Elder said helplessly, "Everyone knows about the Emperor's incident. As his brother, how could I not know about it?"
Yun Qi narrowed his eyes. How could it be known to everyone? Even if it was in the palace, arranging a place for him to live shouldn't be difficult. Bringing someone back shouldn't be that difficult...
Yunqi looked at him and wanted to ask, but didn't know how to start.
Old Eleven saw it at a glance because that was what he came for.
"Hey Yunqi, let me ask you, what is your attitude towards my royal brother?"
When he asked this, Yun Qi was stunned. "What attitude?"
"Oh, it's emotion, love." Old Eleven raised his eyebrows at Yun Qi.
Yunqi stared at him silently. After a long while, Old Eleven began to feel uncomfortable being stared at.
"Hey! Yunqi! Why do you keep looking at me when I ask you a question?"
Yun Qi folded his arms and examined him, "Your Highness, who did you learn this from?"
Old Eleven snorted and pursed his lips. "Do I need to learn this? Look at the name of the place you live in now. To be honest, anyone with a level of foresight can tell..."
Huh? What's that? He hadn't really noticed.
So he slipped to the door and looked up.
My eyes went dark immediately.
The philtrum, pinch the philtrum...
It is no exaggeration to say that his mind was indeed confused for a moment, as if he had lost the ability to think and move, and he stood there frozen for a long time.
After finally recovering, he rushed to Old Eleven in a hurry and said, "Your Highness, I woke up at noon and went out for a while. I only realized it now. So, in your opinion, I look like I'm pretending not to know and trying to be polite but also polite?"
Old Eleven rested his chin on his hand and thought carefully for a moment before nodding, "It's quite similar."
After all, everyone knows that when the late queen was alive, that is, when Yunqi and Ling Junyan were children, they lived here together.
It would be a lie to say he didn't notice it, but the truth was that Yun Qi really didn't notice it. Even when he walked to the imperial study and back, he didn't feel familiar at all, especially when he reached the door, he didn't even think of looking up.
This also made him feel that it was extremely disrespectful to the late queen.
Seeing Yun Qi's heavy face, Lao Shiyi quickly said: "I don't feel anything, I was just joking, seriously!"
"Don't explain, Your Highness." How could Yun Qi not know the impact of this matter.
He really didn't feel like continuing. "Your Highness, I'm going back first. You should go back and rest early too."
After saying that, he turned and walked into the hall. Old Eleven raised his hand helplessly.
Is this... trouble?
At this moment, Ling Junyan appeared at the door. Lao Shi didn't notice him at first, but then he suddenly felt a chill on his back, and sure enough, he saw him when he turned around.
"Emperor…Emperor Brother?"
Ling Junyan walked over slowly, "Why are you here?"
"I...I heard that Yun Qi woke up, so I came to check on him."
"What about the others?"
“He…” Old Eleven hesitated, and then he couldn’t make up any more stories, so he had to admit: “Brother Emperor, I seem to have gotten into trouble…”
In the hall, Yun Qi sat there absent-mindedly until he realized that he was in the queen's bedroom. Everything became familiar and bits of memories flooded into his mind.
Yun Qi stared blankly at every corner of the hall, and at this moment Ling Junyan came into his sight.
"Are you in a bad mood?" Ling Junyan asked as soon as he came in. Outside, Old Eleven had already told him what happened.
Yun Qi watched him approach, was silent for a moment, and then said in a dull tone: "Ling Junyan, could you please not be like this."
Yun Qi's voice was very soft, but it made Ling Junyan, who was about to sit down, freeze there. It took him a while to sit down.
"What do you mean?" Ling Junyan rolled up his sleeves and asked calmly.
"You know what I'm talking about."
Ling Junyan chose not to respond. He said to the side: "Everyone, step back."
After everyone left, he looked at Yun Qi and said, "My Queen Mother once said that if one day I become the most noble person in the world, I must let the person I love live here so that there will be no regrets. Now, I am just listening to her."
"But ask yourself, is this what the late queen meant?"
"Whatever her intentions, she wanted me to live a happy life without regrets. This has always been her wish. But such thoughts are so naive. From the moment I ascended the throne, these things...will never come true."
Hearing this, Yun Qi felt a mixture of emotions. Ling Junyan's gaze slowly fell on him. He said softly, "Yun Qi, if I were not the emperor, but just a commoner in a mountain village, no longer at the center of the world and able to escape criticism, would you be willing to... accept me?"
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