Chapter 661 I am not a good father
Finally, the Empress Dowager's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground, her eyes swirling with emotion.
Having lived through sixty years of turbulent times, looking back, it all seems like nothing more than a fleeting moment.
In her childhood, she was born into a collateral branch of the Nanling Wei family, one of the four princes and six noble families, and married a prince whom the world disapproved of as a concubine. She gave birth to her eldest son at the age of fourteen, thus establishing herself in the prince's palace. At eighteen, she and her entire clan assisted her weak husband in ascending the throne. At nineteen, she took charge of the harem. At twenty, she became empress, and at twenty-five, she assisted her eldest son in ascending the throne.
From then on, she began her more than forty-year reign as the ruler of the court and the country.
She lost her mother in childhood, her husband in middle age, and her son in old age, and served three emperors throughout her life. She is known as a remarkable empress.
So, she came from a collateral branch and trampled everyone under her feet, shouldn't she be proud of herself?
The moment she closed her eyes, the person she had forgotten for decades resurfaced in her mind.
Amidst the pristine white snow, he exuded the fragrance of ink, his head bowed before the porch, an oilcloth umbrella adorned with emerald bamboo tilted over her head.
His shoulders were covered in snow as he laughed and said, "Little Liang, you've been punished to kneel again?"
That man was her teacher at the clan school; he taught her calligraphy, painting, and poetry. Her first well-fitting winter coat was a gift from his wife. Her first sweet brown sugar steamed bun was given to her by him.
However, he was the one who sent himself away, along with his wife, children, and elderly parents.
Some things happened so long ago that she could no longer find that person's face in her memory. Or perhaps, she deliberately forgot them.
All she remembered was that it was another day of heavy snowfall. Before he died, he knelt on the cold bluestone slab and kowtowed to her.
He, with his back as straight as a pine tree, knelt humbly on the ground, blood staining his forehead and his hair disheveled. He begged me to spare his wife, children, and elderly parents.
How could that be?
Sir, sir.
You taught me not to easily reveal my weaknesses.
Look, your little A Liang has finally grown into the Empress Dowager of a nation. Boundless glory.
He will trample all those who once humiliated him underfoot. Just as you expected. In the end, he will die at the hands of the grandson he raised with his own hands.
Shouldn't I have no regrets?
Yes, right?
As she noticed the warmth in her chest gradually dissipating, the Empress Dowager smiled faintly.
call.
He finally let out a sigh of relief.
Her eyes slowly closed, her bloodstained fingers gently smoothing her disheveled hair before finally falling limply to the ground.
"The Empress Dowager has passed away."
Li Quan crawled two steps on his knees, checked his breathing, and then knelt down and shouted in a trembling voice.
Thus, the legendary story of the Great Jing Kingdom, which served three generations of emperors, came to an end amidst the mists surrounding the emperor's bedchamber.
The emperor looked at the serene Empress Dowager before him, and in a daze, the corners of his mouth twitched up, and he gradually burst into a maniacal laugh. However, as he laughed, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
“Grandmother, why do you have to do this? For example, as you said, it makes no difference to you who sits in the seat.”
"Heh. Of course I remember clearly. I remember how my mother died at your hands, and I remember how you single-handedly drew away the rebels to save my life. What do you want from me? Heh, tell me, what do you want from me?"
All around him were the Emperor's sobbing cries. He had somehow moved from his bedside to stand before the Empress Dowager, grasping her hand and tearfully questioning her. But the Empress Dowager was no longer able to give him an answer.
In fact, it wasn't long before the emperor returned to his original state, as if he wasn't the one who had lost control before.
He was helped back onto the bed by the eunuchs and caught his breath for a while. Only then did he lower his eyes and slowly wipe the blood from his hands.
He slowly raised his eyes and looked towards Jiang Nuanzhi in the distance.
Xuan Ting was already stunned on the spot, kneeling there quietly, looking at the Empress Dowager's corpse, as if his soul had been ripped out.
His gaze fell on Xuan Ting, and he beckoned to him: "Little Six, it's alright, come here to your father."
Xuan Ting watched his beloved ancestor perish before his eyes, his eyes now devoid of any light, and remained motionless for a long time.
The Emperor seemed to be taken aback for a moment: "Xuanting, your father doesn't have much time left. Even so, you're still unwilling to trust your father?"
He looked at Xuan Ting, who had lowered his eyes, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
Xuan Ting wasn't standing very far away; he could still see the child's thin, small body kneeling there, and the wound on his wrist wrapped in white cloth.
The Emperor's eyes narrowed sharply when they fell on Xianting's wound. He gave another bitter laugh before saying, "It's alright, it's fine as it is now."
"Li Quan, go and fetch the edict of succession."
After he finished speaking, he coughed heavily.
Li Quan, standing beside him, was already sobbing uncontrollably. He turned and retrieved the bright yellow imperial edict from the emperor's bedside, then presented it to Xuan Ting.
The emperor leaned there, catching his breath for a while, before speaking haltingly.
"To prevent this traitor Xiao Yuanshan from spreading the decree, I drafted a total of six edicts. One is behind the 'Upright and Bright' plaque, one is at the Altar of Heaven, one is with the Grand Tutor, one is with Prince Heng, who is thousands of miles away, and the last one is in the hands of Commander-in-Chief Li Rong."
These words seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and he gasped for breath for a while.
He continued, "My beloved ministers, listen to my command: after my death, you must protect the Crown Prince. The empire must not fall into the hands of that traitor Xiao Yuanshan."
"Xuan Ting, my sixth son, you must remember this."
The emperor seemed to be struggling to breathe, leaning there panting heavily.
Xuan Ting suddenly looked up. He met his father's lifeless eyes, who was looking at him with a pale smile, his eyes seemingly filled with endless reluctance and worry.
At that moment, Xuan Ting's mind was in complete chaos. Regardless of what his father had done, he realized at this moment that he seemed to be really about to lose his father.
His knees moved forward uncontrollably, gradually approaching, until he knelt down on the couch.
"Father."
Tears welled up, blurring her vision, and her father's face became increasingly blurry and distorted.
My towering father, my omnipotent father, how did he become like this? Why did he become like this?
"Don't cry."
The Emperor raised his hand to wipe away the tears on Xuan Ting's face: "Xuan Ting, my child, you and I were born into the imperial family, and we are born with a tendency to be suspicious and distrustful. However, your father hopes that you can guard your true self, and never... never become like your father."
"Xuan Ting, live on. It doesn't matter if you can't defeat Xiao Yuanshan. As long as you live, this country will eventually belong to the Xuan family. Your father has built a secret passage leading directly outside the city. Someone will meet you there. One day you will reclaim the imperial city and kill Xiao Yuanshan. Promise me."
Xuan Ting was already sobbing uncontrollably. He opened his mouth several times but couldn't make a sound, and nodded heavily to himself.
"I'm sorry, child, I'm so sorry."
"I am not a good father. I once thought of prolonging my life, tried to find your sister, tried to hurt you. I clung to the hope that perhaps heaven would take pity on me." His eyes flashed for a moment at Xuan Ting's wrist: "But everything is just a cruel twist of fate. Xuan Ting, find her, treat her well. I have wronged you all."
(End of this chapter)
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