Shu Hua lightly twirled the Seven Provinces Token in her hand, feeling a sense of irony.
...
...
Emperor Qing'an's health was not as robust as Shangguan Jingci had described to Emperor Yuming. Although he didn't have any major problems, he was constantly plagued by minor illnesses.
As people get older, they tend to reminisce about the past. Perhaps knowing that she had wronged the Empress and Shangguan Jingci when she was young, she abdicated the throne to Shangguan Jingci early on.
The royal surname of the Kingdom of Qing was originally Shangguan, but Shangguan Jingci told Shu Hua that his name was Chu Wangbei, which was indeed correct.
The Kingdom of Qing was actually established much earlier than the Kingdom of Yu. Before becoming emperor, Emperor Qing An had been a dutiful crown prince for many years.
In his youth, fearing that other princes would vie for his position as crown prince, he married the eldest daughter of the prestigious Chu family as his concubine, hoping to leverage the Chu family's influence in the court to solidify his position.
She was the later Empress Chu, and the mother of Shangguan Jingci.
It must be said that Emperor Qing'an made the right choice. The Chu family did indeed make outstanding contributions to his political career, and he successfully became emperor.
However, one thing that didn't go his way was that he didn't like Empress Chu, or rather, his liking for her was only fleeting.
If we only consider the capital of the Kingdom of Qing, Empress Chu's appearance could be considered one of the most beautiful. However, after Emperor An of Qing ascended the throne, he faced much more than just a small capital city.
Looking across the entire Kingdom of Qing, although its territory wasn't vast, it had no shortage of beautiful women. After being dazzled by them all, Emperor Qing'an found Empress Chu, whom he had looked at for so long, to be quite ordinary.
He began to neglect Empress Chu. In order for his new favorite to live closer to him, he even banished Empress Chu and the four-year-old Shangguan Jingci to the southernmost palace in the palace, while Emperor Qing'an's palace was in the north.
Thus, the mother and son moved from the palace closest to Emperor Qing'an to the farthest palace. The place that should have been occupied by the Empress was taken by a noblewoman who had only been in the palace for a month.
The day he issued the order happened to be Shangguan Jingci's fourth birthday. Because Emperor Qing'an did not like Empress Chu, he also did not pay much attention to her son.
So even though Shangguan Jingci was four years old, he still didn't have a courtesy name.
Empress Chu was a true lady of high birth. Even though she was treated this way, she did not get angry, nor did she vent her resentment on her son like the empresses described in the novels.
She remained as kind to Shangguan Jingci as ever; as long as he completed his studies on time, he would see her gentle smile. As a result, Shangguan Jingci was well-behaved from a young age, saving Empress Chu a lot of trouble.
She gave Shangguan Jingci the courtesy name Wangbei. As a child, Shangguan Jingci strongly resisted this name, but she changed her usual gentle demeanor and insisted on settling his courtesy name.
Seeing the tears welling up in Empress Chu's eyes, Shangguan Jingci finally gave in.
He was very intelligent and could understand what the adults were saying. This included his teachers' dislike of him, his classmates' rejection of him, and even the courtesy name given to him by the Empress Chu.
He disliked those two words because they sounded like Empress Chu gazing north every day, hoping Emperor Qing'an would come to take them back.
And that was indeed the case. Empress Chu did have feelings for Emperor Qing'an, but as a lady of high birth and the mother of the nation, she was not good at expressing such sentiments, so she never revealed her feelings to him.
Although Empress Chu did not utter any complaints after being banished here, she would often stare blankly to the north—the direction where Emperor Qing'an was.
Gradually, she lost her appetite and became extremely thin, as if she had had fat removed.
Young Shangguan Jingci was confused; he didn't know what to do. His mother forbade him to tell his maternal grandfather because she knew his grandfather would put pressure on Emperor Qing'an—and she couldn't bear to do that.
But Emperor An avoided seeing them, and the people in the palace were all opportunists. Not to mention that they refused to provide medicine and treatment now, even when he caught a cold after moving here, the Imperial Hospital never sent anyone to help.
Fortunately, he recovered on his own in no time.
But Empress Chu was not Shangguan Jingci; in the end, she closed her eyes before Emperor Qing'an arrived.
She walked ahead of him.
"Very well, let her go and scout the way first, pave the way for him, so he won't have any trouble walking on it." This was Empress Chu's last thought before she died.
At that time, Shangguan Jingci was five and a half years old. He had just returned from the Imperial Academy when he saw Emperor Qing'an, whom he had never seen before, standing at the palace gate with his back to him.
Shangguan Jingci's heart sank, and a bad premonition spread through his mind.
He saw Emperor Qing'an walk up to him, and he condescended to squat down, saying to him, "Your name is Wang Bei, right? I have already ordered the Ministry of Rites to handle your mother's funeral arrangements. You may return with me."
Shangguan Jingci did not refuse. He knelt in front of the hall for seven whole days, and only went to see Emperor Qing'an after the seventh day memorial service for Empress Chu had passed.
After he left, the palace was sealed off. He devoted himself to studying the "Art of Emperorship" every day and rarely returned. Only on the anniversary of Empress Chu's death each year would he return to stay for a few hours before leaving again.
After Shangguan Jingci became the Crown Prince, he swiftly dealt with the concubine who had usurped his position years ago. It was precisely because of her orders that the Imperial Medical Academy refused to treat him and Empress Chu.
He didn't mention this to Emperor Qing'an, and Emperor Qing'an pretended not to know. More than ten years have passed, and the once beautiful and charming noblewoman has long since faded and lost her favor.
It's really not worth it to fall out with your own son over a dead, haggard wife.
Moreover, this is his most outstanding son, and the one who most resembles him.
Whenever Emperor Qing'an saw Shangguan Jingci's calm and collected demeanor, he would recall his own spirited self from years past, as well as Empress Chu, who had tirelessly worked for his cause.
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