The next day, after Leng Hong finished the morning court, he went to the Cining Palace.
When Aunt Qiao saw the emperor's sedan chair approaching at the gate of the Cining Palace, her face was filled with joy. She hurried to report to the empress dowager, "Your Majesty, the emperor has arrived."
The Queen Mother's eyes lit up when she heard this. She was happy in her heart, but her face was calm. "Come if you want to. Why are you so excited?"
When Nanny Qiao turned around and left to welcome the emperor, a smile appeared on the empress dowager's lips.
Soon, Leng Hong walked into the Cining Palace, entered the inner hall, and paid his respects to the empress dowager.
The Empress Dowager wore a dark brown Zhang satin jacquard velvet jacket, the hem of which was made of dark green satin with a phoenix pattern, the phoenix head being green and the tail being red.
A phoenix hairpin with kingfisher feathers is pinned on her low bun. The phoenix head holds a few strings of pearl tassels. The ends of the pearl tassels are decorated with transparent green jade beads and bright red ruby beads, which echo the color of the phoenix pattern on the edge of the jacket.
This set is luxurious, elegant and majestic.
Having not seen the emperor for a few days, her eyes were gentle, "Wake up quickly, Emperor, is everything okay these days?"
Leng Hong sat down and told Empress Dowager Yu one or two stories from the previous dynasty.
The Queen Mother listened quietly for a while without expressing any opinion. After a while, she seemed to remember something and frowned slightly.
The Queen Mother looked at Leng Hong and said:
"I heard that the old ministers asked the emperor to fill the harem and asked you to select concubines, but you refused. They also suggested that you select women of appropriate age from aristocratic families and famous nobles to enter the palace as concubines, but you also refused?"
Leng Hong narrowed his narrow eyes and said lightly: "That's right."
His voice grew colder.
"Those old ministers are just trying to find a way to send their own women into my harem in order to strengthen their own power."
"Mother, we came from that time. You should know how complex and intertwined the power of the great families is, and how difficult it is to deal with them! If these aristocratic families gain real power, they will divide my power! I will not agree to that."
Hearing this, the Queen Mother thought for a moment, then lowered her eyes and said, "It's fine as long as the Emperor has his own ideas. I have no objection."
"Besides, there are already more than ten concubines in the palace now. We don't need too many concubines. These are enough. I don't care about anything else. I just hope that they can give birth to a son as soon as possible."
She opened her eyes slightly, glanced at Leng Hong, and said in a slightly serious tone,
"Those beautiful ones are just for the Emperor's pleasure. It's better to let those concubines from famous families who are dignified and elegant give birth to children. If the mother is virtuous, the child will be sensible and easier to educate."
Leng Hong's eyes were slightly cold, his voice was deep, and his tone was firm and unyielding.
"I told my mother the truth. I have never favored any other concubines, not even the queen. I only favored Concubine Wan, and she will be the only one I will favor from now on."
The Queen Mother was not too shocked by Leng Hong's words. She knew her son well and knew that he would not easily fall in love with something. If he did, he would always like it and it would not change.
He has been like this since he was a child, but the empress dowager did not expect that when he grew up and became emperor, he would still do the same to the woman he liked.
However, he was the emperor and he had the responsibility to continue his lineage, so he shouldn't do this.
Moreover, this is the imperial palace, the center of power...
A dark glint flashed in the Queen Mother's eyes. "Your Majesty is no longer a child. You grew up in the royal family. You should know whether being favored by someone without family background or support is a good thing or a bad thing."
After he finished speaking, Leng Hong's fingers shrank slightly, and a trace of nervousness flashed through his heart, but soon, his eyes gradually darkened, and he became suddenly cold and stern. His tone was grim and carried a fierce murderous aura.
"I will protect her well, and the Queen Mother, don't even think about doing anything. Otherwise, I will never favor any woman again in my life, and the kingdom that the Queen Mother and I have worked so hard to regain will fall into the hands of others!"
"Are you threatening me?" The Queen Mother frowned.
Leng Hong was not afraid, he just stared into the Queen Mother's eyes, "It was the Queen Mother who threatened me."
The atmosphere between the two of them suddenly became tense, but after a moment, the Queen Mother calmed it down first.
She knew her son's character too well. He would definitely do what he said. Besides, he was not afraid of anyone, and no one could control him!
The Queen Mother shook her head slightly and frowned:
"Hong'er, I don't understand why you don't favor other concubines? From their looks to their personalities, they're all one in a million. Aren't they any better?"
Leng Hong looked unhappy and felt depressed. Every time he came to the Empress Dowager's palace, he felt like a big stone was pressing on his chest.
This big rock is something he cannot move by himself.
This time, he wanted to remove the stone from his chest so that he could face his mother calmly.
Leng Hong waved his hand and asked all the palace people to leave.
Now only the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, mother and son, were left in the palace.
Leng Hong exhaled and said solemnly, "It's not that they are bad, it's my fault. I have a knot in my heart. At that time, I didn't want to favor anyone. I hate that kind of thing."
The Queen Mother's quiet eyes were filled with confusion. "Why is this?"
"This knot has been in my heart for more than ten years. I want to ask my mother for clarification."
The Queen Mother's heart sank, and she had a bad premonition.
Leng Hong's dark eyes were like the dark night, revealing uneasiness. He looked at the Queen Mother and said in a low and hoarse voice:
"Mother, that day, I saw you and the Regent..."
The Queen Mother's heart suddenly trembled, and a trace of panic flashed across her usually calm and indifferent face, but she held her breath for a moment and quickly adjusted her emotions.
Now that he knows it, we should explain it to him clearly.
The Queen Mother lowered her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were calm and fearless. "What did you see?"
Leng Hong took a deep breath.
"I saw the Regent and you on the floor of this inner hall...I didn't want to see you, Queen Mother!"
One day more than ten years ago, the young Leng Hong sneaked into the Cining Palace. He hid behind the heavy brocade curtains and saw this scene.
He could not forget that scene. When he grew up, whenever he mentioned favor, he would think of this scene, so he refused to favor any concubine.
This is also the reason why he killed the regent with his own hands. He respected his mother, and anyone who hurt her must die!
However, after killing the regent, he began to worry again.
The young boy remembered that after that day, the Queen Mother never expressed her dissatisfaction with the Regent in front of him, and his mother's attitude towards the Regent remained the same as before.
He wanted to know whether the Queen Mother was satisfied or dissatisfied with his killing of the Regent...
After hearing Leng Hong's words, the Queen Mother calmed down a lot. She raised her eyes, her eyes were as deep as a pool.
"What exactly does the emperor want to know?"
Leng Hong finally spoke out the question that had been lingering in his mind for several years.
"I want to ask my mother, if I killed the regent, will she be happy, or..."
"Ah..." The Queen Mother waved her hand decisively before he could finish his words.
"The Emperor has done well. If you hadn't killed him, I would have killed him too."
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