My father didn't know what I was thinking, and happily pulled me out, "You should dress up nicely. This is your first meeting, so you should leave a good impression on your mother."
At night, the palace was brightly lit. I had never been to such a magnificent place.
The palace maids came and went, and I followed Prince Liang's team obediently.
"The Emperor and Empress have arrived!"
I knelt down with the others.
The moment I looked up, I couldn't remember what others said. All I could see was the woman with the tall head. She was wearing the solemn and steady palace dress of a queen, but she didn't look old at all. She was extremely beautiful and charming.
She looked at me and said, "Why are you crying, kid?"
I woke up suddenly. Everyone was up, but I was still kneeling on the ground. My face was wet. It tasted salty and bitter. It was tears.
She waved at me: "Come over here."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, I was at my wit's end, "Mother..."
"presumptuous!"
I lowered my head, silent as a cicada.
My mother raised her hand to stop the palace maid from scolding her, and took my hand. "Are you missing your mother?"
I nodded, tears streaming down my face, unable to stop.
"You're such a crybaby." She gently wiped my tears away and said, "Just think of me as your mother. You can come to the palace often in the future."
I kept looking back as I sat at the table, receiving many envious and jealous looks.
Pei Jinghong's cold expression disappeared and he gritted his teeth at me.
"My mother never held my hand, why should she hold yours?"
I pondered, “Maybe it’s because I cry a lot?”
The three brothers were thoughtful.
After the Qianqiu Festival, I went to play with my mother. When I saw three fifteen-year-old boys crying around her, I was shocked and ran away.
I was caught by the majestic and righteous emperor, who called my father over.
My father scolded me. I don’t know what they said, but I only know that my father was very happy. From then on, every sixth day of the New Year, he took me to the palace, but my father never set foot in my mother’s palace. He just watched from afar.
I snuggled up to my mother's legs and she didn't push me away. I secretly held her hand and she didn't refuse.
Her hands are so beautiful, her fingers are so slender, and she has a fragrance on her body. I fell asleep while smelling it.
Some people said that I was the empress's male lover who was kept behind the emperor's back. I was angry, so the emperor pulled out his tongue and left me in the Jinwu Guard to protect the safety of the palace together with my father.
My father also began to appear in front of my mother openly.
They would make tea, play chess, watch the snow, and race horses together. I thought their relationship would rekindle, but it didn't. They were like old friends and never crossed the line.
At the age of seventeen, Bai Muzhao went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and the emperor appointed him as the third place.
We occasionally get together, and he told me that his father was not in good health. I was very surprised. Uncle Bai is only forty years old this year, and he has been practicing martial arts for many years and has internal strength. He should be in better physical condition.
Bai Muzhao smiled bitterly, "He just can't get out of it."
I was silent. "What happened between mother and them back then?"
It was from Bai Muzhao's mouth that I learned the whole story of this grudge for the first time.
Uncle Bai, now melancholy and cold, once waited foolishly for his wife and betrayed his mother.
The high and mighty King Liang took advantage of his mother's absence to deceive her into having sex.
His father eloped with his mother and was not tolerated by his grandparents at Yujian Villa.
General Sima was willing to sacrifice himself to save his mother who was a Chinese medicine practitioner.
Their mother attempted suicide by jumping into the river, but was rescued by the emperor and gave birth to five brothers.
It took me a long time to digest it, and I finally understood why my father didn't come home.
At that time, my mother had no feelings for Uncle Bai. They had made it clear that they were separating. If my grandparents had not interfered, my father would have been able to grow old with my mother.
I thought I could stay with my mother for a long time.
When she was eighteen, she rarely called us all to her side, even the men.
They begged her not to leave.
Where are we going? I wonder if my mother doesn't want to live with the emperor anymore? Does my father have a chance?
Mother didn't say anything, just smiled.
She seems to never age and is still in her twenties.
She touched our faces one by one and kissed our cheeks.
She wants me to be healthy and free from illness and says that I have a bright future and a promising future.
My father cried like a baby, and even the usually cold and stern King Liang had red eyes. I vaguely understood something.
How could that be? My mother is only thirty-eight years old.
After her death, her father's hair turned white overnight. On the day of her mother's burial, he made his will.
He wanted me to take good care of Hongye Tower and help Xiaowu create a peaceful and prosperous world, so that he could feel at ease down there.
I followed him and saw him enter the imperial mausoleum and never come out again.
The stars changed, and the red dress disappeared from the world.
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