Upon arriving at the palace where the Empress resided, Murong Lie respectfully bowed to his mother.
His mother was assassinated in the chaos of her previous life and died too young, so Murong Lie naturally had to protect her in this life.
The queen looked extremely young, but her expression was very serious.
The mother and son actually look very alike.
The Empress was a famous beauty in the capital at the time, and Murong Lie had feminine features, inheriting the best features of his mother.
When he was a child, he was often mistaken for a girl because of his delicate features. Now that he has grown up, his personality has become increasingly bad, and no one mistakes him for a girl anymore.
The mother and son didn't actually have much in common.
The Empress was single-mindedly focused on ensuring that Murong Lie could smoothly ascend the throne after the old emperor's death; everything else had to take a backseat.
Murong Lie had already prepared himself mentally. He estimated that during this meeting with his mother, she would repeat the same old things, telling him to lie low for now and make a name for himself when the time was right.
Murong Lie would just listen to these kinds of words and ignore them; he couldn't lie low like a turtle, not moving an inch for half a day.
If he continues like this, who knows if he will repeat the same mistakes in his life?
To his surprise, the Empress didn't ask many questions; she only asked one.
"I heard that you have recently taken a liking to a palace maid."
With just one sentence, Murong Lie's anger flared up instantly.
He whispered, "...No, I didn't favor her."
"It's not a big deal to favor a palace maid. You don't need to hide it. The palace maid in charge of your bedchamber was reserved for you. It's a good thing that you favored her. You're not young anymore. Although you haven't found a Crown Princess yet, she should at least be knowledgeable about human affairs. If she can leave behind a child or two, I'll raise them for you."
It must be said that the old emperor really went to great lengths to guard against Murong Lie.
People of similar age to Murong Lie already have several children, but Murong Lie doesn't even have a crown princess.
The old emperor's reason was that the crown prince was still too playful and not suitable for marriage and having children.
But everyone knows the truth.
If Murong Lie had offspring, the old emperor's existence would become even more of a burden.
The old emperor strongly supported Murong Lie's abstinence from women.
As long as he doesn't seize his throne, he can remain aloof from women.
The Empress was quite different.
She only had one child, and Murong Lie placed all her hopes for the rest of her life on him.
He is now a carefree and irresponsible person, and he doesn't even have a woman by his side. The Empress has long been secretly worried about him.
The Crown Prince's illness was examined by the imperial physician, who determined it was a heart condition.
Murong Lie had never told anyone about the traumatic events he experienced in his childhood, so the Empress was naturally unaware of them.
Not knowing the cause and effect, the Empress couldn't understand why her son, young and strong, in the prime of his life, didn't succumb to any lustful desires.
In an effort to change Murong Lie's bad habit, the Empress bestowed upon him many beauties, but unfortunately, none of them even qualified to enter the Eastern Palace.
Murong Lie's reason was even more perfunctory—it's annoying to look at, so it's better not to look at it.
From this perspective, Jiang Tian was incredibly lucky to stay.
There were three palace maids in charge of the bedchamber with her. Two of them used their connections to find other jobs, but she was the only one who was dutifully registered and brought back to the East Palace.
Just then, the Eastern Palace was short of people, so Jiang Tian became a cleaning maid and successfully stayed in the Eastern Palace.
The Empress was somewhat pleased to learn that the woman favored by Murong Lie was a palace maid she had personally selected years ago.
The people she personally selected were at least not treacherous or cunning.
Moreover, she was very concerned about her son's health and would not seek out stunningly beautiful women for him, lest he harm his health.
The ideal type of woman she chooses is one with average looks who doesn't make people infatuated.
The first time Murong Lie sought out a woman, he chose the one she had picked for him, much to the Empress's delight.
She shared her thoughts with Murong Lie, who was speechless.
Murong Lie was well aware that the Eastern Palace was riddled with loopholes and spies.
This time, he was really badly harmed by these spies.
Looking at his mother's hopeful gaze, Murong Lie really didn't know what to say.
He suddenly remembered what the palace maid had said: everyone else only believed what they saw.
Perhaps in his mother's eyes, his willingness to favor women was something that would make her happy enough.
His mother had a hard life, but fortunately she was obsessed with power and would not be saddened by falling out of favor in the harem; instead, she would only be filled with burning ambition.
Being in the heart of the power structure, the mother and son faced countless schemes and plots. It was rare for the Empress to have something that could simply make her happy. After thinking for a moment, Murong Lie suppressed his desire to object and tacitly accepted the Empress's speculation.
Seeing that her son did not deny it, the Empress smiled even more happily: "Then shouldn't you give that palace maid a title? She is your first woman, she can't stay a palace maid forever."
Murong Lie's expression changed slightly for a moment, his demeanor extremely disdainful: "She's just a lowly palace maid. It's fine if I favor her, but I don't like her. Why would I give her a title? Don't forget, Father Emperor is still keeping an eye on the Eastern Palace. We should keep a low profile."
His words made perfect sense, and the Empress nodded in agreement: "Then you can't mistreat her. Why not let her go to your study? She can serve you well then. If you don't keep her under your watchful eye, your father might kill her to silence her out of suspicion."
The mother and son always spoke their minds directly.
Murong Lie knew very well how secure the Empress's own bedroom was.
Upon hearing the Empress's words, Murong Lie's first reaction was to refuse.
He was furious just seeing that palace maid; she should stay out of his sight.
But the second half of what the empress said made him think of many things.
That palace maid cannot die now. As long as we cannot find the mastermind behind her, her role will not be completely eliminated.
The emperor, whom the empress mentioned, was indeed a petty person.
He was terrified that Murong Lie would have a child and become a threat to him.
If the old emperor knew that he had favored a palace maid, he might really have sent someone to kill Jiang Tian.
He would be heartbroken if Jiang Tian were gone.
Murong Lie died with resentment in his heart, and that resentment never subsided.
In that case, I really need to keep her by my side for now.
Murong Lie didn't have time to consider whether his premature alteration of Jiang Tian's trajectory would make her give up on poisoning him in the future—the most crucial thing now was to save her life.
"What Mother said is true. After I return, I will order someone to bring her to my side to serve me personally."
The Queen had not heard her son speak to her so obediently in a long time.
She knew her son's ambitions, but being in the royal family, he had no choice in what he did.
She could not allow him to give up the throne.
The identity a person is born with is the responsibility they carry, and to live a good life, one cannot abandon that responsibility.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
