Chapter 101 The fake prince ascends the throne as emperor!
Zhou Ming looked uneasily at his father's figure in front of him, as if he was seeking support and comfort, but when Si Yuan felt his gaze, he simply turned his head to look at him and quickly looked away without any comfort.
But just this one look was enough to make Zhou Ming feel at ease.
Zhou Ming recalled the day when he received the imperial edict appointing him as the crown prince.
Zhou Ming looked at the bright yellow imperial edict, feeling a bit confused, with only two thoughts in his mind: "Is this a pie in the sky or a trap?" and "How come the position of the crown prince has become mine?"
He couldn't help but follow his father and was taken to the study room that he could only enter when his father was testing him on his homework.
In the study, his always serious father patted him on the shoulder and said to him in a gentle tone: "Since I have asked His Majesty to make you the crown prince, it is because I think you are the most suitable. I believe you can support the future of the Duke of Ying's Mansion and become a qualified heir. Don't you have confidence in yourself?"
Zhou Ming answered subconsciously: "I have confidence!" Of course he has confidence. All these years of hard work and study will not let him down.
The reason why he was uneasy was that he felt that the emperor and his father both doted on his younger brother Zhou Jing so much, so how could the position of the crown prince fall into his hands?
His father seemed to see his confusion and told him calmly: "My favor to him is just favor, but the heir still needs a capable person to take on the role."
Zhou Ming understood what his father meant. Although his father loved his younger brother Zhou Jing, he was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and he did not study hard. He could not bear the burden of the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion, so his father had never considered letting Zhou Jing become the heir to the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion.
Zhou Ming was secretly delighted. Although he had never thought of competing with his younger brother Zhou Jing for the position of crown prince, his father handed the position to him without him even thinking of competing. Does that mean that in his father's heart, he was a more qualified heir than Zhou Jing?
When Zhou Ming came back to his senses from his memories and looked at his father's back, his heart was suddenly filled with confidence - Be confident, Zhou Ming, you are the heir chosen by your father, you have to believe in your father!
Zhou Ming believed that although Zhou Jing was favored by the emperor, this favor was based on the reason that "Zhou Jing was his father's legitimate son". The emperor favored his father's legitimate son because he valued his father. As long as his father determined that he, the eldest son of a concubine, was the heir, then the emperor would not ignore his father's opinion and insist on replacing the heir to the Duke of Ying's Mansion.
As for why the emperor only favored Zhou Jing, the legitimate son who missed the position of heir after his father selected the heir?
Zhou Ming thought that the emperor must have doted on Zhou Jing since he was a child. He has been doting on him for so many years that even if he was doting on a cat or a dog, he would develop feelings for it, let alone doting on a living person.
That was why the emperor ignored him, the legitimate prince, and only paid attention to Zhou Jing.
However, this favor should not be enough to make the emperor change his mind and give the position of crown prince back to Zhou Jing.
Zhou Ming felt a little relieved.
At this time, a young eunuch came up to him and invited him with a respectful smile: "Sir, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince invites you."
Zhou Ming raised his head and looked at the Crown Prince who was sitting not far from the Emperor. The distance was not far, and he could clearly see the smile on the Crown Prince's face under the candlelight in the hall.
Perhaps it was a momentary illusion, but he suddenly felt that the prince looked somewhat similar to his father when he smiled.
But it must be an illusion... Zhou Ming turned his gaze to his father again.
His father, with a serious and stern expression, also noticed the movement on his side. Knowing that the prince was inviting him, he nodded slightly at him.
Zhou Ming stood up and followed the young eunuch to the prince, who gave him a seat next to him.
The prince smiled at him and asked gently, "I heard that the prince was raised by the Duke of England when he was young?"
Zhou Ming was slightly startled, and quickly replied respectfully: "Your Highness, yes."
Because he was the eldest son and his biological mother was the maid who came with the British Duchess, he was raised by the British Duchess since he was born. However, his biological mother also lived very close to him and took care of him together with the Duchess of England. He was not raised by the Duchess of England to the point where he did not recognize his biological mother.
After the Duchess of England became pregnant with a legitimate son, she did not send him away, but let his biological mother take care of him.
Later, the wife of the Duke of England died during childbirth, and the main courtyard was left without a mistress. Even his newborn brother had no mother to take care of him. Naturally, he, as the adopted son of the legal wife, had to return to his biological mother's care.
However, Zhou Ming did not elaborate on the details. He was unsure what the Crown Prince meant by asking this question.
Zhou Ming noticed that the prince looked at him with a complicated look, which seemed to imply a little... envy?
Before he could ponder the meaning of the prince's eyes, he heard the prince ask again: "What kind of person is your mother?"
In this era, the legal wife is the mother of all illegitimate sons. Zhou Ming can only call the wife of the Duke of England his mother. As for his biological mother, he can only call her "aunt".
So when Zhou Ming heard the prince asking what kind of person his mother was, he knew that the prince must be asking about the Duchess of England, not his biological mother.
Zhou Ming answered respectfully, "My mother was a very gentle and kind person. I don't remember much because I was young, but the one that left a very deep impression on me was when I was five years old and suddenly got acne. It was my mother who stayed with me all night until I recovered. When I couldn't sleep at night because of the pain and itchiness on my body, my mother gently hugged me, patted my back, and sang a lullaby to me..."
Zhou Ming couldn't help revealing a look of sadness and nostalgia on his face. He truly missed his stepmother, and what he said was all true.
Before the Duchess of England passed away, she was indeed very good to him and fulfilled all the responsibilities of a mother, even more than his biological mother.
Perhaps if the Duchess of England had not died, she would have ignored her adopted son because she had her own biological son. However, the Duchess of England died in childbirth, and she died before she had the chance to ignore or distance herself from Zhou Ming. Therefore, the impression she left in Zhou Ming's heart was all about the best side of a loving mother.
Zhou Ming missed his stepmother at this moment, and suddenly realized that the occasion was not right, so he quickly apologized: "I am a little out of line, please forgive me, Your Highness!"
The prince raised his hand to support Zhou Ming, preventing him from bowing and asking for forgiveness: "What's the crime of revealing your true feelings?"
Crown Prince Zhou Xi shifted his gaze away from Zhou Ming's face and stared at the wine in the glass in front of him, which was rippling slightly, his thoughts a little vague.
The woman whom he had never seen in his past or present life was his biological mother!
The existence of his mother filled Zhou Xi's heart with all kinds of fantasies - because he had never felt what maternal love was like.
In his previous life’s memory, when the emperor pretended to favor him in the early days, Zhou Xi really thought that this was fatherly love for him. Although it was false fatherly love, at least he had experienced fatherly love in his previous life.
After his rebirth, he turned into a baby in the cold palace. Soon he met his biological father, Duke of England Zhou Siyuan, who was also reborn. So he grew up healthy and strong with the care and help of his biological father.
Zhou Xi had never revealed the secret that he was also a reborn person to his father, so his biological father, who didn't know that he was also reborn, often opened his heart to him when he was still an "ignorant baby" and expressed his love for him frankly.
Even after he grew up, his biological father, who seemed serious and indifferent, no longer mentioned his love for him, but he knew how much his biological father loved him.
So what Zhou Xi lacked the least after his rebirth was fatherly love.
He doesn't lack fatherly love, but he lacks motherly love.
Whether in the past or present life, whether it was his real identity or a fake identity, he lost his mother.
There was no queen in the palace, and he didn't even have a nominal mother. He grew up in the cold palace and had no adoptive mother. After moving out of the cold palace, he lived alone in the Zichen Palace. There was no older woman who could play the role of a mother during his growing up.
Therefore, Zhou Xi was very curious about what kind of person his biological mother was. He once tried to ask his biological father, but every time he mentioned his mother, his father's eyes showed some sadness. He really couldn't bear to open the scars in his father's heart again.
Today, he happened to see the emperor summon Zhou Jing to sit next to him. In order to prevent Zhou Ming, the legitimate prince, from becoming embarrassed, he asked Zhou Ming to come and accompany him. He could also take the opportunity to find out from Zhou Ming, who was raised by his biological mother, what kind of person his mother was when she was alive.
When Zhou Xi listened to Zhou Ming talking about how kind and gentle the Duchess of England was to him when she was alive, Zhou Xi couldn't help but feel a little envious and jealous.
The position of crown prince was given to Zhou Ming after his father discussed it with him. If his identity had not been exchanged between the emperor and Zhou Jing, the position of crown prince should have belonged to him.
However, Zhou Xi did not care much about Zhou Ming taking the position of the crown prince that should have belonged to him. Instead, he was able to calmly and rationally examine which brother would inherit the Duke of Yingguo Mansion and bring him greater help in the future.
After all, the Duke of England was his family by blood, and he very much hoped that after he ascended the throne, the Duke of England would continue to be his loyal subject.
In the end, he and his father chose his eldest brother Zhou Ming, who was down-to-earth, studious and intelligent.
But at this moment, Zhou Xi was really envious of Zhou Ming's experience of being personally raised by the Duke of England for a period of time when he was young.
Zhou Xi sighed slightly in his heart, and quickly calmed down, suppressing the regret in his heart. He changed the topic and started chatting with Zhou Ming.
He was worried that if he continued talking about the British Duchess, he would not be able to help but send Zhou Ming back to his seat, and then his plan to support Zhou Ming would fail.
The emperor called Zhou Jing to sit next to him on such a special occasion as the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, and showed his favor to Zhou Jing without hesitation. This was a subtle way of saying that he supported Zhou Jing and told others not to neglect Zhou Jing.
The relationship between Zhou Jing and Zhou Ming is a little delicate now. In order to prevent some short-sighted people from looking down on Zhou Ming in order to please the emperor and Zhou Jing, Prince Zhou Xi called Zhou Ming to his side and secretly showed that he supported Zhou Ming.
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