Upon arriving at the West Warm Pavilion, Yongzhang didn't bother with formalities and went straight to the point, asking, "Where is Yanzhi? Why did she suddenly leave the palace? Did you drive her away?"
Having anticipated this scene, Su Yushan feigned composure, saying, "I asked Yan Zhi, and she said she doesn't like you, doesn't want to be with you, and that leaving the palace was her own idea."
The moment she told the lie, Su Yushan suddenly felt like a bad mother who ruined someone's marriage. However, Yan Zhi was her niece, and she couldn't just watch Yan Zhi jump into the fire!
To protect Yanzhi, she had no choice but to lie to her son, but Yongzhang didn't believe her. "Impossible! Yanzhi has feelings for me. You must have driven her out of the palace! How could you use such despicable means to separate us?"
Su Yushan never imagined that one day she would resort to such methods. Hearing her son call her despicable filled her with shock and injustice. Suppressing her grief and anger, she argued her case forcefully.
"You keep saying you like her and want her to be your concubine, but have you ever thought about how a woman will be inferior to others in every way once she becomes a concubine? Your kind of liking is extremely selfish. You only care about yourself and have not considered Yanzhi's situation at all!"
Yongzhang couldn't help but retort, "Mother, you are also a concubine, but Father Emperor treats you very well, doesn't he?"
To be fair, Hongli did treat her very well, but what price did she pay to get such a life?
"You only see how good he is to me, but you don't see how much I've suffered because of this identity!"
Yongzhang couldn't understand his mother's words, feeling that she was just making excuses. "Isn't it because Grandmother always caused you trouble and made things difficult for you? Now that Yanzhi and I are in love, are you going to deliberately make things difficult for us like Grandmother did?"
Su Yushan believed she was acting in the best interests of her two children's future, yet her son said she resembled the Empress Dowager? Su Yushan couldn't understand it, but at that moment, a possibility suddenly occurred to her—
Perhaps the Empress Dowager also believed that she was doing it for Hongli and for the greater good. In the Empress Dowager's eyes, everything she did was right. Why didn't Hongli understand her?
Now, Su Yushan is facing the same dilemma: is she going to become a wicked mother-in-law and be resented by her son?
She poured her heart out for the children, but in their eyes, she was being unreasonable and irrational!
This realization filled Yu Shan with fear and anger, but even more so with pity!
That feeling of not being understood was truly painful. She didn't want her relationship with her son to become like that of the Empress Dowager and Hongli. Disappointed, Yushan took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Fine! Do whatever you want! I've said everything I needed to say. Since you don't care, then so be it. I also hope your lives will go smoothly. If anything unexpected happens in the future, don't blame your mother!"
Exhausted, Su Yushan no longer wanted to deal with the matter and handed it over to Hongli.
Since her son was determined to be with Yanzhi, Hongli could not possibly make her his primary consort. However, considering that she was Yushan's niece, he graciously granted her the position of secondary consort.
Yanzhi had feelings for Yongzhang. Yongzhang personally went out of the palace to find her and express his feelings. In the end, she couldn't bear to refuse and nodded in agreement.
Yongzhang was unwilling to marry a primary wife for the time being, so Hongli did not arrange a marriage for him. However, he made it clear beforehand that he could only postpone it for three years. When he was seventeen years old in the next imperial concubine selection, he would have to marry a primary wife.
We'll deal with the future later. Yongzhang didn't care who his primary consort was; all he cared about was Yanzhi.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Su Yushan didn't get involved. When Yongzhang came to pay his respects, she refused to see him. Her son, whom she had raised for over a decade, even called her despicable. Yushan was heartbroken and refused to speak to him anymore.
Su Yushan no longer cares whether Yan Zhi will suffer injustice in the future or whether their child will have problems. Why bother with so much? It's thankless work, and she'll only be resented by her son. What's the point?
Yu Shan was troubled by her third son's marriage. Hong Li advised her to think more positively, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. You have raised him for so many years, which is already more than enough. You don't need to worry about Yong Zhang's matter. You still have Yong Rong and Rong Jin, these two darlings, to keep you company!"
Yongrong and Rongjin are indeed very well-behaved, but they are still young. No one can predict what will happen when they grow up!
However, Hongli is right. The children have grown up and will have their own ideas. It is impossible for them to follow her wishes. She should let go and let them walk their own paths. Whether it is bitter or sweet, it is not up to others to say. Only by walking it themselves can they truly understand her good intentions.
The imperial concubine selection had just ended, and Yu Shan was planning to take a good rest when another incident occurred. Someone from the Cold Palace reported that the Empress had passed away!
The news was so sudden that Su Yushan didn't react for a moment. "The Empress? How could this happen? How could she be gone so suddenly?"
The palace servants were unaware of the specifics. Su Yushan was distraught and felt uneasy, while Hongli's expression remained unusually calm, showing neither grief nor surprise, as if he were listening to something insignificant.
However, the Empress's death was a major event, and as the Emperor, Hongli had to be present, as did Su Yushan.
The imperial physicians believed that the Empress had been refusing to take her medicine and often secretly poured it away. As a result, her illness worsened, and she began to experience various hallucinations. She mistook these hallucinations for reality and could not bear the torment, which led her to commit suicide by cutting her wrists.
Suicide is the most taboo thing in the palace, especially for someone of her status as empress, she should not have committed suicide.
Hongli was unwilling to reveal the truth to the public, only saying that she had caught a cold and was so eager to have a son that she became seriously ill.
Su Yushan and the Empress had never gotten along, but when the Empress passed away, she was not happy. She felt that the so-called palace rules for selecting concubines had harmed so many women.
Their fates were never in their own hands. If they could choose for themselves, perhaps Yu Ying would not have wanted to marry Hongli.
If she had taken a different path, perhaps Yu Ying could have met a good husband who understood and loved her, and lived a happy and fulfilling life instead of being confined to the deep palace, without a husband's favor, without children, and suffering to the point of death!
The Empress is gone. Hongli never loved her, so he will not be sad. Apart from holding a funeral for her and giving her a final moment of dignity, he will not have any other emotions.
The Empress Dowager was only sad for a few days, and then she began to worry about establishing a new empress for the emperor.
But looking across the entire harem, who is suitable for this position?
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