When Concubine Hui came over, the maid in charge was dozing off in the main hall. She woke up when she heard the noise outside. After seeing who was coming, she hurried to greet her, bowing earnestly and saying, "This servant greets Concubine Hui! I wish you the best of times!"
"Has the Queen Mother gone to bed?" Concubine Hui asked calmly, squinting her eyes as she looked at the bamboo-green curtain in front of her.
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother just finished chanting sutras in front of the Buddha and has just gone to bed." The head maid replied hurriedly.
"Is it Jinghui?" The Queen Mother's voice came from behind the curtain, followed by two suppressed coughs, "Cough cough!"
"Yes, today is New Year's Eve. The Queen Mother is not feeling well, so it is inconvenient to hold the New Year's Eve dinner. Therefore, I have come here specially to visit the Queen Mother." Jinghui said slowly.
"Come in, I want to see you too." The Queen Mother said slowly.
"Yes," Jinghui said, taking a food box from the maid behind her, and said to her and the head maid, "You can leave first. The Queen Mother and I have something to talk about. If I don't call you, you don't have to come in and serve."
"Yes, I obey your command." The two of them bowed and left in a hurry. Jinghui then walked forward slowly with the food box, reached out and lifted the bamboo green curtain, and then entered the bedroom.
"Jinghui, you're here?" Seeing Jinghui coming in, the Queen Mother struggled to sit up from the bed. She was not in good spirits during her illness, and she was much thinner, with a head full of silver hair. She looked completely different from the fierce, decisive, and aloof Queen Mother in the past. She coughed twice and waved to Jinghui, "Come here quickly, let me see you."
Jinghui's eyes wandered over the empress dowager's old and haggard face, then she slowly walked over with the food box in her hand. When she reached the bed, Jinghui put the food box on the ground, then took a step back, knelt on both knees, and kowtowed three times and bowed nine times to the empress dowager: "Your servant Jinghui pays homage to the empress dowager, and wishes you good health!"
"You child, you are only one month old, how dare you kneel down? Aren't you afraid of hurting yourself? Get up quickly, the ground is cold," the Queen Mother said with a look of pity and anxiety. She hurriedly reached out to help Jinghui and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed. She held Jinghui's hand and said worriedly, "How are you recovering now? I have already told Qin Lu to take good care of you."
"Yes, Dean Qin is very responsible. He personally prepares the medicine for me every day. I am now in good health," Jinghui said slowly, "Please rest assured, Queen Mother."
"Alas! How can I feel at ease? A good child is gone just like that," the Queen Mother sighed, and she couldn't help gritting her teeth, "It's all the fault of that vicious woman Zhao! She actually had such a vicious mind that she didn't even let go of a baby who was less than a month old! I just want to cut her into pieces, but the Emperor is too kind to her, and he just allowed her to end her life on her own. It's really unreasonable! I know he did this to protect the Third and Fourth Princes, but is it possible that our Fifth Prince will die in such an unclear way?!"
"Empress Dowager, Dean Qin said that your illness was caused by extreme anger. He repeatedly told you to be calm and rest well so that you can be healthy. So, Empress Dowager, I dare to ask you not to worry about this matter in the future," Jinghui said slowly, while holding the Empress Dowager's withered hand. After a pause, she said softly, "After all, you are the only relative around me now. You must take care of yourself even for me."
"How can I be calm? The Xu family's century-old foundation has been destroyed! All my hopes are on the little prince, but now, all my hopes are gone! Tell me how I can stop getting anxious and rest well?!" The Queen Mother has always been very temperamental, and it is difficult for her to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens during this period. However, at this time, in front of Jinghui, she couldn't help but get angry again. While glaring at Jinghui, she suddenly pulled her hand out of hers, pointed it directly at Jinghui's face, and shouted angrily, "You are also useless. You can't even protect the child you gave birth to with so much difficulty. Someone strangled him to death under your nose! Tell me how there can be such an incompetent and mediocre woman like you in this world! Do you know how much thought I have put into you over the years? I was counting on you to give birth to a prince with the blood of the Xu family, but you, without paying attention, let all my hard work and hopes go to waste!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
