True thoughts
The first to arrive were Susu and Lingfeng.
She stepped into the hall and saw her father, who was rubbing his temples and looking irritable, sitting in the main seat, and Liu Quan and Manager Wang, who looked worried, standing beside him. She paused for a moment, silently performed a courtier's salute, and stood aside.
Next came Shen Hong and Sui He, who came in with mud on their hands. Upon seeing the scene, they performed the proper courtesies and stood quietly.
Shen Xiao strode in, his armor billowing in the wind. Seeing Wei Jin, and then at the scene, he clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty my foot!" Shen Yan suddenly looked up and interrupted, "There is no Your Majesty here! There is only your old man!"
Shen Xiao's jaw tightened, and he swallowed his words.
The little bull, panting heavily, rushed in, calling out, "Daddy...Daddy..."
Little Stone rushed over from the Hanlin Academy, politely performed the rites of a subject to a ruler, and silently stood aside.
Everyone's here, just one person is missing.
Wei Jin glanced at them, about to speak, when footsteps sounded outside the door.
Ling Zhan entered, accompanied by Manager Wang.
She was still dressed in a simple palace gown, her expression calm. Seeing the scene in the hall, a faint hint of doubt flashed in her eyes as she looked at Wei Jin, who was in the main seat.
When Wei Jin saw her, anger, resentment, and a strange sense of confidence surged within him.
He slammed his hand on the table, and Liu Quan winced in distress.
He pointed at the children, and shouted at Ling Zhan, or rather, at all the old friends in the room, "You're back just in time! Look at this! All of you, be the judge!"
Like a thug who had suffered a great injustice, he began to launch attacks one by one:
"General Shen! Now that you're a high-ranking official, your father can't even command you anymore! Even the sand in the camp tastes better than the food at home!"
Shen Xiao's jaw tightened, and his shoulder beneath the armor trembled almost imperceptibly.
He suddenly raised his head, as if he wanted to say something, his lips moved, but in the end he just clenched his fist tighter and squeezed out two words in a hoarse voice: "...No."
"It's not that it isn't!"
Wei Jin was furious and didn't give him a chance to explain, interrupting him with even greater rage, "Nonsense! You only know how to clasp your hands and call me 'Your humble servant' when you see me? I'm not dead yet!"
Caught off guard, Shen Xiao swallowed back all the words he was about to utter. A complex and unspeakable pain flashed in his eyes. Finally, he took a deep breath, lowered his head again, and forcefully suppressed all his emotions, reverting to the silent, hardened, and impeccable General Shen. That fleeting hint of softness that had just tried to peek out from under his armor was completely shattered by his father's brutal rage.
"The head of Yunshangji! Her rules are too strict; even her own father's tattered clothes are beneath her!"
"And you two! So what if you grew a few golden gourds? Send them all to Kunning Palace! Am I not your father?!"
"That's the most infuriating thing!"
He grabbed the little bull who was trying to dodge, "Chief Steward Shen Zhangwu! You've got too much authority! I have to go through the proper procedures even to get a sip of soup!"
He unleashed a torrent of words, shouting out each child's "crimes" in the crudest and most blatant way.
The children were completely stunned by the scolding!
In their memory, even when their father was angry, he was usually gentle and playful. He had never cursed like this... a street ruffian.
Liu Quan, standing anxiously to the side, wrung his hands: "Master... calm down, the children are all busy..."
Manager Wang lowered his head, suppressing a laugh, but then realized it wasn't appropriate and quickly coughed.
Aunt Wang brought in a steaming bowl of noodles.
Hearing this, she looked at the children with heartache, then at Wei Jin: "Oh dear, Yan-ge'er, speak gently, don't frighten the children..."
Ling Zhan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
The logic in my brain once again encountered a complex situation that I couldn't decipher.
His behavior pattern... deviates significantly from the conventional coping strategies of emperors.
After Wei Jin finished yelling, he was panting heavily. He took the noodles that Aunt Wang handed him and took a big bite. His eyes were red from the spiciness, but he didn't know if it was from the spiciness or something else.
He pointed at the children, then at Ling Zhan and a group of elderly people, his voice hoarse with accusation.
"I know! You all blame me for the talent show! You think I hurt... hurt your mother's feelings!"
"Yes! I said some nonsense! I admit it!"
"But what about you?!" He slammed down his bowl, his voice trembling. "Are you in such a hurry to sever ties with me? This family... are you really not going to take it anymore? I, your father... are you really not going to acknowledge me?!" He practically roared the last sentence, his voice filled with the wounded despair of a lone wolf.
Little Bull was the first to break down, bursting into tears and rushing over to hug his leg: "Dad! I was wrong! I'll make you soup tomorrow! A whole pot of it! And let's not choose that show anymore!"
Su Su's tears fell in strings. She turned her face away, her shoulders trembling slightly. Ling Feng quickly hugged her.
Shen Xiao loosened his clenched fist, then clenched it again, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he lowered his head.
Shen Hong and Sui He's eyes were red, and Sui He began to sob softly.
Liu Quan sighed repeatedly. Aunt Wang had already started wiping away tears.
Manager Wang sighed and said, "Boss, the children didn't mean it that way... they were just upset with you because they felt sorry for the Empress..."
The hall was in chaos, filled with cries, sighs, and explanations.
Ling Zhan stood there, watching the man sitting in the main seat, his legs being hugged by the little bull, tears streaming down his face from eating spicy noodles, and yelling at his old friends and children for justice.
He was no longer the cold and oppressive emperor in the Zichen Palace.
He became... Anping Earl Chenyan.
Her heart, once again, gently and abruptly, fluttered.
That unfamiliar stinging sensation resurfaced, causing her to instinctively press her hand to her chest again.
The solid ice, amidst the chaos of this place filled with the sounds of everyday life, cries, and the aroma of chili noodles, was smashed and cracked.
Chaos reigned in the hall. The howling of Little Bull, the sobbing of Su Su and Sui He, Shen Xiao's heavy breathing, the cold indifference in Little Stone's eyes, and Aunt Liu Quan's sighs of consolation mingled together. Amidst this cacophony, Ling Zhan slowly lowered her hand from her chest. She forcibly tried to analyze the unfamiliar palpitation and sting within a logical framework, but the result remained an undefined emotional anomaly.
She raised her eyes, her gaze calmly sweeping over the agitated children before finally settling on them.
Her voice rang out, clear and steady.
"We're tired of it. There's no need to blame them."
She first spoke to the man in the main seat, then turned to the children.
"The talent show was my idea, don't blame your dad."
These words were like a boulder thrown into the water, instantly bringing all the weeping and pleading to a halt.
Everyone looked at her, including Wei Jin. His eyes were filled with unbelievable pain and questioning.
Ling Zhan seemed oblivious to the almost tearing gaze he was giving her, and continued to state his opinion in his characteristic, objective, and almost indifferent tone, as if he were reciting a pre-prepared charter.
"The royal family needs offspring, as this is the foundation for the continuation of the empire and concerns the stability of the court. It is not a private matter for one family or household."
“My physical condition and…desire are unable to meet this need. Therefore, introducing new, qualified women who can bear children is the most reasonable and necessary solution under the current circumstances.”
“I have given this matter much thought and believe it to be the best course of action. The children need not resent their father because of this.”
Her words were cold and hard, taking all the responsibility upon herself, completely absolving the children of any suspicion of "disobedience," and also drawing all of Wei Jin's anger and grievances upon herself without reservation.
Wei Jin felt a metallic sweetness rush to his throat, which he then swallowed hard.
He looked at her, at the expressionless face on her cool and stunningly beautiful face, and listened to her casually define her greatest pain as a "necessary solution." His heart ached so much that it almost spasmed.
So this is really what she wanted.
This realization was more ruthless than any knife, precisely piercing through his last shred of hope.
However, Ling Zhan's words were like a pardon, unlocking the shackles in the children's hearts, but also bringing deeper and more complex emotions.
"mother……"
Su Su murmured, her tears flowing even more fiercely, but no longer purely out of grievance, but mixed with heartache, confusion, and a sense of powerlessness.
She broke free from Ling Feng's embrace, took a small step forward, and looked at Ling Zhan through teary eyes. Her voice, though trembling with sobs, was unusually clear: "Mother...it's not like that...it's not..." She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to dispel her mother's cold words, "We don't want any optimal path...we just want..."
Before she could finish speaking, her words were drowned out by an even greater torrent of tears, turning into silent sobs.
Shen Xiao clenched his fist tightly, looked at his mother, and then at his father, who seemed to have lost all his strength in an instant, his throat tightening.
He took a sudden step forward, no longer saluting, but reaching out and forcefully supporting his father's arm as it suddenly slumped down, the force almost as if trying to hold him up and prevent him from collapsing. Then, before his father could look at him, he quickly withdrew his hand, restoring his upright posture, though his clenched fists and reddened eyes betrayed the turbulent emotions within him.
“The optimal path…” he said in a hoarse voice, almost forced out through clenched teeth, “but this path…”
Her next words were interrupted by her father's stern "Shut up!"
Suihe and Xiaomanniu's cries subsided, turning into suppressed sobs.
Suihe instinctively gripped Shen Hong's sleeve, whispering repeatedly, "No... Mother... it's not like that..." It sounded like a rebuttal, yet also like a helpless prayer. Little Bull released his grip on his father's leg and instead rubbed his eyes hard with his fists, his chubby face covered in tears and snot. He looked up at the expressionless Ling Zhan and mumbled with a heavy nasal tone, "Mother... you're stupid... can't you see how much pain Father is in..." His voice was soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet hall.
Little Stone stood behind his older siblings, his handsome face showing neither tears nor obvious anger.
His silence, unlike the grief of others, was a heavy stillness born of deep contemplation. His overly calm eyes no longer looked at his mother, but were fixed on his father's deathly pale face and those now empty and lifeless eyes, as if collecting direct evidence that his mother's words had caused his father's breakdown.
His fingers, which were making virtual deductions in his sleeve, paused, because the logic he had learned from his mother seemed unable to explain the huge contradiction between his father's almost dazed state and his mother's "correct decision."
He tilted his head slightly, his brows furrowing even more deeply.
He heard his mother's logically sound "optimal solution," but he also clearly sensed the immense pain that this "solution" brought.
Liu Quan was stunned. He opened his mouth, but finally let out a long sigh: "Your Majesty... this... this..."
He wanted to say something, but found that any words seemed pale and powerless in the face of the Empress's cold and clear "reasoning".
Aunt Wang's eyes were already red from crying. She went over to take Ling Zhan's hand, but didn't dare. She could only say in a tearful voice, "Your Majesty... my dear Your Majesty... how could you do this... how... how can Yan Ge'er bear this..."
Manager Wang sighed heavily, looking at Wei Jin, who sat in the main seat with a deathly pale face and vacant eyes, and whispered, "Boss... this... Her Majesty, she..."
He wanted to offer advice, but found himself at a loss for words. The Empress had blocked the way, using the most "correct" method.
Ling Zhan stood still, enduring the complex gazes of everyone.
She saw the shattered pain in his eyes, the heartache and confusion in the children's eyes, and the helplessness and sorrow of her family back home.
Logic told her that she had made the right choice, and she clearly explained her reasons.
The sharp, stabbing pain in my heart returned, clearer than ever before.
Why does announcing the right decision elicit so many painful reactions?
Why... does he look like he's about to break?
She frowned slightly, a faint hint of confusion resurfacing in her eyes, and subconsciously raised her hand to press against her chest.
He successfully forced out the "truth," only to discover that the truth was so cruel.
He sat there, feeling a profound and utter powerlessness for the first time.
He didn't lose to the rules, nor to the court officials, but to her cold "rationality" that he could never understand.
This realization, more so than being betrayed and abandoned by everyone, filled him with despair.
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