Chapter 333 Palace Fighting Champion
Shocked by the sad news, Xiao Jingheng immediately rushed to Xianshou Palace.
The imperial doctors knelt outside the door, all with sorrowful faces.
Seeing Xiao Jingheng, Judge Guo followed all the etiquette and then slowly said:
"Your Majesty... The Queen Mother's tuberculosis is a chronic disease. She is now weak and cannot be replenished..."
Xiao Jingheng said: "Tell me, mother...how much time do you have left?"
Judge Guo bowed deeply and cried out in grief, "The Empress Dowager is already dying!"
When Xiao Jingheng heard the word "dying", his heart felt like a mixture of mixed feelings. He couldn't describe what it felt like.
He walked into the inner chamber of Xianshou Palace with heavy steps.
The air was filled with a faint smell of rotting flesh.
The smell was well masked by the southern pear fragrance, but Xiao Jingheng still distinguished it.
That is the smell that only belongs to a dying person.
Xiao Jingheng lifted the veil and saw the Queen Mother lying weakly on the couch, with Qingzhu putting makeup on her with tears in her eyes.
The Queen Mother said with a smile: "Qingzhu, don't shake your hands. Serve me again and let me meet the late emperor in a dignified manner."
Countless candles were burning in the hall, lighting up the night like day.
Xiao Jingheng walked slowly to the bed, knelt on one knee and paid respect to the Queen Mother.
"My son pays respects to the Queen Mother."
"The emperor is here." The empress dowager looked a little better when she saw him.
She waved to Jamel Xiao with some difficulty, "Come here, come to my side."
Xiao Jingheng looked at her withered hands and couldn't control his emotions for a moment, and tears came out.
Looking back to the past, when he was raised by the Queen Mother, she took care of him meticulously, even treating him better than her own son.
At that time, the Queen Mother stroked his forehead and said to him: "Don't be afraid, Jingheng, in the future you will be my good child just like Jingxuan."
At that time, his fourth brother Xiao Jingxuan was also generous to his third brother.
Whatever good things the late emperor rewarded Xiao Jingxuan, he would share with Xiao Jingheng.
Recalling this, Xiao Jingheng's brows darkened slightly.
His hands naturally dropped to his sides and clenched into fists. The hatred that had been buried deep in his heart suddenly surged out:
The love from his biological mother and the grace from his father, these are what he deserves!
Why should it be Jamel Xiao and his son who have to give him charity now?
"Emperor? Ahem...Emperor."
The Queen Mother's weak voice pulled Xiao Jingheng's wandering mind back to reality.
The person before me now is no longer the former empress who was the mother of the country.
She looked sick, her body was gaunt, her beauty was gone.
Somehow, seeing this scene made Xiao Jingheng feel a little relieved.
He sat on the edge of the couch, holding the Queen Mother's hand,
"Mother, my son is here."
Qing Zhu wiped her tears and said, "I'm afraid the Emperor and the Empress Dowager still have something to say, so I'll take my leave now."
The Queen Mother lay on her back on the sickbed. Her eyes were very cloudy, but they still shone with a faint starlight.
"Emperor, over the years, you have treated me like a family member. You also made very good arrangements for your fourth brother Jingxuan's last days. I have seen all of this."
She slowly turned her gaze to Jamel Xiao, but she didn't even have the strength to raise her hand to touch his cheek.
In the end, Xiao Jingheng held her hand and stroked it on his cheek.
"The queen mother treats her son well, and the son should repay her."
The Queen Mother nodded in relief, "The best decision I have ever made in my life was to tell the late Emperor that I wanted to raise you under his wing. When I am in the afterlife, Jingxuan and I will bless you and Daqi together... ahem..."
"Don't say these unlucky words, mother." Xiao Jingheng put the queen mother's hand back into the quilt and tucked the corners of the quilt for her. "My son has been raised by you since he was young. I will never forget the love you gave me."
While the mother and son were chatting, the empress dowager vaguely heard bursts of crying coming from outside.
She asked, "Are the concubines outside crying?"
Xiao Jingheng said: "They are also worried about the Queen Mother's health."
"Oh." The Queen Mother smiled weakly, "You don't have to be so filial."
She seemed extremely tired, closed her eyes, and after a long pause she said:
"Your Majesty, I know that I don't have much time left. These days, I always think of the time when the late emperor was still alive. He would often accompany me to watch the play "Wangjiang Pavilion". Now I... ahem, I read it a lot."
Xiao Jingheng said, "Mother is in such a state now that it is not suitable for her to work. Why don't I ask my son to have someone perform outside? Although Mother can't see it, she can still hear it."
"Okay, okay!" The Queen Mother agreed repeatedly, and did not forget to remind him,
"Also, since your assassination has been resolved, the Song family should also be cleared of all charges."
Xiao Jingheng was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly and said, "Don't worry, mother. I will not let Zhao'er down."
The Queen Mother lowered her eyes and nodded, "She is Rui'er's only daughter. I have never had a daughter in my life, but I get along well with her and feel inexplicably close to her. Go and call her over. I want to talk to her too."
Xiao Jingheng saw that the Queen Mother didn't have much time left.
He had to fulfill this last wish.
So Yi Bi asked someone to invite the actors from Shengping Office, and Yi Bi also sent someone to the cold palace to inform Song Zhao that the Queen Mother was seriously ill and was on her deathbed.
Sure enough, Xiao Jingheng went to persuade Song Zhao privately so many times, but she refused to leave the cold palace.
But when she heard that the Queen Mother was dying, she hurried over.
When she arrived, the opera troupe in the courtyard was performing a play, and the sound was so loud that it made people's ears tinnitus.
The main hall of Xianshou Palace was filled with concubines kneeling on the ground, each crying so hard that their eyes were wet with pear blossoms. I felt pity for them.
When everyone saw Song Zhao, they all had their own thoughts, but they didn't dare to say anything, so they could only continue pretending to cry.
At that time, Xiao Jingheng was sitting in the first seat and staring at Song Zhao.
But Song Zhao didn't even look at him, as if he didn't exist. He just passed by him and went to the inner bedroom.
"Queen Mother..."
Song Zhao half-knelt in front of the Queen Mother's couch, holding her cold hand and warming it in his palm.
"I am an unfilial concubine. I am late..."
The Queen Mother held her hand and said, "It's good that you are here."
In this deep palace, every step is calculated.
It is for this reason that even a little bit of true love given by others seems so precious.
The same was true of Song Zhao's attitude towards the Queen Mother.
Even though she once used the Queen Mother to win favor, her filial piety towards her was genuine.
Her eyes were red, and she tried her best to hold back her tears. She smiled and said to the Queen Mother:
"Queen Mother, please take good care of yourself. I am waiting to honor you."
"Cough, cough, cough..." The Queen Mother coughed violently twice, and her grip on Song Zhao's hand became even tighter.
"Child, do you know why I have always protected you?"
Song Zhao held back her tears and nodded, "It's because of mother."
"It's because of Rui'er, and also because...I've seen from the beginning that you're not an easy person to deal with."
The Queen Mother took a moment to calm down, and faced Song Zhao's surprised tears, and forced a bitter smile from the corner of her mouth.
"If you stay in the emperor's harem, it will cause unrest in both the harem and the court. This is what I hope to see the most."
When the Queen Mother said this, the play "Wang Jiang Ting" was just reaching its climax.
"Who told you, the crow, to occupy the phoenix's nest? Who told you to chase after them step by step and devise so many schemes?"
Song Zhao was stunned for a moment.
She looked at the empress dowager, who had a kind smile on her face, still looking kind and gentle.
But the more this happened, the more Song Zhao felt terrified...
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