Chapter 275 Cultivating with Hair
"I...I just wanted to share my brother's burdens."
Xiao Lin's voice was muffled.
His Majesty paused, his brow furrowing.
He looked up, tears welling up in his eyes.
"A few months ago, I overheard your conversation with Lord Qin in the Imperial Garden."
"You said that the new cannons made by the Shenji Battalion have been slow to develop and have not been able to exert their due power."
"You also said that the Ule cavalry are swift as the wind, and if our army could be equipped with powerful artillery, we could gain the upper hand, and fewer soldiers on the border would be lost..."
Xiao Lin's voice grew softer and softer.
"I...I remember last year during the Lantern Festival, when I was secretly playing with black medicine outside the palace, I accidentally spilled too much sulfur powder, and with a 'boom,' half of a rockery in the mansion collapsed..."
"At the time, I felt that its power was much greater than the gunpowder used by the Shenji Battalion in their daily drills."
"So...that's why I wanted to try again."
“I thought…I thought if I succeeded, my brother…would be happy.”
The Imperial Study fell into a deathly silence once again.
The only sound was the occasional crackling of the candle flame.
A long time passed.
A long, weary sigh echoed in the empty hall.
"Get up."
His Majesty's voice was devoid of emotion.
Xiao Lin was stunned for a moment.
Then, a warm, dry hand landed on his head and gently rubbed it.
He looked up and met his elder brother's complicated eyes.
The anger had subsided, leaving only helplessness, heartache, and a trace of... a sense of melancholy he couldn't understand.
His Majesty pulled him up from the cold ground and personally straightened his slightly crooked collar.
"Children should not meddle in adult matters."
His voice was soft and slightly hoarse.
"I appreciate your kind intentions, Your Majesty."
"But black medicine is no child's play; the slightest carelessness can lead to utter destruction."
"Promise me, Your Majesty, that you will never do such a dangerous thing again."
Looking at his elder brother's softened expression, Xiao Lin felt a warmth in his heart, and the grievances that had been building up all day instantly found an outlet.
He nodded heavily, tears streaming down his face like broken beads.
"Brother..."
He grabbed His Majesty's sleeve, raised his tear-streaked face, and looked up with hope in his eyes.
"Brother, since you're not angry with me anymore..."
"Then...then may I...go and see the Empress Dowager?"
He asked cautiously, his voice tinged with a hint of pleading.
“I…I haven’t seen my mother for a very, very long time.”
“My third brother has been enfeoffed as a prince and left the capital for three years. In these three years, I… I have only seen the Empress Dowager three or four times in total.”
I miss her...
The warmth on His Majesty's face froze instantly when he heard the words "Empress Dowager".
He slowly removed his hand from Xiao Lin's head.
"no."
He uttered two words, cold and hard as iron.
"The Empress Dowager is currently practicing Buddhism in the palace, wearing her hair in a traditional style, and praying for the country's well-being."
"This is a crucial time for seclusion and quiet cultivation; no one is allowed to disturb us."
Since returning power to the court, the Empress Dowager has claimed illness and refused to leave her residence.
Even Xiao Lin, his own son, rarely gets to see him.
Although Xiao Lin was the Empress Dowager's son, His Majesty never criticized him because of the Empress Dowager.
Instead, he showed tolerance and affection towards his younger brother, who was only a few years old.
If Xiao Lin hadn't used some underhanded drugs today, he would rarely have seen His Majesty get angry or lose his temper with him.
"Then...then I won't be able to see my elder brother either?"
Xiao Lin persisted, asking again.
His Majesty's eyelashes trembled slightly.
He did not answer.
He turned away, no longer looking into Xiao Lin's clear, expectant eyes.
He walked back behind the huge imperial desk and sat down.
It was as if the kind and gentle older brother from just moments ago was merely an illusion.
He picked up a new memorial, took up his vermilion brush again, and his voice regained its usual coolness and authority.
"Escort the Seventh Prince back to his residence."
The light in Xiao Lin's eyes suddenly went out.
The hands hidden in the sleeves slowly relaxed and then hung down at the sides.
The long palace path was silent, and the snow on the ground had been swept clean.
He had walked this road many times, but he could never reach his mother's side.
An unassuming ebony carriage was already waiting outside the palace.
The carriage had no insignia, but the two horses pulling it were exceptionally fine steeds from the Western Regions.
It is Xiao Lin's usual car.
"Your Highness, please warm your hands!"
Yuanbao immediately stuffed the prepared hand warmer into Xiao Lin's hand.
He swiftly pulled Xiao Lin into the carriage, then hurriedly took off the cloak that was soaked by the snow and put a dry cloak back on him.
"Your Highness, are you alright? His Majesty... His Majesty didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"
Xiao Lin didn't say anything, but just hugged the hot water bottle and curled up in the thick brocade cushion.
Seeing his gloomy expression, Yuanbao dared not ask any more questions.
The carriage carrying us back home moved slowly through the quiet, snowy night.
The wheels crunched over the snow, making a "crunch crunch" sound.
When the carriage reached the intersection of Zhuque Avenue, he subconsciously lifted the curtain of the carriage window.
Not far away, the magnificent gate tower of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion stood quietly in the wind and snow.
Two large red lanterns hanging in front of the door cast a warm glow in the night.
He blurted it out almost without thinking.
"parking……"
But before he could finish speaking, the image of Meng Shilan's distant gaze when they were in the capital city flashed into his mind.
The words that were on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.
He silently lowered the carriage curtain.
Yuanbao, watching from the side, couldn't help but offer some words of comfort.
"Your Highness, please don't take it too seriously."
"Although you made a mistake today, you have still accomplished a great service."
"Didn't the Prefect of the Capital say that they found a full thirteen chests of silver in the cellar of that house?"
"This is no small sum; it must be linked to a major corruption case!"
"Once the Jingzhao Prefecture follows the clues and solves this case, the credit will go to you."
"At that time, you can use this merit to plead with His Majesty, and perhaps..."
Xiao Lin remained silent.
He simply leaned quietly against the car wall, watching the blurry light and shadow reflected on the curtains, motionless.
It's not that he doesn't understand.
How could he not understand?
The Empress Dowager was not practicing Buddhism while still keeping her hair.
That's clearly because he's been placed under house arrest by his elder brother.
Although no one had ever taught him these things.
But he had seen so many plays in the theaters outside the palace.
He knew what it meant for "two tigers to share one mountain".
I also know about what my mother did in the past.
Empress Dowager Su was a power-hungry empress dowager who enjoyed factional strife.
She supported her relatives by marriage, installed her cronies in power, and even threatened the imperial authority...
Can……
She was also his mother.
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