Chapter 68 Awakening from a Dream
Zhu Yuhuan got off the carriage at the gate of Shoukang Palace and saw Ruilan and others waiting outside. He asked, "Where is the imperial concubine?"
Ruilan said respectfully, "The Imperial Concubine is unwell and bedridden, so it's inconvenient for her to greet Your Majesty in person..."
Zhu Yuhuan waved his hand and said, "I have heard about this matter from Concubine Zhou. Her health is of paramount importance. If she doesn't want the men from the Imperial Hospital to see her, she can ask the female doctors from outside the palace to come in."
Ruilan murmured, "Yes."
In fact, they all knew that Sun Mengqiu’s “long-term illness” was not because of the doctor, but because of her own mental illness.
Zhu Yuhuan had Ruilan dismiss everyone else, leaving only her with him and a few palace maids. Then he went inside himself. As he walked, she said, "If the imperial concubine doesn't want to eat, just give her some simple soup or water. It's okay to use something coarse. The most important thing is not to let her get hurt. Otherwise, she won't die in a short time, and she will suffer in vain. It will also make Princess Changde worry."
Ruilan had never expected the emperor to be so straightforward. She was stunned for a moment, then responded softly.
Zhu Yuhuan entered Sun Mengqiu's bedroom and saw her leaving only her back to him. He sighed helplessly and asked Ruilan beside him, "Is she like this every day?"
Ruilan was a little embarrassed and didn't know whether to say yes or no for a moment.
Zhu Yuhuan rubbed his brows, sat on a chair beside him, and said, "Now that Zhu Qizhen is not here, do you no longer recognize Zhu Hanjia as your daughter?"
Sun Mengqiu on the bed was still motionless.
"Xue Huan is a rude and impolite man. To serve me, he's repeatedly spoken disrespectfully to Jia Jia. Jia Jia is afraid you'll worry and that it'll cause me trouble, so she's been holding it in. If Yu Ge'er's princess hadn't told me, I probably wouldn't even know about this." Zhu Yuhuan glanced at her and said, "I'm not here to get angry with you today, but to let you know that Jia Jia cares about you a hundred times more than Zhu Qizhen does."
After a long silence, Sun Mengqiu finally spoke, "If you want to make the decision for her, go ahead. But who else can I, the deposed Empress Dowager, turn to for support? Aren't you keeping me alive just for your own reputation? Are you using this opportunity to torture me by making me live in pain?"
"If I were to kill you, I don't know how many people would offer me a knife. How could that damage my reputation?" Zhu Yuhuan propped his chin with one hand and said, "As for torturing you... If I really wanted to torture you, I could just dig up the story of the Sun family hiring someone to harm me. These old cases are just not being investigated, not disappeared. The witnesses and evidence from back then haven't all disappeared."
Sun Mengqiu was slightly stunned, and his heart suddenly felt cold.
This happened more than ten years ago, and there is still evidence?
She thought about it carefully and realized something.
Zhu Zhanji simply let the matter go and did not investigate further, rather than completely erasing the matter.
Zhu Yuhuan saw her suddenly sit up, and then continued, "The reason why Zhu Qizhen was able to find the evidence so easily, apart from that foolish son of Yang Shiqi, was precisely because Empress Chengxiao spared Li Chu's life, providing sufficient witnesses to facilitate the investigation in the future."
How could Sun Mengqiu not understand the implication of Zhu Yuhuan's words.
It’s not that Zhu Zhanji didn’t consider dealing with the Sun family, but the Sun family didn’t have the ability for him to deal with them. At most, it would just be a matter of occupying land, and no matter how big the storm was, it wouldn’t do anything. The emperor could use them if he wanted to, and he could just ignore them if he didn’t want to.
But if the Sun family really did something treasonous, the "precious legacy" left by Zhu Zhanji would be enough for Zhu Qizhen to easily get rid of the Sun family.
Sun Mengqiu finally couldn't help but loudly retorted: "At this point, you still want to sow discord between me and the late emperor?"
Zhu Yuhuan sneered and said, "You know perfectly well whether there's any room for provocation in this relationship. I'm just telling you the truth. As for your assumptions, that has nothing to do with me. After all, you should know his true character better than I do."
Sun Mengqiu was of course very clear in his mind that Zhu Zhanji treated Zhu Yuhuan far worse than he treated Zhu Qizhen.
If Zhu Zhanji really loved Zhu Yuhuan, he would not have put his daughter in danger and become the icing on the cake of the Eastern Palace.
When it comes to his daughter's safety, Zhu Zhanji is even worse than Hu Shanxiang.
Sun Mengqiu just expects herself to be special.
Now it seems that she is no different from Zhu Yuhuan. She is just a tool of the royal family. She is even inferior to Zhu Yuhuan.
Zhu Yuhuan had already gotten what she wanted, but she didn't.
Zhu Yuhuan didn't care about Sun Mengqiu's mixed feelings at the moment, and simply continued, "As for doting, he has indeed never treated you unfairly, and his love for you is not entirely false. I'm sure you should also know the saying 'A lone white rabbit, running around east and west. Clothes are not as good as new, and people are not as good as old.'"
Sun Mengqiu was slightly stunned and for a moment didn't understand what Zhu Yuhuan meant by this sentence.
Zhu Yuhuan noticed her confusion at the moment and said, "My mother heard this sentence with her own ears when she entered the palace, and she knew what you two were thinking. Not to mention that he humiliated her in every way afterwards. How could my mother compete with you for his disgusting true feelings?"
Sun Mengqiu was stunned, but subconsciously argued, "When has he ever humiliated me..."
Zhu Yuhuan looked at her with an indifferent expression and said, "What you consider love is humiliation to my mother."
Sun Mengqiu didn't say anything and couldn't refute, he just felt sad.
She finally understood that Hu Shanxiang's sympathy was not sarcasm, but sincerity.
"If you are really cruel enough to keep Jiajia here, I won't stop you. I will naturally bury you in the imperial mausoleum when the time comes."
Sun Mengqiu was stunned for a moment, and finally said: "You..."
"Who wants to be with him day and night after death? Not only does my mother not want to, but even I, as his daughter, don't want to see him every day." Zhu Yuhuan looked at Sun Mengqiu and said calmly, "Even if it means risking the wrath of the world, I will not force my mother to be buried with him."
Sun Mengqiu heard the disdain in her tone and clenched her hands. After a long time, she finally asked, "How are you going to arrange Jiajia's affairs?"
Zhu Yuhuan exchanged a glance with her and said, "Do as Jiajia wishes and get a divorce."
Sun Mengqiu's face showed astonishment. She raised her voice a little and said, "Divorce? How can a royal princess divorce? You're ruining her reputation and making the world laugh at her..."
"How can the emperor of the world have the surname Zhu?" Zhu Yuhuan saw her frightened into silence and said coldly, "It didn't happen before, but it will happen in the future. Although everything is difficult at the beginning, is there any reason why we should never start?"
She had explained everything clearly, so there was naturally no reason for her to stay any longer.
Sun Mengqiu watched her leave, recalling Zhu Yuhuan's words in her heart, and then she remembered the promise Zhu Zhanji had made to her.
Perhaps the tragedy between her and Hu Shanxiang was already doomed due to Zhu Zhanji's "forbearance" at that time.
Sun Mengqiu couldn't help but clutch the quilt tightly, sobbing softly, "I don't want to... I don't want to enter the imperial mausoleum, I don't want to enter the imperial mausoleum..."
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