Chapter 454

Chapter 454 That was what was said, but anyone with sharp ears and a clear mind would know that the clan's wishes were simply the Emperor's wishes. If the Emperor refused to allow the Empress Dowager to return to the palace, what could anyone else possibly say? If this had been at the very beginning of the Emperor's reign, there might have been ministers in the court who held opposing views. But now, with the Emperor sending back victory reports from the front lines one after another, beating the Xia Dynasty until they had no strength left to fight back. With the unification of the realm imminent, who would risk provoking the Emperor's anger over such a trivial matter? And so the Empress Dowager remained at Baohua Temple, year after year. Now that the Emperor had returned to court and was about to formally install the Empress, he would naturally have to bring the Empress Dowager back to the palace first. The Emperor knew his own mother's temperament well. If he did not personally go to Baohua Temple to fetch her, the Empress Dowager would certainly refuse to return. Before setting out, Xie Run spoke to the Emperor about the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince. "Regardless of who their birth mothers are, in the end, they share the same adoptive mother." "But with one child registered under her name and the other not, a rift has already formed between them." "They are still young now, only squabbling over small things. One could even call it brotherly affection." "But if they grow up with such a disparity still in place, it will not bode well for either prince." The Emperor frowned upon hearing this. "Did Consort Jingshu tell you this?" Xie Run shook her head. "This concubine raised it on her own." "If Your Majesty has the time to go see the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince, you will understand the situation." "Two perfectly good children should not grow apart over such a trivial matter." The Emperor pondered for a moment but did not immediately agree. "Suisui, you should know that Consort Jingshu raising two sons is not a good thing for you." Xie Run felt a slight shock in her heart. She had not expected that the Emperor's refusal to register the Eighth Prince under Consort Jingshu's name was for her sake. Thinking about it, it made sense. Although Consort Jingshu's face had been ruined, barring her from the position of Empress, the sons she raised could still compete with Taotao in the future. Xie Run lowered her eyes. "Your Majesty, this concubine trusts you, loves you, and respects you." "Since Your Majesty considers this concubine's interests so carefully, this concubine must also consider Your Majesty's." "Taotao is Your Majesty's son, and so are Lian'er and Hu'er." Surprise flickered in the Emperor's eyes before he concealed it a moment later. He pulled Xie Run into his embrace and was silent for a long time. Without a definitive answer from the Emperor, Xie Run felt somewhat uncertain herself. But the Emperor clearly had his own thoughts, and Xie Run did not feel it appropriate to press further. The next day, the Emperor and the consorts of the Six Palaces set out for Baohua Temple to invite the Empress Dowager back. The Emperor was indeed giving his mother face this time. But when they arrived at Baohua Temple, they were refused entry at the gates. The Emperor was nearly amused enough to laugh. His mother was indeed still his mother—even after being shut away for three or five more years, her nature remained unchanged. Xie Run tried to soothe the Emperor. "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is devoted to praying for the Retired Emperor and Empress Xiaohui. She may be reluctant to return to the mundane world for the time being." The Emperor cast a sidelong glance at Xie Run, his look seeming to say, "You really can spin a tale." Did he not know his own mother's temperament? The Emperor merely glanced at Eunuch Shian, who immediately went to make arrangements. The group only waited at the gates for a short while before the doors of Baohua Temple swung open. The Empress Dowager's senior serving woman came out in person to receive them. "This servant pays respects to Your Majesty, the Noble Consort, and all the ladies." "The Empress Dowager was devoted to her prayers these past two days and unfortunately caught a chill, which is why she could not come out to welcome Your Majesty in person." "If the Empress Dowager knew that Your Majesty had come to Baohua Temple, she would be overjoyed." The Emperor smiled. "This time, my safe return is all thanks to Mother's daily prayers and blessings at Baohua Temple." "Upon hearing that Mother is unwell, my heart aches deeply. Why not lead the way at once?!" The senior serving woman immediately led the way. The Emperor performed his act all the way there, and Xie Run, as the Noble Consort, naturally had to follow along. A look of worry appeared on her face as she dabbed the corner of her eye with her handkerchief. When they arrived at Cining Courtyard, where the Empress Dowager resided, the doors remained tightly shut. The senior serving woman was also taken aback, her face turning bitter. "Your Majesty, this..." The Emperor waved his hand. "Mother is unwell today. You may all wait outside." With that, Xie Run had no choice but to lead the others away from Cining Courtyard and wait in the main hall of Baohua Temple. Once the crowd had dispersed, the Emperor directly ordered his men to break down the doors. The Empress Dowager, who had been lying in bed feigning illness, sat up in shock. "How dare you! This is utterly outrageous!" "Xiao Chengyuan, is this how you honor your mother?!" The Emperor raised his hand, and the doors closed behind him. With only mother and son left in the room, the Emperor strode forward. "Mother, are you truly ill? Your son can see that your voice is full of vigor." The Empress Dowager had spent these years at Baohua Temple. Though she lacked neither clothing nor food, for someone like her, life had already become unbearably austere. She had grown thinner from the hardship. People of advanced age should not lose weight easily—once they did, their skin sagged, their brow bones protruded, and they took on a somewhat sharp and unkind appearance. The Empress Dowager glared at the Emperor. "Emperor, what are you doing at Baohua Temple?!" "I have been suffering here for nearly four years now. You might as well just let me stay here for the rest of my life." "Might as well let me die here—just pretend you never had a mother!" Over these years, the Empress Dowager had stored up no small amount of resentment in her heart. Especially since the Emperor had returned to court and had not yet come to invite her back to the palace at the first opportunity, the Empress Dowager was even more furious. Now that the Emperor was about to establish a Principal Consort, he suddenly remembered her, the Empress Dowager?! The Emperor said calmly, "If Mother wishes wholeheartedly to pray for Imperial Father and Empress Xiaohui, how could your son refuse?" "Mother need only give a single word of assent, and your son will return to the palace at once. To thank Mother for her benevolence and kindness, your son is also willing to grant a general amnesty to the realm." The Empress Dowager's eyes flew wide open, blood rushing to her head at the Emperor's words: "You... you..." "How could I have given birth to such a heartless beast as you?!" The Emperor looked at her coldly: "Mother has been wanting to say that for a long time, hasn't she?" "But Mother may not know that everything your son has done, he learned from you." "Among your son, Eldest Brother, and Little Sister, Eldest Brother most resembles Imperial Father. I, however, feel that I am most like Mother." The Empress Dowager roared in fury: "Nonsense! I have no son as cold-hearted as you!" This anger had been bottled up inside her for nearly four years. Now the Emperor was deliberately tormenting her, refusing to let her vent it, so she simply threw all caution to the wind. After all, she was the Emperor's birth mother—no matter how angry he became, he couldn't very well take her life, could he?! The Empress Dowager pointed at the Emperor and cursed: "You are my own flesh and blood. I consider that from childhood to adulthood, I have never treated you harshly." "Perhaps I was somewhat partial at times, but your elder brother and your nephew have already been confined for years, and Prince Su's household has scattered to the winds—are you still not satisfied?" "I truly cannot fathom where all this resentment of yours comes from." The Emperor stared at the Empress Dowager with an expressionless face, his eyes cold and lifeless, like a serpent's. "All these years, your son has been waiting for Mother to speak." The Empress Dowager looked startled: "What?" "Waiting for Mother to plead for Eldest Brother's children." The Emperor stepped forward slowly, one step at a time. "Eldest Brother and Jin'er were confined by Imperial Father's own decree, so it is understandable that Mother dared not plead for them." "But the other two children—Mother has not spared them a single word of concern all these years." The Emperor said: "Between your son and Eldest Brother, it was merely a matter of victor and vanquished—where is there any grievance or hatred?" "Once your son ascended the throne, releasing Eldest Brother and Jin'er and granting them titles of prince and nobility would have been a matter of a single word." "But Mother never once spoke up. Not a single time."