Chapter 462

Chapter 462 "Is this how I have taught you all these years?!" The Emperor questioned furiously, while the Seventh Prince only kept his head lowered in silence, saying nothing. His tightly pressed lips revealed a hint of stubbornness. The more the Emperor looked, the angrier he became. "Did you think no one would find out about you going to Chunyi Pavilion to see that little palace maid?!" Upon hearing these words, the Seventh Prince suddenly raised his head. Seeing this, the Emperor grew even angrier and hurled the paperweight from his desk at him. "Fool!" He pointed at the Seventh Prince's nose and cursed: "It was I who had you taken from Wu Baolin's palace back then." "It was also I who found Wu Baolin foolish and short-sighted, unwilling to let her raise a child—not to mention the palace rules standing right there." "If you have the nerve, come and blame me, or blame the ancestors of the Great Yu Dynasty, and ask them why they established such rules!" The Seventh Prince panicked and quickly said, "Your son would not dare!" "Would not dare?!" The Emperor wanted to laugh at the words but only felt angrier. "Yes, you fear me, and so you dare not. But you do not fear your mother, relying on her affection for you to act recklessly." The Emperor seemed to recall Wu Baolin, who had caused such trouble in the harem back then, and said with disgust, "You truly share the same nature as that Wu woman—both stupid and wicked!" The Seventh Prince's face darkened. He wanted to open his mouth to explain something, but heard the Emperor say, "If you think Consort Jingde is unworthy to be your mother, then I shall grant your wish!" The Seventh Prince only felt wronged and said stubbornly, "It was Mother who killed my birth mother!" The Emperor's expression changed, and he struck the Seventh Prince across the face with the back of his hand. The Emperor was also infuriated to death by this stupid son. "Consort Jingde killed your Wu Baolin? You actually believed the words of a lowly palace maid completely." The Emperor saw through it at a glance and said harshly, "Claiming to seek justice for your birth mother—the truth is simply that you are an ungrateful wretch!" "You don't even care about the foster mother who raised you with painstaking effort for eighteen years—would you really care about a birth mother who died long ago and whom you never even met?!" "Absurd!" In an instant, the Seventh Prince's face turned ashen. The Emperor had originally planned to lecture the Seventh Prince a few more times, but upon seeing his reaction, he immediately lost interest. He waved his hand. "Escort the Seventh Prince out of the palace, and relay today's words in full to Consort Jingde." The Seventh Prince's body suddenly stiffened. The Emperor glanced at him sideways. "What, afraid?" The Seventh Prince said stubbornly, "Your son is not afraid." "Your son may indeed be ashamed before Mother, but I also wish to get to the bottom of what happened back then, so that my birth mother does not die with injustice while her son calls her enemy 'Mother'!" The Emperor coldly glanced at the Seventh Prince, then suddenly laughed. "Well said!" "Well said—you truly are my son!" Every word spoken in Zichen Hall fell upon Consort Jingde's ears, and she collapsed in an instant. Wrong, wrong, all terribly wrong! She should never have raised another woman's child as her own, and certainly should never have given him her whole heart... A child who cannot be won over will never be won over! After eighteen years of painstaking effort, the child she had raised with such hardship actually resented her and hated her like this! Perhaps she should have listened to Xie Run's advice back then, treated Wu Baolin better, and let her survive that winter. Or perhaps she should have listened to Mama Du's advice, not given him her true heart, simply raised him as someone else's child—show him respect, keep some distance... Now in middle age, she had finally paid the price for her stubbornness and willfulness of the past. Consort Jingde trembled as she gripped Tao Yao's hand, her gaze unfocused. "Tao Yao, do you think it's because I committed too many sins in the past, and now I'm reaping the retribution?!" Tao Yao was greatly alarmed: "Your Ladyship, how could you think that?!" "No matter how you look at it, this is the Seventh Prince's fault—how could it be blamed on you?!" From that day on, Consort Jingde fell ill. Seeing that the situation was not right, Xie Run quickly sent a letter to the Summer Mountain Villa in secret. A few days earlier, the Crown Prince had taken the Sixth Prince and Eighth Prince to the Summer Mountain Villa to practice archery and hunting, which was why they were not in the palace. "Send someone to summon the Eighth Prince back!" "Consort Jingde has lost her former spirit, letting herself be upset like this over an unfilial son. She seems to have forgotten she has another child." "If she falls ill and never recovers, how will the Eighth Prince manage on his own? Wouldn't all her life's efforts truly have been in vain?!" Baozhen came to Fengyi Palace today for a meal. Hearing this, she asked slyly, "Mother, does what you mean by that—if your son ever makes you angry in the future, you'll abandon him and only keep my elder brother?" Xie Run glanced at her sideways. "What, are you planning to make your mother angry?" Baozhen immediately averted her gaze and said obediently, "Your son would never—I'm the most well-behaved!" "Seventh Brother is so ungrateful, he'll be struck by lightning from heaven!" Xie Run couldn't help but smack him. "You rascal, what nonsense are you talking!" After being hit, Baozhen smiled even more happily. It seemed the more Xie Run hit him, the happier he became. From the Summer Mountain Villa to the palace, it took three days of fast riding to arrive. Xie Run had assumed that sending a message back and forth would take at least six or seven days. Who would have expected the Eighth Prince to enter the palace on the fifth day? Xie Run was handling palace affairs when she suddenly received news: "Empress, the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince have gotten into a fight." Xie Run was taken aback. "Has this news been told to Consort Jingde?" "Consort Jingde is ill now, and everyone is afraid of upsetting her, so they dare not tell her." Xie Run: "Go, tell her the news. Ask her whether she would hurt a filial son for the sake of an unfilial one?" "Or has she been so stricken that she no longer wants either of her two sons?" Xiaoshu smiled: "Consort Jingde has a proud spirit. When she hears your words, she will likely crawl if she must to stop the two princes." Xie Run thought for a moment, then sighed, "Having raised two sons, if one of them has a conscience, that is enough." Xiaoshu smiled: "Master, you'd better not let the Tenth Prince hear that, or he'll pester you with questions again." Xie Run rubbed her forehead in exasperation. When Consort Jingde heard the news, she did not crawl to stop the Eighth Prince. Because the Eighth Prince had already run to Consort Jingde's bedside, his face covered in wounds, crying. "Mother, do you no longer want your son?!" Consort Jingde was drowsy from illness, but suddenly heard the Eighth Prince's wail, and her mind cleared somewhat. She saw the wounds on the Eighth Prince's face and asked worriedly, "Did you fight with your elder brother again?!" The Eighth Prince said aggrievedly, "Mother is going to scold your son again?!" "No..." The Eighth Prince continued to wail: "Mother always favored Xiao Lian over your son before. Your son thought that once he was registered under Mother's name and became her own son, Mother would favor him more." "But now that he is so unfilial, Mother still favors him and scolds your son?" Consort Jingde had not yet recovered from the anger caused by the Seventh Prince, and now she was angered again by the Eighth Prince's words. "You ungrateful child, when have I ever favored Lian'er over you?!" "In food, clothing, and daily necessities, whatever Lian'er had, I always prepared a set for you too. Yet you two brothers still quarreled day and night, and I could hardly soothe you both..." As she spoke, Consort Jingde thought of the two children's childhood days, and tears suddenly fell. It had not always been like this before.