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Eunuch Qin meant… Empress Dowager Zhuang"s illness had something to do with him?
How was that possible?
He hadn"t cooked any schemes against her recently!
…Could it be… that night?
The Emperor found it impossible.
That poisonous woman would have preferred to get rid of him as soon as possible. She wouldn’t have stayed up all night to take care of him, nor would she have called him like how Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing did.
What he heard was just a voice in his dream.
However, this couldn’t explain why Little Jing Kong was able to call him by his name, "Hong’er".
If he hadn"t heard or seen it, how could Little Jing Kong imitate the appearance of an adult, holding his hand and calling him Hong’er?
The Emperor"s mind was in a whirl.
He was inwardly refusing to accept this fact, not only because he refused to believe in Empress Dowager Zhuang"s kindness, but also because he had actually felt the long-lost warmth that night.
In his daze, he seemed to have felt that his imperial concubine mother had returned to his side.
If it was indeed Empress Dowager Zhuang, wouldn"t that be implying that she had the same aura as his Imperial Concubine Mother Jing? This was simply a blasphemy against his Imperial Concubine Mother Jing!
He refused to accept it!
He refused to admit it!
"Eunuch Qin, Empress Dowager"s medicine is ready." A palace maid entered with a bowl of medicine and upon seeing the Emperor in the hall, she quickly bowed down and said, "Your Majesty!"
The Emperor waved his hand impatiently.
The palace maid placed the bowl on the bedside table.
The Emperor"s eyes unconsciously followed the medicine bowl and inadvertently caught sight of a small iron box on the bedside table.
It looked familiar.
But he refrained from thinking about it.
At this moment, Empress Dowager Zhuang was also awakened by the commotion in the bedchamber. She was a person who had seen great storms, hence seeing the Emperor standing before her bed, her expression did not change much.
"Empress Dowager, it"s time for your medicine," Eunuch Qin said with a smile.
"Take it away, Aijia won"t drink it." Empress Dowager Zhuang said faintly.
She was so weak that even her gaze and tone have lost their former sharpness.
Eunuch Qin smilingly said, "His Majesty is here to see you."
Empress Dowager Zhuang"s face was deadpan as she said, "Aijia doesn"t need him to see me."
Ever since that layer of window paper was pierced, the two of them had almost stopped pretending to be motherly and filial unless they were in the imperial audience hall.
The Emperor stood tall and straight before the bed, looking down at her imperiously.
At this moment, he truly felt that she had gotten old and perhaps she wouldn"t live a few more years. Once she rode the crane westward, the power of the imperial court would naturally return to his hands.
Thinking this to himself, he sarcastically said, "If imperial mother departs like this, the imperial audience hall will be desolate, and there will be no one to discuss politics with Zhen."
Empress Dowager Zhuang coldly gazed at him and said, "Unfilial son. Lessen your wishful thinking. Aijia is certainly destined to outlive you."
The Emperor leisurely glanced at her.
Empress Dowager Zhuang struggled to sit up.
Eunuch Qin hastened forward to support her, and then handed her the bowl of medicine.
Empress Dowager Zhuang drained the bowl of bitter medicine in one gulp, not leaving a single drop behind.
After seeing her finished the medicine, the Emperor departed from Renshou Palace.
He didn"t hurry back to his one bedchamber, but went to the imperial study. He summoned the Crown Prince and tested him on his studies during the past few days.
The Emperor noticed that the Crown Prince had made great progress in arithmetic, "Who taught you these questions?"
After a moment"s pause, the Crown Prince answered, "Hanlin Academy."
The Emperor gazed upon the Crown Prince and said, "I know your arithmetic was taught by the Hanlin Academy, but which Hanlin official is it?"
The Crown Prince reluctantly opened his mouth, "Senior Compiler Xiao."
"It’s him?" The Emperor"s eyes lit up with delight as he smiled, "I really did not misjudge him. Your arithmetic hasn’t improved a bit all year round. I originally thought it was because your apt.i.tude was dull, however it seems that with an excellent teacher you can still learn."
How could the Crown Prince respond to this?
It was completely impossible to refute it, alright?
He couldn"t possibly say, ‘Father, you have overpraised me; my apt.i.tude really is dull.’
In all fairness, the Crown Prince"s apt.i.tude wasn’t poor. Although he wasn’t as talented as the Emperor"s eldest son, Ning w.a.n.g, he was still far superior to the other princes.
It was just that the Crown Prince preferred other subjects. He was simply averse to arithmetic, and yet the Emperor held it in high regard.
The Emperor merely wanted to try it out but was pleasantly surprised at the results, nodding his head in approval, “Not bad. Ask him to come and teach you again next time.”
The Crown Prince"s face changed, "Imperial father!"
The Emperor cast a calm gaze upon him, “What? Do you have something to say?”
Realizing his indiscretion, the Crown Prince bowed and said, "This son… is merely perplexed as to why imperial father would ask a Senior Compiler to teach this son? Does imperial father not value this son anymore?”
To ask a newly-appointed Hanlin official to teach the Crown Prince of a country gave out a half-hearted impression.
The Emperor frowned as he lowered the memorandum he held in his hands, his gaze directed at the Crown Prince, "Would I invest much of my effort in teaching you if I don’t value you? As the Crown Prince of a nation, can"t you rise above the opinion of others?"
The Crown Prince muttered, "I don"t care what others think..."
"Then what is it?" The Emperor asked in a heavy voice.
The Crown Prince hesitated, unable to speak.
The Emperor furrowed his brows, "If you don"t want to talk, then withdraw."
the Crown Prince lowered his eyes and said, "He looks too much like my cousin. Whenever I see him, I can’t help but think of my deceased cousin, and it makes me feel sad."
The Emperor pondered for a moment, "I see, so all you need is sadness in order to learn well?"
The Crown Prince was stunned.
Hold on, imperial father, you seem to have misunderstood my words!
The Emperor let out a sigh, "Your historiography is also somewhat unsatisfactory. In the future, Senior Compiler Xiao will also give you lectures on historiography."
The Crown Prince was going crazy!
Seeing him once every ten days was already too much, and now he had to see him twice every ten days!
He didn’t want to see Xiao Liulang again!
The Crown Prince clenched his fists, "Imperial father!"
The Emperor had made up his mind and waved his hand, saying, "It"s settled then, you can go now. Have Little Seven come to me this evening."
It had been a few days since he had seen that fat little man, and he strangely missed him.
The Emperor wasn’t a normal father, for he was a monarch before he was a parent; yet during these days spent convalescing in Bishui Alley, he often saw Little Jing Kong hanging around in front of him, making him especially yearn to be a father.
Of course, not to Little Jing Kong. That child was too mischievous and he couldn"t handle him.
He wanted to find a sense of accomplishment as a father through his own little fat son.
After the Crown Prince left the imperial study, the Emperor had Ning w.a.n.g called in.Raz P."s Thoughts
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