mtlumby2d Chapter 99: This is the love of parents for their children.
Chapter 99: This is the love of parents for their children.
The eunuchs behind her rushed forward and carried the Empress Dowager, who couldn't even stand, onto the imperial carriage, where she quickly disappeared from Lin Shiming's sight.
Lin Shiming snorted lightly, then looked at the concubines kneeling at the entrance of Fengyi Palace. "Kneel up straight, just like you did today in Baohua Hall. Kneel with the same devotion, single-mindedly, and oblivious to everything else. Do you understand?"
The group of concubines immediately knelt even more upright, their knees and calves aching, and could only weakly stammer, "Your Majesty, I obey your command."
"Now they know how to obey," Lin Shiming scoffed, preparing to give them another good scolding, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.
"Your Highness!"
Lin Shiming turned around, and in the dim light, he saw Li An's slightly excited face again.
"Your Highness..." Li An glanced at the concubines on the ground and subconsciously changed his words, "His Highness the Crown Prince is looking for you."
Lu Yuxi called me? Lin Shiming frowned in confusion, "He's looking for me, why are you so excited?"
"...This servant is tired from running around, that's why I'm a little excited." Li An lowered his head. "Your Highness, please go in quickly, His Highness the Crown Prince seems to be in a hurry."
Lin Shiming glanced at Li An with a puzzled look, then turned around and ordered, "Don't even think about slacking off. If I find out, you'll face the consequences."
The concubines respectfully agreed, and Lin Shiming strode back to the main hall.
*
The hall was much quieter than usual, and Lin Shiming, with his sharp eyes, noticed the much lighter expressions on the faces of the palace servants coming and going. He immediately understood, and quickly ran a few steps into the inner room.
"Queen mother?"
Inside the room, Bai Qiongzhu was leaning against the headboard, drinking the rice porridge that Emperor Longyun was feeding her.
Seeing Lin Shiming rush in, she put on a gentle smile on her pale face, "Shiming, come here quickly."
Lin Shiming finally breathed a sigh of relief, a relaxed smile spreading across his face, and quickly walked over.
"Mother, you scared us to death."
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Mother is alright now." Bai Qiongzhu gently patted Lin Shiming's hand and joked with a warm smile, "Speaking of which, Mother should thank our Shiming for standing up for Mother."
Lin Shiming's face flushed red. "What are you saying, Mother?"
Lu Yuxi chuckled and tugged at Lin Shiming's hand. "You were showing off your might outside just now, and Eunuch Li kept sending us messages back and forth. He told us more vividly than any storyteller outside."
Bai Qiongzhu chimed in, "That's right. Listen to what he said, our Shi Ming is quite powerful, and his word is law."
Lin Shiming's sense of shame surged, and his murderous gaze shot straight at Li An, who was quietly trying to retreat.
Li An froze when he was swept by that cold gaze, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.
He secretly glanced up at Emperor Longyun, who was fiddling with bowls and spoons, pretending to be very busy. Then, he closed his eyes in despair and forced out a smile that was even more obsequious than usual. "This servant, this servant also wants to make Your Majesty feel better and vent your frustrations."
"Is that so?" Lin Shiming said sarcastically. "Eunuch Li is really thoughtful. When he called me in just now, he even told me that the Crown Prince had summoned me! Aren't you afraid that if this gets out, all the concubines in the harem will hold a grudge?"
This is clearly an attempt to make those concubines outside kneel for a while longer!
Li An smiled even more obsequiously, "This servant is not wrong, it was His Highness the Crown Prince who instructed this servant to invite you in."
"Keep making things up," Lin Shiming said coldly, rolling up his sleeves as he prepared to argue with Li An about the matter, but was suddenly interrupted by the guilty-looking Emperor Longyun.
"Alright, Li An, you go out and keep watch first. We have something to talk about."
"Something to say?" Lin Shiming took a moment to process what Emperor Longyun was referring to.
At the same time, taking advantage of the opportunity when Lin Shiming's attention was diverted, Li An quickly slipped away as if a demon was chasing him.
The room fell silent immediately, and the four people no longer looked as relaxed as before.
Bai Qiongzhu propped himself up on the bed and sat up, and Emperor Longyun quickly helped to pull the blanket up as well.
"Let me speak first," Bai Qiongzhu said, her voice slightly weak but calm.
"Haven't you always wanted to talk to me and ask me why I'm so upset?"
"Zitong, if you don't want to..."
"It's alright. I don't think I have much time left, so I'll have a good talk with you all so that you won't be sad when I'm gone."
"Mother!"
"Alright, you're already the Crown Prince, yet you're still so unsteady. How can the Empress Dowager be at ease?" Bai Qiongzhu said gently and calmly. "How long did the imperial physician say I have left?"
Lu Yuxi lowered her head, looking dejected. "Two months."
"It's about time." Bai Qiongzhu nodded gently, then suddenly smiled at Lin Shiming beside her. "Shiming, what did your brother say to you back then, about you marrying Yu Xi?"
Lin Shiming looked up blankly, then suddenly felt embarrassed. "My brother, he said... he said I should marry into the family to pay off his debts."
A few muffled laughs suddenly rang out from inside the room, making the air feel a little more cheerful.
"Alright!" Bai Qiongzhu stopped laughing first to help Lin Shiming out of the predicament, but there was still a lot of laughter left on her face. "Your brother really went too far, bullying our Shiming like this."
"You can rest assured. Although His Majesty is very pleased that you married into the royal family, the most fundamental thing is not that you have to pay off your debts. The Lin family has never owed the royal family anything. Those so-called crown princesses and... crown princes who were taken away from the royal family were actually all voluntary for all three parties."
Bai Qiongzhu's voice remained calm.
“Besides the genuine affection between them, there are also considerations of interests and career choices. You know, His Majesty asks repeatedly whether a concubine is willing, let alone when choosing a Crown Princess. If neither party is willing, the estrangement between the Emperor and Empress can also cause discord in the court.”
“You are not a woman and have been away from the capital for a long time, so you may not know that for daughters in the capital, the best husband families are the royal family and the Lin family.”
"The Lin family is free. Girls who marry into the Lin family can be monogamous for life, without having to worry about so many trivial matters or get involved in various struggles. They can live a happy and joyful life. However, the Lin family is loyal and never forms factions, so their help to the family will be quite limited."
"Royal honor. Especially the Crown Princess, who will become the mother of the nation. Choosing the royal family means choosing unparalleled glory and boundless wealth, but also choosing the responsibility of the family's prosperity. Becoming the Crown Princess means that one must put the responsibilities of the country and the family first in everything. One's own feelings, preferences, and even offspring must give way to these greater principles."
"This is the requirement and responsibility of the mother of the nation. She must put the world first in everything she does."
"As for the so-called crown princess who was taken away by the Lin family, it was actually these women who chose the Lin family over the royal family, and chose their own happiness over the revitalization of their family. It doesn't matter whether it was taken or not, it was all their own choice."
"And I was the one who chose the family."
Bai Qiongzhu raised his hand and grasped Emperor Longyun's hand, smiling broadly, "Although I have been in love with your father for many years, we were actually strangers at the beginning."
"Yes, when I first married you, I was so flustered and clumsy, just like a greenhorn." Emperor Longyun grasped Bai Qiongzhu's hand in return, and the two smiled at each other.
Lin Shiming, who had inexplicably been fed a mouthful of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), blinked and interrupted their ambiguous atmosphere, "How about we get down to business first?"
"You childish brat!" Bai Qiongzhu poked Lin Shiming's forehead, her eyes crinkling with a smile. "Let's get down to business."
“I chose the royal family, so I am destined to put everything behind the country, including my children.”
"Before Yu Xu's incident, for the sake of the Empress Dowager's dignity and rules, for the sake of that ridiculous filial piety and reputation, I could not protect my child from being tormented by the Empress Dowager."
“When Yu Xu got into trouble, your father was furious and was willing to pay a huge price to avenge Yu Xu. But I persuaded him not to. I am the Empress, the mother of the nation. My responsibility requires me not to let the country fall into turmoil because of my own child. This is something that the late Emperor taught me many times before I entered the royal family.”
"Empress and Emperor, the two most honorable people in a country, also have their own limitations that they cannot break. Therefore, I can only choose to give up avenging Xu in order to ensure the stability of the entire Changping Dynasty. I will make concessions for the sake of this country."
"But I am ultimately a person with emotions, a mother. I can choose the world over the world, but that doesn't mean I can forget the hatred of my own son."
Bai Qiongzhu spoke calmly, but tears welled up in her eyes.
“I gave up avenging him. Whatever the reason, it is a fact that I chose to give up my hatred for him. I have done right by this country, but I have failed my children.”
“Someone told me that Yu-xu probably doesn’t resent me, but she’s not Yu-xu, how could she know if my child resents his mother for abandoning him? Besides, even if Yu-xu really doesn’t resent me, the fact remains that I abandoned him. Yu-xu is magnanimous, but I can’t forget it.”
"It's my fault as his mother."
Lin Shiming suddenly looked up and remembered that his father, Lin Yunyue, seemed to have said something similar to him.
This is the love that parents have for their children.
He finally understood why Bai Qiongzhu was so troubled and unable to resolve his inner turmoil.
"So that's why Mother Empress has been so reluctant to leave today?"
Bai Qiongzhu closed her eyes and nodded silently. "I am sorry to my child. I want to give him everything I can. Even though I know they have ulterior motives, it is a blessing for Xu, so I will not back down."