According to the order, it should then be the Second Prince to take over, but the Second Prince was sent to the miasmic lands. If nothing else happens, it wouldnât take more than 3 months before the Imperial City would receive news of the unfortunate death of the Second Prince there.
The Third Prince knelt in front, while the Fourth Prince was a little unwilling. And so, since they were in order, Shen Huâan could only kneel behind him. Shen Huâan didnât care about kneeling in front. In this case, the Emperor wonât stay for too long as he would leave after standing for a while. And since he was kneeling towards the back, he could still more or less doze off to refresh his energy.
But as a result, the Emperor, who appeared pale as if he had aged ten years overnight, walked in and called, âAnâer, kneel in front.â
Shen Huâan, who had never been called so intimately by his Emperor Father, did not feel flattered by this surprise but only felt the goosebumps appear over his body as he looked up at the Emperor standing above him in shock.
The Emperor looked at his youngest child lovingly and saw that the other couldnât believe that he had called him, and his heart felt sour and sorrowful.
What had he done over the years that had humiliated her own flesh and blood to the extent where the other was so shocked to be called out by him?
The Emperorâs expression softened at the thought of Consort Liu and shouted, âCome, Anâer, kneel before your Emperor Father.â
Shen Huâan didnât miss the fatherly look of the Emperor, but now all the hairs on his body stood straight up.
Just before, the First Prince and the Second Prince were abolished, and now Emperor Father was suddenly so strange⌠He wonât be the next one to be abolished, would he?
It was just that this was the Emperorâs order, so even though Shen Huâan shivered in his heart, he still had to abide. He knelt in front of the Emperor and dared not lift his head for fear of being found at fault, following in the footsteps of the Second Prince.
In the past, whenever the Emperor saw him like this, he would only feel disgusted in his heart, and the fact that a prince, who didnât even dare to look up at himself, was really distasteful.
Now, however, he found that Shen Huâan, who only left the top of his head for himself to see, was a good and filial child but had been scared by his indifference before.
Such that now he did not even dare to look at his father.
When Huyang was born, he had also personally carried his daughter, took her to study Chinese characters, and made an exception to let her go out to study with Lord Liu.
At that time, there was a sense of familial joy between them, father and daughter.
Yet now, because of his distant treatment, Huyang has never been back to the palace since she left to marry someone else, whereas Huâan had never been hugged by him since he was born.
If she knew these things, how sad would she beâŚ
The Emperorâs eyes reddened for a moment, then in a tone more than a little sad, âThe Empress had always cherished you children, so Iâm sure she wouldnât have been able to bear to see everyone kneel long. Today, just kneel for an hour.â
Shen Huâan bowed his head and answered along with the two brothers behind him, but he pondered Emperor Fatherâs tone in his heart, which showed deep affection for the Empress.
But then why did the Empress throw the First Prince out of the palace when she died? Maybe the Empressâs death was related to the First Prince?
As he was doing a lot of brainstorming, the Third and Fourth Princes behind him came to their senses from âwhy should Shen Huâan be able to kneel in front of us?â and began to feel that Emperor Father sounded very fond of the Empress.
Although they couldnât figure out why he would treat the First Prince as he did, it didnât prevent them from using the Empress to draw a wave of Emperor Fatherâs favor for themselves.
So soon, tears left the eyes of the Third and Fourth Prince who were perfunctory crying. The Fourth Prince even sobbed gently, his eyes full of sorrow.
Shen Huâan had just been frightened by the Emperorâs abnormality, but now, listening to the cries of the two brothers behind him, he too understood their plans. He also wanted to squeeze out two drops of tears in case Emperor Father would comment that he didnât respect his own âMotherâ. Unfortunately, he had previously gone too far in pretending to be âIâm super fierceâ some time ago, so he couldnât squeeze anything out.
Thus, he could only keep his head down so as not to let the Emperor see that he wasnât crying, lest the other get angry.
The Emperor was still reminiscing the original Consort Liu and their years together, while sometimes hating on the Empress who had blocked Consort Liu who had wanted to ask for an audience with him, causing Consort Liu to end up hating him so much. So his heart chilled as he saw the Third and Fourth Prince who appeared as if it was their own mother that had died.
Hehe, the Empress deserved to die. Did these two cry like this because they thought the Empress didnât deserve to die?
So the Emperor thought as he took another look at Shen Huâan and saw that he was still in his previous position. The other didnât have tears and grief like the two sons, and his eyes grew softer.
This was his son. He didnât cry for that poisonous woman.
An hour passed quickly. The Emperor helped Shen Huâan up with his own hands as he said to the Third and Fourth Princes who got up slowly, âSince you are so eager for the Empress, today you will kneel and go back to the palace after the sun sets.â
The Third and Fourth Princes who wanted to use weeping for the Empress to get a good impression: ââŚâ
Shen Huâan, who had been helped up by Emperor Father himself, and who was nervous in fear that he would be dragged out and chopped up in the next second: ââŚâ
He looked enviously at his two brothers who were kneeling in obedience, but they looked over at him with envy and jealousy.
The two sides envied each other, but the Emperor on the other side took Shen Huâan back, assuming a fatherly appearance, and exchanged and cared for the youngest son, whom he had never paid attention to before.
Shen Huâan was scared to death.
Recently, he was already scared enough by his brother-in-law, so he thought he had already developed a strong heart. As a result, he didnât expect that there were even more terrible things in this world than his brother-in-law!
His Emperor Father asked warmly about him.
Emperor Father asked him about his homework.
Emperor Father revealed his intention to make him the Crown Prince.
Shen Huâan didnât feel like he had picked up a big advantage at all.
All he could think of was a sayingâŚ
The weasel paid a new year call to the chicken, with ill intentions.
(TNote: The weasel paid a new year call to the chicken = pretending to be kind, but in fact hides evil intentions.)
There was definitely something going on.
Finally, on a day that his Emperor Father had to go deal with a problem regarding the border and couldnât hover around him affectionately, Shen Huâan rushed out of the palace and went to the Princessâs residence to ask for help.
The news of the Fifth Princeâs suddenly gaining favor had spread all over the capital, so Shen Huyang naturally knew it as well. On the one hand, she marveled at Fumaâs ingenious plan for Emperor Father, but on the other hand, she wondered if Emperor Father really had affection for her mother, why he never tried to turn things around, then even treated her and her brother as such all these years.
First putting aside the fights within the harem, but if he had been willing to devote even a little attention to Changâan Palace, he wouldnât have been able to be deceived by the concubines.
At the very least, the Empress would never have been able to hide the fact that Consort Liu was seriously ill and would soon die.
But he still didnât go. He had turned a blind eye to it before, and now that Consort Mother was already dead, who was he trying to display his affections to?
Shen Huyang felt injustice in her heart, but she had no one to talk to, so she couldnât help but tell Lin Shiheng. Her Fuma was omnipotent in her heart, so he must know why Emperor Father was like this.
âItâs just that the living canât compete with the dead.â
There was a hint of irony by the corner of the blue-clad scholarâs lips. âHis Majesty is old, and his body is getting worse, so he will naturally recall the days when he was in high spirits. If this time he knew that Her Ladyship, Consort Liu, had been thinking of him until death, even if his affection was only three-tenths, it would be raised to a full ten at this time.â
âIf His Majesty really loved Consort Mother, how could he take offense at others and never blame himself when he found out the truth?â
He picked his eyebrows and whispered, âWhen the Lady passed away, Consort Yao was at fault, the Empress was at fault, but the one with the biggest fault was His Majesty.â
âHe could not admit that he had killed the Lady, so he could only seek revenge on others to vent his anger. The heavier he dealt with those who killed the Consort, the more he would convince himself that he was right.â
âItâs all other peopleâs fault, it was them working together to deceive and cover. If it werenât for them, it wouldnât be what it is now. I am afraid that this is what is in His Majestyâs mind.â
Shen Huyang listened with anger in her eyes as she clenched her fists. âThese days, his behavior made me think that he was indeed fond of Consort Mother.â
âFondness is naturally there. Perhaps His Majesty loved Her Ladyship more than the whole harem, but his favorite was always himself. Otherwise, why would he have given up his two sons who he had loved for many years? It was only because he was so cruel to their mothers that he was worried that the First and Second Princes would be upset and turn against him later, and thatâs why he made the first move.â
âEven having raised his own children for many years, he was able to give them up without hesitation, not to mention the Lady, but she has passed away, leaving only a fond memory which he liked in his heart.â
Shen Huyang looked dazed and gradually let go of her hand.
âYes.â
Since he was able to push Shen Huâan to the plagued land of Nancheng, it was only natural.
âBut, but he vomited blood when he heard the truth of that yearâŚâ
Lin Shihengâs eyes were still gentle, and he gently took her hand in his as he said in a warm voice, âPrincess has forgotten. Eunuch Zheng had sent a letter back saying that His Majestyâs body was suffering from a deficit and that vomiting blood was one of the symptoms, but His Majesty didnât know that and thought he was vomiting blood because of his deep love for the Lady.â
Shen Huyang gradually loosened her grip on her fist.
Fuma was right, she shouldnât have believed that Emperor Father would have true feelings.
If there was, the First Prince and the Second Prince, brothers who had been spoiled for 20 years, wouldnât end up so miserable.
What Emperor Father did was nothing more than deluding himself and others.