You’re an Imperial Child
Author: 橙子澄澄
Source: Instadoses
His satin black hair was neatly tied in the purple and gold crown. He has slim eyebrows – slightly raised, slender eyes – long and narrow, and a face like a crown of jade.
His temperament was chilly and mid, and the perimeter was imposing without being too incisive.
Everything on display about this young man was just right.
But his means were totally different.
He would never stop and leave a way out for people if he could exterminate them completely.
Emperor Hongyuan looked at the youth who was getting closer and closer, his eyes in a trance. He couldn't help but recall their meeting when he had just returned to the palace.
At that time, he came to know that Wei Qing had been forced to take his own life in Xinghua Village to atone for his crime.
When he inquired about it, the young man offered no explanation, and merely said, "I was soft on him, they way he was soft on me."
Yeah, no one would be soft on him. That was why Wanrong died so grievously, so miserably.
The world they lived in was inherently cannibalistic, and once they had the benevolence of women, they would only be eaten.
In a flash, the young man had entered the palace.
The kneeling old eunuch slightly went off-kilter. "The servant greets the king."
The Emperor returned to his senses and smiled at the young man. "You're here."
His eyes landed on his face that still had tender angles. The scars that were strewn across his right face have disappeared. He was beautiful and charming, three points resembling Wanrong, and seven points more like him.
"I came just to get an answer." The young man stood in the center of the palace, looking at the emperor next to the imperial bed from afar. "Your favor has brought my mother to her doom, and sent me to the precipice time and time again. Father, sometimes I even suspect that you don't love me, but was instead using your love to push me into the limelight, attracting sharp knives and dark arrows to protect the people you really want to protect. Is my guess right?"
The Emperor choked. He looked at the young man who refused to approach, and didn't answer immediately, but summoned the old eunuch to feed him the medicine.
Only after a long time did he speak.
"I am the ruler. In this position, every decision I make will have extreme duality.
I love you, and you are the Emperor's son, but behind the scenes, there will be countless people who want to put you to death.
If I don't love you, you're just rotten dirt in the ground, and even the lowest maid in the palace can openly bully and trample you.
So I'd rather you stand tall with your halo and face the cold knife. At least you still have the advantage to contend against one or two, rather than being a fish in a platter to be slaughtered.
The fate of the emperor's family is already decided. You have no choice – either step on the bones of others to climb up, or let others trample on your bones to rise up.
I can't protect you forever. If you want to live in this place, you can only grow up on your own, relying on your own skills. If you can climb to the top, there's nothing you can't do in this world."
"So that's why when I was a child, you knew those people imprisoned me for two whole years, yet you did nothing about it?"
The Emperor didn't speak. The old eunuch, still ambling on his knees, moved his lips to speak.
"I was a child back then!"
"You are a child of the Emperor." This whispered reply caused the entire palace to fall silent.
The evening breeze sloshed the hanging curtain in the palace, clear and cold. Emperor Hongyuan slowly sat up from the imperial bed, the old eunuch quickly clambered up to help him walk to the small dining table placed inside to take a seat.
"Accompany me for a reunion dinner. Later on, this opportunity might not come again. Even if you hate me, endure it this once."
The young man moved his eyes to the small table.
However, there was no big fish or meat on the table, no wide variety of dishes. What was on display was actually a few dishes of home-cooked food, very ordinary and simple. It was these few simple dishes that made the cold and silent palace glazed with warm fireworks.
It stunned him for a moment.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the palace was supposed to have a big banquet, and the concubines of the harem were to have fun with the Emperor. The banquet was only dispensed with because the Emperor was in ill health.
Looking at the simple meal, the young man's eyes fluctuated, complicated and dark.
This Mid-Autumn Festival, only the two of them would spend it together. Did he really love him, or was he acting?
Either way, after this night, he would be thrust into the limelight again.
"What's on your mind?"
"Thinking about your purpose for doing this."
The emperor's face dimmed for a moment, then he smiled faintly. "One should indeed always be on guard to survive in this place, and you've done well. Then, I hope that with your intelligence, you will be able to figure it out."
They ate the meal in silence.
During the meal, the Emperor frequently used clean chopsticks and clipped dishes for the young man, but he never took a bite.
When occasionally he looked up at the boy, he looked through him, missing another deceased person.
After the meal, the boy got up and left.
When he left, the old eunuch softly whispered, "Your Majesty, why not tell His Royal Highness that you were sick, and concealed everything? You didn't do it deliberately …"
"That's not an excuse. In his opinion, it's all because I ignored him for two years. Otherwise … " Why else would she have fought so hard to escape with her child and ended up separated like yin and yang.
"Cough-cough-cough!" Another coughing fit ensued, and the silk handkerchief used to cover his mouth was stained with red blood.
"Your Majesty!" The old eunuch was shocked. "The imperial doctor had already explained that that type of medicine cannot be taken often. Although it can temporarily suppress your sickness, once the effect of the drug wears off, it will backfire even worse …"
Is it worth joking about your body just to have a few words with the prince?!
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The old eunuch pulled his sleeve and wiped his tears.
"Don't shout, tell the Imperial Hospital to step up the development of new medicines. Let me at least last another year." After this short line, the emperor gasped for breath until his face turned blue.
"Yes, this old servant will go now!"
The old eunuch hurriedly ran out and saw the young man standing there at the corner of the palace door.
After leaving the palace door, he had never left. He didn't know how much of the conversation he had heard in the palace.
"Your Highness." The old eunuch faltered.
The young man's aura wasn't oppressive, but once facing him, you could clearly feel an oppression that deterred you from meeting his eyes.
"Is his condition already very serious?" The young man asked.
"His Majesty has been ill with this illness for six years. The initial onset of the disease was an emergency, and during that time, His Majesty spent almost all of his days in a semi-conscious state. He wasn't fully awake, much less got out of bed." The old eunuch replied softly, using this to explain why His Majesty was unable to rescue the prince in time when he was first imprisoned.
In fact, the emperor awakened after two years of illness, and he ordered to have the prince rescued at that time.
However, some people feigned compliance and hid the truth. It also led to Doctor Xue escaping from the palace with the prince.
"What did the imperial doctors say?" The young man asked again.
The old eunuch looked hesitant. His Majesty didn't want His Royal Highness to know about his specific condition.
Logically speaking, as the most loyal servant by His Majesty's side, he should help His Majesty conceal the fact from the Prince, but he couldn't bear the Prince misunderstanding His Majesty all the time.
The father and son were like strangers to each other.
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