"Mother, you're awake!" Xiao Qianyu set down his book, rose, and came over to help her sit up.
Then, as naturally as could be, he tucked a pillow behind her back, helped pull up the covers, and even went to the table to pour her a cup of tea to soothe her throat.
He moved with such thoughtfulness and ease, as if he were used to doing it all the time.
But Xiao Qianyu was the imperial Crown Prince, born to wealth and honor. He was used to being served—there was no reason for him to lower himself and do these things.
As if something had occurred to her, the Heir's Consort felt her heart clench with sorrow, and tears plopped down.
She looked at her son through her tears. "You... have you been treated badly in the palace? Did they... did they make you serve them like this?"
The Heir's Consort could only think that the Empress Dowager and Empress had made Xiao Qianyu suffer.
No one else had the right to make Xiao Qianyu treat them this way. Only they could make him willingly bow his head and wait on them.
But why?
She had poured her heart and soul into raising Xiao Yunqing for twenty years, practically laid her heart in his hands, yet he had never once poured her a cup of tea himself, much less helped her sit up.
Of course, she wouldn't have wanted him to. The prince's manor was full of servants, with more than enough people to look after her. There was no need for the young master to do it himself.
Putting herself in their shoes, if the Empress Dowager and Empress truly cherished and valued the Crown Prince, how could they let him do everything himself?
Did they have no