"You're my son!"
"I gave birth to you!"
"I'm the closest person you have. Only I would never hurt you! I'm your mother!"
The Eldest Prince knelt on the floor, kowtowed to her three times with resounding thuds, and left without a trace of hesitation.
"Qi Chengyou!"
The Eldest Prince stopped in his tracks.
Lady You clenched her hands and threatened him, each word distinct. "If you walk out that door today, I'll consider you no son of mine!"
He did not even turn his head, leaving without a backward glance.
That retreating figure drained every ounce of strength from Lady You. Nanny Ning hurried to support her, pleading desperately with her.
"My lady, let it go."
The night swallowed Qi Chengyou, and with him, the bond between mother and son.
It also dragged her back to that night of unbearable humiliation.
After coming to his senses, Su Changhe had stared at the bashful woman on the bed in shock and despair, backing away again and again as though he had seen something filthy.
"Leave. For what happened between us, I will take my own life to answer to His Majesty and the imperial grandson. As for what becomes of you, forgive me, but I won't be here to see it."
The figure who threw on his clothes and rushed out the door had been just as resolute as Qi Chengyou was today.
You Sitong had been terrified. She told Nanny Ning what had happened, and Nanny Ning knew how grave it was. If the truth came out, the entire You Family would be executed!
The entire You Family took part in murdering Su Changhe.
You Sitong imitated Su Changhe's handwriting to forge a suicide note. Thus, on the day she married into the Imperial Grandson's Residence, Su Changhe "killed himself."
The next day, the note was discovered. The forged suicide note fabricated the illusion that the two had been in love.
You Sitong rewrote Su Changhe's character, making him "leave his last wishes" asking the Qi Emperor to spare her life.
Thanks to those forged last wishes, Lady You had survived to this day. The You Family exiled themselves from Chang'an and withdrew from court affairs, falling into "decline" from then on.
Years of comfort had made her forget the humiliation and terror Su Changhe had inflicted on her. Qi Chengyou had brought it all back.
"Nanny... I was wrong."
Hope lit up Nanny Ning's eyes. She thought her lady had finally seen reason, only to hear-
"A son takes after his father. He's just as coldhearted as his father."
Defeat filled Nanny Ning's face. Her lady had already fallen into madness. Back then, the Empress and her lady had been called Chang'an's twin peonies blooming on a single stem.
One was graceful and gentle; the other, a cool, distant moon.
Yet the Empress had outshone her lady in every way. Jealousy piled upon jealousy until it became a crazed obsession.
The Empress had won Su Changhe's heart, so she would have Su Changhe's body.
The Empress had slept with the Qi Emperor, so she would sleep with the Qi Emperor too!
The Empress had failed to bear the Qi Emperor a son. She could.
The two encounters had taken place only a day apart. Lady You did not know whose seed Qi Chengyou was, either, but that did not matter. All that mattered was who could benefit her.
Lady You dabbed away her tears with a handkerchief and calmly rose from the floor. Gazing into the darkness beyond the door, she suddenly smiled, with something of the beauty of a bodhisattva smiling while holding a flower.
"Nanny, nothing is over yet. Victory and defeat remain undecided. Which volume of the scriptures were we on? Let's keep reading."
When the emperor learned that Su Changhe had been murdered by the You Family.
When the emperor learned that Su Changhe had never been in love with her.
When the emperor learned that Su Changhe had actually intended to have her killed.
And then thought, Oh, I actually let the chief culprit live for all these years!
Of those involved back then, some had vanished without a trace, some had died peacefully of old age, and some were still living happily.
Hahahaha!!!
Lady You let out a string of melodious laughter.
The emperor's reaction would surely be delightful.
Even after she died, Qi Chengyou would remain to remind the emperor: You were blind in both eyes and heart, played for a complete fool! You let the chief culprit live for all these years!
Hahahaha!
Lady You felt delighted in body and soul.
She would live, and live well.
She would destroy everything the Empress cared about!
None are more heartless than the imperial family. I'll wait for the day the noblest father and son under heaven slaughter each other!
Inside the Hall of Inherited Blessing, father and son were enjoying a warm, tender moment.
"I heard you threw up today."
Qi Yuanzuo huddled on the bed, wrapped in a thin quilt, his hair sticking up in every direction. He rolled his eyes.
"I was wondering why the wind was so strong today. Turns out it went tattling to you, Father."
The Qi Emperor chuckled. "You didn't want me to know?"
The little Crown Prince glanced at him, then shuffled around to turn sideways like a prickly hedgehog.
"It's hardly something that brings glory to our ancestors. If you found out the medicine was so bitter it made me throw up, what if you laughed at me?"
The little brat had wrapped himself in the quilt like a wonton, thin-skinned and plump with filling, the flesh of his rosy-white cheeks peeking out. His stubborn air and sarcastic tone were so adorable that the Qi Emperor felt delighted from head to toe.
The little brat rarely sulked at him. He was a good boy, very easy to coax.
The last time father and son had been at odds, the little Crown Prince had eaten too much meat and become so constipated he could not poop. The Qi Emperor had grown frantic enough to barge into the privy.
That chaotic scene still made him unable to suppress a laugh.
Back then, a crowd of imperial physicians had waited outside the privy while the Qi Emperor paced in frantic circles, asking over and over-
"Has he pooped yet? Isn't there any fast-acting medicine?!"
"Zuo'er! Have you pooped yet?"
Inside, the little Crown Prince had cried so hard he hiccupped.
"I don't want you coming over! Go away! I have my dignity! I don't want Father!"
The Qi Emperor had kept shouting, "Has the Crown Prince pooped yet?!"
The servants inside wore miserable expressions. "Your Highness, push!"
The little Crown Prince had bawled, "Go away! Go away! Don't look at my bottom when I'm at my most vulnerable! Waaaah!"
At last, under the threat of the Qi Emperor fetching a wooden stick to pry the poop out of the little Crown Prince, the laxative finally took effect.
Because of that incident, once his bowels were clear, the little Crown Prince had cried and clamored that he did not want his father, even insisting on sleeping far away from the Qi Emperor.
Only after the Qi Emperor strictly forbade anyone from speaking of it, and had them swear to it one by one in front of the little Crown Prince, had he finally managed to soothe him.
Author's note: I posted too early. This is tomorrow's update, sob...
Before you continue